Distant Obsession (25 page)

“Here.” She placed the envelope in his hand.

“What is this?”

“Open it.”

Reece lifted the flap, removed the computer printed slip for three quarters of a million dollars and grabbed the check with both hands. “Holy crap. You’re rich.”

“No, my love; we’re rich.”

“We? But I can’t. This is yours.”

“What happened to all that crap about eternal mates? Was that just something you said to get lucky again?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Then what? Consider it my endowment, or if you prefer, the installment from your new partner, only this partner is forever.”

“Yeah, but – but, what about you? Isn’t there something you always wanted that this money can help with?”

“What I want doesn’t come from a slip of paper, or bank account; what I’ve always wanted was the gift derived from the man I love.”

“Can you be a little more specific?”

“How’s this. One day in the very near future I want to hold the likeness of the one I care for, the one that makes me catch my breath each time I sample the depth of his eyes, the strength of his face. I want to see that image in a new life, one I can hold in my arms, help evolve into a young man, just like his father.” There. She’d put into words the one thing Ben would never even consider. At thirty-six, her biological clock screamed for children, and she couldn’t think of another man more worthy of the honor than Reece. She only hoped her desire wouldn’t scare him away. After all, he’d yet to propose.

Reece drew her closer, so tight only the warmth of his tantalizing flesh fit between them. He inhaled her mild scent and penetrated her mouth with his tongue. “Yes, yes, I want that too, right now. We need to do it now.”

Lilah giggled like a teenager on her first date. “It doesn’t have to be this instant.”

“Yes it does, my love. I’m in my forties, you’re – I don’t want to wait. I’ve waited too damn long already.”

She locked on his expression then grinned. “Damn, you’re right. No time to waste.” She caressed down the length of his form, to the nape of his neck, enveloped one nipple then the next and paused. “But aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Like?”

“I always thought I needed to be more aggressive so …” She cupped his chin and ran the pad of her thumb over his stubbled flesh. “Will you marry me, Reece Edwards?”

“In a heartbeat. How does this afternoon sound to you?”

She laughed and stroked his heated skin. “Make it next weekend, and you have a date. I have other plans for this afternoon.”

“I think I’m marrying a wanton woman.”

“Guilty.”

He flipped her to her back, taking over what she’d started. “As long as I can…”

A faint sound stoked the fear constantly lurking around the edges of her subconscious, and she pressed a hand against his chest. “What’s that?”

“Not the snake thing again. He’s supposed to respond like that, Lilah. Every time you touch him, he’s going to…”

“No, listen.”

He refused to hear. “I swear to you, the only serpent between us is mine. Now stop playing silly games. You’re teasing the hell out of me.”

“No Reece, I’m serious. I hear something at the door.”

He shifted his attention toward listening. “Oh, that? It’s only Oscar.”

“Who the hell’s Oscar?”

“A local bandit. Bugs the neighbors from time to time. He’s a bit early this morning, but nothing to worry about.”

“Why don’t you just call the police, let them handle it.”

“He’s a raccoon, Lilah. A little critter trying to feed his family.”

“Are you sure?”

Reece reached up to the shotgun stored in the rack above his bed. “All right, I didn’t want to kill the little fellow, but if he scares you…”

She stopped his arm. “No, don’t shoot him. Just make sure – please, just shoo him away.”

“Sure, glad to.” Reece crawled from beneath the covers and motioned for her to remain in the room. “Stay there. Hopefully we can re-initialize the launch sequence when I get back.” He waggled his brows before strutting into the next room like a proud warrior.

Twenty Five

Three feet from the bedroom doorframe, in the shadows formed by the dim morning light reflected off the mirrored surface of the lake, Reece caught sight of a silhouette,  not that of a critter, but a man, one with a raised arm directed straight at him. Instinctively, he grabbed the lamp by the couch and hurled it at the center mass of the dark form. The dark form tried to dodge, but Reece’s aim was dead on. An object dislodged from the man’s hand and slid across the floor.

Reece lunged at his target and knocked him into the lounge chair. Together, both tumbled into the wall, and struggled for control of the pistol with the two-inch silencer attached to its barrel. The intruder kneed Reece in the groin, and he instantly collapsed to the rug. The man lifted the gun to fire.

The room exploded with fire and smoke, like the blast from a fireworks display. Reese recognized the discharge as too massive for a pistol but instead from a 12-gauge shotgun. He turned to the image of Lilah’s exquisitely naked form back dropped against the doorway, legs spread, the smoking barrel poised and ready to deliver another two ounce load of double ought buckshot into the face of a dead man.

He issued a single word. “Jesus.”

In a voice verging between anger and hysteria, Lilah shuttered. “Is he dead?”

Reece considered the mess of torn teeth, veins and flesh mangled into what was a human jaw and neck just twenty seconds ago. “I’d say so.”

She dropped the weapon into the chair, scurried across the room, and collapsed into his lap. “I was so afraid.”

 “Of what, Annie Oakley. You blew his ass away. Damn, you’re kind of handy to have around, you know that?”

She trembled within his arms. “No, not for me, I meant for you. I thought he was going to kill you. I just got you into my life, and I don’t…”

Reece held her firmly against his body and rubbed up and down her arms. “I confess. That was close, but I have a wedding I don’t plan on missing, so I would have figured something out.”

One minute you’re my defender, the next, so vulnerable. God I love you, Lilah.

She sniffled. “Now what do we do?”

“Call the Sheriff, but first, let’s do a little investigating of our own.” He tried to stand, but she wouldn’t let go of his neck. Reece pushed up against the wall, maintained his left arm around his mate, stepped four feet to the corpse and examined the contents of the murder’s body.

He removed a slip of crumbled paper and read aloud. “$30,000, both women, not before the Tdrive.” Reece made eye contact with Lilah. “God Lilah, there was a hit on you and Ashley. I know it’s difficult, but do you recognize the guy, maybe his frame, hair, height, his eyes; does he look familiar?”

Her vision flashed for a microsecond across the carnage then returned to Reece. “He could have been the man that knocked me down outside the apartment just before I discovered Ben’s body…. Yes, I think he was the man.” Lilah removed the note from his fingers and touched one word with her forefinger. “What if he’s already gotten to Ashley?”

Reece shook his head. “No. The note says not before Tdrive, and we have the damned files. You have to believe Ashley’s all right.”

Her lips tilted slightly. “You’re right. I have to think positive.”

“Let’s see why the Kingpin thought that disk was worth killing for. Where’s the data unit?”

“Whoops. I was so excited when I found it, I just ran over here to share the news. It’s still at my house in my suitcase.”

He rose to his feet and extended one hand downward. “Let’s get dressed and go get it.”

Twenty Six

Lilah pointed to the PC on her desk. “You boot up the computer, and I’ll be right back with the envelope I discovered in my artist briefcase.”

Reece did as ordered. The screen saver popped up and caught him breathless. In the center, in vivid color, stood the focus of her distant obsession; the one that now held her heart as she did his. The photograph depicted Reece, his body reflecting every droplet of sweat from the sun overhead, muscles straining, twisting, as he worked on his second love, the
Jenny May
.

Damn, how lucky can one man be?

“Oh, forgot about that picture. Sorry.” Lilah reached across his right shoulder. “Here’s the packet I found in…”

Reece spun in place and pulled her body into his lap. “Sorry? What the hell for; loving me?” He softly cupped her left breast, not with lustful intent, rather with adoration. “Don’t ever apologize for keeping me in your heart, Angel. It’s what I’ve… no, it’s what we both were deprived of for too long, and now will share for eternity.” He gently caressed both eyelids before plummeting her sweet mouth, tasting every corner, every crevice until he felt her nipple respond beneath the blouse.

He pulled back, surveyed her visage of contentment flavored with arousal. Gradually, two sparkling emeralds peered back.

She moistened her lips. “Nice.”

“I love you, Lilah.”

She caressed his face with her fingertips. “I know, Reece, I know.”

Two mates bonded, visually, tactically, separated from the world, except for the heat exchanged between their bodies; neither wishing to end the contact. Finally he realized the purpose of their mission in her office. “Oh, the envelope. Let’s see what we have.”

Lilah took one more kiss and moved into the chair by his side. He torn off the end of the package, shook out the contents, and twirled the three-inch device in his fingers. “Just as you surmised, it’s a thumb drive. Whatever was serious enough to warrant someone taking a contract on the Senator, as well as repeatedly trying to gain access to you, must be contained in here. Your husband figured no one would suspect a beat up old briefcase full of art supplies. Why should they? Didn’t make sense to the kingpin that you’d be involved in it.”

“In what?”

“That’s what we’re about to find out.” Reece inserted the storage unit into the USB port of the computer and clicked twice on the screen icon. A directory popped onto the screen.

Lilah encircled her fingers around his free hand. “What is it?”

“Not sure yet.” He pointed to the folder entitled
correspondence
. “Looks like a list of communiqués between elements within an organization. This one over here…” Reece moved the cursor two lines down to the word
Oghma IOC Tests.
“Well I’ll be damned.”

“What?”

“Remember what we discussed when we were sailing the first time?”

She displayed a Cheshire grin. “Sorry, but my mind and body were attentive on other things. You need to be more specific.”

“The avionics system I mentioned, the one I supported just before leaving the service; it was called Oghma. That can’t be happenstance; they have to be one and the same. And look,” he pointed at the designator at the top of the directory,
Para-sonar, Inc
. “it’s the same company you referred to that night.”

Lilah’s expression reflected a stone cold realization of the complex web of deception beginning to unfold before their eyes. Finally, her mouth released the kernel from which all her nightmares emanated with two words. “Pierce Ackland.”