Dream Huntress (A Dreamseeker novel) (Entangled Ignite) (8 page)

He smiled, cockiness all over his face. “Just think about it. I’m not asking for a commitment.” He leaned in close to her ear. “But I think, together, we’d really be something.”

“Out,” she managed with a huge gulp of air and an enormous degree of willpower.

“But I didn’t get any cheesecake.” He pulled his head back and grinned.

She went to the table, grabbed the cheesecake, and then shoved the box at him. “Good night.”

“Good night, Jordan.” He winked. “I’ll be in touch.”

She heard him whistle when she closed the door.

It was a goddamned train wreck.

“Well done, Jordan,” she muttered to herself, crawling into bed a few minutes later. “You really couldn’t have screwed this one up more if you tried.”

…

Her long, dark hair danced on the breeze as the beautiful girl swung in the moonlight under the huge, old oak tree.

The boy watched, then walked to his car and cleaned football gear out of his back seat. After stashing the athletic bag in his trunk, he grabbed two beers from a cooler and a small vial filled with clear liquid.

Looking unsure, he poured the liquid into one of the beers, then added a little more and a little more.

“Free sex, no strings,” he murmured. “Wear a condom. Put her clothes back on. Dump her by the swing and let her sleep it off like it never happened. She’ll never remember.”

He opened a small plastic vial, stuck in a pinky, brought a crust of fine white powder to his nostril, and snorted.

Walking back to the swing, he smiled at the girl. Then he handed her the tainted beer and teased her for drinking too slowly.

When she fell dizzy from the swing, he caught her. Laid her unconscious body in his car and drove to the middle of nowhere. When the car was safely hidden in the trees, he killed the engine.

He moved to the back seat, but she began to groan a woozy protest even before he had her clothes off.

“Shut up.” Covering her mouth with a hand, he plowed into her quickly. He squeezed her throat to stop her sobs while he rutted like a wild animal.

She clawed at his wrists and bit his ear. “My daddy will kill you.”

One blow, then two, the third finally hard enough to stun her into silence. When it was over, he collapsed on top of her. But as he pulled up his pants, the unused condom fell from his pocket.

“Oh shit.” He’d forgotten the condom. Blood from his ear dripped on the girl’s chest. He swiped at it with his shirt. He’d left his signature at the scene of the crime. They’d have his DNA.

The girl groaned again. “You’ll pay. I know who you are,” she whispered. “I’ll always remember what you did.”

“It wasn’t supposed to end this way, but fuck, you left me no choice.” He pulled her from the car, put his shaking hands around her neck. “I’m sorry,” he said as sweat streaked down his face. “You can’t remember. I can’t let you remember.”

Chapter Five

“You can’t even get a good cup of coffee in this stupid, flipping, one-horse town.” Jordan ranted and slurped down an energy drink after the teenage disaster with a nose and tongue piercing at the Stop and Go said, “We stop selling coffee at three o’clock.”

“Idiot,” Jordan rambled to herself as she walked back to her car. “It’s like three-oh-four, honest to God.”

After her rotten luck with Lewis, her rotten judgment with Ty, and the rotten nightmare that apparently wasn’t going to go away quietly, her mood was, well—rotten. God help the drunken ass who laid a hand on her today.

Her eyes felt gritty and swollen with fatigue. The nightmare had started the second her head hit the pillow. In the past, she’d normally get a couple hours of sleep before they’d begin. Not willing to risk an encore performance of the gruesome vision, she’d stayed up the rest of the night, searching the database.

Nothing.

She didn’t usually feel this out of sorts so early in an investigation. Maybe by the end of a case, she’d find herself down a few pounds and on the verge of exhaustion. That was to be expected. But she’d only just begun this mission, trying to get a feel for the town and the people, and already the mental and physical fatigue were whispering in her ear.

The injury and concussion were unexpected. So was the disturbing and graphic nature of the latest dreams. Normally, they came slower, in bits and pieces, but these had shot right out of the gates with a powerful, sickening vengeance.

Victims communicated with her, it was just a fact. A reality she couldn’t escape.

It followed that the more violent and disturbing the crime, the more violent and disturbing the vision. But this girl, the beautiful one in the dream, just wouldn’t let go of her. Even after she woke, the girl’s soft, innocent eyes and long, dark hair were constant visuals in her mind. It was bad enough dreaming about these people, but it was something else entirely to realize she felt a connection with this girl. A bond she’d never had before. Some kind of link that went deeper than the murder.

Jordan pulled into the parking lot of Buck’s at three-twenty. Her shift didn’t start until four. Since she’d never had a dream in a car, she figured maybe she could get through a ten minute power nap without the beautiful mystery girl staring her in the face. She dozed off until her cell vibrated.

“Hello.” She wasn’t completely coherent when she answered.

“Explain.”

“What? Who is this?” Jordan asked.

“Who the fuck do you think it is?” The angry slap shot through Bahan’s voice and stirred Jordan awake. “It’s the person that’s getting ready to end you if you don’t have a damned good reason for ignoring my instructions.”

FBI Special Agent Ted Bahan had to remind her he was in charge.
Again.
It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Bahan was skilled, connected, organized, and had more experience and seniority than just about anyone she worked with. She had complete confidence in his ability to be in charge.

The fact that he had worked with her for almost ten years and didn’t return the sentiment still rankled. Not once had she given him a reason to doubt her capabilities. But when two of her guys—cops from her department, men she worked side by side with—had been killed in St. Louis while in deep cover on this China White investigation, Bahan had tried to pull her from the task force.

She’d busted her ass for the last year, hunting the prime source of China White, while Bahan had been content on the bureaucratic outer edge until her colleagues had been killed. And unfortunately, understanding his argument that she was too emotionally involved to continue did absolutely nothing to fix the betrayal in her gut.

“Chill, Bahan,” she said. “First of all, you’re not my captain. We’re supposed to be partnering on an investigation.”

Silence. Bahan’s mouth could cut just as sharply as hers, so she knew the silent treatment was not a sign of good things to come.

“Second,” she continued, “you may be heading up this thing, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean I’ve surrendered all authority and my right to make a decision on the fly when I feel it’s necessary. I’ve been doing this kind of work damn near as long as you have.”

Still more silence. He’d be sitting at his desk, knee bobbing like a jackhammer, jaw clenched. She’d seen him like that before, but his temper wasn’t usually directed at her.

“Okay, look,” she said. “We agreed that we couldn’t all roll into town at the same time without throwing up red flags. It’s a small community; people notice things. You need to trust my judgment. We also agreed I could apply for the job at Buck’s just to see if he’d hire me. I had no way of knowing he’d ask me to start immediately.”

“Really? I thought we agreed that if he hired you, you were going to tell him you couldn’t start until after Thanksgiving, until I had time to safely integrate my surveillance team.”

“That was your plan. Mine was to get my foot in the door any way I could. He was short-staffed and wanted someone right away,” she explained. “I couldn’t take the chance he’d find another girl for the job.”

“And it simply slipped your mind to update me? Listen, hotshot, I don’t roll this way. I know you’re pissed at me. I get it. And I’ve seen you pull some risky stunts before, but this is over the top, even for you. This borders on asinine. You’re in a strip club, in the middle of nowhere, not wearing a wire, with no backup. I’m not sure what it is you’re trying to prove—”

“I have backup.” When she realized she’d yelled at him, she took a deep breath and choked back the emotions. “I saw an opportunity, and I took it. The two local cops involved with the case said they’d back me up, just until you get here. We’re talking what, a week until Thanksgiving?”

“Oh, well, fuck me then. What in the world am I worried about? Two country cops and a renegade detective. What could possibly go wrong?”

His sarcasm made her temper flare. “You know, the FBI always claims they’ll partner with local law enforcement, work as a team, but there’s no partnering with you guys. It’s your way or no way. It was
my
information that led us here.” She took a breath, trying to level out her voice. “It was
my
two cops who were killed trying to pinpoint where the flood of China White was coming from, and knowing all that, you still tried to yank this case away from me.”

They were both silent, the only sound Bahan’s heavy sigh. “It won’t bring ’em back, Jordan. You can fuck yourself up seven ways to Sunday, and it won’t accomplish a damn thing other than one more dead cop. I won’t sit back and let that happen. I fought for control of this task force, because I was worried about your objectivity. Looks like I had just cause.”

He sighed into the phone again. “You lie to me one more time, and you’re done. Completely done.”

“I didn’t lie to you,” she growled, knowing full well that she had. “Buck asked me to start. I said yes.”

“But you didn’t tell me, Jordan.”

“I’m training. Just a few hours a night, a couple nights a week. You have no reason to worry, and he has no reason to be suspicious, because I really am only waiting tables at this point.”

“Still, you ended up in a hospital and didn’t report it.”

Damn. The information the man could gather was just scary. “I didn’t need to. I’m fine.”

“So that’s the game we’re playing now?” Someone who didn’t know him might have said the question sounded calm, almost passive. But Jordan recognized the danger lingering in the cool words. “You want to challenge me, hotshot? I’ll be in your chief’s office so fast, you won’t have time to blink. How’s he going to like it when I tell him his golden child has been removed from a federal task force for being unwilling to follow simple safety procedures?”

“You wouldn’t dare. This is
my
investigation.”

“Wrong. This is
our
investigation,
partner.
While you’re in Titus, I’m responsible.”

She was familiar with this particular tone of voice, knew she wasn’t going to win. Better to cut her losses and suck it up. “All right, all right. Let’s both just calm down. I got pushed by a drunk customer and stumbled and hit my head. That was it. Some guy drove me to the hospital to get a couple of stitches. I don’t know where you got your information, but it wasn’t anything more than that.”

“Hello, McFly. You’re still not listening. The lab confirmed the heroin confiscated in Titus matches the stuff your people confiscated in St. Louis last month. Arlo Buck has a nasty and powerful connection. His drugs are fingering off into bigger cities. He’ll have a game plan. He’ll have plenty of people watching his back. More than likely, a few of them will be local cops. Trust no one.”

“Bahan, I get it. I have about ten minutes to get somewhere, and I can’t be late.”

“Buck’s? Are you planning to work at the club tonight?”

“No.” She stared up at Buck’s huge neon sign. “I’m…doing something else. Look, I need you to shut up and listen for a second. Did you get my email? I want every last detail you can put together on Tyler McGee. I’m sorry I don’t have specifics yet. But he’s an ex-cop for the Longdale PD. Around thirty. Probably lives in Cooper or Longdale.”

“Jordan, I’m telling you to be careful.”

“I’m always careful. Are you writing it down?”

“I don’t need to write it down, I already have wheels in motion on that information.
Now
you
shut up and listen to me. I want you to stay out of Buck’s for the next week. Tell him you’re leaving town for the holiday. Tell him you’re sick. I don’t care, just fix it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay. I’ll figure something out.” She disconnected.

She studied the back door of the nightclub. Her back still ached from the Lewis incident. She could use it as an excuse, but she didn’t want to. She knew how quickly things could go wrong on an undercover, knew she was probably being stubborn, but she was only waiting tables.

She walked inside the bar with a throbbing headache. The jolt of caffeine from the energy drink had done nothing to wake her up but
had
succeeded in giving her a nice case of the jitters. In all honesty, she probably should have stayed home. Working here wore at her patience when she was in good form. Tonight, she’d be lucky not to kill someone.

“Jordan, over here.”

Warren and Arlo Buck were sitting at a table near the bar. They motioned for her.
Great.
She mentally prepared herself as she walked toward them. Warren would pull her down onto his lap, put his hands somewhere inappropriate, and make all sorts of suggestive comments. Obviously, sexual harassment training hadn’t made its way to Titus.

Warren’s attraction to her had been anything but subtle. She tolerated it. Most of the time, she even encouraged it and made an attempt to flirt back. Getting close to him was the next best thing to getting close to Buck. In fact, he’d probably be much easier to get past. His old man’s radar always seemed to be on alert. Warren was too self-absorbed to even have radar. But today had largely sucked in all directions already.

“You doing okay?” Buck asked.

Before she had a chance to answer, Warren picked up her hand and spun her around until she tumbled onto his lap. She jolted as a sharp pain shot through her back.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Warren said. “Are you still hurting? Holy shit,” he said when he lifted the back of her shirt. “That’s some bruise.”

Buck even raised an eyebrow as he looked at the bright, colorful spot that had formed across the center of her spine. “You gonna be able to work?” he asked.

Decision time. She could play up the injury, take a few days, make Bahan happy. Instead she said, “Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

Warren stroked her back with the tips of his fingers, gentle circles around and around the bruise. “If Lewis ever shows his drunk, stupid self around here again, I’ll kick the shit out of him.”

“Aw,” Jordan cooed, “you’d be my knight in shining armor? You’re so sweet.” She shifted and put an arm around his neck, then kissed his cheek. “Such a good friend.”

Warren ate it up like a starving man, and his hands suddenly seemed to be on a mission to touch as much of her bare skin as possible.

“I better get to work,” she said.

“Wait.” He wrapped his arms around her and spoke softly in her ear. “I was wondering if you had plans for Thanksgiving?”

“Turkey potpie and a bottle of wine.” She smiled. “I don’t really have any family.”

“Yeah, I thought that’s what you said. I wondered if you’d like to come to our house for Thanksgiving dinner?”

Maybe today was her lucky day after all. She knew Buck’s main office was in his home, and she was dying to poke around in there. She’d wondered how she’d ever score an invitation to their house.

“Warren, that’s so sweet, but are you sure it’s okay?” She looked at Buck. “Thanksgiving is for family.”

Buck had an ever-so-slight smile on his face. “It’s the least we can do after letting you get roughed up last night.”

“Well, I’d love to. You guys are just the best,” she said, hugging Warren again. “Should I make a dish?”

…

Ty was huddled in a corner of Buck’s, introducing himself to his crew of bouncers. He turned when he heard the back door open and slam shut.

Jordan walked in and slipped off her jacket. Everything inside him tightened. She wore a little black tank top and black denim shorts. Her hair was pulled back into one long, sleek, blond ponytail, with just enough left in front to cover her stitches.

Her hair was styled completely different, but the same ache that had surfaced the first time he caught sight of her flared again. Like a sucker punch in the gut, it caught him off guard. Recognizing how deeply she affected him from even thirty feet away was not a good thing. He had an agenda, a reason for being here that shouldn’t have anything to do with a sexy cocktail waitress.