Mine To Have (Mine - Romantic Suspense Book 5) (11 page)

“Then why is she still living?”

She might not be…not for much longer.
Saxon hadn’t answered his phone.

Worry gnawed at Victor. “I’m going to check in with Saxon,” Victor said flatly. “The guy didn’t answer my call, so I have to find out what the hell is going on.”

“You don’t think…he’s all right, isn’t he?”  Alarm sharpened Gary’s voice. “I mean, we already lost one FBI agent in the last month—”

And Jenny’s funeral had been brutal. “We won’t lose another,” Victor swore. “I’m going in after him.  I’ll call you once the situation is contained.” And contained meant that Saxon wasn’t off playing some lone gunman routine. They’d bring Elizabeth in, put her in a safe house, and go forward from there.

Provided, of course, that he didn’t get out to that cabin and find Saxon’s dead body waiting for him.

He didn’t just walk back to his car. He fucking ran. 

***

Gary Warren stepped back into the shadows of the alley and watched Victor rush away.  A faint smile curved his lips. The guy was so clueless. He thought he was a big fucking deal at the Bureau. But the guy was all flash. He didn’t look beneath the surface enough, never saw anything without Gary’s help.

And now, you don’t see me.

Gary hadn’t needed to look up Elizabeth’s past. He was already real familiar with it.  Intimately so.

But he had needed Victor’s help for one thing…finding her. And Saxon.

Gary waited until Victor had left the lot, then he pulled out his phone again. He’d put a transmitter on Victor’s  car, an easy enough placement while the guy had been in The Blade. Now all he had to do was stay within range and follow that guy all the way to Saxon’s hiding spot.

Then, Elizabeth…you die.

Over the years, he’d always prided himself on being a professional. If he took a job, then he got that job done. Period. He’d been hired to kill the Wards—all three of them. But Elizabeth had escaped…vanished for two years.

Until she’d shown up—quite literally—in Wesley Locke’s lap.  Wesley had once been part of Luther’s payroll, and when the guy made the connection, he had run straight to the big boss, squealing about how
he
should get credit for her hit.

No one gets credit for my kills.

But then Wesley had changed his mind. Gone soft. Said that Elizabeth wasn’t hurting anyone, that she should go free.

By then, it had been too late for such foolish talk.  And with Wesley waffling, well, he’d had to die, too.

You kill once, and then the dominoes start falling.
It was a good thing he’d always been so good at dominoes.

When he’d taken out Elizabeth’s parents two years ago, she’d been at the house when he did his reconnaissance work. He’d gone there, spilled his usual BS about installing a security system, even as he really cased the house and got a good look at the cars while planning his hit.

Since Elizabeth hadn’t died—
like she should have—
he’d worried for years that she would remember him.  That she’d put the puzzle pieces together, and then his secret double life would be exposed.  That hell would be brought out into the open.

The hit on the Ward family had been a big one—worth one million dollars. That hit should have set him up for life, but Luther hadn’t paid him.
Because I didn’t take out the daughter.

But when Elizabeth died, he’d finally get his big pay day. And he’d finally be able to sleep at night without wondering…

Does she remember me?

Unfortunately, Victor and Saxon would also have to die in the coming battle. Two FBI agents—gunned down while protecting an innocent woman. Ah, he was sure their funeral services would be just lovely.

If he tried hard enough, he figured that he’d even be able to muster up a tear or two. He’d always been such a fine actor.  

Chapter Eight

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes. She’d fallen asleep, just…sank into darkness after that last orgasm.  And she had no idea how long she’d been out.  She pushed up—the light coming through that window didn’t seem as strong. Was the sun getting ready to set?  Frowning, she looked back down at the bed, and she saw that Saxon was by her side.

His hand was curved around her stomach. His body pressed closely to her own.

She caught herself staring at him.
Great, now I’m pulling the stalker routine. Watching the guy while sleeps.

But he was rather cute when he slept.

Then she heard the unmistakable growl of an engine, one that was driving far too fast. Coming far too close.

Saxon’s eyes flew open. There was no sleepiness in his stare. His gaze was completely aware—and deadly.  Before she could speak, he leapt from the bed. He yanked on his jeans and grabbed a gun from under the table.

Wait, under the table? The guy had actually taped a gun beneath his table?

“Saxon?” She rose, her own movements slow and jerky as she searched for her clothes.  She put on her skirt, blood-stains and all, but she didn’t grab her shirt. She used his, instead. Then she hopped and put on the tennis shoes he’d brought her. “What’s going on?” That growling engine was getting louder and louder.
Closer and closer.

He peered out the window. “I fell asleep.”

“Um, we both did.”  After earth-shattering, mind-numbing sex. The first time in her life that she’d had the mind-numbing variety of sex.

“I
never
fall asleep with a lover.”

His words hurt her. Why, she wasn’t sure.
Maybe because it sounds like I’m just one in a line.

“Missed my damn check-in with Vic. Now either he’s hauling ass out here…” His gaze slashed over to meet hers. “Or someone else has found us.”

Please let it just be Vic.

He whirled back toward the window.  He searched the area outside. “I don’t have a visual on the vehicle, not yet.”

She inched closer to him. The floor creaked beneath her feet, and she saw Saxon’s shoulders stiffen.  He had scars on his shoulders. On his back. She hadn’t even noticed those before. They were slashes. From a knife?  Her hand reached out to touch him.

“Go in the bathroom and shut the door. Don’t come out unless you hear me call for you.”

He was still staring out the window.

“I won’t let them get you,” he promised.

But…what about him?  He’d handled himself easily back at the motel, but the guy wasn’t immortal.  The scars on his back were testimony to the pain he’d endured. “Let me help you.”

He shook his head. “Help me by getting to cover and—” His breath expelled in a rush. “Victor’s rental car.”

Relief made her a little dizzy. “Then we’re okay.”  No bad guys had found her location. They were still safe.

“You’re okay,” he muttered. “Vic is probably about to rip me a new one.”

The engine died. She heard a car door slam.

“Yeah, it’s Vic,” Saxon said as he leaned closer to the window. “And he looks pissed.”

Wait, didn’t he always look that way? Elizabeth wasn’t sure if she’d seen other expressions cross his face.

“And he’s coming in armed.”  Saxon swore and hurried to open the cabin’s door. “Vic, it’s all right, man! You don’t need to rush in, guns blazing!”

But Victor did rush right in. He shoved Saxon back over the threshold of that cabin, then he slammed the door shut. “
What. The. Fuck?”
Fury was stamped on his face.  “You had a check-in. You never miss a check-in with me.”

Saxon slanted a look at Elizabeth. “I fell asleep.”

The fury on Victor’s face warred with shock. “You did what?”

Saxon shook his head. “I’m sorry, man. I made a mistake.”

Elizabeth inched back a bit. The floor decided to creak beneath her once more.

And that little creak had Victor’s gaze snapping toward her. “
You.”

Oh, hell.

Victor took a menacing step toward her. As she stared at his face, she thought “pissed” might have been the wrong term to describe him. Enraged worked far better.

‘”I thought my brother was dead.”

“Your brother?” Her voice came out as a rasp.  She was confused and growing more nervous by the moment. “Look, Agent Monroe, I don’t know your brother.”

He growled then.
Growled.
“I think you were fucking him…and that’s why my brother forgot to check the hell in. Not because of some bull about falling asleep.”

Saxon and Victor were brothers? She’d got that the two men were friends, but—brothers?

Before she could question him further—and tell the guy that any fucking was
not
his business, brothers or not—Victor whirled back toward Saxon. “You’re a federal agent. Protocol demands—”

“I’m not an agent, not anymore. I already told you that Taggert was my last job. Since he’s dead, I’m out.”

Only…he’d been staying there with her. Protecting her.

“Sorry I didn’t check in, but mistakes happen.” Saxon shrugged, not looking the least bit intimidated in the face of Victor’s glare. “Elizabeth and I are alive, so you need to calm the hell down.” And some anger—hot and heavy—entered his voice as he said, “And I don’t like the way you just talked to her, either.”

“Neither did I!” Elizabeth snapped.

Victor glared over at her. She glared right back. “Don’t yell at me, and don’t talk about my sex life!” Her chin notched up. “You don’t know me well enough for crap like that.”

Victor shook his head. Then he shook it again, as if he just couldn’t make sense out of what was happening around him. “People are dying,” he said, “while you two are out here playing house.”

They weren’t playing house.  A faint sound reached Elizabeth’s ears. She glanced over at the window. But…then she didn’t hear the sound again.

“We’re damn aware there is a target on her,” Saxon said as he took a step toward Victor. “And I’m doing you a favor by keeping Elizabeth alive.”

Wait. Hold the freaking phone.
“Did you just say I was a favor?”  Hurt was there, splintering across her chest. Because she’d thought…
never mind.

Saxon’s head jerked toward her. “Elizabeth…” He looked lost for a moment. Confused.  “No, that’s not what I meant.” His hand raked through his hair. “Look—”

Victor holstered his gun and shoved Saxon in the chest with his hand.  “No,
you look.
Those three bastards who came after you at the motel? The ones you wanted me to find? I already found them. It was real easy, considering their bodies were left in room number thirteen.”

No, that wasn’t possible. Elizabeth shivered even as she said, “You’re lying. They were alive when we left.”

“No, Ms. Ward, I’m not lying.” He didn’t glance over at her, but kept his attention on Saxon. “Those men are dead. They were all shot, and their bodies were dumped in your motel room. Someone killed all three of them
and
took out the kid who was working at the check-in desk.”

This was horrible.  “Why?” Elizabeth demanded as a fist seemed to squeeze her heart. So many people…
dead.

Victor didn’t answer her. Just kept right on glaring at Saxon. So she marched across the room, grabbed his arm, and whirled the guy around to face her. “Why were they killed?”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “At first, I thought someone might be protecting you. Eliminating anyone who might threaten you.”

“The check-in clerk wasn’t any threat.” She’d never even seen him.

“If he could identify the killer, he was a threat.”

This was out of control.  Six people were dead now—
six! Taggert, Locke, the three men at the motel and…a desk clerk—some poor soul that I never even met!

“That’s what I thought, at first,” Victor continued. “That maybe someone was out there, eliminating any danger to you.”

“By killing?”

His head tilted as he studied her. “Then I learned about your parents.”

It was her turn to shake her head.

Saxon surged forward. “What do Elizabeth’s parents have to do with anything?”

“Luther Bates took out a hit on them.”

Those goosebumps on her arms turned into a full-on chill. “What? Luther Bates?” Yes, she knew the name. Who didn’t? The guy had made serious national headlines when he’d been arrested. It wasn’t every day that a drug kingpin like him went down.

“Drop the act,” Victor ordered. “You had to know he was the one who went after your mom. She tipped off the DA about him, and he sent out the hit on your whole family.”

She thought about slugging him because there was so much fury and pain twisting inside of her.  “My parents died in a car accident!”  And this guy was going to try and tell her that some drug kingpin had killed them? No way. No.  Car accidents happened.  They were sad and tragic but they just
happened.

“Their brake line was cut. It was no damn accident, and you
know
that. The cops said—”

“They said nothing to me about a hit being placed on my parents!”  Elizabeth was yelling. She had to stop that. She had to get her control back.  Her hands clenched into fists at her side. “They told me it was an accident.  That’s all. Accidents…they happen.”

“Then maybe they didn’t say anything to you because they didn’t have proof…maybe they thought you’d be safer if you didn’t know that Luther Bates had been gunning for you. Hell, ignorance can be bliss, right?” His face hardened. “But if it was just an accident, then why did you run out of town? You ran fast and you ran hard and you didn’t go back.”

Saxon was watching her, his gaze carefully guarded now. He was staring at her almost as if…as if she were a suspect or a criminal.
Not
the woman that he’d just made love with.

No, we didn’t make love. We had sex. We fucked.
Nothing more. Nothing less.

Nothing more…

“There wasn’t anything for me there. Why would I stay?  They were gone, and being there without them hurt.” She’d felt haunted in that old house. So she’d gone away, trying to run from the pain. Too late, she'd learned the pain followed her wherever she went.

“You had a hit on you, and you ran to stay safe,” Victor charged. “Only the bounty stayed on your head, and when you turned up here in Miami, someone made the connection and decided to collect. I’m betting Locke is the one who put the pieces of the puzzle together. He was a junior man in Luther’s organization a few years ago.”