Saved By A Stranger (7 page)

“
Now,” he whispered when
her hands fell away.

Her orgasm hit her in violent shivers and
she screamed out, bucking against him

He shuddered, his cock jerking as he spilled
his come. When he didn’t stop stroking her clit, she tried to
wrangle free but he held her in front of him, working her
sensitized flesh until another climax erupted, shocking in its
intensity. When her knees gave way, he caught her round the
middle.

“
I want to lie down, I
think,” she said, barely noticing how he hauled her into bed, still
wet from the shower. Curling up on the bed, she heard him moving
through the room and it dawned on her he might be thinking about
leaving.

“
Stay, please,” she heard
herself say, voice small. “Stay the entire night.”

“
I can’t, Liz. I have to—”
He stopped, drawing in a hard breath. The mattress gave way as he
slid on top of the bed. His arm wrapped around her chest as he
pulled her against him. “Forget it. Sleep,” he murmured against the
nape of her neck.

“
Only if you promise not to
sneak away if I do,” she said, feeling his mouth twist to a smile
against her skin.

“
Sleep. Everything will be
fine, I promise.”

“
Liar,” she whispered, but
he stroked her back and pulled the sheets up, his body warmth
enveloping her until she sighed with contentment and gave in to the
illusion he would be staying, and protect her.

Chapter Eight

She woke with a start.

Reassuring herself he was next to her, she
reached to her side.

The bed sheet was cool underneath her palm,
not even a trace of him lingered. And nothing felt remotely
fine.

And the black notebook was propped up on her
nightstand, a handwritten note stuck to the cover.

She picked up the note, read it. Read it
again. And again because it wasn’t making any sense. Underneath a
phone number, he had scrawled,
Call Simon Parker and tell him
everything.
You can
trust him.

P.S. Don’t burn down the house.

P.P.S. You look cute asleep.

The note fluttered from her fingers as she
got out of bed.

Stepping in front of the dresser mirror, she
pulled her hair away from her face into a small ponytail and
secured it with an elastic. Her dark eyes seemed huge and she
critically observed the dark circles, the fine net of wrinkles
etched into the skin underneath her eyes.

It didn’t matter that Ben had left her,
taking with him all the warmth and joy she’d felt when she had
fallen asleep in his arms. He’d left her alone to deal with her
confused feelings, with the budding hope he was also feeling a
connection that went beyond sex.

And he’d left her alone to deal with the
book.

Simon Parker, she thought. The name was
familiar… The DEA guy from the website. Quickly she booted her
computer and loaded the bookmarked site. She wanted answers and
they were just a phone call away.

She picked up the note from the floor,
grabbed her cell phone, punched the string of numbers before she
changed her mind. Drumming her fingertips on the closed book, she
heard a brisk “Parker, how can I help?”

“
This is Liz Walker,” she
rushed out. “And I have information about Ben Chase and about a
certain notebook. In fact,” she closed her fingers around the worn
leather binding, “I’m holding the book in my hand.”

Dead silence greeted her on the other line
then she heard something clatter in the background as if a chair
had toppled over. She allowed herself a small smile, wondering if
they had started tracking her phone to locate her, like they did in
the movies.

Then she heard someone let out a long
breath. “Ms. Walker, please call me Simon, and do exactly as she
say. Don’t move away from your phone, stay on the line and tell me
again what you hold in your hand.”

Despite everything, she laughed. “Simon,”
she said, “call me Liz. I am in the possession of Mr. Fuentes’
notebook.”

“
If this is the case,” he
answered, “I
will
be your best friend for the rest of your
life.”

* * * * *

Exactly sixteen minutes later, she opened
the door for Simon Parker and a SWAT team.

They swarmed her place without regard for
her personal space, without showing her a search warrant, without
even sparing her a glance, except for one wiry man dressed in dark
slacks and a crisp gray shirt with rolled-up cuffs.

It had been easy spotting Simon, who was the
only one not wearing black or carrying a gun and because he greeted
her with the words, “The book.”

“
Why the National Guard?”
she replied, but gave him what he asked for.

He carefully leafed through it, and it was
as if a weight dropped from his shoulders, the sharp furrows on his
forehead suddenly smooth. He barked out a genuine-sounding
laugh—which lasted about three seconds—then he yelled at someone
named Drake and dropped the book inside a plastic bag.

The SWAT team filed out of her shop and
apartment in the same efficient way they had streamed into it.

“
Very well,” Simon said,
“and now we have time to chat.”

“
You’re not going to arrest
me?” she asked, only half joking.

Simon shrugged. “Let’s not get ahead of
ourselves here,” he said, taking her by the elbow, throwing a
glance around. “Anywhere where we can sit?”

She nodded to the staircase. “Upstairs,” she
said, and began climbing the stairs.

He followed, his footsteps sounding hollow.
Deep unease settled over her and it wasn’t easy to shake off the
notion she was somehow guilty as sin.

“
Sorry for the mess,” she
said. “I think I’d like to have a tea, if you don’t mind. Want some
too?” she vanished into the kitchen, heart racing.

When she came back, she settled down on the
bed with a hot mug in her hand while Simon sat at her desk, his
face again inscrutable and no trace was left from his previous joy.
She must have imagined it.

“
What happened here,” he
asked. “A fight?”

She followed his gaze, noting the torn-up
bed, the ropes, torn clothes on the floor.

Ben trusted this hard man whose features
weren’t unpleasant, far from it, but everything about Simon Parker
screamed that he saw the world in black and white, good and bad,
guilty and innocent. She somehow doubted that he allowed for gray
areas.

“
Why would Ben ask me to
tell you everything,” she asked quietly.

“
I have no idea, Liz,” he
replied. “I didn’t even know you knew him. But why don’t you start
at the beginning and stop with when you gave me the
call?”

“
Off the
record?”

“
Sure,” he said, kicking
off his shoes as if to show her he wasn’t on duty.

“
How long have you known
Ben?” she asked, wondering how many had fallen for this
shoes-off-see-I’m-off-duty
trick.

“
I’ve known Ben since I
married into his family.”

When she stared at him for too long, her
mind still trying to compute his remark, he said, “Ben was the best
man at my wedding. I’m married to his sister and he is my
daughter’s godfather.

“
Whatever you have to tell
me,” he said, leaning forward, “it will stay in this
room.”

“
Ben told me to trust
you.”

“
Then why don’t
you?”

And in a leap of faith, she did just
that.

* * * * *

An hour and a half later, she got up from
the bed to tip her cold tea into the sink. Stretching her legs,
muscles stiff, she felt utterly exhausted.

Making herself a fresh tea, more to give
herself something to do than anything else, she tried to collect
her thoughts. Simon had declined every offer for food or drink, and
still sat with his crossed legs at her desk. Now he stood and
proved that he was only human too when he stretched his arms,
joints popping.

“
Bottom line, Liz, the
streets are safer tonight because of you.”

“
What happens next?” she
asked, taking a sip of tea and burning her tongue.

“
I’ll write my report, the
Writer will get a life sentence once he’s back on his feet, and my
wife is scheduled to leave the hospital in two days. As far as I am
concerned, life is good.”

She shared a smile with him, seeing the
stars in his eyes as he mentioned his wife. For a man like him, she
thought, it must have ripped his heart apart that the killer sent
for him had found a cruel new mark in his wife Gabrielle.

“
In your report, how big a
role will I play,” she said, and added, “or Ben?”

He gave a sigh. “Liz, you turned in the
notebook. You are at the front and center of it. Ben, however,
won’t be.” There was a hard edge in his voice.

“
But Ben was just the first
at the scene when Gabrielle was shot,” she said, trying to catch
his eye. “You never honestly believed he shot his own
sister?”

He made an impatient gesture. “Of course
not, but he had inside information he wasn’t sharing. Then he
vanished completely. I had to put him on our wanted list.”

“
But not
anymore?”

“
Well, we’ll see about
that,” he said. “If you hadn’t told me what happened inside the
hotel, I’d have never guessed. The security tapes are gone and will
stay gone knowing Ben. I wish he hadn’t taken things into his own
hands.”

“
But he was successful,”
she said quietly. “Without him, you wouldn’t have the
notebook.”

“
You forget who I am
working for. I am perfectly aware of my brother-in-law’s
questionable past, and it is only for the benefit of my wife that I
overlook
,” he nearly choked on the word, “his past. But
allowing him to take justice into his own hands is not something I
will allow. Not if I already had undercover agents and informants
drawing the net tighter and tighter.”

“
But your wife was shot,”
she whispered, trying to understand his cold logic when Ben actions
had proven to be successful—if a tad on the unlawful side. “If it
had been one of my loved ones…” she didn’t finish the sentence
because she believed in an eye for an eye.

“
And this is why I
represent the law, and not you or Ben,” he said coolly, making her
swallow and hope she’d never be on his Most Wanted list.

“
If Mr. Fuentes isn’t the
respected businessman I thought him to be, why was he offering me a
business deal? Was it all a scam?”

“
He probably scoped you out
beforehand.” He shook his head. “He did have a solid reputation in
some circles. He laundered drug money by investing in legit
businesses like yours,” he said, raising his eyebrow. “If you had
signed the contract, you would have been in his pocket.”

He stretched out his hand, which she shook
hesitantly. “If I have more questions, I’ll be in touch, so please
don’t leave the city for the foreseeable future.”

“
I won’t,” I said, “but I
can’t stay in this house anymore.”

“
Reason?”

“
Broke.”

To her surprise, he gave a short laugh.
“Well, one more reason not to vanish from my radar. There’s a check
heading down the road, and if procedure isn’t questioned along the
way your name will be on it.”

“
A check? What do you
mean?”

“
Liz, while you were
innocently attending the entrepreneur meeting, you got caught up in
a running investigation against a known criminal and you were able,
while fighting for your own life, to secure the crucial evidence
that slipped through the cracks of my own planted undercover men,”
he said, taking in a deep breath. “And you turned it in the next
day after your initial shock subsided. I am happy to tell you that
there is a reward on the Writer’s head for anyone helping with the
arrest.”

“
But that’s not me, that’s
Ben,” she whispered.

“
No, it is not. Because
you
handed me the book.” Simon gave her a pat on the back.
“Looks like Ben passed on the reward. And he isn’t even the one who
brought down the man who nearly killed his baby sister. Any idea
why he would sacrifice all that?”

“
No, no, I really
don’t.”

“
I’m sure you will figure
out eventually.” And to her surprise, he gave her a wink. “Good
luck, Liz.”

Chapter Nine

“
Are you sure you don’t
want company? We could order in dinner.”

“
I’m fine,” she said, and
all but shoved Jenna over the doorstep. “I’d rather be alone
tonight.” For various reasons, she thought, and taped the last
moving box shut across the top.

“
Okay,” Jenna said, giving
her a thumbs-up. “See you tomorrow. You’ll see, the move
will be a walk in the park!”

She smiled and waved through the glass
window as Jenna slid into her car.

With Jenna’s help and two hired hands, they
had packed up her professional equipment faster than expected. Now
all that was left were a few odd items in her apartment, which she
planned to pack before the moving truck came in the morning.