Sex, Lies and Valentines (17 page)

“I didn’t get a break, and didn’t find out who is calling the shots. But I did find out that each of these players were recruited after a year or so of pseudo-interviews. Kendall, the sheriff Caleb arrested for selling drugs a couple of months ago, was the liaison. Apparently he accessed the state database, pulled records for a number of underlings and traced them to their bosses. One of the goons, Mikels, figures each man was brought in as a specialist. No two of them have the same criminal milieu, if you will.”

Danita crossed from the door and, a pretty frown furrowing her brow, dropped into the chair next to the window. Tapping her fingers on the arm of the chair, she sighed.

“That’s confirmation of the intel Hunter gave us, but nothing new. Did you get anything else?”

“Apparently there are a few disgruntled rejects out there,” he told her. “The goon squad was laughing about it, but Ham looked a little freaked. I guess one unhappy element stopped by the manor a few months back and tried to convince him to share the deets on who made the grave error in not hiring him instead of some of the other goons. When Ham claimed he had no clue, the guy shot up his car.”

Danita sat up straighter. “Did he report it to the sheriff?”

“He said he didn’t. He joked that the boss gave him a new ride as reward for loyally keeping his trap shut.” Gabriel hesitated, then decided to come clean with Danita about his suspicions. Maybe doing so would mitigate a little of the guilt over not telling her the rest of his plans. “He let something slip, though. At one point, he referred to the boss as
I.
Not he, I.”

“Do you think he’s created a fake boss to keep the heat off himself?” All traces of the breathy bimbo from earlier were gone as Danita leaned forward, intelligence and calculation clear on her face. “Is he that smart? Does he have the connections? And more importantly, does he hold a grudge against your father that would lead to his trying to point his finger that way? You know him from your childhood, right? Tell me everything you remember.”

Gabriel thought about it. He wasn’t giving up his plan to bust the boss. But it wouldn’t hurt to use FBI resources to focus on Ham while Gabriel himself made a couple of calls and nailed down the details of his bigger scam.

“There’s no bad blood between him and my dad, but I don’t think there’s much good, either. Ham used to complain that Dad thought he was special because his ancestors founded the town. Like mine, Ham’s family dates back to the origins of Black Oak. The Bollingers built the manor seventy-or-so years ago, handing down to the oldest son each generation. It used to be top-notch. A luxury destination for tourists, a fancy dinner out for locals. Since Ham’s wife ditched him about fifteen years ago, he—and the manor—have been going steadily downhill. Drinking, gambling, a few bad investments. Rumor is the only reason he’s held on to the manor is that it’s in a trust and he can’t touch it.”

He watched Danita pull her phone from her purse and start tapping in information. No wonder she hadn’t bothered to ruin her image and bring a laptop. Her phone clearly did the trick.

“So he has money problems? Maybe he got in over his head?” she asked, glancing up.

“Ham is good at the image of a stand-up guy, and I’m betting most of the town still buys it. Hell, even my aunt does and she’s not one for tolerating bullshit.”

“I spent a lot of time with your aunt today. She doesn’t seem the type to tolerate someone in her circle who’s even rumored to have a drinking or gambling problem.”

“Yep, you’re right. But he’s still there. She even mentioned the other night that she’s tapping him for her upcoming campaign for state representative.”

“Ham’s helping your aunt?”

Ham was key, but Gabriel couldn’t bring himself to care much. He’d much rather focus on Danita. On the way her soft blond hair curved over her cheek as she searched for info on that little phone. The intelligence in her eyes was as erotic as the curve of her naked breasts had been. Damn, he had it bad.

“Gabriel?” she prompted.

Pulling his focus back, he just shrugged. “He was on her mayoral campaign committee. She’s big on recycling, so she probably just called together the same people to run things this time.”

“I’ll have to check to see who else is on the committee,” she said, tapping a note into her phone.

“You’re so damned beautiful,” Gabriel said, murmuring his thoughts aloud without realizing it. He gave an infinitesimal grimace, then mentally shrugged. Facts were facts; she was obviously gorgeous.

Just as obvious was the confused doubt in those big blue eyes.

“What’re you playing at?” she asked, leaning back in the chair as if she could distance herself from whatever net he was tossing her way.

“No game,” he said with a grin, realizing it was the pure truth. Something he rarely explored, let alone shared aloud. “I’m just realizing that the more time we spend together, the more I don’t know about you. And the more I want to.”

She wet her lips, the nervous gesture matching the look in her eyes. “We’re here to do a job. You have all the information necessary for that. There’s nothing else you need to know.”

But there was.

Like the light shining bright through the gray clouds and sparkling into the room, the more he saw of Danita, the more entranced he was. And the more he wanted to know.

The more he needed to understand.

And the more nervous that made her.

Gabriel had a gift for knowing the right time to play his hand. And this moment, he knew as his eyes skimmed over her face, wasn’t the right one.

He was a man used to biding his time. He didn’t mind waiting.

Because he knew, in his heart, when he made the move…Danita was going to be his.

DANITA HAD ONCE BEEN held at gunpoint by an obsessive woman who thought she’d slept with her husband. Given that Danita had been caught in the man’s bedroom, wearing a tiny silk nighty and rockin’ heels and a hidden wire, the woman had had good reason for her accusation.

That hadn’t made the very real concern Danita had felt that her career—and her life—were about finished from terrifying her.

Yet that apprehension had been nothing compared to how she was feeling right this second.

Gabriel had no weapon, other than that wicked smile and a boatload of charm. She wasn’t trapped, other than by virtue of having to finish the job she’d been sent here to do. And she wasn’t vulnerable.

She pulled her gaze away from the man lounging on the bed, feet crossed at the ankles and his hands crossed behind his head in complete ease.

She shouldn’t be vulnerable, dammit. Just because she’d slept with him, just because he made her feel things, want things she’d never imagined?

She’d rather face down the jealous harpy with the gun.

She jumped, almost sending her phone flying across the room in surprise when Gabriel leapt to his feet.

“C’mon,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Get your purse, let’s go.”

“Where?” she asked, barely snagging the straps of her bag as he pulled her to the door. “Did you remember something? A break?”

“Exactly,” he muttered, opening the door. Before she could step through, though, he spun toward her and, before she could blink, had his hands tunneled in her hair and his mouth devouring hers.

Danita’s body melted.

“If you do that on this side of the door, I’m coming back with a video camera, Black,” a voice mocked, growing distant as whomever it was passed them in the hall.

So lost in his mouth and the deliciously wild sensations it was stirring in her body, she doubted she’d care if whoever that was returned with an entire camera crew. All she cared about, all she could think about, was how Gabriel made her feel. About the wonderful warmth flooding her body. God, he was amazing.

Then, as the budding videographer gave a crude laugh, Gabriel slowly, gently pulled away. Danita wasn’t ready, though. Her lips ached, her body pressed tight against his hoping to tempt him to kiss her again.

“Cover,” Gabriel breathed against her lips as he brushed his mouth over hers softly before pulling away.

“Um, yeah. Right,” she babbled, trying to jump-start her brain again. But all she could think about was the taste of him. The power of that kiss.

Like a key unlocking the secret corner of her mind, that corner she’d shoved last night’s lovemaking into, the power and emotions of that event flooded her.

She barely noticed Gabriel’s hand leading her downstairs. Didn’t blink when he opened the passenger door to her car and bundled her into the leather seat.

By the time he’d come around the car and slid into the driver’s seat, she’d caught her breath. But it wasn’t until he’d started the engine that the big block’s rumble shook her brains back into place.

“Where are we going?” she asked, reaching into her purse for the protection of sunglasses before looking at him. “Do you have a break in the case?”

“Nope.”

It was hard to keep the flames of passion burning on High when they were being doused with waves of frustration.

“So where are we going?” she asked again, this time through clenched teeth.

“Road trip.” He glanced over with a boyish smile. “I figured we needed a break. This is a gorgeous part of the state, have you ever been through the Santa Cruz Mountains before?”

It was five miles before she managed to pull her jaw off her chest.

“We’re going on a joyride?” she finally said, turning in the seat and angling her body toward him as if she had a shot at intimidation. “We’re on a job, Black. A job that, if not done correctly, will result in your father’s arrest. And your answer is to take a scenic drive?”

“Sure. Why not?”

She’d scream, but she had the feeling she was going to need every breath she had to win this argument.

“Why not? Because it’s irresponsible. That’s why not. Because it’s wasting precious time. Because—”

“Because we need a break. Because this afternoon was intense for both of us and we’ll perform better, and think clearer, after a brief hiatus from playing cops and robbers.”

As his laughter washed over her, Danita considered protesting. But the image of the tarot cards flashed in her mind. As much as The Lovers card had freaked her out, it was the undefined Death card that worried her. Because she didn’t know if it applied to her, or the lover she’d taken.

Or which scared her more.

“Fine,” she finally agreed. “But we’re only taking a short break. Then we get right back to work.”

Gabriel’s laugh was infectious, like a naughty little boy found with his hand in the cookie jar. Caught, but not repentant.

“You know what?” he said. “You’re going to make a great mother someday. You have that stern authoritarian thing going on. Throw in that nurturing instinct you try to hide, the sweet smile that would make anyone do anything to make you happy? Yeah, you’d be scoring a mom of the year mug on a regular basis.”

Well, that shut her up. Danita’s lower lip trembled for a second before she gathered enough control to tear her gaze away from Gabriel.

Her? A good mother? That was crazy. She was a federal agent, she risked her life for a living. Well, maybe not so much risked it, but the potential was always there. He knew that, and he still thought she’d be a good mom?

Had he meant it? He hadn’t sounded sarcastic, that’d been genuine amusement in his tone.

Of course, he didn’t know her. Not really.

He didn’t know her past. The squalid despair she’d grown up in. The horrible parental examples she had to follow.

She figured if he knew that side of her, he’d be suggesting sterilization options.

Still, she couldn’t rid herself of the tiny thrill that he’d think that of her.

Four hours later, that thrill was still alive and well, burning bright in her heart.

“You’re wrong. Aerosmith does ‘Mama Kin’ much better than Guns N’ Roses,” she argued, poking her forkful of apple pie toward Gabriel for emphasis.

“You ever see them in concert? Aerosmith, I mean.”

“Five years ago,” she admitted with a smile, remembering the thrill of the music pounding, the crowd screaming and the robot dancing on stage. “You?”