Solid Muscle (Unseen Enemy Book 5) (14 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Evan Jacoby sat outside the rented house, watching as the Bakers –
if that’s even their fucking names
– walked out with their suitcases and got in to a taxi. He snapped a few pictures on his phone and they were pretty good quality. Good enough for his purposes.

He stayed low, not wanting them to spot him. They had, after all, seen his face just three days before, when he’d picked them up here and taken them to choose their fucking brat. Except that there was no baby in sight, and that just about confirmed every single one of his suspicions about these two.

Everything had exploded; it had been fast and sudden and thorough. It was only by a fucking
miracle
that Evan hadn’t been picked up in the police raids the day before… he’d been at the dentist when the cops had swooped on in, arrested everyone, taken the merchandise. The
dentist
, for Christ’s sake. A goddamn cavity had kept him out of jail.

Not for long, though. He imagined that every single moron involved in this shit storm was offering up information in return for lesser sentences and plea bargains. It was just a matter of time before someone figured out that he hadn’t been grabbed and offered up his name. It was a good name to give, seeing as he was second-in-command.

He pulled out, followed the taxi at a safe distance. He wasn’t the slightest bit surprised when they went to Kansas City Airport. He cursed, wondering how the hell to dump his car without losing sight of them. Finally, he just parked it and left it there – it wasn’t actually his, of course, and it wasn’t registered in his name. He’d be stuck and have to take a taxi, he supposed, if the SUV was towed… but it’d be worth it.

Evan followed them inside, watched them check in for a flight going to Denver, Colorado. He didn’t want to get too close to them, but he’d have given a lot to hear what they were talking about. Maybe he’d even hear their real names.

Fucking cops… or feds? Whatever the hell they are, they’re somehow involved in the bust. Goddammit. Time to call Tack.

**

“So.” Cordelia looked up at Hunter. “What are we going to do with our week off?”

He grinned. She was sitting next to him on the plane, her head on his shoulder as the plane taxied to the runway for take-off. She looked wiped out, and no surprise there: they’d both been through it the past few days.

“Well.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I know you’ll want to see Sean and your Mom, and I want to see Dad and find out what I can about Iris.”

“Yeah.”

“So maybe in a couple of days we can go away together?”

She smiled. “We just got back from going away together.”

“You know what I mean. Go away together somewhere private and romantic. Share a bed, not answer the phone for two whole days because we’re making love non-stop.”

“That sounds good,” she said, as visions of Hunter naked flashed through her head. “Any ideas where we’re going?”

“Yep. We’re going to my cabin.”

“We are?”

“Uh-huh.”

“In the woods?”

“In the mountains. Near a small lake.”

“Hmmm.” She pretended to consider it. “You have electricity?”

“I do. Running water and a fully-functional kitchen, too.”

“Sold.”

“Well, that was easy,” he teased her.

“Did you want to beg me to come to your cabin?”

“Naw.” He kissed her now, hard and intense. “I like when
you
beg
me
. And I
love
when you beg me to make you come on my tongue and on my cock.”

She flushed, glanced around the half-full plane. “Shush.”

“Why?” His hands moved up her legs now, lifted her skirt as they traveled, slid between her thighs. “You like it when I talk dirty. You said so.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I do like it.”

“And you also like this, right?” His fingers stroked her through her panties. She gasped, bit her lip. “Oh, yeah… I can tell that you like it.”

“Hunter…”

He moved her blanket to cover her lap and she shut her eyes as his hands parted her thighs and slipped over the silky material. His touch was gentle and slow, but he knew just what to do to make her start to lose her mind. The plane was idling now, waiting for clearance to take off. All the flight attendants were strapped in, the seats across the aisle from them were vacant, they were in the last row. Nobody could see them, nobody could see what they were doing.

Those thick fingers pushed her panties to one side and slid to her heat. She tensed and arched, let her head fall back on the seat. She fought down a moan and he pulled her head to his muscled shoulder.

“Shhh,” he whispered in her ear. “Stay quiet, baby. I want you to come without making a single sound.”

Cordelia gave the smallest, softest of whimpers against his collarbone and he pressed her face tighter to his warm skin.

“Shhhh….” he said again. “Nice and quiet.”

Easy for him to say
, she thought, as his fingers circled her swollen, pulsing clit. He was teasing her, barely touching her, and helplessly, she started to lift and lower her hips, seeking more. He didn’t give it to her, though, not at first. He was enjoying her silent shaking far too much; his cock was hard and pushing painfully against his jeans.

Her hands came up to grasp his shirt now, her flushed face turned in to his neck. He felt her breath on his throat, felt her full breasts heaving against him.
God
, she was close already. He closed his eyes, loving her submission, her surrender. She gave him everything without question and he fucking loved giving to her in return. His soaked fingers moved faster, added pressure on her little bud.

“Hunter…”

Something in her voice gave him pause. It was tight and sharp and sounded almost hurt.

“Right here. What is it?”

“Please…”

He grinned. “Please what?”

“Inside me…”

“You want me to put my fingers inside you?”

She nodded frantically.

“Well, why didn’t you say so, sweetheart?”

She opened her mouth to give him a smart-ass retort but all that came out was a gasp: he’d shoved two fingers deep inside her slick channel, hard and far enough to make her whole body jerk and open more. Unable to stop herself, she bit his shoulder.

“That’s it,” he murmured against the top of her head. “Let go.”

She gave up, she gave in. She forgot that she was on an airplane that was now accelerating for take-off. She was far more interested in her own personal take-off – one that Hunter was controlling with hard, deep thrusts inside her as his thumb gently stroked her clit. She opened her mouth against his throat, her breath coming out in pants now.

As she approached climax, Sully gripped her chin between his fingers, forced her face up to his. Her release was muffled against his mouth and he swallowed her gasps and tiny whimpers; when she relaxed and sighed, he held her close, absorbing the aftershocks in to his own body. Cordelia floated next to him, dizzy and breathless.

When he slowly slid out of her pussy, she bit her lip to stop herself from moaning again. But then he lifted his fingers to his wicked mouth, sucked them clean as she watched. It was the most erotic, sexiest thing she’d ever seen a man do and now she
did
give a helpless moan.

Right away, he kissed her and she tasted herself on him.

“You were very quiet,” he whispered. “Good girl.”

She gave a small laugh. “It wasn’t easy.”

“I can imagine.” Those dark eyes sparkled down at her. “Tell you what: how about I make it up to you?”

She arched her brow. “How?”

“I’ll take you up to my cabin and you can come as loud as you want.”

“Hmmm.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “I can scream?”

“Fuck, baby.” He gave a shudder as his cock throbbed. “I’ll make sure of it.”

**

Evan Jacoby stared at the laptop screen, horrified. There was Hunter Sullivan, in all his goddamn glory. He turned to Tack.

“Former Marine? Bodyguard?”

“Yep.” Tack shrugged. “That’s what my contact says.”

“Fuck me.” Evan closed his eyes; this was way worse than he’d imagined it. “Any word on the woman?”

“None. But my contact only has access to military stuff, so it just means she ain’t former or active military. She could be a cop, she could be FBI.”

“Can we find out?”

“Maybe.”

“Depending on what?”

“On whether or not that picture you took of her gets any hits. We’re talking loads of images on lots of data bases. I can ask other people, if you want. They may come back with something on her.”

“What about the DNA I collected? Anything useful?” Evan had gone straight from the airport to the rental house and broken in. He’d taken prints from the kitchen cabinets and the front door, and stolen the bed sheets.

“Not on her, but yeah, Sullivan’s name came up again. Not surprising, seeing as his DNA is in the military data base.”

“You have his address in Colorado?”

“I do.” Tack cocked his head. “I already sent it to your cell.”

“OK, thanks.” Evan sighed. “I guess she’s not so important, really. I mean, if I find him, I’m guessing I’ll find her.”

“If they work together? Yeah.”

Evan stood up. “OK, man. I’ll have your cash dropped off tomorrow.”

Tack nodded. He was expensive and he knew it, but he was the man with the contacts. Guys like Evan Jacoby paid him a shit load of money for what he could find out… things like a former Marine working some kind of bodyguard job in Denver was the one who'd blown up his entire business. Six years of painstaking work, gone in three raids in a single morning. It was goddamn heartbreaking, is what it was.

Evan left Tack’s apartment building, went back to the SUV. He checked Tack’s message and then called his boss right away.

“Yeah?”

“Hunter Sullivan,” Evan said without preamble. “He’s ex-military and now he’s based in Denver.”

“Fuck him.” Ross Underwood’s voice was a growl of rage. “You go and deal with this fucker. And what about the bitch?”

“No clue. Not ex-military, for sure, but she may be law enforcement.”

“You care about her?”

“Not so much. Sullivan will lead us to her, I’m hoping.”

“Yeah, me too.” Ross paused. “OK, get your ass to Denver. Today. Find Sullivan, follow him around, see if you can find the woman.”

“And if I do?”

“Get rid of both of them.”

Evan nodded. He and Ross both knew that things were way too far gone for them now: no doubt their employees had ratted them out. Ross was already in Mexico and Evan had a flight to Columbia booked the next day. He’d try to switch the flight so he could fly out of Denver when the job was done. That way he could take care of both things at the same time.

No, killing Sullivan and the bitch wouldn’t stop their names from coming up in the investigation. What it
would
accomplish, however, was the complete and total elimination of any witnesses outside of the child kidnapping ring. It would leave the authorities and lawyers with no credible witnesses whatsoever… just a bunch of desperate criminals all throwing each other under the bus to cut the best deal for themselves. Easy to discredit each other, easy to muddy the waters. Easy to dismiss as wild ramblings from lying assholes.

Enraged, Evan slammed his fist on the steering wheel, hard.
Fuck
these two; fuck them straight to hell. He’d take care of them… oh, yeah. He’d take care of them for sure.

He started the car, headed for the airport. He’d get his ass on the first flight to Denver… and if he had to, he’d take five connecting flights. As long as he was moving in the right direction – towards his prey – he’d be happy.

Chapter Eighteen
Three days later

Cordelia woke up early, glanced over at Hunter. He was still sleeping and her eyes roamed over his amazing naked chest. The urge to wake him up with her mouth was overwhelming, but she really wanted to get out next to the lake and watch the sunrise while doing some yoga.

Quietly, she rolled away from him and started to sit up. But of course the man heard her – even in his sleep, his special-ops background was present and kicked up to maximum. Without a word, without even opening his eyes, his muscled arm shot out and wrapped around her waist; she gave a startled shriek as he carefully pulled her back against his strong body. Hunter spooned her, his mouth on the back of her neck, nuzzling and nipping.

“Where you going, baby?” he murmured. “It’s too early to get out of this nice, warm bed.”

She turned in his arms, stared in to those dark eyes. “To do some yoga down by the lake.”

“Ummmm.” His throaty groan was turning her on, big time. “You want some exercise, all you have to do is ask me. I know how to make you sweat.”

“You sure do.” She gasped as his hand moved over her full breasts. “You make sweating
a lot
of fun.”

“I sure as hell hope so.” He kissed her, his mouth gentle, then released her. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Go do your yoga and then get that luscious ass back here,” he growled. “I want you all flexible and warmed up for me.”

She sat up, almost reconsidering staying in bed. “I won’t be long. Give me an hour.”

He rolled on to his back again and the sheet slipped down farther, revealing chiseled abs and the patch of dark hair just over his perfect cock. She practically salivated as she thought of what was hidden under there: if she just moved the sheet down a few inches…

Sully saw the hungry look on her face and he laughed. “Go on, sweetheart. I’ll have coffee waiting for you when you get back.”

“Promise?”

“On my heart.”

“OK, then.” Cordelia got to her feet and his eyes went hot with lust at the sight of those naked curves in the first rays of morning sunlight. “An hour. Maybe a bit less.”

**

Evan approached the cabin carefully, watching where he put his feet, avoiding dead branches. It was barely six a.m. and he imagined they’d be dead to the world but still. Once a Marine, always a Marine and those fuckers heard
everything
.

He still couldn’t believe his luck. Sullivan had led him right to the woman, just as he’d hoped. Better yet? They were together; like,
together
. When they’d taken off in Sullivan’s car the morning before and driven in to the middle of goddamn nowhere, with no witnesses and nobody to miss them, he almost believed in God. It was too fucking perfect.

The cabin door opened now and he froze, melting in to the gloom of the trees. It was the woman – whose name he still didn’t know, but who gave a fuck, anyway? – and she was in tight pink pants and a tight white tank top and carrying what looked like a rolled-up mat. Evan watched as she walked away from him, towards the lake. He waited a minute to make sure that Sullivan didn’t follow her, then he moved.

He found her next to the lake, standing on the mat in bare feet. She had her back to him and she was stretching and arching, bending over and lifting her arms. Yoga, obviously, and he briefly contemplated putting a bullet in to her brain there and then, decided against it.

His intention was to kill both witnesses quick and clean and he’d seen Hunter Sullivan’s file. The man was fucking lethal, full-on hardcore, and Evan didn’t want the man to get the drop on him. Killing the bitch now would mean that Sullivan would come shooting out of that cabin like a bat out of hell. Evan’s best move was to be hidden behind a tree and take him out on the porch; meeting Sullivan in the woods was sure to be a huge mistake.

So, he’d wait. He’d follow her back to the cabin and once she got within ten feet of it, he’d shoot her in the back. Sullivan would hear it, come out. That’s when Evan would take care of him and then he’d just disappear in to the trees. Walk the two miles back to his car hidden in the bushes, drive away, slow and calm.

Nice and easy, man. No rush.

**

Sully made the coffee and stood in the kitchen in his boxers, drinking his first cup. He was thinking about Cordelia, naturally, and he smiled.

God
, she made him happy. They were going to figure this all out somehow – Sean and their jobs and living together and hopefully Iris, too – because there was no
goddamn
way he was letting her get away from him, no way this was staying fucking semi-serious. She was his life’s breath now and because of her, he
believed
again. She’d brought him back to life and he was going to spend the rest of his own life holding her close.

He walked over to the windows and squinted towards the lake, hoping to see her approaching. No sign, so he assumed she was still out there, being all effortlessly and accidentally sexy as she spread her legs and bent over. His cock hardened and he shut his eyes, remembering Cordelia riding him the night before, her pussy gripping him as she came screaming.

Argh. Where is she? Forget the coffee… I’m gonna throw her on the bed and fuck her long and hard enough to make her forget her own name
.

He saw movement in the trees now and he focused. Yeah, it was Cordelia and his heart jumped to see her. Then he saw something behind her, something moving slowly and stealthily, like it didn’t want to be seen or heard and he froze. His eyes narrowed and all he saw was the dark shape behind the woman that he loved more than anything.

A bird? A tree moving in the breeze? A shadow? Maybe… so why are my fucking instincts going in to overdrive?

Hunter Sullivan wasn’t a man to ignore his intuition –
not anymore, not ever again
– and he dashed in to the bedroom, yanked the bedside table drawer open, grabbed the loaded gun. He shot back in to the living room and kept on going. His hand was on the door handle, her name was rising in his throat and the warning was almost on his lips… then he heard two shots. And he suddenly knew that he’d failed the woman that he loved yet again; he’d been too late to spot the danger yet again.

He was alone. Again.

**

Cordelia hummed as she walked back to the cabin. Her body was loose and open and all she wanted was to feel Hunter’s lips on hers, feel his muscles under her fingertips. The man was everything she’d ever wanted and never believed that she could ever have… and now that he was in her life, she was going to do what she had to to keep him.

Totally out of the blue and for no reason at all, Cordelia stopped dead. That was when her distracted mind caught up to her body, when her brain acknowledged what her ears had picked up on. Careful, almost-silent footsteps. Footsteps behind her.

No way that’s Hunter – he’d never sneak up on me.

She turned and suddenly, she was flat on her back on the ground, her ears ringing from the loud and inexplicable roar, her right thigh burning. She looked down and was confused to see a hole in her yoga mat and blood seeping through her yoga pants. It blossomed like a red flower, almost beautiful except that it was terrifying.

I’ve been – shot?

Without a single thought, she rolled, rolled until she was hidden behind a massive fallen tree. A second shot came now and she instinctively ducked. The bark above her exploded and she screamed for Hunter.

“Cordelia!”

She looked to the cabin and there he was on the front porch. He was in boxers and holding a gun and he looked furious. He was searching for her and that was when the window next to him shattered. He cursed, dropped, disappeared from sight.

“Hunter!” she screamed again. “Are you OK?”

No response and she felt rage swelling inside her. If this fucker had hurt Hunter, she was going to break his goddamn
neck
. Assuming she didn’t bleed out first.

Silence fell. Even the birds had gone quiet. Cordelia stayed where she was, listening for footsteps, for breathing, for a snapping twig. Nothing.

The pain in her leg was getting worse, more intense. She ignored it. It wasn’t anywhere as painful as childbirth, after all, and she’d done thirty-six hours of
that
without an epidural. She could handle a bullet.

The front door of the cabin swung open, then closed and she wondered what Hunter was doing. Maybe going out the back? She waited, wondering if the guy was still there, just a few feet away from her and behind a tree. No way she was sticking her head up, though. She may be a sitting duck but she wasn’t a
stupid
sitting duck.

A minute passed, then another. The birds resumed their singing and Cordelia began to feel weird. Lightheaded, a bit fuzzy. She looked at her leg again and was shocked at the amount of blood she’d lost.

Shit, that was fast. OK. One tourniquet coming up
.

She peeled off her tank top and tied it tight and high on her thigh. It hurt like hell, but she gritted her teeth and tightened it more. She took a deep breath and fought to stay calm, knowing that she wasn’t alone out here. Hunter was OK and he was up to something, she was sure, and all she had to do was follow his lead. He wasn’t going to let her die here behind this fucking fallen log.

A noise from the direction of the cabin startled her and she spun on her knees to see what it was. Then something flew through the air towards her, something shiny but heavy and she raised her arm in front of her face. The thing fell about six feet away with a
thunk
and she dropped her arm and stared at it, trying to make sense of what she saw.

A gun?

Fuck me. A gun.

Cordelia slid down on to her stomach and she crawled. Her thigh screamed in protest and her head spun but she could crawl and so she damn well did. She got to the gun, grabbed it, crawled back to the log. She leaned back against its scratchy solidity, checked the gun. Yep, it was loaded and the safety was on. She flicked it off with her thumb and then sat there, listening hard again. Nothing.

Go.

Cordelia rolled, her arms stuck straight out and braced on the ground and fired at the tree closest to her. The bullet went in to the bark and made a sharp sound. A muffled curse followed and every sense in her body locked in on that small noise. She knew where he was now, she knew exactly, and she trained the gun on the spot. Waited.

When he started to run, she got to her feet without hesitation. There he was, a dark figure disappearing in to the woods and she wasn’t going to fucking stand for that. Her whole world narrowed now, became totally focused on his back. When she pulled the trigger, it was the coldest, least emotional thing she’d ever done and when he gave a cry and fell heavily, she stayed as she was, arms out, breathing measured. Waiting to see if he’d get up so she could shoot him again.

Get up, asshole. I dare you.

Then Hunter was over there, taking the man’s gun away, checking his pulse. He stood up and then suddenly he was on her. Gently, he pried the gun away from her, cupped her face in his hands.

“Cordelia? Talk to me.”

“Is he dead?” she asked, numb.

“Yeah. He’s dead.”

She nodded and her trembling legs gave out. Hunter caught her, picked her up, started walking. She turned her face in to his naked chest, wondering why it was smeared with blood.

That’s mine, isn’t it?

“Cordelia. Stay with me, OK?”

She nodded again, but it was more difficult this time. Her head fell forward and stayed down.

“Oh, no. No, no, baby. You stay awake. You stay right here with me, you hear me?”

“Ummm.” Now her eyelids were steel-plated and she struggled hard to keep them up. “Hunter…”

“Yeah?”

She was surprised to feel softness at her back and she blinked. She was lying on the bed. He adjusted a pillow under her head and she just let herself sink down.

“I got shot.” Her words were slurred. “In my leg.”

“I noticed, sweetheart.”

“It fucking hurts.”

His laugh was angry but his hands smoothing her hair back were tender. “Oh, hell, yeah. It does.”

“Can I go to sleep now?”

“No.”

“But I’m in bed.”

“I don’t care. No sleeping.”

She stared up at him. “You’re being very bossy. Growly, too.”

“Uh-huh. I’m gonna bully you in to staying awake.”

His cell phone rang now and he grabbed it.

“Dallas, he’s dead. How soon ‘til the cops and ambulance get here?” A pause. “No, I’m fine. But Cordelia’s been shot.” Another pause. “Just fucking tell them to hurry.” He disconnected.

“How’d Dallas know to call for help?” she whispered.

“I called him before I tossed you the gun.”

“Oh.” She closed her eyes again. “I’m… I’m tired. Hunter, I want to sleep.”

“Baby…”

“It hurts. If I sleep, it’ll stop hurting, right?”

Hunter hesitated. “Yeah. OK, sweetheart. Shut your eyes and let go.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He kissed her, noticed how cold and gray her lips were from loss of blood. “Sleep.”

“You’ll be here?” she asked, sinking fast in to the warm, welcoming blackness. “You’ll stay with me?”

“Forever, Cordelia.” His voice was far away but his hand was holding hers tight and close. “Forever and always.”