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

BOOK: Solid Muscle (Unseen Enemy Book 5)
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“Money upfront, then they get to see the kids?”

“Yep.”

“Careful bastards.”

“Maybe not. Like I said, we anticipated this whole thing to go on for another three months. The fact that they’re jumping the gun and pushing it so damn fast makes me wonder why.”

“Cash flow issues? Greed? Overconfidence? New management?”

“Any one or all of those things is possible,” King said. “But the result is that we’re backed in to a corner and need to get a real, live, mixed-race couple over to Kansas in seven days for that meeting.”

“Alright.” Dallas thought for a second. “I’ll send Selena and Griff.”

“Yeah, that’s who I thought of too.”

“OK, King.” Dallas sighed, hating every single fucking thing about this whole op already. “We’ll take it. We’ll get those kids out.”

“Thank you,” King said softly. “You need anything, you ask me.”

“You know it.” Dallas extended his hand and the men shook hands again, holding eye contact. “We’ll be in touch.”

**

Selena signed the ‘request for leave’ form and bit her lip. God, she hated this – hated everything to do with this. She’d been expecting this for years, of course, but now that it was here, she realized that she hadn’t been totally prepared after all.

She got to her feet and headed down to Dallas’ office, tapped at the door. He answered and she popped her head in. He was standing and staring out the window at the Rockies. He turned.

“Hey, Selena. Perfect timing. Come on in.”

“Oh.” She clutched the form a bit tighter. “Sure.”

They sat down and as always, Dallas just launched right in to it. The man was nothing if not straight-up and it was one of the many, many reasons that Selena loved working for him.

“I’m sending you and Griff to Kansas to pose as a married couple looking to adopt,” he said in his gravely voice. “You’re gonna be breaking up a child kidnapping ring aimed at selling babies to adoptive couples.”

She blinked, totally taken aback. “When?”

“You’ll spend the next three days prepping and drive out on day four. The meet’s in seven days and you’ll stick around until you get access to the places they’re hiding the kids. Pretend to choose one, start the process. As soon as you get that kid in your arms and walk out the door, the feds will move in. I’ll be there too, at a more remote location, acting as backup for the meet and the kid selection. I’ll make an appearance if things go to hell, but my face is too recognizable on any kind of facial-recognition search. I’m all over the fucking internet too, because I own this business.”

Selena struggled with herself now; she desperately wanted to take down a bunch of scumbag kidnappers, but the timing wasn’t going to work. She took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, boss. I can’t.”

Dallas stared at her. The woman had never refused an assignment – not ever.

“Why?” he said, knowing that whatever the reason was, it was no joke. “What’s wrong?”

She set the form down in front of him and he stared at it.

“You need some time off?” he said.

“Six weeks.”

Dallas glanced up at her. “You’ve written ‘medical reasons’ here.”

“Yes. I’m getting some elective surgery.”

“Elective?”

“Yes. But… it can’t be put off any longer.” Selena paused, trying to decide how much to share. “It’s something that needs to be done and soon.”

Dallas leaned back in his chair. “How bad is this, Selena?”

She hesitated. “It’s – bad, Dallas. I mean, it
will
be bad if I don’t get the surgery.”

“So it’s elective
and
preventative?” His rough voice was low, worried. “You need it to stop something from happening to you?”

“Yes.”

He nodded and picked up a pen. She watched him sign the form and she felt the strangest combination of relief and terror work its way up her throat. She hadn’t talked to anyone about this and she wasn’t about to start now, but Dallas’ palpable concern was tugging at her heart. She suddenly needed a hug and she kicked that weakness down, hard.

Crisp and cool now, she took the paper back. “I’ll give this to HR right away.”

“OK.”

“I’ll get full medical clearance before coming back and I’ll recertify my gun license.”

He cocked his head at that. “The surgery will affect your ability to use a weapon?”

“Possibly. I don’t know. That’s why I’ll requalify.”

Dallas nodded. Legally, he had no right whatsoever to force his employee to reveal private medical information, but as her friend, he was as worried as hell. He gazed at her face, saw her fear, wondered what she was up against.

“OK,” he said. “So you’re gone from tomorrow?”

“Yes. I’ll tie up all my loose ends and prepare status reports on the two open cases I’m on right now.”

“Thanks, Selena.”

“Sure.” She got up now, tried to look confident. “I’m sorry about the op in Kansas.”

“It’s OK. I have a Plan B.”

Despite what was coming in to her life, she grinned. “You
always
have a Plan B, Dallas.”

“C and D too, darlin’.” He grinned back, gave her one of his sexy little winks. “Welcome to life as the boss.”

Chapter Five

Sully and Cordelia stared at Dallas, horrorstruck. He was still talking, but neither one of them was hearing anything much at this point.

For Cordelia, the thought that she was going undercover with Hunter –
as husband and wife
again,
goddammit
– was literally incomprehensible. How the hell was she supposed to just slide on in to the role of a loving wife after his recent Siberian-level coldness? For him, it was obviously as easy as flicking a light switch: turn it on, turn it off and once it’s off, never even think about it again. But Cordelia didn’t find it that simple. She’d have to dig deep to not resent him but this wasn’t about her and she’d do it, she knew. Kids’ lives were at stake.

Worse, though, was the fact that she was woefully not qualified for this. The op in Foxburg Falls had been observation and surveillance and so her lack of field training and experience was irrelevant. She and Hunter had sat around and watched Ferguson and that was it… no major engagement, no confrontation.

But what Dallas was talking about now was several levels up. Actually infiltrating a kidnapping group? Meeting with bad guys with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in a briefcase? Visiting places where kids were being held captive?
That
kind of shit could go bad and fast and if it did, she’d have to step up. But would she be able to?

From his side, Sully was equally horrified but for totally different reasons. The last time Dallas had ordered that they work together, Sully had been worried about Cordelia’s lack of field experience and training, but she’d shown herself to be no dead weight. She’d been adept at undercover work and he had no reservations about her ability to handle this job.

No, the problem here was
him
, all him. He had no doubts about her professionalism – but he had severe doubts about his own. The thought that he’d be around her twenty-four/seven, sleeping in the same space, touching that astounding body, kissing those perfect lips… fuck, man. He’d lose control, he
knew
it, just jump on her and kiss her until she begged him to make her his. And he’d do it – he’d make her his over and over again until they both collapsed.

And then what? Then complications, for him and for her. She’d have expectations and fair enough – but he wasn’t a man who could give a woman what she needed. He didn’t do complications; didn’t do emotional closeness; didn’t do commitment. Not anymore.

But this wasn’t about him, he reminded himself; it wasn’t about Jessica and their baby. This was about
other
people’s babies – babies that had been taken away from them. If Sully could understand
anything
in this world, it was the loss of a deeply-loved child.

So. He was in, in all the fucking way. He’d just hold Cordelia at arm’s length when they were alone and act his ass off when they were in public. He’d protect her with his life if it came to that and he’d make sure she was safe. He looked across the table at her stunning face and threw up another barrier around his heart.

I can fucking do this.

“Guys?” Dallas was asking now. “Questions?”

Sully nodded. “About a hundred.”

“Go.”

“Identities?”

Dallas passed them each a folder. “Garrett and Millicent Baker. Met at college, married for twelve years now. Garrett, you’re a freelance Mergers and Acquisitions analyst and ten years ago, you drank too much at a work event and like an idiot, you drove home. Got pulled over, got a DUI. You pled guilty and got community service and now, no legitimate adoption agency will even consider you or your wife as prospective parents.”

“Got it,” Sully said.

“Millie, you’re a housewife who has an online cooking blog,” Dallas continued. “You’ve tried everything to get pregnant and you’ve had eight miscarriages. You live in New York and are big in to charities and art patronage.”

Cordelia glanced down at the file and was amazed to see her smiling face staring back at her from a photo at the opening of an event at the Met.

“How did…”

Dallas shrugged. “Easy. Our IT team spent last night and this morning giving you an online life.”

“My cooking blog?”

“It’s been active for six years – has the archives and advertisers and analytics to prove it.”

“And my track record in M&A?” Sully asked, already knowing the answer.

“Rock-solid,” Dallas said. “And congrats on your PhD in Economics from Harvard, by the way.”

“It was no big deal,” Sully said. “I feel like I made no effort at all, really.”

Despite herself, Cordelia gave him a grin.
This
was the Hunter from Foxburg Falls: funny and sweet and charming. Damn him for resurfacing and getting her heart racing with that smile and those goddamn sexy-as-all-hell eye crinkles.

“So where are we staying?” Sully asked.

“You’re wealthy, successful people with high standards, so we opted to not have you stay in a hotel,” Dallas said. “We found you a rented house in a high-end neighborhood in Lawrence.”

“Is that where the meet is?”

“Yeah. The middleman is based in Lawrence.”

Cordelia didn’t know much about the geography of Kansas and she made a note to do some research in to Lawrence that afternoon. She also tried to avoid thinking about staying in a fancy house with Hunter. Not staying in a hotel room took the whole ‘playing a married couple’ thing up several levels somehow, and she wasn’t sure she liked it at all. Then again, the Bakers would most definitely stay in a massive house so with a bit of luck, she’d never run in to Hunter once they entered the front door and he disappeared in to his man cave or whatever he was going to do.

Dallas turned his attention to Cordelia. “Millie Baker is a rich woman, Cordelia, one who is totally desperate for a baby. She isn’t stupid and she isn’t vapid, but she
does
present herself a certain way. I need you to meet with Caro and have her fit you out with a complete wardrobe.”

Cordelia nodded, made another note. Caroline Hatt owned an exclusive clothing shop in Denver and Dallas used her when he needed crazy expensive suits for the guys to go undercover, and dresses and jewels when Selena was on assignment. Cordelia had seen the receipts when she did the expense reports and she figured that Caro made a
killing
off Dallas’ business.

“I’ll call her this morning and arrange a visit for tomorrow morning, first thing,” she said.

“Good. I’ll set a budget and Caro will stay within it.” Dallas grinned. “You just shop ‘til you drop, Cordelia. Shoes, dresses, jewelry, bags.”

She grinned back, loving the thought of re-enacting the ‘Pretty Woman’ shopping scene, minus the prostitution, of course. “Sounds good, boss.” Then she became more serious. “Dallas?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you – are you
sure
I’m up for this?”

“Hell, yeah.” He leaned forward, held her eyes and opened his hands and she saw nothing but honesty pouring off his massive frame. She relaxed, knowing that he was telling her the truth, one hundred percent. “You’re
so
ready. Jack says so and I believe him. Plus, every single person in this office has seen how good you are at non-verbal cues and communication.”

Sully nodded fervently. “True. People say you’re almost psychic.”

Cordelia glanced at him, taken aback at his admiring tone. “What?”

“Yep.” Now he smiled at her, and she was shocked to see pride on his hard, closed face. “You can see so damn much without people even saying a word and we all know it’s science and psychology, yeah? But it looks like mind-reading sometimes.”

“Oh, my God.” She felt her face flush. “It’s just observation.”

“Sure.” Sully shrugged, hating how she always downplayed her gifts and hard work. “But you have to know what you’re looking at, right?”

“Uh. Yeah.” She looked down and away from those dark eyes. “That’s true.”

“Jack says that you’re the most talented natural he’s ever worked with, Cordelia,” Dallas said softly. “I have every confidence that if I send you in to a meeting with that scumbag middleman and to meet the people hiding the kids, you’ll see a thousand times more than anyone else I have. I trust you. You
can
do this.”

Moved, stunned, almost teary, she nodded again.

“Now.” Dallas’ blue eyes were serious. “Personal safety.”

Sully sat up straight. Yeah, he was worried about this, no doubt about that. If the shit hit the fan, he’d be the one to have to get both of them out in one piece. He’d do it, no fucking hesitation, but he wondered if Dallas had anything to add. Turns out, he did and as always, it was out of left field.

“I know you have your gun license,” Dallas was saying to Cordelia and Sully gaped at both of them. “It’s current, yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Wait,” Sully blurted out. “You can
carry
? Like legally?”

She gave him a narrow look. “Yes.”

“Since when?” he demanded.

“Almost eight years.”

“You – what? Why?”

She shrugged. “We don’t live in the best neighborhood and we always have drugs in the house for Sean.”

“Yeah, but… your son’s been sick for two years, right? You’ve had your gun way longer than that.”

Now she looked very uncomfortable and Sully felt that he’d massively overstepped somehow, though God knows what he’d done.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “My ex-husband isn’t a very nice guy and there was some… trouble at the beginning of the divorce. I bought the gun for protection.”

Sully stared at her, hard. The thought that her ex had done something to her that required Cordelia purchasing a firearm made him fucking furious. Did he hit her? Attack her? Stalk her?

“Where is this fucker now?” he asked, his voice harsh.

She looked startled at his anger. “Jail.”

“Ah.” He calmed down marginally. “OK, then.”

“So, Cordelia,” Dallas said, trying to get the conversation back on track. “How good of a shot are you?”

“I’m not bad.”

Sully almost rolled his eyes. Cordelia was the Queen of Understatement, most especially so when it was her own skills or abilities that were in question. If she said that she was ‘not bad’ then he’d be willing to bet that she was actually ‘goddamn awesome’.

“You practice?” Dallas asked her.

“Never.” She shook her head. “I keep the gun locked up at home and I take it out to the range maybe twice a year to get it checked over and to shoot a bit. But I don’t do anything on the regular.”

“Alright, then.” Dallas rolled his massive shoulders, trying to get rid of some of the tension he felt there; God, he
hated
this op and it hadn’t even started yet. “I want you and Sully to go out to the range today with your gun. Check it, make sure it’s OK, take some shots. Have Sully give you some pointers if he thinks you need it.”

She nodded. “Fine.”

“Anything else you want to ask me?”

“Not now.” She stood up. “I’ll take this file and read it through, make arrangements for my Mom to stay with Sean for a couple of weeks. If I think of anything else, I’ll ask.”

“Good.”

The men watched her walk out the door and they looked at each other. Sully had that look on his face, the one that usually meant trouble and Dallas sighed.

“What?” Dallas said. “What’s on your mind?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Cordelia was qualified to carry?”

“When?” Dallas said, puzzled.

“Before Foxburg Falls. I said she couldn’t carry and wasn’t a trained operative and you never corrected me.”

“I didn’t know then.”

“So how did it come up?”

“When I offered her the chance to train with Jack and do more face-to-face work with clients and some field work as a profiler, I asked her if she was OK with gun training. It’s standard and it’s non-negotiable and that’s when she said she was already a registered gun owner.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t required when she was the receptionist but her role has changed.”

“I see.”

“Anything else?”

“Last thing: how are we going to get our guns and a briefcase containing a huge amount of cash on an airplane? We flying private?”

“You’re not. You’re driving to Kansas. It’s about twelve hours, which is one hell of a long drive, but you can do it in one day if you haul ass.”

Sully nodded. “Alright. That’s better for sure.”

“Damn right it is. You’ll take one of the work SUV’s since they’re all fitted with GPS trackers. We’ll know where y’all are every second so if things go bad, you get the hell out and away and hidden. We’ll find you and come and get you.”

“OK, boss.”

“That’s it?”

“For now.” Sully stood up too. “I’ll get a few things done and take Cordelia to the shooting range.”

Dallas grinned. “Man, I’d pay money to watch that woman shoot a gun, I swear to Christ.”

“No kidding, right?” Sully shook his head. “What do you want to bet she’s great at it?”

“I ain’t taking that bet, man. I’d lose, as sure as the sun sets tonight.”

**

Sully stood off to the side of the indoor shooting range, watching Cordelia load her gun. He wasn’t at all surprised at her choice of personal weapon: a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield. Compact and light, it was a popular choice with women with smaller hands... but it had a quick reset triggered by the striker-fired action, so the gun made it possible for multiple rounds to be fired quickly. The gun was sleek and slim – but it was fucking fast and lethal. Sully got the feeling that it was the perfect gun for this tough, sweet woman.

She never stops surprising me, does she?

He adjusted the earmuffs and lowered his safety glasses. Cordelia looked over her shoulder at him and he gave her a thumbs-up. She nodded back at him, turned and spread her feet apart, finding her position. Right away, he saw that her hips weren’t square and her shoulders were too tense. He waited, though, curious how she’d do on her first try.

Cordelia tried to ignore the fact that Hunter Sullivan was looming behind her, watching her every move. She was incredibly self-conscious about her wide hips and curvy ass, and she just knew that he’d have those sharp eyes trained on both, assessing her stance. She took a deep breath, tried to relax.

BOOK: Solid Muscle (Unseen Enemy Book 5)
6.39Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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