The Midnight Hour (30 page)

Tori nodded as she followed Drake into the house. The inside of his home was just as she remembered. As soon as she stepped through the doors she entered a huge foyer made of beautiful tile and whose wall was lined with portraits of deceased Warrens.

Once you stepped out of the foyer into the massive living room the rest of the house connected to halls that went in three directions, each containing bedrooms and baths. There were six bedrooms and four bathrooms in all. Instead of going upward the house had been built spread out to encompass the land. The large eat-in kitchen was on the left and connected to a spacious family room. The house was a huge, rambling single-story structure with a basement.

Drake had once told her that the house had been built to hold a lot of Warrens, but due to health reasons Drake's grandmother had had only one child, Drake's father, Deke. Deke Warren had given his heart to the wrong woman and after a short marriage that produced only one son, she ran off with another man, never to be heard from again. Deke Warren, bitter over his wife's betrayal, never remarried and died years later in a hunting accident, which made Drake the lone surviving Warren after his grandparents' death. Tori knew how much Drake loved his home and was so entranced by everything she was seeing again that she jumped when his hand touched her arm.

"It will be best if we stay on the same side of the house," he said.

"That's fine," she responded, grateful that he hadn't assumed they would be sharing a bed. She followed him down a huge hall to a beautifully decorated guest room with shiny hardwood floors and an intriguing design of wallpaper that enhanced the solid blue curtains and bedspread. Although it appeared to have the tone of a masculine room, a huge vase °f dried flowers sat on the nightstand next to the bed. And just like she knew from memory, a stone fireplace was in every bedroom.

"Everything looks neat and comfortable," she said, turning around in appreciation, trying to keep her gaze off the bed. It was too big for one person and just the right size for two.

"Although I'm not here most of the time, I have a woman from town who was a friend of my grandmother, Mrs. Gillette, drop by every so often to keep the place up. I contacted her before leaving Houston and asked that she pick up a few things from the grocery store so I wouldn't have to go out," Drake said, placing her luggage on the bed.

Tori forced her attention away from the size of the bed to what Drake was saying. "That was a good idea."

He turned to face her again. "I'll leave you to rest up while I switch the security system. The one on now is the one I use to alert the local police of anything when I'm away for long periods of time."

She raised a brow. "But I thought you said the law enforcement authorities have no jurisdiction on your land."

"They don't, except for when I give it to them. The local cops and I have an understanding. Besides, Roy and I grew up together."

She raised her brow again. "Who's Roy?"

"The sheriff. You didn't meet him the last time you were here because he moved back to these parts from Wyoming a few years ago." He glanced at his watch. "I'll also start something for dinner." He met her gaze and grinned. "I also asked Mrs. Gillette to make sure she bought a gallon of milk since you seem to enjoy drinking it."

Her pulse accelerated with the look of amusement on his face. He had such a sexy grin. "Thanks."

He nodded. She then watched as he turned and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Tori wasn't sure how long she had slept but she awoke from her nap to the smell of chicken frying. She slowly pulled herself up in bed, still feeling somewhat tired.

After Drake had left her alone she had quickly unpacked. Then gathering some clean clothes in her arms, and being careful not to drop anything this time, she had walked across the hall to the bathroom where she had indulged herself in a long leisurely bath in the oversized tub. Then she had returned to the bedroom, stretched across the bed, and wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt and panties, had dozed off.

Standing, she slipped out of the T-shirt and went into the closet to get the skirt and blouse she had hung up earlier. Within minutes she was dressed and walking down the hall to where she knew the kitchen was located.

Drake glanced up from stirring something at the stove when she walked in. "I see you remembered your way," he said, smiling.

"Yes, but it would not have mattered if I hadn't. I would have simply followed the smell of food."

He chuckled. "Hungry?"

She nodded. "Starving."

"Good. Everything is ready and I can bring you up to date on a call I received from Hawk an hour or so ago while we eat."

Tori nodded again. "While you're finishing with that, I'll set the table," she said.

"Thanks."

Drake watched as she walked over to the cabinets and began taking down plates. He stopped stirring the pot of vegetables to watch her. Just like before when he had brought her here as Sandy, she was making herself right at home and he liked that. What he didn't like was the way she was trying to put distance between them, but he was willing to give her the space she seemed to need.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that no matter what they'd shared before, and no matter how many times they managed to occasionally fall into the same bed now, in a way they were virtual strangers. So much had happened for both of them over the past five years; now with the Cross situation, they hadn't had the opportunity to really get to know each other again. He knew he still loved her but he wasn't absolutely sure just how she felt about him. He wasn't the same man she had fallen in love with years ago. Now he saw more bad in people than good, and he no longer trusted easily. He no longer took things at face value. Yes, he wasn't the same man and the big question was whether or not she could accept that.

He inhaled deeply. Once this situation with Cross was behind them, he intended to find out.

Tori turned to find Drake watching her intently. She cleared her throat. "What do you want to drink? I can fix up some tea or something," she said, after seeing the jar of tea bags on the counter.

"Thanks, tea will be fine."

Moments later when they sat down at the table together, she couldn't help but remember what had happened after the last time they had eaten together. He had been driven to prove that although she felt differently about some things now, there were other things she still felt the same about. He'd also wanted to prove to her that he considered her "his" woman.

After saying the grace for the both of them she asked, "What did Hawk have to say?"

Drake glanced up after pouring gravy on his chicken.

"He wanted to let me know that Cross is trying desperately to find us. Like with most operatives, where I live is a closely guarded secret. However, Hawk feels it won't take long for him to find out about this place."

Tori nodded. "Anything else?"

He gazed at her for a moment then said, "Yes. It seems that Cross has checked out my story and although Hawk didn't make it easy for him, Cross got confirmation from whatever resources he's using that Sandy Carroll is still alive and the two of you are one and the same."

Tori went rigid. She knew it was bound to happen, that it was part of the plan, but still it felt eerie that a secret she had worked five years to protect was now out in the open. "So how much time does Hawk think we have?"

"No more than three days, possibly four at the max. There are no signs that Cross has entered the country yet. Hawk also said that getting men together to help him do his dirty work isn't as easy as Cross thought it would be. After what went down with Horton, a lot of the corrupt agents are keeping a low profile, hoping that no one finds out about their extracurricular activities; and tiiose slimeballs connected to the drug scene aren't absolutely sure of Cross's claim that he'll eventually be the head of the ASI and are cautious about doing anything to piss off the present leaders of the organization."

Tori was silent for a moment, then she asked, "So what's our game plan?"

Drake met her gaze. "Get prepared and be ready. As soon as we finish up here, I want to take you downstairs and show you the security system I have in place and how it works."

She nodded. He had told her earlier that he'd converted his basement into a state-of-the-art security room.

"I have hidden video cameras located in various areas on my land," he added. "One of the features of my security system is a huge monitoring screen where I can just sit back and watch all the creatures that are roaming around. How would you like to do that with me later?"

Tori lifted a brow. "Don't you ever feel like you're spying on them?" she asked, forcing a smile. She thought about sitting in a closed room with Drake and watching anything and knew it wouldn't be a good idea.

He chuckled. "They're on my property so that gives me the right. So what about it? After showing you the security system, how would you like to see an authentic wildlife film in the making?"

Tori licked her bottom lip nervously then said, "Okay, I'll spy on your wildlife with you," knowing as she said the words that she was probably making a big mistake. "So you're into modern technology these days?" she asked, curiously. She didn't recall him having such an interest before.

He smiled over at her. "Sort of. I got interested when F had a lot of free time on my hands after that Haiti mission. Because of what happened, the top brass in the Marine Corps felt I needed at least six months off to get myself back together. During that time I distracted myself by doing things with my hands. Roy is a whiz with technology and on his days off he came around and helped me set things up."

A short while later they finished eating and cleaned u» the kitchen together. Tori was surprised at how quickly he had gotten over being upset that she had forced her way into coming here. In fact it seemed that her presence was not bothering him at all.

"Ready?"

Tori looked up at him and nodded, but she doubted if sha would ever be fully ready for Drake Warren. "Yes, I'm ready," she replied, unable to calm the rapid and intense thump of her heartbeat.

"Watch your step on your way down."

"All right."

Before she could recover from his closeness, he took her hand in his. His touch immediately sent a sexual current radiating through her that she felt all the way to her toes. She glanced up at him and knew he had felt it, too. But he didn't say anything as he led her out of the kitchen toward the hall that went to the basement.

He stood back and let her go down the stairs before him.

The moment her foot touched the last step she gazed around, impressed at what she saw. It looked like a miniature security control room that contained a computer, several television screens and some sort of state-of-the-art control panel. All of the screens were turned on and were showing different areas of his land. Although it was nighttime, the moon's glow provided more than sufficient light to see certain areas.

She took a deep breath. This particular room must have been where he spent most of his time whenever he came home. It was set up like a mini-apartment with a small refrigerator and microwave on one side of the spacious room, a table with chairs and a love seat as well as a double bed on the other side. She tried not to concentrate too long on the bed. Like the one she had been sleeping in, it looked just the right size for two people.

"This is quite a setup," she managed to say when she heard him come to stand directly behind her.

"Yes, and using it to deal with Cross will give us an advantage. Nothing and no one can penetrate Warren Mountains without me knowing about it."

His use of the word penetrate caused another image to fill Tori's mind. She would never forget their first time together and how after kissing her senseless, not to mention the way he had nibbled and licked her to sweet oblivion,getting her unbelievably wet, he had slid his hips between her spread thighs, teasing her with a rubbing motion of his body over hers, making her moan and groan till she thought her throat would go raw, before he had finally given her what she'd wanted and entered her, penetrating deep into her virginal core and introducing her to the most wild and erotic lovemaking of her life. All of their mating sessions after that only got better.

Tori fought to steady her pulse, forcing that memory away as well as the others that wanted to follow. Stepping back she watched as he took a step forward and moved toward the first screen.

"This shows the north section of my property. This camera is well-hidden high in the trees with a scanner." He chuckled. "It frustrated the hell out of the squirrels when they discovered it wasn't a huge nut they could carry off somewhere to save for winter."

Tori smiled. "I'm sure it must have been frustrating to^ find that out," she said, trying not to look directly into Drake's eyes. She glanced at another screen and her smile widened. "Look!" she said, pointing at another screen. "There's a fox out tonight. Isn't he beautiful?"

Drake laughed. "It's a she, Tori."

"Oh." She decided not to ask him how he could tell soi clearly in the dark but evidently he knew his animals.

For the next few minutes he went over the security system with her, going into details of how it worked, showing her the other screens and what he often viewed on them. He also told her about the motion sensors he had installed around the house as well as the ones he had positioned at any location where someone could gain access to his land by use of a vehicle or plane.

She listened attentively, for the moment putting her attraction to him out of her mind. She had to remember a killer intended to hunt them down and was coming here to do it.

"So what do you think of this setup?"

Tori smiled over at him. "Like you said, it will be an advantage in dealing with Cross," she said, leaning back in her chair. "When will you show me around the property?"