True Vision (28 page)

CHAPTER
FORTY-SIX

N
oah forced himself to loosen his grip on the railing before he could rip it away from the porch with his bare hands and beat the ground with it. He didn’t like it. God, more than that. He
hated
it. She would get herself killed. He couldn’t live if anything happened to her.

But who the hell was he to try to stand in her way? He was the king of justice. And not the neat, tidy kind that she sought, the kind that ended with the bad guys in cuffs perp-walked to prison. His brand of justice involved blood and guts and screaming death. In fact, he didn’t have the right to call what he’d done justice. Revenge, plain and simple, served cold. Justice just happened to be a side dish.

He focused on a buoy bobbing among the Gulf’s white-tipped waves. That’d been him before he met Charlie. Laurette had managed to start reeling him in, but Charlie sliced through the rope binding him to the anchor resting on the sandy floor. Charlie freed him, and he couldn’t help wanting to cling to her for dear life.

“Noah?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t think I have to tell you that I don’t like it,” he said over his shoulder. “And I don’t even know what you want to do.”

“Frankly, I have no idea. I was hoping you could help me with that part. You’re the expert.”

He wanted to tell her no fucking way again, yell it at her. Walking back into that hotel was stupid, reckless. But he tamped down that response. He needed to be rational or she wouldn’t listen. Emotion had no place here. Only logic. Doing anything except letting Logan deal with it could mean death. Logic.

Turning toward her, he leaned back against the railing and crossed his arms. “In my expert opinion, going back to the Royal Palm without any idea of who’s after you would be stupid.”

“He’s already tried to kill me three times and failed. He’s got to be frustrated by now. Frustration makes people sloppy.”

His stomach flip-flopped all over the place. “Charlie—”

“I’ll start asking questions about Louisa,” she cut in. “I’ll make it clear I know about the blackmail, maybe hint I know more than I do.”

No way, no way. Damn it, no way. He clenched his jaw against the protests in his gut. “I want to be there, too.”

“That would be impossible to explain.”

“You can tell people I’m your bodyguard.”

“And you think I can flush this guy out while I’m walking around with a bodyguard? Come on, Noah.” She rose and walked over to him, pausing in front of him to caress the side of his face. Her gaze was soft, loving, as she looked into his eyes and gently smiled. “Especially when the bodyguard looks as badass as you do.”

He couldn’t stop himself from angling his head into her touch, before forcing himself to step to the side, breaking the contact so he could think. One touch and every cell in his brain zeroed in on how much he wanted to touch her, hold her, love her. Save her. “Don’t try to joke your way around me on this. I’m not letting you walk into a potentially dangerous situation without protection.”

Charlie dropped her hand. “I don’t want to argue about this, but I’m not going to sit around and wait for him to come after me again.” Her light brown eyes darkened. “He shot my sister.”

He grasped her by the arms, barely resisting the urge to shake her. “This killer is desperate. It’s monumentally stupid to make yourself accessible to a homicidal maniac.”

“If I hide, this could go on forever. Someone else could get hurt.”

“Yeah, like you. The smart thing to do is to approach this methodically, like any other investigation. We question everyone at the hotel, check every room, find the equipment and the method of the blackmail and that will lead us to the bad guy.”

“Meanwhile, the bad guy is packing up his stuff and moving to another town so he can do the same thing all over again. Seems to me that dangling the bait he’s been after all along is the most efficient way to get this resolved.”

“I’m not letting you do this alone. That’s all there is to it.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“I can sure as hell try.”

“How?”

“Well, first of all, I’d give your buddy Logan a call and tell him what you’re up to. I can probably talk him into placing you in protective custody.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Or he could arrest you for obstruction.”

“Obstruction? How?”

“You’ve withheld information that’s important to an ongoing investigation.”

“Noah, come on.”

“No,
you
come on. I just found you. No way in hell am I letting you use yourself as bait. I couldn’t live if something happened to you.”

Starting to smile, she slipped her arms around his waist and kissed his chest before hugging him close. “You couldn’t live, huh?”

He closed his eyes and held her against him. “I’m not kidding.”

“I know,” she murmured, snuggling her head under his chin. “I feel the same way.”

He let out his held breath and stroked a hand over her back, up into her hair. “It’s a little crazy, isn’t it? How fast . . .”

She smiled up at him. “Which is crazier? That I’m super empathic or that we fell for each other in a week?”

He chuckled, then kissed her slowly, deeply, before resting his forehead against hers. “This Mac Hunter guy. You and he . . .”

She drew back and studied his face. “Don’t worry about him. That’s over.”

“He seemed pretty adamant that he wanted you back.”

“He can’t have me.”

“But you loved him at one time, didn’t you? The way you looked at him . . .”

“Mac and I have a history. But that’s all it is. History.”

Relieved, he nuzzled the curve of her neck. Her skin smelled like salvation. “Before I met you, I wasted a lot of time being an idiot. I’m done with that.”

“Thank God,” she said, kissing him again.

He lifted her onto the porch railing and nudged her legs apart so he could stand between them, then smoothed his hands over the material of her shorts, his thumbs lightly massaging toward the vee of her thighs. “This is where I want to be.”

“Woo-hoo for me,” she said, grinning.

He pressed his lips to her throat, and she dropped her head back, hanging onto his shoulders. She smelled of soap and Gulf air, and he breathed in her now-familiar scent, not surprised in the least when blood and heat rushed to his groin.

He gathered her off the railing into his arms, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, settling against his growing erection. A shuddery moan slipped through her lips as she twined her arms around his neck and buried her mouth on his. He headed for the door that led inside.

In the bedroom, he kicked the door shut and lowered her onto the bed, his hands diving for the bare skin under her blouse.

She cupped his face and looked into his eyes. “What if I wear a wire?”

He paused with her left breast under his palm, her nipple hardening against his skin. What the hell was she talking about? “What?”

She wriggled so that she was centered under the bulge in his pants. “You could sit in your room or in the lobby and listen to what’s going on.” She arched her hips to press firmly against him. “If I run into trouble, you’d be right . . .” her breath hitched, “there.”

He closed his eyes, groaned. “This isn’t the right time for this conversation.”

She reached between them, undid the button of his jeans and worked her hand inside. “Oh, wow, you’re not wearing underwear.”

“AnnaCoreen’s weren’t a good fit,” he said through his teeth as her fingers slid over his cock, rubbed. “Oh, God.” He stopped being able to think, shocked at how damn good her hand felt stroking the most sensitive, most vulnerable part of him.

“It’s the perfect setup,” she murmured, kissing his chin, his jaw, teasing his earlobe with her tongue. “I can do what I need to do, and you can be right there, doing what you need to do.”

He lifted his hips back, breathing hard, ready to tear her clothes off but holding himself in check. “Let’s get something straight, shall we?”

She gave him a feline smile, flexed her fingers around him. “Sure.”

He dropped his forehead against hers, concentrated on taking deep, calming breaths. “Please, stop.”

“Stop?”

His hips bucked, driving himself against her warm palm. Christ, he already wanted to come. “Yes, stop. Now.”

Her fingers paused in their stroking, but she didn’t withdraw her hand. Thank God. He swallowed, tried to think straight. No matter how often or how forcefully he refused to help her with her plan, she’d find a way. Wouldn’t it be better to be there, ready to crush anyone who tried to harm her, than tempt her to try to go it alone? “We’d have to have a code word.”

“Code word?”

“Yes, so that if you got into trouble, all you’d have to do is say the word, or phrase, and I’d come running.”

“Just say the words and you’d come?”

He groaned, so desperate to thrust that his head felt light and heavy at the same time. “I’m trying to be serious here.”

“So,” she moved her fingers in a feathery stroke, “just so we’re understanding each other. If I wear a wire while I set myself up as bait, you won’t try to stand in my way.”

He kissed her temple, her nose, her lips. “You’re going to find a way to do it no matter what I say, aren’t you?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

“Then I’m going to be there every step of the way.”

Her smile grew, and she reared up to nip his chin. “I already know what the code phrase can be.”

He had to laugh, but it ended on a choked moan when her fingers resumed their assault. “You’d better tell me now before I lose it.”

She pressed her lips to his ear and whispered, “Take me.”

CHAPTER
FORTY-SEVEN

C
harlie started shaking all over again when she saw all the tubes hooked up to Alex. Noah’s hand resting lightly at the back of her neck under her hair kept her grounded, and she focused on that, found strength in his presence.

“The doctor said she’ll be okay,” he murmured near her ear.

She took a breath and let it slowly out. Right.

They found her parents in a waiting room that must not have been redecorated since the 1980s, considering the square wooden chairs sporting orange seat cushions and the ratty, orange-and-green-striped sofa.

Reed and Elise Trudeau sat on opposite sides of the room, and Charlie marveled that near-tragedy, which usually brought people closer together, seemed to have driven her parents further apart.

Her father, looking exhausted beyond words, rose and walked over to her and Noah. His dark eyes were kind as they looked into Charlie’s, his hand steady as he caressed the side of her face. She tensed for a blast of the inside of his head, but all she felt was extreme exhaustion, grinding fear and a burning, twisting pain in the center of her gut.

His voice drew her back to the moment. “You doing okay, Squirt?”

She almost burst into tears on the spot. He hadn’t called her Squirt since she’d actually been one. “Hanging in. And you, Dad? How are you?”

He shrugged, cast a weary glance over his shoulder at her mother. “It’s been rough.”

“How is she?”

He shrugged again. “What can I say? Withdrawn, as usual. Barely holding it together.”

“Why do you—” She broke off when Noah’s fingers tightened on her skin.

Reed cleared his throat and stood a bit straighter, as though he knew the rest of her question and was relieved he didn’t have to answer. “I’m going to make the official announcement tomorrow, but the Sunday newspaper will be the last issue of the
Lake Avalon Gazette
.”

She fought to control her spiraling emotion. This is it. He’s giving up for good. “I would have thought the recent crime spree would be good for business.”

He nodded. “It has been, actually. Nearly all the advertisers have come back, and then some. They know better than to pass up the numbers we’re selling. But I’m afraid it’s not enough to prop us back up on the edge of the cliff.”

And then she did something she hadn’t let herself do since she was a teenager: She threw herself into her father’s arms. “God, Dad, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

He stroked her back, her hair, pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s not your fault, honey. It was only a matter of time.” He set her back from him and smiled down at her. “I heard you got an offer you can’t refuse from Simon Walker.”

“How do you know about that?”

“He called me. Wanted to make sure he wasn’t stepping on my toes in his run at you. I told him to go for it. In fact, I told him not to take no for an answer. It’ll be good for you, Charlie. What you’ve always wanted but I couldn’t give you.”

Shame swept through her that she hadn’t believed in him, that her lack of faith had cost him everything. “You did the best you could, Dad.”

“Not quite. I should have done better.” He glanced at her mother again, and sadness and regret seemed to settle over him like a heavy wool blanket. “On many levels.” Shaking his head, he looked back at her with a sad smile. “At any rate, it’s my turn to visit with Alex.”

She reached up and kissed his cheek. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear.

He hugged her to him. “Love you, too, Squirt.”

He started to pull away, but she stopped him with her hands on his arms. “Promise me something.”

He tilted his head. “What?”

“That pain in your stomach? You need to get it checked.”

His eyes widened. “How—”

“Just trust me, okay? It could be serious.”

He cleared his throat, nodded. “I saw the doctor yesterday, actually. It’s an ulcer, but we caught it before it got too serious, so don’t worry.” Then he smiled, a wondering kind of expression crossing his features. “You always surprise me, Charlie.”

As he walked away, she noticed for the first time that his gait was that of an old man. She glanced away, toward Noah but not really looking at him. “I broke my father,” she said softly.