Chasing Silver (13 page)

“Remy wanted a drink. The bottle was a bit dusty but…” He offered the untouched glass to Isaac. “Here, you deserve it for being just that good.”

As Isaac took the whiskey and downed its contents, Remy sat up. “You’re looking pretty good for someone who got shot only a couple hours ago.”

“And you’re looking pretty good for someone who almost ended up another one of Tian’s statistics,” Isaac said. “I guess we’ve both got nine lives.”

The wariness in her eyes melted. “Thanks to Nate.”

The two men exchanged a glance at the familiar nickname, amusement flickering on Isaac’s face. Nathan was well aware Remy wasn’t Isaac’s favorite person at the moment, but at the same time, Isaac seemed at ease. More at ease than he had been the other morning, despite the caution he still exhibited. Remy seemed relaxed as well. She had proclaimed once she only trusted what she knew and, Nathan hoped at this point, she realized she could trust Isaac.

But as he sat there with the two of them, he couldn’t help but be reminded of the first time Isaac had met Susanna. She had been funny and quick witted, charming both of them until they would have happily licked the bottom of her shoe. There had even been a bit of jealousy between the two of them, the memory of which still bothered Nathan. In the six years they had worked together prior to meeting Susanna, they had never even had a fight.

Those memories were the source of his vague anxiety now. He didn’t want to lose Remy, not while everything was still new, but he didn’t want another rift with Isaac. They owed each other too much.

“Yeah. He’s a real tom cat that way.” His eyes narrowed in speculation, and Nathan’s anxiety took a different turn. He knew that look. “You, on the other hand, I know next to nothing about. Well, except for the fact that you’ve got a crazy bitch after you who thinks it’s funny to shoot at cops, not to mention you’ve managed to get my best friend thinking about sex for the first time in five years.”

“And surprisingly, you’ve hit on the only two interesting things there are about me,” she shot back.

Nathan jumped to his feet. Allowing the antagonism to escalate would make matters worse. “It’s been a very long night. Remy, why don’t you go and…unpack your bag. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

For a second, he thought she would argue. The firm set of her jaw was all too familiar. When her mouth opened to speak, Nathan was convinced the good will he’d been trying to sow with Isaac for her was about to be wrecked.

“Don’t be too long,” she said instead. “It’s been a long day and we never did eat. Who knows how long I’ll last?”

She started to step away, but apparently thought better of it, turning back to face him. Coiling her arms around his neck, Remy gave Nathan a resounding kiss that lasted just long enough to take him by surprise. She then slipped down his body and skirted the couch, retrieving the backpack before disappearing into the bedroom. The entire display took less than thirty seconds.

“Something tells me I know what you were too busy eating to get around to joining me for dinner.”

Sighing, Nathan sank back onto the couch. “After we left you this morning, I took her to Santa Monica to see Manuel. You remember him, right? Anyway, I figured her coins were distinctive enough, it might be a lead to figuring out who she is or where she’s from. He said he’d look into it.”

Nathan paused. Isaac looked at him steadily, as though he expected Nathan’s story to get much better.

“I’m sorry we blew you off?” Nathan tried.

Isaac didn’t say a word for over a minute. “Answer me one thing and we’ll call it even.”

“Anything.”

“Is she worth all this?”

Nathan had always been honest with Isaac, and there was no reason to stop now. “She’s not worth you getting shot…again. But she’s worth my time, and she’s worth helping, and she’s worth fighting for. I’m sorry you got caught in this mess, Isaac.”

He nodded. “Good enough, then.” Though his eyes remained solemn, his mouth was starting to twitch, as if he was trying to refrain from smiling. “Now are you going to sit out here and keep me from getting any sleep tonight when you’ve got an incredibly hot, potentially dangerous woman like that waiting in the next room to jump your bones?”

Nathan’s smile was interrupted by a yawn. “No. But I am dead on my feet.” He yawned again, emphasizing his point. “Don’t disappear tomorrow. We need to talk when my brain is functioning.”

This time, Isaac did grin. “And if I needed any proof at all you’re exhausted, it would be that too easy opening you just lobbed in my direction.” He waved toward the closed bedroom door. “Go to bed. You can favor me with your brilliance in the morning.”

Nathan undressed without turning on the light, moving silently in the dark bedroom. After the very long day they had had, he was certain Remy was already asleep. He knew his eyes would slam shut as soon as his head hit the pillow. He wasn’t shocked to see it was already after three, and though he fantasized about sleeping in past noon, he knew he wouldn’t have that luxury.

He crawled into bed, careful not to disturb Remy, and stretched out on the cool sheet. The window was open, but there wasn’t a hint of breeze to disturb the sweltering heat, and the city outside the apartment was eerily silent. Nathan closed his eyes, drifting away, but Remy shifted beside him, pulling him back from the brink of slumber.

“Thank you for coming after me.”

“You didn’t have enough money.” Nathan realized it was an absurd statement, and yet, it made perfect sense to him.

“Just when I start figuring you out…”

Her voice trailed off, and her fingertips danced across his bare abdomen. It was soft and relaxing, and he was just drifting off again when she asked, “Has it really been five years since you’ve had sex?”

The question didn’t surprise him. In fact, it was exactly the sort of question he’d expect Remy to ask. “Yes. It’s been five years since I’ve done a lot of things.”

“Why?” Her breath was the only thing moving in the air, the faint traces of the whiskey lingering between them. “What happened?”

“I met a girl,” he answered, before he even realized he was going to speak. Remy wouldn’t be happy to leave it there, and Nathan knew he didn’t have to tell her more. It wasn’t any of her business. But he found he wanted to tell her. Gazing into her luminous eyes, he took her hand, bringing it up the raised scar on his neck. “She did this to me, and then tried to kill Isaac as well.”

Her thick lashes lowered as she traced the thin line, reminiscent of the first time she had noticed it. He barely felt her, and if it wasn’t for the subtle shift of the tiny bones within his grasp, he didn’t think he would have known she was touching him.

“Well, that explains a lot.” There wasn’t a trace of anything but grateful realization in her quiet voice. “But why? Why would she do something like that?”

“Because she was a whore. She worked for a small-time pimp named Parker. Of course, we knew Parker, knew what he was up to, but we had bigger concerns. As long as he stayed out of our way, we didn’t bother him. Until we got wind he was dealing in more than just girls. A young man was murdered, and our investigation led us right back to Parker, and the automatic weapons he had brought to town.”

Nathan paused, his throat dry. He had never talked about this to anybody, and though he relived those days over and over, trying desperately to figure out how and when it all went so wrong, the story he was telling sounded foreign to him. Unknown.

“We decided to set up a sting. Easy enough. Nothing we hadn’t done before. Except Parker had his own sources. And he fancied himself quite the evil genius.”

Her hand stilled. “Did you know what she was when you met her?”

“No. She was fresh off the bus when she met Parker. I don’t know how long she had been in town before he set her up to meet me. She always claimed she came to L.A. to be a dancer. That part was probably true. I don’t know. She looked like the sort of girl who could do whatever she wanted when I met her. At the time, I used to frequent a bar in Santa Monica, and she offered to buy me a drink.” Nathan swallowed hard. “She was…beautiful. Dancer’s body, pretty smile, soft southern accent.”

Nathan could still see her clearly, see her as she was that first night. Blond hair pulled back in a braid with wisps like cotton candy hanging around her face, long legs covered in black silk, and pink lipstick that matched her tight sweater. His first impression of her had been just one word. Sweet.

Lost in his memories, he was only partially aware of Remy settling back down into her pillow, pulling her hand from his to tuck it under her cheek. “Well, see, now that was your first mistake.” When he turned his head to look at her, she was smiling at him. “Girls like that are always too good to be true.”

“Yes, I learned that lesson the hard way. But she seemed genuine, of course. That’s the worst part. Going over every conversation we ever had, wondering if every word was a lie or if it was all true, and wondering which is worse, and wondering if it matters at all. I still don’t know what the master plan was, and if everything went, or almost went, the way they hoped. I suppose I never will.” Nathan rolled to his side to face her. She deserved to see all of it. “For a few weeks, we had a standing date, after my shift ended, to meet for drinks. Then I introduced her to Isaac and…”

The fading of her smile revealed the darkening of her thoughts. It took a long time for her to say anything.

“No wonder he doesn’t like me. Look, if you don’t want to talk about this, we don’t have to. I didn’t mean to drag all this up.”

“I don’t mind,” he assured, understanding it was the truth. “If you don’t mind hearing it.”

She shook her head. She seemed unwilling to speak and break his rhythm even further.

“There was tension between her and Isaac, which caused tension between me and Isaac, which in turn, distracted us. We let stupid things get by us. Made stupid mistakes. And every time we had a problem, she’d be there. Making things worse. But I just couldn’t see it because…Finally though, Parker slipped up. Another dead body. One of his girls. One of his weapons. Even Susanna couldn’t distract us from that.”

Nathan shifted again. He had said he didn’t mind telling her, but this part would always be too painful to even think about, much less describe.

“So, we were going ahead with the sting, as planned. Susanna knew because of me. I didn’t…I let her overhear us discussing it. Things went bad. Very bad. I had my gun on Parker, and she came right up behind me and put a knife against my throat. I was fast enough to get away from her, but she had the advantage. There’s the element of surprise, of course, but I didn’t think she had it in her.”

“Because you trusted her.” All of a sudden, she was pressed against him, her lips on his, her arm slipping around his back. Her breath was sweet when she broke away, but she remained close, her heat rising between them. “You know I wouldn’t do that, right? I don’t want…I couldn’t.”

“I know.” He knew it now. He didn’t think it would do any good to tell her about the times he had doubted her. “I did trust her. But obviously, she did have it in her. Isaac saw her, shot her, drew Parker’s attention. He shot Isaac. Another officer brought Parker down. Isaac and I both ended up in the hospital for about a week, and when we got out, I handed in my badge and I disappeared. Well, I tried to. Isaac didn’t take the hint when I stopped returning his calls.”

“That’s because he cares about you.”

“Yes. Enough to worry about saving my life even though I very nearly ended his. He’s a good man to have on your side, Remy.”

That was what it took for her to draw back. “I already have a good man on my side.”

“I’m asking you to trust him, because you’ll need his help if you want to stop Kirsten before she can stop you. And he’ll help because I asked him. I just want you to understand he doesn’t hate you, he doesn’t have anything against you personally.”

“I know,” Remy conceded. “It’s just…he’s a cop. I’ve spent most of my life on the other side of the fence, with guys like him trying to run me down. Forgetting that’s not so easy.”

“This entire situation is something new and unexpected for all of us. I never thought I’d…well, find somebody like you.” He remembered what Isaac had asked him, his own words echoing back. “Find somebody worth it.”

She fell silent again. Somewhere in the far distance, a dog barked.

When she moved, Nathan wasn’t sure what to expect. She was liberal with touches, physical at moments that surprised him. Remy seemed to relish exploring every little nuance, perhaps to see how far she could go before he told her to stop. A woman testing her new boundaries. It made sense in light of her current situation.

So it came as a mild shock when he felt her fingertips on his face, tracing the scope of his nose, outlining the curve of his mouth. Then her lips were pressed to his, but where she had always turned previous caresses into something sexual, this remained simple.

“I’ll try.” He felt her mouth shift against his and realized she was smiling. “And for the record? Five years without sex did nothing but make you amazing.”

“I was just trying to keep up with you.” Nathan yawned. “But I think you wore me out.”

When he rolled onto his back, Remy followed, settling her cheek against his shoulder as his arm curved around to pull her more closely. “No way am I taking all that credit. I think some of that was Tian’s fault.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I can lay most of the blame at your feet.” He kissed her temple, her hair tickling his lips. “Not that it’s a problem. You can wear me down anytime you like.”

“Tomorrow,” she promised. Her soft breath skimmed along his skin, an even rhythm that was more hypnotic than the heat of her pressed to his side. “Now…sleep.”

“Yes…sleep.” His mind was still turning, though, working through everything he had been through the past forty-eight hours, everything he had told Remy. He felt as if a burden had been lifted. He had been honest with Remy, told her how much he had screwed up, and she…well, she was still there.

That was one less thing to worry about, one less obstacle. But Nathan knew they still had much larger problems headed their way.

*   *   *

No more running away for her, Kirsten thought grimly as she examined her reflection in the mirror bolted to the closet door. McGuire’s bullet had grazed her calf, leaving a deep enough furrow to have her worried about blood loss. She had gone straight to the nearest hospital, dropped a wad of cash—almost all that was left from her watch—onto the counter in lieu of an insurance card, and then passed out.

An hour later, she woke up with her leg throbbing and her pants leg cut away to show a dozen stitches spidering along her pale skin. Primitive, but probably effective. The elderly doctor had instructed her to stay put while the police came in to take a report—and the irony that she had forgotten gunshot injuries still had to be investigated in this time didn’t escape her—but that was all Kirsten needed to make a run for it.

It wasn’t like they could find her anyway. She wouldn’t exist for another fifty years.

The cheap no-tell motel she’d found was a far cry from her lush accommodations in Beverly Hills. Since she had nothing else she was willing to pawn, cheap was a necessity, offering anonymity when McGuire came looking for her again. She had no doubts he would. Her evening out had given up the one piece of information she wished she’d had before meeting him. His ex-partner was the proud owner of a vintage Mustang that had been involved in a shooting at a club called Rojo. Witnesses placed a woman matching Remy Capra’s description leaving the scene with him. Somehow, Kirsten had managed to find the one cop in Los Angeles who could both help her in her search and thwart her at the same time.

She had a name, though. Nathan Pierce. And McGuire’s appearance at her hotel with the manager meant she had to be more covert in finding him. That was why she had run. She wasn’t getting slowed down by questions McGuire wouldn’t like the answers to. Kirsten had already spent too much time in the past. The longer it took to find Remy, the worse her odds in retrieving the Silver Maiden coin. Returning without it wasn’t an option.

With a sigh, she stretched out on the lumpy bed and closed her eyes. McGuire wasn’t an obstacle. She wouldn’t allow him to be. Pierce was a mystery, but Kirsten had little doubt he would prove as easy to get around as McGuire.

Because behind Pierce was Remy. And the Silver Maiden. Only after Kirsten killed Remy to get the coin could she go home.

*   *   *

“I hate this place,” Cesar said, his voice barely carrying over the crashing waves outside the bedroom window. Stretched out on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling, a permanent scowl affixed to his features.

Tian glanced around the dark but luxurious room. “You’ve been waiting your whole life to live in a place like this.”

“Fuck it.”

Tian ignored him, thumbing through the text messages on his cell phone. Alex had sent them in like clockwork, every fifteen minutes.

Until twenty-seven minutes ago.

N—in his apartment. With that girl.

Then…
N—still there.

No change.

Things got interesting about an hour before when Alex reported Pierce had left his apartment—without his new little girlfriend. Alex had waited for Tian’s word to act, eager to do whatever he said. And now, there was nothing but silence.

“Should have done it yourself, man. You know Alex isn’t smart enough to bring him in,” Cesar rasped.

“And what? Leave you here alone? Alex may be big, but he’s not dumb. He’ll get them both.”

“Whatever. You know Gabriel was expecting to hear from you tonight. You’ve been too caught up in this shit and you’re going to piss him off, and then what are we going to do, huh?” Cesar asked, pushing himself up in bed.

“He’ll get his answer tonight,” Tian snarled. “And we have to do something about Pierce before we can go through with this little arrangement. He’s just going to fuck it up if he’s not out of the picture.”

“Should have told them to shoot on sight.”

Tian slammed the phone shut and stood, crossing the room to the window. The moonlight sparkled against the waves as they pounded against the shore. When Gabriel had set them up in his private beach house, Tian thought he was where he belonged. Until the first night. Goddamned waves kept him up until dawn. At least Nathan Pierce didn’t know to find them there. Cesar needed the time to recover.

“What are you going to do if they manage to bring him in anyway?” Cesar asked Tian’s back.

Before Tian answered, his phone chirped. He hastened to read the message, but his excitement dimmed as he deciphered the shortened words. “Alx ht. N escaped. Po involved,” he muttered. “Fuck.”