Dungeon Games (8 page)

A little glint came off the door handle as she went to open it and Karina stopped, all thoughts of Brighton fleeing in an instant.

She was being watched. Yes, that little glint of light could have come from the sun hitting the metal in the early evening, but she doubted it. It had been the faintest hint and was gone in an instant. If there had been anyone else in the parking lot, she would have thought it was someone opening and shutting their car doors, the mirror catching the light and reflecting it to the handle she held.

Or someone was using binoculars and they had briefly caught the sun.

Karina always followed her instincts. She’d learned far too often that things went poorly when she didn’t. Oh, sometimes they turned out to be wrong, but it was way better to be safe than sorry.

Someone was watching her and she needed to get to a place where he couldn’t. As calmly as she could, she opened the door and strode inside, walking for the elevator that would take her to her floor. Her heart was racing, adrenaline starting to pump in anticipation, but she took a deep breath to try to quash it. She couldn’t go after him at this point. If she turned and looked around, trying to figure out where the watcher was, she would definitely tip the fucker off that she was on to him. If he had half a brain, he knew she was a PI. While he might find the chase exciting, he also might back off and go after weaker prey if she showed strength too soon in their game.

The elevator dinged and she got in, pressing the button for the tenth floor.

How much did the unsub know about her? How much had he known about any of his victims? Had he known Amanda was a cop? It was still so difficult to think about her being gone. She hadn’t been kind, but Karina wouldn’t wish her fate on anyone.

Had the four victims had anything in common beyond their interest in BDSM and attendance at clubs? There had to be something more. The guy had come out of nowhere and suddenly had four kills to his credit. If he was truly a serial killer, he would have killed before, perfecting his method over time.

She needed to read Eve’s profile.

The door opened and she walked to her apartment, already thinking up a million and one arguments in case Derek tried to keep the profile confidential. She wasn’t going to be left out. If she was a member of the team, then she was going to force him to treat her like one.

She opened the door and walked inside. Of course, Derek could see arguing as disobeying his rules, and she would find herself over that supercomfy lap of his, taking his discipline. His cock would pulse against her belly almost as if it were connected to his hand, both finding a rhythm of arousal that would get her hot and wet in an instant.

“Karina? Did you run up the stairs?” Liam O’Donnell stood in her living room, shaking his head like a disappointed father who caught his daughter coming in after curfew. “Because you’re flushed. Otherwise I might wonder why you’re blushing.”

“Yep. Gotta get in my exercise.” She lied without a single qualm. Settling the groceries on the counter of her small kitchen, she frowned at the layer of dust she found there. How long had it been since she’d actually been in the kitchen?

“Liar,” the Irishman shot back. “I put a camera on the stairs. You came up the lift. So what’s that blush about, girl? Brighton already making you crazy?”

There was a low laugh as Sean Taggart stepped out of her bedroom. “Ten bucks says Brighton’s already gotten her naked. At least partially. The last time I saw him, he was ushering her into his office and shutting all the blinds.”

Li shook his head. “Karina isn’t giving in so easy.”

“Karina isn’t giving in at all,” she said, completely unwilling to go into her love life with two men who treated her like a kid sister. “Karina is working a case and unlike the two of you, I know how to keep business and pleasure separate.”

Let them stew on that for a while. They had both met their spouses during ops.

Li’s eyes widened. “Shit. You already let him play.”

Sean laughed as Karina shook her head. “Don’t even try it. You always get prissy when you’re trying to deflect. And I can smell the bastard’s aftershave on you from here.”

Shit and balls.
“He was just trying to prove a point and it wasn’t really play. It’s undercover work.” Luckily she had the perfect thing to get them off the subject. “I think our guy is watching me. You two need to be careful.”

A single eyebrow rose on Sean’s face, a move he seemed to have gotten from his brother. Or maybe the ability to make a person feel like a dumbass with a single look was just in the Taggart DNA. “And you’re mentioning this now? That might have been a good reason to use your phone.”

When Little Tag wanted to Dom out, he could go all the way. Luckily he wasn’t her Dom. “I was already on my way up and I didn’t want to tip the bastard off. The last thing I want to do is spook the guy. We need him to come after me.”

Sean stared her way. “Fine. What direction did it seem to come from?”

“If I had to bet, he was in the building across the street,” she said. “It’s got easy access and if he needed to he could be here in a couple of minutes or get on the train and be gone in the same time.”

Li groaned a little. “I don’t like it. I don’t like any of it. I don’t like working with government employees. They put covering their asses over solving the case. I definitely don’t think we should be using Karina as bait. If a damn thing goes wrong they’ll cut her loose and she’ll be just another dead body.”

Li had serious issues with authority—particularly government bodies—but then they had burned him in the past. She had to admit it was nice that somebody didn’t want her to end up stuffed in a body bag.

“No, she won’t because we’re going to look after her,” Sean said. “We’re her backup. Besides, Derek won’t let anything happen to her and he won’t give a shit about red tape. It’s the only reason I’m not calling in favors to get her shoved into protective custody.”

Karina rolled her eyes. “What’s up with you guys and protective custody? I’m not exactly fragile. I can hold my own. You guys have sent me into plenty of tight spots.”

“Not without backup,” Li replied. “We run ops differently than the government. Our people come first and we don’t have to answer to anyone about it. Derek has to answer to his captain and the chief. The department has to answer to the Rangers. Everyone has to liaise with the fucking DA. It’s a maze of shit, I tell you.”

It probably was, but she wasn’t going to worry about it. She had Sean and Liam as her backup. They wouldn’t give a crap what the press would say, and no one would fire them if they chose her well-being over the op. “Well, I’m willing to listen to the two of you. You might have to fight with Brighton, though. Apparently his ex-wife is the ADA on the case.”

She’d spent an hour researching the ex-Mrs. Brighton.

“Shit,” Sean said. “Maia is a raging bitch half the time and a succubus forty-nine percent of the time.”

She’d kind of figured that out. Keller had been more than willing to talk about the ex-Mrs. Brighton. “And the remaining one percent?”

Sean shrugged. “She has moments of kindness. Brief moments. They’re usually followed by someone getting fired. Anyway, just let Derek handle her. Now, we’ve got some security set up. Like Li said, we put a couple of small cameras in the stairs. The elevators already have cameras and there are setups at each of the entrances that we hacked into so we’ll have someone watching. Is there a reason there’s no keyed entry to the building?”

“You need a key fob to get into the gate to the lot, but too many people complained about having to buzz in their friends.” It wasn’t exactly a hot spot for crime, but Dallas wasn’t some fuzzy suburb either. “Of course, all a person really has to do is wait until someone comes in or out and they can drive right through.”

“Or walk up.” Li leaned against her counter. “Why the hell are you here, Karina? There are far nicer places with better security.”

“I can’t afford them. I don’t work for some big corporation with endless pockets.” She grinned a little. “Tag is my biggest client and I overcharge the hell out of him so I can work for the little guys. Most of my clients can’t pay me crap, but it doesn’t mean they don’t need me. It does mean that I can’t afford a big nice place. This is stretching my budget as it is.”

Sean snorted a little. “I knew there was a reason I loved you, K. You keep sticking it to big brother. I’ll never tell.”

Liam chuckled. “You always were one to fight the good fight, love. Now let’s talk about how to ease ourselves into your daily life.”

They were worried that the unsub would figure out something was wrong if she suddenly had a bunch of men in her life. It made sense. If he’d been watching her for any amount of time, he’d likely seen a woman who worked and went to clubs and not a whole lot else. “I thought you were going to work at one of the clubs. Can’t I meet you there?”

“Alex had an in. He got me a job as a bartender at the club we’re most interested in. Li’s going in as a bouncer. I don’t want to overtax our resources so we’re going to put our emphasis on that club. Three of the four victims had been known to play there. But I think we need a story about why Li and I come in and out of your place so often, and you need to stick with it with anyone who doesn’t know the truth. I mean anyone, Karina.”

“That wouldn’t be a whole lot of people, guys,” Karina admitted. “I work most of the time. The people at Sanctum are pretty much the whole of my social group.”

“Good,” Liam said. “The less people we have to deal with, the better.”

There was a knock on her door.

Sean frowned. “I thought you said you didn’t have friends.”

She shrugged. “Maybe it’s Brighton. He said he was coming over. He’s early though.”

Karina crossed the small space to the door and opened it, expecting to see the big gorgeous cop who she was absolutely, one hundred percent not going to sleep with. Her mouth dropped open. “Terry?”

Her brother-in-law stood in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear. He was a younger version of Kevin in the face, though he was much more slender in build than her husband had been. “Hey, Karina. Bet you’re surprised to see me.”

Well, that threw a big old wrench into her plans. “You could say that.”

He held up his arm, and Karina could see the beginnings of a cast wrapped around his hand. The rest was in a long-sleeved shirt, but she could see the outline of the cast went almost to his elbow. “Come on. Let me in. I’m injured. I only have a couple of minutes until I have to go see my therapist. He’s just up the road a bit, so I thought I’d stop by to let you know I’m in town.”

She shook her head, completely in shock. She hadn’t seen Terry in years, hadn’t even spoken to him in almost six months. Terry was the only one left from Kevin’s family besides some distant cousins and uncles and aunts, who hadn’t been close. He was older than she remembered, thinner. “Of course. What happened to your arm?”

He sighed as he stepped inside. Her small apartment was getting crowded. “The usual. I was in the Caribbean making a little cash by taking the tourists deep sea fishing. They got drunk and harassed the girl I had serving drinks. Asshole broke my arm. Needless to say I’m no longer welcome at the Bermuda Fisherman’s Club. I have a friend who’s a therapist here. I’m staying with him while I rehab.” He turned and caught sight of Liam and Sean. “And you have friends over. Wow. I didn’t expect that.”

She felt herself flush. There was no way to miss the disapproval in his voice. It was stupid, but the idea of Kevin’s brother thinking she was screwing around really made her nervous. It was almost like Kevin finding out. Utterly irrational, but she found herself floundering. “Guys, this is Terry Mills. He’s Kevin’s brother. Terry, uhm, this is…”

Sean’s face went from hard to smooth in a heartbeat and he stepped up. “Her very good friend. I’m Sean. This is my boy, Li. I would call him my husband, but we’re not allowed to do that in the state of Texas. It’s a shame you know because our wedding would be fabulous.”

Liam stared at Sean. “Are ya kidding?”

Sean rolled his eyes negligently. “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t want to spend the money on a wedding. He’s a tightwad. So you’re Karina’s brother-in-law? I have to admit we’ve been curious about our girl’s family.”

Holy freaking shit. Sean had picked his cover and it looked like Liam hadn’t been in on the plan. If she hadn’t been in a sticky situation, she would have poured herself a tea and sat back and watched the fireworks. As it was, all she could manage was to nod her head. “Yes, this is Terry Mills. He’s Kevin’s younger brother.”

Terry sighed and laughed a little. “Sorry. For a minute there I thought Karina was dating again. That was a shocker.”

Sean grinned and gave her a little wink. He was actually really good at that. He should have gone into theater. “Oh, she is. You should see him. That is one hunk of a man. Isn’t he, Li?”

And Liam was a terrible actor. He just frowned. “He ain’t exactly my type.”

Sean waved him off. “Mr. Grumpy there likes blonds. Lucky for me.”

Terry frowned Karina’s way. “You have a boyfriend?”

Karina shook her head. Sean had been very specific. He really didn’t want to break their cover for anyone, and that meant she had to keep hers, too. Even to what was left of her family. Still, she found she couldn’t let him down entirely. “Not really. He’s just a guy I met at a club.”

Terry went a faint pink and he leaned in, his good hand on hers. “Tell me you aren’t still into that scene, Karina. It was dangerous when Kevin was with you. It’s insane now. Tell me you aren’t playing around with that BDSM crap.”

It was her turn to flush. Terry had always had a serious problem with their lifestyle. He could sleep with a girl a night, but he got deeply prudish the minute the handcuffs came out. “It’s really none of your business.”

“I’m your brother-in-law. I promised Kevin I would look after you if anything happened. It damn straight is my business.”

“Then where the bloody hell have you been for the last couple of years? Because I ain’t seen anyone looking after her,” Liam said, his eyes narrowing.