Evidence of Passion (7 page)

“I have...associates who are eager to close in on him,” Noelle explained carefully.

“One way or another, we
will
take Jack down.” Mercer was adamant. “But I don’t want to lose any of my team members in this hunt.”

Rachel would not be lost. “Understood, sir.”

“Good.” Flat. “I knew I could count on you.”

Mercer and Noelle filed out of the room.

Dylan remained seated. Count on him? To take out Jack?

With pleasure.

* * *

B
EFORE
HIS
DEATH
,
Hank Patterson had been planning to rule on a court-martial for Lance Corporal Chris Harris, a man who’d been accused of attacking a fellow marine—that marine had wound up in the hospital with three broken ribs and a broken arm.

Mercer had pulled strings and gotten Rachel and Dylan access to Chris Harris. A military guard was stationed a few feet away from the prisoner, and they were in a small, narrow room at the military holding facility.

Chris Harris, barely twenty-two, wore a smirk on his face as he glanced at Rachel and Dylan. “What do you two want?” His gaze drifted over them. “You’re not officers...”

“Not anymore,” Dylan agreed. He didn’t sit. Neither did Rachel. She was too tense to stay still, so she paced toward the left wall and prepared to watch the show.

When it came to interrogations, Dylan had a gift.

“If you’re not officers, then who are you?” Chris glanced at her. His eyes were a dull blue, his cheeks ruddy. And his hands were moving nervously against the table.

“We’re friends...of Hank Patterson’s,” Dylan answered.

Chris’s lips trembled. Rachel was staring right at him when he made that telling movement.
The guy almost smiled.
She was sure of it.

Dylan’s hands slapped down on the table in front of Chris.
Dylan saw that movement, too.
“You know he’s dead.”

Chris nodded. “Real shame.” His voice said it was anything
but
a shame. “My lawyer...he’s checking things for me now.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he is. I heard the trial wasn’t going so well for you.”

Chris shrugged. “Don’t think that matters now, does it? New trial, new judge.”

Dylan stared at him. “You’re sweating, Chris.”

“It’s hot in here.”

“No, it’s not...” Dylan glanced toward the guard, gave a nod.

The guard turned his back.

“Why’s he doing that?”

The guard walked away.

“Hey! Wait!” Chris yelled.

“He’s not going to wait. And you know what else, Chris? There’s not going to be any record of this little visit today...”

Chris gulped.

“Hank Patterson had a lot of powerful friends.”

“He was railroading me! He kept me locked up in here the whole time when I should’ve been out! My lawyer’s gonna get me out now—”

Dylan just kept his dark gaze focused on the prisoner.

“The guy thought I was guilty from the first minute I stepped into that courtroom! He didn’t give me a chance—”

“So you made sure that he wouldn’t be around long, didn’t you? You made your own
chance.
”

“I didn’t do anything!” Chris rocked back in his chair. “The guy got attacked. He died. Sucks, but that’s life.”

No, it wasn’t. “He had a family,” Rachel said. An image of Patterson’s body flashed through her mind. “A daughter. A son.” His wife had died years before.

“I got a family, too,” Chris snapped. “You think my old man likes that I wound up like this? He was military, too. Thirty years. Hell,
no,
this shouldn’t have happened, but that lying jerk McAlister said I got drunk and roughed up some girls. I didn’t.
He
did. McAlister’s ribs got broken because I was making him back off. That’s what happened.” His chin jerked into the air. “I should get a medal. Instead, they threw me into the brig.”

“I don’t care about your sob story,” Dylan fired out.

Chris blinked.

“I want to know how you found him.” Dylan pointed at Chris. “And you’re going to tell me.”

Chris laughed. “You’re crazy.”

“The FBI is checking your father’s bank account right now,” Dylan revealed. Rachel knew that the EOD was actually the one doing the check. “Are they going to see that it’s short by...oh, maybe twenty thousand? Thirty? That used to be Jack’s going rate.”

Chris’s smile dimmed. “I don’t know any Jack.”

“Sure you do. You had him kill Hank Patterson.”

Chris’s gaze cut over to Rachel. “Pretty lady, are you just gonna stand there and let your—”

“Eyes here,”
Dylan snarled.

Chris jerked upright. His eyes flew back to Dylan.

“I’m not your lawyer.” Dylan’s words hit with a thundering intensity. “I’m not one of your guards. I don’t care about how much money your father has or who the hell he served with. I’m an ex-SEAL, and I am your worst nightmare.” He leaned toward Chris. “You think you’re safe in here? I’ve got you now. No guards will hear you if you cry out. No one will hear you but me.”

“I didn’t hire Jack!”

“You’re weak.” Disgust was heavy in Dylan’s voice. “The bully who picks on others, but never on anyone that he thinks can actually fight back against him.”

Chris’s lips clamped together.

“You knew Patterson was going to rule against you, so you had him killed. Probably you and your old man.”

Goose bumps rose on Rachel’s arms. This was just like before. Her last case as a Marine Corps Judge Advocate. Jack had been brought in on that case, too...

“Money can’t buy everything,” Dylan said. His eyes were like black ice. “And it’s sure not going to buy you freedom. You’re going to stay locked up, and everyone will know just what a weakling you are—”

Chris erupted from his chair. “I’m not weak!” He flew right over the table, tackling Dylan. The two men slammed to the floor.

Rachel lunged forward.

But she didn’t need to help Dylan. He’d already tossed Chris off him and Dylan was back on his feet. “Wrong move, kid,” Dylan snarled.

Breath heaving, Chris glared at him. “No,
you
made the wrong move. I can make you vanish. Make you disappear, just like I did Patterson—”

And there it was. The confession that they’d wanted. Dylan had just needed to push the guy past his control in order to get the words that they wanted to hear.

“One call is all I need to make to my old man act. Just
one.
” Even as he spit out the last word, Chris’s eyes widened, but it was too late. His fury had driven him to reveal too much.

“Thanks, genius,” Dylan drawled mockingly. “That was all I wanted to know.” He turned away and glanced at Rachel. “Ready?”

Because now the trail would take them to Chris’s father. “Definitely.”

“No!” Chris yelled. “Hell,
no!
You aren’t going to keep me in here!” His eyes were wild. “I’ve got plans.
One way or another, I’m getting out of here! I won’t stand trial again—I’m getting out.
”

“No,” Dylan flatly told him, “you’re not. You won’t be free anytime soon.”

Chris screamed and ran forward again. Never taking his eyes off Rachel, Dylan struck out with his right hand. When Chris hit the floor, he was out cold. “Now let’s get out of here,” Dylan said. He headed for the door. The guard appeared because he’d never gone far, not really.

“It was all recorded?” Rachel asked because she had to be sure. After what Chris had done, she wanted him to pay for Patterson’s death. Just as Jack would pay.

The guard nodded.

Rachel glanced back at Chris. The guy wasn’t moving. She hoped Chris got used to being locked up because he wouldn’t be a free man again.

* * *

T
HE
SUNLIGHT
BEAT
DOWN
on Dylan as they left the military holding facility. They’d cleared all the guard checkpoints and already phoned in their intel to the EOD.

He opened the door for Rachel, and she slid inside the car. His ride this time, not Thomas’s. A vehicle that came courtesy of the EOD. A tracking device was included with the car so that the other EOD agents could always locate the vehicle.

In an organization like the EOD, you could never be too careful.

His hand went to the ignition, but then Dylan paused. He shot a fast glance at Rachel. “Are you going to say anything?”

She blinked at him. The sunlight streamed through the window, making her skin appear so golden. Rachel was Italian, part of a big, brimming family. A family that thought she worked as a pencil pusher for Uncle Sam. They had no idea what Rachel really did for a living. If they knew, he was sure they’d be terrified.

Dylan didn’t have to worry about his own family being terrified. He had no family. His folks had passed when he was nineteen and, unlike Rachel, he didn’t have any brothers or sisters.

Actually...Rachel was the only family he had. The thought slipped through his mind.
I’m not alone because I have Rachel.

“I was certain you’d get the intel from him,” she said with a shrug. “You’re good at your job.”

Dylan grunted and still didn’t start the vehicle. “I’m not talking about the interrogation. I’m talking about what went down with Mercer earlier.” They’d left the EOD without discussing that little meeting, and he wasn’t going to hold off any longer. They needed to clear the air.

She held his gaze. “I don’t...” Her words trailed away and she hesitated before saying, “You know I don’t like the plan. And I think Mercer and Noelle are wrong. Jack doesn’t have an attachment to me. He just wants me dead.”

“If that were the case...” The words were brutal, but they had to be said. “Then why aren’t you in the ground?”
Don’t think of her that way. Don’t.

She flinched. “Start the car, Dylan.”

He didn’t. “Noelle knows her killers. That’s the point of her being a profiler, right?” Dylan pressed. “She says that he has a connection to you. I believe her. We need to use that connection.”

“What they want to use is
you,
not me
.
They want to dangle you in front of Jack like—like you’re a red flag hanging in front of a bull.”

“So what? I’ve been used on missions before. I’m an agent. That’s just part of my job.” Risk. Danger. The adrenaline rush. It was his nine-to-five routine.
More like my 24/7 routine.

“They want him to think that we’re lovers.” Now her voice was hushed and her eyes were troubled. “They want you to pretend to be involved with me.”

He had to handle this carefully. “It’s not exactly a hardship to do that.”

Her lips parted.

“I’ve done jobs much worse.”

And
he’d just said the wrong thing. So much for being careful. Dylan knew he’d bungled when her eyes narrowed to chips of blue fire.

“Oh, so glad that I don’t fall into the category of
worse
for you,” Rachel snapped. “I mean, I’d hate for the idea of being my lover to be so terrible for you to consider. I don’t want to give you nightmares or anything.”

“It’s not terrible.” His voice was low. “It’s tempting.”

She tensed.

Time for them both to cut through the lies. “You have to know,” Dylan told her, aware that a new intensity had entered his voice. “You have to know how I feel.”

She glanced away.

No, he wasn’t having that. He caught her chin and made her look at him. “Come on, Rachel, it’s me.
Three years.
I’ve been with you, at your side for three long years.”

She didn’t speak.

“I want you.” The words were a growling rumble. He’d meant them to come out easier, without that hard edge, but when it came to Rachel and his need for her, there was very little control there for him. “I’ve held back because I didn’t know what
you
wanted.”

She still wasn’t speaking.

Hell, he should have just kept his mouth shut. He’d thought Rachel might want him, too. Especially after the way she’d kissed him the other night.

I thought wrong.

He freed her chin and turned away from her. His fingers curled around the key and he twisted it in the ignition. The car immediately snarled to life.

Rachel’s hand flew out. Her fingers clamped around his. “I want you to be safe. I don’t...I don’t ever want extra danger to come your way because of me.”

Her touch electrified him. If he ever actually got her naked and beneath him the way that Dylan wanted...

I won’t let her go.

He swallowed and tried to keep some of the need from his voice as he told her, “Baby, I’m EOD. Danger is just a way of life for me.” His gaze cut to her.

Her eyes were on him.

“What do you
want?
” Dylan pushed. He waited, needing her to say...

“I want you.” Her words were so quiet that he had to strain in order to hear them.

And as soon as he did hear them, everything changed for Dylan.

He turned fully toward her. Arousal had flooded through him at her soft words. He didn’t want to be in that car then. He wanted to take Rachel away from that place. He wanted to get lost
in
her.

Rachel’s thick lashes lowered. “But you’re my closest friend, Dylan. The only man that I truly trust. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t.” His promise.

She licked her lips.

And Dylan couldn’t take any more. He pulled her as close as he could get her and his mouth took hers.

The kiss was hard, deep and he knew that the lust he felt for Rachel wasn’t going to be contained, not any longer.

For three years, he’d played by the rules. Been the good guy.

He was tired of being good. Rachel was about to learn just how far he would be willing to go in order to have her.

I will do anything.

Her mouth opened beneath his. Her nails sank into his shoulders as she held him just as tightly as he held her. Her taste was as addictive as before, driving him wild. His tongue thrust into her mouth, and arousal flooded through him as he tasted her. Her taste was both rich and sweet, and he wanted
more.