Fast and Furious (6 page)

“Where are you going?” he asked, his lips twitching in amusement.

“It’s my phone,” she argued as she tried to slide off the table and get her feet on the floor.

“Let it ring,” Chase murmured as he dipped his head and nibbled softly at her neck.

God, that was the spot that drove her crazy. Just below her ear. Her knees weakened more as his teeth slowly scraped across her sensitive flesh. Jeez, he was making this hard.

Unfortunately, the cartel was sending her a message and they expected her to answer without delay. She couldn’t keep fooling around like this. They watched her enough as it was. She rolled her eyes as she realized she’d just had sex on her party deck in clear view of anyone passing by. If they were watching her, they sure got one hell of a show.

She shoved at his chest, needing to leave, but not really wanting to. She wanted to go again. Having him once only wetted her appetite for more. “Chase, seriously. I need to get my phone.”

He dropped his hands and stepped back. Allie felt his absence almost instantly and had the most insane urge to jump back into his arms. Maybe it was because he’d been a Seal? Is that why she felt so safe when he was near? She shook her head. That was just nuts. She was a cop and perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She didn’t need him.

With a sigh, she gave him a smile of apology before quickly heading down the stairs and into the cabin to grab her phone. They never sent her messages in the morning. Something must be up.

She flipped it open and quickly read the coordinates she was to put in her GPS. It wasn’t far from where she’d been sent the last time. Was this another drug run? Daytime was a strange time to do it. With a frown, she flipped her phone closed and threw it on the bed before grabbing a pair of jeans from the dresser drawer.

She glanced behind her as she pulled her jeans over her hips to see if Chase had followed her. The room was empty and to her surprise, she felt a hint of regret. She really liked Chase—probably too much—and the fact that she’d fucked and run made her feel like a heel.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped. This way was for the best. At least now she didn’t have to answer unwanted questions. With a sigh of longing, she threw on her bra and a tank top, grabbed her shoes and headed out the door to her car.

Chapter Nine

Chase straddled the seat of the motorcycle and waited for Allie to pull out of her parking spot. He adjusted his helmet and easily slid into traffic about three cars behind her. Where the hell was she off to this early in the morning? Drug runners usually worked at night, so the early morning call had his nerves on edge. Something was up; he could feel it in his bones.

He was worried about her, much more than he expected to be. He liked her, much more than he expected as well. And the sex … damn the sex was good. The little spitfire had a wild streak that made his heart race.

He zipped around a car making a right turn and followed Allie to an abandoned warehouse. He stopped behind one of the many buildings and watched as she pulled her car into the bay of what looked to be an old distribution center. This wasn’t good.

Using his heel, he lowered the kickstand. If he could get up that scaffolding on the side of the building, he might be able to see inside. Reaching behind him, he pulled out the gun he’d stowed away in the leather bag strapped to the back of the seat. It was better to be safe than sorry. He just hoped he didn’t have to use the damn thing and blow Allie’s cover all to hell.

* * * *

Allie slowly climbed from the car and shut the door. Two of the other drivers had already arrived and stood by their cars. There should be a fourth. Where was he? As she watched them, Allie noticed their nervous shuffling from one foot to another. They felt it too; she could see it in their eyes. Something was up.

She nodded in their direction then turned to the car that now pulled into the bay.

Two men stepped out. The same two that brought the drugs to them on their midnight runs. A third climbed from the backseat then turned to grab a fourth, pulling him roughly from the car. He shut the door, then shoved the man to the ground, where he landed with a grunt of pain.

Blood oozed from several cuts on his swollen face. He glanced up at Allie with a pleading expression that tore at her chest. She recognized him as one of the drivers. He was new, the latest one that had been brought in. Allie tensed as she fought the urge to run to him, to somehow help him, but she knew if she did, she would be dead right along with him.

“This man,” the third man to get out of the car began. He spoke with a slight Russian accent as he adjusted the sleeves of his white shirt, “is a cop. I’m going to show the three of you what we do to cops.”

He nodded toward the tall man to his right. Without a word, that man tugged at his sport coat and stepped forward. He reached inside his jacket and pulled a gun from the holster just under his arm. Taking aim, he pointed the end at the young man on the ground.

Allie held her breath. She couldn’t move, couldn’t utter a word … she didn’t dare. Tears gathered behind her eyes but she blinked them back, determined to show no emotion as the man pointing the gun pulled the trigger.

The bang was loud, echoing throughout the warehouse, and Allie couldn’t stop herself from jumping. The young man on the floor howled in pain as the shot ripped through his abdomen.

God, why don’t they just kill him and be done with it?

“If I catch any of you,” the man in charge said as he studied each of them. His gaze landed on Allie’s and fear made her stomach tighten in knots. Something in his eyes made her think he knew, that he suspected something about her, “even so much as talking to a cop, I’ll do much worse. And if I find any more of you pigs trying to burrow yourselves into our organization,” he said as he stepped closer, his hard gaze pinning Allie to the spot, “I’ll skin you alive and leave you to die slowly as you rot.”

Allie swallowed her fear, determine to not look away. She knew if she did, it would only make her look guilty, so she kept her gaze on his, staring him down, refusing to show the terror that now gripped her chest.

He looked away, seemingly satisfied, and nodded to the man holding the gun. He fired once more, hitting the young undercover cop between the eyes.

Allie jumped again at the sound of the gun going off and this time looked away from the now lifeless body on the floor. That could’ve been her. It could still be her.

How the hell did she get out of this mess she now found herself in?

* * * *

Chase returned to the shop before Allie did by taking a different route. Standing by and doing nothing while they’d killed that man had been one of the hardest things he would ever do, but to reveal himself would’ve been disastrous for both of them.

He stopped the bike a block from the shop and called Logan. Logan picked up on the first ring.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“Allie got a call this morning. I followed her to a warehouse where she had to watch them kill a man. They discovered one of the drivers was an undercover cop.”

“Son of a bitch,” Logan breathed. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. She should be there any second.”

“Yep,” Logan replied. “She just pulled in.”

“Keep an eye on her.”

Chase flipped his phone closed and turned the bike to head to the local parts shop. He knew of at least two parts he needed for sure, and he also needed a reason to be gone. When he got back, he needed a damn beer.

*

Allie slammed the car door shut and stomped into the shop. Anger rolled through her like lava. Anger at the men who’d killed that officer, anger at herself for standing motionless and letting them do it, anger at herself for getting in this damn, helpless mess.

Her stomach knotted painfully and she winced as she passed by a worried Logan. She knew if she stopped, if she let him comfort her in any way, she’d lose it. And the last thing she wanted to do was lose it.

Running into the bathroom, she bent over the commode and threw up everything in her stomach. She dropped to her knees with a sob and covered her face with her hands as she leaned heavily on the toilet.

So much for not losing it.

She heard the door open behind her and she tensed, expecting Dray, and instead, heard Logan’s concerned voice.

“You okay, sweetheart?”

She slowly glanced up and looked at him over her shoulder, her face heating in embarrassment. He held out a can of Sprite. “This will help.”

She took it silently and lifted it to her lips.

“Sip slowly, though. You don’t want to throw it back up.”

She swallowed a couple of sips. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Logan nodded. “You pregnant?”

She blinked and stared at him in surprise. “Excuse me?”

Logan shrugged one shoulder and grinned wickedly. “Most girls throw up when they’re pregnant, just seemed like the question to ask.”

Allie snorted and shook her head. “No, asshole, I’m not pregnant.”

She took another sip of her Sprite and reached out to flush the toilet. Logan moved to the sink and wet a paper towel with cool water. He rung it out and handed it to her. She took it with a slight smile and wiped her face.

“Thank you.”

“Why don’t you go back to the boat, take a shower, get some rest. We’ll take care of things out here.”

“Where’s Dray?”

“He’s gone till tomorrow. Something about getting certified?”

Allie squeezed her temples between her thumb and forefinger. “Yeah, it’s something about computerized ignition systems or something to that effect. To be honest, my brain isn’t working all that great right now and I can’t think of what it’s called.”

“Go,” Logan said as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her to her feet.

He used the tip of his finger to brush her hair from her face. His touch was gentle, sweet, and she resisted the urge to fall into his arms. She frowned at how easily she could melt and how easily she could find herself in bed with him just hours after screwing around with Chase.

“Get a shower and get some rest. You look tired. If we need you, we’ll yell.”

She nodded slowly, unsure she could do anything else. She definitely knew she couldn’t speak. She didn’t trust herself to. These three Seals had thrown her for a loop mentally, emotionally, and physically. She trudged tiredly to her boat, where she set the can of Sprite on the counter. Mindlessly, she worked her way to the bathroom, stripping as she went.

*

Logan paced the bay and tried to think of a way he could help her without letting her know what was going on. He understood the emotions she felt after seeing someone murdered in front of her and being unable to do anything. She would feel regret, remorse, guilt. She needed to accept that she did the only thing she could. She held her tongue and saved her life.

For how long was the real question. It was only a matter of time before they figured her out, he’d bet money. Russian cartels were notorious for their brutality. If they were suspicious, they would get to the bottom of it by any means necessary. And that would include torture.

Logan sighed and glanced up at the ceiling as he paced. The thought of Allie being tortured made
him
want to run to the restroom and puke.

“Damn, it’s hot in here,” he grumbled aloud.

He removed his shirt and threw it across the toolbox just a few feet away. Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Stripping are we?”

“Yep, got a problem?” Logan replied.

Blaine snorted as he set the wrench he’d been working with back into the toolbox. “When you look better than me without a shirt, hell yeah, I have a problem.”

Logan ran his hand down his face tiredly. What he really wanted to do was join Allie in that damn shower. He could take her against the wall and make her forget all about what she’d seen, at least for a while. He knew deep down that was really the last thing he should do. She needed to grieve, to learn to live with it, to cope with it.

He still struggled with that last one. Watching her go through it now made him relive a lot of his own shit he’d rather forget about. He knew though he would never forget until he learned to cope.

Unfortunately, coping was not his strong suit.

“I’ve got lunch,” Chase called as he walked into the bay. “Who’s hungry?”

Logan raised a hand and Chase tossed him a sandwich, which he caught easily. “Where’s the boss?”

“Not feeling well,” Logan replied.

He looked at Chase and stuck his finger in his throat, letting him know she’d been sick. Chase nodded in understanding as he threw Blaine a sandwich as well.

They had to be careful what they said out loud, especially with the listening devices they’d found. They wanted to make sure they caught everything; that was for damn sure.

“Logan.”

Logan looked up into Chase’s concerned face. “What’s eating you?” Chase asked. “You’ve got that caged animal look.”

With a sad shake of his head, Logan unwrapped the sandwich. “I’m good. Just hot.”

He knew Chase didn’t really believe him. They all had their demons to live with. They didn’t need to live with his as well, even though they probably already knew what they were.