Hot Pursuit (44 page)

“Pretty girl,” Greg told him as the women climbed the stairs.

“She’s gorgeous.”

“Oh yeah. Zoey is pretty, too.”

Ben laughed and Greg slapped him on the back. “So you two are living together now?”

Ben shrugged, turned, and walked up to Greg’s rig. “I’m not rushing her into anything. You know you two didn’t need to come back on my account.”

“You know the minute you called Haley and told her you were home with a young lady that we were coming right back home so she could check her out,” Greg said, although he didn’t sound too put out. “How did things go up there?”

Ben understood the question. Greg wanted to know about Micah. Greg led the way to the side of the good-sized motor home, opened the door, and climbed inside, ducking his head until he sat at a spacious table with a large window that allowed them to see the closed door to Ben’s apartment. Both men looked out the window, and Ben was sure Greg was as curious about what the two women were talking about as he was.

“How’s Micah?” Greg asked before Ben could answer his first question or slide in across from him at the table.

Ben did so, looking out the window and hoping Haley wouldn’t go too rough on Zoey. Even with her loving, motherly ways, she might not realize how fragile Zoey was right now.

“Your girlfriend is fine,” Greg informed him. “Probably a lot tougher than you’re giving her credit for. By the looks of it, she’s made it through hell and it’s all smooth sailing now.”

“Sure hope you’re right. And Micah is good. Too good. Cocky as ever.”

“And once again has disappeared,” Greg said, nodding already without waiting for Ben to confirm it. “Who was abusing your girlfriend?”

Ben and Zoey hadn’t put a label on their relationship, and having Greg refer to her as his girlfriend threw him off. He wouldn’t correct Greg. He just went with it.

“Her father, who is now dead.”

“Sounds like a good story.”

The door to Ben’s apartment opened, and both men turned to look out the window.

“It is,” he said, watching the two women descend the stairs.

In spite of Greg insisting Zoey was stronger than Ben gave her credit for, he still studied her face as the women approached. He knew how strong Zoey was. For a petite, adorable woman she was larger than life in so many ways. He knew both Greg and Haley would love her. But also knew he was head over heels in love with her. Zoey was strong, stronger than most. She’d been through so much, though, and he didn’t see anything wrong with wanting to protect her and make sure her world was perfect from this point forward.

“We’ve decided,” Haley began as she came through the door into the motor home. “The four of us are heading over to the house. You two are grilling and we might be persuaded to fix a salad.”

“A salad?” Greg raised one eyebrow.

“Is very good for you,” Haley informed him.

Ben was used to their bantering. He searched Zoey’s face and was thrilled to see her smile.

*   *   *

It was a perfect evening. After filling Greg and Haley in on all events that had transpired while Ben had been up in Zounds, beginning with how he’d first spotted Zoey walking down the street the first night he’d arrived and known at that moment she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and ending with the two of them leaving Zounds on his bike, Ben drank his beer as the four of them lounged on Greg and Haley’s back porch. He smiled over the rim of the bottle and winked at Zoey. She blushed and made a face at him.

“Yes,” she said, waving her hand at Ben across the table as a breeze off the ocean blew strands of her hair across her face. She brushed them away and kept talking. “I saw this bad boy on a motorcycle and knew I should run for the hills.”

She’d relaxed considerably during dinner. Greg and Haley were the perfect couple to pull anyone out of their shell. Zoey was laughing and eagerly chiming in to speak her share of any story as the evening progressed.

Haley had sat comfortably at an angle in her chair facing Zoey, who sat next to her, but was still able to shoot her husband or Ben appropriate looks when she approved or disapproved of anything they said. She ruled her roost comfortably from her wicker chair.

“Sweetheart, we both should have run for the hills.”

The women laughed, and Ben could only smile, sure he had to be glowing with pride. The evening was perfect. He was sitting with two of his favorite people, and the sexiest, most alluring woman he’d ever known kept flashing flirtatious smiles at him. The soft yellow sleeveless dress she wore showed off her dark skin, and her black hair glowed in long silky strands over her bare shoulders. The cut of the dress showed off her perfectly shaped breasts. Every now and then he stretched his legs under the table and brushed his foot against hers. She flashed her long, thick lashes at him when he brushed his shoe against her sandaled foot. Her dark eyes glowed against the setting sunlight filtering in from the beach behind them. Ben fought to keep his dick from getting hard.

He shifted the conversation to what happened their last day in Zounds up at Micah and Maggie’s cabin. The seriousness of the events Ben and Zoey explained to Greg and Haley helped him keep his mind off what he dreamed of doing with Zoey once they returned to the apartment later that evening.

“You should have seen how furious red Wolf’s face was while he had to wait for us to break into Micah’s shed to find a saw to cut him out of that chair and handcuffs,” Zoey offered, filling Greg and Haley in on details that Ben hadn’t witnessed while he’d been breaking into Micah’s shed, which had been conveniently locked. Not that Ben had rushed, but the time it took to free Wolf had been plenty of time for Micah and Maggie to disappear. “I honestly thought Angel was going to smack him at one point. He was throwing a fit and bouncing all over that kitchen while handcuffed to that chair.”

“Sometimes we need to smack them around,” Haley told Zoey, winking and then smiling lovingly at her husband.

“Uh-huh.” Greg stretched. “I’m getting another beer. Anyone else?” he asked. “Don’t tell any good stuff while I’m gone.”

“How can it get better than what they’ve already told us?” Haley called after Greg when he disappeared into the kitchen. “This story is amazing.”

“Oh, it gets better.” Ben smiled and nodded to Zoey when Greg returned, passed out ice-cold bottles of beer, removed the empties, and sprawled comfortably in his chair. It matched the other four chairs around the table, except he fit perfectly in his while both women looked very small in the oversized King wicker chairs.

“How could this get better?” Greg asked, and narrowed his gaze at both Ben and Zoey, although his expression was very relaxed and amused. “Are the two of you going to turn this into a tall tale?”

“No way we could make up what happened next.” Ben pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and removed the first of two neatly folded letters. He would destroy both of them. There would be no memorabilia this time. But he’d wanted to show them to Greg and Haley first. Leaving one letter neatly tucked in his wallet, Ben pulled free the other one, the one Maggie had given Zoey. Handing it to her, he nodded to Zoey. “You should do the honors.”

Zoey had been sipping her beer and nodded, placed her bottle in front of her, and wiped her mouth very unceremoniously with her hand. “Before she left, Maggie handed me a note. In all the confusion, I didn’t look at it until Ben was back in the kitchen. He had found a lock pick set in the shed outside of the cabin and picked the lock on the handcuffs. I’d been holding the paper Maggie had given me the entire time but at that moment decided to read it—”

“And she shrieked,” Ben interrupted.

“I wasn’t going to add that part.” She pouted and glared at him.

Ben relaxed against the high-backed chair and grinned at her. There must have been something in his look that gave away the fantasies he was having of getting her naked later, because Zoey cleared her throat and looked away first. When Greg gave him a speculative look, Ben simply smiled and returned his attention to Zoey.

“What does it say?” Haley demanded, nodding to the neatly folded piece of paper in Zoey’s hand.

Zoey unfolded the paper. She still had some pain when using her right hand, which the doctor had told them was normal since the bone was still healing. But being right-handed, she unfolded it slowly and carefully straightened the typing paper until everyone saw the large-font message typed on it.

She angled it toward one of the candles burning on the middle of the table, and Greg slid it closer to her. Zoey glanced up and smiled, the glow of the candle making her caramel-colored skin glow in the light.

Zoey read:

“‘A dead man meeting the description of the Mulligan Stew assassin has been found behind the cabin. He’s been shot in the head, although facial features match physical descriptions offered during interviews after his last known appearance in Los Angeles. After a thorough search of the cabin and surrounding property, the conclusion is clear this is where the assassin has been living for a number of months. There is no indication of the woman, Maggie O’Malley, believed to have left Los Angeles with him.’”

“Are you serious?” Haley let out a hoot. “That’s hilarious. And Micah wrote this?”

“We aren’t sure if he wrote it, or if Maggie did.” Ben accepted the creased piece of paper when Zoey handed it to him.

Greg reached for it, and Ben handed it over, noting the man’s hard features and deep frown as he reread the typed note. “Who is the dead man?” he asked in a low, serious tone.

Ben shook his head. “No idea. But we found him. From the angle he was shot, it looked like the guy had taken his own life.”

“And now will go down in history as the Mulligan Stew assassin?”

“Last we knew, Wolf would have nothing to do with the short bio typed out for his benefit. After I got him out of the handcuffs, he stormed around outside of the cabin. We all followed. Wolf was hopping mad, but there wasn’t much he could do. Micah was gone.”

“So this dead man will go down in history as the assassin?” Haley repeated the question and nodded to the letter.

“Last we knew. Zoey and I left shortly after that.”

“Angel told me on the phone yesterday that the FBI agent she’d spoken to on the phone showed up at her store a day late,” Zoey said.

“The owner of the bookstore had contacted the FBI about Micah?” Haley asked, glancing from Ben to Zoey.

“No. No,” Ben told her, raising his hand. “Angel, the bookstore owner, was focusing on Cortez.”

“My father,” Zoey offered. Her expression remained relaxed, at peace, as she continued explaining. “Although he wasn’t much of a dad. Cortez never cared for me other than how I might benefit in helping him make more money.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Haley said softly, the pain she guessed Zoey must have endured showing in her eyes.

Zoey smiled at her, a comforting smile that made her words all the more sincere. “I’m happier now than I’ve ever been in my life.” She shifted her attention to Ben, although only for a moment. “Angel told me she and Wolf decided they would go with telling the FBI agent everything Cortez was doing to the town and let the agent tell them he was dead after investigating.”

“Good thinking.” Ben reached for her and stroked her arm. Her skin was so smooth. He was ready to get out of there and take Zoey home. “And it worked?”

When Zoey smiled, her entire face glowed, showing the happiness she professed to have. He liked thinking her contentment in life had a bit to do with him.

“Apparently,” she told him. “Wolf met with the FBI and they combed over the property around the cabin and dissected every inch of it inside.”

“Shame, too. The place was beautiful,” Ben added, although didn’t feel too much remorse. Micah would rebuild, and possibly this time as a truly free man. The hunt was over. Whether Wolf liked it or not, Micah hadn’t left him a lot of options. There were no clues for Wolf to follow this time. Micah had vanished.

“I suppose he’ll get his bounty,” Greg mused, holding his beer bottle in his hand and staring at it as he spoke. His mind was a thousand miles away.

Ben wouldn’t speculate on where Greg’s thoughts had headed. It could be anywhere, including despising Wolf for hunting down a man who had worked under Greg and whom he’d respected as a bounty hunter. Micah had been good, but then all the necessary skills had already been in place. Micah had been a hunter prior to working for KFA. He’d hunted to kill instead of to capture. It had simply been a matter of fine-tuning already existing habits to comply with his new line of work.

Or Greg might have been reminiscing on hunts of the past. Ben knew of a few at least that could have been compared with this one as time-consuming and dangerous. Micah might have been right. Greg and Haley might be nowhere near their golden years.

“I’m sure we’ll hear if he does,” Ben said, and looked toward Zoey when she stifled a yawn. “I think we’re going to call it a night.”

The Kings walked Ben and Zoey out to the front of their home and Ben’s bike. Haley hugged each of them and rubbed Ben’s back as he helped Zoey fasten her helmet.

“Are you coming back to work?” Haley asked.

“I thought you two were slowing things down,” he said. “Hitting the road and traveling for pleasure instead of for the hunt.”

“There’s a difference?” Greg asked as he stood toward the front of Ben’s Harley, his arms crossed. It was dark, but it was easy to see his eyes light with amusement. At the same time, Greg was serious.

Ben understood the passion and love for the hunt. It was in his blood as it was in Greg’s and Haley’s. “None that I know of,” he told Greg, but caught it when Haley rolled her eyes at Zoey. “And don’t let her fool you,” Ben told Zoey, wagging his finger at Haley. “This woman loves the hunt as much as her husband—”

“If not more,” Greg interrupted. “We’re heading back on the road in a few days. We’re going to Colorado to see the boys. Marc, our oldest, and his wife, London, are expecting their first baby. London’s due date is next month, and Grandma here doesn’t want to miss it.”

“‘Grandma,’” Haley said blissfully. “I like the sound of that.”