MARCUS (Dragon Security Book 4) (5 page)

She snorted. “I’m not beautiful.”

“You are.”

She shook her head. “My nose is crooked. And my hair is thinner than it should be. And I’m too short.”

“You have a nose with character. Your hair is wavy and full and silky and beautiful. And you’re petite.”

She peeked at me from under her eyelashes. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I don’t have to know anything about you to see you.”

She seemed to think that was sort of profound. She stared at me, her eyes a little wide. Then she abruptly put down the skillet and marched off to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. I laughed, but I was careful to keep my laughter quiet so that she might not overhear it.

I wandered out into the snow, watching it come down all around me as I trudged through the wetness to the SUV. The snow was already covering the tires and it was still coming down just as heavily as it had been last night. We easily had gotten two feet overnight, maybe more. At this rate, it would be up to the mirrors by morning.

There was no way either of us was getting out of here today.

I went back into the cabin just in time to catch Cadence coming out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body. She let out a small scream when she saw me watching her.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“Forgot my clothes.”

She quickly snatched some things off of the top of a duffle bag and disappeared back into the bathroom. I watched her go, surprised to see a small tattoo on her shoulder. It was a date written in roman numerals. May 10, 1990. I wondered what the significance was.

I slipped my jacket off and shoved another piece of wood into the stove. It was chilly in the cabin, but not nearly as cold as it was outside. It was going to be a long night if the power didn’t come back on soon.

She came back out with a board game in her hands.

“I know it’s a little corny, but they had Monopoly in the closet in there. I thought maybe it would pass the time a little faster.”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever played?”

“I used to play it all the time when I was a kid. My brother always kicked my ass.”

“I played with my grandma. She said I had natural skill.”

We set up the board and began to play, each of us accumulating properties as quickly as we could. Cadence laughed when she managed to snag Boardwalk and I promptly landed on it. But then I made her pay when I got a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue.

We played for several hours, laughing at each other as we each managed to take a little piece of hide from the other. But it wasn’t as much to play to win with only two players, it was more for the companionship. I got up to grab a couple of bottles of water. When I turned, she was staring at me, her eyes wide again.

“What?”

“I do know you!”

I tilted my head just slightly. “What makes you say that?”

“You were at the gas station outside Abilene early yesterday morning.”

I shrugged. “Might have been. I don’t really remember where I stopped. It was a long drive.”

“Where did you come from?”

“Lubbock,” I lied.

She saw through it instantly. “That doesn’t make sense.”

I shrugged. “It’s where I came from. I came up here to find a friend, but I started in Lubbock.”

“Do you live there?”

“I’m working there. But I come from back east.”

“Where?”

“Chicago.”

That was true. I was from Chicago, originally. But I hadn’t been there, but for a brief stop months ago, in years. I’d learned a long time ago that the best lies were all rooted in truth.

“Why are you in Texas?”

“Work.”

That, too, was true. At least partially.

“Have you ever been in Houston?”

I crossed the kitchen and rejoined her at the coffee table where we were playing. I knew I had to be careful here because this was where I could screw up.

“A few times. But not recently.”

“You look so familiar…if it wasn’t you outside of Abilene, where else have I seen you?”

I looked her in the eye, letting my eyes bore through her. “I have no idea.”

She looked away, just as I’d known she would. She picked up the dice and weighed them in her hand, studying the board as she did. The wheels in her head were clearly spinning. I watched, wondering if she would make the connection. What would I do if she did?

She suddenly put the dice down.

“I call it a truce. It’s time to make dinner.”

“Can I help?”

She glanced at me as she walked past to go to the kitchen. “You can put the game away.”

I did as she asked, then snuck away to take a shower in the narrow stall that was shoved in a corner of the tiny bathroom like some sort of afterthought. She remembered seeing me in the restaurant, that much was obvious. Had she seen my face in the little green car? I’d been careful about that, but there was that one moment when it seemed like our eyes met. Would she remember?

I hoped not.

Cadence

I heard the water come on in the bathroom and I crossed over to the chair where he’d laid his jacket. I wanted to see if he had some sort of ID in there, if maybe something there would lend truth to what he’d said to me. I didn’t even know his name. I’d never bothered to ask. And he didn’t know my name. But the way he kept looking at me…there was something so familiar about him. And it felt like there was something he knew about me.

I lifted the jacket and nearly screamed when it snagged and then this gun was just right there, jutting out of the top of a light leather holster. What the hell? Why was he carrying a gun?

Who the hell was this guy?

I carefully put the jacket the way it was and rushed back into the kitchen, busying myself with the salad I’d been about to throw together. I felt like I’d stepped into a bad horror movie, stuck alone in a cabin with a man whose name I didn’t even know. Was he here to hurt me? If so, why? What had I done that suddenly grabbed the attention of all these people who wanted to hurt me? Was it about Blake or was there more to it than that?

I grabbed a couple of steaks and threw them onto the small grill attachment on the back of the stove, watching for a moment as they sizzled on the heat. Then I turned back to the cutting board, working the romaine and then the cucumbers quickly, precisely, just as my grandmother had taught me. It was the tomatoes that got me, one of them slipping just right so that the knife sliced over the top of my finger.

“Fuck!” I cried, the word slipping out more naturally than I would have imagined under other circumstances.

“You okay?” he said, rushing out of the bathroom.

I already had my finger under the faucet, watching the blood wash away under the water. He came up behind me, only partially dressed in jeans, but missing his shirt. The heat of his skin pressed against the length of my back, his muscles like a bed of rock that had been molded by the hands of a master.

“I cut it,” I said, stating the obvious.

“Is there a first aid kit around here?”

I shook my head. I had no idea. But I wished he would just keep standing behind me instead of moving away, searching through cabinets and drawers. He finally disappeared into the bathroom, crying in triumph before reappearing with a white metal box in his hands.

He came up behind me again, a bottle of peroxide in his hand.

“This might hurt a little.”

He poured the clear liquid over my finger and bubbles appeared at the same time pain sliced through my hand. I bit my lips, trying not to cry out.

“Sorry,” he mumbled next to my ear.

My lower belly quivered, my thoughts suddenly moving away from the injury on my finger, or the soreness of my leg. His lips were so close to my ear that I could feel the heat of his breath against my earlobe. I could already imagine what it would feel like for his lips to touch my ear, to feel the slight nibble of his teeth against my flesh. Just the thought made my stomach tighten, made my nipples suddenly rise up and press against the front of my bra and t-shirt. I wanted to press back against him, feel more of his body against me, but I was afraid of being too obvious.

Besides, I wasn’t supposed to do this. Not now. I was supposed to be the virginal vessel waiting to take on the blessing of Blake Zimmerman’s child. I wasn’t even supposed to have thoughts like this right now.

But then he lifted my finger and blew gently on it and all logic just went flying out the window.

“I don’t know if this helps, but my mom used to do it all the time.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, not sure if I was thanking him for his help or for his closeness.

He blew again, his position forcing me to lean harder against him. I closed my eyes, realizing the last time a man had held me this close had been the day after my grandma died. It had been Leon, the young doctor who’d taken on her care there at the end when she wouldn’t allow anyone else near her, especially not Leon’s father, Dr. Lloyd Willis, the same man who’d been her doctor for twenty years.

Leon was kind. Gentle. But he hadn’t made my knees knock quite like this.

“It doesn’t look too deep,” he said.

“That’s good,” I whispered.

“Just a bandage should be good.”

He reached over for the box of first aid supplies. I stayed tucked into his arms, my head braced between his cheek and his shoulder. He didn’t seem to notice, or to mind.

It only took a second to wrap the bandage around my finger, his fingers moving deftly. Then he held my hand up where we could both see it.

“All better.”

“Thank you.”

He turned to look at me, his lips barely a hair from mine. I felt the tension suddenly rush through him, as though he’d just realized what he’d done. He quickly stepped back.

“Any time.”

He was gone and I was left standing there, my hands on the edge of the sink holding me up as my knees refused to be still.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Dinner was a nearly silent affair. I guess we’d run out of questions for one another. When it was done, he did the dishes, insisting that I shouldn’t get my hand wet. I thought about taking a bath, really wanted to take a bath, but it seemed like an unwise choice with him in the room. If it’d had four walls around it… Instead, I ducked into the bathroom and changed into a pair of shorts and a long t-shirt. My bandage was irritating my skin, so I carefully cut along the edges and cut it off. I hadn’t done a very good job replacing the bandage the doctors had put on it, anyway. Probably shouldn’t have bothered at all.

I stepped out into the main part of the cabin and he was sitting on the couch, his long legs resting on the coffee table, an iPad in his lap. He was watching some video, earphones in his ears. He looked up when I came into the room, his eyes falling to the bruised and battered flesh of my thigh.

“Wow! What happened?”

I looked down, running my fingers lightly over the heavy stitches. “Fell at my apartment.”

“Yeah? How did you manage to cut the top of your thigh?”

“Just lucky, I suppose.”

“You’re a little accident prone, aren’t you?” He touched his finger to indicate what I’d done tonight.

I chuckled softly. “I suppose so.”

I went to the stove and checked the flames, wondering if I should pop another block of wood inside.

“I just stoked it. It should be fine till morning.”

“Thanks.”

I turned, my eyes falling over him again. He was wearing his t-shirt again, a plain blue one with no adornment except for the small pocket over his heart. It was a good color for him. It brought out the color of his eyes and the deep tan of his arms.

“Sleep well.”

He smiled softly. “You too.”

I crawled into bed, wondering what the hell I was doing. One minute I think he’s got a secret. The next, I want to jump into bed with him. Even now, lying there in bed, my hand wrapped around the knife I’d shoved under my pillow, I was tittering between fear and excitement. I was pretty sure I’d seen him before. I was pretty sure that someone followed me to that restaurant that night. It might have been him. It might have been some other person. It could have been anyone. But what were the chances of someone I’d seen far from here had shown up on my doorstep in the middle of a storm?

There was something not right here. But I didn’t know what to do about it.

Megan

“Grosbeak is off the grid.”

I looked up from my computer, figures I’d been trying to balance dancing around in my head. I stared at Sam, noting how pale she was this morning. She’d been dragging a little lately, having these fainting spells that scared me a little. And now she was pale, not eating. There was something going on with her, but with everything going crazy right now, I couldn’t find the time to set her down and demand to know what was really happening with her.

“Grosbeak? That’s Marcus, right?”

“Yeah.”

I sighed, turning to my computer to pull up the tracking software that I had installed on all Dragon Security vehicles. The one assigned to Marcus was located in the mountains of New Mexico, just outside of Ruidoso.

“Didn’t he say that the target was headed to a cabin in the mountains?”

“He did.”

“Maybe they got snowed in. They were expecting some bad weather in that area last night.”

Sam set a weather map she’d printed on the corner of my desk. “Already looked it up. Blizzard conditions expected until tomorrow afternoon.”

I picked it up and studied it a second. “You’re so thorough. You could have just told me what you already knew.”

“I know. But I like watching you go through your little process.”

“Gee, thanks.”

She started to leave, but hesitated, turning back to me. “So, I’ve been working on that virus that corrupted my computer last week? The one that ruined all of the files Emily Greene had left for Dominic?”

I nodded. There weren’t that many viruses that corrupted our files. Sam was a computer genius, always one step ahead of all the virus software we could potentially buy. This virus was the first to ever affect Dragon computer files. It felt like more than just a random blip. It felt intentional.

“Do you know who or why?”

She shook her head. “I still haven’t figured out where the virus came from, but I’m working on it. I did, however, find some uncorrupted pages of Emily’s files. More names. I emailed them to you so that you and Dominic could check them out when he gets back from his honeymoon.”

“Thanks.”

“And I’m still working on Peter’s hard drive. The virus further complicated that, but I think I can fix that damage.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Sam.”

She smiled, looking more like her old self in that moment. I studied her, wondering if it was just the bad light in here that made her look so pale. The last thing I needed was for something to happen to my best friend. There was only so much a person could take in one lifetime, right?

Hayden suddenly burst through the door, his color high with excitement. He started to speak, but then caught sight of Sam.

“Hey, Nana!” he said, so much excitement in his voice the slight insult almost sounded like a term of affection.

“Go to hell, Hayden,” she said, brushing past him and out the door.

He watched her go, a small smile on his full lips.

“What’s up, Hayden?”

“She look a little pale to you?”

I bit my lip, not sure I’d wanted that bit of confirmation. “She’s working too hard.”

“Send her home.”

“I do that and she just works at home. I’d rather she do it here where we can monitor her a little.”

He inclined his head slightly. “So, Dante told me that you were moving me off of the accident investigation? Said you were putting it to rest for the time being?”

“Dante said that?”

“Said you didn’t think there was anything left to look into after his friend decided it was an accident.”

I gritted my teeth. Dante used to work for the New York Police Department and he sent the files on my brother’s car accident to a reconstruction specialist he knew there. The guy sent a report stating that there was no other car involved. That it was simply a one-car accident, which is how the Houston PD had ruled it. But I knew in my gut it was more than that, and Hayden had agreed with me.

“I’m not pulling anyone off of anything. Dante was overstepping his boundaries.”

Hayden studied my face for a long second. “Is there something going on between you and Dante?”

I knew I was blushing, but I met his eye and clenched my jaw.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, there’s nothing going on there.”

Hayden was one of the first assets I hired for my business. He knew me, knew Peter before his death. He even knew Luke, my former fiancé. He was my friend.

He studied me a moment longer, then nodded.

“Do you know if Sam has a date for Cole’s wedding?”

The abrupt change of subject was almost dizzying.

“Go ask her.”

He smiled. “She wouldn’t even consider going out with me. But if she’s there alone, and I’m there alone…”

He walked off, whistling under his breath. I got up and watched him flip one of Sam’s braids as he walked past her, causing her to stick her tongue out at him like they were twelve. She watched him walk away and turned back to her monitor, slumping her shoulders forward and raising a hand to her temple. There was something wrong. I could feel it deep in my soul and I was so afraid, too afraid. I started toward her, but Dante suddenly came around the corner of the bullpen.

“Can we talk?” I said.

Sam glanced back at us, a touch of concern in her big, expressive eyes. I gestured for Dante to lead the way into my office, hoping Sam didn’t read anything into my expression, let alone my body language.

The moment we were alone, Dante gathered me into his arms, his mouth on mine. I melted against him for a long moment, loving the taste of him, the feel of his strength wrapped around my smaller frame. It’d been so long since I felt there was someone I could lean on, even if it was in the literal sense rather than the metaphoric. But this was the office and my best friend was right outside the door.

“You’ve got to stop,” I said, pushing at his shoulder. “We can’t do this here.”

“But you feel so good!”

I moaned against his lips. “You don’t feel half bad yourself.”

He laughed, but he didn’t stop. He nuzzled against my throat, stealing a few nips here and there as his hands grazed over my side on their way to cup my breasts.

“Did you tell Hayden I wanted him off Peter’s accident?”

Dante stiffened, slowly stepping back. “I didn’t think you’d want to pursue that after what my buddy in New York said.”

“Don’t you think it’s my place to tell my employees what they should and shouldn’t work on?”

“Of course, I just—“

“Don’t boss my employees around, Dante. It’s not your place.”

He was quiet for a long second, and then he nodded. “You’re right.”

He came back to me, pressing me against the wall. His mouth moved over mine again on the way to the tender flesh just under my chin. I groaned, my hands burying themselves in his hair and his shirt, tugging him closer despite my resolve that this couldn’t happen at the office.

“We’ve got to stop this,” I whispered as he dropped to his knees in front of me. But who could resist this big, muscular man, this military hero, kneeling in front of them, his hands sliding slowly under that skirt…I wasn’t strong enough. And when his teeth tugged at my panties, sliding them slowly over my thighs…what was I supposed to do? My bones were liquid, my heart barely beating fast enough to keep up with the adrenaline rushing through my veins. And the pleasure? Did anyone out there know there could be this much pleasure in the world? If they did, they never told me.

I melted, barely keeping in the screams as he drove me to heights I never knew existed.