One Touch More (20 page)

It would just take using her brother's freedom as leverage to pull it off.

“All right. No promises.” He kissed her again, reveled in the petal-soft touch of her lips, the silky slide of her tongue against his. Tonight he'd let her believe the lie. But he'd have to come clean to her. Soon. Before Gates and Chief Deputy Callihan brought her brother in for questioning. When her lips left his, Damien smoothed back her hair and said, “Can I at least thank you for sewing up my leg?”

She laughed, the sound rippling over him in warm waves. “Consider it payment for saving my life tonight.”

As she settled into his embrace, Damien tried to stem the worry over what would happen after tonight. Would she forgive him for his deception? For using her brother with as much consideration as Joey and Lightfoot had? Or would she understand and appreciate that he truly wanted to help them both?

Moments passed and her breathing became deep and even, her palm relaxed on his chest. Her easy rest did nothing to calm Damien, however. No. His nightmare was only about to begin.

 

 

The scent of sizzling bacon could wake any man from a dead sleep. Damien let his head fall to the side and he stared at the empty pillow that Tabitha had slept on, her body tucked against his for long, blissful hours that felt more honest and real than anything he'd experienced in years. Jesus. Sappy much? He was a real tough son of a bitch, lying in bed all wistful and shit. Maybe that's why the SOG preferred unattached deputies for undercover work. Being in love seriously made a guy lose his edge.

But
was
he in love?

It had only been a few weeks since they'd met, yet it felt like years. His need to protect her, to shield her from all of the ugliness she'd lived through and continued to suffer was a physical thing that tied his stomach into knots. His body craved hers as surely as any drug, and the thought of being away from her for even a second sent him into a panic that clouded his mind and made him a useless sack of raw emotion. So if being completely ruined, physically, mentally, and emotionally meant that he was in love with Tabitha Martin, then yeah, maybe he did love her.

If that wasn't the craziest revelation ever.

“Hey.” The door eased open and Tabitha walked in carrying a white plastic bag with Walmart scrawled across the front. Damien pushed himself up to a sitting position, surprised his leg didn't hurt as bad as he expected it to as he eased back against the headboard. “I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed your car this morning. I bought you jeans and underwear. Oh, and not quite a mountain, but a hill's worth of bacon. How's your leg?”

The sentences melded together in a rush that made Damien wonder why she was suddenly so nervous. “Pants are good. I don't think anyone needs to see me walking around in a blanket skirt.”

She flashed him a quick smile that banished her previously tense expression. “I don't know, you could totally initiate a new fashion trend: man sarongs.”

“The modern man's kilt.”

“Exactly.”

Damien welcomed the levity. Last night had been heavy-duty for both of them. How could anyone feel anything but awkward after so much drama?

“I was thinking that after breakfast I should check your stitches and change the bandages. We should probably get some antibiotic cream, too. Just in case. You're going to need to keep a close eye on the wounds to make sure they don't get infected. It wouldn't be good to get sepsis after we went through so much trouble to clean you up.”

Aaaand, just like that, the awkwardness returned. Damien let out a slow sigh and stretched his neck from side to side. “Sounds good to me.”

“Also, I have to go in to work for a few hours to do the food order and send out a few invoices. Would it be okay if I take your car since mine is at the hotel?”

“Sure. I'll go with you. I need to tie up some loose ends from last night, and I might as well get some of that cream while I'm out. How much do I owe you for the jeans?” Not even their first encounter had been as stilted as this. What the fuck had gone wrong during the night?
She opened up to you and is regretting the shit out of it. That's what went wrong
. Damien seriously needed a do-over.

“Okay. If you're sure your leg is all right to walk. And drive.”

“It is.”

“Don't worry about the pants,” she said as she headed for the door. “They're on me. Breakfast is ready, by the way. Just come out whenever.”

The door closed behind her and Damien swung his legs over the side of the bed—careful not to jog his injured thigh too much. He let his head hang between his shoulders and rolled them in an effort to banish some of the tension that had settled there. Goddamn it. While he'd been asleep, everything had changed. And all Damien wanted was to get back to that moment with Tabitha when it was only her and him and the quiet dark.

Chapter Twenty-One

Doing the walk of shame in front of her entire anatomy and physiology class would have been less awkward than the morning she'd spent with Damien. It was all her fault. Damien tried his best to salvage the day, chatting over breakfast and flashing those dimples that melted her insides. But she couldn't shake the sense of dread that since she'd decided to put her trust in him, everything between them would inevitably fall apart.

Which was pretty much on par for everything in her life.

You idiot. You never should have told him anything about your life
. She should have kept things between them light and casual. A physical relationship with no strings attached.
He trusted you, though. Told you about his mom and the guilt he felt for not being there for her . . .
Which could totally be a lie, for all she knew. An emotionally charged sob story to manipulate her.
God, Tabitha, you are such a sap!

“Hey, Tabitha?” Renee poked her head into the office. The Sunday front-desk clerk's expression was pinched, her brows drawn tight over her eyes. “There's a guy here from HiTop Roofing who said he needs to talk to a manager. Something about his room.”

Oh.
Fuck
. She'd been so busy worrying about Damien and what happened between them last night that she'd totally forgotten about Tony. Tabitha was getting pretty tired of visits from the drama llama. Why was it so impossible to break from the dysfunction of her life and start over?

“Go ahead and tell him he can come in.” Tabitha rubbed at her temples and let out a slow breath. Twenty-three was too damned young for this level of stress.

Renee beat a hasty retreat, which did nothing to calm Tabitha's nerves. When Joey waltzed into her office, his expression dark, a burst of nervous energy skittered down her spine. She doubted Damien would come to her rescue this time. He closed the door behind him and the sound might as well have been an axe coming down on her neck.

“What in the
fuck
happened here last night, Tabs?”

Since becoming a “big-time” dealer, Joey's ego had grown about a thousand percent. She supposed being involved in a shooting last night probably elevated his opinion of himself as a high roller as well. Funny, he'd come away from the incident unscathed, while she'd had to sew Damien up last night. “Tony is out of his goddamned mind, that's what happened. He got out of line and thank God Damien showed up to put him in his place.”

“Funny,” Joey said, rounding Tabitha's desk to stand beside her. She inched away as he braced an arm on the desk and lowered himself to eye level. “That's not the story I got.”

Tony and Joey had been friends for years. No doubt he'd believe his buddy over her. “I don't know what he told you, Joey, but you can believe me when I say he crossed a line. If you don't want to listen to me, ask Damien.”

Joey snorted. “Like I'd ask him anything. That fucker is
done
. Tony told me what he did.”

What an asshole. Tony was lower than the lowest pond scum. “And what exactly did he tell you?”

“Busted in after I dropped him off, beat the shit out of Tony and took off with the rest of my fucking product, that's what he did.”

Tabitha couldn't help her disbelieving laughter. “Jesus Christ, Joey. That's so far from what actually happened, it's not even funny!”

“What's
funny
is that you'd say that, Tabs, because according to Tony, you helped Damien jack him.”

Her jaw dropped. That asshole! That lying son of a bitch! “Considering the
arrangement
we have, why in God's name would I do that?”
How do you deal with someone who's blackmailing you? Simple. Rob him blind.
Tabitha snorted. Joey was such a fool.

“Since you've been chasing after Damien like a fucking bitch in heat, I doubt it was too hard for him to talk you into helping him.”

Anger built inside of her like roiling storm clouds, so intense she tasted it on the back of her tongue. How did he even know she'd been seeing Damien? Tony obviously hadn't wasted any time in spreading the juicy gossip. “Get. Out.” Tabitha stood from her chair and leveled her gaze on Joey. “Get out of my office right now.”

Joey's hand struck out like a viper, catching her around the throat. “Don't get lippy with me, you little cunt. Because of your bullshit, Lightfoot is coming down and he'll be here
tonight
. Do you know how much of his shit went missing last night? Half of an entire goddamned delivery. And you can bet your uptight little ass it isn't going to be me that pays for the fuck-up.”

He released his grip and Tabitha stumbled backward, gasping for air as she rubbed at her abused throat. “You're through,” Joey spat as he headed for the door. “Your brother is fucking through. And so is that piece of shit boyfriend of yours.”

The door slammed behind him with enough force to rattle Tabitha's teeth. Limbs shaking, she collapsed into her chair, her breaths coming in desperate gasps that made her see stars. She fumbled with her cell, dropping it three times before she could steady the stupid thing in her hands. She accessed the recent-calls screen and selected Damien's number from the list.

When his voice mail picked up, Tabitha cursed under her breath. Whether or not opening up to him had been a mistake, they were in this together now. She might not have been scared of Joey before, but he'd rattled her today. And if Gerald was on his way into town, they were all as good as dead.

“Damien, it's Tabitha.” She tried to manage the panic in her voice, but that was easier said than done. “Tony told Joey that we beat him up and stole half a delivery's worth of drugs from him last night. Joey is pissed. He said Gerald Lightfoot is headed to town to sort it all out.” A sob rose in her throat and she swallowed it down. “He said he's not going to take the fall for it and I know he's going to throw us all under the bus. Including Seth. I don't know what to do. Can you please call me?”

She disconnected the call and dialed Seth. He needed to get out of town. Now. Voice mail answered and Tabitha swore. Goddamn it, didn't anyone answer their phone anymore? “Seth, call me
as soon
as you get this message.” She ended the call and stared at the far wall, tears springing to her eyes.

What she wouldn't give for a normal life. One that didn't involve being nearly choked to death twice in twenty-four hours.

 

 

“We need to get you to a hospital, Evans. Those stitches
cannot
be sanitary.”

Despite the pain radiating from his thigh, Damien continued to pace the confines of his hotel room, his gut churning like the ocean at high tide. When he heard Tabitha's message, he'd been prepared to jump to action, but Chief Deputy Callihan insisted that they handle this by the book from here on out.

“I'm fine.”

“The hell you are. What were you thinking, not reporting that shooting last night? John Rader is up my ass over this. He thinks we cut him out of the loop, and Nampa PD has had extra resources on this since last night. Would a phone call have killed you? ‘Hey, Chief, just wanted to let you know I shot up a couple of gangbangers and took a bullet to the leg.' You know, just to give us a jumping-off point.”

Neither his sarcasm nor his aggravation was lost on Damien. This case had been out of control since day one.
Way to instill confidence, dickhead
. “I didn't want to compromise my cover.”

“No,” Callihan snarked. “Of course not. Because fraternizing with a suspect didn't compromise you at all.”

He had a point. “Tabitha Martin isn't a suspect. She's an asset. Her brother, too. They're the key to getting to Lightfoot.”

The chief deputy snorted. “They'll be lucky if the U.S. attorneys' office doesn't file racketeering and conspiracy charges against both of them. You heard Martin's voice mail. She said Cavello thinks you stole from him. Lightfoot is on his way to put his business in order. We don't need Martin or his sister to get to Lightfoot now.”

“We do,” Damien asserted. There was no way in hell he was going to let Tabitha take the fall for
any
of this. “Lightfoot isn't an idiot; if he were, we would have made an arrest years ago. Since he's been on the run, he's been careful not to directly connect himself with any of his deals. He uses middlemen for everything. If we want an airtight case against him, we need both Tabitha and her brother's testimony. They have years of history with the man. Seth Martin was Lightfoot's mule for a long time. They might be the only two people who have personal knowledge of his involvement.”

“Not true,” Callihan argued. “We've got Cavello.”

“Please.” Damien needed to gain some ground and prove his case, now. “Do you really think Lightfoot is that stupid? If he's headed into town, like Cavello says, there is no way he's going to be stupid enough to initiate face-to-face contact.”

“How else is he going to take care of business?”

“Simple,” Damien replied. “He'll use the one person he thinks he can trust. The only person in the area who's had face-to-face dealings with him.”

“Seth Martin?”

“I'd be willing to bet my pension that if Lightfoot hasn't already contacted Seth, he will soon.”

“Okay,” Callihan said. “I'll bite. What do you want to do from here?”

“Bring Seth and Tabitha in. We'll make a deal—Seth helps us to make an arrest and we'll exonerate him of any wrongdoing.”

Callihan gave Damien a pointed look. “How does Tabitha fit into the equation? As far as I can see, she brings nothing to the table.”

“She flips on Cavello, Boise PD gets to make their arrests, and the state agrees not to press charges for her cooperation.”

Callihan nodded. “This could mean WITSEC for both of them. Would they be willing to enter the program? You know it's a tough sell for people like them.”

Damien gnashed his teeth and swallowed the sharp retort that sat on the tip of his tongue.
People like them
, meaning lower-class, white trash, dirty, uneducated . . . the list went on and on. He knew for a fact Tabitha had been trying to escape that stigma all of her life. The fact that people like Callihan insisted on making jackassed assumptions was why she found it so hard to find a life outside of her past.

“We'll deal with that issue when we come to it.” Damien wasn't going to sit by and watch Tabitha disappear into the abyss of WITSEC anyway. Not if he could do anything about it. “But first we need to get them into custody before Lightfoot or Cavello gets their hands on them.”

“All right. We'll play this your way. First I'm going to have to get the U.S. attorney to sign off on any deals we make. Then, I'll get Gates and a couple of Boise PD guys to bring them in. Get cleaned up. Because you're going to be brokering this little deal.”

Damien swallowed down the anxiety that pooled in his gut. That nightmare he'd been worried about last night? It was just getting started.