One Wrong Move (27 page)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

Camden

Camden was as prepared as he’d ever be when Darrell knocked on his door. He opened it and stood in the doorway.

“You’re not going to let me in?”

“Last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me.”

Darrell ran a hand over his face. “I wasn’t trying to kill you. And I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

“Well, thanks to your men, I’ve lost Rayma again.”

“I came to apologize. Are you going to let me in?”

Camden stepped aside and let Darrell pass, holding his breath.

Darrell’s gaze ping-ponged around the room. “What’s with the couch and the boxes?”

Camden had just enough time to scatter boxes around his apartment and disturb the couch so it was at an odd angle.

“I’m in the middle of moving. Trying to pack, although the movers are going to do most of it. You want a beer?” Camden didn’t wait for a response as he shuffled to the fridge and fetched two cans.

Darrell took the can and popped it open. “I do recall you mentioning you planned to move.”

Camden handed Dare a beer and popped the top to his. He sat on the barstool across from where Dare stood. “Yeah. I found a bigger place, a nicer place. Closer to work. And with my raise, I can finally afford it.”

“Was I not paying you enough in the first place?”

“Well, this one’s pretty cheap since it’s an efficiency. But I’m ready to have a bigger place and got a great deal on an apartment closer to work,” he repeated. Someone knocked on the door. “That would be my movers,” he said. “Excuse me a moment.”

Sweat pooled down Camden’s back as he walked to the door. Dare could pull a gun and shoot him, but so far all he did was observe as four men trundled in. Camden exchanged moving paperwork with one of them as two went for the couch. Camden knew Moore kept a moving van in the garage, but most of it held their surveillance equipment. He hoped like hell Darrell didn’t decide to check it out.

“Sorry about that,” Camden said as he returned to Darrell.

“No, I’m sorry. I obviously chose a bad time to come. Didn’t know you were moving today. You know, I could have gotten some guys to help you move for free.”

Camden rubbed a sweaty palm over his face. “I didn’t want to bother anyone. And I needed to be out of here pretty quickly. I think the landlords have it rented already.”

Dare pursed his lips and continued to study him. “Are you running out on me?”

Camden shook his head. “Why would you think that?”

“I’m sorry about what happened, you getting shot at. You know I put a contract out on Rayma, and that couple had no idea who you were when they shot at her. They’ve been dealt with.”

“Okay,” Camden said.

“You’re still on for Saturday night, right? I need you.”

“I’m still on.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Dare asked.

“There are some things you don’t know about me. Some things I never talk about. Some things I was afraid of you knowing.” Camden needed to give a reason for his tension besides the fact he’d been shot at. He and Moore had worked out a backstory before this assignment, only they hadn’t had to use it until now, and Camden punted the rest of the way.

“My wife tried to kill me once. I owed a colossal amount of debt from gambling, but she liked to shop even more than I liked to gamble. She thought hiring someone to kill me would take care of her problems. I turned to drugs and alcohol for a while. My job with Vin Doux saved my life.”

“What was your wife’s name?”

“Sharon.” God, he hoped he’d remember that tomorrow. “She’s dead now.”

Darrell’s eyes gleamed. “You didn’t kill her, did you?”

“No. But that’s why I don’t like being shot at.”

“You don’t have any loan sharks after you, do you?”

Camden guffawed. “No, thank God. Ruined my credit getting them paid off.”

“How did your wife die?”

“Car accident.”

“How did a man who was so into gambling just give it up?”

“I wish I could say it was that easy.” Camden swigged his beer and prepared a perfect speech in his head. No flaws, no nervousness, no hints of deception. “I didn’t just give it up. It took a lot of hard work and nauseous nights. I’d like to blame Sharon for most of those gambling problems. I had plans for my future before she ruined me. I moved to Texas where gambling is illegal—about as deep into Texas as I could get.”

“Excuse me sir,” one mover interrupted. Dex looked just like a moving guy, hat turned backward, unkempt clothes. But what was he doing in here anyway? Shouldn’t he have been protecting Rayma? “Anything else in the living room need to go?”

“Everything needs to go. Except the appliances.”

“Dishes?”

“Oh yeah, they do need to go.”

Dare stood. “We’ll go outside while they finish up in here.”

“Need another beer?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Dare walked outside. Camden shot a glance at Dex before grabbing a couple more cans.

“What I really came here for,” Dare said as he took the beer and popped the top, “is to discuss Saturday night with you. First though, I have to ask, why would you be uneasy telling me about your past?”

“Most employers wouldn’t take too kindly to hiring someone with a gambling and drug problem, even if it was history.”

“Well, you haven’t stolen from me yet. At least not that I know of.”

“Just a couple pieces of leftover bread occasionally.”

Dare laughed. Camden relaxed and, right outside the safe house, they talked about their plans for Saturday night.

Camden failed to mention the part of the plan that involved busting him that very day.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

Lacey

Lacey grabbed her beach bag, adjusted her top to dip a little lower, and walked to the back of Dare’s patio to his private pool.

After barging into her home and scaring the shit out of everyone, he’d called her and told her how much he missed her and couldn’t wait to see her again. A sixth sense should have warned her something was wrong, but her sanity went out the window when he was around. He hadn’t mentioned Cyndi since she’d told him about her, and he acted like none of it happened. Maybe he was enthralled with the pleasure he’d just received and didn’t hear her.

Since everyone else was still in panic mode, she snuck out easily after he left. Only now was she thinking things through. Rayma had been shot at. Then Dare showed up at the house, and finally he called Lacey like everything was fine in the world? Why did she agree to come?

She stepped onto the back patio. The sun streamed down hard on the concrete steps, its spotlight like an announcement of her arrival. She froze when she saw Cyndi wrapped in Dare’s arms.

Cyndi wore a bikini with a delicate, gauzy wrap. Darrell was dressed in a white suit and red tie. Lacey almost backed away, but Cyndi saw her. Her eyes widened and her face paled, like she was just as surprised to see Lacey as she was to see her.

“Come on over,” Darrell said. Lacey wasn’t sure why she obliged. Her stomach roiled, but she was like a puppet on strings when it came to him.

“What’s going on?” Lacey asked as Cyndi backed away.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Cyndi asked.

He wasn’t planning on a threesome? Because she wasn’t into that.

Before Lacey had a chance to react, Dare reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun, aimed it at Cyndi, and fired.

Lacey screamed and backed away, but Dare had her by the hair before she could think. He jerked her head back and she fell to her knees, crying. Blood pooled around Cyndi’s dead body. Blood, taunting her with her mistakes.

“You’ll be next if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on.”

“I don’t know,” she cried. He snapped her head back, hard. She shrieked, fearing for a moment he’d broken her neck. He cocked his gun and leveled it right between her eyes. “No,” she cried. “I’m on your side. Please believe me.”

“Tell me why I should,” he said, calm and deadly. She gazed into his eyes and thought for a moment she was looking into the end of a pistol. Hard, cold, gray. “You’re a cockroach.”

“No.”

“You’re a fucking cockroach.”

Lacey tried to move her head, but couldn’t get away from his grip. His finger moved on the trigger, and for one horrifying moment, she thought it was over.

“If you kill me, there won’t be anyone on your side anymore,” Lacey cried. “They’ll come after you. You’ll have the murder of two DEA agents on your head.”

He tossed the gun to a man who was standing behind her and said, “Kill her.”

“No!” she screamed, closing her eyes as if that would stop the bullet.

Dare released his grip on her hair. She remained crouched on the concrete slab, knees digging into the unforgiving surface. He backhanded her. Her head lolled to the side, the throb feeling as if a million fire ants stung her body. She tasted blood.

Her entire body trembled, shaking with sobs. She tried to back away, but he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to her feet. “Give me one good reason. One.”

“I’m trying to help you.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Love.” She hated herself. She hated this man. She had no idea why she was helping him. Maybe she deserved to die.

“Love?” he scoffed. “Or lust?” She didn’t reply but looked into those cold eyes, expecting the bullet to pierce her head at any moment. She wondered if it would hurt, if she’d feel anything, or if would just happen and she’d be gone. She wondered if it already had happened and she was about to die.

His starched white suit remained immaculate. Even with Cyndi’s body lying beside them, his suit wasn’t marred.

“What about Camden?” Dare asked.

“Who?”

“Camden.”

“My tenant? What about him?”

His fingers dug into her shoulders. She whimpered.

“Give me the damned gun,” he said to his crony. He dropped her, pushed her away in order to grab the gun, and her knees gave out. She fell to the ground, her palms caught on the concrete. Dare took the pistol and sat next to her, practically on her, and leveled the gun at her again. “Is Camden a federal agent?”

She didn’t want to die. She deserved to die. Either way, she might. She could risk Camden’s life and many others to save herself, or she could risk her own life, continue to lie, and possibly save the operation and the lives of many agents.

She chose to save her own life. She closed her eyes, nodded, and whispered, “Yes.”

***

The safe house was scrambling with agents tying up loose ends when Lacey walked in, feeling more bedraggled than she looked. She’d freshened up, she’d wiped away her tears, and she’d stayed away for as long as possible. By this time, everyone would know about Cyndi.

Dare told her to go back and pretend nothing had happened. He promised worse if she told, and she believed what he said. So when she walked in and only Moore was there, she let out a relieved sigh and forced a smile.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“I ran to the grocery store. I thought that’s the assignment you gave me. What’s going on?”

Moore grabbed her by the elbow. “You don’t know?”

She shook her head, giving herself points for play acting so well. If only she hadn’t been stupid about it, things might have worked out. But she’d been consumed with jealousy over Cyndi and Dare, and had just destroyed this entire operation.

Oh, if only she could sit down and tell Moore everything. But she’d face his wrath and wasn’t sure which was worse, his or Dare’s.

“Cyndi is dead,” Moore said. “She was shot in the forehead and found at the beach by a couple of kids.”

Poor kids
, she thought. She’d never meant for any of this to happen.

“How terrible.” She backed away and sat, still gripping the two bags she’d grabbed at the store. She didn’t have to fake her despair. “What happened?”

“We’re not sure. You’re officially resigned from your position and will be placed in a separate safe house as a potential witness until this is all over.”

“What?” She stood, knocked the bags to the ground. Apples rolled to the floor, a six-pack of beer fell, some bottles shattering. She didn’t care.

As she opened her mouth to speak, he held up his hand to ward off any arguments. “I won’t hear them. I won’t listen.”

“What about Rayma?”

“She’ll be safe.”

“Where?”

“That’s undisclosed information.”

Camden entered the kitchen. He stomped toward her, grabbed her around the neck, and lifted her. Not hard—he was good about using force without hurting, but it immobilized her, weakened her, made her feel just as vulnerable as she had when Darrell had pointed the gun in her face.

“What have you told him?”

Lacey tried to shake her head but couldn’t move it from side to side. “Nothing,” she whispered.

“What does he know?”

This would be the perfect time to admit her mistakes. After all, she was going to a safe house where even Darrell might not find her. There was the kicker.
Might not.

But every time she closed her eyes, she saw Cyndi’s body slumping, blood covering her, and the lethal gleam in Dare’s eyes. She should protect her fellow agents from slaughter, but she would probably go to prison for it.

“He knows nothing.”

***

Rayma

There was another change of plans. Moore gave Rayma the master bedroom and bathroom and told her not to leave. Camden would be the one leaving. Neither situation appealed to Rayma, but it wasn’t hard to abide by Moore’s request. A bathroom complete with luxurious tub—finally she could take a long, blissful, and very private bubble bath and lounge in bed reading or watching TV.

Rayma was soaking in the tub with a book in hand when Camden stormed in. She jerked upright and nearly screamed, then threw the hardcover book at his chest.

“Ow,” he howled as the book hit him and plopped to the floor.

“You scared the shit out of me. How did you get in? I locked the door.”

“I unlocked it.” He unbuttoned his shirt, unsnapped his jeans, and removed his shoes as he advanced toward her. She didn’t have a chance to tell him to go away because by the time she could speak again, he was already naked and sliding in the water.

He wrapped his palm around the back of her neck, pulled her closer, and kissed her. Her heart had already been pounding from surprise, but now it hammered and panged through her limbs.

She planted her fingers on his chest and pushed him away. “What are you doing here? What’s the point in having you at a separate safe house if you just come back?”

“It’s Friday night. I’ll be going to the warehouse later and will be there all day tomorrow preparing for the party for tomorrow night.”

The unspoken words were,
I may never see you again.

Camden gathered her in his arms and shifted behind her. She rested her back against him and settled her head on his chest. His hard body was a solid wall for her unsteady heart.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

“Don’t be. I’ve been through worse.”

“I think you’re wrong. I have a bad feeling about it.”

His arms snaked around to cover her breasts, and he lightly brushed them. “Of course you do. It’s natural to be worried.”

“Then why aren’t you?”

“Because I’m confident in my abilities.”

“To face a gun?” She turned so she could look at him when she spoke. “I don’t understand why you have to do this. With the information you have, Darrell could be arrested without this…this dangerous plan you and the agents have masterminded. You wouldn’t have to be involved.”
You wouldn’t have to risk being killed
, she wanted to say.

“It’s better to catch him in action. With that proof and the other information, he could be put away for good.”

“I bet Fletcher thought he had it under control, too.” Rayma traced her finger across Camden’s hard jawbone. “It’s easier for something to go wrong if you do it this way.”

“How should we do it then?”

“Arrest him in the privacy of his office. Nothing fancy, no gunfire.”

“Well, this way he’ll be arrested along with everyone he does business with.”

She turned on her side and rested in his arms. “It’s a bad idea. I’m really worried about it. You could be in danger.”

“I’ve been in danger lots of times, darling,” he said. He trailed his hand down to the crevice of her thighs, which had already turned liquid for him. “Right now, for instance.”

She turned her face up so she could nuzzle her nose against his neck. “What do you mean?”

“I’m in danger of losing my heart to you.”

She laughed and ribbed him. “Yeah right.”

“And this,” he said as he took her hands and guided her to his cock. She shifted so she could touch him, giving him one long stroke. As much as she wanted to make love, she couldn’t waste the last little bit of time she had not saying things she wanted to say.

She let go of him and rested her back against his chest.

He groaned. “You don’t have to worry about Dare. You’re going to kill me.”

“I heard about Cyndi,” Rayma blurted. She wasn’t supposed to have, that was obvious by the horror on Dex’s face when she walked in and he and the other agents had been talking about it. “How did Dare find out about her?”

“We don’t really know. I can’t ask him about her, because he doesn’t know I know her. I won’t lie to you, it’s going to be pretty tense tomorrow.”

“If he found out about her, how do we know he hasn’t found out about you?”

“It’s a chance we have to take.”

“God.” Rayma closed her eyes to fight back tears. She didn’t want to lose Camden.

“Hey.” He pushed her up to a sitting position and arranged her to face him, then massaged soap all over her body. “Tomorrow it’ll all be over. But we’re going to enjoy what we’ve got right now.”

He kissed her, his tongue sweeping aside her grief. His fingers found every curve of her body, strumming tingles across her skin. The heat of the water was dizzying.

He lifted her from the tub but didn’t dry her off. She shivered as the air hit her. He pulled a condom from his wallet and carried her to the bedroom, gingerly setting her on the bed before he donned protection.