Rock Chick 01 (35 page)

“From a decade of keepin’ close watch, I
wouldn’t say you had a type.”

It was my turn to stare at him, because that
was just plain insulting.

Men were so stupid and Lee was at the top of
the list.

I mean, didn’t he just admit this morning to
reading my diary?

Didn’t he realize I only had one type and
that type was him?

Wasn’t he the one who told me I was in love
with him and I’d eventually admit it?

We were together. Finally. Liam and India
together, even moving in for goodness sakes.

This was something I was going to have to get
used to when I had time to wrap my mind around it. Truthfully,
unlike nearly everything else in my life, it was coming naturally
and it was one of those few things I didn’t have to process at
length with Ally, Andrea or Tod and Stevie.

Did he honestly think I was going to screw it
up by engaging in some by-play with one of his men?

“You’re an idiot,” I told him.

His eyes narrowed and that scary muscle
jumped in his cheek.

“What did you just say?”

“You… are… an… idiot,” I repeated. “Think
about it and when you’re ready to apologize, I’ll listen. But I’ll
accept an apology now for the insult you just dished out.”

“How about you explain,” he suggested in a
way that was clear it wasn’t a suggestion.

“No explanation, but I’ll give you a hint. In
all my vast experience of men through what you consider was India’s
Decade of Slutdom, I’ve never, not once, even so much as had a
toothbrush at another man’s house.”

He just stared at me, he didn’t get it or was
too angry to process it. And he wasn’t moving and still had me
pinned to the lockers. I was forced to explain further and I got a
little carried away.

“I had one at yours after the first night I
stayed there. Okay so it was in your stash, but it’s a toothbrush,
Lee! One use and it’s
mine
. And we hadn’t even
done
it
yet! Not to mention undies in your drawer and wearing your
t-shirts.” I put my hands on my hips. “And sleeping at your house,
like, all the time. None of that, never with another guy, never,
never,
never
. Huh! Get it now?”

Something changed in his eyes but whatever it
was just intensified the feeling already there. It went from
scary-but-under-control to totally-out-of-control.

My stomach did a clench because I wasn’t sure
what was going to happen next.

His hands went to my hips and pulled mine
against his, then his arms wrapped around me, one hand going into
my hair. He tugged it, not gentle but as if he couldn’t control his
strength.

My head went back and I let out a little cry
but it was cut off when his mouth came down on mine and he kissed
me. It was not like any kiss he’d given me before, it was hard and
wild.

Somehow he’d lost control and I had to admit
that I liked that I could make him lose it.

I liked it a lot.

When his head came up, he immediately dropped
his forehead to mine, his eyes closed and he didn’t say a word. We
were both breathing heavily and my hands were at his waist,
clutching the t-shirt there. He was having an internal battle, I
could tell, and when his eyes opened I realized whatever battle he
was waging, he’d won.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked when he lifted his
head.

I shook mine.

“Fuck, Indy, you turn me inside out.”

I stood there a beat and then said, very
quietly, “Lee, I’m not doing anything to you. You’re doing it to
yourself. I’m beginning to think you don’t know me either. There
were guys but…” I was going to stay “none of them was you” but I
stopped myself just in time and said, “it was just fun, half of
them didn’t even get to second base. I’m not the slut you think I
am.”

“I don’t think you’re a slut.”

“That’s not the way you make it sound.”

“I’ve been watchin’ men sittin’ in what I
considered my position for a long time and I didn’t like it. I
should have done something about this a long time ago, that’s my
problem. I’m taking it out on you.”

I stared at him and realized that I’d spent
years throwing myself at him and being rebuffed and watching him go
off with every other girl who caught his eye. Each time it tore at
my heart and each new time it hurt more.

What I didn’t realize was, for years he’d
been experiencing the same thing.

“My flirting is harmless, you don’t have
anything to worry about,” I told him.

“I’m still gonna ask you not to do it,” Lee
replied.

I looked into his eyes for several seconds
and then sighed. “All right. I’ll quit flirting.”

His arms were still around me and they pulled
me deeper into him.

“That’s my girl,” he murmured and my heart
stopped beating.

This was it, I was Lee’s girl.

And it felt great.

Holy shit, shit, shit.

I pulled back a little to hide my reaction
and said, “Can I bring Marianne here? Just to meet Vance and Matt…
er, and maybe Bobby?” Lee stared at me and I continued., “Also, Tod
wouldn’t mind popping by.”

“No,” Lee answered but he was grinning his
“Isn’t-Indy-cute?” grin.

“I didn’t think so,” I muttered to myself.
“Can we go find Rosie now?”

* * * * *

After I tamed the wild, broody Lee Beast in
the locker room, Lee finished his tour.

There were three more doors to discover.

Room one was a blandly decorated room with a
double bed, a reclining chair, a TV, DVD player and bookshelf full
of books and DVDs. It had a private bath and was called the safe
room. To get into it, you needed a fob for one pad and you had to
put your thumb to another pad
and
you had to use an
old-fashioned key.

Room two was a room with four work cubicles
in it, all complete with chairs, desks, computers and filing
cabinets underneath the desks. Brody, Ally and my computer nerd
friend, popped up from one of the cubicles.

“Indy!” he shouted.

“Holy shit, Brody, what’re you doing here?” I
asked, walking toward him and smiling.When I got to him, I gave him
a hug. He was a total slob, black shirt, black jeans, black Doc
Martens, wild dark hair and Buddy Holly glasses. His body had no
shape, defined, as it was, by sitting in a chair in front of a
computer all the time.

“Ally told me I needed to get out of my house
so she got me a part-time job with Lee. What are you doing here?”
He looked between me and Lee. “Oh yeah, I forgot, Ally told me you
and Lee hooked up. Finally. Cool. Bet you’re happy.”

I glanced at Lee, the Lee Beast had
disappeared and Cocky Lee had taken his place.

I ignored it and turned back to Brody. “You
do programming?”

“Nope, hacking, usually tracing embezzlement
stuff but sometimes…”

“Brody,” Lee cut in and Brody stopped
talking, his eyes got wide and he stared at Lee.

“Yeah, sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah,” Brody said
and looked at me. “Confidentiality,” he whispered. “I keep
forgetting.”

I looked around the room, fascinated by what
Lee had built in a short period of time. It was a huge-ass
operation.

“The other cubbies are for searches and
stuff.” Brody started pointing. “That’s Kim’s cubbie, she’s
hilarious, you’d like her. Her husband is a paramedic so she likes
to work when he’s on shift, sometimes seven to three, sometimes
three to eleven. Then there’s Pablo but he’s part-time, like me. I
do morning, he does afternoons. The other one is for the boys when
they need to do computer work we can’t see.”

“Ah,” I said.

Brody looked to Lee. “See, I told her the
whole thing without talking about
the job
we’re doing.”

Lee stared at Brody, obviously re-evaluating
doing a favor for his sister.

“That’s good, Brody,” I said to him like he
was a lovable dog, which, in a way, he was.

Lee put his hand at my back again, indication
it was time to go.

“When we leave, lock the door and don’t open
it for fifteen minutes unless you get a knock, three, two, two. Got
that?” Lee said to Brody.

“Three, two, two. Got it.” He turned to me.
“Lots of codes around here. Three quicks then a long. Three short,
three long, three short. Shit, what’s this new code again?” he
asked Lee.

Lee sighed. “Three, two, two.”

“Yeah, okay. Three, two, two. Later, Indy. By
the way, really dug the El Salvador e-mail, that was hilarious.
Where do you come up with that shit?” Brody asked but didn’t expect
an answer and then walked back to his desk chanting, “Three two
two, three two two…”

Lee guided me out of the room and back to the
reception area. Dawn was behind her desk and she schooled her
features into a benign smile at our approach. Her immaculate desk
top was marred by a gunbelt which Lee picked up with the barest
hint of a nod of thanks to Dawn.

He pulled out a flat black thing with two
prongs at the top.

“Stun gun,” he said, “you have to be close to
use this, take down is half a second so it’s quick. Don’t touch the
prongs or you’ll get cranked with 625,000 volts.”

Holy crap!

Is that what happened to me?

625,000 volts?

That seemed like a lot.

A lot, a lot.

Lee was still talking. “Batteries are new,
switch it on and touch the prongs to your target and he’ll go
down.”

“
You
should know about those,
considering,” Dawn chimed in sweetly. “They’re not pretty but they
work!”

Lee’s eyes cut to her and she immediately
turned her attention to the computer and I just stopped myself from
sticking my tongue out at her and giving her a “nanny nanny foo
foo” head wag.

Lee shoved the stun gun back into the belt
and pulled out something that looked somewhat like a real gun.

“Taser,” he said, “you can use this from a
distance, point and shoot, same result as a stun gun. Prongs come
out and juice him. Don’t worry about clothes, these prongs will
even go through a vest.”

“That’s a bulletproof vest,” Dawn cut in
again.

“Thanks,” I snapped sharply on a saccharin
smile with a bitch glare, a combination better known as the Bitch
Triple Threat.

When I looked back to Lee, his eyes were
crinkled and he was shoving the taser back into the belt.

He thought we were the funny.

I decided not to go into bitch smackdown
mode. I’d been giving Lee’s employees enough entertainment for a
week.

Lee pulled out a canister.

“Pepper spray. Shake it to make it live, make
sure you point it correctly. This one sprays at distance, you’ve
got up to fifteen feet. Aim at his face. Don’t do it in an enclosed
area or you’ll get it too.”

“Okey dokey,” I said quickly before Dawn
could give any helpful hints.

Lee turned to Dawn. “You’re goin’ to
lunch.”

Without a word, she grabbed her purse and
walked that long-legged, one foot in front of the other,
ass-swaying catwalk out the door.

Lee and I watched and I changed my mind again
about Dawn.

I turned to Lee. “I’m just gonna say, she’s a
problem.”

Lee put the belt on me, shook his head and
caught my eye.

His eyes were serious and Dawn was a distant
memory.

“The fun part of the day is over,” he said in
a no-nonsense voice, securing the belt at my waist.

Uh-oh.

“You’re gonna see and hear shit that you
might not like. This is my work and you have to remember, whatever
it is, there’s an explanation behind it or it’s being controlled.
Talk to me before you react and
listen
to me. Pay attention
and be smart. If something gets too much, too intense, you just
say, no matter where we are or what we’re doin’, I’ll take you
away. Yeah?”

That didn’t sound good.

Lee watched me closely and waited for me to
respond.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“We’re goin’ to the holding room. If we
capture a skip and for some reason can’t get him to the station, we
use the holding room. You’ll see now it has other purposes.”

Yikes.

“Keep your mouth shut, your eyes open and
know where your weapons are. Do not use the pepper spray. We’ve got
someone in there and we’re lettin’ him go. I don’t know how he’ll
react.”

“Letting him go?” I asked. I didn’t know who
he was but whoever he was, he was in a holding room and letting him
go didn’t sound like a good idea.

“He’s part of a bigger picture. We’ve been
workin’ with him for a few days, tryin’ to get him to talk. He
hasn’t felt up to it. Now, it serves the higher purpose to let him
loose.”

I had questions to ask but I had no time to
ask them, Lee was already moving away and I had no choice but
follow… or run away.

Naked Gratitude

For better or worse, I followed Lee down the
hall.

He knocked twice on the surveillance room
door, used his fob and went in.

“It’s time,” he announced.

Vance got up and walked to a desk. Monty
leaned forward and flipped some switches and some monitors came on.
On the monitors, I could now see Brody working, the empty hall and
a room with a bed, a toilet and a sink, a guy lying on his side on
the bed. I couldn’t see much of the guy and then Vance was in my
way. He had a gunbelt doubled up in one hand, he put it behind his
back, opened it and strapped it on. It had the same stuff mine had,
plus a real gun and cuffs.

He lifted his hand, his dark eyes locked on
mine and flirty look was gone. He pointed to the door.

I walked out behind Lee, Vance followed me
and closed the door.

Lee walked down to the end of the hall to the
last door, the only door Lee hadn’t opened to show me what was
inside.

“You know where your weapons are?” Lee
asked.

I felt around my belt and nodded. I felt like
Super Idiot with the belt on, not Super Cool like Vance looked. Lee
wore no gunbelt, just the killer dark brown leather one holding up
his faded brown cargo pants.