The Consequence (10 page)

Katy hugged her friend back hard. “Thank you for everything, Rosie.”

“Any time, kiddo. Now get out of here and listen to what Simon says!”

As Katy packed, she asked, “Simon, what do they want from me?”

“Information. Information they think you have. Information you have but don’t know you have.”

“I do have the pass codes to several data banks.”

“Who else has the codes?”

“No one, it’s my research data, therefore my codes.”

“Did Evan know what you were working on?”

“Most of my tenure was spent sequencing, but there were a few byproducts of my left turns.”

“Those left turns could be patented and whoever owns the patent would corner the market?”

“Yes, but they weren’t fully realized.”

“Maybe they were realized enough for someone else to figure out?”

“Yes, that’s true. Most of it wouldn’t require any more than Evan’s level of capability to fully prove.”

Simon smiled and shook his head. “It must have bugged the hell out of Evan that you have so much more gray matter than he does.”

“I never realized his ego was so delicate until he showed up at the gym.”

“Let’s keep that hot button of his in mind for our script.”

“What if the bad guys know where you live?”

“My information is off the grids. I never go home the same route from here. I never drive the same route coming here. I always have an eye on my rear view mirror. Despite all of that, if they do manage to find me, they’re going to have to get past me to get to you. Once I have you safely tucked away at my place, for both our peace of mind, I’ll post round the clock guards outside and dispatch a deputy to do regular drive byes.”

Finally packed, he grabbed her suitcase, and said, “Time for my castle, Cinderella.”

t was late when they exited her building. Katy was anxious and on edge. Tension hardened Simon’s features. He reminded her of a hunter anxious to capture his prey, but wary. She was scared, and beginning to wish she hadn’t pushed to be wired. Men, dangerous men, were after information they thought she had, which technically she did, and then some, but they didn’t know about the “and then some” part. That part would surely get her killed.

Simon wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders and brought her into the secure fold of his body. “I give you my word, I will not allow one hair on your head to be touched.”

Nodding, her courage soared. She knew as long as Simon had her back, she would be safe.

Once he turned onto 280 instead of 101, Simon was a relentless soundtrack of do’s and don’ts.

“If you think, for any reason, Evan suspects what you’re doing, use the kill word.”

Katy steeled herself against the shiver pushing to rush across her body. “What is the kill word again?” she innocently asked.

“Are you kidding me?” he demanded incredulously.

“Yes, Simon. I know the kill word is cavalry. I know not to go into a dark corner with him where no can see me. I know not to taunt him. I know not to leave the building with him. I know if a second, third or fourth person shows up on his behalf to cut and run. I know what to do!”

Abruptly he pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway. He pulled the brake and turned angrily toward her. “Do you know how fucking nervous I am about this? Do you have any idea how much I don’t want this?”

“I—”

“No you don’t.” He jammed his fingers through his hair. “I lost my brother because of something he had no hand in, and here I’m putting you smack dab in the middle of a shit pile.”

“Simon, I’m sorry, I—”

“I know putting you in lockdown would have you hating me, and I know if I didn’t you’d do something on your own. At least this way I can control the situation. That and I have the best mother fucking team in the state. They’re highly trained. What’s important to me is important to them. Every one of those guys would take a bullet for you because you’re important to me.”

Hot tears stung her eyes. “I see. You have confidence in them, but not me.”

“It’s not that. You’re not a trained pit bull who can snap a man’s neck with one hand while taking out his backup with the other.”

His job terrified her. She didn’t want to think about the future nights of worrying, of pacing as she waited for a word, a text, a call that he made it through yet another life and death situation. “That may be true, but I have something your team doesn’t have. A personal stake in this. Not only for myself but for the man I love. And while I may not be trained to kill, I have half a brain and I know what drives Evan, now more than ever. I know what buttons to push. So you’re going to have to put a little faith in this princess to do what you and your fellow prince charmings can’t do.”

Simon reached out and cupped her behind the head and drew her to him. “You’re damn sexy when you get your dander up.”

She resisted his sexual pull. “I want to you take me seriously.”

“I do, more than you know.”

She kissed him chastely then pulled out of his grip leaving him with a slight pout on those full lips. She cocked a brow. “Are you pouting, Simon?”

“Yeah.”

“Aww, that’s so cute.” She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. “But it’s not working. I’m not going to make out with you on the shoulder of 280. Let’s go, home. I’m tired and I’m hungry.” She grinned looking straight ahead, “And horny.”

He released the brake and put the Jeep into gear then merged onto the freeway. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with meeting my men would it?”

“Only one turns my head.”

“Which one?” he groused.

“The jealous one.”

He grinned as he got it. “Good, I like that guy.”

“Me too.”

Though Simon was gone most of the day and part of the evenings, she felt at home in his space. She liked the casual comfort of his surroundings and his personal affects. He liked nice things, and everything in his home from his luxurious leather furniture to his cloud soft bamboo cotton sheets testified to that. He was neat, but not anal, structured but not rigid. He could cook and he cleaned up after himself. As compatibility went, they were simpatico on all the important things, down to their love of fresh ground coffee and adventurous romps in bed.

No matter how their story ended, she would always cherish this time alone with him.

And like clockwork, first thing each morning, Simon gave her self-defense lessons that she practiced throughout the day. She spent time in his home gym and a lot of time studying the floor plan of the Opera Building, memorizing every nook and cranny of the vast, complicated building. She familiarized herself with every designated safe place so that in case something went south and for some crazy reason one of the team couldn’t get to her, she could safely wait for the cavalry.

Finally, Friday, the day before the gala, Simon took her in with him for a final briefing. Once again she was overwhelmed by the testosterone in the room, but this time there were female cops, who would not only pair with the guys as attendees, but also act as servers and security. From the moment Simon stepped into the briefing room, he had control of the room. There were several sly glances at him from more than a few of the women, a few nudges from the men, and with the exception of a few questions, Simon set the tone, laid out the final plan down to the nth detail and then stood back asking if there were any comments or questions.

When there were none, he nodded, closed his folder, and said he’d see them back in the briefing room tomorrow at three.

As they exited the conference room, Katy was itching to get him naked and inside of her.

As they passed a door marked “Utility”, Katy grabbed Simon’s hand and yanked him toward it as she opened the door. It was clean, and lit up when the door opened.

“What the hell?” Simon said as she slammed the door closed and locked it. She dimmed the light and smiled as she pulled her form fitting shirt up and over her shoulders. She tossed it onto the small desk then sauntered toward him. Grazing her fingers along his suddenly rising trousers, she pushed him against the wall. Rising to her tip toes, she kissed him. It quickly ignited into a firestorm of desire.

Simon slipped his arm around her waist and turned her, pushing her back against the wall as he unzipped his pants with the other hand. When he was done, he slid that hand up beneath her skirt along her bare thighs to her wet center. “Oh, Cinderella, you are so bad.” She wasn’t wearing panties.

“Simon,” she breathed just wanting him inside her. “Please hurry.”

“All I could think about in that briefing room as I watched my men lust after you was how you were mine and how much I wanted to climb inside you.” He thrust into her. “God damn that feels good.”

She clung to him. “Shut up and fuck me,” she breathed.

And he did. Fuck her like there was no tomorrow. Just in case tomorrow never came.

Saturday morning, Katy woke with an upset stomach.

“It’s nerves, baby,” Simon said. “Let’s go for a run and get rid of some of that anxiety.”

That sounded like a good idea and five miles later, sweaty but feeling better, she looked over at Simon who had barely broken a sweat. “I didn’t have you pegged for a runner.”

“I run, but the ring is my exercise of choice.”

“The ring?”

“Boxing. I go to the Y in the city and a fight club in San Jose. And when I can’t get to either, I beat the hell out of the heavy bag in my garage.”

“You’re one tough guy aren’t you?”

He leaned down and soundly kissed her. “The toughest.” He swatted her on the ass and challenged her to a race home.

Of course he beat her. She pretended that she let him. Smiling happily, they made it back to the house by mid-morning…they had a lot to do.

“I think I’m going to do my makeup and hair here, but should I dress at the office?” The team was meeting at three at the task force briefing room. They’d hook her up with the wire, and she and Jack would be picked up in a town car. It would be manned by a cop who’d drop them off across the street at the opera house where they would go mingle and bring down Evan’s house of cards.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Simon said with a smile.

He fixed her lunch, even though she said she was too nervous to eat. But as she ate the yummy grilled cheese, she caught him staring at her.

“What?”

He didn’t answer at first. Instead he slowly chewed the bite he had just taken, then swallowed. He set his sandwich down and wiped his mouth with his napkin then set it aside.

He looked to be struggling for words, but she patiently waited for him to find them.

“I told you not too long ago that I have a knack for screwing things up. I also told you I wasn’t one of those kinds of guys who waxed poetic. And those words still stand, but there’s an addendum you need to know about.”

He reached across the small table and took both of her hands into his big warm ones. “I love you, Doctor Winslow. It scares the shit out of me. I want to run…far and fast, it scares me so much. But my heart is telling me to stay. It’s telling me you are the only one for me.” He turned over her hands and kissed each of her palms. “I promise I will never lie to you, cheat on you or intentionally hurt you, and in return I want your promise that you will come to me first and not believe anything anyone says, because I will always tell you the truth.”

Hot tears welled in her eyes. She nodded.

“Once this case is in the can, I’m taking some time and we’re going to fuck ourselves senseless on a warm beach somewhere.”

Katy smiled as tears spattered down her cheeks. “I’d love that.”

He leaned across the table and kissed her. “Good.” He stood bringing her with him. “Now let’s get this show on the road.”

A few hours later, dressed to kill in an electric blue empire gown of gossamer silk, Katy stood still as Special Agent Jennifer Rigatti aka the “Ball and Chain” who she’d met at yesterday’s briefing attached a lovely crystal flower broach to the fabric between her breasts. “The piece in the center is a camera,” she explained. “Embedded in the petals is the receiver.” Once it was attached, Special Agent Rigatti scowled and looked up to Simon. “No ear piece for her?”