Tragic Desires (8 page)

“We can even it up later.” She is so nonchalant about the whole thing, I can’t help but ask. “Why the hell did you go and do that?”

She huffs, “Because you said
…”

“I know what I said, but most women would balk at the mere suggestion of cutting their hair and here you go
, chopping it off without a clue as to what it’ll look like.”

She blows out her breath and is back to massaging her head. “
You’re going to have to stop talking out of both sides of your mouth.”

That comment grabs my full attention and then she screams, “Watch out!” I’ve let my
attention wander away from the road.

“Fuck!” I slam on the brakes. She’s addled me
. I need to get a damn grip here. Now I’m rubbing
my
temples.

“You need to pay attention to
your driving.” Her admonishment almost makes me laugh. A smile tugs the corner of my mouth.

“
You need to quit distracting me!”

H
er gasp makes my smile widen a bit more. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what it was intended to. And I’m not talking out of both sides of my mouth.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not. I was just trying to piss you off.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her mouth open and close several times.

“Why would you do that?” she finally asks. She dabs at her nose again.

“Why the hell do you think?”

“You’re not one of those people
who has to get even all the time, are you? Or has to one-up the other person? I hate those kinds of people.”

Damn! She has me figured out. “I’m sorry for being an ass. I
was
retaliating and that was wrong. The comment about cutting your hair was intended to rile you up. I never thought you’d actually do it.”

H
er eyes bore into me. Not the most comfortable feeling in the world. It’s a good thing I’m driving as it gives me an excuse not to have to look at her. I feel guilty as hell, like I just broke my mom’s favorite lamp. How does she do this to me?

Then I’m surprised to hear her say, “I’m sorry too.
For running. That was really stupid. I freaked out. It won’t happen again. And thanks for saving me from those guys. You’ve done way more than you should already, so I owe you. I can pay you and I will. We can go to a bank and I’ll withdraw however much money you need. I have money, so that’s not a problem.”

My head snaps up.
“Okay, now that’s something you should’ve told me about. Where did all this money come from? And, by the way, you don’t have any money for the time being. If you make any transactions, it’ll trigger the watch they have on you. Gemini, you’re being tracked. You can’t use any of those things right now. Clear?”

She nods.

“So, tell me about the money. Where did it come from?”

“I don’t know. Here’s the weird thing.
I grew up in a small house and my whole life, we lived very frugally. I always thought we were poor. When my mom died, this attorney contacts me and unloads her will on me. He informs me how much money is in her estate and it’s millions. Honestly, I can’t tell you off the top of my head where all the accounts are. I keep everything in a safe deposit box. And this broker handles the investments and stuff. But yeah, I never would’ve known the way I grew up.”

My wheels are spinning. Now I’m wondering if her mom had ties to the underworld or maybe a drug cartel. “Did your mom ever have clandestine meetings with anyone?”

“None that I’m aware of.”

“Any strange people ever show up at your house? Were there any times where she would send you to your room to get you away from any strangers?”

“No! I promise I would remember that. We talked about her not having boyfriends. I used to tell her I wanted her to find a daddy for me. And her face would always look so sad that I stopped saying those kinds of things. My mom was beautiful. Even when most kids thought their parents were nerds, I never did. My mom was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And the older I got, I always wondered why she never dated. She kept to herself. You’ll see when we get to the house. I have lots of pictures of her.”

Nodding, I say, “This sounds more like she was in the Witness Protection Program
, then. Keeping to herself. Was she suspicious of anyone?”

“Maybe. I just always thought she was too protective. But thinking back, she could’ve been suspicious.”

“Think about things she told you. Clues to what she might’ve been hiding.”

After a few
quiet moments, Gemini says, “I don’t think there’s anything. I’ll keep thinking, but the only things she would tell me were to be very wary of men.”

“Bingo. Go on.”

“Just things like not to trust any men. That they were only after one thing. I just thought she was talking about sex.”

“Anything else
?”

“Yeah. She told me to keep to crowds. And never walk alone. Like I said, I just thought it was basic safety stuff that all moms told their daughters.”

“Makes sense.”

“Once, when I was pretty young, I came home from school with one of those beanie dolls. They were the thing back then. She went psycho on me
… kept wanting to know where I got it. It was some kid’s birthday and she gave all the girls one and the boys got something else. Anyway, my mom went bat-shit crazy on me and I remember crying. She scared me so much.”

“Okay, that’s completely irrational behavior. She had some deep secret she was hiding and we need to get to the bottom of it. Can you think of anywhere she would hide something? Did your mom work?”

She’s rubbing her hands together now, as if cold. Without thinking, I put my hand over hers, and what feels like electricity shoots up my arm. What the hell was that? Her movements still, and then she surprises me by latching onto my hand.

“I’m really scared, Drexel.”

Her voice is so soft. I give her hand an encouraging squeeze and say, “Don’t be. I’ve been in way worse shit than this.”

“Tell me?”

Great. I fucking opened the door on this one. This isn’t something I want or need to discuss. It’s nothing but bitter memories all the way around, but I have to tell her something to ease her mind.

“
I told you I was in the Special Forces. Afghanistan. Iraq. We were sent in to do a lot of dirty work. Infiltrate terror cells. Find and destroy them after we got what we needed. They operate like well-oiled machines, with far-reaching tentacles. We would gather intel in ways you don’t want to know about. Once, we were hiking out of a zone that we’d been watching for weeks. We found ourselves outnumbered and surrounded. Bastards are deceptive. They act like farmers, moving from one village to the next, but beneath their tattered clothing, they’re armed to the teeth. Sometimes strapped with explosives. It’s hard to see because they wear
payraan
tumbaan
, loose-fitting pants and tunics, so they can hide just about anything underneath. You can’t trust anything you see out there and your nerves are constantly on edge. Luck was on our side that day when another team came to our rescue. They were in range when they got our call. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“How long were you there?”

“Too long and not long enough.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know. You can’t.” I won’t say anymore because there’s just too damned much.

“Were you ever scared?”

“Every day. But you learn to live with it. You learn to control it. If you don’t, it controls you and you die.” Her hand squeezes mine, as if to offer a bit of comfort. Oddly, it does.

“I guess I need to grow some
nads, then, huh?”

The humor in her question hits me and I laugh. “Yeah. I guess we all do.”

“Oh, I’d say you already have some.”

Hmm. I’m not sure how to take that comment. It falls somewhere between her thinking I’m tough or I’m hot. Or maybe I’m overthinking things
… or imagining what I want her to think. She’s certainly gotten under my skin. Or maybe I should say she’s gotten to my dick, because that’s a damn fact. That’s unusual because even though I can be a softie when it comes to helping people, getting involved with the opposite sex is
not
something I
ever
do on the job.

But when I look at her, it’s not just my dick that reacts. My whole body wants her. On me, around me, I want her every-fucking-where.
She’s unlike anything I could conjure in my wildest fantasies. But she’s a total fucked-up piece of work. And that’s the last thing I need. And Aali Imaam is after her. Doesn’t that make for the perfect girlfriend? What the hell am I thinking? Girlfriend? Where the hell did that come from?

“Is everything okay over there?” she asks.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because you’re squeezing the crap out of my hand.”

“Shit. Sorry.” I let go.

“That’s not what I wanted. I just wanted you to ease up a bit. I like it when you hold
my hand.”

“Well, don’t get too used to it. We have a job to do.” That was harsh. I rub my face
and try to figure out what the hell I’m doing here.

“Okay. I
t was just …” She stops.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

We’re both quiet for a while. I look over and she has her head back
, eyes closed. Maybe she’s sleeping. She’ll need it. We have a long night ahead of us.

We pull into
San Angelo around nine o’clock. She directs me to her house. It’s a small bungalow in a quiet neighborhood. Since I want to make sure there aren’t any people watching, I drive around the block. She’s hunched down on the floor so no one can see her. There aren’t any other cars on the street, but I won’t take chances.

“
Give me the neighborhood layout. Are there any alleys?”

“No. There’s a street behind
ours and then a school. There’s a park two blocks to the east and a church two blocks to the west.”

“Is your backyard fenced in?”

“No.”

“What about your neighbors’ yards?”

“They weren’t when I lived here, but they might be now.”

“Let’s find a place with
Wi-Fi and check out Google Earth. It’s updated fairly frequently but may not give us the most recent images. We can look and see anyway. It’s the best we have right now. I should’ve called my office. I’m usually much better than this.” Jesus, if I keep fucking up, I’m going to end up losing everything, including her.

It doesn’t take long to locate a coffee shop and luckily, none of her neighbors have fences, so that cements my plans.

“We’ll park in the church lot. Then we’ll go in on foot and enter through the back. Have you ever worn night-vision goggles?” I ask.

“
Sure. I wear them all the time.”

“Okay
, smart-ass.”

“Seriously? Drexel, where
in the world would I wear night-vision goggles?”

“I don’t know. Hunting?”

She shakes her head. “Yeah, my mom and I used to hunt big game in our backyard when I was a kid. Lions and tigers. Once I even shot a wildebeest.”

“
Okay, enough. You’ll be wearing them tonight. No lights allowed. Got that?”

“Yes
, SIR!”

“Cut the crap, Gemini.”

“I’m not your subordinate.”

“You are tonight. You’ll do as I say. Understand?”
She salutes me. I say, “You’re not doing it correctly.”

“God, you’re such a
douche.”

Then I laugh.
Really hard. Soon after, she joins in. She has such a beautiful smile and I want to get lost in it. Well, that and in her pants. But I know we have to get this job done.

Her next
question throws me for a loop. “Do you do that thing with your eyes on purpose?”

“What thing?” I’m puzzled.

“The way you look at me with your eyes half closed.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”
I honestly haven’t the slightest idea.

Her cheeks pink
. They look amazing. It’s the first time I’ve seen any color in them. She bows her head so I prod her. “Tell me, Gemini.”

Her voice is a whisper. “Your eyes. Sometimes when you look at me. They’re
… um … well, they’re sexy.”

She takes me by surprise and I don’t know wha
t to say.

“I guess I shouldn’t have said that.”

Her voice pulls me out of my stupidity. “No, I’m flattered.” There are all sorts of things I’d like to say to her, but this isn’t the time for this conversation. Maybe later. “Shall we?” I ask as I extend my hand.

We drive to the church and park in the most obscure spot we can find. Then I put on my backpack, loaded with my necessary gear. I also hand her a set of
night-vision goggles, help her into them, and give her a quick course on how they work. After I put mine on, we set off on foot, through the neighborhood. “Remember, once inside, no talking. Only write on the pad I gave you. The house may be bugged. Look for what’s not obvious … and grab whatever you think may help us. It can be even the smallest thing. If you think it’s important, take it. Anything that will give us clues to what your mom may have been involved in. And if you have any letters she wrote you, I want you to grab those too.”