Ultimate Prey (Book 3 Ultimate CORE) (CORE Series) (51 page)

“More revenge kills?” Lola suggested, as she rinsed the mop. “We should check it out when we’re back home.”

“Agreed,” Ian said, hoping to God David showed up soon. He needed the bullet out of him. “Anything else?”

Harrison nodded. “Going through his history, I found that Steven had run a search for Jordan Marquette, Everglade City, this rental unit, the Everglades, Key West, South America…I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where he planned to go after he was finished here. He bookmarked water routes through the Everglades to the tip of Florida, along with bareboat charter companies located in Key West.”

“Bareboat?” Dante asked.

“Meaning, no crew.”

Ian pulled the towel away from his wound and noticed the bleeding had slowed. “He’s not going anywhere now. Destroy the phone and the computer, but write down the addresses from the Moody file.”

He wasn’t sure what he’d do if they discovered Steven had killed the people who lived at the addresses listed in his files. As it was, the detectives who would end up working Elaine Weir’s and her fiancé’s murder cases would assume Steven was on the run. As for Jordan Marquette’s murder, unfortunately, the Fort Lauderdale PD wouldn’t be able to solve that one. CORE had the evidence that would link Steven to Marquette.

Damn, they’d really broken a considerable number of laws.

What concerned him was that he didn’t care. If anything, Steven had opened his eyes and made him realize he could stretch and bend the law to suit his needs.

And get away with it.

Cami peeked around the corner and gaped at her daughter. Lola had already cleaned the floor and was now wiping down the kitchen counter and cabinets.

“Let me help you finish cleaning,” she said to her daughter.

“I’m almost done, Mom. Trust me.” Lola cleared her throat and looked away in disgust as she dumped the pail’s dirty water into the sink. “You wouldn’t have wanted to help.”

Both pride and sadness dimmed Cami’s normally bright blue eyes. She met Ian’s gaze, fortunately without accusation, but understanding. “How are you holding up?”

“Doc’s here,” Ryan called, and entered the kitchen with Vlad. “Barney followed Mel to help her put the bags on the boat. He said he’d come by in the morning, unless you need him tonight. Are we ready for Hudson to bring the doctor inside?”

Lola finished rinsing the pail, then quickly began washing the sink. “I think I got it all,” she said and, grabbing the pail, rags and mop she’d used, started for the laundry room. “We need to burn this stuff once the doctor is gone.”

“Send him in,” Ian said. While he waited for David, he watched Lola leave, then glanced around the room, his gaze touching on Vlad, Harrison and Ryan. In that moment, a plan, one that he’d considered for several years but hadn’t been sure he could execute, turned into a solid business model. One that would give him the power to expand CORE outside the boundaries of the law he’d painstakingly upheld for most of his career, and help clients who preferred…discretion.

When Lola returned and moved next to Ryan—standing closer than what he’d consider proper or necessary for a partner—he realized who would serve as his Southern-based counterpart. And how she could help him take CORE…above the law.

Chapter 19

Ryan Monahan’s House, Everglade City, Florida

Saturday, 12:42 a.m. Eastern Standard Time

RYAN FINISHED FEEDING Sadie, then grabbed two beers from the fridge. He headed down the hallway and stopped outside the partially opened bathroom door. Steam drifted from the shower and into the hall. Although he had been tempted to join Lola, he’d sensed she had needed space. While he’d been impressed with the way she’d shot into action after Steven had been killed, she shouldn’t have had to clean up the blood, brain and tissue matter by herself. He would have helped mop and scrub the evidence away if he hadn’t been loading the dead bodies into Mel’s truck. He raised the beer bottle to his lips and took several swallows in an effort to stop himself from imagining Lola washing the blood from the floor, the tissue—

“Ryan,” she called. “The shower’s all yours.”

He took another drink, then entered the bathroom just as Lola stepped from the shower, a towel wrapped around her. “Brought you a beer,” he said. “If you don’t want it, I can get you something else.”

She took the bottle from him, then drained half of it. “Sorry.” She shrugged. “I was thirsty.” Her gaze touched on his wet head, then moved to the floor. “Where did you shower?”

“There’s actually a master bedroom with an attached bath on the other side of the house. It’s in rough shape and next on my home improvement list.”

She exchanged the beer for the brush he’d left on the counter for her, then ran it through her long hair. “And my clothes?”

“In the washing machine.”

She met his gaze in the semi foggy mirror, her eyes holding gratitude. “Thank you. But I plan on burning them.”

“Why?”

“Because I know that anytime I put them on, I’ll end up thinking about tonight. Plus, I don’t want to wear anything with Steven or the other man’s blood on it. Even if the clothes are clean, they’ll be dirty to me.”

He hadn’t considered that, but understood. “I’m going to assume you don’t want something to eat.”

“God, no. All I want to do is crawl into bed and try to erase tonight from my mind.” She gave him a hesitant smile. “Maybe you wouldn’t mind helping me forget…even for a little while.”

He would love to take Lola into his bedroom and make love to her. But he didn’t want to just be a…distraction, or the guy who helped her move past the memories with a round or two of hot sex. He wanted her to want him, period.

Damn it. He shoved a hand through his wet hair, then took another drink of his beer. “Sure, if that’s what you need,” he said, because even though he knew she was using him, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to touch her.

Last night’s shower sex had been hot, raw and passionate. Lying next to her in bed, holding her as they’d drifted off to sleep had been just as great, only on a different level. Intimate came to mind. He didn’t usually sleep well with a woman in his bed. There was always that nagging thought in the back of his mind that said, “How are you going to get rid of her in the morning?” Only he hadn’t wanted to come up with an excuse to push Lola out the door. Bottom line, he liked her too much, knew their time together was limited, and wanted to take advantage of every moment he could spend with her.

In less than two days, he’d met a woman he was not only attracted to, but a woman he easily trusted and could see himself…what? Marrying, making babies, growing old together…

Maybe he should be grateful all she wanted was sex. Keep it to the basics and be glad he wouldn’t have to worry about all the bullshit that went along with relationships.

After all, the mission was now over. She could leave at any time.

That thought should settle well since he’d never seen himself as the type to settle down. Only it didn’t. He didn’t want her to go. Not yet. Just a few more days and—

She slammed the hairbrush against the countertop, then faced him. “On second thought, I’m tired.” She moved past him and walked across the hall into his bedroom. “I’m going to get dressed, text my mom and see how Ian’s doing, then go to bed…on the couch.”

Not a chance. He followed her into the bedroom and hauled her to his chest before she could reach for her bag. “You’re not sleeping on my couch or texting your mom.”

She struggled against him. “I’m not sleeping in the guest room with the snake.”

“No, you’ll be sleeping with me.” He cupped the back of her head. “Where you belong.”

“Not going to happen, and I
do
want to check on Ian.”

“You know damned well Ian’s fine.” Dr. Adams, had quickly removed the bullet lodged in Ian’s side and had said the wound was superficial. The bullet had torn only muscle and tissue, not one vital organ. “Quit with the excuses.”

“It’s not an excuse. I wanted to have sex with you, but you didn’t sound thrilled about the idea, so…sorry, I’d rather sleep on the couch than—”

“You’re right.” He pulled her closer. “I don’t want to just have sex, I want to make love.”

Her eyes filled with tears. She blinked several times before looking away.

He took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. “Too soon?” he asked, wishing he could take the words back. He didn’t love Lola, but the possibility was there. The two of them…he’d never been more in sync with a woman. On paper, they didn’t work. But up close and personal?

He loved the way she thought, loved that he didn’t have to hold back around her and could say what was on his mind, tell her about his past knowing, on an instinctive level, that her judgment, or lack thereof, was genuine. Hell, given the chance, he could easily fall for her. Only they didn’t have a chance in hell. Careers and distances, family roots and community ties wouldn’t allow it. But they had now.

He brushed a tear from her cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, especially after everything that happened tonight. Take my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“You didn’t upset me,” she said, fisting the front of her shirt. “I’m upset with myself. Tonight, before all hell broke loose, I sat in the guest room looking out at the yard thinking about how we could spend the next couple of days together before I had to return to Chicago. Then I thought that maybe I could use my vacation time and come back in December for a couple of weeks. But even as I came up with ways to spend more time with you, I tried to talk myself out of liking you as much as I do.” She met his gaze, her eyes both imploring and grave. “Do you leave toenail clippings on the bathroom floor or pick your nose?”

“What?” he asked. She had a good sense of humor, but he wasn’t sure if she was joking.

“Or maybe you chew with your mouth open or leave dirty clothes on the floor.” She wrinkled her nose. “Do you leave toothpaste loogies in the bathroom sink?”

He chuckled and speared his fingers through her wet hair. “You’re trying to find reasons to not like me by making me out to be gross. And loogies in the sink are definitely gross.” He grinned. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m perfect and don’t do any of the above.”

“Damn,” she said without disappointment, but with a small, mischievous smile. “You do have a snake, though.”

“That’ll be gone in a couple of months.” He gave her hair a slight tug, his heart rate picking up speed. Like him, she wasn’t ready to go their separate ways. Only, the more time they spent together, the harder it would be for him when she left. A two-week vacation wasn’t a long time, but he’d known her for barely two days and could already picture waking up next to her, falling asleep with her…sharing his life with her. Damn. He should sleep on the couch and tell her not to bother coming back in December. He should pull some sort of dick-move that would force her to end this before they became too involved, before he cared too much. “Are you seriously thinking of coming back next month?” he asked anyway, hoping she’d meant it because, damn it, he wanted to see her again.

“Only if you want me to,” she said with a hint of uncertainty.

Lola was a strong, confident woman. In the short time they’d been together, he’d watched a shift in her. She’d gone from insecure to self-assured. Tonight, at the rental, she’d taken over, hadn’t let the stress weigh her down and, instead, had taken control of the situation. Only, when it came to him—them—her confidence wavered. With him, she should never question or doubt herself.

“Haven’t I made it clear what I want?” He released her hair, settled his hands on her hips, then edged her close to the bed. “And you better not say sex.”

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You do like kissing.”

Tempted to rip the towel from her body and show her everything he liked, he tightened his grip on her hips instead. “And I liked being with you before we kissed. Christ, Lola. Tonight, when we split up and I heard the first gunshot coming from the backyard, and I knew you were there…it scared the hell out of me. As I ran to find you, I kept thinking, Lola can handle herself. But when I heard that second shot, the only thing I could think about was getting to you and making sure you were good.” He cupped her face again. “I liked you before we kissed. I did lie about one thing…the first tripwire. I told you I would have shielded anyone, and that I was running on instinct. That was the truth, to some extent. In all honesty, even then I knew you were going to be a problem I couldn’t solve.”

She arched a brow and stiffened.

“Don’t.” He kissed her forehead, then let out a breath. “I meant…I knew then I was going to have a hard time forgetting you.”

“And now?” she asked, twining her arms around his neck and running her fingers through his hair.

“I
can’t
forget you.” He brushed his lips against hers. “I can’t stop thinking about you and what we
could
have. But I don’t know how to make us work.”

Her breath hitched. “Neither do I,” she said. “We have now, along with the next few days and a couple of weeks in December.”

He wanted more.

“It’s not the best answer, but it’s the only one I have,” she continued, then slid a hand from his hair to between their bodies and tugged off her towel. “Right now, I don’t want to think about leaving, I want to make love and never forget why I need to come back to you.”