Her fingers found the plastic water bottle sitting on the cement ledge that ran along the outside wall. Gripping it firmly, she placed the straw in her mouth and drew on it, the cool water washing over her tongue, easing the dryness in her throat though the bitter taste of fear remained.
When she finished drinking she tipped her head back, squeezed the bottle, and let the water cool the heated flesh of her neck and shoulders before it ran into the already soaked material of the sports bra.
The music cut off abruptly. Swinging around, body bracing defensively, she immediately relaxed when she saw who had managed to slip into the gym with her.
Her sisters called him her hot, sexy roommate. He actually just rented one of the huge spare bedrooms at the other end of her apartment. He’d been the answer to a prayer in that first week after she moved in and realized she was panicking at every sound, certain someone was coming in on her.
He was always there in the evenings, never left the apartment at night, and he didn’t creep around either. He walked like a normal person instead of a ghost like her brother, cousins, and brothers-in-law were prone to do. A person never knew when they were sneaking up on her.
“Cute moves with the water,” he drawled, though his gaze was somber. “Give it some music and hippy twists and you have a winner there, Zoey.” Elijah Grant gave her a little wink.
His amused voice wasn’t so much a shock as a bit of a surprise. She gave a little snort at his comment.
“Sorry, bub, no stripping in my future so far. Check back next year.”
“My luck.” He shrugged negligently at the rejection before tipping his head to the side and watching her closely.
She hated it when he did that.
“Thought Graham had you working for the next few days. Some hush-hush spy stuff.” She grabbed the towel hanging on a peg attached to the wall and dried her face and shoulders. “I wasn’t expecting you until later tonight.”
His gray eyes watched her with thoughtful consideration. She hated it when he did that too. It meant she wasn’t holding back the stress from the nightmares as well as she should.
“I finished up early.” He finally shrugged before giving the punching bag a glancing punch, his gaze still on her.
Dressed in jeans, the bottoms of which were frayed behind the heels of his boots, and a dark T-shirt, he looked more like someone’s kid brother than an agent for Homeland Security who worked with her brother-in-law.
“So why are you here if you’re not working after all?” she queried, flashing him a mocking smile while looping the towel around her neck. “Can’t find a date willing to overlook odd hours and last-minute cancellations?”
A wry grin tugged at his lips while his handsome features flickered with amusement. “Pretty much. But I was hoping I could get you to do me a favor.”
“Anything.” And she meant it. He’d saved her sanity more than once in the past year. And he’d never told her brother the secrets that mattered, even when he’d witnessed one of the horrifying nightmares in progress and heard her cries that she’d killed Harley.
“I have to go meet Graham’s boss,” he admitted with a grimace, hooking his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans. “Bastard’s always trying to pull me into one of his half-assed ops and get me shot at. If you went with me, though, I could just tell him I was out with you when Graham called, and since you’re Dawg Mackay’s sister, we have to run,” he suggested with a hopeful look. “He wouldn’t dare get you mixed up in anything dangerous.”
Well, that wasn’t nice. She would probably enjoy it for a minute.
She had to laugh at his explanation, though. “Really, Eli? I think getting shot at comes with the job description, ya know? Besides, I thought you were keeping me and your boss’s boss far apart because of my wild hairs.”
“Those wild hairs of yours are reckless and without a lick of sense, Zoey,” he snorted. “But I think the whole Dawg Mackay threat will work just this once.”
He always accused her of getting a “wild hair” stuck crossways in her brain whenever she decided it was time to slip away from Pulaski County and be someone other than Dawg Mackay’s baby sister.
The trip actually sounded like fun, though. Something to take her mind off the nightmares that had only become worse in the past months.
“What time do we have to leave? I’ll need a shower first if I have time.” She strode across the gym, heading for the stairs that led to the apartment above.
“It was that easy?” He followed, the question faintly surprised.
“I told you it was,” she reminded him, turning her head to glance over her shoulder at him. “Come on, Eli, I wouldn’t have told you no if I wanted to and you know it. But we have to take the bikes. I haven’t been out in too long and felt the air rushing around me. I’ll kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.”
“Leave the guns here?” Eli sounded so hopeful.
God love his heart.
“You know, Eli.” Coming to a hard stop, she turned and faced him with a frown. “I practiced for three months before going for my license to carry and I passed with flying colors. I even make sure I spend at least two to three hours per week at the gun range. So what’s your problem with my gun?”
The Baby Glocks just looked damned good too. Unfortunately, she had to carry them in her saddlebags or under her jacket rather than in the thigh holsters she’d bought for them.
“You’re no superhero, Zoey.” He repeated the same argument he always used. “You just look good enough to be one, okay? That’s all. Freaky paranormal abilities do not come with the sexy leather you wear, baby doll.”
She had to flash him a smile for that one. “Too bad you’re not older, Eli, you have promise.”
He kept telling her she needed a lover. Someone to keep her warm at night and chase the nightmares away.
“I’m not that much younger than you, Zoey,” he pointed out rather eagerly as he followed her up the stairs again until they reached the second floor. “Come on, we’re the same age but for a few weeks. I’d make a helluva fuck-buddy.”
She threw her towel at him with a laugh. “Not this week, Eli. Sorry, bub.”
“Man. Do a lottery or something; then I can at least cheat and make sure I win,” he protested.
That brought her to a stop.
“A lottery for the position of my lover?” She was more amused than she should be.
His brows arched, a grin tugging at his lips. “Sounds good to me.”
“What if I want more from my first lover? Some kind of commitment or promises?” Propping one hand on a hip, she flicked him a knowing look.
Eli did not believe in commitment.
He grimaced immediately, a mock shudder trembling through his shoulders. “Stop trying to scare me. That’s not right. Besides, who better to be your first than your best bud?”
“Keep dreaming,” she suggested with a little wave of her fingers. “Now be quiet and don’t break any of my stuff while I shower. How long do I have?”
“Long enough to shower and shimmy into that black leather you look so good in,” he promised hopefully, his gray eyes filling with hope. “Come on. If I can’t win the lottery, at least wear the black leather.”
“Moron,” she charged, striding to her bedroom. “We’ll have to see about that.”
Of course she would wear the leather if she was riding the bike tonight. The days of baggy jeans and shirts two sizes too big were over the night she’d dreamed of blood and death. Her research into protecting herself after that had suggested clothing that wasn’t so easy to grab and restrain.
Showering and drying her hair always took far longer than Zoey liked. She’d actually been ready to have the mass of curls cut back to above her shoulders when her sisters had lost their minds over the idea. Now, she just dried it enough to get by with, laid several hair ties aside for later, and dressed.
The black leather pants slid over her skin like silk but hugged her toned legs and round
ed hips like a lover’s hand, while the black cotton tank hugged her from breasts to hips.
Her black leather riding jacket finished the outfit.
She slid her Baby Glocks into the soft holsters inside the jacket. One on each side.
A scarlet belt settled at her hips.
Pulling her boots on, Zoey adjusted the leather that rose just over her knee, grabbed her jacket, and hurried from her bedroom.
As she suspected, Eli was in her kitchen. He’d managed to sniff out her hidden stash of peppermint patties too. The ass.
“Stay out of my candy, Eli,” she ordered, bracing her hand on her hip and narrowing her eyes at him.
He swallowed tightly, gray eyes widening to the point that they nearly bulged just before he coughed, the candy obviously stuck somewhere.
“Fuck, Zoey. Maybe the leather was a bad idea,” he wheezed. “Change clothes. You’ll cause the big boss to have a stroke or something.”
“You’re funny.” She smiled indulgently. “Where are we riding to anyway?”
“The other side of Louisville,” he sighed. “Do me a favor, though?”
She handed him the hair ties and turned her back on him, indicating he should go to work braiding the mass of curls.
They were silent for long minutes while he worked. She knew not to distract him while he pulled together the French braid weave that kept her hair tamed from her forehead to her nape.
“So what’s the favor?” Once he started plaiting the hair from her nape to her shoulders, he was safe to speak to.
“When Doogan comes on to you—and he will come on to you, I’m afraid—just remember, he’s the same rat who asked Eve out to dinner even when he knew Brogan was crazy about her,” he said.
“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked as he worked quickly, efficiently, making the months and months it took him to learn how to do it all worth it.
“Well, it proves he’s a rat, and that information might keep me in the running for the opportunity to cheat on that lottery,” he snickered, securing the hair tie at the end of the braid.
Zoey dropped her head, shaking it and holding back her laughter. “You’re a nut, Eli.”
He patted her back consolingly. “You love me, Zoey. You know you do.”
He was her best friend and as much a confidant as her sisters.
“Come on, Eli, let’s go meet your boss’s boss. Why are we riding to the other side of Louisville to do this anyway? Doesn’t he know where Graham lives?” she asked in interest.
“Oh, he knows, and Graham’s invited him in several times. He just says he’s too busy. That’s the same excuse he gave this time. So he’s meeting us at a private airfield instead. The plane’s landing just long enough for him to take care of some business and then he’s leaving again.”
Sounded a little too complicated to her. No wonder the government was short on money. They spent too much playing spy games in far too complicated ways.
Zoey led the way to the back of the apartment and the stairwell that led to the small garage she kept hidden from her family at the back of the converted warehouse.
The extra-wide metal door provided plenty of clearance for the Harley she stored there. Twelve feet deep but over a hundred feet wide, the full width of the warehouse. The garage provided plenty of room for her Harley and Eli’s as well as her racing dirt bike, tool cabinets, parts, and a long workbench. The rest of the area she used to store both paintings as well as empty canvases.
Wrapping the tail of her braid around her head and securing it with a bobby pin, Zoey pulled on the full-head helmet and activated the radio in it.
“Test,” she murmured into the link that connected to Eli’s.
“Loud and clear,” he answered, his voice low. “Ready to ride, girly-girl?”
“If you stop calling me those ignorant names. Really, Eli?” He was like a brother. An easygoing younger brother.
“Really, Zoey,” he chuckled as she hit the remote on the bike to slide the door open and started the powerful motor.
Within seconds they were pulling out from the garage, the wide door closing behind them, security automatically activating and locking the entire building down while she was gone.
With the wind whipping around her, she pushed the nightmares behind her and let herself just enjoy the ride and the sense of freedom she found in it. A freedom she knew would be too short-lived and not nearly the adventure she would have wished.
TWO
The other side of Louisville turned out to be the Indiana side.
Not that she cared, but hell, he could have told her they were leaving the state. Sometimes, Eli had an odd habit usually attributed to Mackays.
Sneaky machinations.
She just didn’t know yet what or who Eli was machinating against. Or for. But she had no doubt she’d figure it out. She’d gotten good at figuring out male games over the past years.
“We need to discuss your communication skills, Eli,” she informed him drolly as they moved into traffic from the exit. “They’re leaving a bit to be desired.”
And how she would love to see his expression right now.
“I said the other side of Louisville.” And didn’t he sound so confused?
God love his heart, she was going to shoot him one of these days. He was becoming rather too good at the male confusion thing, too. She knew him, though, and she knew better. Eli was anything but confused.
He didn’t appear in the least confused either. Relaxed and enjoying the ride himself, he all but lounged back on the bike, the dark face shield of the helmet hiding his expression. And no doubt hiding the lack of confusion in his expression.
Confused? Not Eli. She could just imagine the smug grin on his face. The one that quirked his lips when he knew he’d pulled something off that he hadn’t been so certain he could accomplish.
“This was needed information, you know.” She tried to sound stern, but it wasn’t easy. She didn’t really care, she was just nosy about intended destinations when she was riding along. “What if I have something planned for tonight?”
“You have a date or something?” Eli chuckled knowingly. “I thought all your potential suitors were still cowering behind their mommies’ skirts in fear of Dawg. You notice I’m not cowering.”
She had to laugh at the comment, because she was well aware Dawg actually laughed himself at the thought of her sleeping with Eli. He saw the younger man as no more than a watch puppy willing to give up information whenever he directed a Mackay frown at him.
“I have noticed Dawg giving me credit for having better taste,” she shot back. “He only lets you rent one of my spare rooms because he feels sorry for you. And because you’re such a little narc. Kind of like a little golden retriever pup, I think. All playful energy and no bite.”
“Golden retriever pup?” he exclaimed, outraged.
“A little Christmas puppy with a big ol’ bow on his neck,” she laughed. “Dawg’s personal little tattletale.”
He chuckled at that. “Never with the good stuff, though, and you know it, Zoey-cat. He’d kill me if he ever learned what I was holding back.”
She had to wince at that.
Yeah, Eli would be in serious trouble if her brother ever suspected all the choice, juicy details Eli was deliberately hiding from him. They’d known when they worked out the details of his occupation, though, that Dawg would see him as easy pickings when it came to keeping an eye on his baby sister.
“Naw, he’d just hurt you real bad,” she snickered. “Don’t worry, I promise to install the handicap lift you’ll need to get to your room. It’s the least I could do.”
“I appreciate your encouragement. Really. Just makes my little heart warm with affection, Zoey-girl.” He didn’t sound so affectionate, though. “We’re taking the next exit. The airfield is just about fifteen minutes away.”
The long stretch of interstate was basically deserted of businesses or even fast-food joints.
“Hel
l of a place to meet,” she stated as they took the exit. “Ever heard of e-mail? It’s great for all kinds of things. Pictures, videos, top-secret files. Phones are great too for oral reports. There’s even video chats now, Eli.”
Yep, it was no damned wonder the country was going bankrupt. All the clandestine, knotted routes their spies took no doubt cost a hell of a lot of money.
“And all are hackable, transferable, or otherwise vulnerable,” he reminded her. “The big boss isn’t the real trusting sort with top-secret stuff. He doesn’t appreciate anyone else who isn’t just as careful either.”
The real suspicious sort. Like Dawg and her cousins. The way he talked about the “big boss,” unlike the men in her family, he was more accepting of a woman fighting side by side with him. Eli once stated that the big boss was prone to even accept women on his security teams when he needed personal protection.
“The man’s a real pain in the ass,” Eli growled. “His family is even related to royalty somehow. I just never bothered to ask how. He’s irksome enough as the boss.”
“Well now, isn’t he just special,” she snorted in amusement. “Remind me to bow and be all ladylike if I have to meet him.”
His head turned toward her as he gave a surprised spurt of laughter.
“You’re wicked,” he accused her. “But as much as I’d love to see that, be good. I need my job.”
“No you don’t, he just gets you shot at, remember?” she retorted in amusement. “If he fires you I’ll pimp you out, hon. You should make enough to at least pay your rent.”
“You don’t charge me rent,” he reminded her suspiciously.
“Yeah,” Zoey drawled. “I didn’t forget that either.”
She laughed when he made the next turn without warning her. She was far enough behind that following him wasn’t a problem, though.
The narrow blacktop lane led deep into the rolling hills bordering Louisville. They were in no way mountains, just gentle upraised slopes sheltering shallow valleys. The private airfield was located in such a valley. Several large hangars sat just back from the paved landing strip, appearing deserted and completely unassuming.