He and his sister had danced around the topic of an intervention, clashing once again when he’d come out and suggested they try to get their mom into rehab. Audrey still hoped she would pull out of it, and Stone wouldn’t even talk about it. God, we’re one fucked-up family. Marcus almost thought twice about bringing Scarlett into the drama, but he needed her too much to be so charitable.
Marcus was seriously considering going to look for her when she walked into the lobby, talking on her cell phone. Relief washed over him and he felt a smile spread over his face. He probably looked goofy and ridiculous, but he didn’t care. She was back and they could finally leave.
She paused mid-step, studying him with concern, but when he smiled, she smiled back. He swore his chest felt lighter, even though his heart had started to pound.
‘I’ll have it to Ballistics in fifteen minutes,’ she said into the phone. ‘I’m leaving now.’ She hung up and slid her phone into her jacket pocket. ‘You ready?’ she asked him.
‘More than ready. I was about to go AWOL, but I knew you’d worry.’
‘I would have,’ she said, then shocked Marcus by taking his arm and tugging him out of the lobby double-time.
‘What’s going to Ballistics?’ he asked as she all but dragged him through the parking lot.
‘A bullet,’ she answered. ‘Surgeon dug it out of Phillip.’
Her car was parked beside a tall SUV, and she surprised him again by dragging him to the driver’s side of the mammoth vehicle.
‘What are you—’
He got no further, because she pushed him against the SUV, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into the hottest kiss he’d ever had. Her fingers tunneled through his hair, and she lifted on her toes as she licked into his mouth, making his already hard cock throb. The groan that rumbled through his chest was met by her frustrated little moan as she rubbed her hips against him, trying to get higher.
Without thinking, he turned them so that her back was against the SUV, and gave her a boost up before trapping her body with his and thrusting between her legs. Her pleasured hum vibrated against his lips, and he put a little swivel into his thrusts as he slid his hands inside her jacket and closed them over her breasts, thumbing nipples that were already so hard he could feel them through her shirt and bra.
She pulled back with a gasp, her head pressed against the SUV. ‘Oh God,’ she panted. ‘You need to stop. I can’t . . . Not here in the parking lot. Let me down.’
He ignored her, circling his hips against hers, lowering his head to suck hard on her right breast, the nipple like a pebble against his tongue.
‘Marcus,’ she groaned. ‘Please. Not here. Wait till . . .’ She gasped again when he lightly bit her. ‘Oh my God. You have to wait until we get home.’
Reluctantly he released her breast, giving it a parting nuzzle before kissing her mouth again. ‘You started it,’ he murmured against her lips. ‘Kissing me like that.’
‘You started it,’ she said, trying to get her breath. ‘I told you not to look at me like that.’
He lowered her feet to the asphalt and rested his forehead against hers. ‘Like what?’
‘Like you want to eat me alive. I would have jumped you in front of everyone if Diesel hadn’t intervened.’
‘That was twenty minutes ago.’
She bit his lower lip, then licked it. ‘Doesn’t matter. Makes me crazy. So crazy that we’re standing like this out here in the open.’ She pushed his chest lightly, then slipped around him to unlock the car door. ‘Get in, please.’
Still wound way too tight, he obeyed. ‘How long will it take you to drop off the bullet?’
She slid behind the wheel. ‘Ten minutes. I’ll go straight to Ballistics and won’t talk to anyone else.’ She said it like she was promising herself more than him. ‘I have to park this car and get mine, so make sure you take everything that belongs to you.’
Like the gun he’d stowed under the passenger seat. He tried to bend down to reach it, but gave up with a grimace. ‘Can’t yet.’
She shot him a heated glance from beneath her lashes before pulling into traffic. ‘Why ever not?’ she teased, making him laugh.
‘You’re evil, Detective Bishop. Get a guy hard as a damn rock, then taunt him about it.’
He choked a second later when her hand shot over to stroke him through his jeans. His head fell back against the headrest on a strangled groan. ‘Fuck, Scarlett.’
‘That’s the plan,’ she muttered.
He closed his eyes, thrusting into her hand desperately. Too damn close, he clamped his hand over hers, then forced himself to push her away. ‘You’re going to make me go off like a damn teenager. I won’t last two minutes when I finally get you in your bed. Talking about non-sexual subjects would be helpful.’
She grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and sped through the nearly deserted streets. ‘How about we debrief?’ she asked, her voice husky and so damn sexy he nearly came just from hearing her. ‘I got a voicemail from the forensic vet.’
‘Forensic vet’ got his attention. ‘Is BB okay?’
‘Yes. BB is comfortable and resting and you can visit her tomorrow if you like. The vet also said she got a viable sample of skin and blood from her teeth. The samples were delivered to CSU for analysis.’
‘That’s good,’ Marcus said, digging his fingers into his thighs. He still wanted her so much that he was trembling with it. ‘Um . . . I checked on Tabby Anders while I was waiting for you. She’s still unconscious.’ The thought helped deflate him. One more piece of bad news, he thought morosely, and he’d be able to bend over and get his gun from under the seat.
‘I checked too,’ she murmured. ‘When I ID’d myself to the nurse at the OR station when we were waiting with Lisette and the others. The nurse said Tabby was hanging on by her fingernails. She was hurt in so many places.’ Her lips thinned. ‘That Chip Anders has to be a real man to beat an old woman within an inch of her life.’
‘What about Mila and Erica?’
She shook her head. ‘Nothing yet. They’ve been searching for hours. The scent trail might be cold, but they haven’t found any blood or bodies, so that’s hopefully a good sign.’
‘We should probably join the search.’
She glanced over at him with a smile that said she understood how much it had pained him to offer to detour the two of them away from the privacy of her house. ‘I emailed Isenberg to ask her. She said no, that she’d rather we focus on the list. Can I send it to Isenberg’s clerk? She wants him to help us sort through the names, to see who had the opportunity to target you. And Tala and Phillip.’ She huffed in frustration, barreling over him as tried to answer her. ‘And Delores. Dammit, I forgot about her. I promised Stone I’d get her protection.’
She used the car’s hands-free to call in the request, finishing just as she pulled into the CPD parking garage and rolled to a stop next to her aging Audi. She handed him the keys. ‘Get in my car and wait for me. I’ll return the department car and deliver the bullet.’
‘Wait.’ He grabbed her wrist gently, rubbing his thumb over her pulse. ‘Rewind a second. You asked if you could send the list to the clerk. Not like it is. It’s got too much sensitive Ledger information on it. I’ll use the time you’re inside to clean it up, then I’ll email it to you. You can forward it to Isenberg’s clerk.’
‘Thank you.’ She leaned toward him, then sighed. ‘Cameras,’ she muttered.
‘Then hurry,’ he said, dropping his voice, laughing when she narrowed her eyes. He managed to bend his body enough to get his gun. ‘My laptop bag is in the trunk.’
She popped the trunk. ‘You should be fine here,’ she said, sobering. ‘But just in case, be ready to peel rubber.’
His brows went up. ‘You’re letting me drive this time?’
‘This time. Don’t get used to it.’ She waited until he was safely locked in the Audi before driving away to the parking area reserved for department vehicles.
> Cincinnati, Ohio
Tuesday 4 August, 11.15 P.M.
‘How bad is it?’ Ken asked Decker when the younger man had finished stitching Demetrius up.
Decker peeled off his latex gloves. ‘He probably wouldn’t have bled to death, but I had to put twenty stitches in that arm. I’m glad you told me to bring something to knock him out with, although it would have been easier for me to get him up here if he’d been awake.’
‘You didn’t want to have to listen to him bitch,’ Ken said. ‘How long till he wakes up?’
‘The ketamine will wear off in a few hours.’ Decker tilted his head, curiosity in his eyes. ‘What did you whisper to him as he was going under?’
Luckily Ken knew drugs, and when Decker told him that he’d brought ketamine to knock Demetrius out, he had been thrilled. The person dosed was highly suggestible as the drug was taking effect, his first thoughts when waking influenced by whatever someone had said just as he passed out.
‘I told him that every cut I make with my knife will be fatal.’
Decker chuckled. ‘Remind me not to fail a mission.’
‘Yeah, well . . .’ Ken let the thought trail, wishing it hadn’t come to this, but not about to back off now. ‘Did you find those trackers?’
Decker was sober as he shook his head. ‘I know they were in the van, but Burton and I went over every square inch of it and Sean and I checked the box of electronics we brought in.’ He hesitated, then shrugged. ‘Which means we either dropped them, which is unlikely, or one of the Anderses did something with them, again unlikely as they were bound and blindfolded.’
‘Or someone took them,’ Ken said grimly. ‘Shit.’ He narrowed his eyes at Decker. ‘How do I know it wasn’t you?’
Decker didn’t blink. ‘I guess you don’t. I don’t have any reason to do so, though.’
‘You want Burton’s job,’ Ken said, watching Decker’s eyes fill with easy agreement. ‘You stepped right in and took over when Reuben disappeared this morning.’
‘I like to be on the front line. I hate working in Accounting.’
‘But you’re supposedly good at it.’
A shrug of Decker’s massive shoulders. ‘I’m good at a lot of things I don’t like to do. I signed on to be a bodyguard, not a pencil pusher. I do, however, respect the chain of command.’
‘But if a hole opens up in the front line?’
‘I step in. That’s who I am.’ Decker still hadn’t broken eye contact, but he made no sudden moves. ‘With all due respect, sir, I don’t want your job.’
Ken nearly smiled. ‘Why not?’
‘From what I can see, you sit behind a desk all day. I’d go crazy. I was going crazy sitting in Accounting crunching numbers. I’m not happy Reuben disappeared, but I’ll take up the slack and hope I do a good enough job that you don’t send me back to pencil-pushing hell.’
‘And if I do?’
‘I’ll die of lead poisoning from stabbing myself in the eye with the damn pencil.’
Ken laughed. ‘Well, soldier, let’s take it a day at a time. Burton is next in line for Reuben’s job. Can you work for him?’
‘Yes. He seems like an honest man.’
Ken frowned. ‘That’s an odd thing to say.’ He injected a light note into his tone. ‘You do realize this is a criminal enterprise?’
Decker finally smiled. ‘Yes, sir. But that’s the relationship the organization has to its outside contacts – the suppliers, the customers, the government. Within the organization, relationships need to be transparent and dependable. Like a military. Soldiers kill people. It’s their function. Depending on your point of view, that’s criminal or patriotic. If you’re the enemy, it’s very criminal. But within the ranks, you have to know the soldier next to you has your back. I believe I can trust Burton with my back.’
It was an interesting perspective. Ken leaned one shoulder against the wall outside the spare bedroom where Demetrius lay. ‘What other skills do you have, Decker?’
A slow, sly grin. ‘I’m pretty handy with the woodchipper.’
‘O-kay.’ Ken wasn’t sure if that was Decker’s sense of humor or a touch of insanity. He wasn’t certain that he cared. ‘I’ve had a long day. I’m going to grab some shut-eye while Sleeping Beauty in there sleeps off the ketamine. Wake me when he comes to.’
‘You want me to extract any information from him?’ Decker asked quietly.
‘No. He’s my friend, my responsibility. I’ll get what I need.’ With that, Ken turned away and walked down the hall to his own bedroom. Once inside, he closed the door, exhausted. He was glad Demetrius would be under for another few hours.
Ken had killed two people today and ordered the deaths of four more. Drake Connor’s sister and Reuben’s wife had been taken care of. Drake and Marcus O’Bannion were still out there, causing trouble that Ken didn’t even want to think about. He’d lost his security chief and found out that Reuben and Demetrius had been stealing from him. Maybe even working together.
He’d been told by his own daughter that he was getting too old for his job. Maybe she was right.
Because he didn’t have the energy to extract information from Demetrius at the moment. In the quiet, his heart hurt. He and Demetrius had started out as a couple of grad students selling weed to their peers and together built up a company worth millions, serving customers in more than forty-two countries. Selling them just about any perversion they desired. He wasn’t ashamed of that. There would always be buyers for that sort of thing, so there would always be sellers. Might as well be me.
He stripped off his shirt and stood in front of his mirror. Yesterday he’d been proud of his reflection. Now . . .
His cell phone began to buzz, and he prayed it wasn’t Decker saying Demetrius was awake. Luckily it was Sean. ‘What’s up?’
Sean sighed. ‘Dad, I just heard something on the police radio you need to know about.’
Ken sank down to sit on the edge of his bed, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘What?’
‘An unidentified woman was found in a cheap motel about twenty minutes ago. The front desk says they have no record of her having checked in, that she broke into the room, OD’d on a sedative and went to sleep. Description matches Reuben’s wife, Miriam.’
‘She’s dead, right?’ Ken had given her the sedative himself and Burton had taken her to the motel to die.
‘No. Unconscious, but not dead. The chatter said the police were responding to an anonymous 911. Just thought you should know.’
‘Wait a minute.’ Ken pinched his nose harder. ‘She got picked up twenty minutes ago? But she should have been dead hours ago. I gave her enough sedative to take down Reuben, for God’s sake, and she weighs half what he does. If he’s still alive,’ he muttered. ‘If Miriam is alive, somebody pumped her stomach.’
‘Or made her throw it all up.’ A pause, then a tentative ‘Didn’t Burton drop her off?’
‘Yeah,’ Ken said flatly. Burton who hadn’t wanted to kill her to begin with. Reuben’s second-in-command had history with Reuben’s wife. Burton hadn’t allowed her to die. He’d arranged for her to be saved, putting them all in jeopardy. Especially me. Because Ken had forced Miriam to drink the damn sedative.
‘Do you want to buy me out?’ he asked Sean abruptly. ‘Alice said the two of you did.’
‘Maybe. We’d have to clean house.’
Ken huffed bitterly. ‘If we keep on losing people, cleaning house won’t take too long.’
‘Do you want me to find Burton?’ Sean asked quietly.
‘I know where he is,’ Ken said. ‘And I know that you’re aware of my phone trackers.’
‘I wouldn’t have been a very good IT person if I hadn’t known,’ Sean said reasonably. ‘I don’t hold it against you.’
Ken was quiet for a long moment. ‘Can you handle Burton? He’s a big guy.’
‘No, but Alice can.’ It was said with no bitterness or ego. Sean actually sounded proud of his sister, who’d gotten the lion??
?s share of Ken’s athletic genes.
‘She’s not . . . you know . . . with Burton too, is she?’ Ken asked with a grimace. ‘Not like she is with DJ.’
Sean chuckled. ‘You really want me to answer that?’
Ken shuddered at the image. ‘No. Just get Alice, find Burton and bring him here. I’m not sure where she is. She said she was going to finish off O’Bannion.’
After ending the call, Ken kicked off his shoes and lay on his bed, too weary to take off his pants. The image of Stephanie Anders doing it for him flashed in his mind like unexpected fireworks.
‘No thank you,’ he whispered to himself. Stephanie Anders was not anyone he would ever take to his bed – and on top of the day he’d had? Ludicrous.
But maybe that was his subconscious trying to tell him it was time to get out. Once he fixed this mess, he’d take his personal bank accounts, along with those of Demetrius, Reuben and Chip Anders and he’d retire.
Once he fixed this mess.
Twenty-five
Cincinnati, Ohio
Tuesday 4 August, 11.30 P.M.
Marcus rubbed his mouth, his lips still tingling from that kiss in the hospital parking lot. Finally, he thought. After nine months of telling himself that he’d only drag her down with him, he’d finally silenced that voice in his head.
There was only one small wrinkle – she hadn’t asked him about the kidnapping and Matty. He wondered if she’d had a chance to Google what he’d told her to. She’d been a tad busy, after all. Maybe she hadn’t had time. He didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to know if she had. Because if she hadn’t and if by some chance she had forgotten, he didn’t want to bring it up.
Except that she had a right to know. He couldn’t keep something like that from her. He’d tell her after all this was over, after he’d had a chance to get to know her completely. After he’d had a full night with her and had woken up with her at least once. He’d have something to take away with him then.