Colder Than Sin (Cold Justice - Crossfire: FBI Romantic Suspense Book 2)

by Toni Anderson

  “What is?”

  “Meeting you and Quentin.” Darby’s eyes were shiny bright with tears she didn’t let fall.

  “Don’t say that.” Haley gripped her hand. “Don’t equate the two things. I don’t want to be associated with those monsters.”

  Darby leaned closer and whispered, “They’re all dead. That’s what Eban told me.”

  Haley nodded. “I know. I wanted to tell you.”

  “I asked if I could look at the faces, but he didn’t think that would be wise. He probably thought I was a fruitcake at that point. No wonder he wouldn’t have sex with me.”

  “Take some time…” Haley shook her head at herself. “You know, Darby, you do what you feel you have to do, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t turn out how you expect it to. And talk to the therapist before you go picking up any strange guys in bars.”

  A bunch of men in black tactical gear walked into the cafeteria joking loudly and sweating hard.

  Part of the Hostage Rescue Team, but not the group who’d been on the ship with them.

  One guy looked at Darby, and Haley saw his eyes widen. In recognition or with attraction she wasn’t sure.

  Darby shrank away and hid her face with her hair. “I just want the crippling fear to go away,” she mumbled to Haley. “I’m not scared of Quentin or Eban or even Max, but everyone else makes me want to run screaming down the hall.”

  “Time will help,” Haley assured her and then blew out a long breath. Time did help, but who wanted to spend years being screwed up?

  Darby nodded, clearly done talking about it for now. She checked her wristwatch. “Quentin told me he was going to the range at noon. Offered to let me shoot with him. Want to come?”

  “Yes.” Even though Haley both dreaded and longed to see him again.

  She fought the urge to check her appearance in her compact. Quentin had seen her at her worst, and she wasn’t that insecure—at least, she never used to be. But it wasn’t her looks that were the problem, it was who she was—her lifestyle, her dedication to her work. And, having had time to think about all the things that stood between them, she suspected they didn’t really have a hope of making this thing between them work. But she still needed to face him and tell him she was sorry for running out on him last night. She needed to stop being an emotional coward.

  * * *

  Quentin caught a flash of canary yellow in the corner of his eye and knew it was Haley.

  When she’d run out on him last night, he’d felt like he’d lost something vital to his happiness and wellbeing. He’d also known that, more than anything, Haley feared losing control of her choices. With that thought in mind, after what they’d both recently been through, he decided to give her some space. He’d let her make the decision to come find him, rather than chase her and trigger her flight reflex. But now he was terrified he’d chosen the wrong option, and that she’d come to say goodbye.

  Exhaustion and jet lag had knocked him out last night, but he’d woken early, immediately missing Haley pressed up beside him in bed. At the sight of her now, something reconnected inside his chest. To say he had it bad was an epic understatement. He had it so bad he wanted to invite her to his home, regardless of the fact he was supposed to be at work, and make love to her until she went blind with pleasure—or at least gave them a chance. Not what he should be thinking about when he had a loaded gun in his hand.

  He emptied the Glock at the target, nailing the center repeatedly, but decided to quit while he was ahead. He placed the ear protectors on the bench. Then turned around.

  Darby was clapping and grinning at him. He shook his head as he walked over to them. Haley looked incredible in that fitted yellow top and tight jeans and lipstick that made him want…

  Okay. Time to reel in the sexual fantasies at work.

  He hugged Darby and stood looking at Haley, awkwardly trying to read her expression. Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were apprehensive. She looked rested though. The shadows that had been beneath her eyes for days were gone.

  He should have known better than to lay a deeply emotional scene on her when they were both so exhausted and raw, but he’d been feeling impatient and guilty.

  He should have known better, but he was human. He made mistakes. He took a step forward, cupped the back of her head and slowly pulled her in for a kiss. He gave her plenty of time to back out before he brushed those petal-soft lips with his. Then he let her go. This was the FBI National Academy, and he was at work. But he needed her to know he was sorry for messing things up last night and that he forgave her for running out on him. The kiss spoke without having to say all the words in front of an audience.

  “You guys want a go at shooting?” He’d already checked with the firearms instructor. NATs—New Agents in Training—would be out here later this afternoon, but for the next hour, there were a couple of lanes free if they wanted.

  “I do.” Darby bounced excitedly on her toes.

  She was bored and looking for a distraction that didn’t involve thinking about how she was going to move forward in her life. There was plenty of time to figure it out. He’d spent an hour that morning on the phone with her Ph.D. supervisor. Quentin told the guy what he thought of him for leaving students out in the middle of nowhere alone with zero support. The professor had sounded genuinely upset and contrite, but Quentin would be keeping an eye on him from now on.

  “I’m fine just watching.” Haley took a step back. Her voice was scratchy and sexy as hell.

  Shit. She turned him inside out just standing there.

  “The instructor offered to let me try out one of the HRT sniper rifles.” Dimples cut into Darby’s cheeks as she grinned.

  He glanced at Haley, but she avoided his gaze.

  “You guys go talk.” Darby waved them off. She looked happy, he realized. Maybe because she felt safe here.

  He’d do everything in his power to keep her feeling that way but, unfortunately, she couldn’t stay forever. He’d gained her a month’s grace, which was a minor miracle of bureaucratic cooperation and good timing between courses. Hopefully the media zoo would have calmed down by the time she left.

  His new work cell buzzed in his pocket. It was Alex Parker. “Excuse me,” he said to them both. “I need to take this.”

  “Apparently the guy who caused the car wreck with Mrs. Wenck used a false identity to rent the vehicle,” Alex said without preamble. “I can’t get any clear shots of him on the security footage.”

  “Whoever it was had to be working in conjunction with the terrorists at the hotel to make sure the billionaire left before the attack.” Quentin swore.

  Wenck hadn’t done anything suspicious after meeting with them in Darwin except call his lawyer. The attorney hadn’t sounded happy or surprised when Wenck had mentioned Haley and what she might accuse him of. Alex had also hired a private investigator to see if he could track down any other women who might have been attacked by the billionaire.

  “Two more things,” Alex said. “Haley’s grandmother’s Cartier watch just surfaced on a dealer’s site in Australia.”

  Nice. “What’s the other thing?”

  “Someone used a mixer to move the bitcoin I paid in ransom to another account.”

  “Can you still track it?” Quentin asked.

  “Yeah, I can track it.” Alex sounded insulted. “If they use it to pay for something in the real world, I can nail the bastards. But if they put it through a second mixer, then tracking the money becomes exponentially more difficult.”

  Quentin swore under his breath. “I’ll contact the cops in Australia about the timepiece.”

  “She really loves that watch,” Alex said quietly.

  Quentin grunted. His pal in the Australian Federal Police owed him one after the tipoff about corrupt officials up in Darwin. He hung up and walked over to where Haley was watching Darby put a specially modified Remington 700 sniper rifle through its paces. Holy shit the girl could shoot. He had no problem imagining wh
at Darby was shooting at. He hoped the men who’d attacked her burned in the fiery depths of hell.

  Haley’s mind though, he realized as she turned toward him, was an entirely different matter. He had no clue what she was thinking, and that couldn’t be good.

  They walked a small distance away so they had some privacy. She held up her hand almost in defeat. “I’m sorry about last night.”

  “I should have told you about Abbie earlier.”

  Haley pressed her pretty red lips together, dipped her chin. “There was never a good time to discuss things that weren’t directly relevant to getting through our ordeal alive.”

  The sun glinted off her bright blonde hair. He could see other agents looking at her. She was the sort of woman everyone noticed. But her appeal went deeper than the surface for him. For all her tough façade, she was easily hurt.

  He didn’t want to be the person who hurt her.

  “How about we take things slow for a while. See if we can figure out how we fit into each other’s lives now we’re not running for our lives?” he suggested. “Just enjoy ourselves.”

  She smiled, but a shadow of uncertainty seemed to cast itself over her features and dim the light at the edges.

  His cell buzzed again. “Dammit.” He checked the screen. “I need to take this too.”

  “You’re working. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

  “Haley.” He touched her arm so she looked at him, really looked at him. “You can disturb me any time. Working or not working. I—” His cell cut him off again, and he wanted to smash the thing to pieces. He turned it off.

  She started to back away.

  He made a desperate bid by going after the most important issue. “Please don’t feel like you have to compete with Abbie’s memory—”

  “How can I not?” Haley stopped retreating, but her expression did not give him hope. “The woman you were blissfully married to was about to give birth to a child you craved when they both tragically died. It’s heartbreaking, Quentin, and I am so sorry that happened.” Her sad eyes broke his heart all over again. “But I’m not like her. I’m selfish. I’m not about to give up my job or turn into some little homebody.”

  “I never asked Abbie to give up her job.” People were looking at them, but Quentin didn’t care. “That was the choice she made.”

  “For you. Because of you, your schedule. The fact that your entire life revolves around work. You said it yourself—you never take a day off.” She held her hair out of her face as the breeze took it.

  He ground his teeth together. “I save lives, Haley.”

  “I know that. I know how important your job is, and you are so good at it. But it’s not the point. I won’t sit on the sidelines being the supportive little woman while you spend all your time here.” She waved a hand at the Academy buildings. The range. “My job is important to me too. I’m willing to ease back on my schedule to build a relationship, but I can’t see you doing the same.”

  Anger stirred, heating his blood. “You’re deciding all this without giving me a chance?”

  “I can’t afford to give you time to prove me wrong,” she whispered. “As hard as it will be to walk away from this now…”

  “There’s no ‘this,’ Haley. Let’s be clear. You’re walking away from me.”

  She stared at the grass, her lips forming an unhappy downward curve. “You can’t deny your job is everything to you.”

  Quentin waited for the outrage to build that she was making him do this here and now, but all he felt was a growing sense of emptiness that was both horribly familiar and achingly new. His throat worked as he searched for the right words.

  “You’re right. It was everything to me. After I lost my family, putting my all into the job was the only way I could make it through the day. But now…” He moved closer, and she braced as if for a blow. He stroked a finger along her jaw. This brave woman, fighting for the kind of life she deserved, that they both deserved. “Now I’ve found someone I want to come home to. I love my job, Haley. It is demanding as hell, and it is important, but there is room for you here with me if you want it. I promise you that.”

  A shout tried to draw his attention toward a group of trainees, but he did not look away from her brilliant blue eyes.

  Haley opened her mouth and closed it again. Finally, “Do you mean it?”

  He nodded.

  “Really?”

  He smiled slowly. He had her.

  She threw herself at him, and he swayed under the impact, but he didn’t falter. He held her tight. Tight enough to convince her he didn’t intend to let go. They deserved the chance to figure this thing out.

  Darby wolf-whistled at them, and Haley laughed, embarrassed. The blush on her cheeks was cute.

  “We still need to talk more,” she told him softly. “How about I surprise you with dinner at your place?”

  He nodded, hoping he was reading the warmth in her gaze correctly and that she wasn’t gonna dump his ass over a chicken casserole. “Although you kind of spoiled the surprise part,” he joked.

  “I’m sure I can think of something to shock you.” Her tone was flirtatious, her smile back to being the sexy, self-confident woman he’d first met. But he knew she went way deeper than that. People who underestimated and disrespected her were fools.

  “I don’t doubt it for a minute.” He dug in his pocket and removed a key from his fob. “I might be a little late as it’s my first full day back.” He handed her the key and then texted her his street address with his new cell phone. “But I’ll be there by seven or die trying.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Quentin and Eban were on a clandestine video call to Steve McKenzie at SIOC in HQ. The head of the task force didn’t want the negotiators involved, but McKenzie knew they might have valuable insight from the work they’d conducted in the region on and off over the years.

  Quentin still hadn’t caught up on reading all the autopsy and ballistic reports and the mountain of background information that had been collected. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

  “Someone forces Wenck’s wife into a car accident which draws the billionaire away before the attack takes place at the hotel. Any ideas who?” McKenzie asked.

  “Wenck greases palms all over Southeast Asia. His mines support entire communities. A lot of people depend on him for their livelihoods, without which they might starve.” Eban leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs out under the table.

  “Any links between Hurek and Wenck?” McKenzie asked.

  “Nothing our guys or Alex could determine,” Quentin told him, pissed. “I still don’t understand why Hurek attacked the hotel in the first place?”

  “Usual motivation for terrorists.” McKenzie shrugged. “To create terror, raise their reputation in the terrorist community, raise awareness of their cause.”

  “Hurek’s cause always seemed to be Hurek,” Eban put in.

  “Pity we can’t ask any of his followers questions about their motivation.” Quentin clasped his hands together in front of him and rested his chin on his knuckles. “The legat in Jakarta believes Hurek was in league with some of the hardliners in government. Working to undermine the moderates in power on several different fronts.”

  “Any proof?” McKenzie asked.

  “Not yet.” He shrugged apologetically.

  “Why take hostages?” McKenzie asked.

  “For money,” Quentin said thoughtfully. “Also to give them a certain amount of terrorist legitimacy that pointed away from their real motivation or backers.”

  “Might explain why they were so awful at negotiating.” Eban yawned. They were all exhausted.

  “The big question we’re not asking is why target Quentin?” McKenzie looked over his shoulder. He was in the breakout room the negotiators used at SIOC. It was dark, but all it took was the boss to walk past, and they’d have to shut this call down. “Pretty ballsy to attack that conference and kill all those people, but almost suicidal to set their
sights on a federal agent.”

  “Maybe the terrorists wanted to antagonize the relationship between the US and Indonesian governments. Killing civilians and kidnapping a federal agent would do that. Frankly, I’m just glad to be alive. Lucky too.” A wave of tiredness hit him, and he looked at his watch, wondering how long before he could go home to Haley.

  “Lucky?” Eban rubbed his reddened eyes. “You killed nine men, some with your bare hands, and helped rescue three women.”

  “Two,” Quentin said sharply. He hadn’t done a damn thing to help Alice Alexander.

  “I still think you’re a badass.” Eban offered a tired smile.

  Quentin wasn’t comfortable with the praise. “Haley and Darby are the real heroes. And you guys for finding us.” Quentin’s team had gone above and beyond. Every single man and woman had pulled together to run the unit and help bring him home. He’d do the same for them. They were damn good agents.

  He was a lucky man.

  He stood, grabbed his jacket. “I need to go. Thank you for all the help and assistance. Now I’m going home and sleeping until Monday.”

  Hopefully, he wouldn’t be sleeping alone.

  * * *

  Haley kicked off her red-soled heels as she let herself into Quentin’s condo with a feeling of excitement and trepidation. The four-inch stilettos made the arches of her feet ache, and she had the horrible feeling there were more jackboots in her future.

  She looked around, thrilled Quentin had trusted her with the key to his place. They both knew it would reveal things about him she wanted to know.

  After his promise earlier, she felt easier. Things weren’t necessarily all resolved, but he’d told her he wanted to make room for her in his life.

  That was a hell of a start.

  She put the food she’d bought, steaks and makings for a salad, in the big, empty refrigerator.

  She checked the time on her phone, missing her wristwatch and the constant reminder of her grandmother’s love wrapped around her wrist. Six PM. Plenty of time to put the grill on and toss the salad.