by Elisabeth Naughton, Cynthia Eden, Katie Reus, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, Joan Swan
“Has he tried counseling?” Porter asked quietly, seeing her brother in a different light now.
“A couple times, but he never sticks with it.” Her voice broke on the last word and Porter knew he wasn’t imagining the wetness on his chest. She wasn’t making any overt movements, but he could feel her crying.
“I’m sorry, honey. We’re going to get your brother back, I promise.” Porter didn’t want to push her any further so he just held her. He knew he shouldn’t make promises he might not be able to keep, but he’d do whatever it took to get Benny back for Lizzy.
Chapter Thirteen
Lizzy opened her eyes to a wall of muscle and a spicy scent that was all Porter. She hadn’t even realized she’d dozed off. For a brief, terrifying moment she was afraid they’d overslept and she hadn’t called Orlando in time, but then she realized the sun was still shining through the sheer curtain.
“You awake?” Porter murmured against the top of her head.
“Mm hmm.” She nodded against his chest and shifted closer, savoring the feel of her breasts rubbing against his naked body since she was half-draped over his chest.
His hand strayed down her spine and kept going until he possessively cupped her butt.
“How long was I asleep?” she asked, starting to stir.
“Ten minutes.”
She pushed out a relieved breath. They still had time to kill before she had to call Orlando. But first she needed to find out what she was even supposed to say to him. Porter had told her Grant would be coming over to hash out a plan with them. As she started to ask Porter about that, he shifted and reached down until he grabbed her hips.
Moving lightning quick, he moved her until she straddled him. Pushing up on his chest she stared down at him. “What are you doing?” Her hair slid over her chest, covering most of her breasts.
Frowning, he swept her hair to the side and cupped her breasts in a very proprietary manner. “What does it look like?”
Her inner walls clenched as he began to lightly strum her nipples with his thumbs, but when she heard a door shut downstairs she froze.
Porter didn’t even pause. He practically tossed her onto the mattress and hurried for his gun. The man didn’t even put on clothes as he grabbed it and headed for the bedroom door.
It was probably wrong, but a very small part of her practically drooled watching the way his butt muscles flexed as he moved. The second that thought hit, so did a fresh bolt of terror. Scrambling from the bed she began struggling into her jeans as Porter quietly opened the door.
“Damn it Grant,” he muttered and lowered his weapon.
Grant? Crap. Lizzy grabbed her T-shirt and tugged it on. She figured Grant had an idea that something might have been going on between her and Porter but they hadn’t actually admitted anything. And she knew Grant would tell Harrison if he saw them in this state together. Something she didn’t even want to think about dealing with right now.
“Hold on—” Porter struggled to keep the door shut, but it popped open and Grant just stood there with a half grin on his face.
“I knew you two were together. Mara denied it but she’s very good at evading questions…” He shook his head and his grin grew even bigger. “So, wedding bells in the near future for you two?”
Wedding bells? Oh, God. She and Porter had just slept together for the first time. Thinking about anything else right now just made her head hurt. Feeling incredibly awkward, Lizzy ignored him and looked down to make sure all her clothes were in place. Porter was still freaking naked but he was grabbing for his clothes and cursing under his breath at his brother.
“Get the fuck out of here, Grant. We’ll be downstairs in a sec.”
“You could say thank you for this.” He held up two bags. “More clothes for both of you. Mara picked out the stuff for you this time,” Grant said to her.
Feeling embarrassed with Porter’s state of undress and her no doubt rumpled appearance, Lizzy held her hand out to Grant. “Which one is mine?”
After he handed her one, she mumbled something about freshening up and hurried from the room. She wanted to shower, brush her teeth and God willing, put on a fresh pair of underwear. Hopefully Mara had included some freaking undergarments for her since Grant certainly hadn’t included any last time. The thought of him buying her any was weird anyway so it was just as well that he hadn’t.
Once alone in the room next to Porter’s, she sagged against the back of the door. She wasn’t sure exactly what was going on with her and Porter but she knew she didn’t want to walk away from him and what had developed between them. She’d opened up to him more than she ever had to anyone. Why had Grant had to bring up anything to do with a wedding? It had probably made Porter uncomfortable. She’d never thought much about marriage before, but the thought of Porter putting a ring on her finger made her cheeks flush and her body grow hot… She groaned. Damn Grant and his big mouth.
Sighing, she shoved a hand through her tangled hair before peering into the bag. There would be time enough to worry about their relationship later. Right now they just needed to focus on getting her brother back.
Chapter Fourteen
Porter watched Lizzy out of the corner of his eye. They were both sitting in the backseat of an SUV owned by Red Stone Security and heading for the meeting spot with Orlando. The majority of the drive had been in tense silence, not that he blamed her. She just wanted her brother back. He knew that in roughly ten or so minutes, she was going to be very angry with him. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
Or he wouldn’t, even if he could.
Bringing in Grant and the Miami PD was the only option. Once Lizzy had given the notebook to Grant, he’d made a decision and brought his direct boss into the fold. Vice had wanted to bring down Alberto Salas for years, but with him dead, Orlando would be just as good for them. Drugs ran in and out of Miami on a daily basis but most of the big distributors didn’t live in the city. They wanted Orlando behind bars.
Orlando’s notebook had a lot of damning information on others in the same business. If those individuals found out about Orlando’s book someone would definitely come after him. But the info wasn’t enough to arrest him for anything because they technically couldn’t tie it to him. It wasn’t as if he’d put his name and phone number in the front advertising it belonged to him. And it hadn’t been obtained legally. With the new information they had on him, they’d be able to shake him up a bit and eventually use the book against him. But no one wanted to wait. Now that Benny was being held hostage the cops had the chance to catch Orlando in the act of committing a crime. Kidnapping was a serious offense.
Unfortunately Lizzy believed that the cops were going to let her go to the meeting place with Orlando. They needed her cooperation because they needed her to call Orlando. So they’d lied to her. And so had Porter.
He hated lying to her of all people, especially after what they’d shared only hours before, but if it meant keeping her safe and saving her brother, he’d make the same decision again.
As they neared the marina where Lizzy was going to tell Orlando to meet her—and where six members of the SWAT team were already set up—the driver slowed and pulled into the parking lot of a deserted international mini mart.
Grant turned around in the front passenger seat. “It’s time Lizzy.”
Swallowing hard, she looked at Porter with wide eyes. It was two in the morning. Enough time had passed that it was perfect to contact Orlando. The criminal had to believe that Lizzy would never endanger her brother and it wasn’t public knowledge that she and Porter had ever dated. If she played it right, she should be able to convince Orlando she’d had to wait to sneak away from Porter’s protection.
“You can do this,” Porter murmured. He reached out and took her free hand, squeezing reassuringly. While he hated that she was involved in any of this he was proud of her. After the way she’d handled herself on the phone with Orlando yesterday afternoon he had no doubt she could pu
ll this off.
Nodding, she punched in Orlando’s number and pressed send. “I want to speak to Benny,” she said when someone answered. Moments later her voice softened as she spoke to her brother. Then suddenly she was abruptly cut off and her entire demeanor changed.
Porter knew Orlando had likely taken the phone from Benny. The bastard wouldn’t let her talk to her brother very long. Just enough to convince her that he was all right.
Expression hard, she straightened against the seat and she squeezed Porter’s hand as she spoke to Orlando. “I’m at the Dinner Key Marina on my parent’s boat. Slip 302. It’s on the east side—” There was a brief moment of silence. “Well if you know where it is you won’t have a problem meeting me there.”
Another pause then she said, “It took me a while to lose Porter Caldwell. My boss assigned him to watch me after what happened so it wasn’t easy.” A brief beat of silence. “I’m not meeting you anywhere else. Benny and I will be leaving on my parent’s boat. I’m not letting you try to screw us over.”
Porter, Grant and their driver all listened in silence as Lizzy continued convincing Orlando to meet her. When she threatened to hang up and turn the notebook over to his competitors, things wrapped up quickly.
The second she ended the call she dropped the phone into her lap and took a deep breath. Her face was pale and the hand he held was clammy, but when she looked at him all he saw was raw determination in her eyes. “He’s going to be there. Let’s go.”
Porter shot Grant a quick look. His brother’s face was grim but he didn’t say anything, just slid out of the passenger seat. The moment he’d shut the door behind him, the vehicle jerked to life as the driver steered out of the parking lot.
Lizzy looked out the tinted window as Grant got into another SUV then she turned back to Porter, confusion on her face. “What’s going on?”
“He’s heading to the marina to get in place with the rest of the guys.” Grant and his boss had only involved a very small fraction of the SWAT team and a few guys from vice they trusted. There was no way in hell they’d chance this leaking to Orlando. Not when he was finally within reach.
She withdrew her hand from his. “Why aren’t we going with him?”
Porter wanted to reach for her again, but decided against it. “Honey, they can’t allow a civilian to be part of this operation.”
A frown marred her lips and he could see the understanding in her eyes. “So…you lied to me?”
“I didn’t—”
“Yes, you did. You sure as hell didn’t correct Grant when he told me I’d be waiting on that boat to lure Orlando. When he reassured me his team would be covering me the entire time and that they only needed to bring Orlando out into the open to prove he’d kidnapped Benny. You sat there and held my hand and didn’t say one damn word!” She crossed her arms over her chest and scooted a little closer to the door—away from him.
“I promised you I’d help bring Benny home alive. If you refused to work with them and didn’t call Orlando, or tried to meet him on your own, you and Benny would have been killed.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth and give me a chance to make the right decision?” she asked quietly.
The accusations he saw in her dark eyes sliced right through his chest, making him feel even shittier. “They needed to make sure you would call Orlando. This operation had to go off without a hitch. Everything you said to him needed to be believable.”
“Did you know about this before or after we…” Even in the darkened vehicle he could see her cheeks flush red. She glanced at the driver then back at Porter.
“After, but…I knew that once they had the notebook you wouldn’t like whatever plan they came up with.” Might as well go with full honesty.
Her lips thinned. “I don’t understand why I can’t be there. Grant said Orlando was never going to make it to the boat. What if he gets to the marina and doesn’t have Benny? What if—”
“You’re a civilian. There is no way in hell they’d allow you to even remotely be a part of this. There’s an undercover policewoman on the boat so in case he sends someone to scout it out first, ‘you’ will be there. But you have no place there.” Something he had no doubt she understood perfectly well.
With her arms crossed, she turned in her seat away from him and stared out the window. “You shouldn’t have lied to me.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I…I know. And I’m sorry for that. But not for anything else. Even if for some insane reason Grant would have allowed you to be involved, I wouldn’t have.”
Her head whipped back around, her eyes blazing. “You wouldn’t have allowed me?”
“Damn straight.” If she thought he’d ever let her walk head first into danger, she was out of her mind.
Her dark eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth, no doubt to blast him, when his cell phone buzzed. Porter tensed when he saw Grant’s name. “Yeah?”
“Lizzy still with you?” His voice was grim.
Of course she was. Porter tightened his grip on the phone. “What’s going on?”
“I need to talk to her.”
“Grant—”
“Sorry man, I’ve gotta talk to Lizzy.” There was no room for argument in his brother’s voice.
That alone told Porter something very bad had happened. Please don’t let it be Benny, he silently prayed. His gut twisted as he handed the phone to her. “It’s Grant, he wants to talk to you.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “What about?” Porter shook his head as she took the phone and held it up to her ear. “Grant?…Wha…I don’t understand…But…How…” Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she dropped the cell.
Porter picked it up and started to speak to his brother when Lizzy broke into a sob. “Benny’s dead.”
A vise tightened around Porter’s chest. Shit. He ended the call and shoved the phone in his pocket. He’d get the details later. Right now Lizzy needed comforting. He attempted to pull her into his arms but she jerked away from him, slapping at his chest. “Don’t touch me!”
He reached for her again, desperately wanting to offer support. “Lizzy—”
With a pale face and shaking hands, she shoved his hands away. “Oh God, I’m going to be sick.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. Tears tracked down her cheeks as she struggled with her seatbelt so he unsnapped it.
Her face was ashen and she made a blind grab for the door handle so he tapped their driver and motioned to the gas station they were approaching on the right side of the road. A neon sign proclaimed they were open twenty-four hours.
Nodding, the guy pulled in to the brightly lit station. There weren’t any other cars there so they got a spot right out front. Lizzy—still holding a hand over her mouth—jumped from the vehicle and darted for the glass doors before Porter had even unbuckled himself.
He thought about calling Grant but decided to go in and wait for her. She’d likely want some privacy while she got sick but he’d be waiting outside the door when she was done.
The store was quiet, the young female Asian clerk texting on her phone barely glanced his way when he entered. Once outside the unisex bathroom door, he knocked lightly. “Lizzy?”
“Go away.” Her voice was muffled but he could hear the tears in it.
“Lizzy—”
“Just give me a couple minutes!” She sounded angry, not that he blamed her. He knew once it fully hit her that Benny was dead she’d be a wreck. And he planned to be there for her.
He wanted to call Grant back and demand answers. Wanted to know how the hell Benny had been killed and who had done it. Guilt ran rampant through Porter as he wondered if they should have done something differently. He’d never know until he knew the details.
When he heard Lizzy quietly crying inside the restroom it was like knives being dragged across his skin. He raised his hand to knock again but knew her well enough that she wouldn’t appreciate the intrusion. Hating that she was stuck in a fucking gas station
bathroom crying, he took a step back and headed down the aisles until he reached a cooler of doors and pulled out a water bottle for her. He might not be able to ease any of her sorrow but he could at least take care of her the best way he knew how.
When he heard the bell above the door jingle he automatically glanced toward the front of the store. A young Spanish guy, maybe in his early twenties, was at the counter buying cigarettes. That wasn’t what interested Porter though. The guy had a black and blue bandana shoved in his back pocket.
Ducking down, Porter made his way over a few more aisles until he had a perfect view of the front of the station. There was a blue muscle car that looked just like the one he’d seen outside the motel. There was no one else inside though. So this guy was alone.
Porter peered around the edge of the aisle to get a good look at the guy. Just flirting with the sales clerk, not paying any attention to his surroundings. Which meant he hadn’t been following them. The area of town they were in wasn’t exactly a rough neighborhood but it was on the cusp of a bad neighborhood. The same one the Seventy Ninth Street gang frequented.
Just great.
Any other day it wouldn’t have mattered. Setting the water on the ground, Porter hurried around the corner of the aisle so that he was walking parallel to the glass windows. He wanted to get as close to the door as possible, but still remain hidden from the guy.
Porter was too far away to get to Lizzy and there was a big gap of space between the aisles of food and the short hallway where the restroom was. Nowhere for him to hide his approach. He just prayed she stayed inside. If she did, they wouldn’t have any issues. If she came out and the guy at the register recognized her, things could get shitty.