by L. P. Dover
Robert finishes his glass of whiskey and stalks toward her table. My instinct is to stop him, but I want to see what he does. When he gets to her, he flashes his evil yet charming smile. I can smell the lust pouring off of him as his eyes drift to the blonde’s breasts. Robert talks to her for a few minutes and then points to something across the room. She turns her head, and even though he’s quick, he wasn’t fast enough to keep me from seeing the pill he dropped into her drink.
“Fuck me,” I hiss under my breath.
Robert sits down across from the girl, grinning and carrying on a conversation with her. Pulling my phone out of my purse, I text Sawyer.
Me: The son of a bitch spiked her drink. I’m going in.
I don’t even wait for his reply; there’s no time to waste. The girl picks up her glass, and I hate what I’m about to do. Before she can take a sip, I close the distance and bump into her back, making her drink spill out over the table and down her dress.
She shrieks in annoyance, and I gasp. “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.”
She jumps up out of her chair and stares daggers at me. “Look what you did to my dress? It’s ruined.”
Robert stands back and just watches the exchange. In his eyes, I can tell he ponders his next move. It’d be much easier if he leaves the bar so we can finish the job.
The bar counter is close by, so I hurry over and grab a handful of napkins. “I’ll buy you another drink,” I say apologetically. If she knew I’d just saved her life, she’d be thanking and not cursing me. Still, I need her as far away from Robert as she can get.
The blonde huffs. “Don’t bother. I can’t deal with this right now.” She storms off to the dance floor and grabs her friend’s hand, pulling her away from the guy she’s dancing with and toward the door.
I look at Robert and shrug. “I told her I’d buy her another drink.” Being so close to him makes my stomach churn, so I turn away and walk up to the bar. There’s an empty seat beside a woman and her date, so I sit down, not even turning around to look at Robert. I can feel his presence behind me.
The bartender, a young man with spiky brown hair and brown eyes, comes up to me and smiles. “What’ll it be?”
“Blue Lagoon, please,” I say, feeling the weight of my Glock as I place my purse on my lap.
Robert slides in between me and the woman, his body facing me. “I’ll take one too, bartender.”
The bartender nods and fixes our drinks. I have a strange feeling mine’s going to be tampered with soon. I look up at Robert and smile, but I don’t even pretend to be interested. I don’t want him touching me or breathing anywhere near me.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
The bartender sets my drink down, and I grab the slice of orange on the rim so I can squeeze the juice into my glass. “Kami,” I reply.
He leans in closer. “That’s a pretty name. I’m Robert.”
Please just leave so I can put a bullet in your head and be done. Is it wrong to think that way? Not in his case, it’s not.
“Are you waiting for someone?” he wonders.
I nod. “Yep. I have a girlfriend meeting me here. She should be here soon.” Turning in my chair, I glance at the windows as if I’m searching for my friend. Sawyer walks outside and disappears around the side of the building.
Robert clears his throat. “Do you go to college at the university?”
I look into his eyes, and there’s only darkness. The man who murdered Samantha Teller had the same soulless eyes. Robert is a serial rapist, but it’s probably only a matter of time before he upgrades to killing someone. “I do,” I lie. “I’ll finish up in the spring.”
He averts his gaze to the door. “Is that your friend?”
When I look behind me at the door, a young woman walks in, and I know he’s seized his chance at my drink. With my shifter hearing, I can hear the pill sizzle and disintegrate—sick bastard.
“No, that’s not her,” I say, turning back to him.
He grabs his drink and clanks it against my glass. “More time for us then.”
Drugs don’t affect us like they would humans, but I still don’t want to ingest the shit he put in my drink. Grabbing my glass, I set some money on the bar and smile at him. “I think I’m going to finish my drink and look out for my friend. It was great meeting you.”
Robert doesn’t seem like the type of man to get turned down by many women. The look of shock on his face is proof of that. Holding my drink, I move away from him and toward the windows where there are several potted plants. I quickly pour out the drink with my back to him and bring the glass to my lips, making it look like I drank it. I know he’s watching my every move. If what he used is Rohypnol, I’ve read it can take thirty minutes up to two hours for it to take effect.
There’s a table behind me with other empty glasses, so I set mine down and pull out my phone. I can tell Robert is staring at me from across the room, but I don’t acknowledge him.
Me: The fucker spiked my drink. I poured it out. Heading outside.
Sawyer: Ready.
When I get out the door, I pick up on Sawyer’s scent and follow the sidewalk toward a not so lit part of downtown. I know I’m not alone, but I don’t turn around. The alleys I pass smell like urine and feces mixed with garbage and rotting food. Robert tries to make his footsteps light, but I hear them as if he’s pounding them against the pavement. When I thought about tonight and how it would go, I never pictured myself being his target. If we were in the woods, I’d rip him to shreds, starting with his penis. I can smell his excitement at the chase.
When I get to the alley Sawyer’s in, I stumble on my feet, making it appear like I’m falling under the drug’s influence. Slowly, I move further into the alley, steadying myself against the brick wall of the building. Once I’m far enough away from the street, I stop and hunch over with my arms across my stomach.
“Is someone lost?” Robert’s voice makes my blood boil. He moves closer, and I can hear him unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants. “Don’t worry. This won’t take long.”
“You’re right. It won’t,” I growl. I spin around and slam Robert against the wall, knocking the breath out of his lungs.
His eyes widen, and he grabs my arm, using all his strength to pull me off, but I don’t budge. “What the fuck is this?” he snarls. Grabbing his neck, I hurl him further into the alley, and he tumbles to the ground, tripping over his pants. He jumps up and lifts his pants, his hands shaking as he tries to zip them. Sawyer comes up behind him, but Robert doesn’t know he’s there.
“You’re a disgusting piece of shit,” I hiss. “You should’ve been ended a long time ago. Now your victims will finally get the justice they deserve.”
Sawyer holds the gun to Robert’s head, and his eyes widen. “Please,” he begs. “I won’t do it again.”
Even though it’s dark, I can see right into his eyes to see the lie in them. “You’re right. You won’t.”
Sawyer pulls the trigger, and the only sound comes from Robert’s lifeless body hitting the ground with a thud. Sawyer holsters his gun and nods toward the street. “Let’s go.” We walk out of the alley as if we’re just regular friends strolling down the road. I take out my cell phone and press the other important phone number Reed gave us.
A man answers and says, “Name, target, and location.”
“Special agent Grayson, Robert Trapp, Cleveland, Ohio,” I reply.
He types away for a few seconds. “Copy that. I have your location. You’re all set.”
“Thank you.”
The line disconnects, and I look over at Sawyer. “Guess that’s it.”
His eyes search mine as we walk toward the busy part of downtown. “One down and many more to go. You okay with this?”
Averting my gaze, I take a deep breath. “I’ve never felt better.”
15
Kami
TWO DAYS LATER
We finished our business in Cincinnati and then we moved to Columbus.
Now we’re in Cleveland waiting to mark off our next target on the list. I convinced Sawyer to let me take it on my own. He didn’t want me alone, but I coerced him to stay back so he and Tia could have some private time. Instead of staying in a hotel, we rented a cottage on Lake Eerie to have a peaceful weekend after completing our tasks. On Monday, we plan on flying out to North Carolina to take care of a few targets there.
“Are you sure you don’t want my help?” Sawyer asks, sneaking quietly into the kitchen while Tia’s in the bathroom.
I grab the car keys off the counter and glare at him. “I’m good. Enjoy your night. I’ll be back soon.” I know Tia has an intimate night planned for them, and I really don’t want to hear any of it.
Sawyer sighs. “Okay, but I’ll be waiting up until you get back.”
His words make me smile. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
My gun is holstered at my waist, and my cell is in my back pocket. I’m ready to go. I walk out the front door of our cottage and get into the SUV we rented. My target’s name is Jeremy Ware, a forty-five-year-old man convicted of indecency with a minor on several accounts, rape, and domestic abuse. The disgusting pig even impregnated his fourteen-year-old stepdaughter and convinced her mother that he caught her with a boy from school and that she needed to get an abortion. Thankfully, the girl’s living with her grandparents now, but the damage is done; she’ll never be the same. At least, after tonight, she won’t have to worry about her stepfather ever again.
It’s midnight, and I know Jeremy isn’t home yet. Every Saturday night, he bowls with his buddies and drives the half-mile home drunk. What he doesn’t know is that I’ll be waiting for him when he arrives. There’s a neighborhood playground close to his house, and that’s where I go to park. Turning off the car, I blow out a breath and look around. All of the homes are dark, and it’s eerily quiet.
My thoughts turn to Colin, and I lean my head against the seat. I can’t help but wonder what he’s doing and if he’s trying to find me. With me moving around so much, I haven’t made it easy on him. I promised Tia I would call him tomorrow, and I plan on it; I just don’t know what I’m going to say. Fighting against the bond has taken a toll on me, and it kills me to admit it’s kicking my ass. There’s no way in hell I’ll ever confess that to Colin though. I’m afraid of what’s going to happen when I finally see him. My wolf side is impulsive, and I know that part of me wants to give in to the idea of a mate. However, this is Colin we’re talking about.
Reaching over to my purse, I pull out my personal cell. I scroll through the C’s in my contacts until I find Colin’s name. As much as I want to deny it, I’ve missed talking to him. My thumb hovers over the call button, and I’m just about to press it when headlights appear up the street. When the car gets closer, it’s Jeremy’s old, blue Chevy truck. I set my phone aside and get out, using my shifter speed to run through the patch of woods behind the row of houses before I get to Jeremy’s. I make it to his backyard before he even pulls into his driveway. Quietly, I creep up around the house, cloaked in darkness. Jeremy opens the garage door and pulls his truck inside, cursing when he gets out, and his keys fall to the ground. He picks up his keys, and I can smell the stench of beer emanating from him. Judging by his dirty clothes and greasy dark hair, it doesn’t appear as if he’s taken a shower in days.
“Are you always this disgusting?” I ask.
Jeremy jerks around, his eyes squinting against the darkness. “Who’s there?” He looks off in the wrong direction, and when he finally sees me step out of the dark, he jumps back. “Where the hell did you come from?”
I pull out my gun and point it straight at his head. “Your worst nightmares,” I reply.
Eyes wide, he falls to his knees and sobs like a baby. “Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything.”
With him begging for his life, I feel no sympathy whatsoever, only vengeance for those he hurt. “You should’ve thought about that before you harmed those innocent women, especially your stepdaughter. You disgust me. There’s a special place in hell for people like you.”
Not wasting any more time, I pull the trigger, and that’s the end to Jeremy Ware. His blood oozes onto the garage floor, and I slowly back up, waiting for his heart to stop completely. When it does, I holster my gun and take off for the woods to the park where my car is at. I get there and pull out my phone so that I can call the cleanup crew. I have no clue who they are or how they get to the scene as fast as they do.
I press the number, and this time a lady answers. “Name, target, and location.”
“Special agent Grayson, Jeremy Ware, Cleveland, Ohio.”
“Copy that. I have your location. You’re all set,” she says. The line disconnects, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Tonight was the first mission on my own, the beginning of a new way of life.
“I see this is what you do for the FBI now,” a voice calls out.
And it’s not just any voice. Holding my breath, I slowly turn around, and there he is. Colin. I try to calm my racing heart, but it’s no use. Opening my mind to him, I say the next words just to see if he reacts.
“You’re here.”
His lips pull up into a sad smile as he approaches me, but then he stops. “I am.”
The link is open. Everything we did in our dreams was real. Colin’s known everything this entire time. “How did you find me?”
“I have my ways.” He nods toward my car. “You should probably get out of here.”
Heart racing, I clutch my keys, and I can barely recognize my voice when I speak. “We should. Do you need a ride?”
He shakes his head. “I’ll find you. Go.”
There are so many questions I want to ask him, but he runs away so fast I lose sight of him. Once in the car, I hurry on my way back to the cottage. My breaths come out in rapid pants as I reach for my phone to call Tia.
The line rings a few times, and then she answers. “Hey. Did you finish it?”
“Yeah, but that’s not why I’m calling,” I reply breathlessly.
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
I rub a hand over my aching chest. Seeing Colin made me feel things I’ve kept suppressed for a very long time. And now I know without a doubt that he’s connected to me. The way he looked at me with those crystal blue eyes of his and feeling his need changed something inside of me.
“Colin found me, Tia.”
“Are you surprised?”
Not in the least. This is Colin we’re talking about.
“No,” I say. I had hoped Colin would but didn’t want to admit it to myself. “He’s on his way to the cottage. I don’t know what to do. The dream where he bit me was real. I spoke to him through my mind, and he heard me.”
“It’s okay,” she murmurs soothingly. “You were prepared for that.”
There was something different about him tonight. “He’s changed,” I tell her. “Or maybe I have. When I looked at him, I didn’t feel anger like I used to before.”
“This is a good thing. Hopefully, you two can finally figure things out.”
“What if we don’t?”
She snickers. “You will. I do not doubt that. Now concentrate on the road and get here safely.” We say our goodbyes, and I drive in silence the rest of the way to the cottage. A black SUV pulls into the driveway behind me, and when the lights shut off, I can see Colin in the driver’s seat. The time has come to face him. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and let it out slowly. Opening the door, I reach over to grab my purse and get out. Colin shuts his door and focuses on my eyes as if he’s searching for answers. I wish I had them.
I point toward the back of the cottage. “If you want to talk, we can sit out on the deck. We have a nice view of the lake in the daytime.”
Colin smiles, but it’s guarded. I can tell there’s a lot on his mind. “Lead the way.”
He’s close as we walk together around the house, but he doesn’t touch me. My fingers ache to feel his skin, but I clench my fists together.
When we get to the deck, I set my purse down on the patio table. Colin makes no move to sit, and I don’t either. Instead, he keeps his distance and stares at me while I stare back. Silence fills the air, and the emotions inside me build to the point I don’t know if I can contain them. Blocking him from my thoughts is a lot harder when he’s around.
“Congratulations on joining the FBI,” Colin says, breaking the silence. He takes a step forward and smiles. “I knew you would make it.”
“Thanks. It was hard work.”
He nods and walks over to the edge of the deck, his eyes on the dark lake. The moon gives it a glow that looks almost magical. “I know,” he murmurs. “I watched you.”
I stare at his back. “You watched me?”
I wait for him to turn around, but he doesn’t. “When I wasn’t traveling for work, I was there in the woods, watching you train with the others. I probably only missed five days total of your training.”
A gasp escapes my lips. “You were there that whole time?”
He nods. “I felt like I was a part of it with you. It was like you were someone else out there, so strong and determined. However, I got a little jealous when you’d joke around with the one guy. It made me think of the way you used to talk to me.”
“His name’s Chris,” I say, smiling at the thought. “I love him, but our conversations weren’t as fun as ours.”
Colin glances at me over his shoulder and grins. “So, you missed me?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Then my eyes narrow at him. “Okay, so maybe a little. You’re the only one who can keep up with my insults.” Colin chuckles, and I realize I like hearing it. “I knew you were there that first day in the woods. I could feel you.”
His grin fades. “I was afraid of that,” he replies, averting his gaze back to the lake. “It’s a good thing you didn’t shut me out that day. I heard you say something about the cameras in the woods. I knew to keep my distance.”