“Why not? Did I do something wrong?” His body shifted backwards breaking the clench. His erect shaft grazed her leg.
Laurie turned away from his piercing stare. “Would you please put some clothes on?”
“No.” He crowded her on the bed, pushing his muscular chest into her sensitive nipples. “Why do you want me gone all of a sudden?”
She refused to look him in the eyes, but answered after a long pause, “My aunt has lectured me endlessly about getting involved with a man in law enforcement. They aren’t dependable. I can already see she’s right after only a short time with you.”
He grabbed her face, pulled her head down to his and kissed her on the lips. “That’s not fair.”
“Regardless. You don’t have to come back. You got what you wanted from me. It was nice. Thank you.” She pulled his hands away and sent her gaze to the floor to avoid looking him in the eyes.
He released her, stood up quickly and backed away. His silence didn’t last. “This act you’ve got going is the best performance I’ve ever seen. You should get the Sybil award for Best Multiple Personality.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her head suddenly throbbed as if a sledgehammer had just bounced off her skull. She put a hand to the back of her head and rubbed.
“So during the next mission when we run into each other, should I just ignore you or what?”
“Mission?” Her nose ran as if a sudden allergy to pain had erupted.
“Shit, Laurie. Your nose is bleeding.” He leaned closer and grabbed the corner of the sheet from her lap. Pushing her head back with his palm, he dabbed at her nose twice and then pressed the sheet firmly beneath her nostrils.
A hot trickle of blood ran down her throat and the sharp metallic taste of it made her gag. She fought to lower her head, but he held her in place. “Keep your head tilted back for a minute.” The tender press of his lips on the side of her face made her ashamed of what she’d implied about his lack of dependability. Perhaps she should give him a chance to prove his intentions, whatever they might be.
“I’m sorry.” She placed her hands on his wrists and stroked the smooth expanse of his forearm.
“Don’t be. It happens.”
“I mean what I said. It wasn’t nice to imply you aren’t dependable.”
“Oh.” His deep sigh made her wonder if she’d already ruined things.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to return.”
His lips trailed across her forehead and into her hair. “I’ll be back, darlin’.” His whispered promise warmed her insides.
His cell phone started playing music again. He sighed deeply and ignored it.
She tipped her head forward. “I think it’s stopped bleeding.”
Colin nodded, removed his hands from her head and let her hold the sheet. He bent over and scooped up her clothing from the floor. When his phone rang for the third time he snatched it up and shoved it between his shoulder and ear. She let him guide her carefully to the bathroom and handed the pile of clothing through the half closed door as he grunted one-word responses into his phone. He winked at her before she closed the door.
It was ridiculous to be embarrassed after all they’d done together, but she was. The clock on the wall said it was ten fifteen. Before leaving the library she’d told her aunt she’d be home before eleven. She’d have to hustle to make it back home on time.
Splashing water on her face, she managed to get the dried blood off her face. She cleaned herself up and dressed quickly but paused to stare at her reflection, turning her face one way and then the other to see if she looked different. Would her aunt suspect what she’d been doing? She sighed. She shouldn’t feel guilty because she’d had sex. But she did anyway.
The light knock at the door startled her. “Laurie?” Colin called out.
She opened the door a crack. He was already dressed and jingled a car key in his hand. The well-worn jeans he’d put back on hugged his hips beautifully. Her eyes strayed below his belt as if she were now addicted to staring at his crotch.
Her eyes shifted to his chest. She tried to be brave, but knew she would miss him and suspected he would eventually break her heart even if he did show up again.
“How’s your nose?”
“Fine.” Laurie glanced at his concerned face. “I’m fine.”
He nodded, although worry lines creased his forehead. “I need to get going. The room is paid for until tomorrow morning at ten if you want to stay—”
“No.” She cut him off and brushed past him to exit the bathroom. “I need to go, too.”
He grabbed her close, pulling her into his chest before she made it completely through the door. “I will come back.” He lowered his lips to hers for a quick kiss good-bye.
“Okay.” Laurie backed out of his arms, crossed the room and snagged her purse from the floor by the door on the way outside.
The muggy air slammed into her as she moved along the concrete walkway in front of the room. Colin was on her heels as she rounded the hood of her car.
“Give me your home phone number.”
She shook her head. “You can find me at the library.” She slipped into her car and drove away before he could press her for further information.
Laurie’s body felt like melted honey. If it weren’t for her relaxed, satisfied muscles telling her differently, she’d wonder if she hadn’t just dreamed the whole wonderful experience with Colin.
Glancing at the dashboard clock made her stomp the gas pedal to speed up. Laurie didn’t want to be late getting home and have to lie to her aunt again.
* * * *
Colin couldn’t get a flight out of Montgomery Regional Airport until six the next morning. When he called Ken to let him know, a special private charter was sent to pick him up. He touched down at McCarran Airport just before seven the next morning and took a cab to the hotel where Ken, along with his partner Zack Mahon, waited for him to arrive.
Trading one hot-assed town for another after being abruptly ripped away from spending the night with Laurie put him in a foul mood.
Colin knocked at the door of the hotel room and Zack opened it only a crack after a few moments.
“Bout time you got here.” He backed away opening the door wide to let him in.
“I was on vacation.” Colin sent a surly gaze to Ken Davenport, seated at a table in front of a black laptop. “A forced one.”
“Boo-hoo. You smell like sex. I don’t feel sorry for you at all.” Zack secured the door behind him and locked it up.
Colin sniffed the collar of his shirt, caught a delicious musky scent and grinned without verbally confirming Zack’s accusation. “So what’d I miss?”
“Salerno snuck into Las Vegas last night. He’s in the southwest corner penthouse of this hotel registered under a new alias.”
“Are you sure?” Colin had to clench his jaw to keep it from dropping open. He and Zack had spent the better part of last year trailing the bastard, collecting evidence of one despicable action after another, only to have him slip through their fingers at the last minute due to bureaucratic red tape waiting for a warrant. They privately vowed not to go out of their way to use a warrant for the next opportunity.
Salerno was good at acquiring unique things with the purpose of resale. He was also good at killing people to attain his little gadgets if the original owners were reluctant to part with their treasures.
“Yes. A federally protected witness staying at this hotel got a phone call from Salerno last night. Salerno has apparently obtained an item that he wants to sell quickly. The federal witness he called is setting up a transaction meeting tonight.”
“Where?”
“There’s a private party scheduled on the eighth floor sponsored by some crème de la crème art curator’s society. Salerno is crashing the party to meet with a third party and negotiate a quick deal.”
“What’s the plan?”
“You and Zack will circulate among the ar
t curator crowd, find Salerno and keep him under observation. Once Salerno meets with his contact, one of you will stay at the party and keep tabs on him. Meanwhile, the other will slip up to his room, gain access to the penthouse by way of the express elevator and crack his room safe to extract the item.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a piece of jewelry, an antique ring. It was stolen from a wealthy family in France during the occupation. It came up for auction anonymously and the family has been trying to get a hold of it without success.
“We can’t prove it, but we’re certain Salerno stole the bill of sale from the auction house and then killed the collector to gain it. A representative of the family is the third party for tonight’s negotiation.” Ken rubbed his weary-looking eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“So we’re stealing it from Salerno?”
“Right. If he operates as he always does, he’ll make the family pay an exorbitant viewing fee before brokering the final deal. When he takes the family representative to his room, it won’t be there.”
“I’m guessing the family won’t be too happy.”
“Right. They will put Salerno out of our misery for us.”
“Who’s waiting and watching and who’s breaking and entering?”
Ken didn’t look up from his keyboard. “I don’t care. Flip a coin.”
“Rock, paper, scissors?” Zack asked.
Colin mentally rolled his eyes in dismay. “Whatever.”
Zack grinned. “Let’s do it. Winner gets the easy job of breaking and entering.” Colin groaned. He rarely won rock, paper, scissors battles with Zack. He also hated being a waiter.
“One…two…three.”
Colin shot his hand out flat, signifying paper. Zack pounded his fist against his other palm, denoting rock. Colin smacked his hand on Zack’s fist. “And I win. Paper covers rock. You’re the waiter. Suit up, monkey boy.”
“One other thing,” Ken added, “the intruder in tonight’s mission also has to seduce the occupant of one of the other penthouse suites, Glenda Thacker. She’s the rich patron and one of the elite sponsors of tonight’s party.”
Zack laughed. “Why do I suddenly think I’m getting the better end of the deal?”
“Let me guess, she’s ugly, disgusting and evil, but stinking rich. She loves to buy younger men to appease her prurient lusts?” Colin planted his hands on his hips.
“Bingo.” Ken smiled. “Lucky for us, she’s rumored to adore dark hair and dark eyes in her men. You’ll be perfect. Suck up to her, get her to take you to her penthouse, then you can knock her out and proceed to Salerno’s room while he’s negotiating with the family at the party.
“Zack will watch out for his departure and warn you if he leaves the eighth floor to retrieve the ring you’ll be in his room stealing. Any questions?”
“What’s my egress?”
“Rooftop. Once you have the ring from Salerno’s room, send a signal to op-tech. We have a diversion planned in the form of a fire alarm set for a precise time. You’ll take the stairs up to the roof and everyone else will take the stairs down. We expect that Salerno will guess it’s a diversion and ignore the alarm.”
“Isn’t it a big pain in the ass to explain away a bogus fire alarm?”
“Yes. That’s why op-tech will disable a specific camera so as not to get caught. Another agent will pull it and exit thereby making an anonymous escape path for you.”
“Will I do that?” Zack asked.
“No, another team will be assisting with both op-tech and the escape diversion tactics.”
Colin and Zack exchanged glances. It was unlike Ken to involve outsiders.
“We’ve set up an op-tech overseer from another black ops team to cover communications.” Ken stood up from the round table sporting several computers and pieces of standard equipment beyond the black laptop he was using.
“An agent named Frankie will be your eyes and ears during the operation. She’ll have communications command for the operation tonight.”
“Frankie’s a girl?” Zack remarked. He sent an eye roll over to Colin conveying his displeasure. He hadn’t had good luck working with women. Narrowly escaping a femme fatale the first time and thereafter a series of ultra clingy women looking to settle down and make babies. Zack’s record of bad experiences had taken their toll on his view of women’s capabilities in the field of black ops.
“She’s the best on my team.” A new voice sounded from the open door of the adjoining room.
Zack twisted his head toward the door. “Says you,” he muttered under his breath.
Colin sized up the stranger with a quick glance. He was tall with curly blond hair. The unusual light color of his stone-cold blue eyes probably unnerved everyone he met. Colin had seen warmer eyes on killers with no depth of soul.
Ken promptly introduced the chilly-eyed stranger. “This is Paul Kelly. He and his team will be working with us today.”
“Why?” Colin knew Ken hated working with other teams and sharing anything.
“My team’s already ensconced and seamlessly hacked into the communication grid of this hotel. We were running drills,” Paul responded quietly, as if proud he’d had the foresight to place his own team members in the perfect place for this operation.
“They’ll have different responsibilities. We’re going after Salerno.”
“So his team found Salerno?” Colin asked.
“That’s right.” Paul Kelly responded with even more pride in his tone and a satisfied smile slid into place.
“How do we know it’s really Salerno?”
Ken sighed, “Paul’s group caught the message by accident. But our communication guys confirmed the voiceprint. It’s definitely Salerno.”
“I heard a rumor you let him get away last year. I thought you might like to try again,” Paul remarked. “Maybe with the help from my team, you’ll be able to pull off your mission this time.”
“Fuck off.” Ken gave Paul a harsh stare. “We didn’t have a choice last time. Trust me, it wasn’t my decision to let him go.”
“Sorry,” Paul said, but Colin didn’t think he looked very remorseful.
“So what’s our plan? Are we going to take him this time?” Colin asked.
“No. We’ll let the family kill him for reneging on their deal. Less blood on our hands that way.”
Zack huffed. “Since when do we care about blood on our hands.”
The discussion of blood gave Colin a start. He looked down at his hands expecting to see Laurie’s blood still there from last night’s nosebleed.
He’d found a spot on his palm and washed it off when he did a cursory clean up at the airport awaiting his flight. Laurie hadn’t been far out of his mind since they’d parted. Every so often he’d catch a whiff of musk. The memory of her legs opening as he feasted on her clit would slide into his brain to torture him.
Colin planned to head back to a certain Montgomery library as soon as this assignment was over. He’d camp out in the lobby of that library until she turned up.
For the present, he tried to pay attention to the plan at hand. First up, he had to seduce Salerno’s penthouse suite neighbor and lure her up to her room with the promise of sexual satisfaction. Thankfully, he didn’t have to fuck Glenda. The very thought of faking interest in another woman only called to mind his previous evening. He didn’t have to fake it with Laurie.
He and Zack spent the rest of the day doing mission prep and finalized all the plans for this evening. An hour before the assignment began, they dressed for their parts.
Colin got an Armani custom fit tux and an invitation for the exclusive eighth floor party. Zack got a cheap waiter’s tux and a remedial course in balancing trays of champagne flutes and appetizers.
Paul Kelly brought their ear bud communication devices and button cameras. “These will enable you to speak with each other and Frankie during the mission. However, you can’t turn them on during the party on the eighth floor.”
“The planners of the event have a very sophisticated alarm system to prevent anyone from taking pictures of the art tonight. Unfortunately, these transmitters also work on that frequency. We don’t have time to get specialized ones.”
“How about button cameras?”
“No. Those will also be confiscated. Zack will be able to use this transmitter in the kitchen area. And you can use yours when you get to the penthouse.”
Colin and Zack exchanged glances. “Whatever.”
Frankie called over the designated frequency to test the equipment ensuring it worked properly for the mission.
“Dark Spirit initiating radio check. Can you hear me, Buccaneer?” Frankie’s smooth clear voice tickled his ear.
“Copy that. I read you.” Colin adjusted the fit of the small device in his ear.
“Diablo, radio check,” Frankie called Zack to confirm his communication device worked.
Zack smiled and a goofy expression appeared on his face before he answered. “This is Diablo. I copy you, Dark Spirit.” He said her call sign like an endearment and earned a curious look from Colin.
“Excellent,” Frankie’s voice purred.
Colin felt like he was intruding. He rolled his eyes and did his best to ignore them.
“How will I turn the transmitter on and off?” Zack asked.
“The top button of your waiter’s shirt. Press once and you’ll hear the word ‘activated’, press it again and you’ll hear the word, ‘terminating’.”
“Okay.”
“Make sure you wait until you hear ‘terminating’ before you leave the kitchen or a very loud, ugly noise will deafen you.” Frankie’s throaty voice informed him.
Zack grinned. “I’d hate for that to happen, because if I were deaf, I might miss an important announcement from you.”
“Right,” she murmured. Frankie didn’t respond further.
Colin wondered what in the hell was going on. Turning to Zack, he noticed another goofy grin.
“What’s up with you?”
He shrugged. “I like her voice. Makes my dick get hard.”
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