Beyond Power

by Connie Mann

  On her third attempt to push open the restroom door, someone opened it from the inside, and she almost fell at their feet. She murmured something as she tottered into the room and braced her hands against the counter. When she looked in the mirror, there seemed to be four of her, which couldn’t be right. It took a few tries to turn on the water, and she ran her wrists under it, hoping that would help. It didn’t. The dizziness got worse.

  She heard a toilet flush, and a woman came out, eyed her askance, and left without even washing her hands.

  She heard Josh growl, “Where are you, Delilah? I told you to stay where I can see you.”

  Where was his voice coming from? She looked over her shoulder and almost lost her balance. He would know what to do. “Not. Feeling. Good.”

  “Delilah? I can barely hear you. Where are you?”

  “Here,” she whispered. “Bathroom.”

  “Delilah! Tell me where you are!” She heard Josh’s voice and the worry in it, but it sounded like it was coming from very far away.

  Suddenly, she heard another voice, closer, softer. It sounded like a man’s voice, but she couldn’t be sure because her eyelids kept wanting to slide closed.

  “I’ll take care of you. Just come with me.”

  A hand slipped around her shoulder and turned her gently toward the door. Delilah couldn’t focus on the face, but she thought the voice was vaguely familiar, even though she couldn’t place it. Her knees threatened to buckle, and suddenly, an arm came around her waist to support her. She laid her head against the warm shoulder and let herself be led from the room.

  They must’ve stepped outside, because she felt the familiar wall of humidity wash over her. She tried to get her bearings, to figure out where she was, but then another wave of dizziness hit, and she sank toward the ground.

  Chapter 26

  “Delilah!” Josh hissed into his microphone, scanning the room. “Where are you, dammit?” He pushed and shoved his way across the ballroom, frantic to spot her through the crush. “Who has eyes on her?”

  “Negative,” Fish said.

  “Looking,” Hunter chimed in just as Sanchez said, “Last I saw her was at the buffet table.”

  “I thought you were over there, Sanchez. How’d she get by you?”

  “I thought I saw Benson, so I followed, but it wasn’t him. When I turned back, she was gone.”

  “Anyone seen him?” Hunter asked.

  More nos.

  “Spread out,” Hunter commanded. “Fish, check the women’s restroom.”

  “Already on it, boss,” she said.

  Josh felt the pressure tighten in his chest. She should never have been there.

  He elbowed his way through the crowd, trying to spot her, but it was like she had vanished into thin air. When he reached the hallway leading to the restrooms, the crowd thinned, and he picked up his pace. “Fish, did you find her?”

  “She’s not in here. Wait. I think I found her purse.”

  Josh didn’t slow down. If her purse was in the restroom, someone had taken her. They wouldn’t have gone back through the ballroom, so they must have headed this way. Several closed doors lined this corridor, and he banged on each one and rattled the knob to make sure they were locked. When we got to the last one, it opened, and he found a storage closet packed with supplies. Along the back wall, a partially opened door led outside.

  He held his weapon down as he eased out the door and into a narrow alley. Next to several overflowing dumpsters, a couple walked away from him, the man’s arm around the woman’s waist as she stumbled. Delilah!

  He raised his weapon. “Stop! FWC!”

  The man glanced over his shoulder, shoved Delilah into the nearby bushes, and took off running. Josh raced over to her, shouting into his earbud, “We’ve got a runner. I’m outside, last door past the bathrooms. See if you can intercept him.”

  “Headed that way,” Sanchez said just as Hunter said the same thing.

  Josh heard their staccato conversation in his earbud, but all his focus was on Delilah. He gently rolled her over and tapped her shoulders. “Delilah? Can you hear me?” When she didn’t respond, he leaned closer, relieved to feel the breath coming out of her mouth and her heart racing under his hand.

  He tapped her cheeks. “Delilah, honey, wake up.” He shook her slightly, his panic ratcheting up when she didn’t respond. “Somebody call 911!”

  “Already en route,” Hunter said as he dropped down beside him. “How is she?”

  “I can’t wake her. Come on, Delilah. Open those pretty blue eyes for me.”

  Josh kept talking while he ran his hands over her arms and legs and checked her torso, looking for any signs of injury. Except for a few scrapes from the bushes, she seemed fine. Which told him she’d been drugged.

  Unsure what else to do, Josh gathered her close and whispered in her ear, “We need to find Mary. You need to wake up so we can find your sister.”

  That got through. “Mary. Find Mary,” she muttered.

  “I’ll find her. And so will you. But right now, you need to wake up, okay?”

  He watched her face as she fought her way back to consciousness. Her whole body tensed, her eyelids flickered, and finally, finally, her eyes opened. He’d never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. “Welcome back, Xena.”

  She sent him a sleepy smile as her lids slid closed again.

  “Oh no you don’t. Stay with me, girl.”

  Sirens approached, and shortly afterward, two paramedics nudged Josh out of the way as they crouched beside her. He gave them what information he could as they checked her vitals and readied her for transport. He kept hold of her hand, and when Hunter indicated they should step away, she tightened her grip and wouldn’t let go. He leaned closer and whispered, “I’ll be right back. Stay tough.”

  Sanchez and Fish stood guard over the young man he’d seen with Delilah. An Ocala Police Department officer stood beside them, waiting to take him into custody.

  Josh stormed toward them, but Hunter grabbed his arm. “Easy. We want information. Don’t put his hackles up.”

  Josh nodded and rolled his shoulders to loosen some of the tension. Hunter was right, dammit, but that didn’t mean he liked it. He wanted to beat the guy to a pulp and ask questions later, but Delilah expected and deserved better than that. Something was still off about the whole situation, and this guy was their best shot at figuring out what.

  He stood to one side while Hunter pulled out his Louisiana Cajun charm.

  “So, Jimmy,” Hunter said casually. “How did you and Miss Atwood come to be walking around out here by yourselves?” Hunter indicated the smelly alley. “This isn’t exactly a great place to get romantic.”

  “Nah, we weren’t going to stay. We was just walking to my car.”

  “Hmm. What were you going to do when you got to your car? Were you and Miss Atwood going for a drive somewhere?”

  Jimmy looked around, unsure. He shrugged. “We were, you know, just hanging out.”

  Hunter stepped closer. “You and Miss Atwood know each other? How long have you two been an item?” Hunter asked the questions as though they were just two guys sitting in a bar, getting to know each other.

  Jimmy’s eyes darted around again, and he muttered, “Awhile, I guess.”

  “I’m wondering what Ms. Atwood will say when she wakes up.” He raised an eyebrow. “You’re not giving me much here, Jimmy, and if she wakes up and her story is different, then I’m going to have a problem. Which means you’re going to have a problem. It’s never a good idea to lie to me.” Hunter took a step closer. Not enough to intimidate him but as though he were ready to exchange confidences. “Here’s what I think. I think money is a little tight, am I right? And somebody came along and offered you enough to pay the bills for maybe a month or two. All you had to do was get Miss Atwood out of t
he building.”

  Jimmy’s eyes widened in surprise. “I wasn’t going to hurt her. I just needed a little extra, you know?”

  “I understand. A guy has to pay the bills. Was somebody coming to pick her up? Or were you supposed to take her somewhere?”

  “I wasn’t going to hurt her, I swear. That wasn’t part of the deal.”

  Hunter nodded. “I believe you, but you still haven’t told me the whole story. Why don’t you start at the beginning, so you don’t end up charged with attempted murder.”

  Jimmy’s eyes widened in horror, and he started shaking, waving his arms frantically. “No! No! No! I wasn’t going to hurt her! I was just supposed to take her somewhere.”

  “Okay, where were you supposed to take her?” Hunter’s voice never changed pitch, his tone calm and conversational. “Who were you supposed to meet?”

  “I was just supposed to drop her off behind that old gas station off 314, that’s all.”

  “Who asked you to do this?” Hunter continued. “I need a name, Jimmy.”

  Jimmy was shaking his head before Hunter finished speaking. “Dude, I don’t know his name. I just got a phone call. Said he heard I needed a little extra cash. I take her from the party and drop her off, he’d pay me a thousand bucks.”

  Hunter whistled. “That’s a lot of cash, Jimmy. I bet that will pay a few bills. How is he going to get you the money?”

  “Said if I did what he asked, I’d come back in two days, and the money would be in an envelope behind the rack of tires.”

  Hunter never took his eyes off Jimmy, but Josh turned and hurried back to the EMTs, who were preparing Delilah for transport.

  At that moment, Pete came running up to the ambulance. He turned to Josh. “What happened?”

  “Somebody drugged Delilah.” Knowing he’d let it happen, that someone had gotten to her on his watch, churned in Josh’s gut and made him nauseous. And furious. Not just with Jimmy but with himself. He should never have let this happen.

  Pete stopped, rubbed a hand over his face as he scanned the area. He spotted Fish standing beside the Ocala Police Department officer, and his breath came out in a rush. He turned back to Josh. “Is Delilah okay?”

  “She will be.” Josh studied his brother. “You okay, Pete? You look a little green around the gills.” He couldn’t remember ever seeing his brother like this.

  Pete nodded and headed toward Fish without a word. Josh shook his head and bit back a chuckle when the two immediately faced off. The fireworks should be interesting to watch.

  After the ambulance doors closed and they pulled away, Josh joined Hunter and the rest of his squad while OPD took Jimmy away in handcuffs.

  Josh only half listened as Hunter and Sanchez devised a plan to intercept whoever was supposed to show up at the gas station. His mind was on Delilah. She could have died tonight because he’d seriously underestimated her determination. A mistake he would not make again.

  He tuned back in when Fish said, “It feels like we’re chasing a ghost. Who wants her dead?”

  “Right,” Hunter said. “Let’s think about this a different way. What does Delilah know that someone might kill for? Who would benefit from her death? If we can figure that out, we’ll have a better idea of who’s after her.”

  “I still think it’s her brother, Aaron.” Josh felt it, deep in his gut. “If he’s connected to the militia, and we think he is, and if he is connected to the guns that we’ve heard are coming through here, then it makes sense he’d want to keep her away.”

  “But we don’t have any hard evidence that he’s connected.” Hunter held up a hand when Josh started to protest. “Not that I’m doubting your gut, Hollywood. But we need proof.”

  Pete joined the group, standing beside Fish, sparks still shooting between them.

  As Josh drove to the hospital, his mind played and replayed scenarios and possibilities. Hunter was right. They needed proof.

  * * *

  Delilah felt like her head was filled with cotton. Thinking was work. She felt groggy and disoriented, and with Josh watching her like a hawk, she was decidedly uncomfortable. “Stop looking at me like I’m a grenade about to explode,” she said, shooting him a frustrated glance across the cab of the truck.

  “Somebody drugged you and then tried to kidnap you. So yes, I’m a little concerned. Deal with it.”

  She wasn’t sure what to do with that. Or with the idea of people worrying about her.

  At the hospital, they’d found Rohypnol in her system and kept her under observation for several hours despite her protests. It was nearly dawn when they got back to the camper.

  Her emotions were a whirling mix inside her fuzzy head. Josh made the kitchen feel too small, so she got flustered and edgy. They did an awkward little dance as she reached for a glass of water just as he did. Their eyes met, and his worry made her hand tremble as she watched him over the rim.

  Suddenly, he stepped over, set her glass down, and yanked her into his arms. “Damn, woman, you scared the crap out of me tonight.”

  After a second of surprise, she knew this was what she’d subconsciously been waiting for. The tension in her shoulders relaxed as she breathed in his scent, then reached under his tuxedo jacket to wrap her arms tight around him. As she held him, every insane minute and conversation of the evening slipped into the background as she focused on his heart beating under her ear. He was here. She was safe. “I’m sorry.”

  He eased her back, ran the back of his hand down her cheeks. “I understand your concern for your sister. I also get that you didn’t want anyone to know what you said to Eli. Or Nate.” He raised a brow, and she shrugged, unwilling to put him in a tougher spot than he already was. “But I’m on your side. I need to keep you safe. Don’t shut me out, Delilah.”

  Time stretched as the emotion behind his words unfurled the tight knot in her belly. His hair was rumpled like he’d been running his hands through it, and his tie stuck out of his pocket. She pulled him close, cupped his cheeks in her hands, and kissed him. His indrawn breath made her bolder. She traced the seam of his lips with her tongue, and he opened his mouth and growled low in his throat as she slipped hers inside and explored.

  He gripped her waist, then ran his hands up and down her back, pulling her ever closer as though he wanted to climb inside her skin. She wrapped her arms around his neck and found she liked being eye level with him in the heels. The desire burning in his green eyes ignited her own, and with a wicked grin, she dove into the want shimmering between them, determined to take everything he had to give tonight. And to give all she had to him. “Come here, Hollywood. You must be burning up in all these clothes.”

  He threw his head back and laughed as she pushed the jacket off his shoulders. “Definitely burning up.” When she would have hung it over the back of a chair, he grabbed it and slung it in the direction of the sofa.

  She started undoing the buttons of his shirt slowly, enjoying the play of muscles under his skin. Once she had it undone, she spread it open like a birthday present and ran her hands over the hard ridges, running her palms over the light furring of hair, humming her approval.

  He reached for her, pulling her flush against him again, and she sank into the kiss. Where she expected hurry and depth, he kept it slow and light, nipping at her lips, then planting light, feathery kisses along the line of her jaw. She did the same to him, hands tangled in the hair at his nape while his roamed her back. Her knees threatened to buckle in the wobbly sandals when he nipped her earlobe.

  Frustrated with his slow pace, she pulled his mouth back to hers and slid her tongue inside. There was a moan of pleasure as their tongues played, sliding together, but she couldn’t tell if it came from her or him, and she didn’t care.

  “I love the way you taste,” he murmured, his hands slipping over her hips to cup her backside and pull her closer still.

&nb
sp; “Shirt. Off.” She issued the command between kisses, tugging at the fabric.

  He chuckled low in her ear. “Yes, ma’am.” The shirt landed on the floor.

  She burrowed against his bare chest, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to feel his skin next to hers.

  His hands went to the long zipper at the back of her dress as though he was thinking the same thing. “Now you’re the one wearing too many clothes.”

  Inch by agonizing inch, he tugged the zipper down, kissing every bit of flesh he exposed on the way. The slope of her neck, the curve of her shoulder. Finally, he slipped the dress off her shoulders, and it slid down and pooled at her feet. He sucked in a breath at the sight of her in nothing but lacy black panties and the towering heels. “You’re killing me, Xena.”

  Slowly, reverently, his hands caressed her, and she sighed with pleasure. Their mouths met again, and the kiss went from leisurely to desperate between one heartbeat and the next. He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom where he gently laid her on the bed.

  The room spun, partly from leftover drugs but mostly from the sight of Josh wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers. He slid the sandals from her feet, then ran his warm palms over her calves, grinning wickedly.

  She crooked a finger at him. “Come here, Hollywood, and show me what you’ve got,” she purred, amazed that her voice could sound so sexy.

  His eyes glittered like emeralds. “With pleasure.” The rumble of his voice sent more shivers over her skin, and she sighed when he stretched out on top of her.

  Their hands stroked and touched, learning each other, smiling and laughing and kissing until Delilah felt like she’d been drugged all over again.

  When they finally came together, the sense of rightness, of completion, formed a lump in her throat. The pace increased, and the flames burned hotter, and she let go of every thought, every feeling except the exquisite sense of knowing she was free to fly, because Josh was with her.