Daniel had followed her and stood at attention behind one of her two modern guest chairs. “Yes?” he asked, seemingly unconcerned by his bare chest or ripped jeans.
She swallowed, her abdomen heating. It would take an hour to kiss down that chest. “How has recruiting gone?”
“Not well.” He planted both broad hands on the back of a chair. “We need to reach out to mercenaries for hire, and your boy is stopping me on that.”
She arched an eyebrow. “The sheriff is stopping you?” Elton Cobb had better get on board with her plans.
“Yes. Said he only wants ex-military with honorable discharges.” Daniel’s voice was smooth, like honeyed whiskey, and his eyes were an intriguing brown veiled of any emotion. “I disagree.”
“He’s a sheriff and wants to stay within the law as much as possible.” She let her gaze roam over Daniel’s broad chest. “I wonder. Once this place is up and running, do you think the sheriff can run the military side as well as the commander did?” She’d begun her career in genetic research and manipulation with her one love, the commander, so many years ago. Now that he was dead, she needed to continue their work. “Is Elton Cobb up to the task?”
“No. The sheriff is soft.”
She lifted her head. Daniel was nowhere near soft. Anywhere. “What about you?”
For the first time, Daniel’s eyes flared. “Absolutely.” His chin lifted.
“What drives you?” she asked, trying to probe into his head. Ambition looked good on him. She’d known him since birth, and yet she still didn’t fully understand what made him tick. Many of her other highly trained soldiers were driven by family and the need to protect each other, which was why and how they’d escaped her for now. Daniel didn’t have that. “What do you want?”
“A home,” he said simply. “I grew up in a compound as a soldier, and that’s all I know. This is what I want.” He shoved a hand through his short hair. “If I’m in charge, this is my place, too. It’s mine.”
“I see.” She crossed her legs, showing plenty of leg. Half naked, he made her mouth salivate. When was the last time she’d been taken and hard? Oh, the sheriff was getting into shape and had a nicely sadistic bent, but there was something about a dyed-in-the-wool soldier—one who rarely let go—that was truly unique. The commander had been like that, and he’d trained Daniel on how to kill and control his emotions. Would Daniel be as good in bed? Her last wild time with a man holding frighteningly absolute focus had been way too long ago. “You said something last time we spoke about me being the closest thing you have to a mother. Do you really see me as a mother?”
His head lifted slightly. “Not mine. No.”
Interesting. She stood and crossed around the desk, her heartbeat humming nicely. “No?”
“No.” He looked down several inches at her, his gaze sweeping her entire form and making her breasts tingle. “I’ve never seen you in that light.”
Fair enough and very good news. “Do you have a woman?” She had made sure her boys had the best training in sexual techniques from many experts, so he definitely knew how to please a woman in a thousand ways. “Are you attached?”
“No.” He kept her gaze, one of the few soldiers who apparently did not feel the need to turn away. Was that curiosity in his eyes? “It’s hard to maintain a relationship with secrets. I prefer casual.”
“As do I.” She’d have to tread softly, but she could have both Daniel and Elton Cobb. Maybe. Just imagine the churning depths beneath Daniel’s calm exterior. “Don’t you want more? A relationship of some sort?”
He frowned. “Not now. I like sex, and women have their place, but I don’t want the picket fence.” He gave a mock shudder. “Although . . .”
She paused. “Although what?”
“I’m interested in the command here. I wouldn’t mind something, someone, who was just mine. Even secretly. But mine.” He brushed her long hair away from her shoulder.
She shivered. They were definitely on the same page. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Daniel leaned into her space just enough to catch her breath. “You said we had business to discuss, which always comes before pleasure.”
She swallowed. “Good point. I want you to find Heath, Denver, and Ryker now. Report only to me and not to Sheriff Cobb.” While Elton wanted those boys dead, she wanted them alive, well, and donating sperm for her experiments. “Have you studied the news conference given by Anya Best?”
“I have.” Daniel crossed his muscled arms and stood straighter. “When Anya Best gave her little impromptu news conference, she lied.”
“Agreed.” Isobel’s hands itched to touch his chest. “Do you think she was lying about the engagement, the move to Snowville, or both?”
“Both.” Daniel shook his head. “No way would Heath allow her to announce their engagement or, more importantly, their location. She set herself up for the serial killer who had taken her sister, and she set Heath up at the same time. My guess is that he told her to give Snowville as a location and then headed right for Florida.”
Isobel sighed, her mind spinning. “I agree. Yet I think we should check out Snowville just in case.”
Daniel lifted an arched eyebrow. “If that’s what you want, I’ll head there tomorrow morning.”
Her smile even felt catlike. “What in the world will we do with tonight?” Were his sweats tented? Why, yes. Excellent. Heavy footsteps sounded down the hallway, and she hustled back around her desk to sit. “We can talk about it later.”
Elton Cobb strode into the room and stopped instantly at seeing Daniel. “You put three of my men into the infirmary,” he barked.
Daniel just looked at him with no expression on his face.
Isobel watched both men, reminded of a film of fighting tigers she had watched years ago. They were both deadly and most likely sociopathic. While Daniel had more training, Cobb was seasoned and lacked remorse. It’d be an impressive battle, and she wasn’t sure who’d ultimately win. Daniel could probably take Cobb in a head-on fight, but Cobb would come at the younger soldier from behind.
She smiled. Things were certainly getting interesting.
Sheriff Elton Cobb stared at the bare-chested man eyeing him with no expression. Daniel Brown was the scariest motherfucker Cobb had ever met, and that was saying something. The guy was a deadly machine completely lacking in emotion, and he’d been created by Isobel to be just that. “My men?” Cobb probed, struggling to keep the man’s gaze.
Daniel shrugged. “The missions we’ll send them on when we’re back up and running aren’t like a typical milk run, Sheriff.”
Had there been a snide edge to Sheriff? Cobb glared. “Train them. Don’t kill them.” If he had to teach both Daniel and Isobel a lesson in not to mess with him, he would. A bloody one. His hand itched to hold his gun. Not because he was afraid, of course. Just equipped.
“If your men die in training, they weren’t prepared anyway.” Daniel turned toward Isobel. “I’ll put together a plan for tomorrow and then run it by you later.” He moved past Cobb to the door.
Cobb instinctively pivoted to keep the man in his sights until he’d disappeared down the corridor. He was tempted to smother Daniel with a pillow one night. After drugging him. “That man is crazy.”
Isobel chuckled. “No. He’s just the perfect soldier. I worked hard to create him, you know.”
Cobb shut the door and moved to drop into a chair. “You’ve lost too many of your creations, and I think you need to offer more incentives for the remaining ones to stay. Especially Daniel.” Oh, Cobb might not like the asshole, but the soldier certainly got the job done. For now, Danny-Boy could stay—until Cobb figured out a suitable death. Something that would make Isobel eye him with alert contemplation, like she did Daniel. He could be deadly, too. “An incentive for Daniel should be one of your top plans.” Maybe if Daniel found an interest beyond Isobel, Cobb wouldn’t feel so off-center.
Isobel arched a finely plucked black eyebrow. “Intere
sting. Like what?”
“A woman,” Cobb said flatly. One that didn’t belong to Elton Cobb.
Isobel sat back. In her pressed white dress shirt and slim skirt, she was the epitome of a businesswoman. But Cobb knew what she liked, and he had plenty of mental images of her hair down and wild . . . around all that bare skin.
“Meaning?” she asked, her eyes like a cat’s.
Oh, she knew what he was saying. “Hire somebody to work here and seduce him.” It was all so simple, really. “Many men are led around by their dicks, as you know. That guy has never been in love, and when he falls, he’ll topple hard and fast. Let’s take advantage of that.” Cobb picked lint off his dark jeans. If Isobel thought she was leading him around, she had it wrong.
Some women needed to feel pain, the real kind, before succumbing to love. His Isobel was one of those, and he hadn’t shown her enough to truly bind her to him. Yet.
Isobel tapped red nails on her glass desk. “Daniel is not interested in love.”
The dickhead probably had no clue how to love. “All the better.” Cobb narrowed his gaze. “Unless you’re saving him for some reason.”
Her tinkly laugh eased something in him. “Are you joking? I was there when that boy was born. Ew.” Her eyes were overbright and the tone of her voice was calm. Did she really believe those words? Was there a line she wouldn’t cross?
“Sorry.” Cobb glanced at the snowy field outside. “All men need sex.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s getting sex.” At the word, Isobel’s blue eyes flared. “I had the best whores in the world teach those boys about sex, and they learned everything from seduction to technique. The way to motivate Daniel is by offering him a permanent home in the form of a job with our new facility. That’s all he has ever wanted.”
Well, the woman was brilliant and probably did know her creations. So long as she didn’t want to keep this one as a pet. “All right. What’s this plan he’s coming up with tomorrow?”
“He’s going after the Gray brothers,” Isobel said, slowly unbuttoning her shirt, her gaze remaining steady on Cobb as she referred to a group of brothers with gray eyes whom she’d created in test tubes and trained to be killers. “It’s time we hunted them down and brought them home.”
Cobb shook his head. “You said they escaped and have formed attachments.” He paused. “Or do you want your daughter back?” One of the Gray brothers had apparently married and knocked up Isobel’s only daughter.
“I’d love to see Audrey again, especially since she’s pregnant. Just think. Another generation of supersoldiers is now in the works.” Isobel’s eyes gleamed as she shrugged out of her shirt, revealing a lacy tan bra.
Cobb’s dick hardened. Was she seducing him because she wanted him or because half-naked Daniel had just revved up her engine? His chest prickled.
“I am so excited to see if the genetic alterations I made have been transferred to the kid. My grandbaby,” Isobel continued.
The woman did not look like a grandmother, that was for damn sure. Cobb’s groin tightened, and he took note of how easily she affected him. “What about Heath, Ryker, and Denver?” It was time for Cobb to finally catch up to them and kill them, like they’d murdered his brother. It was time for them to suffer, and now that Ryker had a woman, he would get to see her die first. Should Cobb feel badly about betraying Isobel? She wanted them alive.
Their deaths were more important. This battle he’d win. And instinct told him that to keep Isobel’s interest, he had to outmaneuver her. On every front. His chin lifted. Causing her pain would force her to bind to him. To want him only. Oh, she was going to know pain and soon. She’d love it.
She smiled. “We’ll find Heath and the boys, I promise. In fact, if I can get the Gray brothers to cooperate—”
“They’re gone.” The Gray brothers had escaped years ago.
Her lips thinned. “I’ll find them. They’re our best bet for finding the Lost boys.” She stood and reached behind her for her bra clasp.
“I hate it when you call them that.” His dick was going to punch through his zipper.
She shrugged. “They lived plenty of their lives at the Lost Springs Home for Boys, so it fits. But I won’t use the nickname if it upsets you.” The bra dropped to the floor, and her still-pert nipples hardened before his eyes.
Cobb stood, unable to sit any longer. With his gaze trapped by her tits, he yanked off his shirt. If she was manipulating him, he didn’t give a shit, so long as she used her mouth first. “I’m tired of hunting them. It’s time for blood.”
“Agreed.” She smiled and shimmied out of her skirt. “Look at the wait as a positive sign. If Heath truly is working with this Anya, and if they’re pretending to be engaged, maybe they’ll develop feelings. How nice will it be to torture and ultimately kill her with Heath watching?”
Cobb’s dick hardened further. He felt eighteen years old again. Stronger and younger than Daniel by far. “Good point,” he grunted, on full alert as she drew down her thin panties. He had an affinity for torture, and one of the things he appreciated most about Isobel was that she supported him in that need. “You’re an amazing woman. Are you all mine, Isobel?” Sometimes he still wondered.
Her smile filled the whole room. “Of course, Elton. How could there be anyone else?”
Good question. He was smart enough to know he didn’t have all of her. To get that, to own her, he had to let his true nature forth. She responded to darkness, and he could be darker than even she imagined.
He reached for the button on his pants.
CHAPTER
18
Anya stepped out of the shower, more than a little pleased with the water pressure. The shampoo and conditioner supplied by Zara were high-end and smelled fresh. The bathroom was a little old but functional, and the walls were the same cool tattered brick.
She tugged jeans and a shirt from her bag and quickly dressed before finger combing her hair and clipping it at her nape to dry. Finally, she swiped mascara across her lashes and smoothed lip gloss over her lips. Just to be presentable, of course. She wasn’t trying to look pretty for Heath.
Not at all.
Right. She sighed and headed for the bedroom. She stopped cold, and her entire body went into overdrive. Heath sat on the bed, his shoes and socks off, his hair ruffled. “How’s the shower?”
Her mouth dried up. She cleared her throat. “Great water pressure.” He was on the bed. The king-size bed with obviously new sheets and a black comforter, between two simple wooden nightstands. A luxurious shag rug covered the worn wooden floor and provided warmth. No other furniture had been placed in the room. “So. One bed.” Again.
He nodded, looking beyond sexy and rumpled. “At least for tonight. We can figure out the rest tomorrow.” His polite tone was going to get him punched in the throat.
“What’s the plan?” Her stomach rumbled.
He stood and stretched, revealing smooth, long lines. “There’s a diner across from our soon-to-be decoy place of business, so we thought we’d all grab something to eat and then look around.”
She frowned, her heart thrumming. “Decoy business?”
“Yeah. This is the safe house, and the decoy building is across town but not close to your and Loretta’s temporary apartment, in case the killer is watching that. He’d be suspicious if we let you go back there. We’ll use the decoy offices to draw in the killer but we’ll stay safe here in the meantime, and definitely at night. Well, until we don’t want to be safe at night.”
“Oh.” It was her first undercover op. “Makes sense.”
He jerked his head to the bathroom. “Are you finished? I could use a quick shower.”
“Yes.” She waited until he’d taken his bag into the bathroom and shut the door before grimacing. Why did she have to pretty much attack him in bed earlier? One kiss from the guy and she’d forgotten her entire existence. Man, he knew how to kiss. Warmth spread throughout her belly at remembering.
But now
he was as distant as he’d been the first time they’d met. All because of a couple of bruises on her ribs. Was that it? There seemed to be secrets upon secrets surrounding him. If he wasn’t wanted by the law—which made sense since Reese hadn’t mentioned anything—then what was the deal? Why wouldn’t he level with her?
How could she be so attracted to somebody she didn’t know? Her father, her hero, would be so surprised. And yet she needed Heath to do the job—to avenge her sister. That was what she had to remember. The rest could take a backseat.
She set her suitcase on the bed and reorganized everything, trying to press out some of the wrinkles. Then she reached for the stack of files below the clothes and started reading through her profile of the killer, adding a couple of notes. She sat, her mind spinning. Who was he?
Too soon, the bathroom door opened, and Heath stalked out. He wore faded jeans that cupped his muscled legs and a dark T-shirt that stretched nicely across his tight chest. His wet hair curled toward his neck, and he’d left the shadow on his jaw. His greenish brown eyes were back to being alert and distant.
Even so, her breath quickened a little. Just from one simple look at him.
Why did he have to be so good-looking?
“Ready?” he asked.
She set the files down and followed him out of the bedroom and into the wide, currently empty living room, which was adjacent to the open-concept kitchen. “Zara said we probably won’t get more furniture for the apartments.”
Heath shook his head. “We’re not gonna be here long enough to get furniture, and we don’t have the funds right now anyway.” He strode around the granite-covered kitchen island and opened a cupboard above the fridge to take down a mean-looking black handgun. He checked the clip and slammed it home. He stuck the gun into the back of his waistband. “I always carry.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t at the funeral in DC.”
He tilted his head. “I figured the FBI might want to chat. Maybe even check out my rig. So you’re right . . . No gun in DC.”
Lethal Lies Page 14