by A Caprice
“Like hell.” She tried to shrug out of his grip but he just tightened his hold. “It was a smart tactic on Vega’s part, to try to intimidate me, get me off the case. But if I do that, he wins.”
“He wins if you die. That won’t happen if you’re in protective custody.”
She grabbed both of his hands and yanked them off her shoulders. “I’m not going into protective custody.”
He growled. “Andie, so help me God, if you don’t—”
“And don’t try pulling any of that macho bullshit of how you’ll throw me over your shoulder and drag me into custody. That crap doesn’t play with me and you’ll only get a bullet hole for your trouble.”
A mix of emotions rushed over his face. My God, he was actually thinking about doing just that.
She wouldn’t actually shoot the big galoot if he tried to drag her into protection, but she just might break something of his. Her ringing phone put a halt to any confrontation.
“What?” Andie listened to her captain and felt her stomach bottom out. “We need to get to his family. Put them somewhere.” He agreed and she promised she’d keep him informed of any progress. When she ended the call, Chase looked at her expectantly.
“It’s Garcia,” she told him. “He was found in his cell, multiple stab wounds. He’s dead.” She grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. “So you see, protective custody isn’t any safer than working the case.” She kept her voice even but her pulse raced. Garcia had been in a private cell surrounded by cops. For the first time it truly hit her that she wasn’t safe. She knew there was always a risk to her job, but not like this. Vega was the biggest fish she had ever gone after and she had the sinking feeling that she just might need a bigger boat.
“Fuck it, Andie! We really need—”
“The captain’s arranging to get his family into custody. They might need to go into witness protection.”
He stepped up to her again, but this time his hands were gentle as they rubbed her shoulders. “It’s already done. Ten minutes after I got Vega’s name from Garcia I made a call and got them picked up.”
“You did?”
He moved his hands to her neck and soothed the tight muscles there. “Of course. I was responsible for putting them in danger. I had to make sure to get them out of it.”
The warmth from his hands spread down to her chest. In addition to being a great cop, he really was a good guy. A man she could see having a serious relationship with.
If only he wanted one.
She stepped away and focused on his facial expression. “What did Vega mean about asking you about the ‘abominations’?” She used her fingers to make bunny ears around the word.
He pressed his lips tight, but other than that his expression gave nothing away. “When we find Vega, we’ll have to ask him.”
There was more to it than that. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He ran a hand through his thick hair. “Andie, please. We need to find a way to get Vega and I need to make sure you’re safe. We don’t have time for his insinuations. I don’t know anything that you don’t that will help us with our investigation.”
“Okay.” She pulled herself up as straight as possible but still had to look a long way up at him. “I’ll accept that for now. And you will accept that this is my case and I’m staying on it. I’m not running away.”
He blew out a sigh and looked at the ceiling. When he finally brought his gaze back down she could see the resignation in his green eyes. “Fine. But until Vega’s in custody, baby, I’m going to be on you like white on rice.”
***
Stakeouts were as exciting as watching a pot of water boil. Andie yawned. Chase and she were sitting in the mother of all toad-chokers, the rain coming down so hard it looked like milk running down the windshield of the fake power company’s van they sat in. The humid air was chilled, and Andie wished she had something warmer than the windbreaker she wore over the utility company’s polo shirt and khakis.
The storm made it nearly impossible to see if the elaborate wrought-iron gate that led to one of the suburb’s McMansions opened, but luckily they had other equipment to help. The rangers had provided night vision scopes, a Nikon with an obscenely long lens, and a thermal imaging camera. Chase had added a stingray cell phone listening device and other gadgets that she didn’t even recognize to their arsenal.
He’d also brought snacks.
Andie munched on a Cheeto and looked at the faint outline of the three-story building that Vega called home. It was nice enough and in an affluent neighborhood.
It wasn’t drug cartel level, I-have-enough-money-to-buy-a-small-country-nice, however.
Vega was smart not to live outside the means of his day job as CEO of Avivos LLC, the biotech company that was at the forefront of oncology pharmaceuticals. The company headquarters and research and development arm were based in Dallas. A production facility was located in Juarez, Mexico. A nice set-up to produce illegal drugs, if one were so inclined.
She raised the thermal imaging camera and looked at the heat signatures on his property again. Only three people were in residence. She knew one was Vega, having seen him come home from work, and assumed the other two were the housekeeper and driver/security man they’d found out he employed. Nothing unusual showed up.
She sighed. If he was binge-watching the latest Netflix show, this would be a very fruitless night.
“You cold?” Chase’s question almost couldn’t be heard above the pounding of the rain on the van roof.
“I’m fine.” Her voice had more of a bite to it than she’d intended. She tapped her fingers on her thigh. She wanted to be kicking down Vega’s door, not waiting on his next move.
“Riiight.” He shoved the rest of his Hot Pocket into his mouth, though after sitting here for more than an hour it surely no longer lived up to its name, and reached into the back of the van. He pulled a small blanket from the pile of his supplies and draped it over her lap.
She pulled the soft fabric higher up her waist. “Good God, what all did you bring? It’s like you’re going camping for a week, not on a couple of hours surveillance job.”
He shrugged, unabashed, and gave her a two-finger salute. “Always be prepared.” Reaching into the paper bag between their seats he pulled out a box of Hot Tamales and poured a handful of red candies onto his palm. “Want some?”
“No, I don’t want some. I want—”
“Action.”
“Yes! I’m tired of waiting ar—”
“No, I mean there’s action going on at the house.” He rolled his eyes. “Jeez, you’re like a two-year-old who can’t sit still.”
She ignored the insult and trained the thermal imager up the drive. Two figures were getting into the car parked at the house. “He’s on the move.” She called it in to the three other cars that were waiting a quarter of a mile away in various directions. The iron gate swung inward and the flash of headlights brightened the night. “Car three, he’s heading your way in a northbound direction. You’ll be the command vehicle. Cars one and two, get into lay-up positions. Let’s find a decision point one mile up and have car two transition to command.”
Chase waited until the taillights winked out before starting the van’s engine. “You have their signal?”
She double-checked the receiver to the GPS tracking device they’d placed on his car at his work earlier that day. “We’ve got it.”
“Then let’s see where a sadistic drug lord likes to go on a Friday night.” He pulled onto the street and they followed the blinking dot on their GPS map.
“So…” Chase beat his fingers against the steering wheel. “Do you believe there are people out there, abominations as Vega calls them, who deserve to be destroyed?”
Her focus jerked up from the tracking device. “Is this a philosophical discussion or do you have something specific in mind?”
“Just talking.” His eyes didn’t leave the road
in front of him. “Not much else to do on a stakeout.”
Riiight. “I think anyone who creates a drug that has a high chance of killing the user for money or power or whatever it is that Vega’s after, is an abomination. One I have no problem destroying.” She narrowed her eyes. “Is that what you’re after? Are you asking how far I’ll go? Because I will have no problem putting a bullet in his head if I need to, and if you have a problem with that, if that makes me too bloodthirsty for you—”
He reached over and covered her hand. “That’s not what I’m asking.” He cleared his throat but didn’t continue.
“Then what are you asking? What’s going on with you?”
“Ah, okay. Well, I guess I’m asking, if you knew someone was different… No, if someone was generally a good person but they had an odd…quirk, would you, that is to say, do you think…”
Andie’s jaw dropped open. The never-at-a-loss-for-words charmer was babbling. If she didn’t feel that what he was trying to spit out was vitally important, his tripping over his own tongue would be adorable. The man who always had an easy smile and an answer for everything was flustered.
She reached over and ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “Whatever it is, it’s okay, you can tell me.”
“Yes.” His knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel. “The thing is—”
A squawk from the radio interrupted him. She frowned at the damn thing then cursed herself for losing focus. This was about getting Vega. “Car two, what’s your location?” She noted their response then checked the tracker again. Vega’s car had stopped.
“What restaurant did he go into?” she asked the cop on the other end of the radio. Her eyes flicked up to catch Chase staring at her. She put the radio down and zipped up her jacket. “I hope you didn’t ruin your appetite with candy. It looks like we’re eating Italian tonight.”
Chapter Eight
“I don’t think we should do this,” he said for the fifth time as they scuttled under the restaurant’s overhang. He brushed some water off his hair and looked at the woman shivering next to him. Going into this restaurant was a really bad idea.
“You worry too much.” She reached for the door, but he held her back.
“Explain to me how a surveillance op translates into eating dinner at the same restaurant with Vega? He knows who we are. He’ll see us.”
“And he knows that we know who he is.” Her nose crinkled. “Did I say that right? Anyway, he must suspect that we’re following him, that we’ll get a warrant to tap his phone calls, access his internet provider. He’ll be prepared for all that.” She shook out of her dripping windbreaker. “We need to put pressure on him, show him he didn’t scare us. And it would be damn nice to know who he’s eating with.”
His head fell back on his shoulders and he started counting to ten. The door whispered open when he hit four and he looked down to see the backside of Andie stride through the opening.
He swore and grabbed the door before it swung closed. He was going to make sure that cute ass made it out unscathed if it was the last thing he did.
His eyes adjusted to the darkened lighting and he scanned the interior.
No Vega in the front dining area.
The hostess guided them down a short hallway that led into a back room. The tables were only half full and he still didn’t see the drug lord. A staircase in the corner of the room caught his eye, and he tracked his gaze up to a second-story balcony seating area. He could only see the tops of patrons’ heads, but Vega had to be there. The location would give him an eagle-eye view of everything going on down below, and being seated above everyone would appeal to the egotist on a subconscious level.
Chase and Andie were led to a quiet corner booth beneath the balcony. At least Vega couldn’t see them.
She slid into the booth, her bright blue gaze bouncing off every corner of the room. “I’m going to have to go up and say hello to our friend. Maybe we should send him a bottle of wine.”
“Let’s just sit here for a bit and observe.” He slid his phone out from his pocket and laid it on the table. “I’ll take pictures of anyone coming and going to the balcony.” He flipped open the menu. “Besides, the red sauce here smells terrific. I could go for some lasagna.”
“You already ate dinner in the van.” She flicked a glance at her own menu then put it down. “How can you eat again?”
He shrugged. “When you eat in a car, it doesn’t count. Everyone knows that.”
Her lips parted as if she would reply, but she ended up just shaking her head. A sweating carafe of ice water stood at the end of the table, and Andie reached for it and one of two water tumblers. “You want some?” He nodded and she poured them both a glass.
“I’m going to put in a call to the guys outside,” she told him.
He nodded again. What was with him? It was like she stripped his ability to put a sentence together. His stomach tightened. He let his eyes wash over her, trying to memorize every detail. If this was going to be one of the last times she let them have dinner together, he was going to remember everything.
Because he was going to tell her about himself. His heart stuttered. He wanted a future with this woman. That was a first for him. But looking at her as she ended her call and took a sip of water, he knew it was right. She belonged with him. He was determined to try for more.
As long as she didn’t run away screaming when he told her his secret.
They had roughly an hour to kill while Vega ate, and it was no use putting it off any longer.
He took a large swallow of water then cleared his throat. “Andie. There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?” She swiveled her head and looked toward the kitchen. “And where is that waitress? I want to ask if she’s waiting on the customers upstairs.”
The muscles in his shoulders were as hard as boulders, and Chase blew out a breath and tried to relax. “The restaurant is half empty. We’ll be able to see if anyone goes up or down from the balcony and right now that’s all we can do. But this is important. I really need you to understand what I’m going to tell you.”
She replaced her glass with a soft thunk on the table and licked a drop of water off her bottom lip. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” He reached out and rubbed the soft skin on the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb, greedy for any last touches. “At least, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. With me. But people like Vega do.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I’m one of the abominations he was talking about.”
A crease appeared above her nose. “A cop? A giant? You’re going to have to give me more to go on.”
He gave her hand one last squeeze. “No.” His pulse raced. “Someone with paranormal ability.”
The clink of silverware from a nearby table was the only sound to reach his ears. She just stared at him.
“Andie?”
Her gaze flicked around the room then she leaned in over the tabletop. “I don’t understand. What are you telling me? Because for a second there it sounded like you think you have ESP.”
“No, not ESP.” He watched her shoulders sag in relief. “I can create and manipulate electricity with my mind.”
The pulse at the base of her throat fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. A rosy hue brushed across her burnished skin.
He leaned back in the booth and downed the rest of his water. She wasn’t taking this well.
“There are others like me. Well, not like me per se.” Why couldn’t he stop his babbling? “I’m the only one I know of who can create electricity. But there are many other paranormals out there, each with their own unique talents. I work for an organization of them. We use our abilities to protect the world against the criminal element among us.”
“Chase.” She closed her eyes and shook her head minutely. When she looked at him again her pupils were dilated.
Shit, she was scared. Of him.
He grabbed her hand, the heat from it seeping into his skin. “I would never hurt you.”
“Of course not. That isn’t anywhere close to what I was thinking.” She shook her head again. “But…you really believe this? That you have some special abilities.”
The weight that had been crushing him lifted, and Chase felt so light that he thought levitation might be a new ability for him. She wasn’t freaking out. She wasn’t scared of him.
She wasn’t going to think he was a freak.
She just didn’t believe him and that could be easily remedied. Still, one more reassurance wouldn’t go amiss. “Just to be clear, when I show you what I can do, you’re not going to run screaming out of the room, right? I’ll still be the same Chase you know, just with a talent you weren’t aware of.”
Her smile was weak and her eyes glassy, but otherwise, she was holding up like a champ. “I wouldn’t think any less of you. And if we need to get you some psychiatric help, I won’t think less of you then, either.”
He half-laughed, half-growled. “There might be a whole host of shit I need a shrink for, but this isn’t one of them.” He turned his broad shoulders to block out the line of sight of anyone else in the room then raised his hand, palm up. “Watch my hand and prepare to be amazed.”
He felt for the energy coursing through his body.
And paused when he came up empty.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated this time, reaching deep into his core for that little hum, that vibration that he could control and channel and that made him who he was.
Still nothing.
What the fuck?
“I don’t see anything on your hand, but where’d that pink elephant on your shoulder come from?”
His eyes snapped open and he looked into her unfocused gaze.
Son of a bitch.
He was a goddamned moron and he was going to get them killed.