The Deception

by Kat Martin

  “How much longer do we wait?”

  He sighed. “Look, Kate. The cops are handling this, but things could go south. You’re just another person for them to worry about. Be better if you stayed here.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, you’re going and so am I. We’re so close, Jase. I quit before and it didn’t do any good. I’m not quitting again.”

  “Christ, you’re a pain in my ass.”

  Kate had the audacity to grin. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “But in a good way, right?”

  Jase hauled her into his arms and kissed her the way he’d been wanting to, long, hot and deep. Kate moaned. She was trembling when he let her go.

  “If...if you think that’s going to persuade me to stay home, you’re wrong.”

  Amusement slipped through him. “Actually, I just wanted to kiss you.” Stupid as it was. “But you have to promise to stay in the car, out of the way.”

  “I will, I promise.”

  He nodded. “Get your gear and let’s go.”

  Forty-five minutes later, they pulled up at the rendezvous point, parked in a spot a short distance from a line of patrol cars. The plan was for Jase to gain access to the truck using the password he’d acquired last night. It wasn’t a good idea to risk an unfamiliar guy, and if he could get the door open, the cops could swoop in and take control of the situation with less chance of the women getting hurt.

  At least that was the plan.

  Jase and Kate both got out of the Yukon. Castillo left his men to walk back and speak to them. The detective was heavily armed and wearing tactical gear, as were the rest of the men. “I didn’t expect to see Kate here.”

  “Yeah, well, you ever try to stop a woman whose mind is made up?”

  Castillo didn’t see the humor. “You need to stay out of the way, Kate.”

  “She isn’t officially here,” Jase said. “I’d like to keep her out of this if we can.”

  Castillo turned a hard look on Kate. “Stay in the car until this is over. We have no idea how this is going to go down. We don’t want civilians getting hurt.”

  “I won’t interfere,” she said.

  Castillo just nodded and returned to his men. Jase took an armored vest out of his gear bag and swung it on over his T-shirt, then shrugged into a blue denim shirt to cover it and the gun holstered in the belt at his waist. Then they settled in to wait.

  And wait. And wait. And wait.

  At 2:00 a.m., a crusty old sergeant named Mackessey, the man in charge, called off the bust. The truck never showed. Jase was pissed.

  He tossed his vest into the back of the Yukon and strode up to Castillo. “This is exactly what I was afraid of. You got a dirty cop on the job. Maybe more than one. By now Los Besos knows exactly who’s been tracking them. Thanks for the help.” He turned to leave, but Castillo caught his arm.

  “I had to go through proper channels. You know how it works. If there’s a dirty cop, it isn’t me. I’ll find someone I can trust and we’ll figure it out. You can still count on me. I swear it, Hawk.”

  Some of Jase’s anger deflated. Castillo had always been a straight shooter. On the other hand, he couldn’t afford to take chances. “Fine. If I come up with anything, I’ll let you know.” Like hell he would. “I expect you to do the same.”

  “You got it.”

  But after tonight, Jase’s plans had changed. He might still trust Castillo, but not the cops the detective was working with. Someone was dirty, and a dirty cop could be deadly.

  He returned to where Kate stood next to the Yukon. The bad news was, just as he’d feared, they were in deeper trouble than before.

  “Take the battery and sim card out of your phone,” he said, once they were inside. “They know who we are now. We don’t want them tracking us.”

  Panic flashed in her eyes. “You think they can do that?”

  “No idea, but I’d rather play it safe. From now on, we’re using burners. I keep a couple in my gear bag in the back.”

  The headlights of half a dozen patrol cars went on as the cops pulled out and headed back to Houston. Jase drove off, but instead of pulling onto the interstate, he circled around and returned to the truck stop.

  Drawing his .38 revolver out of his ankle holster, he handed the gun to Kate. “Wait here. Lock the doors.”

  She accepted the pistol without a word and settled it in her lap. She’d told him she knew how to fire a weapon. He wished they’d had time to practice, but looking at her, he had a feeling she knew what she was doing. The way things were going, the knowledge might come in handy.

  Jase walked into the truck stop and glanced around for Wally, but didn’t see him. A dark-skinned woman worked behind the counter. “You seen Wally?” Jase asked.

  “He’s not here. Wally called in sick.”

  Jase pulled a twenty out of his wallet. “You know where he lives?”

  The woman eyed the twenty. It wasn’t a lot but it beat minimum wage. “There’s a trailer park just down the road. He’s in space 14.”

  “Thanks.” Jase handed the woman the money.

  “Did you find him?” Kate asked as he settled himself behind the wheel.

  “Wally called in sick. He lives in a trailer park down the street.” About a mile away, the Countryside Trailer Park sat off to the left. Jase pulled in, his headlights illuminating a row of single-wide trailers, grass and weeds growing up under the wheels.

  Bumping along the rutted dirt lane, he pulled up in front of space 14 and turned off the engine. A dim light burned inside the trailer.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Exiting the Yukon, he knocked on the door to a battered old Airstream about the size of a bedroom on wheels. He could hear shuffling, then the door slowly opened.

  Wally looked like he’d been run through a meat grinder. Black eyes, split lip, bruises all over. The bags under his eyes said he hadn’t been sleeping. Probably hurting too much.

  “What the hell...?” Wally blinked, recognized Jason. “You! Get the hell away from me!” He tried to close the door, but Jase shoved it open and pushed his way inside.

  “Take it easy, okay? I’m not here to hurt you.”

  “What are you? A cop? Are the cops out there right now?”

  “I’m not a cop, and the police don’t know anything about you.” He didn’t burn an informant. Wally was just a guy trying to get by.

  The kid sat down on the sofa, which also served as a pullout bed. He fingered his swollen nose. “Did you tell the police about the truck? You must have. There was never any trouble till you came around.”

  “I’m a bounty hunter. I’m looking for someone. The guy I’m after is part of Los Besos.”

  The color leached out of Wally’s thin face. “They thought I’d snitched to the cops, but I didn’t. I think they believed me, but they beat me up anyway. Said this was a sample of what would happen if I opened my mouth.”

  “I don’t think they’ll come back to the TexMart. Too risky. You should be okay.”

  Wally picked at the dried blood on the corner of his mouth. “I never wanted their dirty money, but they didn’t give me a choice. Those guys are bad dudes.”

  “Real bad. What they do to those women is even worse.”

  Wally knuckle-rubbed his head, making his pale hair stand up. He sighed. “I know. I feel bad about that.”

  “Give me something I can use and I’ll find them, put them out of business. I won’t involve you or the cops. I’ll handle it on my own.”

  Wally looked down at the bulge of the semiauto in the belt beneath Jason’s shirt. He shook his head. “They’ll kill me.”

  “They won’t know. I give you my word. I just need a name, something to go on.”

  Wally bit his lip.

  “There’s a girl...” Jase said. “She’s only thirte
en. Ran away from home a couple of days ago. I think Los Besos picked her up.”

  Wally squeezed his eyes shut.

  “She’s just a kid, Wally. You know what they’ll do to her.”

  “Jesus.”

  “You can stop it. You can save her. I just need a name.”

  A shudder rippled through his slim body. “All right, but you better keep your word.”

  “Count on it,” Jase said.

  “I heard a couple of them talking. There’s this guy...name is Harlan Burke. Works at a place on Bissonnet over off the Southwest freeway. Paradise Massage. He’s connected, not sure how. Keeps the women in line, I think, but I’m not sure. That’s all I know.”

  “Thanks, Wally. You did a good thing.” Jase left him sitting on the sofa, his head between his knees.

  “We caught a break,” he said as he slid in behind the wheel of the Yukon. “Got the name of a guy in Houston who works for Los Besos. Name’s Harlan Burke.”

  “You know where to find him?”

  Jase nodded. “With any luck, I’ll find Burke—and get a nice relaxing massage while I’m at it.”

  * * *

  Kate walked into the apartment feeling edgy and unsettled. It was after three in the morning. Both of them were frustrated and strung tight. Their plan had failed, and it looked as if someone on the police force had given them up to Los Besos. Or at least given them Jason’s name.

  According to Detective Castillo, he had kept her name out of it. If they could actually trust his word.

  She dropped her purse on the sofa, renewed anxiety prickling her nerves. She glanced over at Jase standing in the center of the living room staring toward the window, his hands propped on his hips. The denim shirt was gone, leaving him in his white T-shirt, his big semiautomatic pistol riding on the heavy leather belt around his waist.

  His arms bulged with muscle. The bandage was gone from the side of his thick neck, but the gash from the bullet remained. He looked like exactly what he was. A hard, tough man. A bounty hunter. Hawk Maddox.

  Kate wanted to eat him up.

  She took a steadying breath. What difference would one more night make? One more night in bed with him? She knew he needed her tonight, could see it every time those fierce blue eyes swung in her direction. The danger they faced was real. No one could know the outcome. There was a chance they could both end up as dead as her sister.

  What difference would one more night with Jason make?

  She toed off her black sneakers and started toward him, saw his chest expand as she pulled off the rubber band holding back her hair and tossed her head, sending her long curls swirling around her shoulders. She could have sworn his nostrils flared.

  His breath came faster as she stopped to peel off her black top and strip off her jeans. At the hunger in his eyes, her stomach contracted and her breathing quickened to the rhythm of his.

  She was a foot away when she stopped again. There was still time to change her mind.

  Jase straightened, seemed to grow even bigger, more powerful. “Kate...”

  She met his gaze and didn’t back away from the challenge she read there. Reaching for his belt buckle, she unfastened it and slid off his leather belt, set his weapon down on the end table.

  She was in his arms before she saw him move, his mouth crushing down over hers, his arms tight around her. Her fingers slipped into his thick brown hair, and she kissed him the way he was kissing her, hot and deep and amazing. She clung to his neck as he walked her backward till her shoulders came up against the wall.

  Jase unhooked her bra and tossed it away, filled his hands with her breasts. “Kate...”

  A soft sound escaped her throat. Every part of her throbbed and burned. Bending his head, Jase took the heavy weight of her breast into his mouth, suckled and tasted until she moaned.

  The next thing she knew her panties were gone and she was naked. Jase pulled his T-shirt off over his head and she ran her hands over his sculpted chest, felt heat surge into her core as hard muscle bunched beneath her fingers.

  Unzipping his jeans, he freed himself, lifted her and wrapped her legs around his waist. She was shaking, desire nearly tangible, need a force she couldn’t fight any longer. She wanted him so badly she went light-headed when he drove himself inside.

  “Kate...” he whispered again. No man had ever said her name the way he did, like a prayer or a vow.

  He kissed her again, kissed her and kissed her, all the while, driving himself inside her, pushing her toward the brink.

  When she tipped into climax, she cried out his name and the world spun away. Sweet euphoria spilled through her, a hot rush of dense, saturating pleasure. Seconds later, Jase followed her to release.

  For long moments, he just held her, her head on his shoulder, her arms around his neck. It felt so right, so perfect. Her heart constricted. She was in love with him. She knew it. Could no longer deny it. It was stupid. Insane. Loving him would only bring her heartache. But it was already too late.

  She told herself it didn’t matter. For now he was hers. She was going to take everything he could give her.

  “Let’s go to bed,” she said, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.

  Jason just nodded. She thought that he was feeling the same hopelessness that weighed her down, but she couldn’t be sure. She felt like crying. She felt like making love with him again.

  Jase carried her into the bedroom and settled her on the mattress, dealt with the condom she hadn’t remembered him putting on. Stripping off the rest of his clothes, he joined her in bed and began to kiss her all over again.

  Kate gave herself up to the pleasure and told herself that it would be enough.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Callie huddled on the mattress on the floor of the small, airless room. A sealed window let in thin rays of sunlight, but the bars blocked any chance of escape.

  The first time she had managed to slip away unnoticed, but her freedom hadn’t lasted long. After they had dragged her back to the place they kept the other women, she had been sure they would beat her. Instead, they had simply locked her in different room, one she couldn’t get out of.

  She’d been fed and bathed. The woman in charge brought her a pill to make her sleep, and refused to leave until she swallowed it. The day they had kidnapped her, the same woman had ordered two other girls to hold her down while she checked to be sure Callie was still intact...down there.

  She had cried for hours afterward.

  They had their proof that she was a virgin. Now they were grooming her for the man who would buy her—like a prize cat or a show dog, she thought miserably. They wanted the highest price they could get for her. The better she looked, the prettier, the more money she was worth.

  She wondered if her mother had called the police when she’d discovered Callie was gone. Her mom loved her. Surely she would be worried about her. Maybe the cops were looking for her right now.

  She held on to that hope every time they forced her to swallow another pill. Whatever drug it was took away her will to fight, and she just sat on the mattress like a lump.

  She wondered how much longer she had until the man who wanted her came to claim her.

  Please God, let the police find me first. Please, please, please. But God hadn’t helped her before. She didn’t really think He would help her now.

  A fresh wave of grogginess closed down her mind, and Callie curled up on the mattress. She tried to keep her eyes open, but it was no use. When she gave in to sleep, she dreamed she was back in the grassy field behind her house in Wharton where she and her friend Penny used to play. She dreamed that she was safe, but she knew it was only a dream.

  * * *

  Both of them were wary the following morning, speaking to each other with exaggerated politeness, pretending the hot sex last night never happened.

 
It shouldn’t have. Jase knew it and so did Kate. She should have stayed as far away from him as she could get. Jase should have beaten down his lust and refused her offer of comfort.

  He told himself that’s all it was. He was uptight and worried. Kate gave him ease with her beautiful body. He should have refused, but he had never been much of a martyr, and he had greedily taken the gift she offered.

  Worse yet, he wanted it to happen again.

  He’d been quiet all morning, feeling guilty and not feeling guilty at the same time.

  “Okay, enough of this.” Kate marched into the kitchen where he was working on his computer. “I wanted you. You wanted me. We’re both adults. We can forgive each other for being human, okay?”

  Relief swept through him, and he couldn’t stop a smile. “Honey, you are amazing.” One of his eyebrows kicked up along with the corner of his mouth. “Any chance we can be human again right now?”

  Her laughter broke the tension. “Sorry, big guy, we have too much work to do.”

  He looked into her smiling face and something tightened in his chest. Every day his feelings for Kate grew deeper. It was dangerous for both of them.

  “We need to practice some moves,” he said gruffly. His gaze ran over her sexy, feminine curves, and his groin tightened. He wanted to practice some moves, all right, but they had nothing to do with self-defense.

  Inwardly he groaned.

  “Too bad we don’t have a mat of some kind,” Kate said.

  “Yeah.” He went over to his gear bag, pulled out a six-inch fixed-blade knife. “We’ll do some knife work today. I’ll show you the right way to attack and ways to defend.”

  Her eyes gleamed. She seemed to be liking this stuff a little too much.

  “I’m ready whenever you are,” she said, smiling.

  Jase steeled himself, and they went to work.

  Two hours later, he headed in to take another shower—this one cold—then he sat back down in front of his laptop. Finally able to concentrate, he pulled up Google and keyed in Paradise Massage.