Erin found it all so strange how one moment, things had been happening in slow motion. Then in the next moment, when the van finally tipped, everything happened in the blink of an eye. It was enough to leave Erin feeling as though the world had suddenly tilted the wrong way and there had been nothing for her to hold on to to keep from falling.
Erin blinked again, trying to focus on just which way was up as she pulled herself away from the driver.
Someone grabbed her arm. It was a strong hand, holding her with the strength of a vise. Erin turned, thinking it might be Doreli, ready to fight with everything she had, with every last ounce of her strength.
It wasn’t Doreli.
It was Lee, the fire of his gaze mixing instantly with the fire in her own.
Erin melted into his arms. “Oh, Liam,” she breathed.
“It’s all right,” he assured her. “Doreli’s out of commission for a white.”
Erin barely glanced behind him, only enough to see Doreli unconscious, resting against the side of the van, which was now the floor. “So is the driver, but he’s still alive.”
“Are you all right?” he asked, his harsh, whispered words lost in her hair.
“I think so,” she replied.
“Hey, are you all right in there?” an unknown voice called from above them.
Looking up, they took in the two men who had climbed onto the side of the van and were trying to slide open the side door.
“We’re fine,” Lee answered back. “Can you help us out?”
“What about those other two?” one of the men asked. “Look,” he went on, noticing the driver, “that one’s bleeding. Shouldn’t we get him out first?”
Lee quickly grasped Erin’s hands. With a gentleness she had only felt in him and no other man, he rubbed the circulation back into them. “No, take her out first. These other two are dangerous and wanted by the police, and I’m not taking them out until they’re tied up.”
“Dangerous?” one of the men asked cautiously. “Are you a cop or something?”
“Yes, I am,” Lee replied, still rubbing Erin’s hands. Again, he met her gaze, locking it into the heat of his. “Protecting a witness they wanted to get rid of.”
“Does this mean you’re back on the job for good?” Erin asked softly.
“Yeah, well...” he began, unable to find an appropriate reply. He turned toward Doreli. “Go on out now. Your head is bleeding.”
“It is?” Erin had been so caught up in Lee, in the fact they were still alive, she hadn’t even noticed. Slowly, hesitantly, she reached up and touched the tender place at her hairline just above her temple. She couldn’t remember when or how or on what she had hit it. Bringing her fingers down once again, she stared blankly at the trace of blood she saw there.
“Erin,” Lee said, giving her a small shake and pulling her out of the shock that was settling over her at the sight of her own blood.
“Yes?” She looked up at him once again, his dark, hot gaze grounding her as nothing else could. Yet it didn’t last. It seemed to her that as soon as her gaze touched his and he knew she was all right, he looked away.
“Go out now. See if you can find someone with a mobile phone to call the police. Then try to get a hold of Tom and tell him where we are and what’s going on. I’m afraid if these two don’t call in soon enough, Burke will disappear. And keep pressure on that cut on your head,” he instructed, all the while avoiding her gaze.
Erin wanted to force him to look at her. She wanted to confront him, make him see that he’d gotten them through this with nothing more than a cut or two, that he was still as good as he’d ever been. That he could be even better as a cop than he was before, limping or not. But he was already gently pushing her aside, toward those men who were reaching down to her. “Go on,” he said.
She tried to stand, careful of the uneven wall of the van beneath her feet, while Lee moved to tie Doreli with the same rope that had been on Erin’s wrists. The two men above her reached down and helped lift her out.
By the time Erin found a mobile phone and called the police, Lee, with the help of other Good Samaritans who had stopped after seeing the van crash, had Doreli and the driver out of the van. Lee had taken their guns and, despite the fact both men were out for the count, had tied them both up.
The police arrived a moment later. Erin thought there was even more chaos after that. The police didn’t trust Lee, even after he turned the guns over to them. The questions never stopped, at least until Alex Kaffel showed up.
Alex was everything an FBI agent should be, Erin thought. Rough, tough, and so determined to do his job that he appeared to be a man carved in stone. He brought in with him a sudden air of tension.
“What are you doing here?” Lee asked, his voice harsh.
“I decided there would probably be more action where you’re concerned, McGrey,” Alex replied. “So as well as continuing to watch our mutual friend, Forest Burke, I was keeping an eye on you. Or trying to, at least. You’re not an easy man to keep track of. I found it very interesting when Ms. Flemming’s car showed up at Burke’s today. Not that I was surprised. I knew you could never stay out of my investigation. What did surprise me was that neither of you were there when we searched. Then when I heard the call come over the radio for dispatch to check out a Liam McGrey in connection with this accident,” he said, “I thought I’d better get here. Are you guys all right?” he asked, looking from Lee to Erin.
“None the worse for wear,” Lee muttered, looking as though he could never trust Alex Kaffel.
“I figured you were both at the bottom of Lake Michigan after the mess we found at your house. And you’re damned lucky you aren’t. You should have stayed out of this,” Alex said.
“And how long do you think we’d have had to stay in hiding, waiting for Burke to make a move if Erin, if I hadn’t forced him into it?” Lee asked. His voice was calm, but Erin could feel the tension radiating from him. “Not to mention that Burke’s men came after us first, remember?”
Alex gave him no reply.
“What about the cops who were watching my house?” Lee asked finally.
“They’re alive,” Alex replied. “Barely, but the doctors do expect them to recover. Do you think Burke’s men just took a chance that you were there?”
“There’s a rat in the Specialists Division office. I figure that rat did a little too much squeaking,” Lee revealed.
“And do you plan on taking care of that rat?” Alex asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“Well,” Alex went on, his attention drawn to the men Lee had tied up on the ground, “it looks as though you’ve done my job and caught Doreli for me.”
“Yeah,” Lee muttered. An ambulance arrived then, and Lee led Erin to it. “Take a look at her head,” he said to the first paramedic who approached.
“Sit down right here, miss.” The paramedic guided her to a seat, looking at her head as he spoke.
Lee turned to go back to Alex. He was still avoiding Erin’s direct gaze. And Erin had had enough of it. She reached up and grabbed his hand. “Don’t leave me.”
It was enough to force him to look at her. The tender way his gaze met hers was warm enough to melt ice. “I won’t.” And he held on tightly to her hand as the paramedic expertly bandaged her head.
She refused to go to the hospital for stitches, but promised to see her own doctor as soon as she got the chance and go right to the hospital should she have any problems such as blurred vision.
Alex Kaffel came back to them just as the paramedic was finishing up. “We were finally able to get a hold of your partner, Tom Weatherby. We’re moving in. He’s on his way to Burke’s house right now. And so am I.”
Lee straightened. Erin could feel the way he tensed up by the way his hand tightened on hers. “I want to be there when Burke’s taken down.”
“I kind of thought you would. I’ll take you. But I want you to stand clear. This is an FBI operation.”
“I�
�m going, too,” Erin said.
Both men looked at her.
“Well, it’s me he wanted to kill to begin with. You don’t expect me just to walk away now and watch from a distance, or, heaven forbid, read all about it in the newspaper, do you?” she asked. “I want to see him arrested. I deserve to see him arrested.”
“Fine,” Alex agreed. “And McGrey?”
Lee met his gaze. “What?”
“I know how you feel about me, and you have every right to feel that way. When I make a mistake, I admit it, and I made a mistake when it came to your witness getting shot. I never meant for any of it to happen.”
Lee said nothing as he held Alex’s gaze.
“Anyway,” the agent went on, “I just wanted to say that we probably couldn’t have flushed Burke out without your help. And I know you don’t trust me—”
“I trust you enough to go with you now,” Lee countered.
Alex offered him a slight smile. “Then let’s finish this.”
“That sounds good to me,” Lee said.
Erin was trying to rest in the back seat of Alex’s car, but Lee could see it wasn’t easy for her. She looked as keyed up as he felt.
Yet his anxiety had nothing to do with catching Burke. True, he wanted the slime put behind bars. He could even admit to himself that he would have liked to see him tortured, see him experience pain, for all that he had put Erin through—for all he had put them both through.
That wasn’t, however, why he was feeling as though his insides were tied in knots. It was because of what Erin had asked, that one little question that had said so much. “Does this mean you’re back on the job for good?”
Yes, he was a cop. It was all he would ever be. He could face that.
What he couldn’t seem to face just now was the fact that in dealing with Burke and Doreli—and protecting Erin—he’d had a big taste of what it meant to be “back on the job again.” A big enough taste to know he wanted to eat the whole cake.
What he didn’t know about was Erin. If he was back on the job for good, did that mean she was gone again? True, she’d said a lot of things in the back of that van, but did she still feel the same, now that she was safe? Because his being a cop in Special Division might very well mean he’d be gone for days or weeks at a time. Just like before.
the didn’t know what he’d be going back to. The uncertainty scared the hell out of him. Even after he finished telling Alex everything he and Erin had been through—about Burke and his secret, hidden room and the art treasures—after facing the realization of just how close the two of them had come to losing their lives, the uncertain future still weighed heavily on his mind. Was his job worth his love for Erin? Would he be forced to choose?
Even Erin’s hand, when she gently reached over the front seat and touched his shoulder, didn’t come close to pulling the weight off him so he could breathe.
“Liam, are you sure you’re all right?” she asked softly.
“I’m sure,” he replied, hating himself for the brisk, quick way he put her off in front of Alex, as well as for the lie in those two short words. However, Lee doubted he could tell her how he felt, even if he’d been alone with her.
The future terrified him, and that terror was mixing with the dull ache that had returned to his leg. The pain had been there ever since Doreli had kicked him. It was an ache that couldn’t be relieved by the aspirin he’d gotten from one of the paramedics. Lee closed his eyes for a brief moment, knowing there was little that would ever relieve it. At the same time, he fought to keep from remembering the past two nights with Erin and how the pain had vanished. ’
As the now-familiar town of Jamesbrook came into view, he did his best to push everything from his mind except the thought of meeting up with Forest Burke again.
Alex Kaffel drove through the open gate and into Burke’s wide, circular drive. Cars, expensive and luxurious cars, were parked everywhere, and Alex stopped among them. He and Lee climbed out and Lee opened the back door for Erin.
The look he gave her said, “We don’t have to do this, you know.”
The look she gave him back said, “Yes, we do. So let’s go. Let’s see this finished.”
As though to confirm that look, Erin reached out and took his hand.
Her gentle touch was nearly his undoing. He felt torn between the desire to pull her into the heat of his embrace and hold her so that neither of them would have to face Forest Burke again. He wanted just to keep holding her, holding her tightly enough so that she wouldn’t even begin to speak about being lonely, tightly enough that she couldn’t leave him. He wanted her to melt in his arms and become a permanent part of him.
At the same time, he wanted to push himself away from her so that she couldn’t hurt him again. Because want her or not, he wasn’t sure he could ever trust her. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to try.
He did nothing. Nor did he speak. There was no way he could get a word past his tight, painful throat. He merely gripped her hand, feeling the gentle softness of her own, and followed Alex to the front door.
Several men in uniform joined them, as did men in suits—FBI agents.
The same maid who had offered them champagne opened the door to them. Her shock at seeing so many men, some in uniform, was apparent in her silence.
“We’re here to see Mr. Forest Burke,” Alex Kaffel said, holding out his badge so she could see it.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered, trying to find her voice, not knowing which man she should be looking at. “Mr. Burke is in the middle of an auction and can’t be disturbed.”
“We have to disturb him anyway,” Alex said.
He pushed his way past her and strode into the large foyer, and the maid wasn’t able to stop him. In the room where the auction was being held, all noise, all motion, everything, stopped when Alex, the uniformed officers and FBI agents in dark suits stepped into the room.
Burke stared down at them from the platform where he stood behind the podium. “Officers,” he addressed them, never losing his formality, “how can I help you? Surely you haven’t come to place a bid. I’m not sure what an officer makes these days, but I doubt he can afford what these people are bidding.”
Before Alex could reply, Lee, still holding Erin’s hand and taking her with him, stepped into the room. His cold, hard, unforgiving gaze met Burke’s with the force equal to a gunshot. “I’d like to bid on that painting,” he said, his voice now able to get past this throat, but sounding like nothing more than slivers of ice slicing through the air.
“You?”
The shock on Burke’s face was so genuine, so revealing, so uncontrolled, that Lee wished he’d brought a camera along.
“You didn’t think you’d be seeing us again, did you?” Lee challenged quietly. He pulled Erin close to him, showing Burke that the two of them were both safe from the thugs Burke had ordered to kill them.
“H-how...” Forest Burke stammered, staring from Lee to Erin and back to Lee.
“You can ask Jimmy Doreli,” Lee said, “since the two of you will be in jail together.”
A hushed murmur went through the room. One man in the back called out, “What’s the meaning of this?”
But he turned silent when Alex Kaffel stepped forward and held up his badge. “Forest Burke?”
“Yes?” Burke said, the word sounding hardly more than a croak.
“I’m Special Agent Alex Kaffel with the FBI. You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, for theft, smuggling and kidnapping. You have the right to remain silent...”
Forest Burke looked like a whipped puppy in an expensive suit, Lee realized suddenly as he stood next to Erin and listened to Burke being read his rights. Gone was the arrogance, the confidence, the coolness, the self-control. His tanned face was suddenly pale, his body slumped in defeat. There was a brief moment when he looked at Erin and Lee with cold hatred, just as he had when he’d ordered them killed. But that look slipped away with the snap of the handcuffs that Alex K
affel put on his wrists.
“Gerald,” Burke said to a man in the front row, who was as shocked as all of the others in the room, “please contact my lawyer as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Mr. Burke,” the man replied.
Alex pulled him toward the door. Near Lee, Burke paused. “You’ll be sorry for this,” he threatened. “Some day, the cat in Ms. Flemming will run out of lives.”
“I’m adding your threat to that list,” Alex barked.
Lee never said a word. There were so many things he would have liked to say that he didn’t have time to make up his mind which was first. Like, “Have a nice stay in prison.” Or, “If you ever come after Erin or me again, you won’t have the law to protect you. Threaten us again, and there’s no place on earth you can hide.”
Then that quickly, Forest Burke was taken away.
That quickly, it was over. Erin was safe.
Lee’s job was done.
Chapter 11
“Let me give you both a ride back to Chicago. Going back by helicopter is bound to be much faster than driving,” Tom Weatherby said. “There’s not much more you can do here. The FBI is in charge now.”
Hours had passed, hours filled with waiting for a search warrant then Erin and Lee showing the police the hidden room, hours filled with a complete, thorough search of Burke’s house, hours filled with calling in experts to identify the recovered stolen art.
Lee looked out Burke’s open front door at Erin. She leaned up against her car, which still remained out there, her arms crossed. She looked weary as hell.
“That sounds great,” Lee muttered, never taking his eyes off Erin. “Except that we need to drive Erin’s car back to Chicago, too.”
“I like your suit,” Tom said.
Lee chuckled. “Thanks.”
“Are you going to start wearing one to work?”
“Not even in your dreams,” Lee replied.
“So you really pretended to be art lovers?” Tom said, his voice filled with amusement.
“Yeah,” Lee muttered.
“Would you have stayed for the auction?”
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