by Sandra Owens
“Does that sound like a cop to you?”
Jake nodded. “Unless he was bullshitting our guy.”
They pretty much had nothing then. “How was he supposed to get back in touch once he had Sugar?”
“With a burner phone. Unfortunately, he claims to have lost it.”
“That’s bull. He tossed it somehow.”
“That’s what the boss is discussing with him as we speak,” Jake said, his gaze on the cell door with a look that said he wished he was in the closed room.
Frustrated, Jamie swiped his hand through his hair. “What’s Kincaid plan to do with him?”
Jake grinned, and it wasn’t pretty. “He’s to be our guest for a few days until he finds Jesus.”
At least Sugar would be safe from Jax Harrison. But who would come after her next time? The man who wanted her back, or would he send someone else?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next morning, Jamie poked his head into Jake Buchanan’s office, but Jake wasn’t there. Sugar hadn’t been at the receptionist desk when he’d arrived, and he needed to make sure she was okay. Ryan O’Connor had arrived and was in the operations room with Stewart. Jake would want to sit in with them on the operation’s final planning stages, but where the doggone was he? Probably with Maria.
Turning on his heels, Jamie strode across the open area between offices. Maria’s door was slightly ajar, and he raised his hand to knock.
“Normally, we fingerprint all our employees, but I’m going to have a momentary lapse and forget to do yours.”
Who was Maria talking to?
“I don’t want ya to get in trouble. Thing is, I think it’s time for me to move on.”
No mistaking that southern accent. At the sound of Sugar’s voice, Jamie lowered his hand. She would just up and leave without a word to him? If nothing else, that told him that he didn’t mean anything to her. He wasn’t prepared for the hurt that hit him square in the gut. Damn her, he thought, and made a mental note to put a dollar in the swear jar when he arrived home. Kincaid headed his way, and Jamie reluctantly moved away from the door.
He followed the boss into the war room and spent the next hour planning the extraction of the aid workers out of Syria. It was great to have Doc back on the team, and Jamie was glad to see him hit it off with Stewart. A part of him regretted he wouldn’t be going on the operation, but since he’d just returned from Somalia he wasn’t up on the rotation. The way he was feeling, he wouldn’t mind an ocean between him and Sugar.
As soon as they wrapped things up, Jamie headed to his office and spent the next ten minutes staring at his computer. Who was Sugar Darling? He typed her name and held his finger over the Enter key. Did he want to know? She obviously didn’t want him to know her secrets, and he didn’t understand why. Didn’t she realize he—all of K2, in fact—could help her?
“You daydreaming on the job?” Ryan O’Connor asked.
Jamie pressed the Delete key and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, and she’s every man’s dream woman.” The comeback was safe because his teammates knew Saint never mixed business and pleasure. Doc snorted, giving Jamie the reaction he’d wanted.
“Didn’t get a chance to talk to you before the meeting. It’s good to see you, Saint,” he said, taking a seat.
“Back at you. So, whatcha think?”
“It’s great to be back with the team. Can’t believe Romeo’s married. That was a shocker when I heard, but now that I’ve met Maria . . .” He waggled his brows.
“Don’t let her hear you call him Romeo. He’s Tiger these days.”
Doc had married his childhood sweetheart, and had never caroused with the guys. When she’d been murdered a year ago, he had opted out of the navy and literally disappeared. Jamie could relate to losing a loved one.
“I wanted to come to the funeral, but I was in Afghanistan. You doing okay?” Jamie asked when the conversation lagged.
Pain flashed in Doc’s eyes, and he glanced away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Subject closed. But his friend wasn’t fine, and Jamie wished he had something better to say about the loss of a wife other than “you doing okay.” If Sugar and Maria were having this conversation, they’d probably share all their feelings and hold each other while they cried. Obviously, Sugar had felt more comfortable confiding her troubles to Maria than to him. He hated that it bugged him.
“The receptionist’s the hottest thing I’ve seen in a long time. She single? Didn’t see a wedding ring, but these days, that doesn’t always tell the story.”
Jamie blinked, then mentally berated himself for showing too much. He blanked his face, hoping it wasn’t too late. “Haven’t a clue.” Not a lie since there was someone looking for her. If it was a boyfriend or husband, how was he supposed to know? He forced himself to remain still under Doc’s scrutiny.
His friend leaned his head back, stared up at the ceiling, and laughed. “Well hell, Saint’s got a thing for a hot chick. About time.”
Someone else had recently said “about time.” Jake, maybe. What was it with his teammate’s opinions of the women he dated? Before Sugar, that was, and she was an anomaly.
“So it’s hands off?”
Jamie opened his mouth to say he didn’t care if Doc hit on her. “Fucking A.”
Doc laughed so hard, he lost his breath, bringing on a coughing spell. “Saint.” Cough. “Said.” Cough. “Fuck.” He walked out, still laughing while muttering about needing water.
Jamie opened his wallet to see if he needed to run by the bank and get more ones on his way home. The swear jar was filling up fast.
“Hey, beautiful. I’m Ryan O’Conner.”
Sugar knew who he was, but if anyone was beautiful, it was the man draped carelessly over the counter. Ryan O’Connor, or Doc as the guys referred to him, had the most unusual eyes she’d ever seen and she could probably stare into them for . . . well, like forever. Green was their primary color, but there were streaks of orange in the irises, and she’d never seen any like them.
A knowing grin crossed his face and she reared back, embarrassed to be caught staring. Other than his eyes, he did nothing for her even as drop-dead gorgeous as he was. He wasn’t Jamie.
“I’m Sugar Darling,” she said, then clamped her mouth shut to keep from apologizing for her delay in responding. Damn, those eyes made it hard to think.
“I know, and sadly, you’re off-limits.” He winked, then disappeared back into the inner sanctum.
Bewildered, she eyed the door as it closed behind him. What was that all about? Who said she was off-limits? The phone rang, and after giving a confused shake of her head, she answered, forgetting about the strange conversation.
After putting the call through to the boss, she eyed the clock. Although there was an hour left to the workday, she didn’t intend to stay. First thing that morning, after tossing and turning all night, she’d made the decision to leave. Living with Jake and Maria for the rest of her life was out, so where did that leave her? Cowering in her condo waiting for Rodney to appear? No, it was time to introduce Nikki Swanson to the world, and for it to work, she would have to leave.
As for what it would do to her to never see Jamie again, she couldn’t even think about that.
Maria and Jake were on their way to New Orleans for a few days to celebrate their anniversary. She was supposed to stay at their house while they were gone, and they had assured her no one could get past their alarm system. Also, they’d arranged to have one of the K2 guys keep an eye on the house. But she wouldn’t be there.
Hannah had almost taken over in the cabin of Jamie’s boat, her fear so paralyzing that Sugar wasn’t sure she could recover. It hadn’t been easy to soothe the scared girl inside her, but she had and had taken control again. It had showed her, though, that she wasn’t strong enough yet to go up against Rodney. She had finally accepted that she wo
uld have to confront him one day if she ever wanted to be free, but she needed time to plan and prepare.
It didn’t sit well to deceive her new friends, but she didn’t dare tell them her intention to run. They would find a way to stop her, but she’d got it into her mind that the only way to keep everyone safe, especially Jamie, was to disappear. As for Jamie, he’d ignored her all day, and she hoped that he’d decided he’d had enough of her. The last thing she wanted to believe was that she’d hurt him in any way. Since he’d made it clear she wasn’t what he was looking for, it was easy to convince herself that he would be happy to be rid of her.
When the clock reached four, she slipped out the front door and got in her car. Her cell phone rang as she pulled into her parking spot, and when she answered, no one responded. Was that the sound of breathing on the other end? “Pervert,” she muttered and clicked off as another thought occurred to her. What if it was Rodney? That’d be just the kind of thing he’d do, call her and try to scare her. She dropped the phone back into her purse and hurried inside, locking the door behind her.
“Meep.”
“Hey, baby.” She picked up Junior and kissed his nose. “We’re leaving on an adventure. What do you say to that?”
“Meep.”
“Yeah, yeah. All ya care about is getting fed. Come on then.” She carried him into the kitchen and filled his bowl with food. She planned to leave sometime after midnight, but before that, she needed to clean out her refrigerator. Stuck on a back shelf was a tin of caviar she’d bought on a whim the day after Jamie had given her the first orgasm ever. She’d bought it, along with a bottle of champagne, as a kind of celebration. Since it was a few hours before she would be driving, she opened the champagne and poured a glass, then took the caviar to the table.
“Okay, Junior, my boy, let’s see what we think of this.” As soon as the wrapping was off the caviar, Junior’s nose twitched, and he jumped onto the kitchen table, his mouth jabbering like a cat on speed.
“You know you’re not supposed to be up here.” But she didn’t have it in her to care. “How do you eat this stuff, anyway?”
“Meep.”
“Hold your horses, kitty.” Not sure what else to do, she scooped her index finger into the little red eggs and brought them to her nose. “Ewww.”
Junior dug his claws into her arm and tried to pull the stinky stuff to him. “Meep. Meep.”
“Ouch. Wait your turn.” With the tip of her tongue, she tasted the caviar. “All righty then, not for me,” she said, and set the small container in front of her cat. Sitting back and sipping her champagne, she watched him scarf up the roe.
“Don’t expect that every day, kiddo. We’re about to go on the run, and I don’t think caviar’s in our budget.” She left him to his washing up and wandered into the living room, stopping in front of the pretend picture of her parents. “To the good old days,” she said, raising her champagne glass to them.
The only thing she’d taken when she’d run was her mother’s photo album. Some nights when she felt particularly lonely, she’d get it out and pore through the pictures, remembering a time when everything was perfect. If she looked at those old photos now, the ones of her mom and dad smiling at each other, or the ones with their arms around her, she’d probably start bawling and never stop.
How had she come to this? Oh, right. She’d made it possible for Rodney to commit a murder. Just how guilty was she in the eyes of the law? Hannah had suspected he planned to steal Mrs. Lederman’s money but had been too afraid to tell anyone. Besides, who would she have told? Her cop father? He was so deep in Rodney’s pocket that he was just as guilty as Rodney. Someone else in the town? Yeah, sure. They would have either gone straight to Rodney and ratted on her or would have been as scared as she about doing anything to stop him.
Mrs. Lederman had been such a sweet old woman, Hannah’s only friend. Sugar liked to think that Hannah would have found a way to stop Rodney if she’d only known just how far he would go to put someone else’s money in his pocket.
Maria was a lawyer; maybe she should ask her. But then she’d have to confess to her part in the sordid affair. As it stood now, Maria only believed Sugar was hiding from an abusive boyfriend.
And there was another lie of omission. A harsh laugh escaped, and she downed the remainder of her champagne. Although she’d love to pour another glass, she’d be driving her car in a few hours. Not only that, but one never knew when bad cop might come a calling, and she’d need a clear head.
If Rodney ever caught up with her, it would be bad. Very bad. Unfortunately, she knew him well, and even after two years, he’d still be royally pissed she’d found out his bank password and had transferred seven hundred thousand dollars out of it.
Oh, yeah, she’d pay dearly for that if he ever found her. Definitely time to run.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Although Sugar’s blinds were closed, Jamie could see the outline of lights at their edges. He’d been sitting in his car outside her condo since dark, a silent sentry, guarding her. Was she getting ready to run? It still burned, overhearing her tell Maria it was time to move on. Did she just plan to take off without a word to him?
She had disappeared before their workday ended, and no one knew where she’d gone. When he hadn’t found her at the Buchanans’ house, he’d just known she’d gone home, even though it was the most dangerous place she could be.
“Damnit, Sugar, what the hell are you thinking?” He automatically pulled two dollars out of his pocket, putting them in his cup holder. His damn cuss jar was filling up fast. He pulled another dollar out, adding it to the first two.
It appeared that it was a good thing he’d remembered how Jake had put a tracking device in Maria’s purse before she had been kidnapped. If he hadn’t thought to do that . . . well, none of them wanted to consider the consequences. Before he left K2, Jamie grabbed a device as he thought it a good bet his lady might need tracking, too.
Another thing he’d done before leaving work: he had finally relented and Googled her name. Only two things had come up on a Sugar Darling living in Pensacola. One was an accident report when she’d backed into another car in the grocery store parking lot. Imagine that. The biggie though was the legal name change a little over two years ago from Sarah Dempsey to Sugar Darling. Funny that, as Sarah Dempsey had died forty years ago.
That had led him to research how to get a fake Social Security number, and he’d been surprised at how easy it was. So, she’d gotten a dead woman’s identity and then changed her identity, which told him she didn’t want a trail of her real name.
“Who are you, Sugar Darling?”
There was no record of her working at the Booby Palace, but that wasn’t surprising. The owner probably paid half his staff under the table. There was no record of her working anywhere actually. Her driver’s license was only a few months old, and for all intents, Sugar Darling was only two years old. If nothing else, the woman was smart. It also meant she’d lied to him when she said Sugar Darling was the name on her birth certificate. He should have taken her up on seeing it when she’d offered—although she probably had a fake one of those, too.
A car turned into the complex and he slid down in his seat. Anyone noticing him sitting in the dark, staring at the door of someone’s condo, would think he was up to no good and would likely call the cops.
The dark-colored sedan’s lights flicked off, and the vehicle slowed as it passed in front of Sugar’s condo. What he wouldn’t give for a pair of night-vision goggles. Why hadn’t he thought to grab a pair of those, too, before leaving for the day? All he could tell was that a man sat behind the wheel. The car pulled into a space two doors down, and Jamie waited for the occupant to get out. Instead, the man slinked down until his head was barely visible over the back of the headrest.
After a few minutes’ consideration, Jamie exited his car and slipped up behind the sedan,
memorized the license number, then approached the driver’s window. The idiot was so busy watching Sugar’s door, he didn’t even notice Jamie when he pointed his finger and whispered, “Bang, you’re dead.”
Jamie tapped on the window and the man startled, accidently blowing the horn. With a roll of his eyes, Jamie motioned for the incompetent idiot to roll down his window. “Help you with anything?”
The man pushed himself up and glared. “Who the hell are you?”
“Neighborhood watch.” If the jerk hoped to intimidate him, he’d soon learn he was messing with the wrong person.
“I’m waiting on someone, so you can be on your way.”
When the window started to roll up, Jamie reached in and bent the guy’s index finger back. What was it with Sugar and these men he needed to protect her from?
“What the hell’s wrong with you, man? I told you I’m waiting for someone.”
The guy tried to pull his hand away but Jamie tightened his hold. “And I’m telling you I don’t believe you. If you don’t leave now, I’m calling the police. If you really are waiting for someone, the cops will get it sorted out.” With his free hand, he removed his cell from his pocket and held his thumb over the nine.
“Asshole,” the man growled, and then started his car.
Instinctively, Jamie knew the man was a private eye, working for whoever wanted Sugar. He let go of the finger and stood back, watching until the sedan disappeared down the road. You get what you pay for, whoever you are, and obviously, you didn’t pay much. There wasn’t a member on his team, including him, who would’ve gotten caught spying on anyone.
He shook his head in disgust, then eyed Sugar’s door. “We’re about to get some answers, sweetheart.” His knock wasn’t answered, so he knocked again, harder. “I know you’re in there, Sugar. Open up.”