“Damn, I’m glad you’re on our side,” Ray said with a laugh. “Banks, how is Zoe?”
“She’s starting to smell a rat. She’s starting to get attached to the idea of the Dolan family finding peace, and she thinks I’m an uncaring asshole.”
“That sounds about right,” Ray said with a laugh.
“Go to hell, Ray. I have to do something to keep her busy until Singletary is dead or in jail.”
“I know that’s right,” Ray said. Carver rolled his eyes at him. Before he could say another word, there was a knock at the door. He ended the call, then crossed over to the door. He looked out of the peephole and wasn’t surprised to see Zoe standing there.
Carver opened the door and stood against the doorjamb. “You calmed down yet?”
“Carver, I’m sorry if you think I’m overreacting, but this isn’t how I work. And you seem like you’ve just lost interest in this case.”
“Zoe, I’m doing all that I can to find her, but I don’t get why you think that I’m not trying to help.”
“Are you going to let me in?”
“Should I? I mean, you just kicked me out of your room, with an attitude.” Carver chuckled. “If you come in, do you promise to keep your hands to yourself?”
“If you don’t let me in, I’m going to punch you in your face now.”
“So violent, yet so beautiful.” Carver stood aside and allowed Zoe to enter. She stood next to the his bed and looked around the room. Carver closed the space between them and lifted her chin. “Have you figured out that I love you and I worry about you? I know you’re trying to pretend that this is just another case. It isn’t.”
She tilted her head to the side and stared into his eyes. “I know that. And I know you’re concerned. But you need to realize this: When this case is over, I’m going to have others, and you won’t be tagging along with me.”
“So that means I’m going to have to put a GPS tracker on you?”
She sucked her bottom lip in. “That’s not funny, and if I find out that you did, I’d fight you.”
“And you’d lose, babe.” Carver kissed her on her forehead.
“You’re funny. I’ll make a deal with you; help me eat the rest of our room service and I’ll get back to work in the morning.”
“Deal. Because a brother was still hungry.”
Zoe smiled. “I got dibs on the crab legs.” They headed out the door and Carver was happy that he had another few hours to keep Zoe away from the truth.
Chapter 23
Charlotte, North Carolina
Zach woke up and kissed his wife on the cheek. “Wake up, beautiful.”
“No,” she moaned as she turned her back to him. “I’m tired and your baby is draining my energy.”
“Oh, he’s my baby now?”
“Yes, she is.”
“But you’re the one with the full schedule today.” Zach pulled the blanket off Chante and tossed it aside. “So, get up and get in the shower. I’ll even join you.”
“That sounds like a good reason to get out of bed,” she replied with a smile. Chante rose from the bed and Zach followed, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Soon, I’m not going to be able to do this,” he whispered against her ear. “And I can’t wait.”
“You’re ready for me to be as big as a house?”
“I’m ready for our son to grow and make you even more beautiful.” Zach spun her around. “Chante, I love you more than life, and now that we’re having a baby, I can’t tell you how much you mean to me.”
She smiled. “You can try. And I think I’d better tell my parents that they’re going to be grandparents soon.”
“A trip to Charleston?”
“Aww, no. But we can invite them here. I’m sure my mother can stand that harsh city air for one weekend and not crack her skin.”
Zach laughed. “I like your mom. Even if she still calls me a Yankee every now and then.”
* * *
Across the street, Lewis watched the Harrington household and saw lights come on in the upstairs bedroom. It was about six o’clock and he knew that Chante and Zach left the house while it was still a little dark outside. That would make it easy for him to grab Chante if it didn’t work out at her office.
Lewis didn’t understand why Joe didn’t plan to ask for a ransom. He could get the money he said Zoe had cost him, kill both women, and then disappear. If Lewis was going to be all the way down here in North Carolina, he wanted more than just the satisfaction of knowing that Zoe would be hurt and disappointed that her sister-in-law was dead. He wanted to watch that bitch suffer and get paid.
And just like that movie Seven, he wanted Zoe’s head in a box and delivered to her brother. He hated what she had done to him and a few other officers who were in their division. She could’ve ignored what they’d done. Did they use excessive force in some cases?
Yes, but each one of those animals deserved it. Drug dealers and thieves, they hadn’t been Rhodes scholars out helping the community. And if some of the drug money went missing, then so what? They had families to feed, and a beat cop’s salary wasn’t going to feed three kids and a wife.
But because of fucking Zoe, he didn’t even have his family anymore. And it was time for her to pay as well. Bitch.
Lewis’s burner cell phone chimed, indicating a text message. Since he was tired of taking orders from Singletary, he ignored the text and continued to watch the Harringtons. Lewis was going to devise his own plan to get everything he wanted.
About thirty minutes later, Zach and Chante were walking out of the house. Lewis saw how close the couple was and remembered when he and his wife shared kisses in the morning before he went on duty.
His blood boiled thinking about how Zoe ruined everything for him. She had to pay, and her brother was the avenue to make that happen.
* * *
“Why are we down here?” Zoe asked as she pulled the lever on the slot machine.
“Because even Wonder Woman needs a break.” Carver dropped another quarter in the machine. Then the lights and buzzers went off.
“We hit the jackpot!” Zoe laughed as Carver spun her around and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips. “So what are we going to do with these riches?”
Carver put her down and collected the payout vouchers. “Looks like we should go to an island and be naked all day,” he said.
Zoe slapped her hand on her hip. “And just forget about the family we’re supposed to be getting closure for?”
Carver sighed and glanced at Zoe. “You’re right, but can you blame me for wanting to get away with you for a little while, to get away from all of this?”
She thumped him on the shoulder. “That’s pretty much the most insensitive thing ever!”
“Whatever, Zoe. You know this has been a wild ride, and I need a break.”
“You know I don’t stop and I don’t give up until the job is done.”
“One of the many things I love about you.”
“How about we go double or nothing?” she said as she took the voucher from his hand. “I feel lucky tonight.”
“No. Look at the time. We need to get to bed and start over in the morning.”
“Gambling or looking through more reports?”
“Both. Right now, I want to take you to bed—and I mean just to sleep,” Carver said. He knew he couldn’t continue to lie to Zoe tonight. He hoped the Shadow Team would get some information on Singletary soon so that he could stop this charade.
“You’re no fun.” She tweaked the end of his nose. “Let’s go. I see how people come to Vegas and lose it all. These casinos make you suspend reality.”
Carver nodded, then wrapped his arm around Zoe’s waist. “That’s why there are no windows.”
“Well, my body knows what’s up.”
“And what is your body saying?”
“To go to bed and take you with me.”
“Is tha
t so?”
She nodded. “I want you to hold me tonight, while we sleep.”
“Technically, it’s morning, but I’ll hold you just the same.”
Zoe stifled a yawn as the doors to the elevator opened. She reached down for her phone, then remembered that she’d left her phone in her room. She had an overwhelming urge to call Zach.
“What’s wrong?” Carver asked when he noticed her frown.
“I was going to call Zach. I . . . Never mind.”
“What?”
“It’s a twin thing, you wouldn’t understand. I’m just glad he married a woman who does.”
“Well, explain it to me, so that your man can be just as understanding.”
“I will in the morning.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek. “Carver, this is really nice and you’re something special.”
“Define this.”
“Us. You and I finally being in a space where we can make this work.”
“We could’ve made this work a long time ago, if you weren’t so hardheaded. Zoe, that night—”
“Carver—”
“Hear me out. That night when we met and made love, I’ve never forgotten it. I dream about it, and if things had been different, I would’ve told you everything. But I was undercover and working on a case that had a lot to do with national security.”
“I get it.” The door to the elevator opened and they stepped off. Carver took the key card from from her hand and unlocked the door. Zoe stepped inside and Carver closed the door, then stroked her cheek.
“I wanted to make you mine that night. Wanted to spend the next morning finding out everything about you and how to keep you in my life.”
“Yet, the next time I saw you, there was this big FBI badge between us,” she said as she slipped her shoes off.
“That happened. Let’s build a bigger bridge to get over it.”
She hopped on the bed and smiled at him. “Done. I’ll never bring it up again.”
Carver pulled off his shirt and joined Zoe in the bed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head in her lap.
“And how am I supposed to get any sleep like this?”
He shrugged. “I’m comfortable.”
She pushed him off her and squeezed his cheek. “Good night.”
* * *
Lewis drove four car lengths behind Chante. He wanted to make sure she didn’t see him as he tracked her. Just as she made a right turn, his phone chimed again. “Damn it,” he groaned as he picked up the phone. “Yeah?”
“If you keep ignoring me, I’m going to think you’re working against me and my plan,” Joe said.
“I’m following Chante and you’re breaking my concentration.”
“That’s not a good excuse as to why you haven’t answered the phone.”
Lewis sighed. “What do you need, Joe?”
“Details. Have you noticed a pattern in the routine? What have you found out about them?”
“They start off early. She’d be easy to grab from the house.”
“That’s not the plan.”
“Your plan is stupid.”
“Lewis, I’m going to chalk that up to you being tired and not that you’re a fucking idiot.”
“The Harringtons are loaded, and you could get your money, still exact revenge and make Zoe suffer.”
“And get the FBI involved. Don’t be stupid. We have a plan and we’re sticking to it.”
“If you threaten this man’s wife, he will pay and won’t call in the authorities. I saw them together this morning. He loves her.”
Joe sighed. “Are you kidding me? No man loves unconditionally like that, and the minute you start asking for money, you will see the truth. I don’t care what you think you saw this morning, we’re not changing the plan.”
“Fine,” Lewis snapped. But he didn’t care what Joe said, he was going to get everything he could out of this trip to North Carolina. Zachary Harrington would pay, and probably lay down his life, to get his wife back. When he snatched Chante, there would be a ransom note.
But Lewis knew he had to be smart about the note. It couldn’t be handwritten. It needed to be on paper that wasn’t traceable, like a notepad from the hotel. Glancing out of the window, he saw an office store. Smiling as he turned his attention back to Chante’s taillights, Lewis knew he was going to make the money he lost because of Zoe, and he’d be the one to stick the knife in her heart when he killed her sister-in-law.
* * *
Slipping out of Zoe’s arms, Carver quietly stole out of the room and headed to his own. It was noon in DC and he needed to talk to the Shadow Team to find out what was going on with the search for Singletary.
He booted his tablet and called Sarah. Her face appeared on the screen. “And I thought you’d forgotten about me,” she quipped.
“I’m in a different time zone, remember.”
“Yeah, the Zoe zone.”
“Sarah, what do we know about Singletary’s whereabouts?”
“Don’t know where that ghost is, but one of the cameras in Charlotte picked up Lewis Martinez.”
“What? In Charlotte?”
“Yep. I’ll keep you posted on what we find out. I have a meeting in five minutes.”
As soon as he ended the video call, there was a knock at his door. Carver smiled, because he knew it was his woman.
“After all that talk last night, you still left me alone in the bed,” she quipped as she offered him a cup of coffee.
“I’m sorry, I had to check in with my team back in DC to see if they needed me or any of my files, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
Zoe walked in the room and perched on the edge of the dresser. “Likely story, G-man. Do they need you? Because I can stay out here and keep looking for Jessica without supervision.”
“And leave you here with Deputy Dale? Nah.”
She sucked her teeth. “That man is married. You’re something else. I know why you’re staying.”
He set his coffee down next to her and leaned in. “And why is that?”
“So that you can put this work in at night.” Zoe wrapped her leg around his waist. “And I don’t mind a bit.”
“You know, I can work the morning shift, too,” he said as he pulled her closer and brushed his lips against hers.
“Is that so?” Zoe licked his bottom lip.
“I’d rather show and prove.” He captured her mouth in a hot kiss, sucking her full lip while their tongues danced. Carver slipped his hand between Zoe’s thighs, thankful for her lace nighty and lack of panties. He felt her desire dripping immediately and he was turned on like a roaring shower.
Moaning as he fingered her wet slit, Zoe shivered at his touch. When she closed her eyes, Carver shook his head. “Look at me,” he commanded gently. “Tell me how you feel.”
“Damned g-good.”
He pulled his finger from her wetness and brought it to his lips. He licked her juices from his fingertip. “And you taste good, too.” Before she could reply, he had two fingers inside her, stroking, teasing, touching her most sensitive spot.
She threw her head back and cried out his name. “Carver, please, not the two fingers again.”
He continued stroking. “I remember the last time you got the two-finger treatment. You enjoyed yourself.”
“Need you. All of you inside me.”
“Not. Yet. I haven’t even had breakfast yet.” Carver planted his face between Zoe’s thighs and feasted on her. Her moans and screams filled the air like music at the symphony. Just as he took her to the brink of an orgasm, Carver pulled back.
“Why—what are you . . .”
“I got this,” he said with a wink, then lifted her from the dresser. “I’m about to give you what you need.”
Zoe sighed as he laid her on the bed and stripped out of his pajama pants. He slid a condom on his dick and dove into her wetness, thrusting in and out as she wrapped her legs around him. It was as if she was begging him to go de
eper. And he did. “Zoe, Zoe,” Carver groaned as she ground against him.
“Yes, baby. Yes!”
He wanted to hold his climax back just so that he could admire the look of satisfaction on Zoe’s face as she came over and over again. But one last thrust and he exploded. Holding her in his arms, Carver was once again filled with guilt and afraid of what the truth would do to them.
Zoe wasn’t the kind of woman who trusted easily, he knew that. He knew that had been the source of her anger when he’d been investigating her family. Winning this woman almost took an act of Congress, and the moment she learned that he’d lied to her again, he knew she was going to bolt.
He opened his mouth, but Zoe kissed his confession away.
“Whoa,” he said when their lips parted. “I don’t know what I did to deserve that, but I’ll do it again.”
“And I thought I was rewarding myself,” she said.
“Keep on doing it.” He squeezed her bottom. “What do you say we go try the breakfast buffet?”
“Umm, that would be nice, but I don’t think I can move right now.”
“There’s always room service.”
Zoe nodded and yawned. “As soon as I wake up from my nap.”
Carver kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Good idea.” As they drifted off to sleep, Carver dreamed of waking up to Zoe every morning, just like this one.
Chapter 24
It was afternoon when Zoe and Carver pulled themselves out of bed. As much as she didn’t want to get out of bed, she knew she’d wasted valuable time that could’ve been used to find Jessica Dolan’s remains.
Glancing at Carver’s sleeping frame, she wondered why he’d stopped being focused on finding this girl’s remains and closing this case. She wanted to ask him about that, but before anything else, she needed to call Zach. Looking at the clock, she figured that he and Chante were wrapping up their workday and probably heading back home. She grabbed her phone and headed for the bathroom. She turned the shower on, then dialed her brother’s number. She hoped that everything was going to be all right with him and that she was just being paranoid.
Voicemail. Now, she was worried.
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