Lawless

by HelenKay Dimon

  “It was a clever solution.”

  “It was sloppy and makes the Mark story we’re trying to sell—”

  “We’re?”

  “—harder to swallow.”

  Charlie just stared for a few seconds before saying anything. “Perry came along when I was moving Mark’s body.”

  The man failed to do anything right. Charlie was told to stage a fall. They’d gone over the plan several times. No trouble. Moving bodies where anyone could stumble by was not in the instructions.

  Tony tried to hold on to his patience and keep the advantage. “Why were you touching it?”

  “You wanted an accident. I was trying to stage one.” Charlie shrugged. “I looked up and saw Perry and had no choice but to hit him.”

  “Then you make it look like a joint accident. Like they went after each other or something. You don’t leave the guy alive.” Tony clamped his mouth shut as soon as the words were out. He was a businessman. A legitimate one. He didn’t engage in this nonsense.

  He’d pushed the guilt out. Mark and Perry were decent workers and deserved better. But the idea that his plans had gone this far off course was the one thing Tony couldn’t take. Find the wife, get the job, make the money. Easy.

  Baxter had seemed like the right place to make his mark. Until it wasn’t and he had to reform it in the image he wanted. He had never expected the collateral damage, and that it kept growing to include Hope and Charlie just made Tony want out faster.

  “That woman you picked caused that problem,” Charlie pointed out. “She went looking for Mark. Practically jumped out of bed and went on the hunt the next morning. I had to think quick, and that meant hiding the bodies.”

  It all came down to Hope Algier. Tony thought putting his executives in a novice’s hands would mean a smooth-running plan with an easy scapegoat. She wasn’t watching and someone got hurt. It had happened to her before, so people would believe history repeated itself. She would be busy finding her way and getting used to the job while Charlie went to work.

  The exact opposite had happened.

  But that didn’t explain everything. “Even so, you left Perry alive.”

  “That was a miscalculation.”

  Two men were dead and Charlie viewed it as a math error. Tony started to wonder if Charlie was more sociopath than loner.

  Treading carefully was the only answer. Tony bit back the frustration whipping through him and did just that. “You need to back off.”

  “I want my money.”

  Tony waited until a group walked past. They were a good thirty feet away, but he wasn’t taking chances, regardless of how low they spoke. “We can’t move money around right now.”

  Charlie groaned as he pushed off from the truck and stood up. “We made promises to each other, Tony.”

  “And I will fulfill mine.” Tony had perfected the art of lying. Wearing a blank expression while delivering a sentence devoid of any bit of truth. All those years turning companies around, swearing he was there to help and then recommending a full-scale reduction in force, had hardened him, but the skills came in handy now.

  “I’m in it for the cash.”

  “Go back to the camp—”

  “You’re not in charge here.” Charlie slammed a hand on Tony’s chest and kept him from walking away.

  Tony stared down at the hand and dirty fingernails, then back to Charlie’s face. Tony didn’t aim for neutral this time. He wanted Charlie to know his disdain, to feel his hatred. “This is my plan.”

  “It stopped being your plan when you sent Hope Algier out there for me to handle.”

  When Tony saw a couple headed their way, he shoved Charlie’s hand away from him. “She should have panicked, called for helped and all of this would have been fine.”

  “She’s an expert with connected friends.”

  The other thorn. Between Hope, Joel and Connor, Tony had his hands full. He couldn’t decide if the answer was to remove the problems or ignore them. Not feed the beast. Charlie didn’t need to know about the conflict.

  “I’ll take care of the Corcoran Team.” Tony meant that as a vow. He didn’t know how he’d do it, but he would.

  “You keep saying that, but I don’t see any evidence of you resolving anything.”

  They continued to talk at a near whisper as the couple turned and crossed the street. No one looked their way, but people walked by on the other side of the street. That was too close for Tony.

  He pivoted until his back leaned against a freeway post and faced away from the street. “The timing is wrong.”

  “Not for me.” Charlie reached into his open truck window.

  The move had Tony shifting to inch his hand closer to his gun. “I have to settle my business issues first.”

  Charlie pulled out a new pack of cigarettes as his gaze slipped to Tony’s hands, then to his suit jacket pocket. “I don’t care about those.”

  “Listen—”

  “No, you listen.” Charlie tapped the end of the pack against Tony’s tie. “You have one day to get my money. Then I take care of a loose end and leave.”

  “What loose end?” There had been enough death as far as Tony was concerned. They already had too many facts to cover and too much evidence to hide.

  Then there was the bigger problem. Charlie had proved his lack of skills. Two times and Tony might be able to evade trouble. He could cover up and create backstories. A third was pushing their luck. If he moved into the spotlight one more time, Connor would never let this go.

  “Hope Algier.”

  And touching her all but guaranteed trouble. Rafe would bury anyone who messed with his daughter. Charlie had already warned Tony that she was sleeping with Joel and the guy had a severe protective streak.

  No, she had to be off limits. “She is too connected.”

  “She can die like anyone else.”

  “You don’t understand.” Tony leaned in and pitched his voice low. “This team, what you said about Joel and his relationship to this woman...you have to let this go.”

  “No.”

  Tony’s back teeth slammed together as he stood up straight again. “Charlie, we’ve got to be smart about this.”

  “I agree. Get smart.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Charlie unwrapped the cigarette pack and dropped the plastic enclosure on the ground. “Get my money and then get out of my way.”

  “I don’t want Connor and his team on my tail.”

  Charlie opened the door to his truck. “Then do what you’re told.”

  * * *

  “BINGO.” JOEL LEANED back in the leather conference room chair and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Want to clue the rest of us in?” Cam stopped just before taking a sip from a water bottle.

  Joel glanced at Connor at the head of the table and Hope beside him. “Line of credit.”

  Hope smiled. “I love when you just say random words.”

  It only took a few hours and numerous calls by Connor to obtain information he shouldn’t have been able to nail down. He excelled at convincing powerful and connected people to turn over personal information in the name of protection. In law enforcement, at utilities, it didn’t matter.

  Joel didn’t know how, but Connor had the private numbers of officials and a direct line to government agencies. With Joel’s tech help, the whole team had access to databases with firewalls no one should be able to breach. But they did.

  As a result, financial documents, phone records, every credit card statement imaginable and even electric bills—seven years of Charlie’s life—were spread out on the table in front of them. “Charlie had two mortgages on the camp, right?”

  “Both of which are overdue.” Connor leaned back in his chair. “There’s no hope of salvaging the place absent a big payday. It’s possible it hasn’t happened yet.”

  “He also has another line of credit. One he carries at an astronomical rate. At first it looks like a credit card and I don’t
see any loan documents to support it, but he just paid it in full.” Joel passed the document showing the paid-off line of credit to Hope, who read it before slipping it to Connor.

  “He made the payment three weeks ago.” She shifted the bank documents in front of her. “There’s no record of money going through his bank accounts, personal or business.”

  “It had to come from somewhere,” Cam said.

  “I’ll put Davis on this.” Connor glanced at his watch. “He should be back at the office by now.”

  “He better be.” Cam snorted. “He left hours ago.”

  Connor shot Cam a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. “I assume he stopped by to see Lara before heading to the office.”

  Joel understood the temptation. For almost a month after he left Hope, he’d still drive to her house, thinking to check in. The habit almost broke his will.

  The one time he saw her coming home, he’d sat in his car for hours and waged a mental battle about whether to get up and knock on the door. After the need tore him apart he decided going in and out of her life was worse than leaving. But he’d blown that theory over the past few days.

  “So how does any of this help?” Hope pointed to the almost negligible balance on the older man’s business checking account. “He still can’t keep the campground with this income. He can’t charge enough to cover insurance and operating costs.”

  Cam scoffed. “Having two deaths out there isn’t going to help business.”

  “Maybe we caught him at the beginning of a new career.” Joel didn’t know if he should be happy about that or not.

  A shiver shook her. “Killing for hire? That’s a horrible thought.”

  “Now we have a way to apply pressure.” Joel slipped a hand under the table and linked his fingers through her cold ones. He tried to absorb the chill and the trembling.

  Her other hand covered their linked ones. “If he killed Mark and Perry, don’t we want to turn him over to the police?”

  “We want Tony Prather to go down, too,” Connor said in a soft voice.

  “It makes sense he’s involved. I’m not sure I’d bet my life on it yet, but it’s more logical than Perry starting that fire.” She made a grumbling noise. “I talked with Charlie several times and never suspected.”

  “Neither did we,” Cam said.

  Joel had to choke back the fury clogging his throat. He’d had the guy right there, right next to him out in the woods, and didn’t pounce. He didn’t know whether Perry could have been saved there at the end because he was in bad shape thanks to the injury and exposure, but Joel would have tried. It looked like Charlie had stolen that chance.

  “We’re paid to notice.” But it was the what could have happened that had fury twisting in Joel’s gut. “The bigger issue is how he put you in danger.”

  She tightened her hold on him. “Why would he want me dead?”

  “I think you were a pawn.” Connor delivered the news like he did everything else—straightforward and calm. “He underestimated you.”

  Cam clasped his hands behind his head as he chuckled. “I’m thinking people tend to do that.”

  Not Joel. He knew better. And he didn’t find any of this funny. “Tony’s going to pay for all of this.”

  “Again, you mean if he’s involved,” she said.

  Joel had moved on to plotting the guy’s takedown. “Uh-huh.”

  “Sounds like we have a plan.” Connor picked up his cell. “Then let’s get to work.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Exhaustion threatened to drop her by the time she got back to her town house that night. Her father insisted he see her before she headed home. Then his connection got delayed and they settled for looking at each other through a computer screen while he sat in an airport lounge somewhere. He ended the conversation by vowing to never travel halfway around the world and hours from an airport again.

  She hadn’t even found time to unpack from the campground. Her duffel bags and bow case, along with the arrows inside, sat on the floor right next to the front door. She needed to move them or she was sure to trip. If only she had the arm strength to lift more than a bottle of water at this point.

  Before she could get from the foyer to the kitchen to get one, Joel wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body tight against his. “You okay?”

  “A little shaky.” Not that she needed to tell him. He must feel her shivering.

  Ever since learning about Mark and seeing the evidence for murder pile up, her head had been spinning. So much danger and pain. The idea that money caused it all made her switch between wanting to double over and needing to hit something.

  Not that she’d never experienced heartache or loss, but she’d been luckier than most in life when it came to the essentials. She got that. Her father had money and never withheld it or affection. She never worried about having food or shelter or being loved.

  Joel missed all of those things and still she didn’t know a better man. He didn’t think the world owed him. He didn’t try to gather all the “things” or believe only money mattered.

  Now if she could just get him to understand loving her meant being there for her. Always.

  He kissed the side of her neck. “You’re tensing up.”

  “It’s been a rough day.”

  “Hey.” He turned her around until his lips hovered over hers and her body slid against his. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get Tony and Charlie, if they’re the ones behind this.”

  The poor guy thought the camp and all the horror there caused her reaction. It surely contributed to where her mind had gone. Confronted with so much death, she wanted to grab on to life and not let go.

  But the sadness stealing over her came from him. From not knowing if there would ever be a “them” again.

  She played with the second button from the top of his long-sleeve shirt, opening it and slipping it back through the small hole again. “We need to talk.”

  “No good conversation ever started that way.” His smile faded as fast as it came. “Wait, you’re serious?”

  She couldn’t be this close and hold her ground. She needed space for this conversation. Heck, she hadn’t even planned to have this discussion now. But coming back and having all of her emotions back up on her drove her.

  She pulled away and stepped back a few feet. “What are we doing?”

  He frowned and his gaze traveled up and down her body, as if he couldn’t understand what was happening. Maybe that was part of the problem.

  “I think we should get some sleep.” He paused after each word.

  She recognized the tone. He knew something was coming and mentally prepared for the hit. Usually at this point, he shut down. He suggested sex or talked about needing a walk. Dodged and ran, his well-practiced M.O.

  Suddenly she had to know the answer to the question that had plagued her from the moment he stepped off that helicopter—would this time be different?

  Having him pull away wasn’t a game she could keep playing. He left and she’d waited for him to come to her. Now he was here, likely because her father begged him or, worse, paid him.

  “Joel, come on.” She was surprised at the strength in her voice.

  “Please don’t do this.” All the color left his face. “Not now.”

  “When then? Two months from now when you come back for the third time? Next year when you stroll back in for the fourth?” The words sliced through her. She could see the cycle repeated forever. Didn’t even have to close her eyes to envision it because she’s already lived through the first round.

  He wiped a hand through his hair as he spun around and headed for the family room. He started to sit on the couch but stopped and paced instead.

  His movements wild and his usual control fading, he turned to her. “Can’t we just let this be it for now?”

  The question pounded her. She didn’t even know how her heart kept beating. “I don’t even know what ‘this’ is.”

  His hands clenched at his
sides. “I missed you.”

  The longing in his voice tugged at her, but she would not go to him. Too many times this argument ended with her giving in. Not this time. “I know.”

  “I love you.”

  “I know that, too.” That was what made this so hard. He wasn’t a jerk. He wasn’t afraid to tell her what he felt. Maybe it would be easier not to know because being this close and not being able to push their relationship across the finish line destroyed her. “I love you, too.”

  “My life...” He closed his eyes right as a cloud of pain crossed his face. He dropped onto the couch with his elbows balanced on his knees. “I live with danger. Hell, I need danger.”

  “You protect people.”

  “You can phrase it however you want, but the bottom line is I thrive on the adrenaline. I’m not a sit-on-the-couch-for-days guy.” He stared at the ceiling. “You know this.”

  “I know your past doesn’t matter to me and your personality doesn’t scare me.” Not even a little.

  She saw the man he was, all they could be together. If anything, knowing he survived such hardships, overcame so much, to become so decent and loving made him even more special.

  His head dropped and went into his palms, but he stayed silent. Debating how to give comfort without getting sucked in, she slid in next to him and lowered his hand. A few seconds ticked by before he looked over at her.

  “I know you’re not your father.” She brushed her lips over his hair. “You are nothing like him.”

  Joel trapped her hand between both of hers. “Yet.”

  “Ever.”

  He slipped his fingers through hers and held on tight. “I get antsy. Staying still makes me jumpy.”

  “Do you want to date other women?” She had to swallow several times to keep the ball of anxiety from racing up her throat.

  “What?” He made a face as if he’d tasted something truly awful. “No, of course not. This isn’t and has never been about needing other women. I only need you.”

  The wonderful things he said made the inevitable end so much more staggering. “Then explain it to me.”

  “It’s like this wild thing inside me. I went to DIA, a job I thought I’d love, and got restless. I worked for your dad and left.”