“Lea?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lea stood naked in front of Kino like every fantasy he’d ever had of her. No, better. In his mind she hadn’t been wet. Kino adjusted the towel to cover his rising reaction to her.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said. His voice had turned to gravel. He glanced past her, calculating the number of steps to the bed.
When he glanced back it was to find her gaze slipping down his body.
“I couldn’t stay away,” she said.
It’s a mistake, he thought. “I’m glad,” he said.
“Kiss me.”
Oh, he’d do a sight better than that.
He dropped the towel, stepped from the bathroom and swept her up in his arms, propelling them to the large bed.
She landed on the spotless coverlet with a bounce and he landed on top of her, kissing her mouth as his body covered hers, bringing him in contact with all the soft, wonderful places he had no right to feel. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, he thought that nothing in his life would ever be this right and this wrong all at once.
She threaded her hands into his hair, tugging and making the most adorable growl of need as he deepened the kiss. Only when she was breathless, and he on fire, did he pull back. She tried to stop his retreat, but he needed to make sure there was no mistake.
“You sure?” he asked.
She nodded.
He opened the bedside table, finding unopened lip balm, an iPod on a charger, an uncapped bottle of water, an eye mask and...condoms.
Still protecting me, he thought to himself, thinking of his uncle.
She plucked the bright packet from his fingers and tore it open with her teeth. He thought his heart would stop at the sight of those strong white teeth and soft sensual mouth.
He rolled to his side and dragged his knuckles down the curve of her breast and watched her nipples peak. He dipped to tongue the hard nubs and then sucked as his hand caressed her other breast.
Lea trembled as she arched, offering herself to him. Her fingers raked his back and then threaded into his loose, wet hair. She dragged him closer to the soft pillow of her aroused flesh. His hand swept down her back, caressing the soft curve of her hip, her muscular thighs and the warm, wet folds between her legs. Lea moaned and rocked, the condom momentarily forgotten as she stroked his chest, becoming familiar with the broad planes and enticing hollows.
Lea spread her legs and tugged insistently, making her desires known. He handed her the rolled condom and sighed in pleasure as she slipped the sheath into place, her fingers lingering on his sex. He knew that he’d always remember the feel of her fingers on his flesh, nimble and needy. When she finished she glanced up at him, her desire shining in her dark eyes. He smiled and stroked the long hair from her face.
He might not be able to give her much, but he could give her this. He was jaded and she was sweet. Now he saw that he needed that sweetness and optimism more than he needed the air in his lungs. He lowered himself onto her, his face pressed into her wet, fragrant hair as he kissed the slender column of her throat.
He made love to her, urged on by her soft mewing cries of pleasure and the eager, needy way she matched him stroke for stroke.
The next time was slower, more thorough and intimate, as she stared up at him until her eyes widened and her cry of pleasure broke from her open mouth. Her fulfillment triggered his own, leaving them both panting as they lay entangled in the soft bedding and each other. They rested there, flesh to flesh, safe and sated and full of lethargy. Her breathing changed first as Lea drifted off to slumber in his arms, one hand thrown casually across his chest.
He held her tight and wondered what it might be like to keep her, feeling the loss already as he knew he never would. Lea was like a light in a cavern, showing him a way out of the darkness and hatred he wore around him like body armor. If he let it go, what would be left?
Kino was not so exhausted that he didn’t have time to realize what he’d just done. Never get personal with a witness. It was the second rule of law enforcement, behind Finish your shift alive.
He clasped Lea to his side and she curled against him like a cat. Then Kino broke the third rule of the night, a personal one. Never spend the entire night with a woman.
Kino dragged the coverlet over them both. Then he closed his eyes and held tight to this little clanless woman who really thought she could save the world.
She might just do it, too, he thought.
* * *
LEA WOKE TO the feel of Kino holding her against the chiseled perfection of his body. Clearly he did not spend most of his time riding in a police car, judging from all the smooth, hard muscle she found herself pressed beside. Just the weight of his arm across her back felt heavy and warm. She opened her eyes but didn’t move. Somehow she sensed the man had an extraordinary ability to detect small changes in his surroundings.
The only light came from the bathroom and streamed out, making a rectangle on the carpeted floor. She glanced toward the curtains, trying to judge the hour, but there was no light, no reference to tell if it was still evening or the middle of the night. There was a clock on the bedside table, but she would have to rise up on an elbow to see it over his chest.
Lea waited a moment, savoring his steady, even breathing and the quiet of the room. She felt safe with him. It was a feeling she didn’t take for granted. Not anymore. But how many were out there tonight, in the desert, trying to reach the blue flags that meant their survival?
Kino was a police officer. He upheld the law. But did he ever find a law that was wrong or that he didn’t agree with? What did he do then? Somehow she already knew—he enforced it. That was his job, but more than that, it was who he was. While she felt a moral imperative to break this restriction against setting up water stations on federal land. She’d set up more than one, and if they caught her, she’d pay whatever consequences.
She sighed. She and Kino were perfect in bed, but outside of this room, they were still adversaries. Nothing had changed.
His hold upon her strengthened and he opened his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“What time is it?” she asked.
He turned his head. “Midnight.”
She slipped from his embrace. His grip tightened and she met his gaze.
“Time to let me go,” she whispered.
His mouth tightened as if he disagreed. But then he released her.
Lea padded silently from the room on bare feet, returning to her own bed. They were now separated by a few yards and a gulf of ideological differences. How could she sleep with a man who didn’t believe in the sanctity of human life? Who thought that killing was ever a justifiable choice?
She closed her eyes and remembered the feel of his mouth on her breasts. Lea let out a little moan of need, wanting to return to him again. But why? They had no future together.
Lea walked to the window to look out at the night, but when she parted the curtain she found a metal gate covering the opening. Suddenly her little peaceful retreat turned into what it was: an FBI safe house only used when the occupants were in terrible danger.
She pressed a hand to the cold metal, knowing the Viper was out there, with the migrants, hunting her. Lea crawled into the clean bed, the scent of Kino and their lovemaking still clinging to her skin. Despite her fatigue, it took her some time to finally doze off because, although her body was replete, her mind spun like the devil winds in the desert.
Her dreams were as troubled as her thoughts. She woke groggy and more exhausted than when she’d tumbled into slumber. What had awoken her? She glanced around the dark, unfamiliar room, which was illuminated only by the bluish glow of the clock radio. She realized it was 7:00 a.m. Morning, though she could not tell in this cage of a room.
Gropi
ng, she found the nightstand and lamp. A moment later she sat up and inhaled. The aroma of bacon and coffee helped her rally. She showered and dressed quickly, the lure of food more powerful than her embarrassment about last night. Why had she walked right into his room like that? Apache women were supposed to be modest, strong and stoic. She’d learned that and more from her Sunrise Ceremony. She’d also learned that although the tribe recognized her as Apache, many in the community did not. Certainly her classmates never had. Was Kino like them?
Why did it matter what he thought? When this was over, he’d go back to his tribe and she’d go back to trying to prove herself worthy of membership in hers and trying to keep the women and children crossing this desert from dying of thirst.
Lea padded down the hallway, dressed in jeans and her Oasis T-shirt. Kino’s smile vanished when he saw what she was wearing.
He offered her coffee and an omelet so overstuffed she nearly dropped the plate when it landed upon it. But she ate every bite. Nothing had ever tasted so good.
“Told you I could cook.”
“And the coffee is great, too,” she said.
His smile wavered and died. “Lea, why did you do that—last night?”
She lowered her gaze and sipped her coffee. “I messed up,” she admitted. “Tired and lonely and...it never should have happened.” She met his stern expression. “Have I ruined your investigation?”
“Normally, yes. But I’m not planning to bring this particular suspect to trial.”
Her stomach dropped at the thought. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’m going to find him and kill him.”
“But you’re an officer of the law.”
“I’m an Apache and he killed my father.”
“So you just get to press Pause and do what you like?”
“It won’t be murder, if that’s what you mean. I’ll give him fair warning. But he won’t take it. I know him well enough to know that.”
“What if he kills you instead?” she asked, still hardly believing she was having this conversation.
“Well, then I guess I’ll have a rattle shoved in my guts. Which reminds me—you need your body armor and the tan shirt today.”
Lea knew they couldn’t stay here forever, but she had somehow hoped that they could.
“Where are we going?”
“First, I want to see that third water station. The one on your GPS.”
“My phone is dead.”
He pointed to the charging station in the dining room.
Lea retrieved her phone, found the appropriate charger and then returned to her coffee.
“Where do we go after the water station?” she asked.
“My uncle forwarded information on Moody, DeClay and Scott. They’re on the dining room table.”
Lea hesitated and rose, abandoning her coffee to go look. She recognized the photos of Moody and another of Anthony DeClay and one of the tribal chief, Charlie Scott.
“Still not him,” she said, lowering the last of the three images to the table.
Kino slid her a third sheet. The document at first looked like a résumé for Anthony DeClay. Then she realized it was a list of criminal offenses. Was this what they called a rap sheet?
“He’s got drug arrests,” said Kino.
“What, did he smoke a joint in college?”
“Dealing on campus. He was eighteen and his father got him a very good attorney. He got off with community service. Care to guess what service he selected?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Kino was entirely too suspicious.
“Isn’t it possible that he saw the error of his ways and turned his life around?”
“Isn’t it equally possible that he found the perfect vehicle for transporting drugs and moved right up the chain of command? He’s not dealing anymore. He’s smuggling.”
“You don’t know that.” But now she wasn’t sure. She didn’t know her boss personally and she didn’t know his business. She did know that he was responsible for all regional programs in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
“I don’t, but I do know these killings have put him on the FBI’s interest list.”
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“Go get changed so we can check that third station.”
Lea retreated down the hallway. If anything, she now felt worse than before she’d decided to tiptoe across the hall to Kino’s bedroom. How had she thought that sleeping with a Shadow Wolf would be anything but trouble?
Thirty-five minutes later, they rode to the third station. Lea again wore Kino’s extra vest and now-familiar shirt. Kino pulled into the site and they saw that this one had not yet been removed, either. He asked her to remain in the vehicle until he cut for sign. She watched him walk this way and that, squatting to check the ground and then standing to retrace his steps.
Finally he came back for her.
“Okay, I still need to run some tracks, but I have all I can get from this spot. I’d like you to come with me while I check the trail.”
For a moment she felt useful, but then he added, “It’s not safe to leave you here alone.”
So she trailed after him wondering what he saw.
When they reached a patch of thornbush, he paused to examine a branch. Lea glanced around and caught a flash of pink fabric beneath an ironwood. It was common for immigrants to discard clothing, empty bottles—anything, really, that would lighten their loads. As she moved closer she noted the fabric was not rubbish but the garment covering the body of a girl, reclining in death, her head upon the root of the tree. The corpse had already begun to swell in the heat.
Lea gave a cry and staggered back.
* * *
KINO CAUGHT LEA as she scuttled away from the body and set her outside the circle of brush.
“Wait here,” he said.
But she didn’t. Couldn’t. She recovered and followed him right through the thornbushes. The girl could not have been more than twelve or thirteen, judging from her size.
“They left her,” said Kino.
“What? Who did?”
“Her party. There were six of them. Two women, three men, all carrying heavy packs. See how the toe prints are deeper? They were leaning forward under the weight. But one had his hands free, probably for his weapons. Paramilitary, their guard. Right here.” He pointed to a boot track. “Six sets in. But only five sets of tracks leave in that direction.” He pointed at what was invisible to her.
It was like staring down at her aunt. Was this what her mother had found when she’d finally made it back?
“Why?” she whispered.
Kino looked at the body but didn’t touch it. She wondered if that was for hygienic reasons or because of the Apache people’s general prohibition against touching the dead.
Before the Americans came, her people did not reside near dead bodies. In the old days, before the reservation, when a person died, the family would bury the body and then burn the deceased’s house with everything inside. The family then moved away, to keep the ghost from following. Of course, back then the houses were made by the women over several days and the encampments were never permanent. Now they lived mostly in BIA housing, and burning them down after a death was generally discouraged. But old traditions died slowly, and some houses were still burned, especially after the evictions.
“Injury, likely. Or maybe she just couldn’t go on.”
Lea knew what that meant. No water.
Kino touched her shoulder, and she tore her gaze from the dead girl and stared at him.
He nodded his head, as if just deciding something.
“I get it now, Lea.”
“What?”
“What you do. I understand why you would break the law to set up water stations.�
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She felt the flicker of a smile as their gazes held. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lea knelt beside the girl and prayed. It was a prayer her mother had taught her. A prayer to the Virgin Mary to guide this girl home.
When she had finished, Kino helped her to her feet and then moved away from the child who had died here alone in the desert.
Kino pointed to the prints on the ground.
“They didn’t fill up at the water station. They stopped there but there were only two sets of prints. One from this group and, before that, someone who came in a truck. Prints are a match for the Viper. He was here recently.”
“How do you know?” she asked, peering at the tracks.
Kino squatted and pointed. “Right here. There is a chunk missing from the back of his left heel. Same tracks as the ones he left by those bodies.”
The bodies that had lain in a row after he had shot them execution style. His human mules who’d had no further value after they had delivered their cargo.
She rose. Suddenly she wanted to find this man as much as Kino. And in that moment she understood Kino’s quest for justice and his need to kill this man. And that terrified her.
She’d forgiven her father’s shooter. And she’d tried to be merciful and to help those in need. But that wasn’t enough. Not when there were predators like this in the desert. What chance did a rabbit have against a rattlesnake?
“What’s wrong, Lea?”
“I’m tired of this! Tired of Americans just throwing these people away as if they were nothing. Tired of this Viper killing the people who bring him his cargo. Tired of people having to choose between carrying these filthy drugs and a future with no hope. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Kino offered his hand, but she launched into his arms instead. He held her for several moments while she reined in her trembling, impotent fury and slowed her breathing. It was the behavior of an Apache woman, holding in her pain so that none could tell what sorrow she held in her heart. Their history was full of proof that it had been necessary to build that kind of toughness and it seemed it still was.
Harlequin Intrigue, Box Set 1 of 2 Page 49