His name barely left her lips when his mouth came down on hers, his tongue stroking into her mouth, claiming her, tasting her. She moaned and passion exploded between them. Wicked, wonderful passion that made everything else fade. There was something happening between them, something she couldn’t escape. She was lost in him, lost in everything that could be, if only they were two different people. If only things were different. But they weren’t—and yet, they were. When they arched into each other, kissing, touching, hungering for one another, it wasn’t fucking. It was making love, and that’s what would make the moment harder when it was over. The moment they lay there, bodies sweaty and sated, wrapped in each other’s arms. Because in that moment, she knew she still had to do what she had to do. She tried to comfort herself by telling herself he’d do the same to her, that he was probably planning to do just that. It didn’t make it any easier though to face the facts.
She’d made love to him and now she had to fuck him over.
***
Blake’s eyes snapped open from where he laid on the bed, on his stomach, playing as if he were asleep. The mattress had shifted and he could hear Kara dressing. He’d rolled off of her not long after they’d…fucked. Or whatever that had been. He refused to let it be more when she was clearly not done lying to him. What a damn fool he’d been to think he could break through her walls and get her to trust him. To hope she wasn’t trouble, but someone in trouble. Hell, he still wanted to believe that and he dreaded what he knew was before him…the truth.
The sound of her tiptoeing away and then taking the stairs ground along his nerve endings and he didn’t even wait for the door to open and shut before he sat up and reached for his phone to dial Kyle.
“I tagged the truck with a tracking device,” Kyle answered.
“She took my truck?”
“Yep. Smart girl, that one. Left you without the means to follow.”
Blake grimaced and ended the call, dressing and then making his way to the rental in front of the building where Kyle was waiting on him. He was done playing games with Kara. She was going to find that out fast.
Chapter Five
Blake stood in the shadows of the building where Tami Wright, the blond waitress who worked for Eduardo, lived, watching her load her car with suitcases, with Kara by her side. What the fuck was she up to? Was she involved in the drug theft along with this Tami chick, and trying to cover it up?
Once the bags were in the trunk, Kara handed Tami an envelope and then hugged her, stepping back and watching as the other woman climbed into her beat-up Volkswagen and drove away. Blake let Tami go, knowing Kyle would follow her and track her destination.
Kara eyed a small piece of paper in her hand and started to walk unknowingly toward him and the side of the building where she’d parked the truck, but she hesitated as she neared the dark enclave where he was waiting. Secretary, his ass, he thought for the millionth time. She was trained and trained well, her instincts on high alert. She cut to her left, away from him, and he stepped out from the darkness.
“Kara.”
She stilled and turned back to him, her face washed of the shock he sensed in her, her body stiff with discomfort she didn’t hide as well. “Blake.”
“You didn’t really think you could sneak out that easily, did you?”
“I can explain.”
“I’m sure you can.” He motioned the direction where she’d parked. “In my truck.”
She shook her head. “No. That doesn’t seem like a smart idea, because—”
“I’m not going to kill you,” he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her with him, irritated he could read her thoughts and that’s where her head was at. “And damn it, I wish you’d stop saying I am. It’s starting to get on my nerves.”
“I could scream,” she threatened, all but making him drag her.
“And risk your identity being exposed by the police? I doubt it.” He glared at her. “I told you. I’m not going to kill you. Turn you over my knee and spank your pretty little ass, most likely. That I’d enjoy.”
She gaped. “You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t I?” They were at the truck, and he pressed her against the door, trapping her there, his hands by her head. “What are you doing with Eduardo’s employee?”
“I plead the fifth.”
He ground his teeth, studying her in the beam of the high moon above. “Why are you here, Kara? Because it looks bad. It looks like you’re involved in the thefts.”
Her eyes went wide. “No. I’m not. That’s not it. ” She crossed her arms in front of her. “It’s…it’s something completely different.”
“I’m listening.”
“Tami was in trouble. I was helping her.”
“What kind of trouble?” he pressed.
“I couldn’t just stand by and let her be one of the girls they’re selling to the highest bidder. I couldn’t bear to let it happen.” She inhaled and let it out. “I just couldn’t.” She raised her hands. “Whatever that means happens to me, then it happens.”
“What the hell are you talking about? What girls being sold to the highest bidder? By who?”
She studied him, looking baffled. “You don’t know?”
“Fuck no, I don’t know. What girls being sold to whom, Kara?”
“I’m not completely sure. I just know there have been girls disappearing, and they work at that restaurant. I overheard Eduardo telling Tami that she was going to be sold off if she didn’t deliver this other girl he wanted to him.”
Blake scrubbed his jaw and cursed under his breath. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You work for Mendez, Blake. I know you say you’re a contractor, but—”
“I damn sure don’t support selling off woman, Kara. That’s some fucked-up shit.” He lowered his voice. “When I told you that you could trust me, I meant it.”
“I don’t trust anyone involved with Mendez.”
“And yet you’re involved with Mendez.”
“I told you. I have to be or I wouldn’t be.”
“For the money.”
“No. Yes. For my family. We can’t do this now. The other woman Eduardo wanted. She has no family and he’s cleared her records in some way and intends to make her disappear. I have to get to her and get her out of town.”
“You have her address?”
“Yes.” She held up the piece of paper.
He took it from her and he glanced down at the address. “Give me my keys.”
She fished them from her purse and he motioned her inside the truck. Once they were inside, he started the engine. “Where’s Tami going?”
“The Omni in San Jose. I wanted her across the bridge and in something high end and secure where Eduardo couldn’t get to her easily. It seemed the best option until I could get to her until I could make other arrangements for her.”
“Other arrangements,” he repeated.
“Yes.”
“What arrangements?”
“I didn’t think that far ahead.”
Smart answer, but he wasn’t buying it. She knew what she was doing. He called Kyle and gave him the rundown. “I’ll get the other girl and take her with me to pick up Tami,” Kyle said. “We’re going to have to get them into protective custody, Blake. You know that. We have to talk about what that means.”
In other words, if they let the feds know what was happening; Blake would get pulled out of the cartel and investigated. He scrubbed his jaw, considering the very real possibility he needed to get his brothers involved. They had a soft spot for women. No matter how much they worried about Blake and Alvarez, they wouldn’t blow a chance to break up an operation selling woman off like shoes in a store. “Just keep the two women safe tonight,” Blake said. “We’ll deal with the rest tomorrow.”
“There’s something else you need to know,” Kyle said, and something in his voice had Blake stiffening.
A few seconds later, Blake had listened to the news Kyle had to share and his
gut was one big knot. He ended the call and didn’t look at Kara. He couldn’t look at her now.
“Who is that you’re talking to?” she asked. “What’s happening?”
“That was a trusted friend. He’ll make sure the women are safe.” He put the truck in reverse and didn’t say another word, his mind and emotions racing, that dark place he so often visited threatening to take control.
Kara must have sensed it because she didn’t speak and barely made a sound, but as soon as they pulled up to her apartment, she was out of the truck, as if she couldn’t escape fast enough. At her door, he pushed it open and she stared up at him, hesitating to go inside.
His eyes met hers, and he saw her trepidation. She might not know what he’d found out on that phone call, but she sensed something was up. And oh yeah—something was up, all right. “I’ll pick you up and carry you in if I have to,” he promised.
She inhaled, as if steeling herself for what came next, and headed inside. He pursued her and shut the door, shackling her arm and pressing her into the wall, his legs shackling hers. “I know who you are, Kara.”
The third installment of BENEATH THE SECRETS coming April 30th…
Beneath the Secrets, Part Two (Tall, Dark & Deadly) Page 4