Christmas Conspiracy

by Robin Perini

  This was insane. They were on the run. They needed to go, but her entire body shook with awareness, while deep within her belly she softened, craving the feel of him pressed up against her, the caress of his lips and his hands as he explored every inch of her skin.

  He tugged her closer, pressing her breasts against his chest. His lips hovered over hers, teasing, tempting. Kat lifted her mouth to his and gave in to the desire. Logan wrapped her in his arms and took over the kiss. Her heart raced, reveling in his power and passion.

  She sighed against his mouth. He drove away the ugly frightening world that threatened them. For one moment it was only him and her and the memories of the surf pounding in rhythmic counterpoint as they sought release with each other.

  “Why are you kissing Mommy?” Hayden piped up from the back.

  Kat froze. She didn’t want to let Logan go. She dragged her lips from his and looked at her son in disbelief. “When did you wake up?”

  “When you and Daddy started making funny noises.” Hayden reached for his fire truck and turned the siren on, waking up Lanie, who started crying. “I’m hungry. I want macaroni.”

  “Kid sure knows how to kill a moment, doesn’t he?” Logan muttered, his fingertip caressing her lower lip, his gaze heated with promises for later. He slid the car back into Drive.

  She tried to smile. Maybe Hayden’s interruption had been for the best. She’d been ready to combust in Logan’s arms. She took a shuddering breath and ordered her pounding heart to slow.

  “Do we dare stop and get something to eat?” asked Kat.

  “I’ll find something out of the way. Since I identified that bug, we can probably spare twenty minutes. I just want to get to the ranch and lock everything down.”

  Pink and blue streams decorated the horizon at dusk as Logan pulled into a small diner in a town too similar to most of those Kat and her mom had lived in. One stop sign, a restaurant, a feed lot and a gas station doubling as a grocery store.

  “I don’t want to do this again for a while, but we need food, a few supplies and more than that, we need to ditch this SUV. The gunmen know the license plate and with the back smashed, it’s too easy to spot.”

  “Is Rafe meeting us?”

  “Not until I get a disposable phone. I saw a sign at the gas station about a car lot. I figure, even with damage, someone there will trade vehicles with us. They’re going to have to buy it for scrap though. I don’t want anyone driving the SUV on the road in case it eventually gets tracked down and the gunmen shoot first and ID the occupants later.”

  Kat shuddered. “I hadn’t even considered. They’re that desperate?”

  “Maybe. And maybe they’re just getting paid very, very well.”

  “Your world is frightening,” Kat said with a frown. She studied the beat-up station wagon and several old pickups in the parking lot of the diner with new eyes. None of them looked suspicious. “Should we order our food to go?”

  He shut off the vehicle. “You and the kids eat fast, while I get the supplies and trade in the SUV. I don’t like being apart, but the fewer people that see us together, the better.”

  Kat clutched Lanie close, emotion catching in her throat. Anyone who did see the four of them together would think they were a normal family. Little did they know that Logan and Kat were virtual strangers who may not live until tomorrow.

  She followed Logan into the diner and they sought out the most secluded booth possible near the back. Within moments he’d ordered a spread of chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, quick fare that both kids would eat. After strapping Lanie into her high chair, Logan bent close to Kat’s ear. “I’ll be right back. If you see anything suspicious, run. I’ll meet you out back.”

  She held his hand tight. “You’ll be careful?”

  His eyes crinkled. “Don’t you worry. I’ve done this before.”

  She watched him walk out, confident, certain and oh-so-sexy in those jeans. She shouldn’t be thinking that way, but Logan’s intelligence and resourcefulness made her want him all the more. She survived. He planned—and won.

  By the time the waitress delivered their meal, Logan had returned with new keys in his hand.

  “I traded for the station wagon. They’re going to sell the SUV for parts,” he whispered. “I told them to keep it out of sight. From the looks of the place, by tomorrow, the SUV won’t exist.”

  “Good. Now no one gets hurt,” she muttered.

  Logan’s smile melted away. “I couldn’t risk that.” Logan glanced at his watch. “We should get on the road. Are the kids almost done?”

  “Yes.” Kat placed her hand on his for a moment. “You’re a good man, Logan Carmichael.”

  He turned his hand over and held hers tight. “I missed you, Kat. I wish things had gone differently.”

  She held her breath.

  He ran his thumb over her sensitive skin. “Do you think, once this is over, we could try—?”

  “Mommy! Look! I opened the belt.” Hayden climbed onto the table. “Vrooom!” He drove his fire engine through the chicken nuggets, then over his sister’s hand. Lanie screamed and Hayden dove onto the bench seat, then under the table.

  “Hayden. You come up here and apologize to your sister,” Kat ordered.

  Logan bent across to wipe Lanie’s tears and in seconds, Hayden had scrambled out from his hiding place and bolted across the small, nearly empty diner, heading for the door.

  “Hayden,” Logan’s deep voice warned.

  Her son stopped and stared, obviously unsure of just how much he could get away with around this new “daddy.”

  The waitress did not look thrilled about a little kid running around the restaurant. Nor did the few patrons eating there.

  Logan stood. “You stay with Lanie. I’ll get him.”

  Logan strode toward Hayden, but Kat recognized the mischievous glint in her son’s eye. “Hayden, no!” She bolted toward him.

  Grinning, Hayden crouched down, ready to run. “Come get me, Daddy!”

  In the few seconds it took for Logan and Kat to cross the distance, Hayden had scrambled onto the bench seat beside the door, then onto the top. Logan caught Hayden before he sailed through the front glass window, but his fire engine flew from his hands and smashed on the ground. Several pieces littered the linoleum floor.

  Stunned, Logan sat on the bench seat, clutching his frustrated little boy. They both stared at the damaged toy. Kat could scarcely breathe, knowing it could just as easily have been Hayden lying there.

  He wriggled and got down, then crawled to the fire engine. The ladder and one set of wheels had come off. “Broken, Daddy. Fix it,” he pleaded, tears in his eyes, as he walked back and put the remains in his father’s hands.

  Kat stood beside them, now with a tearful Lanie in her arms.

  Logan turned the fire truck over, then stilled as he saw gouge marks on the metal near one of the seams that the now-missing ladder had covered. He grabbed a knife from the table, slipped it into the seam and popped a compartment open.

  Cursing, he grabbed Hayden and then their bags. “Come on, let’s go.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  He threw some bills on the table. “I found another transmitter. Somehow they planted it in Hayden’s toy. That means they know we’re here.”

  Kat’s heart pounded as they raced out the door. They quickly latched the kids into the car seats Logan had placed in the back of the station wagon, then jumped into the front. Logan screeched out of the diner’s parking lot and got on the road. Once on the highway, he looked for a truck stop with an easy-on, easy-off access.

  He pulled up to some construction vehicles and bent underneath the rear fender of the cement mixer.

  “What are you doing and why are we heading back toward Houston?”

  “We’re not. But this transmitter is going the opposite way from where we are headed. The gunmen will know we’re not all in this cement mixer, so the driver should be safe.”

  He hopped back in
the car and drove away. A half hour later, he stopped again and dialed a number on one of the new disposable phones. After it connected, he punched in another series of numbers, then waited.

  “Rafe, it’s me. Where’s Sergei? Did he ever show up?” Logan was silent as he listened, then his knuckles went white.

  Kat trembled. Something was very wrong.

  “They’ve gone too far. We’re headed back to the ranch. Call everyone in. We’ll pool our resources and end this thing.”

  He threw the phone on the seat and took several deep breaths. The acid in Kat’s stomach churned. The anger pulsing off him was palpable. The warrior was back. Cold. Ruthless. Determined.

  Frightening.

  “What happened?” Kat could hear the terror in her own voice. Whatever it was, it had to be awful to put this deadly look in Logan’s eyes.

  “It’s Paulina.” Logan turned, his expression sad and regretful. “Someone got to her first. They hurt her. Bad.”

  “But she was leaving,” Kat insisted. “Going to her sister’s house. Is she okay?”

  “I’m sorry, Kat. She’s dead.”

  Chapter Four

  Moonlight danced along the blacktop as Logan pulled up to the electronic gate leading to his family’s ranch house. He keyed in his override code and rubbed his burning eyes as the gate swung open. He tried to imagine Kat standing here, pregnant and afraid, feeling that he’d rejected her, didn’t want anything to do with her. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  He put the station wagon in gear and started down the long winding road to his house. He looked up at the imposing edifice, comparing it to where Kat and the kids had been living. Would the massive ranch house scare her all over again, or did the hitmen coming after her make his place look like a haven now?

  He eased the car to a stop in front of the porch. The seven-hour drive had taken closer to ten, and all his muscles were stiff. The gunshot wound across his shoulder ached, but the bleeding had stopped.

  He slid a sidelong glance at Kat. She was still sound asleep, the shadows under her eyes having grown dark, the worry pulling at the corners of her mouth. His hand hovered over her cheek. She was so damn beautiful.

  He couldn’t believe he’d told her he missed her. He’d never meant to say it out loud, but it just spilled out. He didn’t want to be a fool for her again, but she seemed able to reach inside him and fill this big empty space with just the sound of her laughter—or the sight of her holding his babies.

  Gently, he shook her awake. “Honey, we’re home.”

  Damn, there he went again. He hoped she overlooked the slip.

  Kat stirred, then sat up slowly. “Home?” She looked around sleepily. “You mean your ranch?”

  She stared at the big house and he could almost see the nervousness take hold of her as she straightened in the seat.

  “You’ll be safe here.” His heart ached with the need to pull her against him and make all her fears go away, but nothing would be that easy. He sighed, opened the car door and grabbed a few bags, setting them on the landing, knowing help would arrive soon.

  Rafe met him on the front porch. “You took your time getting here.”

  “I had to dump the second transmitter in the back of a cement truck heading east. Hopefully, the decoy will keep them busy for a while,” Logan said quietly, walking with Rafe to the car. Logan opened the back door of the station wagon and removed his daughter from her car seat. “I also doubled back a lot to make certain I wasn’t followed.”

  “I noticed you ditched our phone transmitter, too. Zane was pissed when he lost track of you. Gotta tell you, Logan, a commando geek thinking you don’t trust his security is not a pretty sight.”

  “He’ll have to get over it,” Logan said under his breath. “I couldn’t risk anyone tapping into our signal and tracking us while I was on the road. That station wagon doesn’t have near the horsepower of my SUV, and those kids have been through enough.”

  “That’s why he was freaking.” Rafe didn’t wait to be asked what needed to be done. He walked around the other side of the car and picked up the dead weight of Hayden.

  The day’s events must have worn the kids out. Neither woke.

  For a moment, Kat lingered beside Rafe, studying the man who could kill with his bare hands. Logan didn’t know if her exhaustion—or intimidation—kept her silent. Holding Lanie carefully, Logan backed into the screen door and held it open while Rafe and Kat walked through.

  “The kitchen’s through there.” Logan tilted his head toward an oak-trimmed entrance. “We’ll be upstairs.”

  “Second door on the left,” Rafe added.

  The little angel stirred in his arms then snuggled down against Logan’s neck. His heart swelled at the trust. He followed Rafe up the stairs and into a bedroom near Logan’s own room. Two miniature beds rested side by side, and a large stack of toys piled in the corner. Someone had even remembered diapers and baby powder.

  He frowned. “They had cribs in Kat’s house. Is a bed safe?”

  “Your son does gymnastics on his crib. Not only that, he climbed out, then pulled a gun on you before you knew what was happening. A kid like that deserves a bed.”

  “Yeah, but the trick will be to keep him in it.” Logan settled Lanie under a frilly pink comforter. “He’s a hellion. Thinks he’s invincible.”

  “Can’t imagine who he takes after....” Rafe said, tucking Hayden beneath a comforter covered in fire engines. “There’s more stuff downstairs. Zane’s sister has kids. She told us what to get.”

  “Thanks.” Logan stared down at his children. He couldn’t take his eyes off them.

  Rafe put his hand on Logan’s shoulder. “You’re a lucky man.”

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

  “We won’t let anything happen to them.”

  “It’s not going to be easy,” Logan said, easing quietly into the hallway. “What have you found out about the people coming after us?”

  “We have at least two distinct players, maybe more.”

  “Agreed. The king wants a live heir, but whoever tried to burn down the barn wants Kat dead. What about the guy I killed at the hospital?”

  “Zane got hold of the morgue photos. He came up with an ID. It took some digging, but bottom line, the man’s associated with Victor Karofsky.”

  Logan stilled in recognition. “Karofsky. Three years ago.”

  “You cost him millions when you took down the Uzbekistan arm of his operation.”

  “His son ran things. He was killed.”

  “You almost died,” Rafe said. “You had no choice.”

  “Is Victor after my family?” Logan whispered. “Does he want Kat dead?”

  “It fits. The blood from the guy you shot at the barn matches evidence at the babysitter’s murder scene. We don’t have a name. Whoever he is, he likes knives and has used them before. Just Victor’s type. One slice across the throat.”

  “Dammit, I gave her money and told her to get out of there. Why didn’t she run?”

  “Your envelope was still in her purse, but get this. Several thousand dollars were direct deposited into her account yesterday, a few hours before she was killed.”

  Logan cursed. “Someone must have paid Paulina to put the transmitter in Hayden’s fire engine. No one else had the opportunity.”

  “No. That just can’t be true.” Kat’s harsh whisper erupted. “It can’t.”

  Logan spun around.

  Kat stood at the top of the stairs, her gaze pained. “Paulina wouldn’t betray us like that.”

  Logan strode down the hallway toward Kat and she met him partway. “I’m sorry, but there’s no doubt her killer was the shooter from the ranch. Nothing else fits.”

  Kat swayed as the truth of the betrayal hit, and Logan slid an arm around her. She leaned into him.

  “Tell Zane to get me a visual on whoever deposited that money into Paulina’s account,” Logan ordered Rafe. “If he can’t, get a financial forensi
c expert to track the money back.”

  “Got it.”

  “I want the tactical team in the situation room at dawn, with Hunter on video conference. We’ll be bringing in more men to guard here. Also, find out if Noah Bradford is still in Europe. We may need to tap him for information on Victor’s latest dealings with terrorist organizations.”

  “Terrorists?” Kat blanched. “We have terrorists after us?”

  “My cue to leave.” Rafe disappeared down the hall.

  Kat searched Logan’s face. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m making some assumptions,” he said. “We’ll know more soon. In the meantime, the kids are asleep and safe.” He drew Kat against his chest, holding her tightly to him.

  “I need to see them.”

  Logan nodded, then eased open their door showing her the room Rafe and his men had created. A small night-light glowed, illuminating the twins, who were sound asleep, cuddled beneath the covers.

  She looked around. “You did this for them?” She gazed up into Logan’s eyes, stunned. “How?”

  “It’s one of the perks of not going it alone. Others help you. Get used to it. You’re not struggling by yourself anymore.”

  Tears filled her eyes, surprising Logan, but he was even more shocked when she rose on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Thank you.”

  Exhaustion laced her eyes, but something else shone there. Uncertainty. Yearning? It struck him that for the first time, he and Kat were standing together, as parents, watching their children sleep under his roof. Something shifted deep inside him, breaking down defenses he’d thought unassailable. A protectiveness surged, stronger than he’d ever felt. He wanted her with him. He didn’t want her to leave. The sting at the back of his eyes stunned him.

  “Logan?”

  He didn’t say a word, just led Kat into his bedroom.

  She hesitated in the doorway.

  “Stay with me tonight.”

  She glanced around nervously. Her gaze locked on the baby monitor beside the bed. She bit her lip.