Her Lone Wolf

by Paige Tyler

  “Why would Dick want to send me to prison?” he asked. “More importantly, how could he have done it? It’s not like he could expose any of the less-than-strictly-legal missions I’d done for the DCO or he would have gone to prison right along with me.”

  “It didn’t have anything to do with any mission you did. He has evidence on you…about those men you killed in Buffalo years ago.”

  “Buffalo? He was supposed to make that evidence disappear.” Clayne’s frown deepened. “Tell me everything.”

  She took a deep breath. In for a penny…

  “It happened right after we came back from that mission in the Ukraine,” she said. “You remember the one—when we took out that toxic nerve agent lab all by ourselves, incinerating the terrorists and their research at the same time?”

  Clayne nodded, his sensuous mouth curving into a smile. They’d been beyond amazing on that job. Everyone at the DCO had been impressed. Everyone except Dick.

  “The next morning, Dick called me into his office, and showed me a video…”

  * * *

  Washington, DC, September 2011

  “Was there any part of that video you missed, Beckett?” Dick asked as he pressed the stop button on the video player.

  His smug tone made Danica want to shoot him where he sat. “No, I don’t need to see it again.”

  She’d seen more than enough. She knew about what had happened in Buffalo, but it was still hard seeing the man she loved with blood dripping from his hands. The angle of the camera had been wrong to catch him actually tearing the three men to pieces, but it had caught their bodies hitting the ground and Clayne walking away from them.

  Clayne had told her about the way he’d screwed up and let himself get sucked into what he thought was a simple border-crossing job. He thought he’d be moving stolen merchandise. Electronics, cigarettes, maybe even maple syrup—yeah, there was even a black market business in maple syrup. But then Clayne had learned his partners in crime were moving something he really wasn’t cool with: little girls. They had a buyer in Toronto who’d been ready to ship them overseas that same night.

  The three thugs hadn’t counted on Clayne’s keen sense of smell—or his morals. Clayne had let the girls go, then confronted the men. The argument had gotten ugly, and Clayne had ended up killing them.

  “Those men were pigs,” Danica told Dick. “They were involved in human trafficking. Little girls.”

  “So Buchanan told you about it?” He shook his head as he took the VHS tape out of the machine. “I knew you and he were too damn close. But at least it saves me from explaining all the meaningless details. You see, the funny thing about those three men? Nobody has a clue they were involved in human trafficking. All anyone knows is that they were ripped to shreds by a vicious killer. No one is exactly sure how he did it, but they know he did it. This video is proof.”

  There was something going sideways here, and she didn’t have a clue what it was.

  “What are you getting at?” she asked.

  “You’re quick,” Dick said. “I can see why John recruited you. Pair your brains with Buchanan’s brawn and you make one hell of a good team. But all good teams have to be broken up at some point, and now is that time for you and Buchanan.”

  Danica’s stomach dropped. Why would he want to split them up? It made no sense.

  “So you’re going to walk out of here and tell Buchanan that you’re quitting the DCO,” Dick said. “Then you’re going to get as far away from DC as possible.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  He gave her a humorless smile. “I’ll make sure this video—and all the rest of the evidence that implicates Buchanan in those murders—finds its way into the hands of the Eerie County District Attorney. And your partner will spend the rest of his life in jail.”

  The bastard was full of crap. “John won’t let that happen.”

  “He doesn’t have any say in this,” Dick said. “Regardless of our titles, I don’t work for him. I work directly for the Committee, and not all of them are as enamored with the EVA shifter program as John is. When I go to them with this information, do you really think they’ll care what John has to say?”

  Danica had never understood the inner workings of the DCO leadership, but what Dick said made sense. Most of the other operatives called him the Committee’s mole. Now, she saw why. But she wasn’t going to give in to his blackmail simply because he threatened her.

  “You knew about this when you hired Clayne,” she said.

  He smiled coolly. “Did I? I’m sure this evidence just fell into my hands recently. And I was so concerned that I immediately contacted the Eerie County District Attorney. At least that’s what I’m going to tell the Committee. Some of them might listen to you, but it won’t matter to Clayne because he’ll be in prison by then.”

  She lifted her chin. “You’re bluffing.”

  Dick didn’t say anything. Instead, he pressed the speaker button on his desk phone and dialed.

  “Eerie County Attorney’s Office,” a female voice answered.

  “Judy, this is Dick Coleman from Department of Homeland Security. Is Ron in?”

  “Please wait while I connect you.”

  The phone rang once, then a man’s voice came on the line.

  “Dick, how’re things down there inside the belt loop?”

  Danica’s heart plummeted. She reached out and disconnected the call before Dick could say anything.

  “You’re a bastard.” She hated that her voice trembled, but she was so close to tears. “I’ll give my resignation today. But I want the evidence before I go.”

  He laughed. “You’ll give me your resignation right now. And you’re never getting the evidence. It stays in my safekeeping to make sure you never come back or contact Buchanan ever again.”

  Her gut twisted. She had no leverage to make him do anything, and he knew it. “How do I know I can trust you?”

  “You don’t,” he said. “But if you aren’t out of DC by tonight, I’ll send your boyfriend to prison, and it will be your fault.”

  * * *

  Clayne drained his whiskey and thumped the glass down with a curse that drew another nervous look from the young bartender.

  “Why the hell didn’t you come and tell me that asshole blackmailed you?” he asked.

  “Because if I told you, you would have killed him.”

  Clayne snorted. “You don’t think I’m going to do it now?”

  He reached for the bottle of whiskey. This time, she was the one to stop him. “That’d be a very bad idea. He still has the evidence on you, remember?”

  “He can’t use it if he’s dead,” Clayne pointed out.

  “We don’t know that for sure. He could have something set up to release the evidence to the police in the event of his untimely death. I made the deal with him because it was the only thing I could do that would definitely keep you out of jail.” She sighed. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but I did it for you, and that made it all worthwhile. Don’t do anything stupid and make what I did a waste, okay?”

  Clayne was silent as he mulled that over. “Okay,” he finally said. “I won’t do anything crazy. But don’t think for a second I’m going to let that little prick get away with this.”

  Danica nodded. She knew that, for today at least, she didn’t have to worry about Clayne killing the man.

  “You know the thing I don’t understand? “ Clayne said. “Why go to all the trouble of blackmailing you? It obviously wasn’t about getting me out of the DCO. If that was the case, he could have just turned over the evidence to the cops and let them drag me off to jail. Why go after you?”

  She shrugged. “I think he simply wanted me out of your life.”

  “What, like the ultimate cock block or something?” Clayne asked, only half kidding.

  Danica only wished it had been that simple. “I had a lot of time to think about Dick’s motive over the past two years, and I think it all goes back to why he broug
ht you into the DCO in the first place.”

  “Because he thought I’d make an excellent field operative?” Clayne’s voice was sarcastic.

  She gave him a wry smile. “Right. The guy who despises shifters and has never recruited another one since he brought you in.”

  “Why, then?”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, babe, but I think the whole reason Dick brought you into the DCO was to sabotage the shifter program. I remember talking to some of the other operatives, and they used to tell me how Dick was constantly trying to get the program shut down. He probably figured he’d bring in a guy with a history of anger management issues and—”

  “I’d blow up at the worst possible time,” Clayne finished. “Giving Dick and people like him the ammunition they needed to pull the plug on the whole program.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. But with me in the picture, you were never going to blow up. Even Dick figured that out. Which was when he realized he had to get rid of me. Then he could go back to counting the days until you lost it.”

  Clayne rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “How did you know I wouldn’t? What if he’d been right and you were the only thing keeping me from exploding right in the middle of the DCO?”

  She gave him a smile. “Because I knew you weren’t the person Dick thought you were. Those three men you killed in Buffalo don’t define who you are. Those little girls you risked everything to save showed me what I needed to know.”

  He stared down at her hands for a long time, the muscles in his jaw working. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For walking away from me.” He lifted his head to give her a rueful look. “I mean, I hated that you did it, and I wish you hadn’t, but I understand why you did it. I don’t think I would have had the strength to do it if our positions had been reversed.”

  Danica felt tears start in her eyes again and she blinked them back. “Leaving you nearly killed me.”

  Clayne reached across the table to cup her face. “Dick’s going to pay for what he did. I promise you.”

  Danica would simply be happy if they could get the evidence he had on Clayne, but she knew that wouldn’t be enough for him. Once Clayne figured out how to get at the sword Dick was holding over his head, the man was going to regret being born.

  She chewed on her lip, wondering if she should mention that she’d spent the last two years thinking about how to destroy the evidence Dick had on Clayne. She’d toyed with the idea of hiring a private investigator to steal the evidence a few times, but she’d never done it because screwing up would have put Clayne in prison, and she’d never risk that.

  Now that Clayne knew about the evidence, they were going to have to find a way out of this situation sooner, rather than later. Clayne wasn’t big on patience.

  But they had a bigger problem at the moment. Like stopping the Hunter from killing again.

  “I know,” she said, answering Clayne’s question. “But right now, we’ve got a serial killer to catch. So we need to get your head in the game.”

  Clayne didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet and threw it on the table. Then he grabbed her hand and led her toward the door.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, hurrying to keep up.

  He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Your place.”

  Her place? “Um…why?”

  Danica thought she knew, but she didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. That didn’t stop her tummy from getting that funny flutter in it at the possibility of being with Clayne again. It had been a really, really long time.

  Clayne stopped and gave her a look that almost melted her panties. “You said you wanted to help me get my head back in the game. I think we both know the best way to do that.”

  Heat pooled between her thighs. If he kept gazing at her like that, she wasn’t sure they’d make it back to her apartment. Of course, now probably wasn’t the time for this, but he wasn’t the only one who needed to get his head right—she did, too. And nothing did that for them better than sex.

  Clayne held out his hand. “Keys?”

  He always did like to do the driving. She handed them over without hesitation. Her hands were shaking too much to drive anyway.

  Clayne opened her door, then practically sprinted around to get behind the wheel. Danica gave him directions as he sped out of the parking lot.

  “Um, unless you want to get pulled over, you might want to slow down.”

  She could just picture Clayne drumming his fingers on the wheel as a police officer took his time writing them a ticket. Not that he’d get a ticket even if he got stopped. Clayne’s DCO badge could get him out of just about anything.

  He gave her a sidelong glance as he slowed down. “Sorry. I’m just…eager.”

  She grinned. “Me, too.”

  Although maybe impatient would be a better way to put it. She was practically bouncing on her seat, she was so excited. But as they got closer to her apartment, she realized they were both going to have to wait just a little bit longer.

  “There’s a shopping center with a twenty-four-hour pharmacy up on the right,” she said. “Can you pull in there?”

  Clayne did a double take. “You want to go shopping? Now?”

  “I don’t want to, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to need condoms. Unless you have some on you.”

  Danica almost laughed at the look on his face. Clearly, he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

  “Don’t you have any at your place?” he asked hopefully.

  She shook her head. “I didn’t really need them.”

  Surprise flickered in his eyes before he turned back to the road. She didn’t know why he was amazed. She’d slept with a grand total of four men before she’d met Clayne. And after leaving him, she’d still been too much in love with him to have sex with anyone else.

  The moment Clayne pulled into a parking space, she jumped out and ran into the pharmacy beside the grocery store. She grabbed a couple boxes of the thin, durable kind, then quickly paid the cashier and hurried outside. Clayne took off as soon as she got in the car.

  Her apartment—thank God—was only a few blocks from the shopping center. The moment they were inside, she closed the door behind them and turned to Clayne. He was staring at her, his expression unreadable.

  “Clayne?”

  “I never gave a thought to how hard these past two years must have been for you until today.”

  “How could you have known? I said a lot of things that night I left to make you think I couldn’t stand being near you anymore.” She swallowed hard. “But the truth is that I spent the past two years wondering what the hell I was going to do with my life because it only made sense when you were in it.”

  “I’m sorry about the things I said when I first got here, and about…all the really shitty things I thought about you over these past two years.” He shook his head. “But when you left…”

  She reached out and cupped his cheek. “It’s all right. I forgive you.”

  Clayne looked at her, his eyes wet with tears. The sight of them almost tore Danica’s heart out. In all the time she’d known him, she’d never seen him cry.

  “We’ve just lost so much time,” he said, his voice rough with emotion.

  She wanted to tell him it didn’t matter, that they would more than make up for it, but all that came out was a muffled sob. She closed the distance between them and kissed him—hard.

  Clayne gripped her shoulders in both hands and pulled her against him. She thrust her fingers into his hair and opened her mouth to his, giving him an all-access pass. This was what she’d given up—being in the arms of the man she was meant to be with. She had left him for the very best reason, but now she realized it wasn’t a solution that could have ever worked long-term. She needed Clayne like she needed oxygen. How had she survived the last two years without him?

  Danica pulled away and rested her forehead against his. “We have lost a lot of t
ime, and for that, I am so, so sorry,” she said softly. “But we’re together now, and more than going to make up for it. Starting right now.”

  Clayne pressed her up against the wall and kissed her so hard she couldn’t breathe. She threaded her fingers in his hair and gave as good as she got. Dear Lord, the hair on her arms was standing up. She’d never experienced anything so intense—not even the first time they’d made love.

  Their weapon holsters hit the table by the door with a thud, but she barely heard it over the impatient growl Clayne let out as he shoved her suit jacket off her shoulders. This first time wasn’t going to be slow and sensual. It was going to be raw and animalistic. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Danica wasn’t sure who started ripping off clothes first, but somewhere between playing tongue-twister and grinding against him, she went for the buttons of his shirt. Clayne wasn’t quite so patient with her blouse. Instead, he grabbed and yanked, sending buttons flying everywhere. He went for her bra next, his fingers almost snapping the front clasp in his haste.

  She gasped as his big hands cupped her breasts and his fingers tweaked her nipples. God, how she’d missed this. Clayne was the only man she’d ever been with who understood that sometimes a woman needed it just as hard and fast as a man.

  He bent his head, burying his face in her neck. She closed her eyes and let out a moan as his mouth worked its way all the way from her earlobe down her neck to her shoulders, kissing, biting, and generally driving her crazy. She was so into what he was doing to her upper body she didn’t realize he’d unbuttoned her slacks and shoved them down until she heard her panties tear.

  She’d gone through so much underwear during the time they’d been together she sometimes thought she single-handedly kept Victoria’s Secret in business—but damn, she loved when he went all caveman on her like that.

  He slid his hands between her legs with a groan. “You’re so wet.”

  She let out a husky laugh. “You have a way of doing that to me.”

  Clayne chuckled and ran his fingers along her pussy lips, up one fold and down the other over and over until she thought she’d go crazy. To distract herself, she finished unbuttoning his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders, baring his chest.