His voice, rough with longing, asked, “And what do you want?”
Holding his gaze, she breathed, “You. I want you.”
Slamming his mouth down to hers, he captured her lips as well as her words. Thrusting his tongue between her lips, he plundered her mouth, relishing each curve, ridge, and the taste of Grace. She matched his ardor, her tongue parrying with his. This kiss was different…this felt like being claimed.
As the hard, wet kiss slowed, ending in soft nibbling around the corners of her lips, she grinned. “So my confession didn’t scare you away?”
He leaned over her, his forearms holding his weight off her chest, as his hips still rested between her legs. Framing her face with his hands as his thumbs caressed her cheeks, he smiled a long, slow, sexy smile. “Grace, your words pierced my heart. I started falling for you weeks ago, but now…I’m a goner. I want you too.”
Pulling him down, she kissed him deeply, hanging on to his shoulders as they allowed their passions to take over. Much later, she curled up in his arms, drifting away into a peaceful sleep.
*
“I want to check on Preston Solter,” Blaise announced the next morning to Luke. The others, listening in, waited to see what he had to say.
“Grace dreamed again last night and, this time, she remembered him yelling at her, forcing her to work harder and faster than the others, all the while berating her. She then remembered overhearing a conversation between him and someone else behind a closed door, discussing her. He wanted to get rid of her but the other person wanted her there. My guess is the other person was Bernard.”
Luke nodded, then asked, “You want emails, finances, texts…the usual?”
“Yeah, grab whatever you can about this guy. She wakes up, shaking in fear with this guy’s name on her lips, and I want to know what the fuck he was doing.”
“His comments to us were that she was a great asset,” Chad mentioned, his eyes flashing anger. “The fucker must have been lying through his teeth.”
Blaise met Chad’s glare with one of his own, nodding his head.
“Anyone else?” Jack asked.
Sucking in a deep breath, Blaise admitted, “I don’t know. Her memories are coming back, first with pleasant childhood remembrances of her parents and her pets. Then more recent ones of her apartment and early training at the K-9 program. She remembers Carter and Jocelyn, but nothing amiss. She remembers the accident but not why she was on that road or why someone was after her.”
“What I can’t figure out is why she was there anyway,” Patrick said. “Even if Mitch is right and DEA suspects there may be drug activity in a remote area, why on earth was she there at night?”
“She doesn’t strike me as the type to just wander around in the middle of the night and that would lead me to believe she must have been up there with a purpose. But what?” Bart said, leaning his large body back in his chair, rubbing the scruff on his chin.
“How would she have heard about the possibility of a drug cartel in the mountains?” Marc asked. “Work? And if so, why not tell her supervisors?”
“Unless, she suspected the supervisors themselves,” Cam replied, before looking down at his phone. Excusing himself, he walked away from the table to take the call. Before anyone had a chance to speak, they all turned their heads as he said, “When? You called the doctor? Meet you there.”
Turning back, his face registered shock mixed with fear, an expression that none of his friends had ever seen from the big man.
Already on his feet, Bart said, “I’ll drive.”
Nodding, Cam quickly responded, “Miriam’s having some cramping so she’s heading to the hospital.”
“I’ll call your parents,” Jude piped up, stepping away from the table as well.
As Cam stalked toward the door, he halted as Jack’s hand landed on his shoulder. “We’ve got your back, Cam…and her’s too. Good thoughts going your way, man.”
Picking up his house intercom, Jack called Bethany. “Babe, Cam’s heading out to the hospital. Miriam’s having cramping. Check on what they need from you. Love you.”
Nodding, Bart and Cam left the room and a moment later Jude walked back, his hair standing on end from his hand raking through it. “I don’t speak Spanish, so I don’t know what the hell his mom was screaming about, but at least when I called Miriam’s folks, her dad got on the phone so I could give him the info.”
The men chuckled as the tension was relieved before turning back to Luke. Jack said, “Okay, let’s dish out assignments and work the problem. Luke, dig up everything you can today on Preston and Bernard. Marc, you and Patrick head to the farmer to see if you can coerce a flight out of him. And Blaise?”
“I’m heading back to interview some of the others who worked with Grace…who may have some insight into the reasons Preston’s lying to us.”
“Good. Take Chad with you again,” Jack ordered. “Monty, you stay in touch with Mitch. I don’t want us stumbling into some kind of sting operation that the DEA might have going on.” Catching the nods of those around the table, Jack finished, saying, “I’ll keep you posted on Cam and Miriam.”
With thanks ringing in the air, the Saints dispersed.
*
Sitting in the break room of the RIA TSA area, Blaise and Chad sat with three uniformed men. The youngest appeared to be in his mid-twenties and the other two, in their forties.
“Gentlemen, as you’ve been told, we’re investigating the disappearance of Grace Kennedy. We’ve spoken to Bernie and Preston, but since we are still trying to develop leads, we’re expanding our interviews to anyone who might be able to shine a light on the situation.”
The youngest, Jim, bobbed his head agreeably while his knee bouncing shook the table. Dan blinked several times as curiosity settled on his face, and veiled distrust emanated from Luis as he sat stiffly.
“What can you tell us about her? Anything could be helpful.”
“She was real nice,” Jim said, his head continuing to bobble, reminding Chad of a bobble-head dog his grandmother had in the back seat of her old car.
“You’d think every pair of tits was nice if the girl smiled at you,” Luis retorted, gaining Blaise’s attention.
“Do you think she acted inappropriately?” he asked, his voice belying the desire to land his fist in the man’s face.
Startled, Luis backtracked, “No, no. She was always professional. I just meant that Jim here had a bit of a crush.”
“She was nice,” Jim insisted. “She sure as hell made the job more enjoyable than listening to you squabble every day.”
Chad smoothly interjected, “Tell us how she got on with the staff here,” directing his question to Dan.
“She’d only been here a few weeks, but was easy to get along with,” he replied. “She was a hard worker and, gotta say, she and her dog were naturals at picking up what we do here.”
Nodding his agreement, Luis added, “Sometimes it takes rookies a while to work well with their dogs, even though they’ve trained together. She and Gypsy made a good team.”
“Would you say she was pulling her weight in the training or was she slacking?”
At that, a look passed between the three men causing Blaise and Chad to take notice.
“You want to elaborate that point for us?” Blaise’s tone indicated it was a demand and not a question.
“Yeah, she pulled her weight,” Jim expounded. “She did everything Preston asked, but he rode her ass.”
“Jim!” barked Luis.
Sharply turning toward the older man, Chad prompted, “You got a reason why Jim should hold his opinion back?”
“Yeah,” Luis said, his face contorted. “It’s not our place to talk about a superior. He woulda had his reasons for what he said or did.”
“So you’re admitting he rode her harder than the rest of you?”
“She was a rookie. We all went through it,” Luis bit back.
“So, in your opinion, Preston was just treating
her like the rookie she was,” Blaise restated.
“I never got treated like that,” Jim admitted, glaring at Luis. “I think it was because she was a female.”
“That’s fucked,” Luis fought back. “It’s not like we haven’t had women handlers here before.”
“None as pretty as she was,” Jim declared. “I think that’s why Preston was so hard on her. As though her looks made her less professional and more of a target for him.”
“I don’t know about that,” Dan finally interjected. “Bernie was glad to get her, but I think Preston just had someone else in mind for the job.”
“You mean Carter?” Blaise clarified.
“They’ve been friends for years, so yeah, I think that he was pulling for Carter.”
Friends? Preston never mentioned that when we interviewed him, Blaise thought angrily. Fighting to keep the irritation out of his voice, he clarified, “So the best person gets the job, but Preston, for personal vendetta reasons, tries to set Ms. Kennedy up for failure.”
“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad,” Dan said, his face scrunched in thought. “I just think he was harder on her because she was a rookie and it was going to make her a better handler.”
“And when she disappeared?” Chad prompted.
Catching the quick glance between the three, Luis was the first to speak. “We just assumed she wasn’t happy anymore and found a new job.”
After a few more minutes, it appeared Blaise and Chad had squeezed out of the men what they could and the uniformed trio walked out of the room. Deciding to head down the hall to speak to Bernie again, they halted when Jim suddenly poked his head back into the room. Looking behind him suspiciously, he quickly said, “Preston was an ass to her…more so than just being a rookie. But you need to know that when Grace stopped coming, we were told that she had decided to change jobs, so none of us ever speculated on why she wasn’t here.”
“Who told you that?” Blaise demanded, piercing the young man with his glare.
“Preston.” Ducking back into the hall, Jim disappeared, leaving Blaise and Chad staring in his wake.
Chapter 22
Preston entered the room, this time, his snapping gaze landing on Blaise. “Look, I’ve told you all I know about Ms. Kennedy. I’ve got work I need to do.”
“Won’t take long,” Blaise remarked, his irritation hidden behind a casual stance. “But it seems as though you haven’t been entirely truthful with us. So, until you decide to answer our questions completely, you’ll keep meeting with us.”
Preston’s expression morphed into irritation as he slid into a seat. Clamping his mouth shut, he glared down at his hands.
“You withheld that the person who took over Ms. Kennedy’s position, Carter Boren, is a close friend of yours.”
“So?” Preston asked defensively, throwing his hands up in the air. “She was gone and Carter was the next one in line. My being friends with him had no bearing on her leaving.”
“What about how you treated her? It seems you rode her harder than the other rookies,” Chad prodded.
Grimacing, Preston shook his head. “I did ride her hard. I ride all the rookies hard. It gives us a chance to see if they’ve got what it takes to do the job under the time pressure we work with.”
“You saying you weren’t harder on her than others?”
“Nope. At least I didn’t think so.”
“Then you want to explain why you told the others that she left because she found a new job?” Blaise bit out.
Preston, now visibly nervous, ducked his head, studying his hands once again. Heaving a sigh, he said, “Look, we lose some people…the hours are long and the work can be backbreaking. We are standing almost our entire shift and we have to be on point all the time. We miss one bag, one suspicious bag, and a plane full of people can die.” He lifted his gaze back to Blaise and Chad. “I wasn’t sure she was up to the challenge, so yes, I rode her hard and even tried to get Bernard to let her go. But she was making it. She and her dog met every task.”
Rubbing his hand over his face, he continued, “I was surprised when she didn’t come in. HR made a couple of cursory calls to her house but we don’t have the luxury of sitting around waiting to see if someone is going to phone in. After a few no-show days, Bernie went to the next person on the training list. Yes, it was a friend of mine and I was glad to be able to work with him. But as to what I told the others…well, I felt kind of guilty.”
“Guilty?” Chad asked, leaning forward. “You want to explain that?”
“I felt bad thinking she had left because I rode her hard. I was afraid that someone might report me for overstepping my training bounds with her.” Giving an embarrassed shrug, he admitted, “So I told them she had taken another job.”
The Saints sat for a moment, both stewing over Preston’s confession before he interrupted their thoughts.
“So, are we done here? I’ve really got to get back to work.” Obtaining their nods, he hustled out of the room.
“What do you think?” Chad asked as they drove away from the airport.
Shaking his head, Blaise admitted, “I don’t get an angry vibe from him, but then he hasn’t been forthcoming with us, so it makes me wonder if there is more to him than we have found out.” Pulling out his phone, he called Luke. “Hey, man. I want you to dig into the finances of Bernard Tanner and Preston Solter. I want to know if it looks like they have unexplained jumps in their income.”
Looking back at Chad, he said, “I’ve been thinking about the possible drug cartels flying in and out of the farmer fields in obscure areas. Who might know about them? Who might be paid hush money? Anything to tie in what happened to Grace.”
*
“Oh, girls, you don’t have to stay here,” Miriam protested as she smiled at the group surrounding her bed, “but I love your company.” The doctor told her and Cam that her cramps were false labor but she should stay close to home. Cam immediately pronounced that she was to stay in bed, which Miriam objected to. The compromise had been that when he was out, she would have someone with her. Between her mom and sisters, Cam’s mom and his sisters, her house was clean and food was cooked.
The Saints’ women piled in Miriam’s bedroom, munching on cupcakes and catching up on the news. Dani moved awkwardly, trying to give her baby room to stretch. “This one’ll be coming next,” she declared.
Laughing, Miriam added, “If mine doesn’t come soon, your baby might come first!” Looking over at Grace, she said, “I heard you made another trip to the assisted living home.”
Nodding, while trying not to choke on the large bite of cupcake in her mouth, Grace smiled. Swallowing, she replied, “Yes, Gypsy and I went this morning. I think the residents really enjoyed her.”
“Have you thought about what you want to do?” Faith asked softly.
Licking more frosting from her lips, Grace shook her head. “I know Gypsy and I trained for TSA, and from all indications, we were good at what we were doing, but…” her voice trailed off.
“Are you afraid you won’t remember what to do?” Dani asked.
“Well, for now, Blaise doesn’t want me out and about too much. As they investigate, they aren’t telling anyone that I’ve been found. That helps keep me safe from whoever might have been trying to kill me. So I couldn’t go back to a very public job. At least not now.”
“Do you want to?” Sabrina pressed, crossing her legs as she shifted on the floor.
Scrunching her face in thought, Grace looked around at the expressions of the women with her. All friendly. All concerned. “You know, right now, that life isn’t what I want. I’m happy with Blaise and his menagerie. I’m happy visiting the Assisted Living home. And I’m happy making new friends.”
“Yay!” cried Bethany and Angel at the same time, giggling.
“It will come to you,” Faith added. “Whatever you want to do…are destined to do…it will come back. And it may take you in a completely different direction than
what you assumed would be your future.”
Smiling at her new friends, Grace relaxed, popping another bite of confection into her mouth.
*
“I ain’t never had anyone want to go up in my duster,” Bob said, taking off his worn, dirty ball cap and wiping the sweat from his brow.
“I’d like to take a trip down memory lane and I’ve convinced my friend that this is the only way to see the countryside,” Marc said easily. “We’d be more than happy to pay for your gas and to rent the plane for an hour.”
Bob looked down at his scuffed boots for a moment then looked up. “You don’t gotta rent ‘er from me, but I’ll take a little somethin’ for the gas.”
Grinning, Marc shook hands again, palming a hundred dollar bill into Bob’s hand. The older man met his grin and they walked over to the crop duster. Blaise stayed on the ground with Bob as Marc hefted himself up into the plane.
Fifteen minutes later, with the front propeller rotating, Marc and Patrick were airborne. Patrick sat behind Marc but easily peered out of the windows as the vista passed below them. The fields, each a slightly different hue of green, peaked out between the thick groves of trees covering the mountainsides. Curves of asphalt snaked between the fields and disappeared into the forests. Cedars and pines shared the space with hickory, elm, and oaks.
“What are we looking for?” Patrick asked, looking down at a few houses dotting the mountainsides.
“See if you find a field that looks as long as Bob’s…one that might be cleared off enough to have a small plane land on it, or has an outbuilding nearby. Or perhaps one that ends in the woods. That’d be a good place to hide incoming planes.”
On the drive up to Bob’s farm, they had discussed how the cartels were using private airstrips to transport drugs around the country…
“Mitch said that they sometimes fly straight into these small airstrips because they aren’t regulated. Other times, they manage to get larger amounts into the country and then move the shipments of drugs around using the small, private airstrips.”
Remember Love: Saints Protection & Investigations Page 18