Too late for that.
Flash hoped he never found himself sitting across from Cara at a poker table. She’d clean him, and everyone else, out. She didn’t let an ounce of anger or hurt show. In fact, her face remained blank, so Tandy fidgeted from one foot to the other and studied Cara for any sign she disapproved or knew something Tandy didn’t want her to know.
Tandy held Cara by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eye. “I don’t want this to come between us.”
Cara pulled off a fake but genuine-looking smile. “Of course not.”
“You’re the best.” Tandy pulled Cara in for one last hug, then turned to the bakery case and plated the last piece of apple pie. “Only a couple customers left. Mind if I have a word with my friend and give him this?”
The smile Cara gave Tandy didn’t waver. “Enjoy yourself.”
Mischief lit Tandy’s eyes and she smirked. “I always do.”
Understatement of the year. Tandy did what she wanted without any thought to the consequences. She’d just lied to Cara’s face.
Tandy winked at Cara and sauntered over to her “friend.”
Flash put his back to the couple in the corner and stared down at Cara. “Why did you do that?”
“Because if I didn’t point out the obvious fact that guy works for my father she would have been suspicious.”
“And pointing it out made her assume you’d get pissed off and fire her for breaking your rules.”
“She wants me to believe he’s nothing more than some semidangerous fun. She likes to push the boundaries. I know that. I’ve had to rein her in on more than one occasion. So when I warn her, she thinks I’m just looking out for her.”
“Like you do everyone who works here.”
“You included. He passed her that note he’s been holding on to since he sat down. I bet they’ve got something going tonight. You go home. I’ll follow her. If anything happens, I’ll call the cops and let them take care of it.”
He thought about the threatening note stashed under the seat in his truck. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
“Tandy isn’t going to do anything to me.”
“She’s already hurt you. I won’t let that guy she’s with do something worse than disappoint you and break your heart.”
“I’m used to it. And I’ve been hurt worse.” She held up her four-fingered hand.
He took it and pressed it to his chest and racing heart. One day soon, he’d disappoint her and break her heart, too. And regret it the rest of his days.
“Cara, your uncle’s on the phone.”
Cara’s head whipped toward Tim. “Really? He never calls. Must be important for him to use the phone in the barn house to get in touch with me. Did he say why he’s calling?”
“Just that he wants to talk to you.”
Cara rushed to the office to take the call. Flash wondered if her uncle had a key to the barn house. Of course, Ray hardly ever remembered to lock the door. Cara probably left this morning without locking up behind her, which is probably how someone got in and left that note without leaving a single damn clue of how they got in and who the fuck they were.
“You look kind of pissed.” Tim shuffled his big feet and stuffed his hands down his back pockets. “Is it because of Tandy and that guy?”
“What do you mean?” Did Tim think he had a thing for Tandy the way Cara had believed before he set her straight?
“I know that guy. He worked with my father a lot before they put my dad in jail. He sets up some of the shipments with the big rigs for long hauls. I don’t know what he’s doing with Tandy, but it can’t be good.” Tim hunched his shoulders and walked back to the sink to finish the dishes and clean up so they could close the shop.
Flash had a feeling he knew exactly what Tandy and Iceman’s guy were up to over at the truck stop, and petty drug deals and blow jobs were just the tip of the iceberg.
All he had to do was prove his theory right.
Now he had two reasons to contact Agent Bennett.
“You know, I always hoped Cara would find a good guy.” Tandy waved her “friend” out the door and walked toward Flash. “I’ve seen her smile more today than in the last six months because of you.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“It is, except you’re standing here looking like someone ran over your dog. What’s wrong? The way you look at her, no way you’re having second thoughts already.”
He didn’t want to give away too much, or talk about his relationship with Cara, but Tandy still believed they were friends and he’d keep her thinking that for now.
“Definitely no second thoughts about her. She’s the best person I’ve ever met.”
“After all she’s been through and the way she grew up, you’d think she’d be a total bitch. She can be when someone pisses her off, but she’s got this streak in her that’s pure gold. She still manages to see the good in people. It disappoints her when they don’t live up to it. Do not disappoint her, or you’ll answer to me.”
Flash couldn’t ignore the threat, even when it came in a teasing tone by someone who was stabbing Cara in the back. He stepped up to Tandy and glared down at her. “Anyone hurts Cara, they’ll answer to me.”
For the first time, Tandy’s eyes revealed a flash of fear and guilt before she masked it with a slick smile and smacked him on the shoulder. “You’ve got it bad.”
Cara walked out of the office, her lips drawn back into a serious line.
He sidestepped Tandy and met Cara by the prep counter. “Everything okay?”
“My uncle wants to see me. I need to finish here and run some errands for him.” Cara quickly glanced at Tandy wiping down the last few tables that needed to be cleaned. “I don’t know if I can meet you tonight to deal with that.” She cocked her head toward Tandy’s back. “He gets in these moods sometimes. Something’s stirred him up. If I don’t do what he wants, he’s liable to end up standing in front of the courthouse preaching about the evils of government intrusion and corruption.”
“Seriously?”
She rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
He’d been trying to think of a way to keep her from going with him tonight. If he caught Tandy and Iceman in the act, he’d take them down and end this assignment. He didn’t want Cara there or to take her by surprise.
If given the chance, he’d like to find a quiet opportunity to explain after, though his part in her father’s arrest would become evident as soon as he put Iceman behind bars.
He hoped Iceman went quietly.
No matter what, he didn’t want Cara in harm’s way.
So for the first time since he met her, he lied. “I overheard Tandy say they were on for tomorrow night.”
“Great. I’ll see what my uncle wants and you won’t have to reschedule your appointment with your parole officer today.”
Damn, he’d forgotten about that.
“If I was you, I’d leave out the details about tracking drug dealers and carrying a gun. I did when he called me earlier.”
“He called you?”
“Routine check to be sure you’re showing up to work, not doing or selling drugs, and all that.”
He hooked his hands around the back of her waist and held her. “And you told him I’m a model citizen.”
“Who has doubled the number of women who come into this place on a weekly basis and makes really great cherry tarts.”
He blew that off with a shake of his head. “They’re like the easiest thing we make.”
She rubbed her hands up and down over his chest, a sweet smile on her face that lightened his heart. “We? You know that’s the first time you included yourself in this place.”
“I have been working here for weeks.”
“And you’re so good at it that you could probably run it better than I do.”
He hugged her closer. “That’s impossible.”
“You completely overhauled my computer system.”
“That dinosaur couldn’t manage more than a calculator.” He hugged her closer and smiled down at her. “Admit it, spending the money for the new laptop and accounting software was a good idea.” It also gave him an excuse to go through all her records to be sure she wasn’t cooking the books and laundering money. The ball of guilt in his gut flared to life and soured his stomach. He should have known she wasn’t involved with her father. She really didn’t like him. It wasn’t for show. But now he had proof and had taken Cara off the DEA’s radar and given them a new target. Tonight, he’d find out definitively just how deep Tandy was in Iceman’s crew.
“I love the new computer. It boots up like that.” Cara snapped her fingers. “The new software cut my paperwork time in half.”
“Your taxes will be a breeze once you’ve got everything updated.”
“So you say. We’ll see.”
“Trust me.”
“I do.”
And just like that she made his heart soar and shatter all at the same time.
The shards raked against his insides and made him bleed, the pain nothing compared to what he’d feel when he didn’t get to see her anymore.
She shook him by the shoulders. “Hey, don’t look so glum. It’s not like I used the big L-word.”
He cupped her cheek in his hand and stared down at her. “Somehow, I think that would be easier for you than trusting me.”
“You might be right. I can’t control my heart, but I know my mind and you.” She shook off the deep moment and squeezed his shoulders. “You better get going before you’re late meeting your parole officer.”
“Telling me you trust me, then sending me off to my parole officer, are two things that shouldn’t go together.”
“You and a parole officer don’t go together.”
She couldn’t be more right. It did his heart good that she saw him for a better man than he appeared to be.
She took his hand, squeezed, and looked at him, her eyes filled with earnest confidence. “Which is why I know you’ll get through the next few months and this bad business will all be behind you.”
It might all be behind him tonight. But he couldn’t tell her that. He also couldn’t let her think he intended to stay. “I’ll go to my meeting, probably run some errands of my own, grab a bite to eat in town, and head home later.”
Cara’s gaze dipped to his chest. “Will I see you tonight?” The strong, confident woman barely got those hope-filled words out.
He touched her chin with his fingertip and made her look up at him. “I hope so.”
He shouldn’t say things like that to her, but he meant it. It was the truth, but he had a feeling his work, like always, would interfere and keep him busy.
“Flash, I mean it. Stay away from Tandy. Let me handle this. I don’t want you getting into more trouble. I couldn’t stand it if you went back to prison because you helped me.”
He kissed her softly, trying not to let her sense his desperation for her and how much he wanted to pour everything he felt into the kiss that could be their last.
“Nothing is going to happen to me. Go take care of your errands and see your uncle.”
She backed away slowly, reluctantly, not turning away until she reached the office. He smiled for her benefit and waved like he was leaving but didn’t stop looking at her until she turned away. Only then did he walk out of the coffee shop and possibly out of her life.
Instead of going to see his parole officer, he called and rescheduled, giving the guy a lame excuse about Cara asking him to do a supply run because a supplier shorted them on a delivery.
That out of the way, he set the ball in motion to possibly take down Tandy and whoever else she was working with and end his undercover mission—and his relationship with Cara.
Chapter Twenty
Flash joined the surveillance team in place at the truck stop. Agent Bennett took lead, but Flash wanted to be there to take down Iceman if they got the chance. He’d follow Tandy once she left her apartment to meet her partner. If caught, he’d play it off and tell her he was just heading to the truck stop for a late dinner. He could handle Tandy. He wanted her to pay for deceiving Cara. He hoped Cara could handle the aftermath of tonight’s events and find some kind of happiness in her life when Tandy and her father were behind bars, out of her life, and less of a threat. The authorities would do all they could to prevent Iceman from working behind bars, but Cara would always be in some kind of danger with him alive and still connected to the Guzman cartel.
Flash watched Tandy’s apartment from his truck parked across the street, same as last night. With no sign of her moving inside her apartment behind her closed blinds, his mind went to Cara. He’d lied to her today. He hated himself for doing it, even if it was for her own good. He didn’t want her here to witness the bust. He wanted her as far away from Tandy and her father as possible. But that meant she’d never be with him again.
He tamped down the hurt pounding through his chest with each beat of his heart. He’d come to do a job and he’d get it done and go home. That had always been the plan. Falling for her . . . He never expected it and didn’t regret it. He’d always remember her and pine for what might have been, if only.
But this wasn’t like what he felt with Erin. This loss and missing Cara would leave a hole in him and his life.
He had an inkling of how Trigger felt when Guzman tried to kidnap Ashley. He’d almost lost her forever. But Trigger killed Guzman and got her back. Flash taking down Iceman and Tandy wouldn’t give him back Cara. It would ensure she wanted nothing to do with him ever again, because the lie he told today didn’t compare to the lie he’d told her from the beginning.
He was DEA and here to take down her father. That hadn’t changed and neither had who he was and what he did for a living.
A truck pulled out of the backside of the coffee shop parking lot and turned onto the main road. He put the binoculars to his eyes and swore when he identified the truck and driver.
“What the hell is Cara’s uncle doing here?” As far as he knew, Cara had gone to run her errands for the old guy and deliver whatever he’d asked her to pick up for him this evening. He should be at his cabin in the woods with her. If he planned to leave his secluded hideaway, why ask Cara to run his errands? Why not do them himself? Why come to the shop if she wasn’t here?
It didn’t make sense. Where was Cara?
He picked up his phone off the dashboard and sent off a text to her.
FLASH: What are you doing?
His stomach quivered with anticipation waiting for her return text. If she even sent one. Out where she lived, cell service was spotty at best.
CARA: Heading to my uncle’s place. Back in a couple hours. Are you headed home?
FLASH: No. Done with PO. Headed for supplies, then dinner.
CARA: See you later.
He wanted to tell her he missed her, to be careful, that he couldn’t wait to see her tonight. But he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have a right to, not when he was sitting outside her shop, watching her employee, about to blow up her life one more time.
Cara stuffed her phone back in her pocket and laughed under her breath about the smile she couldn’t seem to help. Happy for the first time in a long time, she savored the lightness in her heart and the feeling of anticipation that swept through her just thinking of seeing Flash tonight.
She hitched up the backpack on her shoulders and adjusted the weight. The day had gotten away from her, but she’d hurry up and deliver her uncle’s provisions and get back home. She wanted to take a shower, do her hair, maybe even put on some makeup and sexy underwear. She wanted to look good when she went to see Flash later. Maybe she’d whip up a sweet and decadent dessert for them to share in bed.
Lost in thoughts of her and Flash tearing up the sheets, she broke through the trees into the clearing in front of her uncle’s cabin and didn’t notice his truck missing until she reached the door and realized he hadn’t cocked the shotgun to warn off unwanted
intruders.
The slip of paper tacked to the porch post fluttered in the soft breeze. She pulled it off and sighed over the few words he’d left her after making her come all the way out here on his order.
back soon wait
She set the note on the railing, dropped the pack down her back, caught the straps in her hands, and set the heavy pack by the door. Nothing but the trees rustling and birds chirping disturbed the end of the day. She loved it out here at sunset in the dappled light and peaceful quiet.
The note blew off the porch and landed in the dirt and weeds. She retrieved it and went around the side of the cabin to the covered trash bins her uncle used before he took the bags to the landfill on his weekly dump runs. She’d told him a hundred times to just put the sacks in her trash for pickup, but the trips to the landfill gave him something to do and got him out of the house.
She lifted the lid on the recycle bin and stared down at the contents, unable to release the piece of paper she’d meant to throw away. Her mind didn’t want to add up the items, put them together, and come up with the sum total of disaster, but the evidence stared at her and dared her to believe what seemed impossible.
Cardboard and plastic cartons of multipack batteries. A dozen or more plastic disposable cell phone containers. Flattened ball bearing and nail boxes. Empty wire plastic spool holders. Other plastic pieces and parts that appeared to be computer guts of some kind or another.
Her head shook back and forth as her disbelief grew along with the sinking, sick feeling in her stomach.
She ran before her mind caught up and told her where to go. Back to the spot where she’d seen her uncle in the woods with his flashlight. She didn’t know what she’d find, but she knew what she was looking for: some kind of hidden structure. A place where he could work in secret. A place she didn’t know about because he didn’t want anyone to know about it.
She used every ounce of her wits and her uncle’s teachings about hunting in the woods and following trails, even the slightest signs that animals big or small left showing their path. No matter how careful the creature, they always left something. She knew her uncle, his ways, and followed one false path and another until she figured out the signs he’d left himself to find the berm that dropped off into a hidden gulch surrounded by dense bushes and massive boulders. She’d walked past it twice before she realized what she’d really seen. A hidden path between two rocks and behind a massive fallen tree’s roots and trunk base.
True to You Page 18