Jim glanced at the closed bathroom door. “Come on, man, I know you were holding back. Don’t jerk me around.”
“OK, OK. Sorry.” Dallas sighed. “It’s just – this fucker’s not at all what I expected from a pathetic coward who beats on and rapes women. He’s smarter than I thought he’d be, more organized and determined. Patient and relentless, way less impulsive than I anticipated. That kind of single-minded commitment to tracking down a woman, combined with his training and ability, is scarily rare. The truth is, man, I don’t think he’ll ever stop… however it all started, finding her and killing her is probably his goddamn life’s mission at this point. An obsession.”
“You’re saying she’ll never be safe,” Jim said in a way that made it clear that it wasn’t a question.
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“So what do we do?”
“I have no idea,” Dallas said. “This is the main reason that I want Sully out there – to get a real sense of the fucker we’re dealing with. Maybe we can find something to offer him in exchange for him backing off.”
“Like what? Money?”
“I doubt he’d be happy with cash, but who knows. We need to play it by ear.”
“I hate playing it by ear,” Jim growled. “Too unpredictable.”
“I know, man, but in this case, it’s all we’ve got. I’ll get my people physically with eyes on him, and I think we’ll all be able to sleep better.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Jim ran his hand over the back of his neck, massaging the tight muscles there. “It’ll have to do, ‘cause it’s all we can do.”
“For now, Jim,” Dallas said gently. “We’ll figure it out, OK? We’ll keep her safe.”
“Yeah, OK.” Jim heard the shower turn off. “I’ve got to go.”
“Alright. Take care of Kat, yeah?”
“With my life.”
**
The next morning at Solid Security, Hunter Sullivan gazed at his boss, his dark eyes hard.
“A fellow ex-Marine?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Dallas sucked back his third coffee of the day, feeling like it wasn’t nearly enough. “But unlike you, he’s a real bastard.”
“Yeah, he sounds it.” Sully shook his head. “So who am I going to Oregon with?”
“Well, I have an idea,” Dallas said slowly. “Something a bit different, so just hear me out, OK?”
Sully braced himself. Whenever Dallas had a ‘different’ idea, it was sure to be challenging and diabolical and out-there to the point of near-insanity. It would also probably be brilliant.
“OK,” Sully said.
“So Foxburg Falls is small. Like, population twelve thousand souls kind of small.”
“Yeah.”
“You show up there with Mark or Selena or Griff, and you’ll both stand out. I don’t care if you’re lounging around the local café in jeans, this guy will spot you a mile away as ex-military.”
Sully nodded. “So you want me to go alone? Less suspicious that way, right?”
“No. I want you to go with Cordelia.”
Astonished, Sully actually felt his job drop. “Cordelia? You mean – you mean the receptionist?”
“Yep.”
Always a man of few words, Sully was rendered totally speechless.
“Just hear me out,” Dallas said, almost laughing at the look on the ex-Marine’s rugged face.
Fucking priceless. I wish I had a picture of this, I swear.
Sully narrowed his eyes. “Uh-huh.”
“OK, so. You and Cordelia are going to pose as a married couple looking to move to the town.”
“We’re what?”
“I have a hotel room booked for you for the next week. I want you two to pretend to look at houses, ask around about the area, and so on. House-hunt, basically.”
Sully glowered.
“You’ll stick around as long as I need you to do so, then you’ll be able to leave, no questions asked.”
“Dallas.”
“Yes, Sully?”
“The woman has no field experience. No training. She can’t even carry. She’s a secretary, for God’s sake!”
“She’s also a woman who looks nothing like a field operative, which is what we need. She’ll be the best possible cover for you.”
Sully glared some more.
“Look, man,” Dallas said. “It’s not standard procedure, I get that. But it’s not like you’ll be engaging with Ferguson in any way, beyond saying hello if you run across the local sheriff. The most you’d do is follow him if he left town, and you’d let me know if that happened. I’d decide whether or not to send backup.” He grinned. “I think you’re also forgetting that the woman has amazing instincts about people and situations.”
Sully fell silent, thinking about that. Yeah, no argument from him there. It had been Cordelia, after all, who had just known that something was seriously wrong when Greg Wallace had shown up at the security firm and wanted to take Olivia to the conference room. Sully had never fully understood what exactly Cordelia had known or sensed, but there was no denying her natural instincts about things feeling ‘off’.
“So,” Dallas said. “Shall we get her in here and tell her that you two are now married?”
Sully groaned. “OK. Let’s get on with it.”
**
Cordelia Patton glanced up at Dallas. He was standing in front of her desk, his huge hands in his jeans pockets, those blue eyes trained on her. She blinked.
“Morning, Dallas,” she said.
“Morning, Cordelia. Can you join me and Sully in the conference room, please?”
“Sure,” she said, perplexed. “Should I bring the laptop, take some notes?”
“Nope.” He sounded amused. “Just you, hon.”
“OK.” She got to her feet and followed him down the hallway. When she got to the door, she looked at Sully, saw that he looked seriously annoyed.
Uh-oh. What’s going on here?
“Hi, Hunter,” she said.
“Cordelia.” His handsome face was stormy, his square jaw set.
“So,” Dallas said once they were all sitting down. “I’m wondering if it’s possible for you to do some travelling this week?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Nothing’s going on with Sean that needs you to stay close?”
She shook her head, touched as always that Dallas thought about her son. He had a brain tumor, and she was a single mother, and Dallas never forgot any of that even for one second. She’d started working for Dallas almost six months earlier, and it was the best decision she’d ever made.
“No treatments this month,” she said quietly. “And he’s doing OK. Mom can take care of him for me, if you need me to leave town.”
Sully looked at her sitting there, so strong and fragile, and as always, his heart squeezed a little bit. Cordelia was the toughest, kindest person he knew, and the fact that she cared for a sick child and kicked ass at a full-time job never ceased to amaze him. He felt himself softening towards her now, and his irritation at being stuck with an untrained civilian lessened as he looked in to her warm brown eyes.
“OK, then,” Dallas said. “I’m going to need you to accompany Sully to Oregon. As his wife.”
“I’m sorry?” she said.
As Dallas explained the plan to her, Cordelia felt her eyes get wider and wider. The thought of being alone with Hunter Sullivan – as his wife! – scared the living hell out of her. Everything about the man scared her, if she was being honest with herself.
Not that he had ever done anything remotely awful or aggressive towards her, though he did scowl quite a lot. It was just that every time she saw his large, muscular frame, his cropped blond hair, his dark eyes, she wanted to bolt in the opposite direction. He said little, but she knew that he saw everything; s
ometimes she looked up to see those eyes resting on her, somehow both contemplative and piercing, and she felt like he was stripping her flesh right off her bones. Looking right through her, seeing right in to her.
Being around those eyes and those arms all the time? All alone? God help me.
“So what do you think?” Dallas was asking her now.
She pulled herself together. She was a professional, for heaven’s sake. OK, not a professional operative, that was true, but she was certainly smart and capable enough to be helpful. Her lack of hard skills also explained Hunter’s visible annoyance when she had first come in to the room. Cordelia would lay money that he thought of her as a nuisance, as dead weight, but she knew she was neither of those things.
Now prove it, woman. Help Dallas’ friend. Keep an eye on this abusive creep for her.
She adopted her crispest tone. “I think it all sounds fine, Dallas.”
Sully raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”
She turned her bright gaze on him. “Yes.”
“Great.” Dallas was hugely relieved. “So you’ll be flying out first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll e-mail you all the flight details and your cover story, OK?”
“Fine, thank you.” She got to her feet. “Could I leave a bit early today, to organize things for Sean? I’ll finish all my work before I go.”
“Of course,” Dallas said.
“Thank you.” She nodded at Sully. “I guess I’ll see you at the airport tomorrow, Hunter. We’ll get our stories straight then?”
Astonished, he nodded mutely. The two men watched her sweep out of the room.
Dallas turned to Sully and grinned. “Oh, man. You have your hands full.”
“Uh-huh.” Sully fought down the image of him grabbing handfuls of Cordelia’s long, dark hair, pulling that curvy body up to his, tasting those full lips. “I’d say that I do.”
Chapter Nine
The next night, Kat met her friends at Jenny’s house. Chris was out having a few beers with the guys over at Dallas’ place, and had told Jenny he’d give the girls some space for the evening. She’d been a bit confused why he thought they’d need any space, but then she saw Kat’s face when she came in to the house and timidly greeted her friends.
Something’s up, and Chris knows what it is, and now she’s going to tell us. Where the hell has she been?
Olivia and Emma were staring at Kat pretty hard, too, though neither one of them said anything. They all chatted casually, sipped some wine, and waited for her to offer some information. And Kat being Kat, she fussed and fidgeted, and then jumped in with both feet.
“Guys,” she said. “I wanted to say how sorry I am that I just disappeared on you last week… I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry I worried you.”
Three sets of eyes looked at her with concern and warmth.
“You OK, sweetie?” Emma said.
Kat took a shuddering breath. “No.”
“Tell us,” Liv said. “Tell us everything.”
And then – to her friends’ utter horror – Kat did.
**
“So how’s it going with Kat?” Dallas said to Jim as he handed him a beer. “She OK?”
“Honestly?” Jim said. “I have no fucking clue. The woman keeps her thoughts to herself, let me tell you.”
“I guess it’s habit by now,” Chris said. “Who’s she had to talk to about anything for these past five years? I suppose she’s out of practice with sharing stuff and trusting people.”
“For sure,” Dean agreed. “And besides, man, you’re not exactly a warm fuzzies kind of guy.”
Jim scowled. “Fuck off, Jessop.”
“Just to illustrate the point,” Dean said.
The guys laughed, then looked at Jim again, more seriously.
“And how are you?” Dallas asked.
“Me?” Jim shrugged, drank his beer. “Besides getting a perma-kink in my neck from sleeping on that damn sofa-bed? Fine.”
“So you’re really on the sofa, huh?” Dean asked.
“Yeah.” Jim glared at him. “Where’d you think I’d be?”
“In Kat’s bed,” Dean said promptly. “With Kat.”
Jim choked. “Really?”
They all nodded.
He recovered. “Well. I’m not.”
“How come?” Chris asked.
“Because… because…” Jim floundered. “Because I don’t think she’s interested.”
The guys rolled their eyes.
“Oh, God.” Dallas sighed. “We’re going to have to explain to Jimmy-boy here just what an interested woman looks like.”
“She’s not interested!” Jim flushed bright red. “I mean… I don’t think she is.”
“And are you?” Dean said.
Jim was silent.
“So that’s a yes,” Chris said. “Why not do something about it, man? I mean, she’s a smart, funny, beautiful woman, and I think she could use some affection. She’s been on her own and afraid for a long time now.”
“Yeah,” Jim said quietly. “I know.”
“So?”
“So.” Jim drank again. “In case you’ve forgotten, Kat may take off running at any moment. No forwarding address, no way to contact her, no clue which state she may even end up in. For all I know, she’s headed to the bus station with her suitcase right this second. How do I get involved with a woman like that?”
“You think she’d do that?” Dallas said. “Just up and go, even with everything we’re doing for her?”
“I don’t know,” Jim said. “And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? I have no idea what she might get it in to her head to do, or not do. I’m not about to put myself out there for a woman who’s going to –” He broke off suddenly, looking embarrassed.
“Going to what?” Chris asked.
Jim averted his eyes, took a big gulp of beer.
“Going to what?” Chris said again, leaning forward.
“Going to break my fucking heart.”
Jim looked stunned at what he’d just said, and his friends were almost as surprised. They’d never known him to be worried about being devastated by a woman, not in all the years they’d known him. His reasons for not getting involved were usually more to do with not being ready to settle down with one woman, or not being willing to give up his freedom to screw anything that moved and wore a short skirt. But hesitating because he might get hurt? That was a new one.
“You really think she’d do that to you?” Dallas said.
“I don’t know if she would,” Jim said. “But could she? Hell, yeah.”
“So what’s the plan?” Dean said. “Just live with her and say nothing?”
Jim shrugged. “Keep her safe. That’s it.”
“And when we’re sure that Ferguson’s still in Oregon?” Dallas asked. “What then?”
“Nothing.” Jim stared at his hands. “Nothing can ever happen with her until she believes it’s really and truly over, that he’ll stop coming after her. And I really don’t see how that can ever happen, unless that asshole is dead.”
The other men thought about that.
“Yeah,” Dean said reluctantly. “Yeah, I suppose. I mean… as long as this guy’s alive, he’ll be looking for her, and that makes it impossible for her to settle and stay.”
“Uh-huh.” Jim shrugged. “So, that’s why I’m on the sofa. It hurts my neck like hell, but I can handle that kind of pain. No big deal.”
They all knew what he was really saying: that he couldn’t handle the other kind of pain – the one that broke hearts. That one was a big deal.
**
“Oh, God, Kat.” Jenny was near tears as she held Kat’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell us any of this?”
“I – I couldn’t. I didn’t know how.”
They nodded. They all had
their own things that were hard to talk about, so none of them were going to pretend that Kat opening her mouth was easy.
“Any news from Sully in Oregon?” Liv said.
“Nothing major yet, since the sheriff is in town, just going about his life.” Kat sipped her wine. “I’m supposed to meet Dallas in a few days, after work, and he’ll tell me and Jim what’s been going on.”
“And Jim’s staying with you?” Emma said.
“Yeah.” Kat shrugged. “I keep saying that if the dickhead is in Foxburg Falls, and Dallas’ team have eyes on him, then Jim can go home. But the guys say no way.”
“How come?” Jenny said.
“Because they think that there's a tiny, remote chance that the sheriff may have some people helping him, so they never want me on my own." She huffed. "But really? They’re just stubborn, over-protective males who take bodyguard duty far too seriously, in my opinion.”
The women laughed.
“And how’s it going living with Jim?” Jenny asked. "You do know what happens when one of us starts living with one of those guys, right? Before you know it, we're in bed with them, and loving every second of it."
"Ain't that the truth," Liv muttered. Emma nodded fervently.
Kat rolled her eyes. “As if. But anyway, living with Jim is OK. I mean, it's weird. He’s just… always there, you know? He’s there drinking coffee when I wake up, and he stays up until I go to my bedroom to sleep, and he takes me to and from work, and he makes dinner most nights because he wants to make sure I eat, and he’s always asking if I’m doing alright…” Kat stopped talking and peered at her friends. “What?”
“Oh, nothing.” Liv grinned. “It’s just – that sounds like a relationship.”
“Minus the ‘relationship’ part,” Kat retorted. “Nothing’s going on.”
“Why not?” Jenny asked.
Dumbfounded, Kat stared at them. “Why not? Are you kidding me? Because I have a fucking psycho after me! You think it’s really a good idea to set down roots?”
“But haven’t you already done that?” Emma pointed out.
“Uh… well. Yeah.”
“So, why not with Jim?”
Enemy From The Past (Unseen Enemy Book 4) Page 9