Smash and Grab: Action-Packed Thrilling Romantic Suspense (Callahan Security Series Book 2)

by Lori Matthews

  “Possibly, but since it has a picture of a big stuffed bear with a pink bow around its neck and the words I can’t bear it on the front, I think he’ll pass.” The lady quickly turned the T-shirt around and then returned it to the pile. “Humph. Maybe you’re right.”

  The old man rolled his eyes. “Do you think so?” he mumbled.

  “What do you see?” Logan demanded, drawing her attention away from the quarreling couple.

  “I am getting pretty damn tired of you manhandling me. So just stop it right now! You are not the boss of me.” She started toward the door, but Logan dragged her back once more. Her voice was loud enough that the elderly couple had stopped bickering and openly stared at them. Logan gave them a friendly smile and then turned her to face the window again.

  “Wha—?” She shot him a dirty look and then peered out the window with exaggerated patience. “Omar’s talking to some guy—” She leaned forward and squinted. “What the hell?”

  She rubbed her eyes and stared again. It couldn’t be. Her heart started slamming in her chest, and all the air hissed out of her lungs. Scar. Scar was standing there talking to Omar. They were in it together. They’d planned it. Markus, the boat, the kidnapping. One of the people her father trusted most in the world was working against him.

  “I—I, I can’t believe it. I simply can’t believe it. Omar and Scar. My father… I—I just can’t.”

  “Calm down,” he said. “We need to get out of here so we can figure things out.”

  She nodded, her breaths still coming in gasps.

  He scouted the area. The crowd had dissipated enough they might be noticed if they left the store. He glanced back at the clerk. The store was empty now, too. They couldn’t stay here much longer.

  “Do you have a back way out of here?” Logan asked the clerk.

  The clerk pointed toward the doorway on her left. “Go straight down the hall. The door opens to an alleyway.”

  “Thanks.” Logan said. “You’re a life saver.”

  The clerk nodded as if she did this sort of thing every day. Of course, maybe she did. The Bahamas was a strange place. Logan grabbed her hand and started down the hallway. His hands were hot while hers were cold—colder than they should be considering they were in the tropics. She knew she was in shock, but she was removed from it. The whole world was covered in a thick fog.

  “Stay here for a sec.” Logan went back along the hallway to the front of the store, hoping to borrow the clerk’s phone, but Alexey was standing outside with his back to the store window. Logan recognized him immediately. “Shit.” He went back down the hallway, grabbed Lacy’s hand, and hurried to the back door. He opened it slowly and checked the area. “It’s clear. Let’s go. We have to find a way to call the hotel, so we can get a ride back.”

  “Why can’t we catch a cab?” She was still somewhat pale, but color was slowly returning to her cheeks. Her hand was getting warmer. He took that as a good sign.

  “No money. It won’t arrive until tomorrow.”

  “So you lied to me earlier.”

  “I—” He hesitated. “Look, now is not the time to explain.”

  “Fine, but I want the truth soon, Logan.”

  He looked at her and nodded. She deserved the truth, even if he wasn’t sure what the whole truth was at the moment.

  He sighed. They were right back where they’d started. He had no clue what to do other than go back to the hotel. There was no way he was leaving her unprotected again until this mess was sorted. She meant too much to him. That sat heavy in his gut. Daughter of an arms dealer. Possible thief. Did she try and steal the prototype? Was she the one who was behind the attempted kidnapping of Drake that Mitch just mentioned? He had no clue. And he wasn’t sure he cared because he was falling for her. He now understood the shit his brother must have gone through before deciding to make a go of it with his thief, or whatever Alex called herself.

  He glanced at Lacy. If she had followed her father’s plan, she would have met with Omar, and he would have handed her off to Scar. And then she would have been— He stopped himself from going any further down that line of thinking. He just couldn’t take it. His hands were shaking as it was.

  They reached the end of the alley and turned right, heading away from the water. There were a few people scattered about on the street, but no one he recognized from Scar’s crew. They walked quickly, sticking to the growing shadows. The sun was setting, and soon it would be dark. Good in one way, but bad in another.

  “Excuse me,” he heard Lacy say as he felt her hand slip from his. Turning around, he saw she was addressing a nice-looking middle-aged lady. “May I borrow your cell phone for a minute? Ours was stolen down by the docks and we need to call our hotel.” The lady just clutched her bag more tightly, her face twisted in on itself as if she was eating a lemon. “My husband will give you his watch to hold if that will make you feel better. We really just need to get back to our hotel. They stole our wallets too, so we can’t catch a cab.”

  “Well, I guess it would be fine. So sad what the world is coming to.” If you only knew the half of it, he added silently. The lady shook her head as she handed over her cell. He reached for it and googled the hotel number while Lacy made small talk. Within a minute, he was chatting with a desk clerk, who assured him that a car would be there to pick them up. They arranged a meeting place, and he hung up. As he handed the phone back to the lady, he gave his thanks and Lacy did the same. The older woman was still lamenting the sorry state of the world when they walked away.

  “How long?”

  “Twenty minutes, give or take. I told them to pick us up a few streets away from the dock. It should be safe enough.” There was no point in telling her they were sitting ducks—nowhere in Nassau was safe enough. She undoubtedly knew. A shiver wracked her body, in spite of the heat. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. “We’ll get back to the resort and figure out the next step.” He said a silent prayer that it would be true.

  They started heading toward the bank. When they turned the corner, she made a small squeaking sound. He saw Alexey walking down the sidewalk in their direction. “Shit.” He pulled her back around the corner and started speed-walking the way they had come. He turned down the first alley they came to and started to run.

  “Do you think he saw us?” she puffed.

  “No, but we need to keep moving.” They turned left down another passageway and then made right. They came to the mouth of the backstreet and plastered themselves against the wall. He stuck his head out and did a quick search of the street. He saw no one familiar, but he waited a few more seconds anyway.

  “I think we’re close to the bank. There’s another path right behind it. We’re going to hide there until the car arrives, OK? I asked them to meet us at the bank, so we have to keep an eye out for the car.”

  She nodded. “Fine.”

  “Walk quickly but don’t run. We’re just tourists with somewhere to be.” She nodded again. He grabbed her hand and they set off down the street together. He kept his head on a tight swivel, looking for any familiar faces, but they appeared to be in the clear. When they arrived at the alley behind the bank a few minutes later, the car wasn’t there yet.

  She said, “Now what do we do?”

  “We wait. It shouldn’t be too long. Keep your eyes open for Scar and his friends, just in case.”

  She ran her hand over her hair and then rubbed her arms. “I still can’t believe it. Omar…” Her voice faded out, and she was pale.

  He wanted to distract her, but he couldn’t come up with anything. She’d been betrayed by someone she trusted. There was nothing he could do about that. Guilt hit him once again. He was doing the same thing to her. At least it felt like that to him. Who knew if she really trusted him? If she was involved in trying to steal the prototype, then telling her he was on to her was like painting a target on his brother’s back. He was responsible for Drake’s safety. Mitch would be in the line of fire. He just couldn
’t do that to his brother.

  He was so lost in thought, he almost missed the resort car driving by. He waved his arm, and the driver pulled to the curb slightly down the street. When the driver unlocked the vehicle, Logan opened the back door and helped Lacy in. He immediately followed. “Back to the resort, please.” The driver just nodded and pulled away from the curb.

  As if in silent agreement, they held hands but hunched down in the seat as the car rounded the corner. The windows were darkened, but there was no need to take chances. This afternoon had been too close of a call.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lacy said nothing for the entire ten-minute ride back to the hotel.

  Omar had been around for as long as she could remember. He was family. She just couldn’t fathom his betrayal. She froze. What if Omar had known about the whole flag thing? Was her father really alive? Or was Omar trying to lull her into a false sense of security? She could barely breathe through the fear clutching at her chest.

  After exiting the car, they headed directly up to the room. “Are you OK?” Logan was watching her, concern etched on his face.

  “I…I’m just not sure.” She sat down heavily on the sofa. “It’s so hard for me to imagine that Omar would turn on my father. He’s spent Christmases and vacations with us for as long as I can remember. My father never treated him like an employee.” She looked at Logan. “Why would he turn on my dad?”

  “I don’t know.” He ran his hand through his hair and walked over to look out at the ocean. “Who knows? Power and money do strange things to people.” He turned back to face her and leaned against the window. “I’ve seen grown men do tremendously stupid things to get an office with two windows instead of one. They go absolutely bat-shit crazy if a corner office is involved.” He shook his head. “I knew a guy who had an affair with a VP to get a promotion. Cost him his wife and kids. But he got the corner office and a lot more money. I asked him if it was worth it. You know what he said?”

  She shook her head.

  “Yes.” Logan shrugged. “Power and money mean more to some people than anything else on earth.”

  She watched him walk toward her. She patted the cushion next to her, and he sat. Turning to him, she said, “I owe you my life. Again.” He started to protest, but she put a hand on his chest and stopped him. “No. It’s true. If you hadn’t followed me, I would have gone with Omar, and I’d probably be dead now. I was being stubborn and stupid, and you saved my ass.”

  He grinned. “I won’t be allowed back at work if something happens to you. Your best friend would take out a hit on me, if not kill me herself.”

  She choked out a laugh and then leaned back on the sofa. So much for her girl power. Normally she did a damn good job of taking care of herself, but this situation was as far from normal as it got. Things were upside down and backward.

  She glanced at Logan. And she’d had good sex—amazing sex—with a guy she bickered with non-stop. The stars were out of whack, or Mercury was in retrograde, or the poles were reversing, or whatever. Things were just not right in the world. Who knew what would happen next. Maybe, Ernie and Bert would announce they’d been secret lovers for years. Actually, that would make sense. They were so totally in love. They should come clean to help generations of kids feel understood.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Sesame Street.”

  He shot her a worried look and took her hand. “Go have a shower or a bath. I’ll order some dinner, and we can figure out what to do next.”

  She hesitated. “I—” she began.

  “You can thank me later.” His eyes sparkled, and he winked.

  She grinned back at him as she stood. Maybe he was right. A bath might make her feel more human. Plus, her lady parts were tingling at the mere thought of having sex with Logan again. She had to go find her dignity and her willpower somewhere.

  He watched her go and let out a long breath. He’d been tense since he walked away from her at the bank. He still didn’t know what the hell he was going to do, but he’d followed his gut, and that was something he wouldn’t regret.

  He crashed down on the couch, laying his head back on the pillows. It was all just too much. Usually, he had his shit together, but this was totally out of control. Even though he was worried about the Drake situation, he felt one hundred percent better knowing that Lacy was safe. It sickened him to think how close she had come to falling into Scar’s hands. She could have been killed.

  Swallowing hard, he got up off the couch, went to the bar, and poured himself a stiff Scotch. As the heat from the drink spread down his throat and into his stomach, he felt marginally better. His hands had stopped shaking, and the knot in his gut was slowly loosening. Lacy is safe. He kept repeating that to himself.

  An hour and two Scotches later, Logan was sprawled on the couch watching TV when Lacy came back into the living room. She was wearing the fluffy robe and slippers again.

  Flopping down across from him, she said, “I see it like this,” she immediately started in. “Scar wants my father dead because he wants to take over his business. He wants me dead because everyone knows my father is trying to groom me to take over when he retires. If he just kills my father, I would be a threat to him. So, he takes me to get to my father and then plans to kill us both.”

  Logan handed her a glass of red wine from the coffee table. He’d poured it for her a while ago figuring she’d want a drink once she got out of her bath.

  “The problem with this whole scenario is that if Omar is working for Scar, he really doesn’t need me to get to my father. The fact that he doesn’t just run out and kill Dad makes me think there is more going on here. What do you think?”

  “I keep coming back to that point as well. We’re missing something. Remember how Scar talked about his family when we were on the yacht? He said something about how he wanted a world where his wife and family were safe, and his children could grow up not knowing of war. Do you think it’s possible that something happened to his family, and he holds you and your father responsible?”

  She mulled it over in her big fluffy robe with her hair up. His groin stirred. He was willing to bet she wasn’t wearing anything under that robe. He’d almost lost her. A fierce desire to protect her tore through his whole body. But, and it was a big but, she seemed too vulnerable at the moment. She’d just been hit with what he would bet was the biggest betrayal of her life. He wasn’t going to take advantage of that. He cared too deeply for her.

  She shrugged. “I guess it’s possible. It does make sense.”

  She shifted in her seat. “I tried to call my father,” she announced. “I know it might have put us in more danger, but I had to try. What if he doesn’t know about Omar?” She braced herself for the yelling that was bound to come. She had known before she picked up the phone that calling her father’s compound was stupid.

  If Omar or Scar found out somehow, they could easily trace the call, and then their safe haven would be ruined. What if they had cloned her father’s phone? She hadn’t thought before trying the call. She was more screwed up than she realized.

  Logan blinked hard, the muscle in his jaw ticking like a clock. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Finally, he said, “Well, that changes things.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, still expecting him to yell at any moment.

  “I think our time here is more limited than I would like but”—he shrugged—“it was limited anyway. We can’t stay in one spot forever.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  Logan stood up from the couch and moved over to stand in front of her chair. He reached down and pulled her to her feet.

  She licked her lips in anticipation. Logan’s eyes followed her tongue, sending a little zip of electricity through her. He wound his hand through her hair and was leaning in to kiss her when a knock sounded at the door. He stopped, his lips mere centimeters from hers.

  “Now,” he growled, “we eat dinner.” He let her go and walke
d around her to answer the door. She stumbled a bit at his sudden departure and reached up to smooth down her hair. Her hand shook, but she wasn’t sure if it was from anticipation of being with Logan or because the knock had scared her. She hated to admit it even to herself, but finding out about Omar had shaken her to her core. She was terrified he was going to come through the door at any moment. It made her feel weak, and she hated feeling anything but in control.

  Logan let the waiter into the living area and followed him to the table. The waiter whipped out a tablecloth with a flourish and had the table fully set and ready to go in no time. Logan signed the bill and ushered the man out.

  She sat down at the table. “What did you order?” She started to lift the lids off the plates.

  “Surf and turf. After the day you’ve had, I thought you could use some serious sustenance.” Instead of handing her one of the meals, he took an extra plate and filled it with a bit of everything. Once it was full, he offered it to her. “I want you to eat all of it.”

  “What am I, two? You don’t have to tell me to eat my vegetables,” she snarled at him.

  He cocked an eyebrow at her.

  “Sorry,” she sighed. She didn’t want to say it out loud but honestly what the hell were they doing having a date now? As if being chased by killers wasn’t enough, she’d just made a phone call that could lead to them being discovered. They should be…doing what? There was nothing to do but wait at this moment in time. She sighed again. “I guess I’m still a bit on edge.”

  “Understandable,” he replied.

  She took the plate and picked up her fork. Silence reigned while they ate. She was so lost in thought that it took her a while to log the fact that Logan had stopped eating.

  “Are you finished already?” she asked. His plate was empty, but she still had food on hers. “Wait.” She looked back and forth between the two plates. “Did you give me extra?”