by Susan Stoker
Usually, she would jump at the chance to join a foursome, but being tired meant she couldn’t judge the two couples well enough to know for certain it was safe. They probably were, but it was even more than that.
Wiping her hands on a bar towel, she grabbed it up and two others and threw them on the floor. That would remind her to pull out clean ones tomorrow afternoon.
She flipped the switch on the upper bar lights and walked toward the pool. Usually she took a dip on the nights she wasn’t otherwise occupied after work, but she felt too tired for even that.
The moon was shining brighter, showing at least three quarters, making the area look like another dimension. Yeah, right.
She plopped down on a lounge chair and toed off her boots. She could probably sleep right here she was so tired, but the moonlight might keep her awake. Still, it felt good to get off her feet.
Between the whip last night and the shock at seeing her car mysteriously unlocked, it had been a rough one. Too bad she couldn’t soak in a nice hot bath. She could, but that meant she’d have to run it, which would take far too long.
She glanced at the hot tub. That could work.
But she didn’t move. Not a single muscle. There had been no damage to her car and everything she had in there was still there. Kendra was sure she’d just left it unlocked. But she hadn’t. She always locked her car twice, just to be sure. It was habit.
She loved that car. It wasn’t anything truly expensive or special but it was to her. Being able to buy it had been her first goal for herself when she’d joined the bordello in Sparks, Nevada. She’d been so naïve, but her looks and personality had made her one of the three most sought after girls at Mrs. B’s.
To be truthful, she could have bought four of those cars, but it wasn’t the same. Her baby was hers, but it was getting old. Maybe it was time to change the color. Maybe lime green. She grinned. Lacey would be horrified.
“You closed early.” Hunter’s voice came out of nowhere.
Her heart raced at being surprised and with the knowledge he was near. He was the reason she wasn’t anxious to join a group tonight. She wanted him. She scanned the edges of the pool deck and found him, or rather the shadow of him at the opposite corner. “Crap, you’re quiet. You almost gave me a heart attack.”
He walked toward her, skirting the pool, but the moonlight hitting his cowboy hat kept his face in shadow. Damn, that was hot.
“I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
She liked that. That polite cowboy part of him drew her as much as his silence did and the underlying danger in the way he moved. No one moved like that unless they were hiding something.
It was weird. She didn’t even know if he was built. He was certainly big enough to have muscle under all his clothes, but the black material hid everything. For all she knew, he had a beer belly and flabby thighs.
He stopped about three feet from her. Just his presence, standing over her, had her nipples hardening. What the hell was wrong with her? “I think I’m safe. Why?” She sat up straight. “Did the Dom and his entourage try to come back?”
“No.” The smooth sound of his voice in that one word calmed her like nothing could.
Now that made no sense. How could his voice both excite and relax her? She must need sleep. “I was just resting before heading to bed. No, that’s not true. I was about to fall asleep right here. I’m wiped.”
He didn’t say anything, just stood there silent and dark, darker than the night. A shiver of excitement swept up her spine. He was Batman. She giggled. Freak, she must be really tired. She was losing it. “I guess I should go back to my casita. Could you give a girl a hand up?”
She stretched out her arm, hoping he’d take her hand.
He did and anticipation rumbled low in her belly. She was ready to purr. Then he pulled her toward him and she couldn’t resist. As she stood, she leaned into him, grasping his shoulder. A very muscular shoulder. “Thanks.” She forced herself to let go.
“I’ll walk you home.” His words, so simple, sent excitement tittering through her veins.
“Thanks. Whoa, wait. I need my boots.” Stepping away from him, she shoved her feet in her cowboy boots and groaned. “I’ve spent far too many hours on my feet today. I much prefer being on my back.” She winked at him, but couldn’t tell if he caught it. His face was shadowed by his hat, except his lips and scruff, which were illuminated by the moon and they didn’t move an inch.
He took a step back and opened his arm for her to precede him. That was terribly cowboy of him. Instead, she hooked her arm in his. “Okay, I’m ready, in so many ways.”
She wasn’t sure, but it felt like a tendon or something in his arm moved at her comment. It was so blasted hard to tell when he stayed silent and simply started walking. What she was sure of was that the arm beneath her own was rock hard and that had her mind warming already.
“So did you hear someone broke into my car?”
“No.” He didn’t even hesitate, keeping his stride short to accommodate her.
“They did. I think it was the Dom from last night, but I couldn’t find anything taken or damaged. Kendra thinks I just forgot to lock my car. No way, Jose. That car is my baby. I lock it up good and tight every time.” It still pissed her off that Kendra didn’t believe she’d locked it. She wasn’t so old she forgot stuff like that. She was thirty-two. In her sexual prime.
They took a few more strides before he spoke. “I’ll check on it.”
Those simple words that said he believed her had her anger dissipating. He certainly didn’t say much, but what he said was the right thing. “Thanks.”
They walked in silence, but it wasn’t a comfortable one. She wasn’t sure he was ever comfortable. She didn’t like it. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing you didn’t tell your mommy when you were a five-year-old that you wanted to grow up to be a security guard on a nudist resort. Right?”
This time she definitely felt a reaction in his arm. If she could see his mouth, she would bet money his lips quirked just a smidge.
“Right.”
She waited, but this time she felt as if he were laughing at her, making her wait on purpose. It kind of turned her on. “So what did you do before you came here?”
“I killed people.”
Any lightness she’d felt disappeared with those three words. “Cop?”
He grunted. “Military police.”
So he was a veteran. His silent walk, the way he moved like a snake all coiled up and ready to strike. It fit. She didn’t know one iota about the military. She’d never even had a client who’d been in the military. Probably because women just loved a man in uniform. Those guys didn’t need to pay for it.
She should stick to what she knew but since when did she do what she should? “I thought I felt some muscle under these clothes. I’d really like to see it some time.”
Did his step hesitate just a second there? She couldn’t be sure. Now she had the urge to pull him into her casita, strip him of his black clothing and turn on every light she had. Even the old lava lamp she’d won in Reno.
As they reached her door, he pulled his arm out from her grip.
She turned and faced him, wishing now her light was on outside. Note to self: leave light on twenty-four hours a day from now on. “I’d invite you in for a drink, but really what I’d like is a lot more than that.”
“I don’t drink.” Hunter’s tone was downright frigid.
Hmm, that hit a nerve. “I doubt that. I bet you drink water and orange juice and I know you drink that disgusting protein stuff.”
“I’m on patrol.”
“Right, of course.” There was no way she’d get him into her bed while he was working. That was his police side. “Oh, you said you would look at my car. Do you need the keys? I locked it again this afternoon.”
“Yes.”
She waited for him to elaborate, but that appeared to be it.
Shrugging, she pulled her keys from he
r back pocket. She unlocked the door to her casita then handed him her key chain. “If you get a break, you know where to find me. And if you just need a little activity before going to sleep in the morning, don’t hesitate to drop by.” She gave him her most sultry smile, making it perfectly clear what kind of activity she was proposing.
He took the keys from her without even touching her hand then tipped his hat and turned away.
Just like that? He disappeared into the moonlit desert as if he’d never been there. What the hell?
Stepping inside her casita, she flicked on the light and dropped down on her couch to toe off her boots.
She must be losing her sex appeal or something. Either that or the man was made of stone. She stilled. What if he’d damaged his goods in the military? “Crap, that would suck.”
Was that why he watched her get off? Did men like that want to watch? Hell, she didn’t have a clue. She didn’t even care why he watched as long as he did. That was pretty selfish of her.
She lay across her couch, too tired to move another foot. Now if he was there, she’d find her second wind, but he’d moved along. Unzipping her vest, she let her breasts breathe.
Making herself come would take more energy than she had, so she pulled the Mexican blanket from the back of her couch and spread it over herself against the chill and closed her eyes.
Maybe she could dream about having an orgasm instead…with a fully functioning Hunter.
*
Hunter continued his patrol around the staff casitas, walking off the sexual tension he felt whenever he was near Adriana. He wasn’t surprised by it. In fact, he welcomed it. Her blatant sexuality made an excellent distraction.
He should thank her and he probably would eventually. When he was ready. In the meantime, she’d given him another distraction. Her vehicle.
Hunter strode toward the other side of the resort. Pulling out his cell phone, he flashed the area twice then put it away. The cell phone signal booster Kendra had installed worked only half the time, so he and Mac never completely depended on the phones.
MacKenzie Rivers stepped out from behind the Old West town and strode toward him. The woman was over six feet tall and in better shape than some of the men he’d served with. She kept her hair pulled back in a tight bun and with the weather still cold, wore dark-colored sweats and black sneakers. He didn’t know what her story was, but she took her job seriously and that’s all he cared about.
“What’s up?”
He jerked his head in the direction of the guest casitas. “I need to take some time up at the garage. You want to cover the guest side too for a while?”
“Sure, unless you need me at the garage as well.”
“No.”
She stared at him a moment. “Something up there I should know about?”
“Don’t know yet.” It could be Adriana forgot to lock her car, but he wasn’t going to put anything past the guests he’d kicked out last night. By the time he and Mac reached their casita, they were gone. When he jogged up to the garage to make sure they’d left, he’d seen their tail lights down the dirt road.
They walked together toward the fork that split the resort in half.
“How’s Adriana?” Mac’s question derailed his thoughts.
“Hard to know. She seems fine. I think she blames herself.”
“She shouldn’t.” Mac’s voice changed. There was a guttural tone to it.
He stopped at the top of the ridge, his eyes scanning the casitas below. Only one was lit. Probably the foursome from the bar. “Be sure and check the lit casita. I escorted Adriana home when she got off, but since I turned down her invitation, she may go out again.”
Mac raised an eyebrow then nodded. “Will do. Flash if you need help.”
“Right.” He headed down the path to the bridge, but once across, he jogged up the other side of the ravine. Kendra had given him and Mac golf carts, but they rarely used them. There was nothing like being on foot for catching people doing something they shouldn’t.
The last catch had been a couple who were doing it on Adriana’s bar. They’d been embarrassed he’d caught them, so they weren’t Adriana’s type. He caught plenty of guests having sex in public places of the resort, but if food or drink was served on the surface, he drew the line and left a note. Luckily, most of the nudists knew better.
As he came into the garage, he stopped. Listening to the night sounds, he catalogued every one. The scampering of a desert rat. The winged whisper of a late-night bat. A coyote off in the distance. No human sounds.
He didn’t flick on the overhead lights. They would light up the whole desert north of Carefree Highway. Instead, he pulled out his mini-LED flashlight and clicked it on. Adriana’s car was always parked in the back corner where staff kept their vehicles. It didn’t take long to find it.
He had to give her credit. Choosing a yellow Camaro convertible instead of a red corvette definitely kept her from becoming a cliché. He’d bet a hundred bucks any cop that pulled her over was offered a blowjob if he let her off with a warning.
He shook his head. Julie would have simply cried with mortification. He froze. Where the fuck had that come from?
Refusing to go down that road, he focused on the Camaro, the flashlight reflected off the bright paint, lighting up the area.
The easiest way to break into a car without making it look like a crime occurred was to use a slim jim. He’d used that particular instrument more times than his gun when he’d been an officer in Oro Mesa. He shined the light on the window near where the locking mechanism would be.
There. His body tensed at his find. The lightest of scrapes along the window ridge could be made out. He followed the spot to the window. It was obvious the desert dust had been disturbed, showing the perpendicular marks of a slim jim.
The spurt of elation that came with finding a crime had been committed woke his brain as if it’d been asleep. The scratch and dust disturbance probably wasn’t obvious during the day or with the lights on, but the darkness revealed a lot.
Adriana had probably already compromised the scene, so he didn’t worry about fingerprints. Unlocking the driver side door, he paused. The scent of Adriana flowed out at him. It was strong, as if she sprayed herself with perfume inside the car. It reminded him of sage and fresh cotton, mystical and practical, though there seemed to be very little mystery about that woman.
He shined the light inside. Shit. The car was a mess of paper. The front seat had empty plastic bags and a crushed Kleenex box on the floor. The backseat was littered with receipts. He picked up a handful. Three fast food places, one organic grocery store, one gas station, one hardware store, two bank withdrawals, one restaurant and three sex store receipts. No surprise there. He picked up another handful. This one also included an oil change and a W-2.
Not exactly identity proof. Concerned, he sifted through a few more. She had check stubs, old bills and even a tax workbook CPAs often give clients to get ready for having their taxes done. If someone was in this car, they had access to her entire identity.
He shined the light over every inch, looking for any kind of clue. It wasn’t as if he had a team of forensics experts at his beck and call, but at the moment he wished he did. Standing up, he shined the flashlight over the rest of the vehicle. There didn’t appear to be any outside damage.
He strode around to the passenger seat and checked that window. There were no marks there. He tried the door and it remained locked. Returning to the driver’s side, he sat in the seat and looked around. He could picture Adriana with the top down, her jet-black hair blowing in the wind as she sped down the highway, her smile wide or maybe she even laughed.
He envied her that. Despite her former career, she didn’t appear disillusioned, just tough and she took life by the balls and squeezed every moment of joy from it she could. How did a person become like that?
He shook his head to refocus his thoughts. Opening the glove compartment, he found the registration and a couple
of warnings for speeding. There was also a flashlight, a box of 9mm bullets, an array of condoms, a couple loose tampons and a pack of wet wipes. He was learning quite a bit about his coworker.
The passenger seat didn’t have paper. It was piled with clothes. All looked brand new and sexy. Why wouldn’t she have brought these down to her casita?
And why did he keep getting distracted? He needed to think of her as the victim. Would she even know if anything had been taken? This wasn’t a good scenario. Stepping back out of the car, he was about to close the door when his flashlight glinted off something shiny under the driver seat. Crouching, he focused the light on the object.
Chapter Four
‡
Hunter reached his hand beneath the seat and pulled out…a dog’s tag? He palmed the small metal circle with a date on it and the word “rabies.” It was from years ago. How long had it been since she cleaned her car out? Dropping the tag where it was, he rose and closed the door.
He kept the flashlight aimed at the floor and walked around the car. There was nothing else to see, so he wove his way out from between the staff cars. The rest, about fifteen, were all guests at the resort right now. With people leaving and coming all day, any possible evidence leading to who had broken into Adriana’s car was probably gone, but he looked anyway.
He examined the cars, the floor, the walls, the desert outside the concrete slab that served as the floor of the three-sided garage. Old instincts from his first tour reawakened, giving him an energy he’d thought long dead.
When he finished scouring the immediate vicinity, he walked around the outside of the building, less to find clues than to walk off some of the buzz zipping through his brain. Now he wanted to talk to Adriana. Someone didn’t break into a car for no reason. They needed to figure out why.
Once he’d completed his perimeter, he strode to the narrow canyon edge. From the top, he could see the whole resort, especially with the moon being as bright as it was. There was still one casita with lights on, number four. As he stared at it, a figure walked away and headed up the path to the main building.