by Nana Malone
So the real question was, what was she hiding from? Why was she hiding? And how long had she been hiding?
As far as he knew, she’d been hiding at least two years. He knew that much from his conversations with Bo.
He needed to take a good look at her place. He called over to Sue Anne’s Café to see if Corin was working there today and bingo, he was.
Axel had so many questions. First of all, did Sam know? He had to assume that she did know, as her background was makeup. Stage makeup to boot. The disguise was good.
There's no point in making Corin look like a grown man. Cara’s features were too fine for that. A young student was much easier. It would lend to the slight build. And with enough layered clothing, it was pretty easy to make Corin appear nondescript.
But how the hell did she conceal those breasts? She was full enough to fill his big hands. So that meant she was at least a 34C.
Binding. That's what she'd been taking off the other day, bandages of some sort. He shuddered. Her breasts were things of beauty. She couldn't have been comfortable.
One of his fellow agents he’d trained with at Quantico had once gone undercover as girlfriend to Angie Westmoreland. Westmoreland was a suspected terrorist. Her father had ties to right-wing militia groups. He'd always treated her more like a son than a daughter.
The old man hadn’t been thrilled when she come out as a lesbian. Adele had gone full stereotype with a short buzz cut, downplaying every part of herself as a woman.
He remembered how Agent Briggs talked about having to bind her breasts on occasion. And he couldn't imagine how painful that might be, how much that might destroy her identity.
And Cara, the woman he’d made love to numerous times the night before. She was all woman. She relished in it. It was the way she moved, the way she brushed her hair over her shoulder, the way she walked. The moment he'd seen her. He’d been drawn to the confidence in her.
How hard was it to hide every part of herself? “Just how much trouble are you in, Cara?” he muttered to himself.
Thirty minutes later, he hesitated at her door. Fuck, you could be wrong. And if he was, he was being an asshole. But if he was right and he could help her, then he had to. Axel used his master key and unlocked her door. He punched in the code for the alarms, glad to know that she'd set them before she left the house.
If she had been this careful about her life, and about living as Corin, Axel doubted he was going to find anything here. If she had anything of importance, very likely she'd hidden it in the walls, which was general spy craft, or she had a stash at Sam's.
It would be a lot more difficult to get into Sam's place. Not that he couldn't do it. But Hope Falls being a small town, people would ask a lot of questions if he started snooping around her place. This was the kind of town that people could leave their doors unlocked if they wanted. Neighbors sure as shit looked out for each other.
Neighborhood watch was almost better than any alarm system. It would be a lot more difficult to explain why he, an FBI agent, was doing an unauthorized search of a civilian’s home.
Nope. This one, he could get away with. Was it unethical? Fuck yes. But then, they were way past that now.
The things they'd spent all night doing, you didn't do that kind shit with someone that you are casually hooking up with. He had to grit his teeth against the unexpected jolt of lust as he thought about how she tasted. About the way her legs clamped around his head when he went down on her. About the way she’d moaned deep when he’d run his tongue over her. They way he’d held onto her ass and lapped at her, showing her there was nothing he wouldn’t do to make her come. Fuck, he needed her again. No way he could just walk away.
More than anything, he wanted to help her. That burning feeling somewhere in the middle of his chest, it went away when he was with her. She was different. He knew it at the core.
Just like he thought, he found nothing in her place. Nothing personal, no photos, nothing. There was a laptop, but, he didn't dare touch that one. He didn't have the time to try to crack her password. Given that she was living under an assumed identity, any password he would guess based on the information he already knew, would be wrong.
The bedroom yielded nothing. The bathroom was next. When he opened the cabinets though, he hit pay dirt.
Axel still wasn't sure exactly what he was seeing. But he couldn't ignore it. When he opened the cabinet under the sink, he frowned. There was a box of tampons opened and several were missing. These could easily belong to a friend or girlfriend. But there was also a pill pack for birth control. From experience, he knew a woman didn't leave these anywhere unless she was living somewhere. What the hell was going on? Something was up. Axel reached further back into the cabinet and he saw something that looked like hair. When he picked it up, he frowned at it. It was styled in a similar cut to Corin's hair.
But it was only when he noticed the long strand of red hair stuck to the inside that his brain locked everything together. Grabbing a piece of plastic bag, he quickly pocketed it. Maybe he could get a DNA.
He’d been right. She was right under his nose all this time.
He tidied everything as best he could, and he was about to reset the security alarm, when it occurred to him. He could call in a favor. It was risky, but if she was in trouble, then he could help her.
Taking a piece of tape from the dispenser on her desk, he eyed the coffee mug on the counter. Gingerly, took a pen, held it up to the light until he could see trace of a smudge. Using the tape, he carefully plastered it against the mug, and then peeled it off. He just prayed he got something usable from this.
Resetting the security alarm, he let himself out of her place. And gingerly, he held a piece of tape as he walked back to the house.
Just who are you Cara?
Cara was working her shift at Sue Ann’s when she got the text alert. One quick check of her phone and she saw Axel snooping around her place.
He knew.
The real question was, what did he know?
Where had she gone wrong? You mean besides sleeping with him? Because he’s already on to you. The only way to deal with someone like him, was head-on.
Time to run.
If she was going run, that meant never going back to the house. It also meant never seeing Sam again. And it meant she’d be running forever. If she could just get past him, she could be home free. But first, she needed to figure out what the hell he knew. And how much time she had.
Once her shift was over, she made a quick stop at the grocery store and bought a six-pack of some microbrewery’s IPA. Whatever the hell that meant. She hoped to use these to get him to loosen his tongue a little.
She knew he hadn’t found anything at her place, but, he wasn’t an idiot, he could've lifted a print. Fingerprints were the one thing that she couldn't change, at least not without a lot of pain.
When she reached the house, she ran and quickly changed before lugging the beer over to the back door and knocking.
Axel answered almost immediately, as if he was waiting for her to turn up. He opened the door with a shit-eating grin. "Corin? What's up?"
Cara lifted the beer and was careful to modulate her tone. He was goading her, waiting for her to slip up. "I just thought I'd bring over some beer. I haven't gotten to know you very well. I figured we could hang out. If you're not too busy."
Axel smirked. "You're in luck. I have nothing to do it all."
She followed him into living room. He was playing Killstar. She smirked a little. "Oh, you like Killstar? You wanna play a little?” In more ways than one. No. That was not what she meant. Besides, playing him gave her something to do with her hands. And she'd been a badass at shoot 'em up games in her former life.
"Oh yeah, you play?"
She couldn’t help a smirk. "Of course I play. You have another controller?"
"Yep."
Axel got her the additional controller, and they both popped open a beer. Cara would rather drink milk straight fro
m a cow than drink beer, but she knew she had no other options. Corin, would absolutely love beer. Especially this nonsense microbrew shit. She took a sip and forced herself not to wince. It was all part of the act.
For the next hour, she proceeded to school Axel in Killstar. Granted, it was hardly fair. Before she had gotten her corporate job, at the financial firm, she used to design video games.
"How the hell did you get so good at this?"
She shrugged. "I had a lot of spare time as a kid. And I like computers and shit."
"Bo said you did some medical transcription stuff?”
"Yep. Not real interesting, but pays the bills." He was fishing and so was she.
For the next hour or so, they verbally sparred. Each one careful not to trip over something they weren't supposed to say. After they played, he turned on the football game, and had another beer. Cara would never admit it, but the beer wasn't actually that bad. It was more of an acquired taste kind of thing.
It wasn't until she got up to leave that she realized his laptop was open. FBI database. Shit. He was looking for her.
This was trouble. She’d had fun with him today. She had to remember he was the guy who could bring her down.
As he walked her out, he paused at the counter while she had her hand on the door. "Listen, kid. If you like need anything, or anyone like that guy comes by the restaurant or you get into some kind of trouble. You can tell me. I’m not just your landlord. If you're in trouble or something, I can help."
Cara turned deliberately to meet his gaze. She wanted to believe him, but she knew that trusting the wrong person could get her killed. "Thanks. But I'm good. See you around." More like see you never.
It was time to go. Sam was out of town until tomorrow. As soon as her friend was back, Cara was blowing town. Time to find a new destination.
As much as she might want Axel, she couldn’t keep him. He wasn't hers.
8
Cara stared up at the ceiling. What was her problem?
She should be sleeping. Which she wasn't doing. Instead, she was awake and thinking about Axel. Thinking about things like his hand sliding over her body. The way he murmured her name in her ear. The way he touched her, The way his mouth felt hot on her skin, hard, soft, firm but yielding, hot, wet — oh God. She flipped over onto her stomach and dragged the pillow over her head. She needed to stop this.
In less than seven hours, she was going to go. She'd say goodbye to Sam and walk away from this place. This place that had started to become her home. Even though her identity here was probably the most uncomfortable for her, she liked this place.
It had the best people, and a sense of simplicity. Everyone here was genuine, and loving, and would actually stop and help their neighbor. Most people rarely locked the doors.
But you never fit here anyway. With her alarms, her go bags, money hidden in the walls, she’d always kept some emotional distance.
She ignored the pang of guilt about leaving Sam behind. Sam was the first person she trusted since having to run years ago. The first person that reached out to her and said, “Hey, I don't know what your deal is, but I'm going to be someone you can trust.” Trust was hard-won. And then, of course, there was Axel. She didn't trust him at all. That's not true. She groaned again and rolled onto her back.
The problem was she did trust him. Even though she obviously couldn't tell him who she was. Even though, he was FBI and could potentially blowup her entire world. Even though he was a man who could hurt her, she still trusted him. It was in his voice, his kind eyes, his persistent search for the truth. Even though he could strip away the layers of her identity, with his eyes alone, she trusted him. She trusted him not hurt her. She trusted him to find the truth. Which was why she was leaving. Because even though she was terrified, she trusted him as a good man. A good, sexy man that the woman in her wholeheartedly responded to. Never mind that those kind of men were dangerous.
But FBI agent or not, the things that she'd seen, they could get him hurt. She didn't want that. So, despite wanting to stay, despite right now, wanting to his stroll right back over to his place, knock on the door and let him rip off her clothes, she wasn’t going to do that.
She wasn’t going to let him make very good use of his tongue and his fingers again. Nope.
In the morning, like a perfectly sane person on the run, she was going to leave him. For parts unknown, with a new identity, where no one would know her, and by tomorrow, she would once again, be anonymous. Once again foregoing being touched, or befriended, or loved.
Way to make it sound appealing, why don't you?
She tossed around for another thirty minutes before she heard it. The quite beeps, like Morse code. Beep beep beep stop, beep, beep, longer beep. The pattern, barely loud enough to wake her up had her sitting bolt upright in bed. Someone was here.
Did she have time to get dressed? She looked down at her boy shorts and T-shirt. Then she heard the crash of one of the flowerpots outside. Short answer, no. The back house was small. Really no more than five hundred square feet. All she had time to do was slip her feet into shoes, grab her backpack and baseball bat.
The bat had a twofold purpose. First, for the hallway between her bedroom and the bathroom. With a perfectly aimed short swing, she put a hole in the drywall. Then she reached in and dragged out the zip-locked bag of money she had lining the wall. When she moved in, she put it there. Replaced the drywall herself. It had taken days of sanding to get it smooth again, then she’d repainted it to make sure the paint color matched. To make sure that Bo would never notice. She'd send cash for the repairs whenever she landed where she was going.
She grabbed a sweatshirt, and tightened her grip on her baseball that. Given the sound had come from near her bathroom, there was only one safe way out of this place. And that was the front door. She would have to go out swinging.
Cara eased open the door, not sure what to expect. Would Axel be coming for her, having figured out who she was, or would it be someone from her past ready to finish her on the spot?
It was neither of those. Just a garden-variety asshole. The guy from the restaurant the other day.
She stopped short. "What are you doing here?"
The guy stopped short. "Oh, fuck. Homeboy has a girlfriend?" He slurred his words. He was drunk. Fan-fucking-tastic.
"You need to get off this property. Now.” She didn't wheeled her bat, exactly. But she held onto it strong, like it was a cane.
His gaze slid over her body and he leered. Cara made it a point not to slide her gaze away. His leering was his problem. There was nothing wrong with her. She knew enough not to back down. Men like him have been trying to intimidate her all her life. Not anymore. This asshole was standing between her and her getaway.
"What if I don't want to get off this property. What if I think the perfect payback to your boyfriend is you and I get a little close." He reached for her, Cara immediately stepped backwards and raised the bat. But before she could even take her first swing, the guy was flying back from her.
Before she knew what was happening, he was on the ground, and someone bigger and meaner had him facedown, arms behind his back. With a knee in his back. Axel turned to face her.
She’d never seen him like that before. Angry, violent, protective. "For fuck’s sake, Cara get back in the house, stay there. Do not move until I’m done with the police. Do you understand?”
She was so stunned, all she could do was nod. He wasn’t at all surprised to find her there.
9
Cara fought to keep the panic in check. This was so fucked.
How long had he known? Before they’d made love the other day? After?
Shit. Shit, shit.
She threw on a pair of yoga shorts and a T-shirt, but didn't bother with the wig or the binding, as he seemed to already know who she was.
She’d screwed up somewhere along the line. None of that mattered now because she was leaving. He may have said to wait for her, but the police had c
ome and gone an hour ago. And Axel still hadn't come back.
She was out. She was just smart enough not to use the front door. With a backpack on, and this time with clothes on, she headed right back for her bathroom, opened the window, tossed out her backpack, and climbed out feet first.
Climbing out of the window was significantly more difficult, when she didn't have on her full Corin outfit. Because her boobs got in the way. Turns out, full curves, were no good when you were trying to sneak out. Note to self for the next identity, find easier escape routes for her boobs.
When she had her feet on the ground, she looked around to grab her backpack, only to find someone already holding it and she shrieked.
Axel raised a brow and smirked. "I thought I told you to wait for me."
She glowered up at him. Damn, he was big. "Well, I got tired of waiting." She made a grab for her backpack and he released it immediately. Cara held onto it like a shield. As if the old rucksack could protect her from what was coming. But she knew it couldn't. The countdown on her life had already started. Hell, it probably started days ago or whenever the hell he figured out who she was.
Who had he called? Had he done a search for fingerprints? Granted that search would likely come up empty. She’d never been arrested or had a government job, so she wasn't in the system. She’d been fingerprinted before, but that was private sector. He probably wouldn’t have access to that information. All that depended on the kind of clout he had.
"You and I have some talking to do."
Cara’s first instinct was to flip him the bird and run, but while she was fast, he was no doubt faster. He’d catch her and she had no idea what would happen then.
He led the way to his place as if he fully expected her to follow. When they passed the gate, Cara glanced at it longingly. Would she be able to make it? Her car was still parked at Sam's. She could have access to it in minutes. Except, she'd have to ride all the way over there on her bike. And Axel, with his Dodge charger, would certainly beat her there. There was no outrunning him. She would just have to deal with him for now.