A Breath Away

by Wendy Etherington

  A clattering sound reverberated from beyond the back door.

  Jade drew her pistol and stalked over. “You expecting anybody?” she asked Vanessa quietly.

  “No.” Her voice sounded more confused than fearful. “My partner’s out of town with her boyfriend.”

  “Everybody duck down behind the island,” she said. “Everybody,” she added when Remy drew his revolver from his ankle holster.

  He positioned himself on the other side of the door, and she sighed. He was trained, after all. She just wasn’t used to her clients jumping in to assist in their own protection.

  The doorknob shook, and the low rumble of voices echoed.

  She knew without looking over that her cousin hadn’t ducked. He was staying put, though, and she was grateful for that at least. She moved her gaze to Remy’s. He nodded his readiness, then he focused on the door.

  Why had she exposed Lucas and Vanessa to danger? Had the NSA decided to take Remy back forcibly? Had Garner followed them? And why hadn’t Charlie warned them?

  She took a deep breath and waited.

  When the door flew open, Jade stepped in front of the intruder and pointed her weapon with deadly intent.

  The shocked, dark-haired woman collapsed in a dead faint into the arms of the equally shocked man behind her. This was no attack. These people were not paid muggers, assassins or government agents.

  “Ah, Jade,” Vanessa said from behind her, “that’s my partner. Oh, and her boyfriend.”

  11

  “YOU PEOPLE ARE seriously disturbed.”

  Remy chuckled at the furious glare in the eyes of Vanessa’s feisty and exotic partner, Mia.

  She smiled at Remy. “Though you are seriously cute.”

  The woman’s live-in boyfriend, Colin, was sitting beside her, patting her hand at the time this comment was made.

  The normalcy of the whole situation was refreshing, and he was sure Jade felt the same. Vanessa plied her partner with wine. Lucas produced a barstool that he assisted Mia onto.

  As Mia ranted about guns and unprovoked violence and the general lousy state of the world, even stalwart Jade—who’d pulled the gun that started the whole business in the first place—cracked a smile. By the time they escaped, Jade and Lucas had shared a healing smile and Remy had made off with several more pieces of the luscious cheesecake.

  “I’m hiding it,” he said as they pulled out of the parking lot, holding the precious plastic container next to his chest. “And if you tell anybody else, I’m firing you.”

  Jade glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “It’s chocolate and cream cheese.”

  “Oh, no. It’s way more than that.”

  “Okay back there?” Charlie asked.

  The poor man had been humiliated when he’d learned what had happened after Mia’s unexpected entrance. Vanessa’s partner had confronted him in the limo when she’d pulled in, asking him what he was doing lurking in the alley. Charlie had said he was only waiting for a client and had given Jade’s name, which Mia recognized. Mia assured him she was a part owner of the property. She had a key, so he hadn’t considered warning them of her approach.

  “We’re fine, Charlie,” Jade said as she pressed the speaker button. “Let it go. If every false alarm is that entertaining, I’m all for it.” She turned to Remy. “You, however, have serious issues. The last time we were alone in this limo I was in your lap, not that cake.”

  Remy glanced down at the precious container. “Yeah, so?”

  “I’m getting passed over for chocolate?”

  “You can share me.” He grinned. “In fact, I could spread this amazing dessert all over your body.” He leaned close, absorbing her softness and alluring scent. “Then I could lick it off.”

  She trailed her fingers through his hair, and his body reacted by constricting, then throbbing. “Now you’re talking.”

  But before they could make further plans, her cell phone rang. When she hit the speaker button, Frank’s voice floated out.

  “New development with Garner. He’s going to be attending an art showing here in Atlanta in three days. Coincidence?”

  Remy’s gaze locked with Jade’s.

  “No way.”

  BY THE TIME they returned to the suite, Mo was awake and David hadn’t yet gone to bed, so everyone was present for the strategy meeting.

  Remy’s senses were fired. He could practically picture the coming showdown. Though he was thinking more like The Thomas Crowne Affair than a shootout at the O.K. Corral.

  “Maybe we should go to San Francisco tonight and catch him off guard for once,” David said.

  Remy liked that plan. He wanted to face Garner, end this surprise attack crap and find out what was so damn important about that ring. Garner didn’t really want to kill him. He wasn’t hiring a local yahoo like Johnny Malden for a hit.

  Lucas was right—Garner was trying to throw him off balance.

  “No,” Jade said, pacing as usual. “That’s his territory.”

  “We’re gonna invite him to The Big Easy?” Frank asked in disbelief.

  “We’re good here,” she said. “Remy knows Atlanta, he knows the art world and the underground criminal and law enforcement element. We only have three days. We need that time to plan. Do you know this gallery where the opening is being held?” she asked Remy.

  “Very well.”

  “Can you get us the blueprints? Can we get some of our people in place of the security guards or caterer’s staff?”

  “I do business with the owner often but I wouldn’t necessarily trust him, especially since Garner obviously knows about the gallery.” He picked up the brochure advertising the showing and ran down the list of artists. “He’s coming an awfully long way for a viewing of medium-quality work.”

  “He’s practically waving a red flag with this appearance here,” David said. “He’ll be expecting us. Why go undercover?”

  “But I don’t think he realizes we already know he’s coming,” Frank said. “My information came through a private source.” He and Jade exchanged a telling look.

  As he had been from the first, Remy was impressed with their discretion and professionalism. To be successful in their business, you had to have contacts in law enforcement, PIs, other security companies. Add in their NSA connections—especially Frank’s, who’d put twenty years into the agency—and they’d undoubtedly developed a vast network of informants.

  If Frank thought they were one step ahead of Garner, Remy believed him. “He wants me at that opening, though, so he’ll announce officially that he’s coming the day before—probably with an article in the newspaper.”

  “How do you know that?” Mo asked.

  “It’s what I would do,” Remy said.

  “He’s as smart as you?” David asked, sounding concerned.

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” he said with a modest smile. “And I don’t know what he’ll do, I just suspect.”

  “If he wants this ring so badly, why hasn’t he tried to steal it?” David asked.

  “Oh, please,” Jade said.

  Mo shook his head.

  “Oh, right,” David said. “Sorry, Mr.—ah, Remy. Of course, with your skills, he couldn’t—”

  “Don’t compliment his skills,” Jade said with a pointed glare. When her gaze slid to Remy’s, her eyes held a hint of heat. “Such as they are.”

  Remy swallowed his smile. “The thing to remember is that the ring is just a means to an end. A key to something more important.”

  “To what?” Clearly frustrated they couldn’t find the answer to that all-important question, Jade shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “And how does Garner know when you don’t?”

  “Maybe he just found out,” Frank said.

  “But from whom?” Mo said. “Everybody else is dead.”

  “When we meet, this will all come to an end.” Remy was certain he could feel the ring burning in his pocket. “I think I can even reason with him, get him to s
plit the profits of whatever is on the other end.”

  Jade’s gaze jumped to his. “So we just forget all about the you tried to kill me business?

  “I didn’t say that.” In fact—after he got the information he needed—he wouldn’t rest until Garner was in jail or dead. He’d gotten away with his crimes for too long. Maybe Remy’s father had been a thief, but he hadn’t deserved to die. Garner, one way or another, had caused his death, and it was long past time he paid for it.

  “You don’t really think you can talk to him rationally,” she said.

  “Probably not.” He rose to pour himself more coffee. “But it could be fun trying.”

  She huffed out a disgusted breath. “Fun.”

  He glanced back at her. “And you’re not invited. You’ll get pissed, shoot him, then we’ll never know where all this leads.”

  “Oh, but I will be there. And if Garner goes down, then he does. You’d be out of danger. That’s my job.”

  The finality of her words struck him oddly. She’d be gone soon. He’d be alone again. Even though that was their agreement, he didn’t want to keep it. Had he ever intended to?

  He walked toward her. “Your job—to close the case and move on.”

  “Yes.”

  The air in the room thickened with tension that had nothing to do with the case. He and Jade had made this personal for themselves and everyone else. They’d done it with their eyes wide open, but had either of them been prepared for the results?

  He certainly hadn’t expected to want to protect her, to actually feel a stab of fear as he’d watched her draw her weapon earlier tonight. To wonder if they’d be quick enough, clever enough to beat Garner and survive.

  “So Garner is going to offer his bribe again. What are you going to tell him?” Frank asked, breaking the awkward silence.

  “Let’s make a deal,” Remy said.

  “And if he makes trouble, we’ll be ready,” Mo said, his dark eyes narrowed.

  Personally, if Remy were the bad guy, he’d run the other direction from the massive Mo. But some people seemed destined for trouble. Peter Garner was going to run into a handful with this team.

  “He might use force instead of cash,” Mo continued.

  “Leverage,” David added.

  “Somebody close to you,” Frank said, leaning forward.

  Remy refused to look at Jade. “I don’t have anybody close to me.”

  “Lucas,” Jade said quietly, her face paling for a moment.

  Remy shook his head. “Don’t even think it. No one knows about our relationship.” He thought about the NSA. Well, maybe somebody did. But not Garner.

  His life was circling around, chasing him, demanding he set what was wrong right again. At almost all costs, but not at the expense of friends.

  He rose and approached her, cupping her elbows in his hands. “I wouldn’t risk Lucas. I wouldn’t.”

  But he had. Just by picking him, by letting him into his life, he had. At the time he’d arranged the meeting, his curiosity about Jade had been eating him from the inside out. Later, he’d decided he was being clever by retaining an attorney who was connected to somebody who knew the inner workings of the NSA. Eventually, he’d gained a respect and appreciation for Lucas on his own.

  She lifted her head and met his gaze. “I know.”

  Relief rolled through him. Her opinion of him was fast becoming a thorny aspect of their relationship. He couldn’t wave away or dismiss the idea that they stood on opposite sides of the fence in many respects. They were supposed to be about curiosity and chemistry, about release and satisfying physical needs.

  They had become much more.

  “We ought to give Garner somebody to take,” Frank said, leaning back in his chair.

  “Oh, really?” Jade asked, jamming her hands on her hips. “Who?”

  “Me.”

  “No. No way.” She tossed her hands in the air. “Are you people determined to make me crazy today?”

  Frank stood, jutting his chin forward. “What if he knows about Lucas, Jade? I won’t let you lose the only family you have left. I can handle myself with Garner.”

  Her body was equally stiff with anger. “Unless he shoots you in the head the moment he has you.”

  “Sacrificing one of us isn’t the way,” Mo said.

  “I agree,” Remy said. Frank was just as much family to Jade as Lucas was. Though no one member of the team was more precious than the other. If anybody should be taken, it was him. And he wasn’t feeling that sacrificial.

  Jade nodded. “Finally, the voices of reason.”

  “I’ll go,” Remy said jokingly, since that would accomplish nothing. Garner would have all the cards.

  Jade cut her gaze toward him. “Think again.”

  “I’ll go to the showing. With all of you hovering two inches from me.” He smiled. “Let’s stick together, shall we? I think we make a pretty good team.”

  Frank hunched his shoulders. “Fine.” He dropped into his chair.

  “Let’s move back to the plan,” Mo said.

  “Here, here,” Remy said, setting aside his coffee cup. “We may not be able to get on with the staff at the gallery, but we do have a connection we can trust. Vanessa.”

  Jade shook her head. “No. Lucas is bad enough, but—”

  “I don’t mean use her personally. The gallery is bound to have a catering service contracted. We can find out who that is, and Vanessa can help us by calling that company and asking if her cousin David—who’s an expert waiter—can earn some extra money for the night.

  “Security-wise Mo is the man. He’s big, he’s obvious, he’s scary.”

  Mo smiled, though he didn’t look much less intimidating. “Hey, but I like puppies and bunny rabbits.”

  “Let’s just keep that to ourselves for the time being,” Remy said carefully, wondering if he liked to eat them or pet them.

  “So, I have Mo at my side. Some of my art colleagues will no doubt be surprised by the security measures, but I can tell them all my amazing story of nearly being shot, and that will create an interesting buzz and distraction for the party.”

  “This is good,” Jade said, staring down at him with a new kind of respect in her eyes.

  Remy basked in her praise but tried not to be obvious. “If it works.” He gestured toward Frank, who was still sulking. “Frank can either be a party guest or he can do surveillance in a van outside.”

  “What am I?” Jade asked, standing in front of him and scowling. “Your empty-headed date again?”

  “Date, yes.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his lap. “Empty-headed, definitely not.”

  Frank, grinning at them, stood and clapped his hands. “Okay, boys, time for us to get busy.” He winked at Remy. “Somewhere else.”

  Jade wriggled out of Remy’s lap. “No, boys, we have lots to—”

  “What?” Frank spread his hands. “We’ve got a few phone calls to make. I’ve got a tux to rent. I’ll be good as a wealthy art patron. Just like the old days.” He paused and angled his head. “But there is some new surveillance equipment I’ve been planning to test. Hmm, well, whichever role I choose it’s a good plan.”

  Jade glared at him. “Until Lucas gets wind of what we’re up to, and he and Vanessa show up.”

  Frank waved off her concerns. “We’ll protect them, J.B. They’ll add some authenticity. Members of the local community and all.”

  “No. I don’t like it.”

  “Come on, we—”

  “You’ve been hanging around him too long,” she said, jerking her head toward Remy. “We’re not weaving outside the lines. We’re doing this on our own.”

  “You’re being overly protective,” Frank said.

  “I’m not. I’m just following a straight path.”

  “Which isn’t always the best.”

  Watching their standoff, Remy felt guilt creep over him. He didn’t want to be responsible for a conflict between partners. “Can we table this ’t
il tomorrow?” he asked, standing and stretching. “We have the basics, and I could use some sleep before I figure out the rest.”

  Grumbling and shuffling ensued, but after David and Frank agreed on a movie to watch in the other room, and Mo had his generous bowl of cookie-dough ice cream to entertain him as he watched a reality show in the main room, Remy managed to snag Jade’s hand and discreetly slip into his room.

  He leaned back against the door and watched her pace. Her mind was obviously busy with the plan he had proposed. She was looking for holes and weaknesses, which she’d undoubtedly do until the moment they arrived at the gallery.

  He, however, wasn’t thinking about work. He was thinking about getting her away. Of finding out what was really between them, how far they could explore each other, and he’d never get another opportunity after the case was resolved.

  This was his moment, and he intended to take it.

  You have a plane, man. Gas it up and go….

  She could plan and pace anywhere, and he could come up with continually inventive ways to distract her. Maybe his fatalistic attitude was flippant and wrong, but he’d lived on the edge too long to not appreciate the sunrise and sunset, to take passion where he could find it and to always long for more. He needed Jade’s touch. He longed for her respect.

  Maybe he’d get one or both.

  “Am I really such a horrible influence?” he asked her as she paced in front of him for what had to be the tenth time.

  She stopped and planted her hands on her hips. “What are you talking about?”

  “You know what I mean. You’ve been hanging around him too long.”

  “You’re aware we have different approaches.”

  “But as long as we get the job done, does it really matter how we get there?”

  “Hell, yes.”

  They’d likely never be in simpatico there. But maybe they could still be together. Maybe they could find a way to compromise and have some semblance of peace when their professional lives had them stressed to the hilt. Could they turn to each other then? Could they share more than just passion?

  He walked toward her, pulling her into his arms. “Can we forget the case for now?”