The man’s mouth twisted. “You think you can do anything worse to me than they can?”
Asher’s heart skipped a beat. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Who’s they? Who sent you to watch this house and why?”
The man curled his good fingers into the arm of the chair. “You already know why I was sent here. I was told to watch this house, the house of Cam Sutton’s girlfriend, to keep an eye out for you.”
“Why? What are they trying to do to Asher?” Paige squared herself in front of the man, crossing her arms over her chest.
Asher raised the hammer again—this time over the man’s kneecap.
His leg bounced. “I—I think you know that already, too. They want him to implicate Major Rex Denver. They want him to report that it was Denver who killed that ranger and Denver who pushed him over the cliff.”
“He’s right, Paige.” Asher lowered the hammer but kept a firm grip on it. “We already know why they’re after us and what they want me to do. The question is, who’s behind all this? Who’s behind the setup of Major Denver and why?”
“That I don’t know.” The man hunched his shoulders. “But it’s big.”
“I-is anyone else coming here? Did you contact your backups?”
“I haven’t contacted anyone. I saw a light on in the house and started watching. I didn’t know if it was Martha Drake back in the house or her mother or the cleaning lady.”
They already knew a lot about Martha. Asher pointed to the phone he’d dropped on the floor. “Check it out, Paige.”
She swept the phone up from the floor. “Password?”
The man dropped his chin to his chest.
Asher nudged his shoe with his bare foot and held up the pliers in his other hand. “You know I’ll use them. The way I was treated in Hidden Hills? Made me kinda crazy.”
Paige nodded beside him and held up the phone. “Give me your password. There’s nothing I can do to stop him.”
The man licked his lips and reeled off a four-digit code.
Paige entered the password and the phone came to life. “His name’s Peter. Last text was from an hour ago—about the time I spotted him outside. Just says ‘lights on in the house.’”
“Who’d he text?”
“A contact named Linc.”
“Who’s Linc?” Asher kicked the chair leg.
The man’s head snapped up. “He’s my guy. The one who gives me orders. The one I report to.”
“Any calls, Paige?”
“An incoming call a few hours ago, just a number, no contact name.”
“What is this organization? Who are you working for?”
“I dunno, buddy. I just do what I’m told.”
“You’re lying. If you were some grunt, you wouldn’t know about Major Denver and our failed meeting with his contact.”
“I’m the muscle, nothing more, but it doesn’t mean I don’t ask questions.”
Asher tipped his head toward Paige. “Text Linc back and let him know it was a false alarm—nobody at the house.”
The man in the chair gurgled. “If they ever find out about this, I’m a dead man and they’d have more than hammers and pliers to use.”
“Sounds like a highly organized group, a group that doesn’t fool around. Is it linked to the US government? It has to be with the personnel installed at Hidden Hills. What names have you heard? What else has Linc told you?”
“I don’t know. I can’t think.” He bucked in the chair. “I have to use the bathroom. Just give me a break here, man. I don’t have any more weapons on me. I’m cooperating, right?”
Paige nudged Asher’s back.
Trading the tools for a gun, Asher said, “I’ll let you get up and use the bathroom, but I’m coming with you. If you try anything, I’ll shoot you.”
While Asher held the man at gunpoint, Paige untied his ankles.
The man rose to his feel slowly, rubbing his forearms beneath the long sleeves of his shirt.
“Move.” Asher waved the gun toward the half bathroom next to the garage door.
The man took a tentative step forward and covered his mouth with one hand.
“I thought you were desperate to use the head. Get going before I decide this is a ploy and shoot you.”
The man took another stumbling step and then dropped to his knees.
Paige gasped. “Is he going for a weapon?”
Asher aimed a kick at the man’s back and he pitched forward, his head turning to the side.
“Shoot him, Asher. Stop him.”
Asher crouched down, rolling him to his side. The man’s eyes bugged out and his tongue protruded from his mouth. Asher rested two fingers against his pulse.
“I don’t have to shoot him, Paige. He’s dead.”
Chapter Thirteen
Paige gripped the handle of the gun, still pointing it at the man’s head. When he’d dropped to his knees, adrenaline had flooded her body and it still coursed through her.
“H-how? How is he dead?” She stared at the man’s slack mouth and bugged-out eyes.
“I’m not sure, but I think he took something. He was reaching into his sleeves when he got up. He covered his mouth.”
Her own mouth dropped open. “He poisoned himself?”
“It looks like it.” He pointed to the tongue, now turning bright red.
“He committed suicide rather than tell us any more about this organization.”
“He must’ve had orders to do so. Once his bosses found out he’d been compromised, lost his phone, gave up his phone’s password—they probably had a little homecoming planned for him that would make a few broken fingers look like child’s play.”
She’d been afraid when Asher had dragged this man back to the house. She hadn’t wanted to watch as he brought the hammer down on his hand, and she didn’t want to think about where this would all lead.
She swallowed. “Would you have let him go?”
“I don’t know.” Asher swiped a bead of water from his forehead.
“What are we going to do with his body now?”
“Bring it back to the water. He has a boat at the dock. That’s how he got here. We can leave him in the boathouse. Nobody’s going to find him there at this time of year.”
Paige shivered. “Leave him for Martha’s mother to discover?”
“She’s not due back for a while. We’ll let his cohorts know the location of his body later, and they can pick him up. They’re not going to allow the death of one of their own to be investigated by a local PD.”
Crossing her arms, Paige cupped her elbows with her hands. “Do you think we’re safe here?”
“No.”
“We’re going to have to hit the road again, aren’t we?”
“At least we have a bundle of cash now.”
“The doctor. You need to see the doctor, Asher. I can’t have you collapsing on me again.”
“We’ll stay here for what’s left of the night and get him out here tomorrow morning. Then we leave.”
Paige glanced at the dead man’s phone on the dining room table. “Linc hasn’t responded yet, but maybe we can convince him that this house is a dead end.”
“At some point his bosses are going to have another assignment for this guy.” Asher nudged the man’s foot. “What’s going to happen when he doesn’t show up? Doesn’t respond?”
“We can pretend to be Peter for a little while. It could buy us some time in this house.”
“We’ll see.” Asher crouched next to the dead man. “I’m gonna get him out of here first.”
“I’ll help you.”
“You sure?” Asher raised his brows.
“He’s my problem, too. In fact, I probably want him out of here more than you do.” She spun toward the kitchen. “I am going to get a pair of gloves first.”
/> “At least there’s no blood to clean up.”
Paige stuck her head in the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink and found a pair of rubber gloves. She pulled them on and joined Asher, who’d already heaved the man’s body over his shoulder.
“Get the doors, clear a path for me and use the light from the cell phone to guide us.”
Paige scurried ahead of Asher lugging the body of a dead man and opened the back door. She led him down to the boat dock and swung open the door to the boathouse.
“There’s a light. Should I turn it on?”
“No. You never know who might be watching out here.”
Paige flicked the little beam of light around the boathouse. “Let’s wrap him in this piece of canvas. It’s big enough, probably meant for a boat.”
“Good idea. Spread it out.” Asher stepped into the boathouse, panting in the small, close place.
Paige unrolled the canvas. As Asher ducked and started to slide the man off his shoulder, Paige grabbed lifeless arms dangling to the floor.
Together, they heaved him into the middle of the canvas.
Asher stepped back and brushed his hands together. “That’s some kind of devotion to off yourself for the cause—whatever that cause is.”
“Maybe he didn’t do it for the cause. Maybe he did it out of fear of what they’d do to him after getting caught.”
“Either way, it’s extreme.”
Paige studied Asher’s profile in the dim light. “Would you do it? If the enemy captured you, would you kill yourself rather than give up information?”
“I’d suffer torture rather than give up intel. But call me an optimist, I’d never give up hope that I’d be rescued.” His jawline hardened to granite. “That’s why we can’t give up on Denver.”
For the next ten minutes, they busied themselves with rolling up the body in the sheet of canvas and shoving it to the back of the boathouse.
Paige puffed out a breath. “I really hope nobody finds his body before his associates come and collect him. This looks more like a murder than a suicide, and we’ve probably implicated ourselves in a hundred ways in that house.”
“That’s why it’s best we leave him in here instead of dumping him in the water. We don’t want him washing up on the shore somewhere, and nobody’s going to come out here in the dead of winter. The house is isolated enough that no neighbors are going to be reporting a foul odor.”
Paige wrinkled her nose. “Let’s go back to the house and clean up there just in case.”
“I’m anxious to see if Linc has responded yet. In fact, I’m looking forward to playing a few games with Linc. He’s our best lead yet.”
They took the public beach path back to the house, and Asher picked up his boots and jacket. When they got back, they wiped down the hammer, the pliers and all the tools they’d used to subjugate their intruder and put them away.
Then Paige turned to Asher and plucked at his damp shirt. “You need to take a warm shower. I’ll dump these clothes in the washing machine.”
While Asher undid the top two buttons of his flannel, the cell phone on the dining room table buzzed. He lunged for it and held it up. “The password?”
She gave him the four numbers and he tapped the phone.
“It’s Linc. ‘Confirm position.’”
“How are you going to respond?”
He spoke aloud as he typed the text. “‘Still at house, no movement.’”
Paige put a hand over her mouth as she waited.
Five seconds later, Asher read, “‘Roger. Keep watching.’”
“There. That’s a sign that you can take a shower and we can get some rest. Nobody followed us here. Nobody knows we’re here except Cam and Martha. The dead man in the boathouse was assigned to watch this house just in case.”
“I could use a shower and some dry clothes, but I’ll feel a lot better if you keep that gun in your hand and keep watch.”
“As much as I’d rather be in that shower with you, I’m on it.”
He undid the rest of his buttons and sloughed off the shirt. As he handed it to her, he grabbed her hand. “Paige, you continue to amaze me with your strength. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
She brought his hand to her lips and pressed them against his knuckles. “Ditto for me. You’ve always been my strength, Asher. It comes off you in waves and I just soak it up free.”
He slipped away from her and charged upstairs, calling over his shoulder, “I won’t be long. Stay vigilant.”
Paige peeked out the front window, but nothing stirred out there. Nobody in this little wealthy enclave had a clue that they’d stashed a dead body in the boathouse.
She crept upstairs and through the bedroom to the bathroom, filled with steam. She could still make out Asher’s naked body behind the glass shower door.
“Just here to get the rest of your wet clothes.”
He opened the shower door and sluiced a hand across his wet hair. “All quiet out there?”
“Uh-huh.” Her gaze dropped from his face and skimmed down his body.
“When you look at me like that, it makes me wanna pull you in here with me.”
“I would take you up on it, but—” she pulled the gun from the back of her waistband “—vigilance.”
“Yeah, just don’t wave that thing around in here...or any lower.”
She swept his clothes from the top of the toilet seat, where he’d piled them up, and tucked them under her arm. “I’ll take care of these. Then maybe we can get a little shut-eye before we start the day.”
He’d ducked back under the water and didn’t seem to have heard her.
Sighing, she trudged down the stairs. If the man with the binoculars hadn’t been spying on them, she and Asher might be tucked into bed together right now...and that man would still be alive and maybe getting ready to break in.
She stuffed the clothes in the washing machine and checked for a message from Linc when she reached the kitchen. Nothing. At this time of the morning, he must be sleeping. He must be convinced Peter hadn’t seen anyone at Martha’s house. How long could they keep up the ruse?
She used the charger from her old phone to plug in Peter’s phone to keep it juiced up. They didn’t want to lose connection with Linc.
She left her phone turned off. She’d already called Terrence to let him know they’d found another source of money.
While the teakettle whistled, Asher poked his head into the kitchen.
“Tea?”
“No, thanks.” He stepped out, fanning a blanket around his shoulders. “No pajamas, but I feel one hundred percent better after that warm shower.”
She poured the boiling water on the tea bag in the cup. “Do you think we can get a little sleep?”
“Sure, so why are you drinking that tea?”
“It’s herbal.” She flicked the tag hanging over the edge of the cup. “It’s just for warmth and comfort.”
“I guess I haven’t been much good for warmth and comfort.” He spread out his arms, opening the blanket. “Come here.”
She moved toward him like a magnet and stopped inches from his body.
He enfolded her in his arms, wrapping the blanket around her. He kissed the top of her head. “You need some sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
“We’ll both keep watch. If you can’t sleep, I’ll stay awake for support.”
“I can sleep in the car or at our next stop—provided that one’s not compromised like this one.”
She wriggled free from the cocoon of his embrace. “I’ll drink my tea to stay awake.”
“You just said it was herbal.” He strolled to the sofa and sat down in one corner.
“It is, but it’ll keep me occupied.” She dropped the tea bag into the trash and cupped the mug with both hands. Then she joined Asher on the sofa, c
urling her legs beneath her.
He draped his arm and one edge of the blanket around her shoulders.
She took a sip of her warm brew and rested her head on Asher’s shoulder. “I can’t wait to go home and see Ivy. She’ll be so excited to have her daddy home.”
“It’s gonna happen, Paige. We’ll all be together, safe.” He stroked her hair, and she closed her eyes.
The cup felt heavy in her hands, and she must’ve communicated this to Asher, because he took it from her. She didn’t even make an attempt to hold on to it.
Her eyelids grew as heavy as the cup had been, and she struggled to open them, but Asher’s warm touch continued down the side of her neck and shoulder, caressing her, soothing her as only he could.
As she drifted off to sleep, she had one last surge of energy and she blinked her eyes. She mumbled, “I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”
“Shh, it’s my turn now.”
And for the first time, she felt worthy of his protection.
* * *
THE SMELL OF bacon tickled her nose, and for a few seconds Paige imagined she was at her mom’s house with Ivy. Then she peeled open her eyes, took in the room with its lavish decor, and reality hit her smack between the eyes.
She sat up on the sofa, and the blanket slipped from her shoulders. “Asher?”
“I’m in the kitchen, making breakfast. You were sleeping so soundly—” he hunched over the counter “—I didn’t want to disturb you. Good news.”
“The guy in the boathouse is still dead and nobody has found him yet?”
“Yeah, that, too.” He held up one of the phones charging on the counter. “Linc has agreed to a meeting.”
Paige blinked. “What? Agreed to whose meeting?”
“Our meeting?”
“You set up a meeting with Linc?”
“How else am I going to start working my way up the chain of command to get to the top dog?”
“When and where is this meeting taking place?”
“Don’t have all the details yet. Maybe we’ll meet him right here.” He held up a plate of bacon. “We have everything we need for now.”
“I don’t know.” Paige scooted off the sofa and stretched. “You shouldn’t have let me fall asleep. I’ll bet you didn’t get any.”
Delta Force Daddy Page 13