by C. A. Szarek
“Maldonado, one last chance. Release the girl, drop the gun and I won’t kill you,” Andi said.
“Stop where you’re at and I won’t shoot you,” Carlo said.
“You’d have to take your aim off the girl,” she answered.
His lover’s words were punctuated by a shot. Cole’s heart dropped to his stomach. He straightened from his crouch so fast his head spun, just in time to see her dive for cover behind the black Mercedes. She didn’t return fire. He couldn’t either. Bella. “Hey, asshole. Let the girl go!”
Carlo swung around to meet Cole’s shout, gun up. He fired and Cole ducked down behind the front quarter panel of the sleek sedan.
“Fucking Lucas,” his old friend spat.
“Better watch those bullets, you’ll damage your ride,” Cole taunted, though his gut told him both cars were armoured, Caselli’s standard procedure.
Andi sidled up to him and his eyes raked her face and body, his heart picking up speed. “I’m fine,” she grunted.
Waving his gun around, Carlo sneered when Cole popped up for a position check. “Watch your head, Lucas. I’d hate to give you a hole in it.”
“Would you now?” Cole asked. “I woulda thought you’d be fond of the idea.”
Carlo snickered. “I’ll leave you for G. Me and the girl… We’re getting gone.”
“The hell you are,” Andi shouted, rushing to her feet.
Another bullet whizzed over their heads as Cole yanked her back down beside him.
“Don’t be reckless,” he growled.
She ignored him, throwing a glare.
“Federal Agent!” The shout accompanied the slamming of the back door of the warehouse.
Shit, Lee wouldn’t know where they were.
Carlo shouted a curse and Bella darted away from him. If Cole had to guess, she’d stomped on his foot. Good girl.
A shot rang out and Carlo screamed, clutching his upper arm.
Pete, with a few SWAT team members in front of him as well as behind him poured into the alley with guns up. Lee took another shot at Carlo, one he returned.
Where the hell was Bella?
Standing, Cole aimed his Glock, feeling Andi do the same beside him. “Hold your fire!” he shouted. They needed to find Bella, fast.
Carlo was the only one who couldn’t follow orders—he fired a few more times, slid to the driver’s side of the Escalade and wrenched the door open. Gun aimed at Andi and Cole, he pulled the trigger of his Beretta two times point blank range.
Cole grabbed Andi and dived for the trunk of the Mercedes, covering her with his body.
The silver SUV roared to life and peeled out of the alley, crashing into the rear end of the cruiser posted there. SWAT fired, but the bullets just bounced off the armoured vehicle.
Meer moments and Maldonado would be gone.
Andi groaned beneath him and Cole hauled himself off her body. They made eye contact and she reached for him.
“Are you all right?” he demanded, eyes and hands raking her body as he put her on her feet. His gaze zoned in on the tear through the nylon of her navy police jacket, right biceps.
Holy shit, she was hit. The blood drained from his face.
She winced when he gripped her elbow and stripped the jacket from her without a word, but she didn’t fight him. The red starburst on her white sleeve caused his stomach to plummet. “I’m fine, Cole. It’s just a graze.”
He ignored her and shouted for a medic. It took all he was made of not to grab her up, kiss her, hold her. He didn’t give two shits that Carlo had got away. Again.
Sobbing took his attention and he glanced to the right. Bella was in Pete’s arms—he was rubbing her back and whispering to her.
Relief washed over him—she wasn’t hurt. So, even though he’d screwed up royally losing the slimy bastard again, Bella was safe. Score one for the good guys.
“Bella, I need to get to her,” Andi said.
“No, you’re getting that arm looked at.”
Anger flashed across her blue gaze when their eyes met. “I’m fine. It’s not even bleeding very much.” Without giving him a chance to retort, she strode to her partner and the teen.
Lee met him halfway, but Cole threw a glare at her. “Shooting at Maldonado was reckless.”
Squaring her shoulders, she glared right back. “I shot him, didn’t I?”
Great, two pissed off female partners. Just what he needed. “The girl could have been hit.”
“Not when I’m the one pulling the trigger.” The smugness in her tone made Cole sigh.
He didn’t want to fight.
“He still got away.” Anger about that hovered, but he didn’t have time to deal with it now. His gut told him he’d get Maldonado, it was just a matter of time. His mind was on Andi.
“PD is pursuing.”
“Good.”
Pete joined him and Lee, having relinquished Bella to Andi. Cole nodded. “She’s hit. Did you tell her to get checked out?”
Andi’s partner’s eyes narrowed. “Of course. She won’t do it for herself, but for Bella she will. EMTs are at the end of the alley. I’m giving them a moment before I drag her ass down there myself.”
“Did he hurt Bella?” Cole asked, watching his woman with the girl. Despite the hole in her arm, she held Bella close. They both spoke, but he couldn’t make out the words.
“Not physically,” Pete said. “But they’ll check her out. I’ve already called Nat to let her know we got her.”
“What’s the damage inside?” Cole asked.
“One dead, the other shot a few times, in critical on the way to the hospital. The dead one is a big son of a bitch,” Lee said.
“I’ll have a look to see if I recognise him,” Cole said.
“None of our guys hurt,” Pete said.
“Good,” Lee and Cole said at the same time.
Lee eyed Cole up and down, her generous breasts heaving as she took a breath. “I’m gonna stick around. Hopefully Pete’s boys will get that SUV. If not, we’ll start the hunt tomorrow.” She shot Pete a look. “Got a cot at the PD?”
“Yeah, a few in the locker room. But I have a couch.”
“Nah, that’s cool. Catch up with y’all in a few hours…later this morning.” Her tone held irony, but she flashed a half-smile.
“I need to make a few calls,” Cole said. Berto would be his first. Maldonado had big balls, but would he be that obvious? Berto’s ranch wasn’t all that far from Antioch—it was worth a shot.
“All right. Hope you both manage to get some sleep,” Lee said, another smile curving her full lips.
“Catch up with you in the a.m.,” Cole said, his mind twirling. There had to be money in Carlo’s damn getaway ride. He would have never agreed to Caselli back-up without a sufficient cut. Too fucking bad he’d actually get the use of it.
Lee nodded then headed away, hips swaying. No way she’d have an issue hitting up a ride back to the station.
“She’s somethin’ else,” Pete said with a whistle.
“She’s not Andi,” Cole answered without thought.
Pete’s silence brought his gaze around.
What the hell did I just say?
“Glad to hear you say it,” Pete said, a smile playing at his lips.
Oh, shit.
Chapter Twenty
“Cole, you’ve got to get some sleep,” Andi said.
Her FBI agent ignored her and continued pacing in front of her fireplace, staring at his cell phone, willing it to ring.
“The guys lost him, it sucks, I agree, but if either of us is going to be any use by eight a.m., a few hours of shut-eye are in order. We’ll find the bastard.”
“Berto said he would make some calls,” Cole barked.
“Like you gave him a choice.” Andi tried not to let her tone sound dry. She swallowed back a huge yawn and glanced at the clock on her cable box. It was almost four in the morning. “He’ll come through for us.”
He ignored her, mut
tering something about crappy contacts and staring at the screen of his cell. He was probably thumbing through the address book on the device.
Cole wouldn’t listen to reason and Andi was too tired to argue.
After returning Bella to Natalie and the tearful reunion that had followed, Andi had kissed Ethan as he slept in the toddler bed Natalie kept for him. She’d opted to leave her son at her friend’s place. He was out like a light and Cole was too wired.
She intended to get into her own bed ASAP, but Cole was too busy beating the crap out of himself to want the same.
Her arm ached, though she’d been right about the minor wound. It hadn’t even needed stitches. Her biceps was sore, exhaustion threatened to take her over, and her eyelids weighed about ten pounds apiece.
Andi’s heart was heavy. They’d got Bella back, but Cole was so focused on Carlo Maldonado she couldn’t get through to him.
He was back to being that guy she’d first met—obsessed with his case. Driven by the need to get his man, especially since the jerk had managed to get away. Again.
Where was she supposed to fit into that? Before her eyes, the man she’d got to know had receded. Her lover was once again unobtainable. She bit back a snort. She’d always known he would leave. Now he’d go even sooner.
As soon as he got the scent on Carlo’s whereabouts.
“Andi, I don’t want to sleep.”
Her eyes locked with his, her whole body warming with the heat of that steel gaze. Crossing the room in two strides, Cole was on her before she could even unfold from her seat on the edge of the couch.
He parted her lips with his as the breath whooshed from her lungs and he crushed her against his chest, his kiss searing her. He shoved his tongue into hers and she pushed right back, taking over the duel.
Cole was in no mood for the slow, tender lovemaking that had become their routine, but that was fine with Andi. She needed rough, hot and fast to help process the night they’d had.
Shooting her arms around his neck, she held onto him as he slammed her against the wall of her living room, her legs wrapping around his waist of their own accord.
With fumbling fingers, he tried to open the top button of her shirt. He cursed into her mouth when it didn’t cooperate. Gripping her shirt collar with both hands, he ripped downward. Buttons went flying, pinging off the wall and sailing to the carpet.
Andi moaned and kissed him harder, nipples peaking when Cole’s touch teased through her cotton bra. She circled her hips against his, eliciting a groan as she rubbed the hardness in his jeans.
“I need inside you,” he grunted, tugging at her belt. He spread kisses down her neck, sucking and nibbling her collarbone as his fingers worked her buckle, then tugged her zipper down.
Lifting her hips, she let him yank her khakis and panties off. She dropped her legs to the floor just long enough to stomp out of them and wrap herself around his body unencumbered.
Cole stepped forward, pressing her with his full weight, but she only wanted more. He sucked her nipples through her bra, making her cry out.
“Please… Cole…” she moaned.
He relieved her of her shirt and bra, and Andi was naked in his arms. It didn’t matter that she was against the wall in her living room, or that he was still dressed. She was writhing and panting, and would die if he didn’t come inside her.
Hands shaking, she reached for his belt and shoved his shirt out of her way just as Cole’s hot mouth enclosed a taut nipple. Overwhelmed, she needed him so badly her blood was singing, her whole body quivering.
After forcing his zipper down, she freed his hard length, fisting him a few times. With another moan, his mouth found hers again and her name fell from his lips. He crushed his muscled chest into her breasts, flattening them against him.
With the heat coming off his body through the cotton of his grey T-shirt and the cool wall at her back, Andi was about to combust. She wiggled in his arms, kissing him harder.
Cole pushed his hand between them. He rubbed the blunt tip of his erection against her clit and she cried out against his mouth, the sound muffled as he deepened their kiss, his tongue shooting heat downward. Her sex throbbed.
Teasing, touching, but not entering, he brushed her slick folds until she was dripping and pulsing, undulating in his arms. Tilting his hips, he finally joined them in one quick jolt forward, filling her completely. Giving her no time to adjust to the sensation, he started to thrust, pleasure pouring over Andi in an intense wave that brought her close to the edge of release.
She bit her lip to keep from screaming and held onto him as he moved in and out of her, picking up speed with every plunge.
“Oh, God,” he whispered into her neck. He kissed, licked and nibbled her heated skin, taking her mouth again.
Spearing her hands into his dark hair, she held him as close as she could. A whimper was all she could manage, though she agreed with his sentiment.
Cole sucked her bottom lip and thrust his tongue into her mouth in rhythm with his hips. It was too much for her. Andi shoved her pelvis against his as her body convulsed, and she screamed his name, every muscle tightening.
She threw her head back, panting as her orgasm roared over her. He grabbed her hips and propelled forward hard, burying his face in her neck and calling her name over and over. He stilled and stiffened, the warmth of his release filling her lower belly.
All Andi could to do was cling to him, otherwise she would slide down the wall and land in a puddle. Chest heaving against breasts, both struggling for breath, they said nothing. She held him close, love causing her heart to thunder in her chest.
God, she loved this man. And he was about to leave her. She didn’t need to be a detective to know that.
“I’m sorry,” Cole croaked.
Freezing in his arms, Andi took a deep breath. Had he read her mind? “What for?” she whispered.
He met her eyes, a smile playing at his kiss-swollen mouth. “That was rough. I didn’t hurt you?”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t rough, it was just what I needed.” Her cheeks heated.
Chuckling, he pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. “Me too.”
She unlocked her hold on his waist, her legs buckling as soon as her socked feet hit the carpet. He held her up, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. Her stomach quivered, chest ached. How could he be so tender?
“Should I say thank you?” Cole whispered.
She glared up at him, despite the tease in his tone. “If you want me to kick your ass.”
He threw his head back and laughed.
Andi grinned. He’d finally lightened up.
They stared at each other for a moment. His gaze was intense, and she wanted to fall into him. Neither mentioned now they’d had sex twice with no protection. She ignored the voice that reminded her of possible consequences. Even well after Ethan’s birth, she’d never got back on the pill.
“Let’s go get a few hours,” Cole said.
Before she could ask of what, he swung her up over his shoulder and smacked her bare bottom. Andi yelped, growling at his laugh even as he rubbed the smart away and carried her to the bedroom.
* * * *
He’d got fucking shot. Again. And his arm was bleeding like a stuck pig. Carlo gritted his teeth and glanced over his shoulder. The aluminium briefcase containing his fifty K was safe. That was all that mattered at the moment, though his blood boiled that he’d lost the girl. And Caselli was going to be pissed about Lucas. He’d send men after Carlo, despite G’s promise.
Pulling the Escalade behind a gas station, he looked around. No one in sight, let alone a stupid cop. How long had he been driving? A glance at the clock told him it was five-oh-two a.m. So, about four hours. Just past the Arkansas border. Podunk, worse than the small Texas city of Antioch, from the looks of things.
He grabbed the new cell he’d picked up at a truck stop and cut it from the bubble pack with a cheap pocket knife. He’d wrapped his arm as tightly as he co
uld, but it still stung like hell with the movement. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do.
Activation and applying minutes took a second, then the phone was ringing.
“Hello,” the gravelly voice greeted him. It was early up north, only an hour ahead of him, so he’d probably woken his old mentor, but desperation guided his actions now.
“Boss.”
The pause was reminiscent of the conversation he’d had with Bruno.
“Carlo?” He heard age in the voice more than sleepiness.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Gulp. “I fucked up. I need help.”
“Where are you?”
“Arkansas.” Another silence made his stomach jump. “I have money.” But would a bribe make a difference?
The cackle that greeted his ear sent a shiver down his spine. “I have money.”
What the hell could he say to that? He didn’t have the balls to demand that the man who’d taught Caselli the ropes help him. Since the falling out between the older generation and the younger, the two men, his old boss and his new, didn’t speak.
He hoped.
Getting turned in to Caselli Junior would have the bite of betrayal if the man on the phone was the one to do it.
“Why are you so quiet, boy?”
“I’m here,” Carlo croaked.
“Well, you need to be here.”
Relief caused his breath to exit on a whoosh. How long had he been holding it? “When?”
“When you get here.”
“Okay, I’ll drive straight.”
“Carlo—”
His name made his finger stop its hover over the red ‘end’ button. “Yeah?”
“This is the last time I clean up your mess with my son.” The steel in the tone made Carlo’s hand shake.
“Yes, sir.”
He gulped as he tossed the phone to the passenger seat. Upstate New York was going to be a hell of a drive, but he had little choice. He ignored the niggling reservations about what would greet him when he got there.
Chapter Twenty-One