by KD Jones
“I’m actually really hungry,” Blade added.
“Yeah, Elsa can order room service for the two of them,” Jade suggested.
Kalen rolled his eyes. “Fine. We’ll be back in about two hours unless Isaac’s drones report in early.”
She watched them leave and knew they were doing this on purpose. Turning to face Felix, she saw his determination. She shook her head. “No.”
“Elsa, it’s the best plan we’ve got.”
“You could get hurt.”
The fact that she cared meant everything to him. He had known Elsa for just a few days and yet she showed more feeling for him than his wife of several years. He moved closer to her and touched her cheek.
“I wish we had met under different circumstances, like in the park while I was taking my morning jog or at a hospital event.”
She smiled at him. “What would you have done if you met me in one of those places?”
He caressed her soft cheek. “I would have worked up the courage to go up to you and introduce myself.”
“Oh, so you normally use your doctor status to hit on women?”
“No, I would leave off the doctor part to start with.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his. “Would you try to impress me with your family’s name and wealth?”
He snorted but kept his hands on her waist. “I have never liked women impressed with those things.”
“Good, because those things mean nothing to me.”
Felix pressed his forehead against hers. “What would impress you?”
“Manners. I’m very impressed with a man who has good manners.”
Smiling, he nibbled her chin. “I have excellent manners.”
She tilted her head back and looked him in the eyes. Those eyes were so honest and sweet. So clear she could see his very soul. God, he had beautiful eyes. The thought of never getting to look into those eyes again sobered her a little.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”
She pulled back but didn’t move out of his arms. “Look, I’m used to the danger, but you’re not. I’ll tell Kalen it’s too dangerous. We need to work on tracking the mercs, maybe get the authority to help us detain them. I could stay with you while you do the interview with the authority.”
“You should stay as far away from all this as possible.”
That was like a slap in her face. Now she did pull away. “Why?”
“I think it would be best for you and for your reputation that you not be seen with me until my name has been cleared.”
“My reputation?”
“How would it look for a bounty hunter to get involved with an accused murderer? Even though I didn’t do it, everyone still thinks that I did. It could cost you your job.”
“That’s my call.”
“Walk away from this, Elsa. I don’t want to cause you any problems, or any pain.”
She felt furious with him for pushing her away, and at the same time, it made her want him even more. Walking back over to him, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to her.
“I make my own decisions on what I do with my life and who I get involved with,” she told him fiercely.
He would have argued with her, but then she kissed him. In two seconds, whatever he was going to say was forgotten as he pulled her against him.
Elsa wished she could rip his shirt off then and there, but she knew they only had a few hours before everyone else came back, and when she and Felix finally made love, she wanted them to be able to take their time. She held his hand and pulled him to the bed.
“Elsa…”
“I know we don’t have time for what we both want to do, so let’s talk.”
“About what?”
“I need to know everything about your wife.”
“You sure do know how to ruin a moment.” The sour look on his face made her laugh.
“Come on, sit and talk.”
They sat on the bed and Felix told her his story, how he’d met his wife after his parents died, how he started to see problems in their relationship almost immediately after the vows were said. Then he told her what he hadn’t told anyone, not even the lawyers.
“I followed her to where she was supposed to be having one of her girlfriends’ retreats. It was out in the woods, at a cabin near Lake Fontainsburg, not the hotel where she’d originally told me she’d be. I stood outside in the dark facing the cabin but couldn’t make myself approach.”
“Why not?”
“I guess I knew what I would find, and I was right. Turns out I didn’t have to go to the door, because I could see them perfectly well through the living room windows.”
“She was with another man. Did you get a good look at the man?”
“No, his back was against the glass. All I could see was her face. I should have gone to the cabin, broken down the door, and confronted them both before decking the guy.”
“That’s not your style. You’re a healer, not a fighter.”
He glared at her. “I can fight, you know. I’ve taken karate all my life, but I’ve never attacked anyone. I was devastated and furious, but…”
“What?”
“I was also relieved.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I shouldn’t have felt that way, but I did. I was relieved that I had the perfect excuse to end things with her.”
“What did she say when you told her?”
“At first, she tried to tell me I was wrong. Then she told me that I’d made her turn to another man because I hadn’t touched her sexually in a while. She tried to convince me to go to couples’ therapy. When I refused to listen to her or fall for her attempts to fix things, she got really ugly about it. She even tried to have my cousin intervene.”
Elsa narrowed her eyes at him. “What cousin? I thought you didn’t have any other family.”
“A distant cousin, Roger Roberts. He’s a broker with a big financial company on Hicone. I don’t usually see or hear from him much, but he was at my wedding, and he visits from time to time. Bridgette gets along better with him than I do, and she called him to try to talk sense into me. He got angry with me and I haven’t spoken with him since.”
Elsa stood and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She dialed without saying anything.
“What’s going on?” Felix asked, standing up and following her around the room.
She put up her hand to silence him. “Isaac, did you find anything on a Roger Roberts? You did? How much does he owe? Yeah, I think so. Send me the file you have on him. What about the girl? Shit. Tell everyone they can come back up.” She disconnected the call.
“What’s going on?”
“Did you know that your dear Roger is in a lot of debt?”
He looked surprised. “I heard he had some stocks fail, but he told me it was nothing to worry about.”
She snorted. “He lost five million of not only his own money, but money from his investors. He’s financially ruined.”
“But...he’s been traveling around. How is he supporting himself?”
“The company he worked for fired him and I assume he’s been living off of the severance package the company gave him. By now he’s running out of funds and clearly getting desperate.”
“I can’t believe Roger would do such a thing.”
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Bridgette came from Hicone. She worked for the same firm your cousin Roger did.”
“No, that can’t be right. She told me she was from...she lied.”
“Yes.”
“She and Roger planned this to get my money.”
“Looks like it.”
“Did Roger kill her and try to blame it on me?”
“No body has been found.”
“I feel like such a fool.”
She cupped his cheeks with her hands. “You are a k
ind and wonderful man. Two con artists took advantage of you and that’s not your fault. We will find them and make them pay.”
“I hope you’re right. They could be anywhere.”
Chapter 12
“This is the best plan you got?” Elsa asked in frustration.
Kalen glared at her. “Yes. Do you have a better one?”
Elsa, Isaac, Kalen, and Blade were on the rooftop checking on the drones. Jade remained in the hotel suite with Felix. They were discussing options and Kalen had presented one that was good but dangerous. She didn’t think she was letting her feelings interfere with her judgement, but maybe she was. The thought of Felix getting hurt just didn’t sit right with her.
“If we walk out of the hotel with Felix as bait, they could take a shot at him from the rooftop. He may not make it to the car. That’s just too risky.”
“I know you have feelings for this guy, but don’t let it get in the way of rational thought. We need to draw these mercs out and neutralize them.”
“I agree, but… There has to be another way.”
Isaac spoke up. “The drones are tracking the mercs. They’ve starting searching the buildings in the neighborhood next to us. It’s only a matter of time before they show up here. They’ve doubled their numbers at the transport stations, too, so there’s literally no way off the planet without running into them.”
“We’re outnumbered, that’s something we need to keep in mind. This has now become a risk to our team,” Blade added.
“Is there anyone with the authority we can call upon?” Elsa asked.
“I’ll call Vic, he may know someone.” Kalen walked off, phone in hand.
She sat on the ledge of the roof and watched him. Isaac sat down next to her with his hand held monitor. “How close are the mercs?” she asked him.
“Close. Another day or two and they’ll be right on top of us. He must really like you.”
“Um...what? Felix is a job, that’s all.”
“I wasn’t talking about Felix. I was talking about Kalen. He’s going out of his way to make sure that your Felix isn’t hurt. Don’t deny you have feelings for the guy, we all know you do. My point is that Kalen is normally cold and calculating, and when he makes a plan, he doesn’t go back and question it. For him to concede enough to call Vic for his help says a lot about how much he cares about you.”
“Well, we’re partners and, I guess, friends.”
“Kalen didn’t go out of his way to accommodate Abe on their last assignment. Abe told me Kalen was relentless and single-minded. There was no discussing or debating about the best plan.”
She shrugged. “I work with him more than anyone. I guess he respects me.”
Blade snorted and walked off to do a perimeter of the building. He came back when Kalen got off the phone.
“Vic know someone with the local authority. He’s going to contact him and see what arrangements can be made. Vic agrees with Esla that it would be too dangerous for Felix to take him directly to the authority station. His suggestion is to put Felix into protective custody.”
Elsa bit her bottom lip thinking about the new option. “I guess that will be the best thing for him until the whole situation can be resolved.” She wondered how long protective custody would be necessary. Would he be moved off the planet?
“Elsa, Vic just texted me a location to take Felix. He says his friend is lead detective and will be waiting for us to bring Felix to him.”
“When?” she asked.
“Two hours from now.”
So soon. She stood up. “I’ll go let Felix know.”
“We’ve got a problem,” Isaac told them.
She turned to look at him. “What is it?”
“The mercs...they are moving in sooner than I thought.”
“How close?” Kalen asked.
“They’re two buildings over as we speak.”
Elsa looked at Kalen, “Did Vic say whether his friend would send any officers our way to help out?”
“Let me call Vic. I’m not sure if the authority will get here in time. I’m sending you the meeting location for the detective. Take Felix there, then come back as soon as you can.”
She nodded her head and headed for the stairs. Her heart was racing but she took a few deep breaths to calm down. She was a professional. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was her job. She continued down the stairs to the floor the suite was on instead of bothering with the elevator. As she approached the door, Jade opened it. She must have been watching the monitors.
Jade took one look at Elsa’s expression and tensed up. “What’s happening?”
She moved past Jade into the suite. “The mercs are closing in. I am taking Felix to a more secure location where he’ll be taken into protective custody.” She looked over at Felix. “Let’s stop by the gift shop and get you a hat.”
Elsa checked her gun and grabbed another magazine. Felix was waiting by the door for her, clearly worried. She couldn’t take the time to reassure him right then, though; she needed to get them out of the hotel without anyone noticing.
“I can come with you,” Jade offered.
“No, you stay with the others. As soon as I drop off Felix, I’ll come back to help deal with the mercs.”
“Be careful,” Jade told her.
“I’m always careful.”
*****
Felix followed Elsa out of the suite, still in shock at how fast things were moving. He hadn’t thought they would move him to the authority so quickly. It sounded like Elsa was just going to drop him off and leave him. Would he ever see her again? They had spoken a little bit about waiting until his situation was resolved before pursuing anything, but now he wasn’t sure.
When they entered the elevator, he turned to ask her about it. “Elsa…”
She yanked him to her and kissed him. He was taken off guard but quickly wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. His body heated up and his cock pressed hard against his pants. This might be the last time they would have a private moment like this. He let his growing feelings for her take over for just a moment. Pressing her back into the wall of the elevator, he got his hands under her thighs and lifted her slightly, fitting himself more firmly between her legs as they kissed. Both of them moaned with need. Only the sensation of the elevator slowing down for a stop had them reluctantly pulling apart. The needful expression on her face had him pleased and frustrated at the same time.
She cleared her throat. “I don’t know what will happen, but when this is all over, I plan to fuck you till neither of us can stand.”
It wasn’t quite the answer he had been looking for, but it would definitely do. He groaned as he leaned into her. “I want you to.” He wanted to say more, but the doors opened to the lobby and she stepped out. He followed. They stopped at a gift shop and bought him a hat. Elsa also called for a taxi shuttle. It didn’t take long for one to show up at the front entrance.
“When we exit, go directly to the shuttle and get in the back. Don’t hesitate and don’t look up. These mercs may have their own drones spying on the area. For them to be moving so quickly, I have to assume that.”
He didn’t want to leave the safety of the hotel and he especially didn’t want to take Elsa out into danger. He wondered if she was putting him in the shuttle alone.
“I’ll be right behind you,” she reassured him. “Let’s go.”
Felix took a deep breath and pushed the door to the hotel open. He wanted straight for the waiting shuttle. Its doors opened automatically, and he got into the back seat and scooted over. Elsa slid in next to him.
Elsa leaned forward and spoke to the electronic navigator. “Take us to 24th Northgate East.”
The automated voice responded. “That will be forty-five credits.”
Elsa scanned her prepaid card, the shuttle doors closed, and the taxi moved forward. She turned to look at him. “You should be safe in protective custody.”
“How do we know that?”
“Vic, my boss, has a friend that made the arrangements. Vic would never send us into danger.”
“I don’t know this Vic. What’s he like?”
“Victor Desantos is a full Decaros. He and his cousin Jagger opened the bail bonds business a few years back.”
“A Decaros? I hear they grow horns when their emotional state is elevated.”
“Yep, Vic has the horns, but Jagger is only half Decaros, so he doesn’t.”
“It sounds like you work with a lot of different types of people.”
“I do. They are good people.”
“Kalen warned me not to hurt you.”
She looked at him in surprise. “Why would he do that?”
“You’re his friend and I suspect the closest he has to a family.”
“How do you know so much when you’ve only been around us for a couple of days?”
“I’m a doctor. I’ve been trained to observe the smallest detail.”
“Too bad you missed seeing your wife for what she truly was before it was too late.”
That probably should have stung, but he barely even felt it. It was the truth, after all. He shrugged. “I didn’t want to see it. Doctors aren’t supposed to diagnose themselves.”
She reached over and took his hand in hers, squeezing it. He felt better at just that small gesture. He squeezed back. Looking into her pure blue eyes, he thought he could easily fall in love with Elsa. It wasn’t him feeling grateful to her, it was just her. Everything about her comforted him and made him feel at peace. It was the strangest thing, but it was the absolute truth. If he had to face the fires of hell, he couldn’t think of a better person to stand by his side. Yet, his feelings scared him a little. Was it too soon? Bridgette was either dead or out there somewhere waiting for him to be charged with her murder. Could he trust these feelings?
Chapter 13
Elsa dropped Felix off with Vic’s detective friend and exchanged phone numbers. She wasn’t told where they were taking Felix, but if Vic vouched for this guy, then he was trustworthy. She still arrived back at the hotel feeling anxious. Nothing about this job felt right. Everyone else was inside the suite.