Jake Ryder’s expression didn’t change at her revelations, and he didn’t immediately answer. He rubbed a hand over his chin. “So I take it you want Aegis to see what we can uncover.”
“No.” Avery sat straighter in her chair, and those nerves came back full force. She’d been an actress for years, but this was a whole other level of acting. “I want one of your men to accompany me to Indulgence for a weekend. I need to go in there and look for Melody myself.”
“Ms. Scott, I think it would be safer if—”
“No, Mr. Ryder.” She knew what he was going to say. “I need to be the one to go. Look, I’ve done enough research to know what kind of environment I’m walking into, and I’m smart enough not to go alone, which is why I’m here. But I know Melody and how she thinks. I came to Aegis because you’re supposed to be the best of the best. Lauren Kauffman is a personal friend, and she speaks very highly of your organization.”
One side of Jake Ryder’s lips curled. He obviously remembered Lauren Kauffman, the supermodel who’d hired Aegis for security while on a shoot in Mexico. “You spoke with Mrs. Tierney about this?”
Tierney was Lauren’s new legal last name. She’d wound up marrying the Aegis operative who’d been assigned to protect her, though publicly she still went by her maiden name. Avery liked and respected Lauren’s husband, Finn, a great deal, which was a big reason she’d come to Aegis for help now. “Only to her and Finn Tierney. Finn is the one who suggested I speak with you now so as not to jeopardize the investigation further.”
Jake pursed his lips and looked down at the floor, as if considering. And realizing she had to work her last advantage Avery added, “I can convincingly play the part of half a couple looking for a good time. What I need is one of your best men to help me find Melody and get us both out of there safely.”
“I understand your personal attachment here, Ms. Scott, but what makes you so sure your friend is still in Jamaica?” His eyes met hers. “You have to admit, it’s highly possible she did leave with her boyfriend, like the authorities assume.”
Avery reached into her bag and drew out a postcard. “This makes me sure.”
His fingers closed over the card stock she handed him. He turned it over and read the one line written in cursive letters: FIND ME.
He flipped it back and looked at the beach image on the front. Across the bottom, Indulgence’s resort info was clearly printed.
“Where did you get this?”
“It showed up in my mailbox about a week after Melody disappeared.”
“Did you show it to the police?”
“Yes. They didn’t think it matched Melody’s handwriting and claimed it was nothing more than marketing material from the resort, but I know that’s from her.”
“Hm.” He turned the postcard over again and looked closer.
One side of the double doors to the office pushed open before she could ask what he was thinking. Avery’s head snapped that direction. The words dried on her lips when Mr. Dark and Dangerous stepped into the room.
“Sorry I’m late.” The man crossed the floor, long legs eating up the space, muscles bunching under the fitted black shirt, and handed Jake a folder. Pulling a red lollipop from his mouth, he said, “Miller was distracting Brandi downstairs, so it took me longer to get these than I thought.”
“Thanks.” Jake set the postcard on the desk, then opened the folder and paged through the information. “I’d feel better if we had more time to do a thorough rundown of the resort, but this will have to do. You catch the discussion?”
“Yeah,” Mr. Dark and Dangerous answered. “I was listening in. Caught the big stuff.”
Avery’s pulse picked up speed. She’d been right about the surveillance. But she was too focused on the man who’d just entered the room to be irritated he’d been listening without her knowledge. He didn’t fully turn her way, so she couldn’t see anything more than his profile. But that scar…
Jake looked up. “Ms. Scott, this is Cade Blackwell, one of Aegis’s best operatives. If you’re hell-bent on going to Indulgence yourself, he’ll be the one accompanying you.”
Cade Blackwell. Holy shit. Avery’s heart dropped like a stone straight into her stomach. It was him. She hadn’t been imagining after all.
Cade turned his piercing stare her way. Dark eyes she now saw were the same as they’d been at eighteen. Except then there’d been a hint of innocence. Now there was nothing but suspicion.
“That disguise is terrible.” He looked toward Jake again. “That’s never gonna work. Her face is way too damn recognizable. She’s gonna need a total makeover.”
Jake closed the folder. “What do you have in mind?”
Cade looked back at her, cocked his head, popped the sucker back in his mouth, and took a long perusal of her, from the top of her head all the way to her toes. Every cell in her body jerked to life as it had in the lobby, except this time she felt it everywhere. He pulled the sucker out again. “Hair, clothes, a helluva lot more makeup. She looks too damn innocent for Indulgence. People who go to resorts like that go for one very specific reason.”
Her thoughts were a jumbled mess of impressions and memories and emotions she didn’t want to revisit, but one thing got through. They were talking about her like she wasn’t in the room. Irritation replaced the heat his thorough inspection had caused and clawed its way up Avery’s throat. “Hold on a second, I—”
Cade turned his dark gaze back her way. “How many swingers resorts have you been to, Ms. Scott?”
The way he said “Scott” made the fine hairs along her neck leap to life again. There was animosity there. And distrust. And a whole lot more than she expected or deserved. Her mouth closed.
“None, I bet.” He pointed the sucker at her. “They’ll know it too. Dressed like that, in your conservative little pencil skirt, fitted blouse, and sensible heels, they’ll eat you alive. Your wig isn’t fooling anyone. One look and every person in that place will know America’s sweetheart is taking a walk on the wild side. I know these places. I know the people who work there and the lowlifes who play there, and if you want to get in and out unnoticed, then you’ll listen to me, because when it comes to this, I’m the only one here who knows what the hell I’m talking about.”
He was talking to her like he didn’t know her. Like he didn’t want to know her. And the things he did know…she wasn’t sure she wanted to know how or why he knew them.
This wasn’t the same misunderstood rebel she’d fallen for at the age of seventeen. He was harder, darker, and way more cynical. And at the moment, he was all that stood between her and finding her friend.
“I’d listen to him, Ms. Scott,” Jake cut in. “Blackwell used to work undercover for the FBI. He’ll see things you won’t, and he’ll be able to head off any trouble before it hits you. He’s the only one from my team I’d send into this situation.” He reached back and pushed a button. “Marley? Get Kristin Pearson on the line. We’re going to need the works.”
“On it,” Marley said through a speaker somewhere in the room.
The only one from his team… Which meant she couldn’t even ask for someone else. It was Cade Blackwell or no one.
Jake looked toward Avery again. “Kristin Pearson does alteration work for us. She’ll take care of anything you need.”
Cade huffed. “It’s gonna take a lot more than a little alteration to tramp this one up.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it work. Besides, she’s an actress. She should be able to pull this off, probably more convincingly than you, Blackwell.” To Avery, Jake said, “Do you have any questions, Ms. Scott?”
Avery had a million, like how the hell Cade had ended up working undercover for the FBI. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been leaving her and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in the dust to join the military, but the hard look in his eyes said not to get into that one in front of his boss.
She glanced between the two men, from Cade’s rigid jaw to Ryder’s waitin
g expression, and in the silence realized…either Ryder didn’t know that she and Cade knew each other, or he just didn’t care.
Neither of those options sat well with her. But a bigger, more important question swirled louder in her brain. Namely, why wasn’t she protesting this?
Because if you do, you’ll never see him again…
Heat spread all along her skin and ignited a rush of awareness that exploded through her belly and hips. A weekend alone with Cade Blackwell. A weekend with the only man she’d ever truly loved and the one who’d broken her in more ways than she could count. She should say no. She should run from this room. But one thought kept her rooted firmly in place.
More than one counselor had told her the reason she couldn’t seem to find happiness with her success was because she’d never had closure. No end to the relationship that had changed every one of her hopes and dreams. And here, unexpectedly, was her chance. Not just to find her friend, but to finally put the past behind her.
Melody hadn’t planned this, but if she knew Avery was standing face-to-face with Cade Blackwell, she’d tell Avery to suck it up and go with it. God knew they’d talked about this moment far too many times late at night over a bottle of wine.
Her stomach flipped at what she was about to do, but she squared her shoulders, pulled up every bit of confidence she had as an actress, and said, “When do we get started?”
“Eager,” Blackwell muttered under his breath, looking back toward Jake. “That’ll change as soon as she gets there. Guaranteed.”
Jake shot him a look.
The door pushed open, and the blonde—Marley—stuck her head into the room. “Kristin Pearson can see her now. I’ve got a car waiting downstairs as soon as you’re through here.”
“Well,” Jake said, moving away from the desk. “Looks like you’re all set.” He reached for her hand. “Good luck, Ms. Scott. Don’t worry, you’re in the best of hands.”
Avery glanced toward Cade, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore. He was already heading for the door, leaving Avery with the view of him walking away. A familiar view. One she knew was at the root of every one of her personal hang-ups. But that was going to change. Whatever happened, when this weekend was over, she’d be the one walking away. Hopefully with her best friend.
“We’ll see.”
CHAPTER TWO
In over his head was putting it lightly.
Cade pretended not to notice Avery walking out of Jake’s office and heading for the elevator with Marley as he checked in with the pilot Aegis kept on staff and arranged for their flight to Jamaica. Even after twelve years, one look from those big whiskey-colored eyes was all it took to tie him into knots. The meet-and-greet he’d planned to play smooth and carefree had turned anything but when she’d turned those familiar gems his way.
“Sounds good,” he said into the phone as the elevator doors closed. Breathing easier now that she was out of sight, he focused on the view out the windows behind Marley’s desk. “I want to be wheels up by 1800.”
“Got it,” Alec MacDougal said on the other end of the line. “Call me if the timeline changes.”
“Will do, Mac.”
Cade clicked off the phone and stuffed it in his back pocket, then told himself this wasn’t the stupidest thing he’d ever done. But it sure as shit came close.
He rubbed a hand across his forehead and was steps from the elevator when he heard a voice at his back. “Hold up, Blackwell.”
Shit. Fixing an impassive look on his face, he dropped his hand and turned toward his boss. “Yeah?”
Jake crossed his arms over his chest and eyed him suspiciously from the doorway to his office. “Something I should know about you and the actress?”
Yes. Everything. Cade tucked his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and feigned surprise. “No. Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Just that I’ve never seen you quite so combative with a client. Is there a history here I should be aware of?”
Cade scoffed and looked away. “How would I know an actress?”
“I don’t know. You tell me. You were all over this case when it came in, and I’d have probably assigned you to it even if you hadn’t volunteered because of your background, but now I’m wondering if I should second-guess that decision.”
Classic lying behavior…looking away. Cade’s years with the FBI kicked in. He leveled his gaze on his boss. “In the twelve months I’ve worked for Aegis, have you ever needed to second-guess me?”
“No. That’s why I’m concerned. Do you know her?”
Cade’s jaw clenched. When he’d first caught wind Avery Scott was inquiring about Aegis’s services, he’d volunteered for the job—whatever it was—if for no other reason than curiosity after all these years. But now that he knew what she was up to, there was no way he was handing this over to any of the other guys. He chose his words carefully, so he couldn’t be caught in a lie later…another thing he’d learned working undercover. “Everyone with a TV knows her. I’m not compromised, Jake. There’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”
Jake eyed him like he didn’t believe him, and in the silence that stretched across the room, Cade wondered if he should just come clean. But then he thought of Avery, where she was headed and what kind of trouble she could possibly get herself into, and he knew fessing up wouldn’t do anything but get him kicked off this assignment. Yeah, their relationship was in the past, but no matter where he went or what happened in both their lives, he still cared about her. And if he could make up for a little of the shit he’d caused her all those years ago by keeping her safe now, he’d do it.
So long as Jake went along with this.
“I want you to check in as soon as you get there. If you find anything or need backup, we’ll send another team in to assist.”
Cade released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Another team disguised as a couple at the same swingers club where he was taking his ex-lover? Not likely he was calling in for reinforcements.
He turned for the elevator and punched the call button. Then fought back the wicked burst of heat rolling through his hips at the thought of being in that environment alone with Avery. “Will do.”
By the time he reached the lobby, his nerves were strung tight. Marley met him at the door. She handed him a backpack and file. “Here’s your itinerary, passports, all the info we’ve collected about Melody Carmichael’s disappearance. I’ve got you set up in a beachfront bungalow. Should provide enough privacy so you can come and go unnoticed. I’ve also got Miller and Smith on standby, in case you need them.”
“Couldn’t get the boss man to put you on backup duty?”
Marley frowned. “Do you ever see a day when that will happen?”
Cade chuckled and slipped on his Rēvos. “No, and not for the reasons you think. Thanks, Marley. I’ll be in touch.”
“Wait, Cade.” She held up a small rectangular box. “Don’t forget this.”
“Always by the book, huh, Marley?”
She smiled. “It’s why I get paid the big bucks. Stay safe.”
He pushed the outer door open. Warm air washed over his face and body. Early June in the Kentucky hills was already sultry, but where he was headed it was going to be hot. Scorching hot. And not just from the temperature.
He fought back another burst of heat that bloomed all along his skin as he climbed into the back of the sedan, tossed his backpack on the floor, and opened the folder on his lap. The driver shut the door and moved around the vehicle. At his side, he felt Avery’s gaze zero in on him, and though it was unnerving and only amped his awareness more, he didn’t look up. “Yeah?”
“That’s all you have to say to me after twelve years?” Avery asked. “‘Yeah?’”
He clenched his jaw as the car pulled away from the curb and finally met her gaze. And was thankful, this time, that he had the protection of sunglasses so she couldn’t see into his thoughts. “Does ‘Hi, how’s your life been?’ suit you better?�
�
Those pretty, pouty lips he’d watched kiss dozens of other guys on-screen turned down into a frown. “It’s a start. Why didn’t you tell your boss you knew me? I did read that correctly, didn’t I? He doesn’t know about us?”
Memories of that “us” flittered through his mind. The same memories he’d played over in his head countless times late at night when he couldn’t sleep. Of the way her naked body had felt wrapped around him in that dive of a motel room they’d run off to in Spokane, of how having someone care about him had changed him in fundamental ways he hadn’t realized until years later. But he forced them back. Reminded himself getting lost in those memories now wouldn’t do him any good. And they wouldn’t help her find her friend. Besides which, he was over her. Long over the girl she used to be.
“No,” he said, looking back down at his papers. “Ryder doesn’t know, nor does he need to. This isn’t personal, sweetheart; it’s business. And I’m good at what I do. If you’re uncomfortable with me, we can turn around and you can get someone else.”
She didn’t say anything, and he didn’t try to read her expression. But from the corner of his vision, he noticed she turned to look out the window.
He tried to focus on the words in front of him, but they blurred together on the page, and after several moments, he gave up. Closing the folder on his lap, he glanced toward her profile. The sleek line of her jaw was obstructed by a few strands from the ridiculous dark wig hanging to her shoulders, but her skin looked as creamy and soft as it had when she’d been a kid. The years had been good to her. At twenty-nine, she’d matured from an innocent girl into a beautiful woman. This close, he couldn’t see any sign she’d had work done, and though it went against every professional instinct he had, he hoped she never gave in to Hollywood pressure and turned to plastic surgery. He wouldn’t want to see all that perfection ruined by a scalpel. “If my being here bothers you so much, why didn’t you tell him?”
Wicked Firsts Page 2