by Taylor Hart
She blinked. “Then don’t.”
Roughly, he let her go and pushed a hand through his hair. “I work with a special task force of sorts. We—my team has connections at the FBI. I don’t know everything, but Harris is bad news. We think he’s been dealing arms to drug lords in Mexico.”
“What?” Her breath hitched. Not Harris the suave car dealership guy. “No, he’s … he can’t be …”
Zane took her hand and put it against his chest, holding her close. “He is. I don’t know who’s behind the break-ins, but I think it’s Harris. I had to get you out of there to keep you and your son safe.”
Her mind whirled with possibilities. Break-ins and bugs were bad. But this? With effort, she kept herself together; she couldn’t have a panic attack now.
“Sarah.” Zane’s voice was soft. “I’ll introduce you to my boss at some point. I think it’s almost to that point, but Harris is his ex-brother-in-law. Harris is involved with thugs. He’s been deceiving you.” He held her close. “There’s one more thing I should have told you that first day.”
Somehow, she knew this was the biggest, most dangerous secret of all.
“I never should have left you. Ever.” Dipping his head, he pressed his lips gently to hers and brushed a hand down her head. “I’ve always loved you. I never stopped.”
Her heart thudded in her chest. The moment felt timeless, an eye in the storm of a thousand emotions.
Carefully, like he would treat delicate glass, he reached up and touched the back of his hand to her face. “I know I’ve been pushy and evasive and …”
“Fiercely protective and beautiful with Tyler.” Her tone was soft.
He swallowed, and his face softened. “He’s so great.”
After seeing Zane the past few days, watching him put up security, the whole situation didn’t seem completely impossible. She hesitated. “You’re part of a special task force?” That part wasn’t so shocking.
He nodded. “Does that scare you?”
“Honestly, I was surprised you were a private investigator. Isn’t that mostly for people who want to catch their husbands cheating on them?”
He let out a rippling laugh. “You have no idea how much that hurts.”
She smiled. It was strange she didn’t feel the manic worry she’d been feeling. She felt grateful he was finally being truthful with her.
He squeezed her hand. “Are you afraid?”
She tried to hone in on what she was feeling. “Harris is dealing weapons to Mexico?”
“We think so. We haven’t found the evidence we need to prove it yet. My boss wanted me to get close to you and ask you to get close to him.” He brushed his lips to hers. “I can’t risk you.”
All sorts of thoughts and emotions surged through her. “I suppose you know because you have like—” She pointed to his laptop. “—super secure sources.”
He grinned. “Yeah.”
She didn’t say anything, just thought about how he was so suited to this.
“What?” he asked.
She blinked and leaned in for a kiss. When she pulled back, she felt like she was seeing him for the first time. She knew what she had to do—for all of them. “I think I need to go out with Harris.”
“What?” He looked as if she’d slapped him in the face.
“If we want to end this, we need to get close to him and get evidence, right?”
“What?” Zane let her go. “No!”
“Yes,” she said, feeling certainty pulse through her. “It’s the only way.”
He stared off into the distance, but eventually, reluctantly, he took her hand. “I hate that you’re right, but you’re right,” he grumbled.
She laughed, feeling happier than she’d felt in a long time—being here with him, his hand in hers. Even though it was all crazy, it was with him. “We can do this—together.”
“Okay, but we have to get Tyler somewhere safe.”
“Yes.” She looked worried. “Where?”
Zane grinned. “I got a billionaire mansion with a housekeeper who is wicked smart and who has mad skills in the kitchen. Oh, and one of the guys in our task force, Cannon, is like the love child of Jason Bourne and Mary Poppins.”
“Zane, you aren’t making sense.” She shook her head and couldn’t help but laugh that they were even talking about something like this.
“Okay, so Sutton’s the boss. Think Batman. His pseudo-Alfred, Agatha, is awesome.”
“Batman, Alfred,” said Sarah. “Got it.” That was pretty simple so far.
“Cannon is one of the guys. We call him Barney the babysitter because … no, keep it simple. The mansion is super secure, but I can get Cannon to hang with Tyler.”
Feeling a bit overwhelmed, she sighed. “Okay.”
“Trust me. No more secrets.”
“No more secrets,” she said, and she could see in his eyes that he meant it. “So now I return Harris’s texts and meet him for dinner.”
Wincing, Zane shook his head and tucked her into his chest. “Fine, we’ll contact him, and you can meet him for coffee, not dinner.” He sighed. “I guess it’s time to take you to Sutton’s mansion. Good thing he has a dock beneath his house, and we can reach it from the ocean.”
Chapter 18
When Zane pulled up to the Smith mansion, Sarah and Tyler actually looked excited. He didn’t know how it all happened so fast, but it reminded him of the scene in Annie when she goes to Daddy Warbuck’s house for the first time. Cannon awaited them at the dock, and he and Tyler had a quick lightsaber duel. Since he had only come to meet Tyler, he took off after a minute. Agatha was more than delighted to have another woman in the house, and Sutton was actually like a grandfather. The first thing Sutton did after shaking hands with Sarah was a disappearing quarter trick for Tyler.
Agatha showed them to the east wing of the house, a part of the house that Zane had never been in. Actually, Zane usually only ever went to the downstairs tunnels, the upstairs living room, the ice cream counter, the ballroom, or upstairs to Sutton’s library/control center if they had projects. At the philanthropic parties he would make an entrance, but he never stayed long. Parties weren’t his scene.
Agatha and Sutton graciously showed them their suite of rooms. The whole thing was a suite with three adjoining rooms. Tyler had a room, Sarah had a master suite, and another master suite was connected by a living room. Zane was impressed and grateful.
Sutton hung back next to Zane as Tyler jumped on his bed and Agatha and Sarah spoke about dinner. Agatha offered to show them where to take a quick dip in the ocean, to which Tyler adamantly agreed.
“So we’re at this point, are we?” Sutton said quietly to him. Zane had texted Sutton some details, but hadn’t had a chance to talk on the phone to him.
Zane nodded. “I don’t like it, but I don’t think Harris will leave Sarah alone, so I think we …” He exhaled, unable to believe he was saying this. “We use him to get information. Then we put him in jail.” In the long term, this was what Zane wanted.
Sutton frowned. “Since I got your text, I’ve been talking with the guys. Here’s what we need to do.” He paused as Sarah and Agatha wandered over. With a nod toward them, he held up what looked like a flash drive. “This will copy any phone within a twenty-five-centimeter radius.”
“English, please,” said Zane. “I mean, American English.”
“Less than a foot,” said Sutton. “Harris has been tricky about information. We haven’t been able to get access to his contacts and calendar. It’s all on his phone, and he keeps his phone on a secure line.”
“I can do it,” Sarah said.
A nervous energy thrummed through Zane’s gut. “I’m texting the team so we can make a plan.”
Sutton nodded and winked at Sarah. “You’re brave,” he told her, “but my concern is keeping you safe.”
“I want to go to the beach!” Tyler bounced next to Sarah.
Agatha gave him a huge smile. “Well, get on your suit, and we have to make s
ure we grab the pail for collecting starfish.”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “Cheerio!” He giggled and turned to Agatha. “That’s how you say it, right?”
They all laughed.
Zane watched the little guy scamper off. Keeping him and Sarah safe had become the most important mission of his life.
The next day, Zane sat in his car outside of the coffee shop. Of course, he’d wired her. His palms were sweaty. Normally he wouldn’t worry about an undercover op, but this wasn’t a usual thing. This was her.
There were so many things that were out of his control. Harris had already seen his face twice. Harris knew Tyler. Harris was a dirty thug.
They’d received more information through satellite data, tipping them off that a top guy was going to be meeting with a Mexican drug lord. Naturally, the FBI wanted Harris too. They also wanted to take the guy Harris was in cahoots with down. But who was that? They needed his phone. His contacts. They needed more information. If she could get near his phone for more than three minutes, they could copy the data.
River Duncan, the hand-to-hand combat master of the SEAL group, sat on a leather chair in the corner, reading a magazine. Zane had considered bringing Cannon along since he had about a hundred different stun guns, but Cannon was back at the mansion with Tyler, probably dueling with lightsabers. Knowing Cannon, they were also raiding the ice cream counter.
Zane watched as Harris walked into the coffee shop, all suit and sunglasses and car-salesman charisma. He wanted to knock the guy out cold. Not just for his interest in Sarah, either. Okay, fine. If he was being honest, it was pretty much all for his interest in Sarah.
Something he hadn’t asked her about worried him. Did she like Harris? The day they were all together in the coffee shop, she’d hugged him. Plus, she had been out with him to events.
Would Sarah lie to him? No, of course not. Why was he feeling so insecure? It irked him that he cared. When was the last time he cared so much about what a woman thought? He couldn’t remember. Sure, there had been other women. None of them had been Sarah, though, and that was all that had mattered. Oh man, if any of the guys ever found out how pathetic he was, he would never hear the end of it.
He saw Harris sit by her. He could just see their table, and he pulled out his camera to take a picture. Not because he needed another picture of Harris. He didn’t know why. He was nervous.
They were making small talk. The boring talk that felt like drizzle in Zane’s brain. He’d never been into small talk, except with Sarah. With her, he was into anything.
Thinking of Sarah, of the way she’d told him with tears in her eyes that she thought she was falling in love with him again, made his chest squeeze. All of this was personal. It’d never been personal for him. Sure, he’d helped his friends on ops before, but this was Sarah. Sarah was home. Yes, warmth surged inside of him, and he felt like a ninny. She was home. She was everything to him.
He thought of Jeff and the past, and finally felt like maybe they’d been led to all of this. Feeling stupid, he crossed himself, going back to his Catholic roots for the first time in a long time, and he uttered a silent prayer.
“Gun” was the word that caught his attention. He looked up, and he saw Sarah pointing to Harris’s jacket. River had changed his posture, still looking at the magazine, but ready to jump up if needed. His earpiece was wired in to the others.
“Oh, this?” Harris waved it off. “I had an incident at the dealership today. I had to take it for protection. We’ve had some smugglers stealing cars.”
“Really?” The tone of her voice sounded off. She was afraid, Zane realized. Gripping his own nine-millimeter, he held himself back from leaping out of the car.
“You don’t like guns?” Harris asked.
Sarah waved him off. “Actually, I … no, it’s fine. I mean, I don’t like them around my son, but I don’t really want to get into a gun debate.”
Harris let out a sigh, and Zane could see from the camera lens that he had put a hand over hers. “Sarah, I’m not going to lie. I was so happy when you texted me you wanted to meet. I …” He sounded corny and nervous. Zane was really getting irritated now. “I really like you. I mean, I know you’re my matchmaker, but you might have had a suspicion that I’m interested in you.”
She let out a light laugh. “I could kinda tell. I just, I try to keep professional boundaries.”
He put both of his hands over hers. “I know. Can I just say that it’s so refreshing? So refreshing that you are so good. And Tyler, he’s just adorable.” He chuckled. “His love of Star Wars.”
Zane felt the pit of his gut knock even tighter. He didn’t like Harris talking about Tyler.
“He’s a good boy,” she agreed.
Zane tried to get the tracking off the phone. He couldn’t.
Sarah led the discussion to the new cars Harris had gotten. Zane kept trying to detect Harris’s phone from the tracking device Sarah had, but he couldn’t get it. He pressed the button on his ear that was connected to her earpiece, waiting for a distraction so he could talk to her without jolting her.
When their coffee arrived, Zane said softly, “I can’t track it. It might be in his suit pocket.”
Sarah didn’t make any response, just continued to chat with Harris. Out of the blue, she pulled out her phone and said, “Hey, I know this might sound forward, but let’s set a date for dinner.”
“What?” Harris asked, clearly surprised.
“I don’t know. I just … I like you too. You’ve been asking me out, and as a single mom, I try to be cautious, but I want to get to know you.”
She was trying to get him to pull out his phone. Even though Zane knew the words were only being said for a scam, he still didn’t like them.
Harris hesitated. “Did your brother take off yet?” The way he said it didn’t give anything away, but Zane had that feeling in the pit of his gut. A warning feeling.
Sarah played it off. “Yeah.” She let out a sigh. “That’s how he is. Easy come, easy go. It was fun to see him, though.”
Harris waited a second, then relaxed. “Okay. Any day, you tell me.”
“I’m serious, Harris. Pull out your calendar and let’s set a date.”
Harris picked up his coffee, and Zane could see the stupid grin on his face. “I’m serious too. You name the night. I’ll be there. That’s how important you are to me.” Putting his coffee down, he reached for one of her hands and pressed his lips to the back of it.
Again, Zane had to resist jumping out of the car.
Harris said it again: “You tell me the date.”
Sarah let out another light laugh. “Well, you do make a girl feel like a princess.”
Harris obnoxiously kissed her hand again and then trailed kisses up her arm.
Zane cringed, watching in disbelief as Sarah scooted her chair closer to Harris and kissed him on the cheek. What in the world was she doing, crossing those enemy lines?
Then he saw the tracker for the phone connect. He finally got it. She was trying to get close enough to get the tracker to connect with the phone. It started downloading the information.
Dang it. Zane hit his dashboard and pressed the button through his hair. “You have to stay this close for three minutes.”
Harris started pulling back, but Sarah leaned in and kissed him.
“Oh.” Harris sounded pleasantly surprised.
Zane watched as she carefully put her arms around his neck, and he saw as Harris obligingly pulled her closer.
Zane could swear he wanted to Hulk-smash something at this moment. Forget Thor. It was getting kind of annoying, watching his woman make out with the devil.
A shrill tone pealed through the earpiece, Harris quickly jerked to a standing position, grabbing his pocket. Sarah was nearly thrown back and almost fell out of the chair.
“Oh.” Harris was not excited this time. He pulled his phone out, then looked around in jerky motions, like he was looking for something.
Zane
’s heart kicked up a notch. He pushed the button on his ear. “He must have a triggering mechanism when his phone is being hacked. Get out of there.”
Sarah played it cool. “Is everything okay?”
Harris kept looking around and staring at his phone, then turned it off. There would be no more hacking it. Zane pushed his earpiece. “Abort mission. Abort mission. Stand by, River.”
River stood and went to the counter with napkins and creamers, but still didn’t look at Sarah and Harris.
“Yeah.” Harris shook his head and sat. “Sorry, emergency at work.”
“Oh.” Sarah deserved some props for playing it cool, even if Zane didn’t like her tactic for getting the hack. If things went further south, River could help, but that would completely blow Sarah’s cover.
Sarah pulled out her own phone and looked at it, standing quickly. “Oh. I have to go get my son from school.”
Zane checked the time. It was only two o’clock, but it was a good excuse.
Harris took her hand. “No, don’t go yet. Let’s talk some more.” He closed the gap between them and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.
“That’s my move, jerk,” Zane said, wanting to ram his fist into Harris’s pretty boy face.
Sarah caught his hand and took a step back. Good girl. “I really have to go.”
Harris didn’t let go of her hand. “You didn’t tell me a date.” His voice had a bit of an edge to it, even as he let out a light laugh. “I mean, when are we getting together?”
“How about tomorrow night?”
Harris leaned in and kissed her lips again.
“You want it too much, man,” Zane raged.
“You got it,” Harris said, finally letting go after Sarah yanked herself away from him. When she cleared the front door, Zane slumped back in his seat and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Chapter 19
Sarah stood by the huge window in the huge bedroom she’d been assigned at the amazing Sutton Smith mansion. Tyler was asleep in the large king bed in the other room. She couldn’t bear to be away from him, not right now. Luckily, he saw this whole thing as a terrific adventure. Turning, she looked through the doorway at his innocent face cuddled into the pillow. He held the new lightsaber Zane had bought him. The only story he had wanted before bed had been one from Zane.