"She didn't just disappear." Angela stated the obvious.
"Of course not," her father said, once again using his gentle tone. "Yet she didn't struggle with whoever took her. She didn't try and grab her luggage, nor has anyone called requesting to have it sent. Her luggage was shipped back to your mother."
"LAX has security cameras." Jake moved to the edge of his seat, caught up in the brainstorming of an impossible case. They were always the most exciting when there were no clues. "Also, the employees working at the airport entrances need to be interviewed. All the exits are also under full-time surveillance."
"The order to view the surveillance cameras came through. I've viewed them already. Marianna left the luggage pick-up area with a man. He was tall with black hair, just like Marianna's, and appeared to know her."
"What makes you think he knew her?" Angela demanded. She was gripping the edge of the desk with white knuckles and so focused on her father she didn't even blink.
"He hugged her when he first saw her."
"Well, who the hell is he?" she yelled.
Huxtable stared at his daughter, his voice as intense as his expression. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
Jake wasn't focusing on Huxtable any longer. He faced Angela, itching to stroke her hair, rub her back, touch her somehow. They weren't sexual desires but something deeper, drawing up from far down in his gut. All that mattered was calming her down, not seeing her so distraught and upset.
"Did you get any facial recognition at all?" he asked, keeping his voice low.
Angela shot her attention to him as if she'd forgotten he stood next to her.
"His back was always to the camera, or his head was down, focusing on Marianna."
"Do you think he was intentionally avoiding the cameras?" Jake asked.
"Could be. It looks as if all of his attention were focused on her. Honestly, she left so quickly with him, without fighting him, it really appears she was glad to go with him."
"That's impossible!" Angela stated, gesturing wildly with her hands. She took a step backward as if she might start pacing, remembered how closed in they were around the desk, and settled for slamming her hands down on the edge of it. "She doesn't know anyone in this country but me!" Then, fisting her hands at her waist, she glared at her father, then turned her head and looked up at Jake, blessing him with the same accusatory look. "One of you better find her right now," she said in a harsh whisper. "Or I will."
"I have a curiosity," Huxtable said calmly.
"A curiosity?"
Angela turned to Jake. "A curiosity is when there are no clues, which because there are none creates a clue."
Since he'd never heard of the term he guessed it was one Angela and her father had made up. Jake started brainstorming over what no clues might point toward.
Huxtable saved him the time. "We know she knew no one in this country, yet she leaves the airport with a man who is holding her affectionately, or so it appears. He walks up from behind her. Marianna never looks over her shoulder at him. He simply comes up from behind and wraps his arms around her. It's impossible to tell if she jumped, acted startled, or even tried to resist the hug. He is a lot taller than she is and, with his arms around her, hides any reaction she might have had to his embrace. He keeps one arm around her and moves the other to pull her hair back from her face. The next moment, she turns away from the luggage area and leaves with him. She never hugs him in return, nor does she once look up at his face. It doesn't appear that she says anything to him at all. If someone abducted her right off the plane, she would have fought, loudly, if she could. Yet she didn't. There were a lot of people working who could have seen something, yet no one saw anything unusual."
"So whoever took her said the right thing to scare the crap out of her and make her leave with them without a fight," Jake offered.
"Possibly," Huxtable agreed. "Marianna had her clothes with her. One of her suitcases was still on the conveyor belt. She had quite a bit of cash stuffed in her suitcase that she didn't take. Whoever took her didn't care about her luggage."
"They didn't take her for money," Angela cut in, pointing her finger at her father as her face lit up with excitement. "But also," she added, her voice growing quiet, "they didn't care if she had clothes with her."
"That's right." Huxtable nodded. "Whoever he is, he knew how to make her not fight, didn't want her for money, and didn't care if she had a change of clothes. Anything else?" He looked from one of them to the other.
Jake didn't care for the feeling that he was being treated as the student, being judged if he could see the obvious and not so obvious.
"Let me think," Angela said, tapping her finger over her lips. Her straight, black hair streaming down her back and her bare shoulders with her pink sleeveless blouse complemented each other. She narrowed her brow, giving her father's question serious thought.
"Someone could have drugged her." Jake didn't take his attention off Angela, and her attention snapped to his.
Her eyes widened. "No," she whispered.
"It's a curiosity," her father said quietly.
Suddenly Jake understood where their thoughts were headed. "You think she might have been abducted to be part of the game."
"We don't know how many players are playing the game." Huxtable leaned back in his seat. "The fact that it's been kept out of the news proves to me the FBI is still working this one, but I've managed to find out there has been a significant increase in public kidnappings. No ransoms have been requested. The person taken goes without a struggle."
"They're being drugged with slave juice, then escorted away from wherever they are." Angela hugged herself, leaning forward, and looked like she might be sick. When she slowly turned her head to look at Jake, there was something akin to terror in her pretty eyes. "You're going to find out who is in that outbuilding immediately."
Chapter Twelve
Angela stared at the picture of Marianna her mother had sent. The last time she'd seen her half sister, Angela had been sixteen and Marianna eleven.
"She's beautiful." Jake stood over Angela, nodding at the eight-by-ten in her hand. There was sincerity, a glimpse of true compassion, and pain in his eyes.
Angela nodded. "Absolutely gorgeous," she murmured, still not trusting her voice.
After seeing her father and learning he had a girlfriend, Angela and Jake had returned to the Drake to prepare for the rest of the day. Mario planned on picking her up at five, which would be the time when Jake returned to the property and learned who was in the outbuilding. Angela prayed, and at the same time was terrified, that Marianna was in that outbuilding. Just remembering the conversation that had been picked up between Mario and Bobby from the bug she'd planted outside made her sick. They had implied they had had sex with one of the ladies in the outbuilding. It made Angela's blood boil and made her frantic to free the people inside. If there weren't so much at stake, she would march over there, guns in both hands, and demand entrance into that building. Hopefully within less than twenty-four hours, all the kidnapped people would be free. If her little sister, precious and perfect Marianna, was tarnished in the slightest way, Angela would kill Mario with her bare hands.
"She's not in there," Angela repeated to herself in a feeble effort to keep herself sane and focused.
If Marianna hadn't been abducted by Mario, had another of the players kidnapped her? Or maybe some random lunatic had walked up to her in the airport. If that were the case, they hadn't done a thing to find her. If Marianna had been abducted for the game, at least she would be free soon. They were so close to a bust she could taste it.
Angela was making herself sick thinking about the different possibilities. She needed to focus on something else just so she could be at her top performance. Marianna would be free sooner.
"We need that board game, if there is one," Jake said, once they were settled in her hotel suite. He'd removed his shirt and kicked off his shoes. What was it about t
hat man wearing nothing but faded, well-worn blue jeans?
"There is." Her voice cracked and she dropped Marianna's picture on the table but continued staring at it. This was her father's missing-person case. Her mother had called him, not Angela. Regardless, it was her case now, too. No way would Angela allow Marianna to be in that monster's clutches for a minute longer than she had to be.
"Angela." Jake reached for her hand, pulling her to her feet, and grabbed her other hand when she would have brought Marianna's picture with her. "We're going to find her. She's going to be okay."
More than likely if the tables were turned, Angela would have said something similar to him. She still wanted to strike out, demand to know how he knew everything would be fine. Jake pulled her closer, then let go of her hands and began stroking her face.
"We'll go over our plans, follow them, and all of this will be over soon," he assured her.
It wasn't what he said but how he said it that did something to the fierce knot that had been in her gut since she had left her father. This time Jake didn't pounce on her mouth, impaling her as if he were starving for her. It was more as if they melted together, the two of them fusing from scalding heat created out of existing cravings and a new desire to cleanse the negative energy zapping inside both of them and replace it with courage and motivation.
She'd created this hunger in both of them. If she'd made love to him last night, possibly all of this would be out of their systems and they would be content plotting and creating the master plan to bring down Mario and find Marianna. They were organized. Both had shared what they planned to do come five o'clock. It hadn't taken more than an hour after returning to the hotel. The time between now and then was meant for the two of them. They would create a bond through making love, and it would secure their ability to perform, work together, and end the nightmare the game had brought down on too many families.
Angela's insides quivered. A quickening tightened in her womb, increasing the aching throbbing she'd endured to a full, raging pulse that demanded compensation now. There wouldn't be any teasing or torturing this time. She sensed Jake knew that also. His touch was different from last time, his movements more relaxed, although determined.
Jake's strong hands were all over her, pressing her against him, stroking her already-too-sensitive flesh. When he cupped her bottom, lifting and thrusting her against his hard dick, tiny sparks of passion exploded all over her. She was teetering between the reality of now and a world so much more sensual. A world with no problems other than learning what would make her explode and what would make him come.
"Jake," she said, uttering his name on a breath.
"Yes, sweetheart?" He hadn't called her baby since she'd snapped at him about it. Jake might be more trainable than she'd originally given him credit for being.
"We should..." The words wouldn't come out.
"Yes, we should." Jake scooped her into his arms, nestling her against his chest while he held her as if she were a small child.
Angela wasn't skinny. She wasn't fat, but she knew she wasn't light as a feather. Which only proved how strong, how confident and sure of himself, Jake was. She damn near slid down his body and melted onto the bed that had been made with fresh throw pillows tossed at the head of it. The firmness of the mattress did little to help her regain any stability. She collapsed against it, her head sinking between two pillows and the bones in her body giving way to the insurmountable heat surging through her.
It took a minute for her to recognize the ringing as coming from Jake's phone. Instead of cursing the interruption, Angela gave thanks that she had a moment to take a deep breath and return some oxygen to her brain. Jake stood at the edge of the bed, his hands on his hips, and stared at her. He didn't move to answer his phone.
"There's no one I want to talk to right now," he told her, his expression strained as need visibly ransacked his system as much as it did hers. He stood where he was, ignoring the ringing, and began taking his pants off.
Angela heard the phone ring a third or possibly a fourth time but couldn't pull her attention from Jake's face. Her heart beat so fiercely it was hard to concentrate. She wanted to tell Jake not to hold back, to let go and take her, making love to her however his natural desires and cravings demanded. At the same time, something in the back of her head warned her that Jake was a very tall man, well over six feet. He was incredibly muscular and very strong. If he released all of his pent-up passion and desire on her, would she be able to handle it?
The thought of trying was so intense the room almost turned sideways on her. She sucked in a deep breath.
Jake must have misinterpreted her sigh. "I'll set it to Silent so it can't interrupt us again." Even though he spoke with clarity, he took his time turning away from her.
Angela couldn't remember ever craving a man to be rough with her. She preferred a bit of control in her sexual encounters. She wanted her man to be a man but not to step over that line of her knowing she was in charge of her own body. With Jake, she wanted him to release that energy she saw burning out of control inside him. She wanted to fight him and have him restrain her and impale her with all that fury and unleashed need.
Images of Jake doing just that damn near made her roll off the bed when she moved onto her side. If she didn't get a grip, she would be panting and drooling.
"N-n-o, w-w-wait," she stammered, her senses barely managing to break through the thick fog of lust in her brain. "Don't put it on Silent. Check to see if its my father." Once Jake had told her father that his phone had a scrambler on it, her father immediately decided Jake's phone would be used for all calls.
Jake glanced at his phone and shook his head. "It's not. He's already dished out his orders. I doubt he'll contact us again unless we wait too long to report back in. And he wouldn't expect us to pull everything off before nightfall."
Jake's stormy green eyes burrowed deep into her soul when he left his phone on the night stand. There was something about this giant man who moved so gracefully and stealthily. It turned him into a deadly predator and one so beautiful, so incredibly loaded with sex appeal.
"Who was it?" she asked, fighting for clarity as, her attention shifted to the bulging roped muscles in Jake's biceps and forearms when he began crawling onto the bed.
"It was nobody." There was a rumble in his voice that matched the skilled seducer as he moved in, forcing Angela to lie back as he continued crawling until he was on top of her. "Clear your head, sweetheart. We're going to have your sister back in no time. But we can't do anything until Mario leaves at five. Until then, it's just you and me."
The throbbing between her legs was becoming a desperate pounding as blood rushed into the most sensitive part of her body. It excited and scared the crap out of her at the same time that Jake read her like an open book. They really hadn't known each other more than a couple days. Angela never had sex with a man until she knew him really well. Oftentimes getting to know them too well turned her off because she became acutely aware of all their annoying traits.
Jake started teasing her sensitive flesh just above her collarbone. It made her want to curl her toes to the ceiling. At the same time one of his hands made its way under her shirt, finding her breast and cupping it, tugging just enough to make her eyes roll back in her head. Jake's skills included making her come without making love to her. She had guessed his list of skills was endless. Excitement twisted around inside her with the knowledge she was about to find out.
Jake moved her bra out of the way with a solid swipe of his hand, then pinched her hardened nipple. Shock waves rolled over her, shooting straight down her middle. If she could have rolled over and cried out, begging him to stop and demanding he keep going, she would have. When she opened her mouth, she didn't have a chance to make a sound before Jake pounced on it, impaling her with his tongue as he continued torturing her too-sensitive nipple.
Angela didn't realize her hands were stroking Jake's back until taut muscles twitched under her fingerti
ps. She dragged her fingernails down the length of his bare back as far as she could reach, enjoying how solid and inviting his body felt.
Jake growled into her mouth, his tongue swirling around hers in some erotic dance she didn't know but picked up on right away. He broke off the kiss in mid-swirl, leaving her gasping and barely able to focus.
"What?" she mumbled when Jake straightened.
"Your clothes," he grumbled, his words raspy and laced heavily with need. As he spoke, he moved his hand away from her breast but kept it under her shirt as he pushed it up to her shoulders.
Angela didn't have to lift herself off the bed to remove her shirt. Jake took her arm, pulling her into a sitting position but remaining on top of her so that her nose was almost touching the tight curls on his chest. She breathed in his rich, musky all-male scent, then got a whiff of her fabric softener when the shirt went over her head. It was promptly tossed to the floor.
Her shorts were yanked off with one solid sweep. She hadn't bothered with underpants. Now she didn't know whether she regretted the few clothes she'd had on or not. The look Jake gave her when he released her and let her tumble back on the bed stole her breath.
"Infatuated" didn't quite describe it. "Enamored" maybe. Definitely "pleased." Angela gazed up at him, letting her vision blur, which made the moment all the more erotic. As exposed as she felt lying naked under him, the way he devoured her with his eyes, letting her see how hungry he was, made her feel sexy, desirable, and anxious.
"I've dreamed about this," Jake confessed, his attention shooting to her face the moment he spoke, as if needing to see her immediate reaction.
She smiled. It would be cheesy as hell to admit she'd imagined this, too. A lot. More than he needed to know. Jake already reeked of self-confidence and his skills were off the charts. Stroking this man's ego was hardly necessary. It was odd how at that moment it dawned on her how very much alike Jake and her father were. She would consider it high praise to tell either of them that and didn't doubt for a moment both would see it as an incredible insult.
Bounty Hunters: 03 Stay Hungry Page 23