Guilty Pleasures

by Tori Carrington

  “Yes.”

  He flashed his ID. “FBI. May we come in?”

  He opened the door farther and stepped aside.

  They walked in, giving the room a once-over.

  “Where’s Miss Findlay?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said. “She got away from me right after the Winslow sheriff’s office fiasco last night.”

  The agents looked at each other, then back at him.

  “I don’t think I have to tell you her background,” Jon added. “Trust me, I’m as unhappy about it as you are. And between us? I’d prefer no one find out. I mean, besides the three of us.”

  He grimaced and went to get his cup of coffee.

  One of the men stepped toward the bathroom door and took a look around, obviously noting the shower had just been used. Jon ran his hand over his wet hair. The agent turned around, directly under the vent. The way his luck was running, Jon half expected one of the screws to come loose and bean the guy on the head. Or a bit of dust to waft down, making him sneeze and look up.

  The other one held out a card. “If you catch up with her before we do, call us immediately.”

  Jon took it. Just a number. No name or identifying agency, although he knew he was dealing with the FBI. “How does that affect my bounty?”

  “You’ll get it.”

  “Deal, then.”

  “Have any idea where she’s gone?” the agent on the right asked.

  “Well, if I did, I wouldn’t tell you, would I? Because your finding her first definitely means no bounty.”

  They shared another cryptic look and then headed for the door, one following the other out.

  Jon stood in the doorway, watching as they climbed into their SUV and sped off.

  Shit.

  If the FBI was on his tail, he had his work cut out for him.

  He finally closed the door and went to stand in front of the vent.

  “You still there?”

  No answer.

  Good.

  He looked at his watch, then grabbed his cell phone and the rest of his gear. He had to wait before leaving, just in case the agents he’d spoken with hovered around waiting for him.

  Why did he have the feeling those minutes would rank up there with some of the longest of his life?

  12

  A HALF HOUR LATER, Jon waited at a corner store a mile up the road from the motel. He’d ditched his Jeep a half mile in the other direction and then hiked back.

  Only, Mara was nowhere in sight.

  He dropped his duffel at his feet and reached for his cell phone. Twenty messages; none from her.

  Damn.

  He’d been clear on the plan if she found a way out. They’d meet up here in a half hour but wouldn’t stick around longer than two hours. That meant he might have a long wait ahead of him. And he accepted it might very well be for naught. There were no guarantees she would show.

  He squinted up and down the busy street.

  It was just past 8:00 a.m. but he bet the temperature was already over ninety. At one time, he wouldn’t have noticed. The heat would have been as normal as the sunrise. Not anymore. He’d adapted to Colorado’s climate, making him a lizard without scales here now.

  Had Mara ditched him?

  Quite possibly.

  Not that he could blame her if she had. He’d been the one to lead the FBI to them. He was sure of that.

  She had enough to worry about without him making matters worse.

  What was he talking about? He was there to take her in, as well.

  How in the hell had things gotten so complicated so fast?

  A car honked its horn at the curb some yards away. He glanced at it, then away, looking for her. More horn honking. He stared at the dusty old Blazer.

  Mara?

  He crossed the parking lot and rounded the driver’s side. She rolled down the window, smiling at him.

  “Get in.”

  Get in?

  He did, fastening himself into the passenger’s side moments later.

  She backed up and turned into traffic, heading west.

  “Where’d you get this?”

  She smiled that enigmatic, challenging smile. “I have my sources.”

  “You didn’t steal it?”

  “I didn’t steal it. Did you see grand theft auto on my rap sheet?”

  No, he hadn’t. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of it. He was sure if the need arose, she’d have a car running without use of the keys in no time.

  But he trusted what she said for reasons he wasn’t entirely sure of.

  “I figure they must have identified you from the sheriff’s office,” she said. “Traced you to the motel and probably made your rented Jeep.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. My thoughts exactly.”

  What it didn’t explain was why she’d come back for him.

  “So I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get fresh wheels.”

  “Yours?”

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  He stared at her.

  “It’s titled to one of my mother’s friends. One of a few I keep parked around town.”

  “In case you’re wanted for a capital crime?”

  The smile left her face.

  Jon wanted to take his words back.

  He figured her need for backup cars had to do with her off-the-grid militia background. Hell, for all he knew, she didn’t even have a valid license. Or if she did, it didn’t register the right address or even her real name.

  He, on the other hand, rated so many blips on the grid, his just sitting next to her probably put them both in danger.

  If the FBI knew who he was and what he was doing, then so did the two guys at the sheriff’s office….

  He took his cell phone out and popped the battery.

  “Figured you would have done that back at the motel,” she said, looking at him.

  “I should have.”

  As it was, he could probably be traced to the store, and the surveillance cameras had likely registered her change in wheels.

  “Don’t worry. I parked outside the range of big brother, and the plates are caked in mud, just like the rest of it.”

  “Still, I’m sure it won’t take them long to figure it out,” he said.

  He watched her squeeze and release the cracked leather steering wheel. “I’m sure you’re right. Which means we need to get on with this.”

  “With what?”

  She looked at him. “Making sure the right person pays for the crime….”

  * * *

  MARA HEADED OUT OF TOWN then pointed the Blazer north. She didn’t kid herself into thinking her plan was going to be easy. If it was, she would have already done it.

  As it was, her stomach was tied into knots and her palms were so slick, she kept having to wipe them on her jeans one by one as she drove.

  An hour into their trip, Jon asked, “Are you all right?”

  Was she?

  No.

  But she was hoping she would be soon.

  “I need to stop at a store coming up here.” She nodded toward the backseat. “You wouldn’t happen to have a ball cap in there, would you?”

  “Ball cap?”

  “Something I can hide my hair under.”

  He grabbed the duffel and put it between his knees. After a few moments, he pulled out a camo cap.

  She smiled. “That’ll do. Hold the wheel.”

  He did.

  She twisted her hair up into a bun then fastened the hat down, so it was almost impossible to tell what color it was or how much of it she had.

  “How’s that?”

  She looked to find hi
m staring at her.

  “What?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing.” He cleared his throat and then glared out the window. “Looks fine. Does the trick.”

  She smiled to herself.

  “What do you need from the store?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Serrated knife, duct tape and garbage bags for a start.”

  He stared at her.

  “Just joking. Sort of.” She shrugged. “A change of clothes might be nice. And I’m thinking I should change my look. Where we’re going…well, it’s important they don’t see me coming.”

  “And where are we going?”

  “To visit a few old friends.”

  Her palms were so damp now, not even rubbing them on her jeans helped.

  She hadn’t been back to the compound for over a year. And she really didn’t like the idea of going back there now. Especially considering what she was going back for. And that a number of her old “friends” had now officially entered “enemy” territory.

  But she had to go back, whether she wanted to or not.

  She only hoped not too much had changed in the time she’d been gone. She was counting on that.

  But if they had…

  She took a deep, shuddering breath, knowing exactly what she was up against…and not liking it one bit.

  She glanced at Reece, wondering if it was wise to involve him. But while she hadn’t considered going it anything but alone just yesterday, today, well, for reasons she didn’t think it smart to explore just then, she felt better with him at her side.

  At the very least, she should let him in on it; give him the choice. And she would. Just as soon as she crossed the next item off her list.

  She only hoped he’d stay on board. And wouldn’t stamp her as insane and try to cart her off to the closest federal agency for immediate turnover.

  Good thing the department store was just up the road. She really needed a chance to get her nerves under control, partly so she wouldn’t lose control when she did drop in on old friends who were now her new enemies, but mostly so she wouldn’t tip her hand to Reece, who suddenly seemed to be watching her a little too closely for comfort.

  13

  SHE WAS NUTS.

  That was the first thought that hit Jon’s mind when Mara told him what she planned to do.

  “You’re certifiable,” he said, after what seemed like a full five minutes of silence when she’d stopped talking.

  They sat in the parking lot of an old-time gas station up the road from the store—the type that had the analog pumps and the only form of security was a shotgun behind the counter. She’d emerged from the superstore where she’d gone in to buy a change of clothes and other supplies wearing tan slacks and a top. But it was after she’d come out of the gas station’s public bathroom around the back, after what had seemed like an inordinately long time, that he’d been the most shocked.

  Her hair…

  Surely she hadn’t been in there long enough for that drastic a change.

  She’d gone in a long-haired redhead. And come out a short-haired blonde…

  He’d thought for a minute it was a wig. But when he couldn’t help touching it to find out, he’d discovered it was one hundred percent real.

  And she was hotter still. A brush of makeup and she could be a local news anchor…or really hot weather person.

  Then he’d caught a peek of the tattoo on her back left bare from her shorter hairstyle and tank top and knew she was the same person.

  Well, except it appeared she may have bleached a good many of her brain cells along with her hair.

  “You can’t seriously be considering going there?”

  He was aware of the compound that sat just north of Tuba City. Everyone who lived in northern Arizona knew of it…if only so they could avoid it at all costs.

  And if ignorant, average citizens knew enough to stay away, what would happen to Mara, who ranked as public enemy number one, and whose cutout they were likely using for target practice?

  Lord only knew what they’d do when they got a clear shot of the real thing.

  You only had to look at what had gone down at the Winslow sheriff’s office to catch that. And there had only been two militia members after her.

  The compound would have at least a hundred militants at any one time. All of them well trained and well armed.

  Mara shrugged. “I’m dead serious.”

  “The key word being dead.”

  She stared at her half-eaten sub, apparently suddenly having difficulty swallowing. He wanted to tell her to eat up, it very well may be her last meal. But he kept it to himself. Obviously he’d made his point and then some.

  It was midday and the heat rose up in visible waves from the hot asphalt around them. Mara had switched off the engine and they sat with the window and doors open. The inside of the car felt like a veritable furnace.

  But was no hotter than the opposition they’d face on that compound.

  He caught his use of the joint pronoun and cursed under his breath.

  He certainly wasn’t planning on going in there with her, was he? If she was insane, that would make him doubly so.

  “Look,” she said, rewrapping the rest of the sandwich and stashing it in the bag. She downed half a bottle of water. “I lived there for four years. I know my way around.”

  “I don’t doubt that. I also don’t doubt that they’re aware of that, too, and have likely made appropriate changes.”

  She nodded. “Granted. But not enough that I can’t navigate my way around. Here, let me show you what I have in mind….”

  She ripped open one of the white paper bags that had held their food, smoothed it out on the seat between them then grabbed a pen from the sun visor.

  Jon stared, barely registering much outside the shape of her wrists, the way she smelled and how hot it was getting as she drew a rugged map of the compound, then lightly wrote on top of that with ways it had changed before.

  “Personnel quarters are here,” she said, drawing a number of small boxes under a cloud of trees on the northwest corner of the property. “That’s my target.”

  “Our.”

  Her chin jerked up.

  Jon grimaced. There was that joint pronoun again.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked.

  He picked up her map, trying to commit what she’d outlined to memory, but he found it hard to ignore his inner voice telling him he should be looking for an alternative.

  Hell, for her own sake, he should drag her to the Flagstaff district offices now and turn her over.

  Her being locked up—innocent or not—was preferable to her being dead.

  His disabled cell phone weighed heavily in his pocket. He could call Lazarus.

  He nearly snorted. And tell them what, exactly?

  “Hey, I’m out here with the fugitive I’m supposed to be bringing in for that hefty bounty? Anyway, she didn’t do it and I’m now helping her. Any advice?”

  Of course, Lincoln Williams, one of the original partners, was ex-FBI. And while the two of them hadn’t become close during the Florida job, he got the impression he could go to him whenever he had a problem.

  And, oh, boy, Houston, did he ever have a problem.

  The trouble was he was afraid his problem came in the form of one sexy, crazy Mara Findlay.

  “Reece?”

  “Huh?”

  He’d noticed she’d taken to calling him by his last name. Which was fine. A lot of guys in the service had done the same.

  But it was somehow different coming off her pink tongue. Made him feel different.

  Made him feel a bit like he was back in the army formulating a difficult plan.

  He slid his gun out of its hols
ter. “We’re going to need a hell of a lot more than just this and those play knives you picked up at the store before I’ll even consider going in there.”

  Her smile melted into a full-out grin that did funny things to his stomach.

  “Okay then. Let’s see what we can do about that….”

  * * *

  MARA KNEW OF TWO OFF-COMPOUND sites where her old friends stashed their arms in case the main compound was ever “invaded” by local or federal authorities—something that had happened on at least one prior occasion. In fact, it had been because of that raid that they’d decided to split up the cache so they wouldn’t be wiped out again, as they had been then. The raid had occurred before she’d ever met Gerald Butler when she was sixteen and fallen for him and his “family.”

  But while there were two sites, only one was open to her. And she counted herself lucky that the key operator was a true friend to her. Well, if he still held the position. And if he hadn’t been turned against her.

  Stop it, she ordered herself. Negative thinking never got anyone anywhere.

  Then again, smart thinking was what had kept her alive this far.

  “Okay, we’re almost there,” she said to Reece. “I want you to hang back a little and stay quiet, okay?”

  His eyes narrowed.

  “Just follow my lead.”

  She could tell that suggestion didn’t sit well with him. Not that she could blame him. But the fact that he was still doing it? Well, his sticking by her despite his obvious doubts and concerns snuck by her defenses and took up residence somewhere in the vicinity of her chest.

  She pulled onto what looked like a gravel road but was really a driveway. They drove for five minutes before a small shack came into view. It could have easily passed for a utility box, but she knew it wasn’t. She also knew what was hidden inside.

  She pulled to a stop and shut off the engine. She looked at Reece, who was taking in his surroundings. “My lead. Right?”

  “Your lead,” Reece confirmed.

  “Leave your gun and holster here.”

  He hesitated.

  She lifted a brow.

  He did as she asked.

  She climbed out of the SUV and raised her hands. “Trent? It’s Mara.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Reece getting out with his hands up as well, moving slowly. He met up with her in front of the vehicle where they stood a couple of feet apart. She eyed the small camera perched on top of a pole above the shack, shifting to watch their every move.