Aegis 01 - First Exposure (15 page)

C
ade couldn’t seem to speak. His lungs weren’t working.

Blinking into the warm midday sun, he stared after Avery as she made her way across the sand. He needed to stop her. Needed to call her back, but his muscles weren’t working either, and the pain gathering beneath his breastbone was so strong he could barely draw a breath.

She’d been pregnant. And he’d done nothing. No wonder she’d been so cold to him when he’d first seen her at Aegis. She had every right to hate him. And instead of trying to make things up to her, he’d pushed his way into this undercover mission. All but bullied her into pretending to be his wife.

The small, cracked-heart tattoo he’d found at the hairline along her nape this morning in the shower suddenly made gut-wrenching sense. His mind skipped back to Natalie and how tired and miserable she’d been during the end of her pregnancy. His eyes slammed shut against a wave of pain. Avery had done it all alone. Not only had she waited tables to make ends meet, she’d had no one to rub her feet or sore back after a long day. No one to pick up the slack at home. No one to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. And in the end, it hadn’t even been that.

Go after her…

The words echoed in his head, and he dragged his eyes open to look down the white sand beach. She’d disappeared into the resort. A burst of energy rushed through him—a determination to find her, to tell her…

He pushed to his feet. He needed to tell her he still loved her. That he was sorry. That somehow—even if it took the rest of his life—he was going to make it up to her. He took a step forward in the sand. The sound of a cell phone ringing from the open patio doors drew him up short. Dazed, he glanced around and realized he was wearing nothing but a towel.

“Dammit.” He rushed back into the suite, grabbed his phone from the bar, and tucked it between his ear and shoulder as he ripped off the towel and found clean shorts.

“Blackwell.”

“Cade, it’s Ryder. I’ve got more intel on Luis.”

“Yeah?” He wasn’t the least bit interested. He yanked on boxers and cargo shorts, found a shirt in the closet and tugged it over his head. He needed to get to Avery before she spent too much time in her head. Before she decided there was too much history between them to make this work.

“The DEA dropped their undercover investigation on Luis last week. He agreed to testify against the Mexican cartel he’s been working for.”

Cade stilled, and he gripped the phone in his hand. “He’s a snitch?”

“He’s got money and he doesn’t want to go to jail. Does he have security with him?”

Cade thought back to last night in the restaurant. A man and a woman dressed way too conservatively for the resort had been dining behind Luis. And Cade had seen their faces in the club later that evening as well. “Yeah.”

“They’re federal agents. He’s got a contact at the resort. They’re planning to move on his word this weekend. You and your actress are in the middle of a sting.”

Shit. He was so compromised, he’d missed the clues around him.

Avery.

Cade’s adrenaline surged. “I gotta go.”

“I figured. Stay safe. And Blackwell, don’t get dea—”

He didn’t wait for Jake to finish his sentence. He hit end on his phone and shoved it in his pocket. Then he grabbed his gun from the safe and tucked it in the waistband of his shorts at his spine beneath his shirt.

No more space. After this, he wasn’t letting Avery out of his sight.

A
very stopped near the beach bar and glanced toward the pool where two couples were engaged in a chicken fight in the middle of the water, one half-naked woman on each man’s shoulders, all four laughing and flirting in the midday sun.

She didn’t want to be around anyone who was in a good mood. Didn’t want to be around anyone, period.

Feeling sick over Cade’s reaction to her revelation and even worse over the fact she hated he’d married someone else when she had no right to be jealous, she shuffled toward the dance club she’d been in last night.

Maybe alcohol would help. If not that, then perhaps a few minutes of silence where she could clear her head.

She pushed the door open with both hands and stepped into the dark room. The place was empty, chairs upside down on tables, no music, no lights flashing as they’d been hours ago. The only illumination was a series of lamps over the bar.

God, this club was more depressing than she’d thought. In the light of day, all the seedy, dirty things that had gone on here last night looked exactly like what they were: unhappy, unfulfilled people hoping someone else would fill the void.

Was that what she was? Unhappy? Unfulfilled? Yes. She’d felt that way for a long time. Had she agreed to come to this place with Cade because she’d been secretly hoping he’d fill that void for her? She didn’t want to admit to as much, but the ache in the pit of her stomach told her that was exactly what she’d been hoping for. Even if she now knew that was childish and unrealistic.

Glass clinking echoed from the open door into the kitchen behind the bar, and she remembered why she’d come here in the first place. Heading that way, she climbed onto one of the stools and waited until Ramon came around the corner.

His dark eyes lit when he saw her, and a wide smile crossed his face, showing off straight, white teeth. “You’re back. Heat too much out dere already?”

“Not exactly.” A familiar face eased the tension inside a touch. “I’ve just had it with people right now.”

Ramon chuckled. “Aye, I know what you’re saying. How about a rum runner? I make da best on da island.”

Any kind of runner sounded great to her right now. “Sure.”

He shot her a speculative look as he mixed her drink. “You feeling okay today? You looked a little tipsy when ya walked outta here last night.”

Tipsy wasn’t even the half of it. Her cheeks heated at the memory of that back room, what she’d seen and nearly done if Cade hadn’t had the sense to get her out of there. She lifted the drink Ramon set on the black napkin and took a long sip. Fruity flavors mixed with the punch of good strong rum slid down her throat to warm her belly. “Mm. That’s delicious.”

“House specialty.”

“How do you handle it? Working in a place like this? Doesn’t it get to you?”

He chuckled and dried a glass with the towel in his hand. “It’s not dat bad. Most of da people here are harmless. Just looking for a good time.”

“They’re fake.”

He put the glass away behind the bar and laughed. “What’s da matter? You have a fight with your man?”

Avery sighed, took another long drink, then rubbed her aching forehead. The alcohol was helping, but only slightly. “It wasn’t really a fight. And he’s not my man. At least not anymore. I guess we’re as fake as everyone else here.”

“Aye.” Ramon dried another glass. “Temptation has da power to rip apart some relationships. This place is not for everyone.”

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of the pocket of her dress. If it was Cade, she didn’t want to talk to him.

She glanced down and felt a burst of relief at the name on the screen: Lauren Kauffman.

She held up her finger to Ramon. “Sorry. I need to take this.”

He nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Alone, Avery lifted the phone to her ear and said, “You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice.”

“Things not going so well?” Lauren asked.

Avery and Lauren had become friends when Avery had bought the house next door to Lauren’s on Biscayne Bay. Avery didn’t get to spend as much time in Florida as she liked, but when she was there, she loved hanging out with her friend. “You could say that. Cade is here.”

“I take it that means the two of you aren’t getting along.”

The lack of surprise in Lauren’s voice put Avery on instant alert. “Wait. You
knew
Cade Blackwell worked for Aegis Security?”

“Of course I knew. Why do you think I sent you there? Avery, everyone who knows the
real
you knows the reason you’re not happy is because you’ve never dealt with your feelings for him. So, yeah. I sent you to Aegis so you’d be forced to deal with them. What happened?”

It was hard to be mad at a friend who had your best interests at heart. Though right now, Avery wasn’t wild about Lauren’s sneaky methods. She dropped her head in her hand again and rubbed her throbbing temple. “I hate you right now, you know.”

“I know. Tell me what happened.”

Spotting her drink, Avery lifted it to her lips and sipped again. She was drinking way too fast, but part of her didn’t care. A good buzz might help. At the very least it would take a bite out of everything that had just happened. She drained the rum runner then set the empty glass on the bar. “What happened is…everything. He’s amazing and frustrating as hell, and I totally messed everything up by giving in to temptation in this stupid place.”

“Dude,” Lauren said in shock. “You didn’t hook up with someone else, did you?”

Avery cringed. “No, of course not. What do you think I am, a slut?”

“Well…”

“Shut up. You’re the one who parades around in her underwear all day.”

“I get paid to do that. You’re the one who makes out with strange men on camera all day.”

Avery frowned. “And I get paid to do that too. We’re such ho-bags. No wonder I like you so much.”

Lauren chuckled. “So back to Cade. You told him everything?”

Avery sighed. “Yes. After the best sex of my life. Then I ran.” Her chest hurt again, so much it was hard to draw a breath. “Lauren, I thought we could come here and be all platonic and try to figure out what happened to Melody. But it hasn’t worked out that way, and now I feel guilty because I not only just totally fucked with his head, but I still don’t know what happened to my assistant. And I should be thinking about finding her and not Cade and the super-hot sex we had and what the hell happened between us last night and this morning and”—she drew a deep breath—“and dammit, I’m supposed to read for that stupid audition next week, and now I don’t even want the part. I’m not America’s sweetheart, I’m a total fake, and I’m on the verge of losing it. What the hell am I supposed to do next?”

A strongly accented “Fuck” echoed from the kitchen, in a voice Avery didn’t recognize. She jerked toward the sound, and the room seemed to spin, but she figured it had to be lack of oxygen from her tirade. Before she could ask who was there, a tall Jamaican man with skin the color of ebony stepped out of the kitchen and pinned her with a scalding look.

Ramon rushed out of the kitchen and moved in front of the other man. “Hold on.”

He glared at Ramon. “A security company? We’re fucked.”

“She’s not a problem.”

Avery’s stomach tightened. Her gaze jumped from one face to the next, and a sickening feeling shot to her stomach. This one not from what had happened between her and Cade, but from her own stupidity.

“Avery?” Lauren asked. “Are you still there?”

“Lauren, I—”

The tall guy jerked around Ramon and snatched the phone from Avery’s hand. He slammed it on the bar, then turned back to Ramon. “Not a problem? She’s told people about that missing girl. They’re here looking for her. We can’t let her go now, mon.”

Oh shit…
Avery’s adrenaline skyrocketed through the roof. Slowly, she eased off the stool and eyed the door to her left.

“We’re not taking her,” Ramon said, his voice more pleading than forceful. “You take her, and people will notice.”

“People will notice if she goes blabbing about what’s going on here.”

Avery quietly took a step to her left. The room spun again, and she had to brace her hand on the wall to keep from going down.

She’d had too much to drink. She glanced at her tumbler, nearly empty. But she’d only had one drink. She shouldn’t feel this tipsy after one drink. Colors fired off behind her eyes, and her head felt light. She took another step toward the door while the two men argued, their voices growing more and more muffled.

What was wrong with her? Why was she reacting this way to one measly drink? Unless…

“
Rahtid
. Get her,” an angry voice called out. Then a chuckle met her ears just as warm arms wrapped around her from behind. “You drugged her already? Good thinking.”

“I…I was just going to have some fun with her. I wasn’t going to do anything. Look, mon, you can’t take her. It’s too risky. The boss won’t agree.”

The room tilted, and Avery reached for the door, but her hand met only air.

Cade. She had to get to Cade. She had to let him know…

Her eyes grew dark. Sound seemed to fade away.

“It’s my call,” the second man’s voice said sternly. Then softer, until it was just a whisper, “I’ll deal with the boss later. Come on. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Chapter Eight

C
ade searched the entire property for Avery—twice—and couldn’t find her.

Swiping a hand over his brow, he swore under his breath, perched his hands on his hips, and turned a slow circle in the center of the resort, looking over every face.

“Where the hell did you go, princess?”

From the corner of his vision he spotted the bellboy who’d checked them in. He crossed the pool patio and caught him by the sleeve of his white shirt. “Hey. Sorry to bug you, Mario. You haven’t seen my wife have you?”