Blindfold: The Complete Series Box Set (53 page)

I tensed.

A black SUV slammed to a stop next to my side of the car, and Ash wrapped his arm around me, hauling me back against him. The driver was focused in the opposite direction, but the man in the back seat was looking at me.

And his gun was pointing in my direction.

Shit.

Vic’s voice shouted at me from the phone I still held clutched in my hand.

“I’m here,” I said without lifting the phone to my ear. Vic’s shouting ceased. “Somebody’s got a gun pointed at us.”

Vic’s furious cussing reached my ears much better than his tinny response from a few seconds ago.

“It's going to be okay.” Ash's voice was low and steady in my ear.

My heart was racing. The body’s fight or flight response, I told myself. I knew which one I wanted to go with. Flight. Flight sounded really good. But I didn't have anywhere to go.

“Uh-huh.” I kept my eyes on the man with the gun. He was no more than ten feet away. Would be hard to miss us at this range.

“Son of a bitch...”

Behind me, Ash tensed.

The men and women I’d already guessed to be undercover cops were running, some towards us, some towards the apartment building.

“Get down,” Ash said.

“What?”

He didn’t explain, just pushed me down and covered me with his body.

A bang nearly deafened me, and I heard Ash swear again. He shifted and I felt something hard scrape against my cheek.

“Are you hurt?”

His voice sounded strange, muffled, and for a moment, I was afraid he'd been injured. Then I realized it was only that my ears were still ringing. I nodded.

“I'm fine.” I pushed back against him.

“Wait.” He kept his hand on my back as he lifted himself up slowly. “Fuck,” he muttered.

I sat up, confirming I wasn't in any danger when Ash didn't immediately protest. As soon as my head cleared the window – or what had been the passenger's side window – I saw what Ash was staring at.

Another gun being pointed at me, at us. Except I was pretty sure that the woman holding it was a cop, and a familiar one at that. She didn't look like she was about to shoot us, but she didn't look entirely friendly either.

“Stay where you are,” she said.

“Like hell...” Ash started to move, but stopped when I reached over and put a hand on his arm.

“I think it’s okay, Ash.” I was surprised at how steady my voice sounded.

Behind the cop, I saw two men being pulled out of the SUV. The driver was swearing, but the man who'd had the gun – the one who'd shot at Ash and me – looked almost bored. I cut my eyes toward the apartment building again and saw Trask being led out in handcuffs.

“All right, rich boy, let's get you and the lady out of the car nice and slow.”

We did as she ordered, but as I stepped onto the sidewalk, my eyes narrowed, as much at how familiar she seemed as the way she was talking to us. It was something about the way she cocked her head, the set of her chin...

“Son of a bitch.”

A man's voice caught my ear and I looked toward it.

“Vic?”

The cop scowled. Without looking back, she said, “Gallagher, I told you I’d handle this.” Pointing at me and Ash, she said, “You two, my car. Now.”

Suddenly, it hit me. Holding. The people. The smells. The hooker–

“It was you!” I shouted.

Her eyes darted away from mine. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Vic’s hand clamped over my arm before I could press the matter. “Come on, Sis. You should sit down.
Now
.”

I glanced behind me to make sure Ash was following. I wasn't surprised to see that he was right there, his eyes finding mine. He wasn't going to leave me.

Chapter 13

Toni

“Give me a reason.” Marcum glared at me.

“Ah...well, I can tell you that I didn’t think we’d see anybody.” I shrugged.

My head was pounding with all that had happened.

Finding out that my troublemaking brother who used to get in trouble with the cops so often was now one of their informants...and with the FBI.

The ‘hooker’ who'd been in the holding cell with me hadn’t been a hooker. She'd been undercover on Vice at the time and had chosen to stay in the cell as soon as she recognized me. Because she knew Vic.

The FBI was pissed at Ash and me for nearly getting ourselves killed by being where we weren’t supposed to be. Marcum had told us to wait, but we'd taken matters into our own hands. We hadn't called her with what we'd found. If we had, we might not have been shot at. We might not have left the house at all because Marcum might have told us that my brother had helped her find the dirty cop. And that the dirty cop had given her the name Lily Trask.

My head was swimming, and all I wanted to do was go home.

Or maybe not home. Maybe somewhere I could just have Ash hold me.

Except I had a bad feeling I wouldn't be heading home, or anywhere with Ash, anytime soon. In the past two hours, I’d been questioned by the cops, by the FBI then more cops. Now the FBI was taking its turn again.

I hadn’t seen Ash yet, but I wasn’t surprised.

My experience with cops might have been limited to what happened with Vic and then my addiction to crime shows, but one thing I knew to be accurate was that they were pretty big on not letting the people they were questioning have time to talk. Once they’d let the EMTs look us over, Ash and I had been separated. He hadn’t been happy about it, either.

He’d actually argued the point for several minutes before I'd gotten him to listen to me. I'd known he could've called in some favors, but I hadn't wanted special treatment simply because Ash had money and friends in high places. Not even when it would benefit me.

Marcum must've been with Ash the last time the FBI had questioned me, because I'd spoken to an agent whose name I couldn't remember. Now, she was sitting across from me, and the expression on her face said there was a good chance Ash had done something to piss her off even more.

Placing my hands on the surface of the desk, I blew out a slow breath and then said in a soft voice, “Agent Marcum, look. I’m not trying to bullshit you and I’m not trying to stonewall you, either. Ash and I weren’t expecting to find anything.”

“Then why did you go?” she demanded. “And how the hell did you find Trask?”

I kept it simple. “We figured it out.”

“You figured it out.” Marcum crossed her arms. “You want to expound on that?”

Not particularly.

I didn't say that though. I was tired, not stupid. So, for the third time in two hours, I gave her the story, telling her about how Isadora figured out that there was a connection to her parents, how we'd gone through old photos and albums looking for clues.

And how we'd found one.

Then about Lily, and how Ash had started putting things together. Including the possibility that Trask and his associates were at the apartment building. When I finished, I fell silent and waited for more questions. It didn’t matter what she asked or how she asked it, my story wouldn't change.

“Why didn't you call me with it? I told you I was looking into it, that I had a lead. Do you have issues trusting law enforcement?”

“Well...yeah.” Shrugging, I crossed my legs and started to swing my foot. “But that's not the point. We didn't want to give you a false lead. Ash didn't think...”

A part of me insisted I be quiet now, but holding something back never went over well with cops. Marcum wouldn’t be any different.

“Ash didn't think we should say anything until we were sure. And, well, you obviously know there was a dirty cop, so...”

“So he didn't want to risk it,” she finished my sentence.

I nodded.

“But he trusted me.” She gave me a questioning look. “Why?”

“That’s personal.”

“Nothing’s personal if it involves an investigation of mine.” Marcum shook her head. “You two interfered with a federal investigation. I could throw both of you in jail. So...just give me a reason, Toni. Or in this case...
don’t
give me one.”

“He called because of me,” I said after another few seconds of internal debate. “Ash wanted to wait a few days, try to see if he couldn’t figure more out on his own, but I was too angry. They’d involved my family.” Tears burned my eyes now, and it took more effort than I liked to keep them back. I was so tired. “I told him if he wouldn’t do something, then I’d do it.”

Marcum’s ran her tongue across the inside of her teeth as she cocked her head, leaning closer as though that would give her a better view. “So he called. Just like that. Because you threatened to if he didn't?”

“Not exactly.” I drew in another breath and curled my hands into fists. “He saw me with my suitcase. I told him I'd leave too. That I'd never come back. That's why he agreed.”

The door swung open before she could ask anything else. A tall, thin black man with a silver-edged mustache peered in at us before beckoning to her. She nodded at me and then I was left alone.

Exhausted, I lowered my head to my arms.

I wanted this done. Even if they arrested me, as long as I had a flat surface so I could sleep, I'd be happy.

***

“For the record,” Marcum said, her voice flat. “I don’t want us crossing paths like this again. Ever.”

My head still spinning, I nodded at her. She gave a short nod in reply, and then leveled a glare over my shoulder. Turning to look at the object of her disdain, I didn’t notice her leaving. Then I just didn’t care because it was Ash.

I practically collapsed into his arms, relief and something much deeper flowing through me.

He cupped my face in his hands, studying my face. “Are you hurt? You’re not hurt?” he demanded, craning my chin to the right, then the left.

“I’m fine,” I told him. “You were there when the EMTs checked me out.”

I kissed him, rising on my toes to reach his lips.

He kissed me back, sliding his hands down my shoulders, then my arms and wrists and fingers. I broke the kiss as his fingers explored. There was little eroticism to the touch, and I knew he was searching for injuries I hadn’t told him about.

I leaned into him. “Take me home.”

“I will. Just...” He held me more tightly, clutching me to his chest. “I’m sorry, Toni. Dammit, I’m sorry. I was stupid. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m so sorry. I put you at risk...”

“Just take me home.”

He nodded and kissed me again. Then again, each more frantic than the last.

After the fourth one, I tore away from him and caught his hand. “Home,” I said, squeezing him.

It wasn’t until we got there that I realized I hadn’t really specified what I'd meant by home. But I was okay with his choice, so long as it meant I got to fall asleep in his arms. Preferably sooner rather than later.

But as soon as we walked in, Isadora was there with Colton, flinging herself at her brother while a blank-faced uniformed officer stood behind them, watching the reunion.

“You’re all right!” She hugged Ash, then me, and then Ash again. “I was so scared. The news said there'd been a gunshot reported, but nothing else.”

“It's okay,” he said, pushing her curls back from her face. “They got Trask and the men who were working with him. You're safe.”

She sniffled, and then turned away as she started to cry. Colton came up to her and wrapped her in his arms, guiding her away as he spoke softly to her.

Envy curled through me. And then Ash came up to stand behind me, his hands on my shoulders. He slid them down, then around my waist to pull me back up against him. I went willingly, craving his warmth and strength.

“It’s over,” I said quietly.

“Yeah. It is.”

A breath shuddered out of me.

In the circle of his arms, I turned to face Ash.

Cradling his cheek, I rose on my toes and pressed my lips to his. He responded by parting his lips and sliding his tongue across the seam of my mouth. The sensation sent a ripple through me as I opened my mouth, my arms sliding around his neck. And then, a moment later, I was gasping because Ash was picking me up, his hands cupping my ass. I wrapped my legs around his waist, groaning as his denim-clad cock rubbed against my core.

I didn’t even remember him carrying me from the foyer to his bedroom, but suddenly, we were at his door. He paused there to press me back against the wall. He yanked my t-shirt up, shoving it up until it was twisted under my arms. He yanked the cups of my bra down and lifted my breasts out. While he teased one nipple into taut firmness with his thumb and forefinger, he used teeth and tongue on the other, until I was whimpering and rocking against him.

Then he was moving again, taking me the couple extra feet into his room, where, for one unimaginable second, he stopped touching me. It was only for a moment, though.

“I need you.” He cupped my face as he stared down into my face. “I need you so much.”

Desire coiled tight in my belly. “Then take me.”