Collision Force (11 page)

Thankfully they reached the end of the hall and the door with the ‘Circle Bar B’ handwritten sign taped to it. Cole ended his inner turmoil with a firm knock on the door.

Andi made eye contact with him for a split second and squared her shoulders. She was going to let him lead. Good.

The door swung open, but no one was in the doorway to greet them.

“Gun,” Andi yelled.

Her Sig was drawn and aimed before he could drop his stance and even think about drawing his Glock. Dammit.
Dangerous.
Cole reached for her, his fingertips brushing her forearm.

She glared at him without losing her focus. “What are you doing?” Andi snapped.

Cole jolted and unholstered his gun. He’d been about to grab Andi and shove her behind him. She was a
cop
—she knew what the hell she was doing.
Son of a bitch
, his reckless instinct could get them hurt or killed. Where the hell had the need to protect her come from? He cleared his throat and trained his gun at the guy pointing a big Ruger .357 Magnum back at them.

“Federal Agent! Drop your weapon,” Cole ordered.

Berto stepped forward, but didn’t lower the revolver. “Son of a bitch.” He shook his head and set the gun on the desk on the right side of the room, then backed away, both hands raised, palms out.

Without a word, Andi reholstered, slid forward and cuffed the bastard. He didn’t fight her—which saved Cole from pounding the shit out of him—but he wore a scowl the size of Texas.

“Are the handcuffs necessary?” he grumbled.

“Well, for all intents and purposes, you threatened to shoot me and my partner as a hello so, hell yeah, I think so,” Cole said, leaning on the edge of the desk as Andi pushed Berto towards a hideous, Southwestern style couch. The guy took a seat.
Good choice
.

“I wouldn’t have shot you. I just want to be left alone.”

Andi snorted and moved to stand on Berto’s other side. He wouldn’t be able to get away from them if he tried something stupid—they had him blocked in.

“I know why you’re here,” Berto said, sighing. “He’s long gone.”

Cole’s heart sped and he made a fist before he schooled his expression. He didn’t want to give Berto any indication of how much missing Carlo—again—made his blood boil.

“He was in bad shape, actually,” the gangster-turned-ranch owner said.

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” Cole answered.

“Where was he headed?” Andi asked.

“Look, lady, I—”

“Watch your tone with my partner,” Cole snapped.

Andi’s eyes widened and their gazes held for a second. Cole gave her a curt nod then looked away. Berto glared up at him.

“I don’t know his plans. I didn’t fucking want to. I just wanted him—and you—
out
of my life.”

“Do you have contact with Caselli?” Cole asked.

“Fuck you.”

“No thanks, you’re not my type.”

The conversation went downhill from there. Berto didn’t tip the scales of Cole’s bullshit meter. He was telling the truth.
Damn it.
The scum-turned-rancher had no idea where Carlo was, or what the bastard had planned.

Berto had given him medical supplies—legal drugs—and had sent him on his merry way. He didn’t even know what the asshole had been driving.

“So you and yours want to be left alone?” Cole asked.

Andi pulled the guy to his feet and started to remove the handcuffs.

“Yes, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I’m straight. I have been for three years.”

“If you want to stay that way, you’ll call me if the bastard shows up again.”

Berto nodded. “You’ll be my first call.”

“And I better be your last,” Cole growled. He didn’t need Berto giving Caselli a heads-up.

“I don’t contact my old boss.”

Cole exchanged a look with Andi. “But he does call you,” she said. So she’d caught his distinction, too.

“Tried to entice me to hunt Maldonado when he offed Big Rod and Jim. I told him to go to hell.”

“Well, you call me if you get intel
on any new visitors, too,” Cole said.

“He’ll come after me.”

“I’ll handle it. After all, I bet you have some interesting financials concerning the purchase of the Circle Bar B, not to mention that gun right there. We could haul you in on that right now.”

Berto’s shoulders slumped. He must have recognised that Cole was the lesser of two evils. “Bastard,” he whispered.

Cole flashed a grin. “Nice talking with you, Berto—I mean, Mateo. Good luck with the competition.”

The one-finger salute was all the answer he got. Cole laughed.

When they got back out to the Challenger, Andi shook her head. Cole paused, his hand on the door. “What?” he asked.

“Blackmail for information. Nice.”

“Ah, c’mon, you have to deal with guys like Berto on their level. Besides, it’s true, the IRS would have a field day. You know all his assets were bought with money obtained by crime. We’re talking about selling little girls here, Andi. For sex. He’s just like Carlo. Scum from the womb to the tomb.”

She winced. “All right.”

“And now he’ll call me. Problem solved, and we both get what we wanted.”

“If he’s so bad, why’s he not in prison?”

“Berto’s smart. He’s been a suspect in various crimes from time to time, but nothing’s ever stuck. I think he’s even smarter than Caselli, or he would have never managed to get out.”

“And why is that? Why the change of heart, desire for a change of life?” Andi asked.

“The downfall of many a man, from what I hear,” Cole said.

“What’s that?”

“The love of a good woman.” Cole shook his head, frowning, and Andi punched his shoulder hard.

He stared at the glare marring her gorgeous face for only a moment before throwing his head back and laughing. She was glaring even harder when he met her eyes.

Cole rubbed his shoulder as it smarted. “Damn, you have quite an arm on you. That hurt.”

“Let’s just go,
partner
,” Andi said. “We need to see if the attendant saw Maldonado and can remember what he was driving.”

He grinned and put the car in drive.

Chapter Nine

Andi tossed and turned. Cole was sleeping on her couch down the hall, and unfortunately, he’d invaded her mind. He was so close…

So much for one night, then making other arrangements. It was a comfort to know he was there, though she wasn’t about to delve into what the hell that meant.

Yesterday they had worked well together,
really worked
, and had even got something accomplished, though Berto—Mateo Mata—hadn’t been much help. Cole had called her
partner
more than once. It’d been the first time Andi had
felt
like his partner. The first time she’d had confidence they would find Maldonado and arrest his ass. The end was in sight. She didn’t dwell on the fact that Cole would leave when the case concluded.

She couldn’t get their kiss out of her mind, though neither of them had brought it up since it’d happened. The other night at the table, he’d leaned in as if he was going to kiss her again. Andi’s heart had sped up. Sully’s interruption had been perfectly timed. What would she have done if her colleague hadn’t needed info on Pete’s CI and Cole’s mouth had landed on hers?

If she closed her eyes, she could feel his warm, full lips moving over hers. She wanted that. To be in his arms, the heat of his body pressing against her. She wanted Cole to kiss her again, to hold her again.

Confusion and guilt warred with the desire that warmed her body.
Dammit.
What was wrong with her?

Letting her eyes slip closed, she was determined to sleep. Cole popped into her mind again.
Leave me alone.
Andi didn’t
want
to remember, didn’t
want
to feel the way she was already starting to. She still loved Iain.
But Iain is gone
,
a voice reminded her. She ignored it and squeezed her eyes tight, her heart heavy.

Cole had…awakened her in ways she’d assumed were a part of her past. She’d always been practical. It was just a part of her makeup. Iain had been her love, her husband, her chance at happiness. A one-time thing.

The more time she spent with Cole, the more she…wondered. What if there was such a thing as a second chance…

What the
hell
was she thinking?

He made her feel like a woman, yes. But physical desire, need and sex—that was one thing. The fact that Cole could stir her with only a look didn’t mean there was ever a chance for more.

She didn’t want any of it anyway. Sleeping with Cole—
God, did I really just go there?
No. Way.
Sleeping with Cole would only bring complications. Even if sex after three years might be fantastic.

Who was she kidding—he would be fantastic.

Men like Cole didn’t do relationships. Women like Andi didn’t do
without
them. They’d be at an impasse before they could start.

Andi groaned aloud and punched her pillow. It couldn’t happen. It
couldn’t
happen. It just…

“Andi?” Cole called her name, and knocked firmly on her bedroom door.

She froze, then slapped the touch lamp on her nightstand, grabbing the book she had started reading ages ago. Too late, it occurred to her he would have been able to tell her light had been off.

“Nice,” she whispered.

Yanking the errant spaghetti strap of her light-blue tank top back up, she bit back a gulp. She fidgeted in her bed, moving her comforter to make sure her midriff wasn’t exposed.
Calm down.
He hadn’t come to pounce on her, after all. “Come in,” she called.

“Reading in the dark?” Cole asked, a half-smile playing at his kissable lips. He looked at her, then did a double take.

Heat crept up her neck. “Busted,” she whispered, looking everywhere but at his face.

Cole chuckled and Andi smiled. What was this man doing to her?

He sat on the edge of the bed without asking permission. Andi’s stomach somersaulted. He was close enough to touch, but she maintained her grip on the paperback until her fingertips went numb. “Did you need something?” she asked, cringing internally at the rush of her words.

“Well, I just finished brushing my teeth, and I heard you…groan, or something. It sounded like you were in pain.” Cole’s tone and expression were concerned. Her cheeks burned even more. Oh, he had
no
idea. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Um… I… I’m fine,” Andi managed. So much for an
internal
struggle.
God, please
don’t let him mention how red her face must be.

She glanced at him, going for nonchalance. He was wearing a white, ribbed sleeveless T-shirt that clung to every muscle of his chest and stomach, and dark grey sweatpants that rode low on his hips.
Don’t stare,
she chanted in her head. What would Cole do if he realised how seriously attracted to him she was?

“I wouldn’t think you read those,” he said, gesturing to her book.

Thank God she had something else to focus on. The paperback was a historic Scottish Highlander romance novel that Andi didn’t let leave the house. The guys at work would never let her hear the end of it.

“It’s about history.” She cringed at her defensive tone.
Ouch.

Cole laughed, his dimples flashing. “It’s about sex.”

She looked down at the cover. A kilt-clad warrior with long dark hair brandished a sword, displaying an impossibly muscled naked chest. Andi made eye contact with Cole before letting her eyes graze over his chest. He seemed just as impossibly muscled as the model depicting the hero of her book.

“It’s about love,” she said finally.

Cole laughed again. “Regardless, I wouldn’t think you’d read something like that.”

“I’ve always loved romance novels, and Scotland, to be honest.” Why the hell had she admitted her addiction to romance novels? Cole wouldn’t let her live
anything
down.

Thinking of Scotland reminded Andi of Iain. She sighed. “It’s all Iain’s fault, really,” she whispered.

 Cole held her gaze silently and she flashed a smile. She braced herself for the tell-tale heartache that always hit when she thought about Iain, but instead, Andi’s stomach fluttered.

“Iain read romance novels?” Cole’s grey eyes were wide.

“No,” Andi said, shaking her head and laughing at the disbelief in his expression. “We met at the bookstore.”

“Ah…”

“Iain was from Scotland, accent and everything, even though he’d lived in the US since he was about twelve. One day, I was looking at the new releases in romance paperbacks, and one caught my eye like this one, a Highlander romance. I was scanning the back when I heard a voice in my ear.” He’d startled her, really. When she’d turned around, she had been confronted with a tall, extremely good-looking redheaded man with deep brown eyes.

Andi hadn’t known what to say. She didn’t often get hit on, especially at the
bookstore.
And Iain was so handsome.

“What did he say?” Cole asked. He leant forward.

“He told me if I wanted to experience a real Scot, to put the book down and go to dinner with him.”

Cole grinned. “Did you say yes?”

“Hell no. I told him he was pompous and presumptuous, and walked away. I don’t know why, really. He’d shocked me, I guess. Iain only laughed and told me I didn’t know what I was missing.”

Cole shook his head, his eyes dancing. “Obviously, you changed your mind.”

“Well, when I got to work the next morning—I wasn’t a detective then, I was a patrol officer on the day shift—I got the surprise of my life during briefing.” Andi smiled. God, she’d been so mortified. But she was enjoying the time with Cole. Talking about Iain didn’t hurt at all. Sharing a lighter memory warmed her heart.

“What happened?” He inched closer and Andi’s heart stuttered.

She had to concentrate on his question. “Chief Martin introduced two new patrol officers. One of whom was Officer Iain MacLaren. I wanted to melt into my seat. He recognised me immediately, of course, and winked. He
winked
at me.” Andi shook her head, grinning.