Dangerous Times (9 page)

“
You are a grade-A asshole.”

Grinning, Vincent lobbed the pillow back at him. “Yup, but I’m also right.”

He was right, not that Shawn would admit it to the cocky fuck. Sighing, he pushed a hand through his hair and tugged on the strands before letting his hands drop to his lap.

“
Where is the woman in question, anyway? I figured you’d have her glued to your hip.”

Shrugging, Shawn slouched in the chair. “Rhonda’s keeping watch over her. She had a portrait session to do today. And Rhonda felt a need to have a ‘girl talk’ with her.”

“
Oh.” Vincent shook his head and cringed. “Dude, that’s never a good thing. Women should never have an undetermined amount of time to just chat. That’s when shit happens and they come up with their evil plots against the male population.”

Frowning at his friend, Shawn shook his head. “Do you even listen to the shit you spout?”

“
Of course, I’m fucking brilliant.” Vincent grinned.

Rolling his eyes, Shawn let his head drop onto the back of the chair. “So, what exactly do they plot during these chats?” Despite himself, he was curious to hear whatever Vincent came up with. He was a conspiracy nut. But, in this case, it was about women instead of the government.

“
It’s obvious. How you can’t see it, I just don’t understand. They know ways to put a man on his knees. To make his mind complete and total mush. And, of course, the big one, getting him to agree to anything they say or want. All stuff a guy wouldn’t normally agree to. It’s a conspiracy, man,” Vincent said, in not quite a whisper.

“
Right,” he said, drawing the word out. “And how do they go about this exactly?”

“
Seriously?” Vincent huffed out a breath. “Sex, my man, sex. They know that when they have a guy by the balls, he’s not thinking with his big brain. You know, the one that keeps him from agreeing with her insanity? They know that if you’re thinking with your dick, then they’ve got you.”

“
Ah, I see,” he said, rolling his eyes when Vincent wasn’t looking. Sometimes, he really worried about the man.

“
You don’t believe me, but you will, you’ll see.” Grinning, Vincent let out a cackle and shook his head. “You’re doomed, doomed,” he said, his voice deepening and making the word pretty damned creepy.

****

“
Where is she?” he asked. Drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair, he squinted at the screen.

“
Inside, somewhere in the back. I tried to get a look but they were in session, so I didn’t have much of a shot. And she’s got the pit bull with her today,” Collin reported. The pit bull he referred to was that bitch, Rhonda Delacour. A hanger-on that used Tamara for her own purposes. The bitch had also kept Tamara from him. Unacceptable.

“
Son of a bitch.”. Pounding his fist down on the chair, he got up and began to pace around the room. “Have you even managed to get a look at her? Any idea where she’s been holed up?”

“
Got a quick glance when she went in, it was by the back door and the pit bull was keeping watch, so I couldn’t get close. And no, Marty was trying to follow them from her place last night, but an accident a few blocks over screwed him up. Everyone had to get down to one lane and by the time he’d crawled through, they were long gone.”

“
Has Jason managed to find anything out on the plate yet?” he demanded.

“
He’s got his guy at the DMV working on it. His guy said he would likely had to wait until after hours, when the supervisors logged on so he could use one of their ID’s to hide what he was doing. We should know around five or so,” Collin told him.

“
Good, good,” he nodded, stopping his pacing. “All right, stay at the studio until they leave and follow them. Maybe you’ll get lucky and that bitch will take you to where they are stashing Tamara.”

“
Copy that. I’ll check in when I have movement on my end.”

Hitting the release button on his phone, he collapsed back into his chair. This whole thing should have been over already. Instead, he was being kept from her. Again, unacceptable. Picking up the framed picture, he traced a finger down the glass. “Soon, my love. Soon we’ll be together forever.”

Chapter Eleven

“
Why do you keep checking the mirrors, Rhonda?” Tamara asked. She’d been watching her friend for a while now and noticed the very specific pattern.

“
Because, I’m nearly a hundred percent sure we have a tail.”

“
Seriously? I thought that shit only happened in movies.”

The look Rhonda shot her spoke volumes. None of them very complimentary. “Where the hell do you think they get the crap that they blow out of proportions for movies?”

Shrugging, Tamara grinned. “I dunno. Overactive imaginations and too many late nights running on energy drinks and junk food, maybe?”

Rhonda barked out a laugh. “That too, but from real life was the actual answer, smart ass.”

“
Sorry,” she said, not sorry at all. “So, we have a tail. Is it one of the C&M guys?”

“
Doubtful. They would have told me if they were giving us a tail. Professional courtesy and all that. No, I think this is something nefarious.”

Tamara stared at her. “Seriously? Nefarious? Who the fuck uses that word?”

“
Obviously, I just did. Didn’t you hear me?” Rhonda had a definite smirk on her face. Hitting a button on her steering column, she spoke when the system asked her what it wanted. “Call Shawn Camden.”

Tamara felt her brows shoot up her forehead.

“
Camden,” Shawn’s deep voice came over the line.

“
Rhonda here,” her friend identified herself. “I hate to ask and, honestly, I already have a good idea about your answer, but I’m asking anyway.”

“
Okay, shoot,” he said, his voice sounding tense now.

“
Do you have any C&M staff following us around?” Rhonda shot her a look.

“
No, I do not have any C&M staff following you around. Where are you? I’m going to get someone out there to try and trap this asshole.”

Rhonda gave them the cross streets as they passed through an intersection.

“
All right, I know the area. Keep heading north until you get to the mall. Hang a left there. I’ll have my guys drop in behind and in front of you and then maneuver to trap him between them. Any details on the vehicle?” Tamara could hear him moving around. A door opened and then she heard a muffled shout before the line cleared up again.

“
Silver two-door, new model sports car. Can’t get the make from here, but the lights look like it might be a Camry. Don’t hold me to that. Whoever it is, he’s careful to stay back about six car lengths and keeps his moves to switch lanes after I do really delayed. Single occupant, looks to be wearing a hoodie. Can’t tell you for sure if it’s a man or a woman, but I’m guessing a guy just from the space filled.”

“
Got it. I have Vincent coming, he’ll be in a big black F-150 and then I also have Bonita and Pauline coming in a red Fiat. Vincent will be in front of you and the ladies will slip in behind the guy. Once Vincent slides around you to cover your ass, get out of there,” Shawn said.

“
Trust me, I’m all over it.”

“
Tamara, how you doing, darling?” he asked gently.

Blinking, she smiled and shrugged, which was dumb, he couldn’t see her. “I’m good. Rhonda knows what she’s doing, so I’m just along for the ride. And he hasn’t really done anything, so I’m okay.”

“
Good,” he said. She could hear his sigh of relief. “Where are you at, Rhonda?”

“
The mall is coming up in about three blocks. Five minutes at most, depending on that light, and we’ll be heading west.”

“
Got it,” Shawn said. Again the phone muffled for a time. “They are close now, Rhonda. If you can, buy us a little more time. We need ten minutes to get in place.”

“
Can do,” she told him. She switched lanes and put them behind a slow moving truck. The driver had a map out, looking around, obviously lost.

For the next ten minutes, the line was open but pretty quiet. The only sounds were from Shawn talking to someone else.

“
Passing the end of the mall parking lot,” Rhonda reported. “And I have a big and very black F-150 on my left. No sighting of the little red Fiat, though.”

“
The ladies are behind him. Speed up a bit if you can so that Vincent can get behind you. Once he’s in place, take the first right you can that has a bit of cover so your tail won’t spot you peeling off. Then get your asses to the C&M offices,” Shawn said sharply.

Rhonda looked ready to say something, but Tamara, laying a hand on her friends arm, shook her head slightly.

“
Got it,” Rhonda said.

Tamara just knew her friend was grinding her teeth.

Grinning, she looked out the passenger side-window and waited. It really didn’t take long before Vincent was behind them and Rhonda found a good corner to turn off onto. A nice big truck blocked the entire view of them turning.

Twenty minutes later, they were inside C&M and Shawn was there to scoop her up into his arms. Hugging him close, she let him usher them up the stairs and into his office. Once the door was shut, he loosened his hold a little.

“
Thank you for looking after her, Rhonda,” he said, his voice gruff.

Looking up at him, Tamara saw fear in his eyes. Touching her hand to his cheek, she went up on her toes to press a kiss to his jaw. “I’m okay,” she whispered.

He gave a jerky nod, his hold tightening around her, before loosening enough for his hand to drop to her waist.

“
Okay, as much as I want to stick around and watch the two of you make kissy faces at one another,” Rhonda said, “what’s the scoop on your people?”

“
The driver clued into the fact he’d lost you and took off, parked in the mall and then got lost in the crowd. They have the car and are sitting on it for the boys in blue to come and dust it for prints,” Shawn said.

“
Damn it!” Rhonda snapped, before pacing around his office. Stopping, she grumbled. “I’m going to head over there and make sure the techs get something to nail this fucker with.”

“
Thank you, Rhonda,” Tamara called after her friend as she took of out of the office. Wincing when the door slammed shut, she shot Shawn a look. “Sorry about her, she tends to get bent when people with nefarious intentions are on her ass.”

“
Nefarious?” he asked.

“
Her word of the day apparently,” she said with a smile.

Snorting, he pulled her close to him. Closing her eyes, Tamara felt him rest his cheek to her hair. Just holding him was enough right then. Everything would be fine. Shawn would ensure it was. Rubbing her hand over his back, she lifted her face. “I think you need to kiss me,” she said softly.

She saw the smile curving his lips when he lifted his head to stare down at her. “Yeah?” he asked, the smile growing.

“
Absolutely, yeah,” she nodded. Reaching up, she wrapped her hand around his neck and drew him down, her lips pressing to his.

Then he took over, and it was everything she wanted and so much more.

Pressing up on her toes, she wrapped her other arm around his neck. Pushing a hand into his hair, she sucked on his tongue, his taste addictive to her. It made her crave him more.

When his hands landed on her ass, she moaned into his mouth. The answering squeeze on her ass had her rocking back into the hold and then forward against his cock. His very hard and prominent cock.

Shuddering, she fisted his hair and whimpered quietly. She wanted more, right then, and to hell with where they were. Tightening her hold on his shoulders, she hopped up. And, just as she’d known he would, he caught her and let her wrap her legs around his waist.

Then her back was up against a wall or the door. Whatever it was, it was hard and unyielding. Absolutely perfect for him to press in closer and grind his cock to her jean covered pussy. Letting out another whimper of pure need, she tightened her legs around his waist.

They’d been building toward an explosion. She knew it, she knew he knew it, and damn it, she wanted the man in her bed again. Hell, fuck the bed. She just wanted his cock buried inside of her as he screwed her until she forgot her own name.

Unfortunately, the universe had other plans. A ringing phone pulled Shawn back. Licking her lips, Tamara stared up at him as she panted, her breasts rubbing over his chest with each breath she took and released. “You’d better get that,” she said, her words sounding breathless even to her own ears.

He nodded slowly, his gaze dropping to her mouth and then coming back to meet her eyes. Slowly, he set her down on her feet before storming across the room to snatch up the phone. His snarled, “What?” made her feel better. He wasn’t any happier about the interruption than she was.

Good.

Chapter Twelve

Opening the door to his house, Shawn followed Tamara inside. After shutting the door, he disarmed the security system and then reset it. Once he locked up, Shawn trailed after his woman.

The phone call had been an update from the cops. They’d gotten a number of prints from the vehicle, but it was a rental so it would be a while before they could figure out who’d last been driving it. Rhonda had also gotten on the line to let him know she’d be riding the tech’s asses until they had answers.