Falling for Her (15 page)

The drug dealer nodded his head as if he were one of those
bobbing
-
head dolls some people put in their cars. “Look, man, I don’t
want no trouble. I ain’t never seen shooting like that. Not many coulda
done that. I got things going on I don’t wanna mess up, you get me?”

That the man’s drug deals were his priority eased Jamie’s mind about having to keep an eye out for Roger. “I get you, and I’ll take you at your word unless you prove I shouldn’t. We good?”

Roger began to nod again, then his gaze slid past Jamie’s shoulder, and his eyes widened. Jamie knew before he turned what he’d see. “You give him one of your guns?”

“No, man,” Roger said, vigorously shaking his head.

Jamie spun and took off after the man dragging Sugar toward the parking lot. He dismissed shooting at a moving target, afraid he’d hit her. Nor did he want anyone to call the cops. The man was his, and he wasn’t in the mood to share.

Although she was gagged, Sugar screamed through the cloth while fighting like a furious tigress as she tried to kick the man in the groin with the heel of her foot.

Good girl, sweetheart. Slow him down.
As Jamie closed the distance between them, he saw the moment she realized he was coming for her. The panic in her eyes slowly receded as she locked her gaze onto his. She knew he would save her. Even as he put on a burst of speed, his heart, his brain, his body surrendered to Sugar Darling. She was his, and any man who thought otherwise would live to regret it.

If the man had a second gun, he would have used it by then, so Jamie leapt through the air without fearing he would be shot. The front of his body hit her first, and he wrapped his arms around both her and the man, forcing them to land on top of the bastard who had dared to touch her.

Once they rolled to a stop with him straddling her, and her lying over the man’s chest, Jamie pressed his hand hard over the man’s face, pushing the back of his head into the pavement. Then he turned his focus onto Sugar and winked. It wasn’t what he wanted to do. He wanted to kiss the fear right out of her eyes, but there was still a man needing a lesson before he could tell Sugar Darling—a woman he’d never thought to want in his life—that he had changed his mind. He removed the gag.

“I want to go home,” she said, then turned her face away.

That was all she had to say after everything that had happened? “Fine.” He pulled her up and handed her his car keys. “Here. Lock yourself in while I take care of some things.”

With a foot pressed hard against the man’s chest and his weapon aimed at his head, Jamie made a quick phone call to K2 and had a brief conversation with the boss. After hanging up, he jerked the man up, and at the point of the gun, prodded him to the back of his car, and then pushed him back against the trunk.

“You even sneeze, I’ll pull the trigger,” he said.

For the fifteen minutes it took Kincaid and Jake to arrive, Jamie kept his gun pointed at his prisoner. The questions he asked were met with stony silence. He knew how to get the man to talk, but Sugar was in the car, and she’d had enough trauma for one day. Kincaid and Jake arrived and hauled off the man.

Jamie slid into the driver’s seat and started the car. “Tell me everything.”

It was a command Sugar would not obey. Jamie could have been killed out there on the water because of her. That she could not live with. She would return to Rodney first.

“There’s nothing to tell,” she answered, keeping her gaze on the passing scenery. If she looked at him, she would see his disappointment in her. He wanted her to trust him, and she did. If she told him, though, he would go after her husband. She could live with knowing she was hurting Jamie by her silence if it meant keeping him alive.

A battle raged in Sugar’s head between herself and Hannah. When the other boat had come at them, soon followed by gunshots, the chance that she would be taken back to Rodney had paralyzed her. In her despair, Hannah had taken over, curling herself into a ball with the pillow over her head. Helpless. So damn helpless.

Even now, Hannah begged . . . for what, Sugar no longer knew. But Sugar was supposed to be fearless, willing to fight for the new life she had created for herself. Run or stay and fight? Because there was no doubt Rodney had found her.

She glanced at the man driving the car. He’d been stonily quiet since she’d refused to answer his question. She had so many regrets where he was concerned.

They turned into her complex, and he pulled up next to her car. “Go inside and pack enough to get you through the next few days,” he said as he stared straight ahead.

“I’m staying here.” There was no way she was going home with him. If Rodney somehow found her with another man . . . she didn’t even want to consider the consequences. What she wouldn’t tell Jamie was that she had no intention of staying in her condo knowing Rodney was close. She would check into a motel while she decided what to do.

He looked at her then, his eyes hard and determined. “No. You’re not. If I have to tie you up and take you where you’ll be safe, I will. You’re staying with Jake and Maria. It’s already been taken care of, and Maria’s expecting you.”

Funny that she was hurt he didn’t want her with him when that wasn’t what she wanted either.

After dropping Sugar off at Maria’s, Jamie headed straight for K2. He wanted in on the interrogation. He found Kincaid and Jake in the back warehouse area that they used to set up mock houses, or sometimes small villages, when they had an upcoming mission. Kincaid believed in being prepared in every way possible, and they would re-create the interior of a house or village if they could get that kind of information from an informant, then spend days practicing as if it were the real deal.

In the far back was an area that had two windowless cells for the rare occasion they needed to interrogate someone. Knowing that was where he would find them, he crossed the warehouse floor.

Jake met him outside the cell door. “Figured I’d see you here. You take Sugar to my house?”

“Yeah. Foolish woman wanted to stay at her place. Told her I’d tie her up if I had to.” He glanced at the closed door. “Learn anything?”

“Name’s Jax Harrison. Served time for armed robbery. Got out four months ago, and obviously didn’t waste any time getting involved with the wrong crowd. He doesn’t know anything. Says a dude approached him in a bar, offered him three thousand bucks to do a job.”

“Not even a name?” Jamie wanted to get his hands on the man inside the cell, even knowing he’d get nothing more out of him after Kincaid had been at him.

“No, but here’s the interesting thing. The man knew our guy. Knew his name and that he’d recently been released. Threatened to send him back behind bars. Said he had the power to do it.”

“Does that sound like a cop to you?”

Jake nodded. “Unless he was bullshitting our guy.”

They pretty much had nothing then. “How was he supposed to get back in touch once he had Sugar?”

“With a burner phone. Unfortunately, he claims to have lost it.”

“That’s bull. He tossed it somehow.”

“That’s what the boss is discussing with him as we speak,” Jake said, his gaze on the cell door with a look that said he wished he was in the closed room.

Frustrated, Jamie swiped his hand through his hair. “What’s Kincaid plan to do with him?”

Jake grinned, and it wasn’t pretty. “He’s to be our guest for a few days until he finds Jesus.”

At least Sugar would be safe from Jax Harrison. But who would come after her next time? The man who wanted her back, or would he send someone else?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

T
he next morning, Jamie poked his head into Jake Buchanan’s office, but Jake wasn’t there. Sugar hadn’t been at the receptionist desk when he’d arrived, and he needed to make sure she was okay. Ryan O’Connor had arrived and was in the operations room with Stewart. Jake would want to sit in with them on the operation’s final planning stages, but where the doggone was he? Probably with Maria.

Turning on his heels, Jamie strode across the open area between offices. Maria’s door was slightly ajar, and he raised his hand to knock.

“Normally, we fingerprint all our employees, but I’m going to have a momentary lapse and forget to do yours.”

Who was Maria talking to?

“I don’t want ya to get in trouble. Thing is, I think it’s time for me to move on.”

No mistaking that southern accent. At the sound of Sugar’s voice, Jamie lowered his hand. She would just up and leave without a word to him? If nothing else, that told him that he didn’t mean anything to her. He wasn’t prepared for the hurt that hit him square in the gut. Damn her, he thought, and made a mental note to put a dollar in the swear jar when he arrived home. Kincaid headed his way, and Jamie reluctantly moved away from the door.

He followed the boss into the war room and spent the next hour planning the extraction of the aid workers out of Syria. It was great to have Doc back on the team, and Jamie was glad to see him hit it off with Stewart. A part of him regretted he wouldn’t be going on the operation, but since he’d just returned from Somalia he wasn’t up on the rotation. The way he was feeling, he wouldn’t mind an ocean between him and Sugar.

As soon as they wrapped things up, Jamie headed to his office and spent the next ten minutes staring at his computer. Who was Sugar Darling? He typed her name and held his finger over the Enter key. Did he want to know? She obviously didn’t want him to know her secrets, and he didn’t understand why. Didn’t she realize he—all of K2, in fact—could help her?

“You daydreaming on the job?” Ryan O’Connor asked.

Jamie pressed the Delete key and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, and she’s every man’s dream woman.” The comeback was safe because his teammates knew Saint never mixed business and pleasure. Doc snorted, giving Jamie the reaction he’d wanted.

“Didn’t get a chance to talk to you before the meeting. It’s good to see you, Saint,” he said, taking a seat.

“Back at you. So, whatcha think?”

“It’s great to be back with the team. Can’t believe Romeo’s married. That was a shocker when I heard, but now that I’ve met Maria . . .” He waggled his brows.

“Don’t let her hear you call him Romeo. He’s Tiger these days.”

Doc had married his childhood sweetheart, and had never caroused with the guys. When she’d been murdered a year ago, he had opted out of the navy and literally disappeared. Jamie could relate to losing a loved one.

“I wanted to come to the funeral, but I was in Afghanistan. You doing okay?” Jamie asked when the conversation lagged.

Pain flashed in Doc’s eyes, and he glanced away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Subject closed. But his friend wasn’t fine, and Jamie wished he had something better to say about the loss of a wife other than “you doing okay.” If Sugar and Maria were having this conversation, they’d probably share all their feelings and hold each other while they cried. Obviously, Sugar had felt more comfortable confiding her troubles to Maria than to him. He hated that it bugged him.

“The receptionist’s the hottest thing I’ve seen in a long time. She single? Didn’t see a wedding ring, but these days, that doesn’t always tell the story.”

Jamie blinked, then mentally berated himself for showing too much. He blanked his face, hoping it wasn’t too late. “Haven’t a clue.” Not a lie since there was someone looking for her. If it was a boyfriend or husband, how was he supposed to know? He forced himself to remain still under Doc’s scrutiny.

His friend leaned his head back, stared up at the ceiling, and laughed. “Well hell, Saint’s got a thing for a hot chick. About time.”

Someone else had recently said “about time.” Jake, maybe. What was it with his teammate’s opinions of the women he dated? Before Sugar, that was, and she was an anomaly.

“So it’s hands off?”

Jamie opened his mouth to say he didn’t care if Doc hit on her. “Fucking A.”

Doc laughed so hard, he lost his breath, bringing on a coughing spell. “Saint.” Cough. “Said.” Cough. “Fuck.” He walked out, still laughing while muttering about needing water.

Jamie opened his wallet to see if he needed to run by the bank and get more ones on his way home. The swear jar was filling up fast.

“Hey, beautiful. I’m Ryan O’Conner.”

Sugar knew who he was, but if anyone was beautiful, it was the man draped carelessly over the counter. Ryan O’Connor, or Doc as the guys referred to him, had the most unusual eyes she’d ever seen and she could probably stare into them for . . . well, like forever. Green was their primary color, but there were streaks of orange in the irises, and she’d never seen any like them.

A knowing grin crossed his face and she reared back, embarrassed to be caught staring. Other than his eyes, he did nothing for her even as drop-dead gorgeous as he was. He wasn’t Jamie.

“I’m Sugar Darling,” she said, then clamped her mouth shut to keep from apologizing for her delay in responding. Damn, those eyes made it hard to think.

“I know, and sadly, you’re off-limits.” He winked, then disappeared back into the inner sanctum.

Bewildered, she eyed the door as it closed behind him. What was that all about? Who said she was off-limits? The phone rang, and after giving a confused shake of her head, she answered, forgetting about the strange conversation.

After putting the call through to the boss, she eyed the clock. Although there was an hour left to the workday, she didn’t intend to stay. First thing that morning, after tossing and turning all night, she’d made the decision to leave. Living with Jake and Maria for the rest of her life was out, so where did that leave her? Cowering in her condo waiting for Rodney to appear? No, it was time to introduce Nikki Swanson to the world, and for it to work, she would have to leave.

As for what it would do to her to never see Jamie again, she couldn’t even think about that.

Maria and Jake were on their way to New Orleans for a few days to celebrate their anniversary. She was supposed to stay at their house while they were gone, and they had assured her no one could get past their alarm system. Also, they’d arranged to have one of the K2 guys keep an eye on the house. But she wouldn’t be there.

Hannah had almost taken over in the cabin of Jamie’s boat, her fear so paralyzing that Sugar wasn’t sure she could recover. It hadn’t been easy to soothe the scared girl inside her, but she had and had taken control again. It had showed her, though, that she wasn’t strong enough yet to go up against Rodney. She had finally accepted that she would have to confront him one day if she ever wanted to be free, but she needed time to plan and prepare.

It didn’t sit well to deceive her new friends, but she didn’t dare tell them her intention to run. They would find a way to stop her, but she’d got it into her mind that the only way to keep everyone safe, especially Jamie, was to disappear. As for Jamie, he’d ignored her all day, and she hoped that he’d decided he’d had enough of her. The last thing she wanted to believe was that she’d hurt him in any way. Since he’d made it clear she wasn’t what he was looking for, it was easy to convince herself that he would be happy to be rid of her.

When the clock reached four, she slipped out the front door and got in her car. Her cell phone rang as she pulled into her parking spot, and when she answered, no one responded. Was that the sound of breathing on the other end? “Pervert,” she muttered and clicked off as another thought occurred to her. What if it was Rodney? That’d be just the kind of thing he’d do, call her and try to scare her. She dropped the phone back into her purse and hurried inside, locking the door behind her.

“Meep.”

“Hey, baby.” She picked up Junior and kissed his nose. “We’re leaving on an adventure. What do you say to that?”

“Meep.”

“Yeah, yeah. All ya care about is getting fed. Come on then.” She carried him into the kitchen and filled his bowl with food. She planned to leave sometime after midnight, but before that, she needed to clean out her refrigerator. Stuck on a back shelf was a tin of caviar she’d bought on a whim the day after Jamie had given her the first orgasm ever. She’d bought it, along with a bottle of champagne, as a kind of celebration. Since it was a few hours before she would be driving, she opened the champagne and poured a glass, then took the caviar to the table.

“Okay, Junior, my boy, let’s see what we think of this.” As soon as
the wrapping was off the caviar, Junior’s nose twitched, and he jumped
onto the kitchen table, his mouth jabbering like a cat on speed.

“You know you’re not supposed to be up here.” But she didn’t have it in her to care. “How do you eat this stuff, anyway?”

“Meep.”

“Hold your horses, kitty.” Not sure what else to do, she scooped her index finger into the little red eggs and brought them to her nose. “Ewww.”

Junior dug his claws into her arm and tried to pull the stinky stuff to him. “Meep. Meep.”

“Ouch. Wait your turn.” With the tip of her tongue, she tasted the caviar. “All righty then, not for me,” she said, and set the small container in front of her cat. Sitting back and sipping her champagne, she watched him scarf up the roe.

“Don’t expect that every day, kiddo. We’re about to go on the run, and I don’t think caviar’s in our budget.” She left him to his washing up and wandered into the living room, stopping in front of the pretend picture of her parents. “To the good old days,” she said, raising her champagne glass to them.

The only thing she’d taken when she’d run was her mother’s photo album. Some nights when she felt particularly lonely, she’d get it out and pore through the pictures, remembering a time when everything was perfect. If she looked at those old photos now, the ones of her mom and dad smiling at each other, or the ones with their arms around her, she’d probably start bawling and never stop.

How had she come to this? Oh, right. She’d made it possible for Rodney to commit a murder. Just how guilty was she in the eyes of the law? Hannah had suspected he planned to steal Mrs. Lederman’s money but had been too afraid to tell anyone. Besides, who would she have told? Her cop father? He was so deep in Rodney’s pocket that he was just as guilty as Rodney. Someone else in the town? Yeah, sure. They would have either gone straight to Rodney and ratted on her or would have been as scared as she about doing anything to stop him.

Mrs. Lederman had been such a sweet old woman, Hannah’s only friend. Sugar liked to think that Hannah would have found a way to stop Rodney if she’d only known just how far he would go to put someone else’s money in his pocket.

Maria was a lawyer; maybe she should ask her. But then she’d have to confess to her part in the sordid affair. As it stood now, Maria only believed Sugar was hiding from an abusive boyfriend.

And there was another lie of omission. A harsh laugh escaped, and she downed the remainder of her champagne. Although she’d love to pour another glass, she’d be driving her car in a few hours. Not only that, but one never knew when bad cop might come a calling, and she’d need a clear head.

If Rodney ever caught up with her, it would be bad. Very bad. Unfortunately, she knew him well, and even after two years, he’d still be royally pissed she’d found out his bank password and had transferred seven hundred thousand dollars out of it.

Oh, yeah, she’d pay dearly for that if he ever found her. Definitely time to run.