Friction (14 page)

Then he did exactly what she needed him to do. As he reached down to grab a boob, she caught his forearm midgrope and pulled hard, levering up with all of her strength to roll him quickly over and then rolling over on top of him herself. The little fat man was surprised, but then smiled widely, and those pudgy little hands started to travel.

She tolerated what she had to, leaning down over him, pretending to whisper something in his ear, and forced herself to kiss him—mouth closed—and she hoped to God the cameras couldn’t see that she was actually cutting off his blood supply with a sharp pressure from her fist on his carotid artery. He was limp in a second, completely unconscious.

Relief made her sag, too, and she laughed, assuming someone was listening in.

“Well, apparently that was too much for you, hot stuff. Not much for endurance, are you? I’ll let you rest a moment, and just see what toys we have on the table over here.”

She lifted off the bed carefully, extinguishing the light,
hoping that either no one was watching or they didn’t find anything about what had happened suspicious.

She stepped back reflexively as the door handle clunked down and one of Valente’s guards stepped in.

No such luck.

L
OGAN RUSHED
down the hall, checking what rooms he could get into, knocking on the doors of others, hoping to hell he would find Sarah behind one of them. She hadn’t been in the room where E.J. and Ian had last heard from her. He tried to remain calm, but the truth was she could be anywhere. She could be hurt. Or worse.

He heard a commotion at the end of the hall and slid to the side, sinking into a tiny alcove as he saw two big guys run down the passageway. With guns.

That couldn’t be good.

He heard more commotion above him—sounded like the troops had been sent in. Dammit, Ian hadn’t held off; Logan’s urgency to find Sarah tripled. He had to get to her, and anyone else being held hostage—they’d be in even more danger now that the ship had been boarded.

Dashing back out, he barely took the time to make sure the coast was clear before he ran down the hall shouting her name—why bother trying to be discreet when all hell was about to break loose?

Turning a corner, he slammed into someone, both of them grunting loudly at the contact as he stumbled
back, then poised himself to fight whoever was standing in his path.

He blinked once, disbelieving.

Sarah stood opposite him, also in fighting stance, her cheek cut, her hair wild, wearing nothing but some scrap of see-through material that showed almost everything there was to see. Not that she seemed to notice.

He blinked again, thinking he must be hallucinating. Then she grinned.

“I almost took you out, Sullivan. Should watch where you’re going.”

His voice seemed a little thin and surreal to him as he relaxed his stance, still staring. “I was coming to…uh…”

She grinned even wider. “Save me?”

He could swear he felt heat invading his face, which hadn’t happened in so long he couldn’t remember. He stepped forward, reached out and touched where her face was bleeding.

“You’re hurt.”

“A scratch.” She shrugged. “The second guy was a little more difficult than the first.”

“The second guy?”

His eyes traveled down the passageway past her shoulder, and he saw a man’s body lying halfway in and out of the doorway. The guy was big—and knocked out cold. Logan walked past her, feeling a little dazed. As he approached the room, he saw another man, heavyset and balding, lifting up groggily on the bed as if he had no idea where he was.

“You did this?” The incredulity in his own voice
shamed him when he saw the flash of hurt and anger in her blue eyes.

“I told you I am more than capable of taking care of myself. I don’t need anyone rescuing me, thanks.”

She whipped around and started down the hallway in the opposite direction, and he called out.

“Sarah, the ship’s been boarded by the Coast Guard. The place will be swarming in a second.”

She didn’t break her pace, not getting his hint, so he spelled it out for her.

“You’re pretty much naked, sweetheart. In case you didn’t realize, you’re about to give the U.S. Coast Guard quite a show.”

That stopped her. She looked down, and he saw her shoulders stiffen. He had to smile. She was so into the fight, the takedown, she hadn’t even thought of what she was wearing. She probably could have taken these guys out buck naked, and his admiration for her rose sharply. What a woman.

He couldn’t think of much else as she turned around and came back toward him. He knew with stunning certainty he didn’t want another man—let alone a boatload of them—getting the same view he was getting. Ever.

She walked up to him, crouched, and pulled the unconscious guard’s jacket roughly from his inert body, slipping into it. It was huge, but covered what was important. As she turned to leave again, he caught her elbow.

“Hey.”

“What? I need to get up there. Tell them about these guys. Don’t let them go anywhere.”

“Believe me, we’ll be found soon enough.” He ran a hand through his hair, confused, raw and so relieved she was okay that it was almost painful. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight.

“I’m sorry I came on like a condescending ass. It’s more than evident you don’t need anyone to save you.”

She apparently had no response to that, and just looked down the hall like she was wishing for the cavalry to show up, but they were still alone. Finally, she looked up.

“Thanks.”

Sarah wrapped her arms tightly around her middle. Logan searched for words and ended up sending a silent but threatening look to the man on the bed, sending him scuttling back into the room.

He was just going to reach for her, close the awkward distance between them, when Sarah’s face tensed in surprise, and she spit out a curse. Before he could ask her what was the matter, she flew past him, down the hall. Unquestioningly, he followed.

“Sarah, what…?” Then he saw.

Valente.

He was trying to make a break for it with two of his goons, each of them dragging a woman behind him. Rage filled Logan and he picked up the pace, intent on getting his hands on the man who had threatened Sarah and who might finally know what had happened to Mel. Mel was not one of the women whom the men were dragging after them, but maybe…

He caught up with Sarah, easily sprinting beside her
as they dashed after Valente. Their rhythms matched, their breath coming evenly, their attention targeted—it was close to sex, he thought, excitement and the thrill of the chase pulsing through his veins.

They turned the corner and saw Valente disappearing up a small staircase that must lead to a hidden exit. Logan bolted, covering the distance in a flat second. He busted through the pair of guards, sending them flying into the bulkheads, and lunged for Valente’s legs, throwing him violently down to the floor.

Valente came up swinging, as did his guards, roughly shoving the women they had been dragging along to the floor and taking on the three-against-two battle. In minutes it was over, the guards out cold on the floor. Valente tried to rise, his eyes widening as he saw Logan and Sarah looming over him. Sarah checked on the women, and looked at Logan with concerned eyes.

“They’re heavily drugged. They’ll need medical care fast.”

Logan grabbed Valente by the neck and lifted him, slamming him up against the wall. He looked back at Sarah with a question in his eyes. She met his eyes as she tried to prop the women’s sagging forms somehow comfortably against the bulkhead, and just said, in her heaviest Brooklyn accent, “I don’t see nuthin’.”

Valente swung, striking out hard, and Logan ducked the punch, shoving his adversary back hard against the wall, getting in his face.

“I’m going to show you a picture. It’s of someone I
know. If you tell me what you know about her, maybe I’ll let you go without any bones being broken.”

Valente’s too-handsome features paled as Logan reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a picture of Mel. Valente nodded, a smirk sliding over his sweaty face.

“Yeah, I can tell you about her. She was real good.” He lifted his chin, meeting Logan’s look with a sleazy glare. “
Real
good. Much better than these two put together.” He peered at the dazed women on the floor. “Had to have a sample of your friend for myself, if you know what I mean.”

Logan slammed a fist into the man’s gut, wiping the leering look off his face, and brought him back up against the wall, gasping.

“Where is she? What did you do with her?”

No matter what horrible things had obviously happened, Logan felt a small glimmer of hope that Mel could still be alive. Somewhere. Valente crushed that hope with his response.

“She’s gone. Had to get rid of her. She’d cooperate as long as we kept her loose—”

“You drugged her, too?”

Valente just smiled again, a vile light in his eyes. “Yeah, and she was a real party girl when she was stoned.”

Logan hauled off to slam him again, but his arm was caught midswing. Sarah’s strong grip held him back. She held his gaze with her own, urging him to hold back. To get control. He nodded, expelling a haggard breath, and she turned to Valente.

“You killed her, then?”

“Yeah. So what? One more worthless—”

Sarah let go of Logan’s arm and Logan hit him again—hard—before he stood back. Sarah put her hand on his arm, taking over.

“Well, pal, you are going to prison for a very, very long time. You kidnapped, raped and tortured several women, but this one—” she took the picture from Logan. “—happened to be a cop. Just. Like. Me.” She accentuated every last word with a jab of her finger into his chest, but held off hitting him herself. She didn’t want to get her hands dirty.

Valente paled as they heard voices emerging down at the far end of the passageway.

“Your word against mine.”

“Oh yeah, there’s a problem. But not quite. You just confessed. And we have two witnesses right here, did you forget?”

“So it’s the word of a bunch of drugged up party girls against mine.”

“Not exactly.” Logan chimed in, reaching into his pocket again, pulling out the transmitter. “You gave the nice policemen listening in back home a recorded confession.”

Valente’s face contorted with rage as Coast Guard officers ran down the hall, and Logan and Sarah backed off, hands up, identifying themselves. The lead man nodded while others hauled Valente away.

“We’d been alerted you were here—got a bit worried when we didn’t see you at first, but apparently you were busy netting the big fish.”

Valente was still yelling and struggling as they carried him off down the passageway. Logan sighed with relief.

“Catch of the day.”

“H
ARRY
, I
THINK YOU’RE SET
.” Sarah stood up from the terminal where she’d been sitting for several hours, making sure the inn’s computer was as secure as it could possibly be. She’d never told him it was Logan who’d been hacking into their connection from upstairs—no need for them to know that. But now no one would be able to mess with their online system, or they would have a heck of a hard time trying.

“We can’t thank you enough. Are you sure we can’t pay you? I can’t imagine what having a private consultant come in here and do all this for us would cost.”

Sarah shook her head. She had developed a weakness for Harry; something in his happy eyes reminded her of her grandfather. And Karen made the best pie ever.

“No problem. This is fun for me, really. I’m glad to help.”

“We did refund the charges for your vacation stay, at least. You weren’t here the full time, even.” He sat down at the computer station, checking over his new updates. “You never did say where you disappeared to.”

She nodded. “Family emergency.”

“That’s too bad. I hope everything was all right.”

“Don’t worry. We had a happy ending, more or less.”

“Good to hear. And you are staying for the party later, I take it?”

Sarah nodded. Ian and Sage were finally getting married—the engagement was official, the date set—and they had hired the inn to cater a party to announce their decision to everyone, as well as the news of their impending parenthood. Pretty much everyone already knew, but the party and the announcement would make it official. Sarah had a room for the night, as all guests did, and was looking forward to the celebration. Mostly.

It had been close to a week since they’d taken Valente down, and more than four days since she’d seen or heard from Logan. He’d contacted her before he left—it wasn’t like he’d left her high and dry—but the lack of contact, her uncertainty about their future, was bugging her. To say the least.

She couldn’t escape the fact that after what had happened on the boat, she’d been hopeful, for the first time in her life, that Logan could lay his past to rest and accept her work. That he would realize she was good at what she did, and that he would see they had something worth sticking around for.

They had both come to the relationship with pain and baggage, and she was ready to deal with hers if he could handle his. They could lend each other a hand and make the burdens lighter together.

She smiled, accepting a slice of pie from Karen before her host fluttered off to attend to some other guests,
and she watched Harry mess with the computer, intent on the screen, her presence forgotten. Computer addicts came in all ages, she thought, smiling, before her thoughts returned to Logan.

He’d gone back to face the consequences of his actions on his job. He’d wanted to make sure his partner received honors and a proper service, and he wanted to contact her family. Sarah felt a surge of tenderness nearly overwhelm her, thinking of how important those things were to him, how decent he was. He’d stayed to make sure that the women they’d rescued were put in good treatment programs, and that there weren’t any more of them around.

Going through that process with Logan inspired emotions she’d never realized she could feel, but she didn’t know what to do now. She was restless, anxious and impatient to have him back so she could see him. Talk to him. Touch him.

Her fingers itched to run themselves over his skin again. But if it was more than lust—love, maybe?—she didn’t know. She needed him to help her figure it out.

The pie was gone, and Harry was sucked into his spreadsheets. Late afternoon sunlight dappled through the window, and she tried to shake the lonely feeling that suddenly hit her. Maybe she was tired—she had time for a nap before the party.

“I’ll see you tonight, Harry.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

A few people were standing around talking, but Sarah just wanted to retire to her room to think and re
charge her batteries. As she reached the stairs, she was surprised to see Ivy through the screen door, lost in a hot clinch with…Jim.
Jim?
Sarah turned her head. She had tried her best to warn Ivy, but everyone was entitled to their own mistakes. But before her foot hit the first step, she heard the door close, and Ivy’s cheerful voice called after her.

“Sarah—wait. I’ve been looking for you for days! Where have you been?”

“Oh, I had to get back home for a few days.”

“Oh, um,” Ivy blushed prettily, and Sarah waited for her to continue. “I guess you saw me kissing Jim. You must wonder what that was about.”

“No, it’s none of my business, Ivy. In fact, I was kind of hoping I might see you, I wanted to apologize for being so hard on you the other day—”

Ivy was shaking her head vehemently. “No, really, you were right. But more than that, you made me get a grip and stop moping around.” She laughed, putting her hand on Sarah’s arm in a friendly gesture that seemed very adult. “You made me see that I didn’t have to take that kind of treatment from any guy.”

Okay, now Sarah was really confused. “But, you were just…”

“Right! I was so angry I went and confronted him, and really let him know how I felt, that no one was going to use me. And then we got talking—it turned out that girl was an old girlfriend, she came back to make a play for him, and that was what I saw. But he swore he was only interested in me. Really.”

Sarah felt the old cynicism rear its head, and squelched it. It wasn’t her place to rain on Ivy’s parade. “Well, I hope that’s true and it works out for you, Ivy. I really do.”

“Thanks. He’s taking me to meet his family this weekend—I’m so nervous. He’s never taken anyone to meet them before. And he said he knows he flirts a lot in his job, but he won’t do it anymore because I don’t like it.”

Ivy was literally glowing with happiness. It was hard to resist her excitement, and Sarah didn’t try, smiling back and reaching over to hug her.

“That is great news. But just remember to take care of you first, okay?”

“Absolutely—I’m so glad I met you, Sarah. I never would have been brave enough to talk to Jim or stand up for myself if it hadn’t been for you.” She blushed again, leaning in close. “And Jim says he thinks strong women are sexy, can you believe it? He thinks I’m a strong woman.”

“You are.”

Sarah smiled again, wishing Ivy luck and excusing herself. Finally she made it upstairs, feeling more worn-out than she had been before, for some reason. She was happy for Ivy, but even though many of her own scars had healed and the pain from her past had faded, new pains had taken their place. Feeling even more tired, she thought of Mel, of the hard road to recovery the two women they had rescued faced, and of Logan’s obvious doubts about their relationship. She wasn’t convinced of happy endings just yet.

Stepping into the room, she was struck immediately by a strong, sweet scent that made her mouth water. At the foot of the bed was a large, white wicker basket overflowing with large, ripe peaches. They hadn’t been there earlier….

Her heart hammered in her chest as the memory of telling Logan about her peaches and sex fantasy rose to her mind. Just then, he stepped out from the bathroom as if she’d wished him into existence. He was wearing only his jeans, the rest of him bare and freshly showered. He met her surprised gaze, grinned in a slanted, sexy way and threw his damp towel on the chair.

“Hi. I hope you don’t mind me using your shower. I just got in a few minutes ago. You looked busy, so Karen let me in.” His eyes communicated a bit of doubt, and he looked down, then back at her again. “I told her not to say anything—I wanted to surprise you. I hope that’s okay.”

She didn’t say anything—she didn’t know what to say—and just stood in place like an idiot, staring at his gorgeous torso, trying not to race across the room and jump him. What was it about a guy dressed only in jeans that could erase any coherent thoughts from a woman’s mind?

He solved the problem by pulling her into a deep embrace, swallowing her thoughts with a kiss so hot she was sure that her bones melted. His breath warmed her skin as he spoke against her mouth, barely lifting his lips from hers.

“I missed you.”

She smiled a little, unable to repress the happy flutterings his words brought forth.

“I missed you, too.”

She knew they had to talk, there had been so much left unsaid between them when he’d had to leave, but she was far too aware of the hot skin of his chest pressed up against her hungry, aroused body.

Leaning forward, she pressed a tender kiss to his jaw, and then his shoulder. She darted her tongue out to taste him and moved her fingers lightly over his back. He groaned and found her mouth again, his hands everywhere. Spinning her around, he kicked the door shut with his foot and eyed the basket of peaches with intent.

Her breath came a little faster at the thought of licking the sweet, sticky juice of the ripe fruit from his skin, and thinking about him doing the same for her, but she took a deep breath, getting her hormones under control.

“What happened in Baltimore?”

He sighed, resting his forehead against hers. “There’s nothing keeping me there now.”

“They fired you? Even though you solved the case?” She was indignant for him and he chuckled softly, running his fingers over her hair tenderly.

“
We
solved the case, and the bust went to your department. That’s fine with me—I couldn’t have done it without you.”

She wondered what saying that had cost him, and raised her hand to his face as he continued. “They let me quit, giving me my retirement funds and even paying me for lost sick and vacation time. It was the right
thing for everyone. I did what I needed to do. Made sure Mel’s reputation was cleared, and that she was memorialized with honors.”

“It must be so hard for her family, for you and everyone, just having her disappear like that. You know, we made sure none of those pictures of her will appear ever again, anywhere. And if they do, we’ll know.”

He nodded. “Thanks for that. It will be difficult for her family for a while. I plan to stay in touch, to help them out if I can.”

Sarah’s heart swelled, and she pushed back tears. Enough was enough—she wasn’t going to go all girly just because she had feelings for Logan.

“So what are you going to do now?”

He ran the back of his fingers down her bare arm, eliciting shivers of the best kind.

“Right now, I am exactly where I want to be.” He kissed her softly. “I know we have some things to talk about, but I want to look for work down here. To be with you, near you.”

“So my job doesn’t bother you anymore?”

He traced his finger along the light line on her cheek that still showed a very faint bruise and cut from where she’d been clipped in battle just the week before. His eyes darkened, and he sighed. “It bothers me. It will always bother me to see you hurt, to know you’re in danger.”

He felt her stiffen a little in his arms, and smiled, massaging her shoulders, adding, “But I’m pretty sure that I’m crazy in love with you, too, and I’m willing to
work on dealing with my anxiety about your work. You’re not only good at your job and capable of handling things yourself—you’re amazing at it. That makes me worry a lot less.”

The smile that stole over her face filled her eyes and, by extension, his heart. She whispered, “I think I’m crazy in love with you, too. Fighting with you—and being away from you—has really sucked.”

He laughed—he couldn’t have said it better himself. His heart hadn’t felt this full, this alive, for as long as he could remember. Loving Sarah breathed new life into him, and that was enough to combat the fear he felt about the risks she took in her job. He didn’t want to change anything about her, he realized, even that.

“And what about you? What are you going to do?”

He stepped back, walking to the window across from the end of the bed.

“I thought I might open my own business. I’ve saved a lot of money over the years. I’m not sure doing what yet—building boats, maybe, or some kind of construction. I went into law enforcement mostly to have some kind of connection with my dad, I think. And besides, if things go the way I hope, and we have a family someday—”

“Whoa, hold on there—”

He just laughed again. “I said someday, sweetheart, not right now. Relax. I’m just saying, having one of us in a dangerous profession is enough. I don’t need to be a cop anymore. One in the family will be plenty.”

She crossed to where he stood, shaking her head in
wonder. “I guess I just never really thought about having all that—family, I mean. It just blows my mind—hell, I never even thought about having this, someone like you, in my life. Let’s just take it one step at a time.”

“Sounds good.”

“So what’s the next step?”

He kissed her, walking her back toward the bed. “How much time do we have before the party starts?” he asked, reaching for a peach.

T
HERE WAS
no threat of rain as the party went into full swing, and E.J. was in high spirits. He was thrilled for his friends, watching Ian standing protectively by Sage’s side. She hid her irritation at his hovering well, E.J. thought with a smile. Love could make you tolerant of a lot of things that normally would drive you crazy. At least that’s what his mother had always claimed about his father—usually when he was driving her crazy. The memory was bittersweet. His dad had been gone several years now, but he still thought of him every day.

His eyes caught Logan and Sarah as they emerged from the building, two hours late and looking well and freshly loved—it wasn’t exactly a secret what had detained them. Sarah’s expression was luminous, shining with just the kind of happiness he’d wished for her.

He felt soft fingers at his nape and smiled, turning to his date. Grabbing Lori’s hand, he lifted it to his mouth, looking into her pretty blue eyes, and drew his tongue over her palm—delicious. He’d met her the day before, when he was registering a new car at the DMV. He’d al
ways wanted a convertible, and so finally he’d gone out and bought the sweetest little BMW 6-series you could imagine. Later on, he’d gone back by the office when Lori got off shift and had taken her to dinner to celebrate his new purchase, right on the shiny, curvy hood.