InTooDeep (11 page)

“Rena?” His voice held that note of
authority she despised. He probably didn’t realize she’d gotten into this
business because of him.

Oh he thought she didn’t know about his
little affairs, the secretaries he went through like syrup on pancakes. But she
knew about every single one of them. The last one had proven to be the icing on
the cake though. The slut hadn’t even bothered to hide behind the usual spate
of lies the others had told, but then, the others had left pretty quickly once
they’d discovered her husband had no intention of filing for divorce.

Not Tina. She’d hung on, determined to take
Rena’s place. Stupid bitch had been so confident. That had been the last straw
for Rena. She’d wanted to get Tina out of her husband’s life but, more than
that, she wanted payback for the suffering she’d endured.

Maybe she should have blamed her husband,
but if all those trollops hadn’t paraded themselves in front of him, shaken
their asses and worn those low-cut blouses, he wouldn’t have cheated. Those
types of women were the scourge of society, and they needed to be taught a
lesson.

And that was when Rena had gotten the idea
of using these women just as they’d used her husband. It had taken her a few
months to put her plan into action. She’d had to be extra careful to hide her
identity, to hire the lowest of the low, men who didn’t give a damn about human
rights.

Yes, Tina had been confident, right up
until the morning she’d awoken in the back of a van with her hands and feet
bound with duct tape. She’d brought a nice, tidy sum on the market and, with a
little extra investigation, Rena had made sure Tina had gone to a buyer with
some of the worst proclivities in the bedroom. She thought it was fitting
considering how the woman had targeted her husband, had thrown down the
gauntlet.

Rena had accepted eagerly, knowing she had
the upper hand. Not only did she work with some very powerful people, she knew
her husband well enough to know he always kept up appearances, and a man in his
position did not, under any circumstances, divorce his wife.

“How many times do I have to tell you this
wasn’t a separation? I needed some time alone. That’s all.” She hardened her
voice. “And I believe the words you used were ‘solo vacation’ when your new
secretary asked about me.”

“What do you want?”

“To tell you I’m coming home.”

“When?”

“Now.” Rena relished the silence, pictured
her husband’s face, the way his jaw would clench when he was angry. She
imagined it was clenched right now. And those dark blue eyes of his would be
blazing. “So I should be home tomorrow morning.”

“You left.” He snapped each word out like
he despised each syllable. “Why do you think I’d let you walk back into my
life?”

“Because I know your secrets and I stay
anyway.”

He sighed and the chair squeaked again,
this time much more rapidly. “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Oh, one more thing,” Rena lowered the
window, letting in a blast of fresh air. “I hope you were a bit wiser in your
choice of assistants this time around.”

“Don’t start that shit with me again. I
told you I’ve never cheated on you.”

“Don’t be silly, Ryan. There are many
things you can call me but stupid isn’t one of them.” She disconnected the call
and wondered if his new assistant was a blonde. They always tended to sell
better. Perhaps her husband’s steady stream of busty secretaries might not be a
bad thing after all.

After tuning the radio to a hard rock
station she cranked up the volume, the traffic not bothering her nearly as much
now. Though the muscles in her neck were a little tense, by this time tomorrow
she would be on the front porch of her house sipping a margarita, and all her
worries would fade away.

Hiding behind the protective shield of her
husband’s powerful position always reassured her, despite her abhorrence of the
man. And, if nothing else, she would enjoy watching him squirm a bit.

Chapter Eleven

“I should call in.” Hunt didn’t want to
move but he figured he should make a token effort to look like he gave a damn
about his job. Right now, though, forming a coherent thought wasn’t high on his
list of priorities, not with Carley tucked so close to him, her long, limber
body wrapped around his like sensual silk.

She murmured her displeasure and kissed his
neck. “You’ve managed to avoid your boss this long. What’s one more hour?”

He kissed the top of her head. “That’s a
good point but,” with a sigh, he disentangled his limbs from hers and rolled to
his side, “if I don’t get something to drink, at least, I’m going to
dehydrate.” Stuffing his feet into his pants, he yanked them up over his hips,
leaving them unzipped.

Carley propped her head in her hand and
watched him walk across the floor to the open doorway.

Hunt winked over his shoulder. “Be back in
a second.” Without giving himself time for recriminations, he hurried across
the carpeted floor. He’d made it into the kitchen when his cell phone trilled
again.

Caught off-guard, he jumped and bumped his
hip against the table, which sent the laptop sliding to the floor. He tried to
catch it but was too late and it bounced against the tile before finally
landing face up.

“You okay?” Carley called out to him with a
smile in her voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just bumped into the damn
table.” Squatting, he picked up the laptop and settled it back atop the dinette
table, the bright blue screen catching his eye. But it was the logo on top of
the screen that held his attention. The FBI logo.

“Hey, what’s taking you so long?”

Hunt didn’t turn around. He couldn’t even
if he’d wanted to. His temper began a slow simmer as he stared at the frozen
page, the error message plainly testifying to unlawful activity.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” He
shouldn’t be surprised. Thieves didn’t have a moral compass so hacking into the
FBI’s computers wouldn’t be something Carley would abhor. But Hunt didn’t want
to think she could do something so…criminal, which was kind of funny,
considering there was no distinction between criminals. You either broke the
law or you didn’t. Carley did…regularly.

Carley didn’t immediately respond. Instead
she crossed the floor to look over his shoulder. “It’s not what you think.”

He slammed the top shut. “The hell it
isn’t. You were trying to hack into the FBI’s system for more information,
maybe trying to find out something I wasn’t telling you.” That should have
pissed him off. Instead it stung like a slap to the cheek. Did she trust him so
little even now?

“It’s not like you told me a lot,” she shot
back, her tone as defensive as her posture.

“And that’s justification for breaking into
a government system?”

Her shoulders stiffened and the light of
battle ignited in her eyes. “Thieves don’t generally require justification for
what we do, Hunt.”

He whirled to face her and duty punched him
in the gut. How could he have forgotten his job, what he’d dedicated the past
fifteen plus years of his life to? Being with Carley changed him, made him
close his mind to what she was and how he felt about the choices she’d made.
Nothing like an icy reminder.

Turning his back to her again, he scooped
up the laptop, yanking the plug from the wall.

“What are you doing?” She stood in his way.
“That’s my laptop.”

“Actually it’s evidence, and I’m taking it
with me for processing.”

“And what about me? Are you going to take
me too?” Jamming her hands on her hips, Carley issued the challenge in an
emotionless voice.

“Was this your idea all along? Distract me
so you could hack into the system and get the information you need to go after
Franklin yourself? Was that your plan? Well I’m sorry Franklin’s death fucked
that up for you.” Anger pushed hurt out of the way.

“This isn’t just about Franklin. Those are
your words not mine. Someone killed him, and I’m betting that same person
killed my sister. If you think I’m going to let good sex stand in the way of
that, I’m sorry to damage your ego.”

Hunt didn’t take the time to assess her
words. Right now he needed space from her more than he needed to understand
her. Carrying the computer, he walked past her, returning to the bedroom for
the rest of his clothes. “You might want to think about getting out of
town…before the deputy director arrives.”

“Are you scared he’ll find out about me or
find out one of his agents has been sleeping with me?” That couldn’t be hurt in
Carley’s voice. Could it? No, she wasn’t feeling anything but regret that she’d
been caught, her scheme discovered. As much as he wanted to believe
differently, the laptop told him the truth.

He looked over his shoulder, saw her
standing in the open doorway, watching him as he shoved his arms into his
shirtsleeves. “Look, I get that this is personal for you, that you’ve got some
kind of vendetta now that Dani is dead, but do yourself a favor and get the
hell out of here. This isn’t your fight, it never was.” He held up one hand.
“And spare me the platitudes about owing this to your sister. She sounded like
an upstanding, decent woman. If that really is the case, I doubt she’d approve
of your rogue attempts to avenge her death.”

Carley moved so fast he didn’t have time to
brace for impact. Her palms slammed into his chest, rocked him back so hard he
stumbled and went down, his shoulder connecting with the edge of the dresser.
“What the hell—”

She stood over him, fury like he’d never
seen before in her eyes. “Don’t you dare presume to know anything about Dani.
You know nothing about her or me. And I’m sorry if my breaking the law offends
you but you knew what I was before you fucked me. It didn’t stop you though,
did it?” A tear streaked down her cheek and she quickly swiped it away.

Trying to ignore the tears and battling
back the blinding fury that had taken the place of generic anger, Hunt pushed
himself to his feet without looking at his shoulder though it throbbed like a
son of a bitch. “And it’s apparent you don’t have any desire to change what you
are.” He secured the buttons on his shirt and snagged his jacket. “I guess what
they say about leopards and spots is true.”

Carley blocked his path, her stance a
blatant challenge—she wanted him to try to move her. The light of battle in her
eyes told him she wasn’t moving without a fight, and that really pissed him
off. If she’d been any ordinary criminal he would have been too glad to give
her the fight she was looking for, but she wasn’t just a thief or a crook. He
wasn’t sure she was ever “just” anything.

She flung her hands open wide. “Well? I
know how eager you are to get out of here and report in to your superiors. So
go ahead. Take me down, Agent.”

“Shit.” He dragged a hand through his hair,
considered his options. He didn’t doubt he could move her but he didn’t want to
hurt her. Hell, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he could.
“Don’t you think you’ve gotten enough from me, Carley?”

“I didn’t take anything from you that you
weren’t willing to give.”

“You could have trusted me enough to finish
this for you.” Hunt didn’t know where that had come from. One second he was
trying to figure out how to leave the hotel without coming to blows with Carley
and the next he was pushing for answers.

He’d never admit it out loud but she’d gotten
under his skin. And knowing she didn’t trust him bothered him, really bothered
him. Why it should he didn’t know. He hadn’t even known her that long, but the
second he’d seen her standing in the middle of his bedroom that night, he’d
felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. Something should have told him then
Carley wasn’t the type of woman he could walk away from without a few battle
scars.

“This was never about trust.” Carley’s tone
had dipped low, the anger fading.

“Really? Didn’t you tell me you needed to
know you could trust me? Wasn’t that the reason for all the cloak and dagger
stuff?”

She dropped her gaze. “I guess I did say
that, didn’t I?” Moving back, she opened up a path for him to leave but he
didn’t move.

“You didn’t believe I’d tell you what I
found out, did you? That’s why you hacked into the FBI system.” He could handle
a lot of things in a relationship but lack of trust wasn’t one of them. The
thought caught him unawares. Was that what this was? A relationship? Hell, he
really needed to get out of here.

Carley shook her head and looked toward the
living room. “It doesn’t matter, Hunt. You’d better go.” She paused then added,
“Unless you want to arrest me.”

He walked toward her, stopped and took hold
of her chin. Their gazes met, locked, melded. For several agonizing seconds
their breaths united and Hunt felt something intense. Words couldn’t describe
the feeling but it was powerful enough to make him drop his hand and move away
from her.

“No, I don’t want to arrest you.”

She nibbled her lower lip and nodded. “I
suppose I should thank you for that.”

“We’ll finish this, Carley. We’ll find the
person or persons behind this ring and we’ll put them away. But you can’t be
involved. If someone, anyone, discovers who you are, what you are, you’ll be
behind bars and I’ll be unemployed before the week’s out.”

“I know.” Before he could move too far past
her she leaned in, kissed his cheek. It was just a soft touch of her lips to
his skin but his body reacted so violently he had to close his eyes to regain
focus.

He returned to the bedroom to gather the
rest of his clothes, cursing inwardly. Walking away after knowing her for such
a short time shouldn’t be this hard but if he was honest, nothing had been
simple since he’d met Carley.

Maybe it was best this way. He’d leave the
hotel and she’d leave town. They could write this off as a fling, something
that never should have happened. Carley had probably done him a favor by
hacking into the FBI system. Otherwise he would have continued to try to
convince himself they could have something.

Reality was a bitch, but cops and robbers
was a game. It didn’t work in the real world.

Carley fought back tears she shouldn’t be
crying as she tossed the last piece of luggage into the back of the Mustang
convertible. Whatever she thought she felt for Hunt didn’t matter now. Nothing
mattered now but finding Dani’s killer. And to do that she was going to need
more resources than she had at her disposal now.

The millions of dollars she had amassed
would be put to use seeking justice for her sister, and nothing was going to
stop her from doing that. She didn’t doubt Hunt would continue the case, but he
wasn’t willing to cross the lines she would.

She shook her head and tried to force
thoughts of him away. They couldn’t have had anything more but sex. That was
all he’d wanted, and she might have seen it from the start if she hadn’t been
so damn attracted to him.

Discovering her illegal access to the FBI’s
system only gave him the impetus he needed to walk away. He got to play the
part of the affronted hero and justify his leaving.

Carley walked around to the front of the
car and took hold of the handle, pausing to draw in a deep breath of the ocean
air. She shouldn’t feel so betrayed. It wasn’t like she could play the part of
the martyr in this story. Hunt hadn’t promised her anything and they’d only had
a few days together. That certainly wasn’t enough time to develop any feelings
for anyone.

But the little voice in the back of her
mind contradicted her, reminding her he’d gotten closer to her than any man had
in the past three years. She might be leaving him behind physically but she had
a feeling she wouldn’t forget him any time soon.

“Hello, Ms. Morgan.”

Carley registered the feminine voice
seconds before a sharp sting against the back of her neck brought her to her
knees. She tried to move, to cry out, but her muscles wouldn’t cooperate. She
couldn’t even open her eyes when she felt herself being lifted and then tossed
onto a hard metal surface.

As she opened her mouth to scream someone
pressed a cloth over her mouth. She smelled something chemical, something she
couldn’t identify. Then her world went black.

“It looks like my plans have changed. I
won’t make it home tomorrow after all.” Rena held the phone against her ear
while keeping one eye on the Carley Morgan’s prone body. The woman would bring
a fortune on the market…just like her sister, and knowing that, Rena hadn’t
been able to resist the temptation.

“I have to meet with a team out of town.
I’m flying out tonight and I don’t know when I’ll get back. But I’m sure you
kept your key.” Ryan’s bitterness only made Rena smile. She liked that he
wasn’t happy. After all, if he was happy then she was failing miserably as his
tormentor.

“So where are you going this time?” She
pretended to care.

“South Carolina. Charleston.”

Rena barely restrained herself from
hissing. What the fuck was her husband doing coming to Charleston? For a brief
moment she almost panicked but reason returned just as quickly. He couldn’t
know anything about her operation. She’d covered her tracks too well. Besides
that, Ryan didn’t exactly pay a lot of attention to her activities.

“Sounds like it could be something big. I
do hope you’ll be careful.”

Ryan snorted. “Can the sweet shit, Rena.
You and I both know you couldn’t give a rat’s ass if I were to drop off the
face of the earth tomorrow. And the only reason you’re even pretending to
express interest is because you’re concerned I might be recording this
conversation and should something happen to me you want to be able to come off
as the grieving widow and not the heartless bitch we both know you are.
Otherwise it might affect your ability to collect on the life insurance.”