Renegade (Elite Ops 5) (5 page)

"God, don't do this to me." Gina shook her head, her dark blond hair swaying just below her neck as she shook her head.

She was a pretty woman, Mikayla thought. She'd often thought Gina Foreman

was too pretty for her portly, overbearing husband.

"Mrs. Foreman, I need answers," Mikayla whispered, her fingers curling into a fist as she pressed them against her stomach. "I have to know why so many people would lie for Maddix Nelson."

"And I can't let myself believe you," Gina said, refusing the request, though her voice was thick with tears now. "I can't let myself believe that what you say is true, Miss Martin. Because if it is, then it means not just Maddix Nelson, a man I've trusted for years, is a murderer, but it means my boss and other people I respect are lying for him.

And that I just can't believe. I know them. I don't know you. Good-bye."

The door closed in her face.

Mikayla raked her fingers through her hair as she turned and stepped from the

porch, her teeth gritting at another dead end.

She'd put off coming to talk to Eddie Foreman's wife for three weeks after the

funeral, hoping that in that time Gina Foreman would begin questioning the excuses Maddix Nelson and his friends had given her.

The lies,
Mikayla amended. There could be no excuse for murder, or for covering it up.

Moving back to her Jeep, she wanted to stomp her feet, scream. Even her family

argued with her over the questions she asked, the people she had tried to talk to in the past weeks.

Her parents were beside themselves with worry, and she couldn't blame them. It

seemed as though the entire city council was covering for Maddix Nelson rather than trying to bring him to justice.

The police force patronized her if she even tried to question them. They followed

her at times, watched her, though as of yet no one had threatened her. She had a feeling it was a good thing she strictly obeyed traffic laws or she would be paying a hell of a lot of fines.

She was expecting trouble soon, though. She was surprised it hadn't happened yet.

The police were actually all very polite, cool, and apparently quite dismissive, but she could see the promise in their eyes. Mikayla knew she would never be able to depend on them if she needed protection.

As she moved around the front of the Jeep, her head lifted at the sound of a motor throbbing up the street. The wicked black Harley was cruising down the street, pulling 24

attention to the extra tall, broad form of the man riding it.

His entire face was shielded by a black helmet, but nothing could hide the

incredible body covered from shoulders to feet in matching black leather.

It was almost enough to steal her breath. It wasn't every day a woman saw the

perfect male form, but if this wasn't the perfect male form, then it didn't exist.

Long muscular legs, broad shoulders, powerful arms, and, if she wasn't very much

mistaken, a corded, muscular flat stomach beneath the snug black jacket he was wearing.

Wow.

She had only seen men like him in magazines.

If only she had seen him before her life had gone to hell four weeks ago. Before

she had seen a man murdered and realized that her word meant nothing in the town she had been raised in, the town she loved.

There were days that she wondered if her life would ever be the same again.

Nothing seemed to matter anymore but justice. And as her friend Deirdre told her daily, she was searching for justice for someone she didn't even know.

Or was she?

There were days she wondered if she wasn't searching for justice for herself as

well.

No one believed her. No one believed she had seen Maddix Nelson shoot and kill

his foreman that evening. Oh, they were nice enough about it. Most people were quite good at patronizing her.

Perhaps it was someone who resembled him, they said.

Had Mikayla been drinking? Doing drugs? Those questions had been asked often.

Her lips tightened as she jerked her attention from the fine specimen on the

motorcycle and pulled herself into her Jeep.

She didn't have time for a man. She didn't have time to fantasize or to long for one right now. A man couldn't help her. Until Mikayla found out why everyone was lying to her, no one could help her.

Because nothing else mattered.

She wasn't a liar and she wasn't deranged, and it seemed as though it was up to

her alone to prove it.

25

Chapter 2

Nik tossed the black helmet to the bed before striding to the refrigerator just

inside the door of his hotel room. The small suite wasn't luxurious but clean and

comfortable.

"What have you found?" He turned to Tehya as she watched him from the sofa across the room.

"Pretty much nothing." She shrugged her slender shoulders as she brushed back her long fiery red hair and watched him with brilliant emerald green eyes. "She's honest, pays her bills on time, never bounces a check, and until four weeks ago devoted herself to the clothing store she owns in town. She's the oldest of four children; her father is considered dependable and honest, as is her entire fucking family. Two of her brothers have had speeding tickets, nothing more. They're your average American family, Nik."

Tehya shook her head and stared back at him as though confused. "I don't think I've ever investigated anyone without a shady past, secrets, or a blemished reputation. I could be going into shock."

He grunted at that as he pulled a beer from the fridge and closed the door with a

snap.

"Bullshit," he growled. "There has to be more."

She stared back at him with offended mockery. "I know how to do my job,

Renegade, and I'm damned good at it. If there was something to find on her, I would have found it. The extremely interesting part here is that there's simply nothing to find."

Twisting the cap from the bottle, he moved into the small area and sat down in the chair across from her.

"Maybe she was sleeping with Maddix Nelson? Scorned love perhaps?"

A strange smile quirked Tehya's lips as she shook her head. "I accessed her

gynecological records. Your mark is a virgin, my friend. Lily-white and pure."

Shock widened his eyes. "There are virgins left in the world?"

Tehya's brows lifted, her own gaze reflecting her surprise. "Well, there are few over the age of sixteen," she agreed with a laugh. "But she's one of them."

"Damn." He reached back, released the leather thong holding his hair at his nape, and shook his head in bemusement. "She's not a hag. Does she have a disease of some sort?"

"No diseases." Tehya shook her head. "She's just your typical nice girl next door.

It seems they're not extinct after all."

Nik couldn't fathom it. He wondered if he had ever known one of those nice,

innocent girls and decided he hadn't. He sure as hell hadn't ever known a virgin.

"Why would your typical all-American girl next door want to destroy the

reputation of the man who provides jobs to practically her entire family?" Nik asked Tehya as he rubbed at his jaw thoughtfully. "From what Maddix said this afternoon, her brothers, her father, even her damned cousins are working for his company."

"They
were
working for it," Tehya amended as she crossed her blue jean-clad legs 26

and leaned back in the corner of the couch. "Her father broke his contract with the company the week after Mikayla's accusations against Nelson. The next day her brothers quit, and two days later her cousin pulled out of negotiations on the design contract Maddix was ready to sign. Two other cousins, heavy-equipment operators, quit the next week."

Nik rubbed at his upper lip with a forefinger as he considered that information.

"She was at Eddie Foreman's home this afternoon after I left Maddix's office," he told Tehya. "I drove past the house and saw her leaving."

Tehya nodded as she adjusted the shoulder of her loose white shirt. "She's been questioning a lot of people. Most of them seem to simply tolerate her and her questions.

They're torn between believing her and believing Maddix. It doesn't help her cause that Maddix as well as his alibis seem genuinely confused by her accusations. Of course, those involved in a conspiracy always look better when dealing with such things in a gentle manner."

Nik arched his brow at her statement. "I don't think I'd be nearly so patient."

"Of course you would." She grinned. "You'd pull the trigger real slow and easy."

He grunted in amusement before tipping the beer to his lips and considering the

information they didn't seem to have.

"What about Maddix Nelson?" he asked.

"According to him, the chief of police, and two council members, they were in an impromptu business meeting at the time of the shooting. Neighbors swear they saw each individual enter Maddix's home and saw him open the door for them. It appears he has nosy neighbors."

"Most neighbors are nosy," Nik mused.

Tehya inclined her head in agreement as Nik tapped a finger against the arm of

the chair.

"Interesting," he finally stated. "Your sweet girl next door accusing an upstanding business figure of murder and he has the perfect alibi that places him in his home in a meeting. Does it seem a little pat?"

"A little." Teyha shrugged. "I'll be honest, Nik, I pulled every contact the Ops has in the area and a few we don't. I've covered this from back to front since you received the call from Maddix Nelson through Jordan's personal line. I can't find anything on him, or on the girl. If you accept his request, then you have your work cut out for you. And Jordan sent a warning. You're in this one on your own. The team's being pulled to Dallas on another op and we won't be free to help you."

Hell, he didn't want a damned thing to do with this. He wanted to pack up and fly

back to Texas rather than deal with the woman he had seen leaving Gina Foreman's home that day.

He unwillingly remembered that long, thick dark blond hair. Almost because her

eyes had caught his attention and immediately held it. Those amethyst eyes that were prettier in person. And evidently the innocence he had glimpsed in that photo went further than skin-deep.

"Jordan needs you to take care of this quickly." Tehya rose to her feet as she stared back at him. "We miss you when you're not with us, Nik."

His lips twisted at the message before he finished his beer and leaned forward to

place it on the wood tray that sat on the large padded stool between the couch and chair.

27

Of course they needed him, Nik thought. Jordan's team was small and specialized;

having even one member out during a mission could make it more difficult.

"I'll do my best," Nik promised, though he had a feeling this little favor was going to cost him much more time than he had.

"Look, Nik, maybe you should just walk away from this one," Tehya suggested as she walked to the side of his chair and laid her small hand on his shoulder. "Most of us owe a lot of people a lot of favors that we can never truly repay. This might be one of those cases."

But something inside him clenched at the thought of leaving. Mikayla Martin's

image flashed before him, determination notching her small chin.

He stared at the wall across the room rather than the woman who often saw too

much. "We'll see."

"Sure you will." She patted his shoulder before moving to the door. "Give me a call if you need anything. And remember, the ladies from Elite Two are leaving town day after tomorrow. If you need their help, they're available until then."

The three women who had once been a part of the European Operation, Elite Ops

Two, had been assigned permanently to Jordan when their former commanders had been assigned to another unit. They were now 100 percent American on paper and awaiting their next assignment.

If Nelson came up with the money, Nik mused, then he was stuck here. Nikolai

Steele did not work for free, but he owed Maddix, and Nik believed in paying his debts.

Stripping, he stepped into the shower, adjusted the water, and began washing

away the grime that hours on the Harley had managed to accumulate on his body.

After leaving Maddix's office, Nik had ridden around, checking out locations and

residences of the players involved. That's how he had run into Mikayla Martin as she left Gina Forman's house. As the water beat over his body, Nik opened his eyes to stare down at the heavy erection that hadn't abated since he had gotten his first true glimpse of Mikayla.

He'd never gotten so hard so fast in his life. Especially for a woman he knew he

couldn't have.

But then, no one had ever dismissed him as Miss Martin had done. Her expression

had at first been interested, admiring, and though Nik wasn't the least bit conceited, he had been irritated when she had turned from him, her expression twisting into a grimace.

It had only made him harder.

She was too tiny. Hell, she couldn't weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet if her

life depended on it. But still, she was curvy. Nicely rounded breasts had pressed against the tailored white blouse she wore, while a flirty spring green skirt had flounced just below her thighs. Matching strappy sandals had complemented her legs, short though they were.

If she was five four it would shock the hell out of him. That long mass of straight, thick dark blond hair was the kind men dreamed of. Hair that would wrap around a man, hold him to her, bind him.

Nik grimaced, his fingers going to his dick as warm water sluiced down his body.

As tiny as she was, he could think of nothing but seeing her above him, lowering

herself on the heavy shaft of his cock, her cries of pleasure echoing around him. Her pussy would be snug. His fingers tightened on his cock at the thought. She'd be hot and 28

slick. He'd make sure she was wet enough to take him, but she would still feel the bite of erotic pleasure-pain.