Rescue Me (9 page)

“I already did. He's clean.”

Spencer planned to have McKoy get his sister
involved. If she really was as good as Weber claimed, she'd be able
to dig up more on Salazar. “I'll check again. Something isn't
adding up.”

Miller lifted his brow as his voice tensed
with sudden interest. “And you think Damon is somehow
involved?”

“Like I said, I'm just trying to cover all my
bases.”

Miller thrust out his chin, a tell expressing
his disapproval. He did the same gesture when Salazar put his hands
on Martha Miller's shoulders. “I see you called in K-SAR. Another
base to cover?”

Spencer braced himself for the explosion.
He'd had to stand in front of Miller and five other members of the
board to justify his actions when they found out about his
relationship with Kathryn. “K-SAR is our best search and rescue
contact.”

“And the fact that you have a hard-on for the
owner doesn't have anything to do with it?”

He tensed but said nothing. It was none of
Miller's fucking business how Spencer felt about Kathryn or what
body parts stood up to take notice. “Anything else, sir?”

“I want to talk to her.”

“I can arrange that.”

“Alone.”

Spencer glared. “Sorry. If you want to talk
to her, you have to do it with me there.”

Miller sighed. “I know I'm not privy to the
same information since I'm no longer an active TREX agent, but I
still deserve a little respect. I know you were ordered to come up
with a story. I know she's probably bucking you every step of the
way. And I don't give a shit about any of that. Bring my grandson
back to me and I'll make sure the board looks the other way this
time.”

Shock stunned Spencer and it took him a
second to recover. He kept his voice calm, even, as he asked,
“On?”

“You and Kat Davis's relationship.”

“There is no relationship.” His chest pinched
as he said it. Miller had the most influence on the board. Did he
just give Spencer permission to be with Kathryn?

“If you say so.”

Shit. He couldn't think about that right now.
He had to stay focused. “Let's get that coffee.”

As they rounded the Com Van, Spencer
literally ran into Kathryn. She stumbled back and if he hadn't
reached out and caught her, she would have fallen right on her
sweet ass.

“Who's this?” Miller asked.

“Why are you out of the Com Van?” Spencer
growled at the same time. They only planned their cover if Miller
arrived alone. Nothing in their plan made any allowance for Martha
or her little shadow. He couldn't allow Kathryn to talk to Martha
or the boyfriend.

“I wanted to see if anyone wanted
coffee.”

“I'd love some,” Miller announced, a gleam in
his eye.

Son of a bitch.

“I'll bring it in with me. Then you can tell
me more about the cabin.” She smiled sweetly and Spencer grit his
teeth. God
damn
her. She did that on purpose. And, just like
that, everything they'd gone over for the last hour went right out
the window.

How in the hell did she know about the
fucking cabin?

“Perfect.” Miller even smiled as he gave her
a nod.

“I'll be right there,” Spencer told Miller
and waited until he disappeared behind the flap of the tent before
grabbing Kathryn and dragging her ass far enough away so their
guests wouldn't hear them. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Running my search.”

“This was not part of the plan.”

“Neither was Martin Miller having guests.
Plans change.”

He couldn't argue that, even though the way
she responded to it pissed him off. “How did you know about that
cabin?”

She pointed at the window directly above
their head. The
open
window. Unbelievable. She'd heard
everything. Fucking perfect.

“You can
not
talk to them.” Spencer's
stress level edged higher. She now knew the truth surrounding Tommy
Miller's disappearance. If she said the wrong thing, she could put
the kid in even more danger. Or worse. She could put herself in
danger.

“Watch me.”

“Kathryn—”

“This is
my
search, Spence. I will run
it the way I see fit. If you or any of your TREX men get in my way,
I'll have your ass. Tommy's life is more important than this agency
turf war you seem to have with K-SAR. I'm sure Mr. Miller would
agree.”

Her stormy eyes pulled him in, biting at him
like the bitter wind that had picked up in the past ten minutes. He
knew that look. She wasn't about to back down. Oh, no. That look in
her eyes, that stubborn expression on her face told him she had no
intent on following his, or any, plan. This was her show.

And she was about to prove it.

Kat held the tent flap open for Spencer. He
walked in and set the coffee and Styrofoam cups down on the table
while she processed what she'd overheard when he and Martin Miller
stood below the Com Van's open window. She'd heard everything.
Pros. Mercs. Dead kidnappers. No wonder TREX was involved.

The fact that Tommy was never at Larch
Mountain changed everything. Knowing Mr. Miller kept all of this
from his daughter both shocked and irritated Kat. But she
understood why. Martha sat at the table, her head in her hands. She
was clearly distraught over this and didn't need even more reason
to worry. Having a missing child was enough.

Why weren't the feds involved? Kidnapping was
their jurisdiction. But, with TREX here, she had a feeling
jurisdiction meant absolutely nothing. The egotistical agency did
what it wanted when it wanted and didn't give a damn who it
trampled along the way.

Which meant she'd never get any answers out
of Martin Miller. He screamed TREX and mentioned something about
being an ex-agent. Kat flicked a quick glance at the boyfriend and
decided to start there. Damon Salazar, she'd heard the men call
him. Since Spencer already had Martin Miller under control, and
Martha Miller didn't even have control of herself, Damon Salazar
was hers.

“Mr. Salazar? I'm Kat Davis. I'm in charge of
the search for Tommy.” She reached out her hand. When he didn't
offer his in return, she grabbed it and shook it hard. The man
stiffened and pulled away. “It's so dark in here. Are you sure you
want to keep those sunglasses on?”

He gave Kat a shifty smile and a shiver
crawled up her spine. That wasn't just a smile. He suspected
something. As she nonchalantly scratched her forehead to hide her
eyes, she shot a quick glance Spencer's way. He had his gaze
narrowed in on Salazar with pinpoint precision and she knew. He
picked up on her quick hint and gave her a slight nod, telling her
he had them in his sights.

Hesitantly, Salazar removed the glasses and
shoved them into a coat pocket. Those beady little black eyes
rested on her.

“Much better. I really like to look into my
informant's eyes when I interview him.”

“Your what?” Salazar immediately stiffened
and took a step toward the tent opening. Casually, Spencer made his
way over to the front and stopped, blocking Salazar from
leaving.

Interesting. So he didn't like that word. Kat
would bet her thumb he'd spent time in prison. “How about we move
over to the woodstove. I'm feeling a chill from the opening.”

Salazar jerked a glance Spencer's way before
giving Kat a nod. He wouldn't be getting out of there without
Spencer's permission. They walked to the rear of the
fourteen-by-twenty tent. She made sure to keep her back to the rest
of their guests, giving Salazar the false sense of control. He may
just let his guard down enough for Kat to read him. She hoped.

She had to play this very carefully. If he
suspected anything, he'd close up on her and she'd lose her window
of opportunity. She'd learned over the years how to interview
witnesses. Some told her the truth and nothing but. Others told her
nothing but lies. Her ability to be able to decipher between the
two held the key to her success.

“How well do you know the Millers?”

Salazar shifted his gaze from the others in
the tent to her. His ebony eyebrows spiked. “Excuse me?”

She made the grand gesture of looking over
her shoulder before leaning closer to him. She lowered her voice to
almost a whisper. “What can you tell me about the circumstances
surrounding Tommy's disappearance?”

That eyebrow lifted higher.
“Disappearance?”

“Missing. Disappeared.” She flashed a flirty
smile. His shoulders relaxed and he even offered her a hint at a
smile.

“Why ask me?”

“In my experience,” she went on, using a
soft, gentle voice that had Salazar's posture continuing to relax
with every word. “If I want the truth, I ask outside the
family.”

“Is that so?”

“I knew as soon as I saw you that I could
trust you. Right now, I need you to talk to me.”

That curl of his lips slithered into a
full-on grin. A creepy, thin grin that sent a ripple of shivers
crawling across her skin. His tone warmed as he asked, “What is it
you need to know?”

She offered a shrug and another smile, hating
that she had to pull the flirty, chick card but used it anyway. And
it seemed to be working. Salazar held Kat in his warming gaze. She
suppressed a shudder.

“When was the last time you saw Tommy?”

He broke their eye contact to lift his gaze
to the ceiling, a classic stall tactic. Whatever he said next would
be a lie.

“Yesterday.”

When he rested his gaze back on her, she
swallowed hard. Dear God. He actually had lust swirling in those
black orbs. He smiled and licked his lips as his attention bounced
to hers. Seriously? In the middle of a search for his girlfriend's
son? Then again, she'd started it.

And now she'd have to keep it going. Another
shiver ripped up her spine.

“How close are you to Martha?”

He scraped his gaze over Kat's body, slow and
steady. “I make it a point of knowing every inch of my women.”

She had to swallow down the contents of her
stomach from the visual. “So you're very close?”

“I'm afraid my time with Martha may have run
its course.”

He'd make that decision in the middle of
searching for her child? What a dick. “What do you do for a
living?”

“I'm a lawyer.”

That explained it. The only vermin in her
book lower than the press. “Impressive.”

He puffed out his chest as he spiked an
eyebrow. “Do you like men of power, Ms. Davis?”

She was surely going to go to Hell for this.
Taking a tiny step closer, she then tilted her head up at him. “I
do.”

“I knew the minute you walked in. You were
attracted to me right away.”

Arrogant ass. “What can I say? I have good
taste.”

“That you do.” He flicked a glance behind
her. His lips slithered into a grin as his gaze lowered, no doubt
onto Martha. He then lifted his attention to Spencer and lost his
smile as some of the color drained from his face.

He drew his gaze back to Kat. “I don't think
your boyfriend approves of you talking to me.”

She looked over her shoulder, locking her
gaze with Spencer's. Those dark eyes swirled with uncertainty and
irritation. He flexed and relaxed his jaw over and over. She'd have
some serious explaining to do after this.

Facing Salazar once again, she offered him a
hint of a smile. “I prefer men over boys.”

The color returned to Salazar's face, and
then some. “I knew there was something between us.”

“When this is over…” she trailed off, waiting
to see if he'd take the bait.

He did. Pulling out a card from his coat, he
wrote down a number on the back and handed it to her. “Call
me.”

She took the card and tucked it into her back
pocket. “Let me ask you something.”

“Anything.”

“How long have you known the Millers?”

“I've been a family friend for years.”

Busted
. Martin Miller told Spencer
that Salazar had only met Martha three months ago. She kept going
to see what other lies she could get out of him.

“You said you saw Tommy yesterday?”

“That's right.”

“Before he came up here with those three
adults?”

Something in his gaze shifted, hardened.
“Martin said he was up here with the Robinson family.”

That didn't answer her question. “Do you know
the Robinsons?”

“I never did meet them.”

Another lie. And he spoke about them in the
past tense. He knew they were already dead. That gave her enough.
Casually, she brought her hand behind her and curled her finger,
motioning for Spencer to join them.

He did. His gaze bounced from her to Salazar.
“Is everything okay?”

Time to come clean. She pulled the card out
of her back pocket and handed it to Spencer, her gaze never leaving
Salazar's. “Check the number on the back of this with the text from
that burner phone.”

At once, Damon Salazar transformed from the
flirty man trying to get into Kat's pants to a cold, expressionless
son of a bitch. His eyes darkened as anger hooded them, his
attention on her. “Playing the femme fatale to gain information.
How very TREX of you.”

In an instant, Spencer latched onto Salazar's
throat, pushing him up against the woodstove with one hand. Years
of training as a TREX agent had hardened his body into a
well-tuned, deadly weapon.

“Oh, my God!” Martha cried and jumped to her
feet.

“Allen!” Martin barked. “What in the hell do
you think you're doing?”

“My job,” he replied in a low and even,
dangerously lethal tone, his burning glare never leaving Salazar.
“You have three seconds to tell me what you know.”

“Daddy, do something!”

“One,” Spencer ground out, his focus on
Salazar. Kat stepped back and watched, knowing better than to get
in the middle of Spencer's actions. He could be downright
terrifying at times. Like now. It scared her, and yet thrilled her
to see him in action.