Sinful Seduction (9 page)

And Lewis needed more information before he went in anywhere blind.

“We could attempt to park somewhere else and go over one of the walls. Do it around dusk,” Harry said as he turned, slowed and pulled a U-turn instead of driving all the way up to the guarded gatehouse.

Lewis shook his head as he went over their options. “Not until we know more about this Foley.”

“They could just be friends. If the guy lives here he’s clearly doing well for himself.”

“Yeah, maybe. But she hasn’t had any contact with him since we’ve been watching her. I don’t like his sudden appearance in her life.”

Harry nodded and turned onto the next quiet street.

“Head to his dive shop. I want to see if he’s there.”

“Why?”

“I just do. I want to get a feel for the guy.” You could tell a lot about someone from talking to them.

And if the guy was at work, but his truck was at the Hollingsworth woman’s house, that just left more questions. Maybe they could get to the woman through Foley. From his driver’s license picture Lewis knew it wasn’t the man who’d saved her, but it was possible they could find either a connection to Mina or to the man from the alley through Foley. It was worth a shot and Lewis believed in being over-prepared for these jobs.

“Fine, whatever,” Harry muttered.

Lewis looked out the window, contemplating whether this job that was originally supposed to be an easy grab and bag was going to be more hassle than it was worth. If the price on the woman’s head wasn’t so high, he might seriously consider walking away from it.

But there was no way he could back out now.

Besides, even if he wanted to he doubted the rest of the crew would bail. They’d all put in time and effort and only been paid half until the job was done. No one was going anywhere until they collected their final due.

Chapter 9

“We’ll be there in a couple minutes,” Carter said from the front seat of his SUV as he drove Blue and Mina back to her place.

Mina was stretched out on top of Blue as they lay on the floorboards and he couldn’t get enough of her. While he more than appreciated Carter’s help, he wished he and Mina were alone and with a lot less clothing in the way.

They were entering the garage the same way they’d left and no one should be any wiser that they’d been gone all day. Not unless the would-be kidnappers had cameras set up in the garage or had somehow tapped into the live feeds of the ones run by the management company who owned the building. But neither Blue nor Carter had seen anything when they’d searched.

Chris had been sitting on the condo but they’d had an emergency at work with one of their staff nearly slicing his hand clean off on one of the motors. So Carter’s brother was now at the hospital with the guy and they’d shut down early. And Carter would be heading there himself as soon as he dropped Blue and Mina off.

“Thanks,” Blue said, not in a big rush to have Mina move off him. Every time they took a turn and she shifted over him, he had to fight a groan at the feel of her tight body on his.

They’d spent the last few hours on the boat and he could tell it had done a world of good for her. She seemed a hundred times more at ease since yesterday. He knew she wouldn’t be completely relaxed until whoever wanted her kidnapped was caught, but he could see the difference and was glad for it. They hadn’t done anything more than kiss the rest of the day because he hadn’t been willing to lose focus, but things between them had been easy even if the day had been sexually charged. The kisses had been sensual, but they’d both held back.

Mina wiggled over him, grinning wickedly as she moved over his erection. He’d been like that since she’d climbed on top of him back at Carter’s place.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” he said under his breath, for her ears only, as he cupped her butt and rolled his hips against hers.

She let out a soft moan. “I hope so.” Her words were a breathy whisper. The wicked note in her voice was unmistakable, making him even harder. Something he hadn’t thought possible.

“I can hear you guys,” Carter muttered from the front.

Grinning, Mina buried her face against Blue’s neck and stifled a laugh. Under other circumstances he might be embarrassed that anyone could hear them, especially since he was on a job, but Carter was his friend and wouldn’t judge. Wrapping his arms around her, Blue tightened his grip until he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He’d changed back into cargo pants and a T-shirt once they’d returned to Carter’s place. Mina shifted to the side so he could grab it.

“Blue, here,” he said, all business since it was Harrison on the other end.

“Where are you guys?”

“Pulling up to her place any minute.”

“The team’s been slightly delayed. There was an accident right on the Seven Mile Bridge so they’re about an hour out. They could probably make it faster on foot.” Harrison let out an annoyed curse. “I should have just flown them down.”

The drive was so short and even a private flight would have taken longer for them to get clearance so Blue knew why he hadn’t. “It’s fine. Her place is secure. I’ll keep it locked down…Unless there’s something you’re not telling me?”

On top of him, Mina stiffened, but he didn’t look at her, needing to keep his focus on Harrison.

“Lizzy just found something during one of her searches. Could be nothing, but she spotted the same man near Mina’s condo more than once and near your friend’s dive shop. Don’t know if he went inside or not because the cameras she was able to access have limited angles.”

Blue knew that Lizzy, wife of one of the owners, had used her very illegal hacking skills to scan faces via CCTVs she’d linked into through open wireless connections. Then she’d run the faces through a facial recognition software program the company had. He didn’t know if that program was legal and he’d never asked because he didn’t care what the answer was.

“She couldn’t get a face shot of him near the condo because he was wearing a hat there, but I’m positive it’s the same man. He’s got the same build and is wearing the same clothes. And, more telling than anything, he took a picture of Chris’s truck. It was slick, but we got him doing it.”

“And?” Blue tried to temper his impatience, knowing Harrison needed to give him all relevant details.

“Guy’s name is Lewis Hudgins. There were a couple pings on his name but he doesn’t have a record. Unfortunately he’s been linked as a person of interest to at least a dozen high-profile kidnappings. The Feds want this guy bad, but no one’s ever been able to make charges stick. He works one big job a year and uses a different crew each time.”

So even if they wanted to hunt this guy down using his partners it would be impossible since he didn’t have a standard team. “You know where he is now?”

“No. Wherever he’s staying, he’s not using a credit card in his name and Lizzy lost him on one of the feeds and his face hasn’t resurfaced yet. I’ll send you his picture.”

“All right, I’ll show it to Mina, see if she recognizes him. Has Lizzy found any financials linking him to…anyone?” Meaning whatever fuckhead had hired the guy and his crew to take Mina. He just didn’t want to say that in front of her.

“No. There’s a reason the Feds have never been able to pin anything on him. We’ll keep her safe though. And you’ll have backup soon. Get her inside and under lockdown.”

“Will do. I’ll keep you updated if anything changes. What about that other thing Lizzy’s looking into?” Blue closed his eyes as he spoke, purposefully not meeting Mina’s gaze. The SUV had slowed and the interior went darker so he knew they’d entered her private garage.

“It’s like the guy’s a ghost,” Harrison said quietly, maybe guessing that Mina was nearby. “He’s not at his home in California and even my father can’t get hold of him. We’re going to keep trying though.”

“Thanks.” Blue knew Mina was starting to get worried that she hadn’t heard back from her dad or his head of security so he’d asked Harrison to try to hunt both men down. What his boss had just told him, however, was worrisome.

“The garage is empty,” Carter said as the vehicle pulled to a stop. “You guys are good.”

“What did Harrison say?” Mina asked as she sat up.

Blue immediately missed the feel of her, but locked that thought down. He needed to get her upstairs. “The team’s a little delayed. Car accident on the bridge. But they’ll be here soon. They also might have a lead on one of the guys looking to take you. Harrison’s sending me a picture for you to look at.”

Face pinched, she nodded. “What else did you ask him about? You were avoiding my gaze when you asked him that last thing.”

Yeah, he should have known she wouldn’t let that go. Damn, she was perceptive. “Red Stone is looking into contacting your father. I just didn’t want to tell you until they’d found something.” He hadn’t wanted to get her hopes up in case they failed.

She must have understood because her expression softened. “Thanks, Alex.”

Before he could respond, Carter cleared his throat from the front. Immediately Blue went into battle mode. “We need to get you upstairs.” They hadn’t brought much with them except clothes and a few snacks for the day so he grabbed their bag.

“We’re clear,” Carter said, hand on the door handle.

Blue trusted him, but did another visual scan before retrieving his weapon from the bag. Normally he wore it on him but hadn’t wanted to with Mina stretched out over him. “Let’s go,” he murmured, getting out before Mina.

There were only two cars in the small garage so there was nowhere for anyone to hide. Still, Blue moved in front of Mina while Carter moved in behind her, boxing her in as they strode to the elevator. Hyperaware, Blue didn’t let his guard down even when they’d made it safely inside the elevator and it was heading upward. It didn’t surprise him that Carter had decided to ride up with them as backup.

When they stepped out onto the third floor, Mina’s phone started a soft dinging sound. Since she was wearing another summer dress he’d put her phone in his pocket. As he went to grab it, the elevator shut behind them but Mina froze, her hand clutching Blue’s upper arm. “That’s my phone’s alarm,” she whispered, her expression tense. “It means someone’s in my condo…” She trailed off as the dinging stopped. “They put the wrong alarm code in, it’s why it went off, but they must have entered the right one because it stopped.”

As a jolt of adrenaline surged through him, Blue held up a finger to his lips then pulled out a backup pistol from his ankle holster. He handed it and her phone to her and motioned to the end of the hallway. “Call the police,” he whispered. “If anything happens to us, use that gun if you have to, but try to get away. Use the stairs.”

Clutching the phone to her chest and the weapon at her side she nodded and hurried out of the way, her sandals softly slapping against the tile. There was no time to comfort her or go over anything. He and Carter needed to get in there now. He couldn’t take the risk there was a backup crew downstairs waiting to ambush them.

Carter had his own weapon out, a SIG similar to the one Blue had in hand. Blue motioned that he was going to use Mina’s key to unlock the door, but when he tried the handle he found it open.

He hated going into any situation blind, but there was no choice. He couldn’t hear any noise coming from inside and had no clue how many men might be in there. The good thing was, he and Carter should have the element of surprise.

Moving quietly, he pushed the door open with his foot, keeping his weapon up and ready. The interior hallway was empty. Sweeping inside, he moved down the hall on silent feet, staying close to the east wall while Carter was flush against the west one.

As they reached the end they both instinctively slowed then stopped. Blue leaned back against his side, peering into part of the kitchen and he had a full view of the living room. Empty. He looked at Carter who had a view of part of the hallway and the mini-library.

Carter shook his head, his blue eyes completely focused. Blue lifted his hand, ready to motion that they should sweep down to the bedrooms when he heard a man talking. He tensed, remaining in place.

“She’s not here. No…” A sigh of frustration. “I’m just going to try calling her again.” The voice grew closer as the man headed down the hallway toward them.

Blue shifted back so he could extend out his weapon and Carter did the same. The man continued talking and the second he came into their line of sight both Carter and Blue stepped out.

The blond haired man went still, his eyes betraying a flicker of surprise, but other than that he didn’t move.

“Put your fucking phone down
now
,” Blue said quietly. “Just drop it. And don’t make any sudden moves.”

“Where’s Mina?” the man asked even as he did what Blue ordered, letting his cell tumble from his fingers.

The familiar way he said her name was jarring but Blue didn’t care. “Put your hands on top of your head slowly and get to your knees. Don’t attempt to draw your weapon or we’ll put you down. You alone?” Blue couldn’t actually see a weapon but if the way the man gritted his teeth was any indication, he was definitely armed.

Carter moved out to the left, slowly circling the guy as he continued following orders. Sheathing his weapon in the back of his pants, Carter started patting the guy down. After pulling out two guns and two blades, he tossed them into Mina’s library before withdrawing his SIG again.