Steal My Heart (11 page)

“
Sugar, you know you always brighten my day…”
He heard Maggie’s sing-song voice and turned his head just in time to see her roll her eyes in disgust. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

“Jealous?”

“Puleeeeze…” She crossed her arms across her breasts and twisted away from him, pursing her bottom lip. He groaned, instantly craving a taste.

Just then, the door to the diner swung open and he saw Harry amble through. His thoughts were abruptly diverted. It had only been a few weeks since he’d seen him, but his limp seemed more pronounced.

“Not a word, Maggie. You don’t know me,” he warned beneath his breath as his friend spotted him.

“I wish.”

He ignored the mumbled comment as Harry approached and he released the holstered gun to keep at his side.

“Christ, Dutch! What the fuck is going on?” Harry started without preamble as he slid onto the vinyl bench across from him.

Gabe let his gaze peruse his longtime friend. Harry was only a few years older than he, but time and bad habits had piled an extra decade onto his face and body. Gabe remembered a short stocky man who was packed with muscle and aggression. Now, not only did his body appear soft and lax, but his usually astute eyes were miry and ill-focused.

“I’m trying to figure that out myself, Harry.”

“What went wrong?”

Gabe never took his eyes away from Harry’s face.

“They knew I was coming. I was set up.”

“
Shit!”

“It was a trap. Now I’m being hunted.”

Harry blew out a long breath, his brows knitting pensively.

“Cryostar? But how?”

Gabe shrugged noncommittally. He leaned back as Kim returned with his order and the other items he’d requested. He sent a surreptitious gaze over to Maggie. She was sitting quietly, hands neatly folded on the table. Good girl.

“What information did you get?” he asked when Kim left. He nodded towards the manila envelope on the table that Harry had brought with him. He narrowed his eyes at the fine tremor in his friend’s fingers as he withdrew the contents.

“Cane is going nuts! He’s been up my ass about this deal.”

“You let me worry about Cane,” Gabe stated calmly. “Did you get anything additional on Cryostar?”

Harry nodded, sliding the papers across the table.

Gabe looked through the stack. Most of the information he knew. Dr. Paul Rollins and his wife Dr. Victoria Rollins were the owners and chief researchers at Cryostar. Victoria was an oncologic surgeon who’d left her position as Chief of Surgery at a major hospital to head this research starter company, Cryostar. Her husband had joined later. The company had been doing well, but didn’t get much attention until it produced its research data on the revolutionary surgical device, the Sonic Scalpel, a few years back, beating out competing companies like ARSA. Gabe had uncovered some interesting facts about Paul Rollins when he was considering this project. The man was a pig. The papers in his hands just did more to confirm that, but didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know.

“I can’t imagine they were tipped off,” Harry intoned, disbelief still flaring his eyes.

Gabe stared quietly. Something was amiss with his friend. His gaze was snapping all over the room and beads of sweat sprouted like dew drops on his top lip. Gabe felt his heart wrench and he expelled a soft breath. Harry was the closest thing he had to a friend, but he didn’t like the vibes he were getting from across the table.

“Are the Rollins back yet?” he asked. Last he’d heard, they were out of the country.

“No, but that wouldn’t stop Paul Rollins. The doc’s slime! Gambling debts, prostitutes, mob ties, and that just touches the surface. I’m sure he’d do anything to get back whatever is on that drive.”

Gabe shifted in his seat, listening to Harry’s ramblings with half an ear. He was trying to catch the exchange between Maggie and Kim taking place at the next table. She was asking for plastic utensils and saying something about a stain on the silverware. He listened to her request a fresh glass of ice water and saw Kim try very hard not to get annoyed. What was she up to? Was she trying to cause a scene or was she just being her usual fastidious self?

“Maybe…” he responded to Harry. Paul Rollins and his wife had spent almost a decade working on this research and no doubt would utilize every resource to retrieve it.

“What’s on the drive?” Harry asked too casually.

“Don’t know.” Why was Harry so interested?

“When are you meeting with Cane?”

Gabe shrugged smoothly and started sifting through the data Harry had brought him about Cane Howard. He scanned through financial records, hedge funds, disclosures from his holding company, The Edge Corp, personal history and charitable contributions. There were pictures of him smiling and accepting one award after another for his good deeds and an article about ARSA, his research company. He scrubbed his chin. This was nothing new either.

“Is this all?”

Harry looked up. He’d been plucking French fries from Gabe’s plate. He met Gabe’s gaze and rolled his sloping shoulders.

“The guy is filthy rich. Squeaky clean on paper. No mistress, no addictions, no bad habits. Doesn’t drink. Doesn’t smoke. Hell, not even his piss stinks.”

Gabe lowered the files to the table and leveled his gaze at his friend, searching his glassy eyes. He felt bile rise up in his throat along with his disappointment. Gabe’s angry gaze seared a hole through Harry.

“How much did they pay you?”

“
What?
”

“How much, Harry?” Gabe’s tone was deadly.

He watched Harry swipe at the sweat now rolling down his lip and his ruddy forehead, his demeanor confirming some perfidious behavior.

“
Christ
, you think
I
did this?” Harry asked angrily.

“How fucking much?” Gabe reiterated steadily, sharply biting each word.

Harry’s gaze pitched around, then defeated, he mumbled, “Twenty-five grand. From Cane. I really needed the money. But, that was just to find you, to get you to do the job.”

“And now?”

Harry brought a shaky hand to his temple. “He just wants to complete the transaction. He wants me to confirm that you have the drive. To see if you know what’s on it. I’m sure he wants to get it before Cryostar retrieves it. He wants ARSA to have the research. He’s been threatening me, Dutch. He’s desperate to find you.”

“Is he the one who’s trying to kill me?”

“No. Why would he do that when he needs the drive?”

Gabe clenched his jaw, and he looked deep into Harry’s eyes.

“Did you tell him who I am? Mention my name?”

“No!” Harry denied sharply.

“Who set me up?”

“I don’t know. I swear. It wasn’t me. I’d never betray you.
For God sakes, Dutch,
you saved my goddamn life!”
Harry’s tremulous voice was filled with emotion.

Gabe stared silently. He believed him, but something still didn’t feel right. He and Harry had a long history. He recalled that dark day back in SEAL training when they’d been out para-trooping. He’d watched in horror as Harry’s chute deployed, but didn’t open. His second chute got tangled in the first. Knowing he only had seconds to act, Gabe, in free-fall next to his friend, had fought his way to him, cut away the defective chutes and held on to his friend for dear life.

He’d then somehow managed to deploy his own chute and glide them down to safety. They’d both spent time in the hospital, but while Gabe had been released with minor injuries, Harry had required multiple surgeries. That accident had been the period at the end of his SEAL career. At least he’d walked away with his life. Sometimes Gabe wondered if he’d done his friend a disservice. Over the years Harry had become a shell of his former self. But who was he to criticize? It wasn’t as though he had
his
shit together. Just looking at the events of the past week attested to that. He glanced over to the adjacent booth. She was gone.

“
Shit!
” He holstered his gun and jumped from his seat, snatching the papers off the table and tossing down a large bill.

“What’s wrong?” Harry’s eyes popped out of his head. He twisted around nervously.

Gabe bent close to his ear, his voice grating deep. “Tell Cane I have the information. Tell him I’ll be in touch, but now I have a few conditions.”

Gabe tried to quell the panic causing his heart to hammer through his chest. Where had she gone? It couldn’t have been that long; he’d just heard her fussing with Kim so she couldn’t have gotten far. He’d been so caught up with Harry that he hadn’t seen her leave. She must have slipped out of the other side of the booth and crawled away on the floor.
Her? On the floor of a diner?
Damn, she must be desperate—like he was now to find her. She had no idea what kind of danger she was in, and that alone infused him with fear. He took a few calming breaths and tried to focus, the thought of her leaving painfully gnawing his insides. Suddenly, Kim appeared in his line of vision. He watched as she silently pointed in the direction of the bathroom. He mouthed a quick thanks and sprinted off in that direction.

Maggie started to hyperventilate. She took another deep breath and cursed her wide hips and substantial butt as she tried to squeeze out of an impossibly small bathroom window. That waitress Kim had been blocking the door to the front exit, and the back door was locked. She cursed her bad luck. Why could she not have been born lean and slender like her mother? She’d now be well away from the brute that tormented her. She took another deep inhalation and arched her back, straining to launch the rest of her body through the window. She was mostly outside already—at least from the hips up! That was when she heard the bathroom door open. She closed her eyes and prayed that it was another female. Although the visual from inside the bathroom would be startlingly queer, perhaps she could garner some sympathy and convince the woman to shove the remainder of her body outside.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

The rumble of a deep masculine voice forced her to squeeze her eyes tight and issue a curse.

“Escaping!” she answered, annoyed.
Wasn’t it obvious?

She heard the draw of an impatient sigh, followed by a deep sarcastic chuckle.

“Not doing a very good job of it. Are you stuck?”

“No! I’m not
stuck
!” she yelled.

But, as she pushed down on the iron frame and tried to heave her body through, she comprehended the difficulty of her situation. She was good and truly wedged. Mortified, she tried to wiggle her way back inside, her face flaming red at the view he must have—her large rounded ass jiggling enthusiastically as she tried to maneuver it inside, her feet dangling over the floor. She could just picture his stupidly smug, gorgeous face with that puzzled expression he seemed to reserve for her.
God, the indignities!

She stilled when she felt long fingers girdle her hips from behind. His palms swooped down and circled the globes of her butt, making her hiss. Electric currents buzzed up and down her skin and she bit her lip, feeling sharp stabs of desire.
What the heck was he doing? Why didn’t he just help pull her free?
She felt the glide of his palms around her curves and bristled. She didn’t like the way her muscles clenched deep inside, or the longing that caused moisture to dampen her folds.
She was stuck in a window, for God sakes!
And, she realized with an audible gulp, completely at his mercy.

“You’ve been a bad girl, Maggie.” Her heart pounded when she heard his slow, deliberate words.

“Gabe, get me out this second!” she demanded, panic seeping into her voice. She didn’t like the augury in his steely tone.

“A very bad girl.”

She gasped when she felt him abruptly jerk her sweat pants and underwear down below her butt, exposing the twin globes. A rush of cool air prickled her sensitive naked skin.

“
Gabe! Oh my—
” Her words were barely out before she felt the sharp sting of his palm against her flesh. “
Ahh! You…you…big brute!
”

She yelped when his palm landed again, but as his hand slowly caressed the stinging skin, an unbidden moan gurgled from her throat. A bolt of fire shot through her when she felt his teeth gently nip the flesh he’d been soothing, and lust pounded heavy between her legs.
Oh God, the things she imagined him doing to her!
She inhaled deeply, shamefully acknowledging her burning desire. She felt him pull her waistband back up and held her breath as he easily lifted and maneuvered her back into the room. She wanted to rant and rail at him for his barbarous treatment, but was too embarrassed by the confusing desire still pulsing through her. She was sure he was aware of it too. He lowered her to her feet and stood pressing behind her. She could feel the heat of his thick shaft lodged against her lower back.

“I wish I had time to punish you properly, Maggie. But, we need to go.”

She didn’t get a chance to respond. Wasn’t really sure she could at that moment. She was afraid of what she’d beg him to do. She was terrified of the way her body always responded to him.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him, leading her to a basement. Back in the car, anger replaced her lust. Anger at herself for having feelings for him, for the desire she felt for him. Did he ever plan on letting her go? What more could he possibly want from her? She still believed her biggest danger was him. His life was in serious jeopardy. From the conversation in the diner it seemed that someone had set him up, and someone desperately wanted the data on that flash drive.
Why?
What would they do with it?
His friend had looked scared and very agitated. As much as she hated to get involved, she felt she needed to get to the authorities.

  He had stolen vital data. Data from research that had taken almost a decade to compile. She remembered Dr. Victoria Rollins and had a great deal of respect for the oncologist. She appeared to be a scholarly, passionate woman who had dedicated her life’s work to helping others. From what she’d overheard, and the little he’d told her, he’d been paid to steal the research data. Who knew what would happen to the data once it got into someone else’s hands. Who was this Cane guy? Maybe it would somehow be used for wicked purposes instead of saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Maybe it was in someone’s best interest to thwart the development of the Sonic Scalpel. Whatever it was, she felt compelled to alert Cryostar as to the whereabouts of their research data.