Taste Me Deadly (Sensory Ops) (12 page)

The sun was setting so the tourist crowds were clearing, making room for the locals and couples indulging in evening walks. The motel rooms had all the blinds or double glass doors open to allow the sun and scent of the ocean in. All but one. Grey had her doors closed and the vertical blinds slatted so they were closed enough to allow some light in, but not allow people to see in.

She was being cautious, but he’d still rather have her at his side.

Jogging toward the sunset, he scanned the faces on the beach and listened to Grey move around in her room. She ordered a pizza and then flipped on the television. Leonard and Sheldon from
The Big Bang Theory
argued about their roommate agreement. Liam chuckled as he ran, but not Grey.

Grey made no sound, which aroused his curiosity. Sweat poured off him, but it had more to do with anxiety racing through his blood than from the running. He’d turned back up the beach, keeping the motel within sight the whole time, when a knock sounded on her door.

“Who is it?”

“Pizza.”

There was a metallic snap, a wallet, then the rustle of some bills before the lock was turned back. Fear coiled in Liam’s gut. He needed to
see
her, not just hear her. He needed to know she was safe. To know that the pizza guy really was a pizza guy.

His pulse slammed as he ran harder to get back. He shouldn’t have gone as far as he had.

His head cleared of emotional distractions in time to hear Grey tell the guy to have a good night before closing and locking the door.

Liam eased his speed to a walk. They may be married, but he barely knew Grey. A certificate that named her as his wife wasn’t reason enough to crave her like he did. He couldn’t pinpoint the how or why but he felt whole when she was with him. His life didn’t suck without her, but with her it was definitely better.

He reached the starting point of his run and considered continuing, but a man on the beach caught his attention.

Wearing black suit pants and loafers with a tight black shirt tucked in, he sat on the sand. His legs were bent up with his biceps resting on his knees. Dark aviator glasses obscured his face. He might look like a man decompressing from a long day if he faced the water.

He faced Grey’s motel, though.

Liam took a few steps toward the man, not sure what he’d say. He wasn’t one of the men Grey had identified as Jessup’s, but Lana said there could be a hitter in play. He could be a new hire, or someone she hadn’t seen before, or someone who’d recognized her from her old life, or just a guy on the beach looking for a thrill.

He could have followed her from the subdivision if he was good enough. Or a tracker could have been planted on the car in the hospital lot, though Liam doubted Tyler would have missed that.

Liam’s phone rang with the tune he’d assigned Grey. His heart leapt. His hand shook as he pulled the phone from its pocket and hit Talk. He went for casual. “Hey.”

“I’m sorry I left like that. I know you’re only trying to help.”

He wanted to ease her, to tell her it didn’t matter. All he managed was a shuddering breath that sounded too fragile for comfort to his ears.

“I got your message. I paid cash for the room I’m in. I’m safe.”

The blind in her room shifted and her outline came into view. Liam was far enough away she shouldn’t see him. Just in case, he turned toward the water. As he did, he noticed the man in black pull out a phone.

Liam’s neck tingled. He needed to warn her. “Grey, I have to tell you something you’re not going to like.”

“What?”

“I’m not sure you’re as safe as you think.”

“What do you mean?”

The man returned the phone to his pocket and then opened a small case sitting beside him. A moment later he raised a gun.

Everything in Liam shifted and trained instinct kicked in. “Get down,” he snapped at Grey as he charged the man.

A muffled pop sounded. The bullet was released. Grey screamed and hit the blinds as she dove, or fell, to the floor.

With his left hand Liam stowed his phone in his pack and with his right he pulled his weapon. “FBI! Freeze!”

Predictably, the man leapt to his feet and began running, leaving his case behind.

The man turned with his weapon trained. Liam did a forward roll and on the way back up he took his aim. They both squeezed their triggers.

The shooter’s bullet landed a few inches to Liam’s left. Liam’s landed in the man’s leg. “Freeze,” he ordered again as he slipped his gun back into its pouch.

The shooter stumbled but didn’t stop. Rage surged. Liam took a flying leap and tackled the shooter as he again began to turn with his gun raised. The impact knocked the shooter’s weapon from his hand. They went down in a flurry of sand.

“I said freeze,” Liam snarled as he straddled the perp’s back. Grabbing the man’s hands, Liam held them in one hand and encouraged the shooter to eat dirt while reaching for the zip-tie cuffs with his free one.

“You shot me.”

“You’re under arrest for illegally discharging a weapon in city limits, public endangerment, and as soon as I check your phone I’m sure I’ll add attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.” He jerked the man to his feet and pushed him back the way they’d come.

Ignoring the curious onlookers, Liam retrieved the shooter’s gun and case when they passed them.

“I called Aidan,” Grey said from a few feet away, phone in hand and arms hugging herself. Blood dripped from scratches on her face and neck. They appeared to be superficial and she wasn’t acting as if they bothered her. He took it as a good sign, though he knew it could just mean she was in shock.

The shooter turned toward Grey and stared. “He said you’d be an easy target. Next time you won’t be so lucky.”

“Who hired you?”

The man said nothing else. Liam shoved him on and avoided Grey’s gaze. Whatever he might find in her eyes, if he looked, he knew it would break him and he had to focus.

He wanted to throttle her for leaving and putting herself in danger, but he also wanted to pull her close and hug her. Jessup’s man could have caught up with her at any point in the day. She was damn lucky Liam had followed her.

“He’ll be here in a few minutes,” she finished.

Liam nodded and shoved his limping captive ahead of him toward the car. Grey fell into step with Liam, but thankfully stayed silent. He had a lot to say, but not with their present audience. Instead, he recited the Miranda as they went.

Aidan pulled into the lot at the same time they rounded the corner. When his brother exited his car and rounded the hood, Liam shoved the shooter toward his brother. “Trunk.”

Aidan hit the button on the key fob with one hand while catching the perp’s arm with the other. “You seem to have irritated Agent Burgess.”

“He shot me.”

“Self-defense,” Liam said from behind the trunk where he put the shooter’s gun and case in evidence bags.

He returned with a roll of bandages. He’d prefer to let the asshole bleed out, but they had a tendency to get more out of people when they weren’t bleeding or passing out from low blood pressure. Besides, though they all bought black leather seats for easier cleanup, Aidan preferred to minimize the amount of blood in his car.

While he wrapped the man’s leg, Liam recapped everything for Aidan. Grey stood a little back, but close. Nothing squashed a desire for freedom like flying bullets.

Chapter Ten

It took another hour to wrap up the scene. Aidan took the now silent shooter to the hospital for treatment and then would take him in for booking and interrogation. Ava came to take Grey’s statement while it was fresh and got her checked out by the paramedics who had come on scene. Breck was on the phone with the director and the U.S. Marshals Service, filling everyone in. Kieralyn worked with a team to process the motel room while Liam worked with a team on the beach. They mapped the scene and recovered the bullets.

The whole time, Liam wanted nothing more than to be alone with Grey. Touching her, holding her, kissing her. After seeing the shattered glass of her door, the bullet imbedded in the wall beyond and the glass scratches on her face he needed some reassurance. He could only imagine that she needed some.

“We’re finished, Agent Burgess,” a tech said. “We’ll get everything back to the office and have it catalogued by morning.”

“Thank you.” He thanked Kieralyn and made his way to Ava’s car where Grey sat behind a dark-tinted window. Every step landed harder, jarred him with the need he’d been shoving down since seeing the shooter raise his gun. His control wasn’t going to last much longer. “How is she?”

“Shaken.”

“Her cuts?”

“Superficial. She’s got fast reflexes.”

His jaw flexed. “She wouldn’t have needed them if she’d trusted me.”

“She did trust you,” Ava assured. “She said she didn’t know where you were, but you said get down and she did. She heard the bullet breeze past.”

Ava curled her fingers around his hand and locked her gaze with his. He calmed quickly and the relief was so great he didn’t care if H came after him for letting her use her empathic ability on him. Much.

“She’s had a rough time,” Ava said no doubt knowing he was thinking clearer. “I know a little something about that.”

Liam winced. Ava was so strong and settled with H and she fit so smoothly with the team he often forgot about her background. If Grey had gone through anything close…

Ava squeezed his hand gently, again pulling away his rising stress. “Keep being patient.”

“That’s becoming tougher every day.”

“Start by asking where she’d prefer to stay and know that H’s lab is an option.” She winked encouragingly. “It’s very secure.”

That was an understatement. H saw government conspiracy in almost everything. When he’d escaped captivity a few years earlier, he made damn sure he was protected from anything that might come his way. He just hadn’t seen Ava coming. “Thank you.”

She winked again and opened the door that concealed Grey.

Liam had seen a lot of looks on Grey’s face in the short time he’d known her. Joy. Mischief. Sadness. Worry. Guilt. Loneliness. Surrender. Passion.

The patch of skin between her eyebrows pinched. Her fingers drew lines on her legs. The clearest clue to her thoughts though was in her eyes. Even when her words said one thing, her eyes always conveyed truth. Now was no different and her eyes were filled with contrition. Apologetic agony.

Sitting in Ava’s front seat, pale against the dark leather, Grey broke his heart. Then she sniffed as if she’d been crying. That shattered him.

“Will you come with me, Grey? Please.” He wasn’t sure if he’d ever said please to her any other time. He only knew how much he needed her with him and if a please could make that happen…

She stayed still and silent. He offered a hand, but his insides trembled with the need to drop to his knees and beg. She licked her lips and then placed her hand in his. The shaking touch reached into his chest and squeezed. Tears of triumph burned the backs of his eyes, but he swallowed them. Instead, he silently curled his fingers around hers and helped her from the car.

They didn’t speak as he led her to his car, opened her door and then closed it behind her. Rounding the hood, looking at her the whole way, he reminded himself of his mother’s advice about letting her go and Ava’s about going slow. They both contradicted everything he wanted and the outcome of his internal war was still undecided.

He started the car.

Every emotion he’d shoved aside and down since seeing that gun, everything Ava had tried to pull out of him, bubbled to the surface. They rolled over each other beneath his skin until he felt like angry serpents were fighting for dominance.

He turned off the car.

He was accustomed to knowing what he wanted and what needed to be done, but Grey knocked him off stride.

“Liam?”

He shook his head. Unable to trust whatever he might say, he dropped his forehead to the steering wheel and tried to breathe steadily, but it was no use. Every inhale and exhale was a jagged movement of air that delivered little healing power to his cells. He needed to stash Grey in a safe corner where nothing bad could touch her and then he needed to pound the shit out of something.

He saw no other answer, but that one wouldn’t happen.

She rested her hand, only the fingertips really, on his shoulder. “Will you take me home?”

He fought against the pressure of tears that surged with face-heating pleasure. When he was sure he could keep his eyes dry, he raised his head and looked at Grey. She shouldn’t feel ashamed of wanting the freedom to make her own choices, yet her eyes were still darkened by heartbreaking contrition.

“Is that where you really want to go, or are you saying this because you think you owe me?”

“I left to keep people out of danger and look what happened. I made everything worse.”

“So, because you think you owe me.”

She shrugged, but didn’t answer.

“Where would you go if you didn’t have to worry about any repercussions, Grey? Where did you go to feel safe when you were Opal?”