The Christmas Clue (12 page)

Now, it was his turn to pause. Good grief. He’d talked himself into a corner. There was nowhere to go with that comment. Well, nowhere that wouldn’t get him in trouble.

“Attraction is a funny thing,” she concluded.

“
Funny
isn’t the word I’d use.
Uncomfortable,
maybe.”

“Yes.” Cass agreed. “Uncomfortable. Poetic, even. Maybe even stupid. But at least I’m a little warmer now.”

Oh, yeah. Warmer. Crazier. And obsessed with the woman whose breast and elbow brushed his ribs.

Every logical thought he had in his head told him to look away from her and do something official—like keep watching the estate. But that little voice in the back of his head kept telling him that his butterfly-blue eyes wanted to look at her Christmas-tree-green ones.

“Exotic-flower lips,” he muttered.

And that’s when he really lost it. One look at those eyes, those lips, that face, and he lowered his head and kissed her.

Part of him, the logical part, hoped that Cass would slap him or something. But she slid her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.

He was in major trouble here.

But that didn’t stop him. Nothing short of Cass saying no would stop him. She was warm, welcoming and inviting, and he wanted to taste those lips. He wanted to feel her body against his.

Heck, he just wanted
her.

He slid his hand beneath her shirt, warming it first on her stomach, before cupping her right breast. No bra. Which meant there were no obstacles to touching her. So that’s what he did, and he savored every breathy moan of pleasure that she made until it wasn’t enough for either of them.

Matt used his mouth then.

He slid down in the seat, lifted her top and tasted the nipples that’d been driving him crazy since the moment he met her.

“You taste expensive,” he teased. Though he didn’t feel like teasing her. The need was already overtaking him. His body was already begging.

She lay back on the seat, making it easier for him to continue his kisses. Cass pressed against him, arching her hips. Seeking him.

Matt accommodated her. He lowered himself, trying to keep his weight off her, but Cass would have no part of that. She pulled him on top of her, weight and all, and hooked her legs around the backs of his. In the process she banged her knee on the steering wheel, a reminder that the logistics of car sex was best left to teenagers and fools.

They obviously fell into the latter category.

Still, that didn’t stop him from escalating the kisses. He touched her, sliding his hand down her stomach and into the waist of her loose jeans. But this time the touching didn’t last long. She put her hands between them and unzipped him.

And then she touched him in exactly the right place. Matt lost his breath for a few seconds, but he didn’t let that stop him from returning the favor. He unzipped her and slipped her jeans off her legs. He touched. And kissed. And fueled the fire in both of them until they both needed more.

The kisses and touches became hotter. Faster. Everything became faster. His breathing. His heartbeat. His pulse. Thoughts raced through his head, but there was really only one primal thought that he could latch on to.
Take her.

Cass’s fingers dug into his back, and she fought to bring him closer, to make the kisses deeper. Her sounds of yearning and need quickly turned to frantic desperation. Matt understood both, because his own body was making the same demands.

The seat was their enemy, but logistics and discomfort weren’t going to stop the heat that was racing out of control.

Her scent was all around her. Mercy, that scent. All woman. All need.

“Take me.”

Matt wasn’t sure if she said the words aloud or if she said them silently with the hungry look in her eyes. But it didn’t matter. It was time he did something about this primal need raging through them.

He fumbled in the equipment bag, took out a condom and put it on. Cass didn’t wait even a second before she took him and guided him inside her.

Matt shook his head, to clear it, to try to adjust to the pleasure that was overwhelming him. But it was useless. The need took over. As it always would. And Matt found the rhythm that would end all of this too soon.

“Take me,” Cass repeated, her voice all heat and silk.

Matt pulled back slightly so he could see her face. The heat and silk were there, too. As was the urgency.

She used her legs to tighten her grip on him. Her hands went into his hair to pull him closer. They moved as one, in a frantic race to find some kind of relief to the unbearable need.

When he felt her shudder, and her body closed around his, Matt gathered her close, kissed her and let himself fall.

C
ASS WAS WARM NOW
.

Too bad it wouldn’t last.

The moment Matt pulled away from her, she felt the loss.

Not just of his body heat. The loss of
him.

With the sun sinking low on the horizon, their quiet together time was almost over. They’d soon go into the estate, where any and everything could happen. But she refused to think about that now. She allowed herself to settle into his arms, and for the next few minutes she pretended that all was right with the world. There were no men like Dominic. No illegal adoptions. Just Matt and Molly living the life they deserved.

And her, of course.

Except Cass didn’t know where she fit in. Without the security disks or any other concrete evidence, she didn’t have a ticket to freedom. Matt would get that ticket. She was sure of it. The department wouldn’t toss a father in jail for rescuing his child.

But the Justice Department probably wouldn’t extend that courtesy to her. If she couldn’t get away after the rescue, if she was caught, she’d go to jail.

Oh, Matt would do his best to get her out, but justice wouldn’t be on her side. Because the Justice Department needed Dominic, and they would do whatever it took to maintain a relationship with him. In the grand scheme of things, she was expendable so that the feds could ultimately arrest some dangerous criminals that Dominic was apparently willing to hand over to them.

If she went to jail, Dominic would find a way to kill her. Cass didn’t doubt that. And it wasn’t fair or reasonable to ask Matt to spend his life protecting her.

She’d have to go on the run again.

Far away from Matt and Molly so that she wouldn’t drag them into the chaos of her life. Even though she’d only seen Molly a few precious moments, Cass wanted only the very best for the little girl.

And for Matt.

That meant she couldn’t be part of his life.

Just the thought of it sent an almost unbearable ache through her. She tried to convince herself that it was caused by the temporary closeness brought on by sex and intense physical attraction.

But she wasn’t that good a liar.

Just like Molly, Matt was important to her, and Cass wondered if she’d spend the rest of her life aching for them, for the man and the family that she could never have.

She felt a hot tear slide down her cheek, and she swiped it away before Matt could notice. Cass didn’t want him to think she regretted what’d happened. She didn’t. But it hurt to know this was the one and only time she’d make love with him.

“I want you to stay here,” Matt said, “while I go into the estate.”

“No.” Cass didn’t even have to think about it. She moved so she could make eye contact with him. So he could see the determination in her eyes. This was not negotiable. “You’ll need backup. You need my help, and you’re going to get it whether you want it or not.”

“Oh, I want it,” he admitted. “I can’t risk anything but success tonight. But I also can’t risk you getting hurt when you don’t have a stake in this.”

She had a stake all right—Matt and Molly’s safety.

Cass gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “No more talk about me staying here. We do this together.”

He stayed quiet a moment and then pointed to the infrared monitor that they’d put on the dash. “Molly’s alone in the nursery.”

She was. Well, almost. There was someone just outside the nursery door. But the good news was that Molly appeared to be in her crib, and since she wasn’t moving around, she was likely asleep.

“It’s time to leave,” Matt whispered, moving even farther away from her so he could adjust his clothes.

Cass had just watched the last of the light leave the sky. She felt her hopes for her own future go right along with it.

She sat up and put her clothes back on. Matt didn’t take the box of decorations from the back seat. Instead, he grabbed his equipment bag and put both the jammer and the infrared monitor in it.

“We’re not going to use the decorations as our cover?” she asked.

He shook his head. “If anyone stops me, I’ll just say Annette asked me to do some minor repairs for her. And I’ll tell them I have my tools in this equipment bag.”

Cass nodded and tested the size of her coat pocket. Some of the equipment would fit, but she would also need easy access to her gun.

Which brought her full circle to what she’d been thinking about. “If something goes wrong—”

“You’re not going,” Matt interrupted.

Before Cass could huff and reiterate that she was indeed going, she felt the cold metal slap across her left wrist. One click. Immediately followed by another.

And she realized, too late, that Matt had handcuffed her to the steering wheel.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Cass practically howled.

“Saving your life.”

With that, he shut the car door, looped the equipment bag over his shoulder and raced toward the estate.

Matt didn’t look back.

With the darkness and the snow, he wouldn’t be able to see Cass anyway. Besides, he didn’t have to see her to know that she was mad enough to spit nails. For reasons he didn’t want to explore right now, Cass seemed willing to risk her life for this rescue.

On one level, he desperately wanted her help. But if something went wrong, if she got hurt or worse, he wouldn’t be able to live with that. He only hoped he could do this rescue quietly and without alerting anyone inside the house.

It definitely wasn’t the best weather for a rescue mission. It was bitter cold, and the snow was coming down hard now. There was probably only an hour or so at most where the roads would still be passable.

Matt went to the service entrance where Cass and he had met with Annette earlier. This would be his entry route, but on the way out, he’d go through the garden room that had been empty most of the day.

Hopefully, it would stay that way.

He glanced down into the equipment bag and saw all the warm bodies displayed on infrared. He couldn’t do much about that. Maybe he could blend in. Still, he hit the jammer to disrupt the security system so that no one would be able to monitor him with the surveillance cameras.

He walked into the massive kitchen as if he had every right to be there. No one, including an armed guard who was sampling the party food, even looked his way. Matt took full advantage of that and proceeded through the butler’s pantry, but he stopped when he heard voices in the hall.

Voices that he recognized.

Ronald and Libby.

What the hell was Ronald doing here? And why did his fellow agents keep showing up at the worst possible moments?

Matt could only hear snatches of their conversation. Even though they were practically whispering, it was clear they were arguing.

“Leaving now would be a mistake,” Libby insisted. “I’m close to getting what the department wants.”

“You’re close to getting yourself killed,” Ronald snarled.

“This isn’t personal for me like it is for Matt,” Libby countered.

“That may be, but Matt had the good sense to leave.”

So, his lie had worked after all. That surprised him a little, and Matt wondered why Libby, Ronald or even Gideon hadn’t scanned the grounds with infrared to find him. Maybe they’d taken him at his word that Cass and he had both left the estate.

Matt debated if he should step out and confront them. But he couldn’t trust them, and he didn’t have to time to do anything but rescue Molly. So, the moment they rounded the corner, he made his way toward the nursery.

He took out a pistol-size stun gun and carried it in his left hand just in case he had to go for his Glock. That would be a last resort, of course, because he couldn’t fire. He couldn’t risk hitting Molly.

The bored-looking guard that Matt had seen on infrared was still positioned outside the nursery door. Matt didn’t slow his stride. He didn’t make eye contact with the man. But as soon as he was within reaching distance, he popped the guy’s neck with the stun gun. The guard didn’t have time to react. He went down like a sack of rocks.

Matt didn’t waste any time. He grabbed the guard by the back of his collar, opened the nursery door and dragged him inside to the other side of the sofa.

He hurried to the crib where Molly was indeed sleeping. She was on her side, tucked beneath a thick pink blanket.

Just the sight of her nearly brought him to his knees.

Even though he’d only known about his daughter for a few days, the love he felt for her was overwhelming, and he had to force himself not to stand there and just look at her. There’d be plenty of time for that later.

He shoved the stun gun into his pocket and reached for her.

He’d never held a baby before. He prayed he wasn’t so clumsy and bumbling that he woke her. He really needed her to stay asleep so he could try to get her out through the garden room.

Matt eased his hand beneath her head, beneath all those silky blond curls. When Molly didn’t stir, he started to lift her so he could cradle her in his arms.

But Matt didn’t get far.

The reinforced walls of the panic room slid open revealing two guards. Both had their silencer-rigged guns aimed right at him.

Hell.

The infrared hadn’t picked them up because of the thick steel and concrete. That was Matt’s first thought, but it was quickly followed by another one—had Annette set all of this up?

Had she betrayed him?

But Matt didn’t have time to come up with possible answers. The guards came out of the panic room and walked closer.

“Put your hands in the air where I can see them,” the taller guard ordered. He glanced at the unconscious guard by the sofa. “Step away from the baby.”

Because Matt couldn’t risk a shootout, he did exactly as ordered. He didn’t take just one step from Molly, he took several so that she wouldn’t be in the line of fire. He was in serious trouble here. His only hope was for the guards to get closer so he could incapacitate them.

The shorter guard with buzz-cut black hair went to Matt. The other stayed a “safe” distance on the other side of the room, standing watch to make sure Matt didn’t try to pull anything. Matt didn’t resist when the guard patted him down and retrieved the Glock from his shoulder holster and the stun gun from his hand.

The taller guard leaned his head to the side and spoke into a grape-size communicator clipped to the collar of his camouflage shirt. “We found your sister’s
decorator,
” the guy said to the person at the other end of that communicator.

So, there was the answer. Dominic had set this trap because he was suspicious. Matt should have anticipated it.

“What should we do with him?” the guard asked into the communicator.

With the adrenaline surging through him and his pulse crashing in his ears, Matt waited to see what the verdict of this conversation would be.

The smaller guard went through the equipment bag, and of course spotted the infrared monitor and jammer right away. He shot Matt a steely glance. “You might want to take a look at this,” he informed his partner. “He’s not carrying light.”

“Repeat that,” the man said into the communicator. A second went by. “Will do.”

“Well?” the shorter guard asked. “What do we do with him?”

“Kill him.”

Matt didn’t react on the outside, but inside his heart kicked up a significant notch. He couldn’t die, because that would leave both Molly and Cass to fend for themselves.

The guard tipped his head to the panic room. “We’ll kill him in there. No carpet. Less mess to clean up.”

With that, the smaller guard used the equipment bag to shove Matt toward the panic room. Matt used the opportunity to do something. He purposely stumbled and dove right toward the guard with the communicator. He needed to take him out first so he couldn’t alert Dominic or anyone else.

The stumble ploy worked. Matt plowed into the tall guard and sent both of them crashing to the floor.

But it didn’t work for long.

Before Matt could regroup and come up fighting, he felt the end of the gun against the back of his neck. “Move and you die here,” the buzz-cut guard warned.

Well, that wasn’t much incentive to stay put, especially since the panic room—the place they intended to kill him—was only a few yards away.

The guard he’d tackled got to his feet.

It was as risky a move as he could make, but Matt got ready to slam his elbow into the guy’s throat. Of course, the other guard would most likely shoot to kill. But it was the only chance Matt had of getting out of this.

There was a blur of motion, followed by a swoosh of sound. Matt recognized that sound. Not a gun rigged with a silencer.

But a tranquilizer gun.

And that meant Cass was in the room.

The guard with the buzz cut gasped in pain, and he grabbed at the tiny dart that’d gone into his neck.

Matt knew what was going to happen next. The taller guard aimed his gun at the shooter. At Cass.

Before the guy could pull the trigger, Matt dove at the man again and dragged him to the floor. Behind him Matt was aware that Cass was moving. He hoped like hell that she’d stay out of the way.

Matt managed to land a hard punch on the guy’s jaw. It was just enough to buy Matt a couple of seconds of time so he could reposition himself and go in for an even harder punch. The third one did the trick, knocking the man unconscious.

To make sure he stayed that way, Matt grabbed the stun gun and gave the guy a jolt, and then he turned his attention to Cass.

“What are you doing here?” he snarled. But, mercy, he was glad to see her.

“Apparently saving your life.”

“You picked the handcuff lock.” Something he should have anticipated that she’d do. But then, he’d had a lot on his mind, what with the rescue and trying to keep her from being harmed.

“We’ll argue about it later,” Cass informed him. “Let’s take Molly and get out of here.”

Matt was all for that.

Until he glanced at the infrared monitor in the equipment bag. There was a group of people moving toward the nursery. At least a half dozen. And with the speed they were coming, Matt had no doubt that these were yet more guards on the way to stop them.

Mercy.

This did not look good.

Matt knew he had only one option.

“Guards are coming. Take Molly,” Matt told Cass. “Go through the tunnel in the panic room. Take her to the car and leave. Don’t wait for me. I’ll catch up with you later.”

She shook her head. “What are you planning to do?”

“We need a diversion.”

“I’ll do that. You take your daughter and get out of here.”

That was touching and generous. Cass was offering to make herself bait while Molly and he escaped.

But it wasn’t going to happen.

“Take Molly
now,
” Matt insisted, pushing her toward the crib. “Before it’s too late.”

“Come with us.”

“I can’t. The guards will just follow us into the panic room and trap us in the tunnel.”

Oh, she wanted to argue. Matt could see the argument—and plenty of other things—in her eyes. But she must have seen the resolve in his. Or maybe it was the sound of footsteps that made her realize she had to save his daughter.

“Don’t you dare get hurt,” she warned.

But she did as he ordered. Keeping a firm grip on her tranquilizer gun, she scooped Molly and the baby blanket into her arms and hurried into the panic room.

Matt dove across the room to shut the panic room wall door. In the same motion he grabbed his equipment bag. He got his gun from the unconscious guard and raced to the hall.

He only had to wait a second or two before the first guard rounded the corner.

Matt tucked the equipment bag in his arms, as if he were carrying a baby. And he ran like hell in the opposite direction, leading them away from Cass and Molly.

Matt didn’t make it far before the first shot slammed into the wall next to his head.