Trace & Tori [The ShadowDance Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

When Trace returned to the kitchen after laying Tori on their bed and covering her with a well-worn quilt, he found several of his friends sitting around his dining room table. Jenna Lamont-Matthews stood and approached him with concern etching her beautiful face and asked, “Is she okay, Trace? We’ve all been worried sick about her. Does she need anything?”

Trace pulled her in to a quick hug, patting her back in a brotherly move that brought a smile to the face of her husband who was sitting nearby. Colt Matthews knew that Trace had been family friends with the Lamonts for as long as any of the them could remember, and Trace could tell the former Special Forces Team Leader was secure in his relationship with his beautiful bride, and that was something Trace was grateful for, because it would have been very difficult to change the way he had interacted with Jenna for a lifetime. “You are a sweetheart for asking, but I can’t think of a thing she needs, but if you are still here when she wakes up, please feel free to ask her.” Then addressing the entire group, he added, “Doc assures me that she will fully recover, but it will take a few days for the drug she was given to fully leave her system. She was very lucky that it was a mild dose since she isn’t a large woman and it was a pretty powerful sedative. I will be watching her closely for any signs of PTSD, but honestly my main concern right now is how to keep this from happening again.”

Colt spoke up first. “I want you to know we’ll all do everything we can and Alex and Zach have authorized the use of any ShadowDance resource to help, so we’ll be providing electronics security upgrades until you can get your system up and fully functional. We’ll also be providing staff both inside and outside your residence. I also wanted to let you know we’ve spent some time educating all your ranch hands and making sure they are all aware of the situation and exactly what’s at stake.”

Sheriff Dylan Marshall spoke up next. “I’ve got patrols in the area as much as possible, and my deputies are canvassing the town to find out if anyone has had any dealings with someone meeting Gary George’s description. We are also leaving copies of his picture with everyone we talk to and making sure they understand how important it is that they let us know if they see him.” Dylan had made it clear earlier in the day that he was fed up with women being hurt in his jurisdiction, and he was going to do everything he could to find out who had hired the flunky they’d caught after Tori was drugged and taken from The Club.

Trace swallowed past the lump in his throat as he looked around the room, it took him a few seconds to calm the emotions racing through him so he could thank his friends for their help and assure them that Tori would be just as touched by their love and concern as he was. As he finished speaking, he looked up to see her standing in the doorway with tears glistening in her eyes. “Princess, what are you doing up already? And why the tears, sweetness?”

She padded toward him, her sock covered feet silently crossing the room until she leaned into him and he wrapped her in his arms. She finally looked up and said, “I’m just so touched that your friends love you so much that they are willing to go to all this trouble just because I’m marrying you and…”

No one had seen Alex Lamont arrive, but he quickly made himself known when he cut her words off, saying, “Victoria, that’s enough of that. We are very close to Trace, that’s true enough, but we are your friends as well, and as you are going to soon discover, we take care of our own. Now, someone update me on the progress. I’ve got a very pregnant, cranky wife at home, and I need to get back there. I’ve left Zach in charge of her and things being how they are, she’ll have him twisted into a pretzel and gotten him to agree to God knows what if I leave them alone for too long.” His low chuckle and smile took most of the sting out of his words, and Tori had to smile at him. It was plain to see Alex Lamont worshipped his fireball of a wife. It had been his love for his family that had been the first thing Tori had noticed about the man who now seemed every bit the soldier she’d been told he had once been.

After several people in the room gave Alex updates, he gave several suggestions and reiterated his orders to the members of the ShadowDance staff and then said his good-byes. Tori was impressed with the economy of his movements and the smooth way he handled all the information he’d been given. She’d watched as he processed everything he was being told as if he was gathering military intelligence and quickly set a plan in motion. She had to smile to herself when she’d been able to easily identify his former Special Forces team members simply by watching the way they responded to his inquiries and orders.

As Tori stood in the kitchen in the soft yoga pants and sweater Rissa had brought her, she thought that judging by everyone’s stunned expressions, she must look a fright and unconsciously tried to smooth down her crazy curls. Trace’s large hand stopped her movements. “You look beautiful, and I want you to stop worrying about what others think.” He turned her in his arms so that they were facing each other, and he placed his hands on her waist and picked her up as if she weighed nothing at all and sat her on the counter so their faces were closer together and spoke against her ear. “You are the most beautiful woman in the entire world, and I want you to always remember that. I want you to know that I’m drawn to your inner beauty as well as what others can see from the outside. You are my other half, sweetheart, and I will do everything in my power to prove that to you each and every day for the rest of my life.”

Tori thought her heart would burst with the joy Trace brought to her heart. She felt as if he had reached deep into her soul, and as always, he’d figured out exactly what she needed and then handed it to her on a silver platter. She had spent her entire life trying to be better…do more…prove herself in all things and to have a man like Trace tell her she was everything to him, was just more than she could have ever asked for.

Once again Tori found herself thanking the Universe for the gift standing in front of her at this moment. She had felt like she was quickly running out of steam and had been thinking about going back upstairs to rest when she found herself suddenly lost in thought. Trace had been just looking deeply into her eyes, watching her internal battle he’d be willing to bet was between her desire to be polite to their guests and her overwhelming fatigue. He was watching the play of emotions move across her face when suddenly her stomach growled so loud he leaned his head back and laughed out loud. He looked up and said, “Selita, do we have anything for my lovely fiancée to eat? It seems she’s a bit hungry, even though she wouldn’t dream of
mentioning
it.”

Tori had eaten a light dinner and then excused herself in order to return upstairs for a long soaking bath. Trace had helped her get settled and then returned downstairs to see their guests out. Jamie Creed had remained inside, but had assured Trace that he didn’t need anything and that he should return to Tori. Trace was grateful to the Lamonts for lending him one of their best. Jamie had been a SEAL team sniper and even though Trace didn’t actually see a weapon, it was a given the man was heavily armed and it was likely he’d already stashed loaded weapons all over the house. Trace made a mental note to mention that to Tori, and he hoped she wouldn’t be put off by it. Trace went to the top of the stairs and watched the younger man for a few minutes.
Christ he moves like a fucking cat, sleek and silent.
Trace knew that Alex and Zach still did contract work for the various governments on occasion and that Jamie Creed was on almost every team that seamlessly assembled, disappeared for a few weeks, and then slid right back into routine as if they had never been gone. Trace had laughed more than once at how that seemed to fly right under the radar of most of the residents of Climax, where typically, the local busybodies didn’t miss a single thing.

Trace hadn’t even realized he was still watching Jamie until the man spoke to him without ever even turning around, “Bra, you gonna just stand there all night watching me or you gonna go to your woman?” Trace smiled, Jamie’s Cajun slang was always entertaining and managed to attract any number of the subs on the occasions the lanky young man visited The Club’s busy Main Lounge.

Knowing Jamie had the downstairs secured, Trace turned silently and went on up the stairs to where he knew Tori was still soaking in a bubble bath. Looking in on her, he wasn’t surprised when he saw that her eyes were closed, but he could see her sexy smile, and he knew she was enjoying the music he’d started downstairs. One of his favorite features of the beautiful log home he’d built was the stereo system that was state-of-the-art and piped into every room throughout the entire house. There were even speakers on each deck and in various places throughout the pool area and front porch. Trace might be a rancher, but he loved beautiful music. His mother had been an accomplished pianist, and he’d grown up knowing the power of music to soothe or excite the soul.

Stepping back into the bedroom, Trace lit candles then slipped out of his clothes and re-entered the bathroom. He slowly slipped behind Tori in the large tub and set the jets to rewarm and begin moving the water around them in slow swirls that would soothe her tired muscles. Trace wanted to make sure she got every bit of rest she could, and he’d been pushing her to drink a lot of liquids so the drugs would be flushed from her system as quickly as possible. The large marble tub was a sharp contrast to the bathrooms at his friend’s cabin. For each rustic element the other men had implemented, Trace had gone equally far toward modern. The irony hadn’t been lost on any of them as they’d helped each other with the designs. The soldier and engineer had gone for natural and rustic, and the rancher had gone to the other extreme, opting for as modern a look as he could get.

The black-and-white marble gleamed in the soft light, and then Trace smiled when Tori moaned in contentment. “Princess, you feel so good pressed against me. Feeling you flush against me, skin to skin, is nearly perfect.” For several minutes he just soaked up the feeling of her in his arms. He knew better than most people how lucky he was to have this second chance with Tori. He’d nearly lost her to the lunatic who didn’t seem to understand the word no, and he swore to himself that he’d spend the rest of his life protecting her.

* * * *

Gary George sat in the Shift Captain’s office, wondering how the hell things had gone so wrong. He had made it home from Colorado just an hour before being called in and questioned for hours by the Internal Affairs clucks about an “attempted kidnapping” in Colorado. He’d explained that he had been on days off and had just worked in his garage wood shop, so no, he didn’t have anyone to vouch for him as to his whereabouts for the previous few days. Next time he wouldn’t hire some fucking kid to bring the bitch to him. And the next time he got his hands on her it wasn’t going to be a picnic for her either.
You think your dog died an ugly death, bitch, just wait until you see what I have planned for you.

Apparently Miss Victoria Paulsen had made some powerful friends since she’d moved to ‘Colorful Colorado’ judging by the black suits now chatting up his Captain down the hall, he’d say likely some well-connected Fed friends. If he survived this witch hunt, he’d lay low for a couple of months and then he’d go back and finish what he’d started. Nobody walked away from him and lived to tell about it, well, not for long anyway.

Being a cop was the perfect cover. Hell, he’d even worked most of the cases involving the women he had killed, and no one had ever suspected. Movement on the other side of the glass wall brought him back to the moment. When he saw his supervisor shake hands with the Feds and then smile as the other two men walked back down the hall toward the exit, he knew that he’d dodged the bullet…again.

* * * *

Sitting in their rental car down the street from the Houston precinct where Gary George worked, both agents watched as he left the building. His smile and the cocky walk only confirmed the impression they’d gotten when they’d watched his interview earlier in the day. And after talking with his Captain, they were all convinced the man they were dealing with had likely been involved in many, if not all of the unsolved murders of several women in the city during the past few years. They’d been working what everyone suspected was a serial killer case for almost a year, and the one common thread was Officer Gary George, now all they had to do was prove it.

When Alex Lamont had called them yesterday, they’d almost rejoiced at the excuse to get closer to their prime suspect. After making sure Alex had a good understanding of the seriousness of the situation, they’d called Captain Gasman to enlist his help. Sitting in a small, remote observation room, they had all watched the interview via live stream from various hidden cameras in the IA office’s interview room.

It had only taken a few short minutes for Captain Gasman to recognize several problems with the man he had only minutes before defended and described as an exemplary employee. The inconsistencies in the officer’s answers were so small anyone who hadn’t worked with the man for a long time would have missed them. The agents had been impressed with Gasman’s astute observations and his willingness to be open-minded enough to recognize a serious problem within his ranks. Everyone would be watching George for the foreseeable future. They had all agreed that he would likely take a breather and wait for the heat of the situation to dissipate some. George would have known this had been a close call, so now it was just a matter of waiting him out and not letting their guard down.

Relaxing in the passenger seat as they watched Officer George saunter down the sidewalk looking, for all intents and purposes, like he had the world by the tail, Agent Rivera called Alex Lamont and updated him and promised to visit soon. Joe Rivera and his partner, Derek Lake, had both been Navy SEALs and had worked with the Lamonts on joint missions on several occasions. Even though they hadn’t been on the same team, they had a mutual respect for each other and it was common knowledge that “Once a SEAL, always a SEAL,” so they looked forward to visiting the Lamonts’ Club sometime…soon!