Chapter Ten
“I don’t know whether I could have handled another lunch like these.” JL leaned back in the passenger’s seat of Cole’s truck and rubbed her temples. “I think I have a permanent headache.”
The lunch with Damon Horner had been the final one for the week. For JL, each meeting had been more stressful than the previous one.
“These people are bloodsuckers,” she groaned. “They want it all, and they don’t care how they get it.”
“What kind of reading did you get from Horner?” Cole pulled onto the interstate to head for Clayton.
“Blacker than the other two combined.” She uncapped the bottle of water Cole had placed in the cup holder for her and took a long swallow. “Cassandra Grigsby and Thiago Cervantes had other colors at the edges of their electric fields. I wanted to wait until we’d met with all three before giving you my final analysis.”
“Okay. I can understand that. So what did you see?”
“Cassandra Grigsby has a faint tinge of red bleeding off the edges. People with a lot of red are generous of spirit but also very strong. And if the predominant aura is black, the touch of red usually means they are quick to anger. It also means being top dog is essential to them.”
“She certainly made that evident,” Cole grunted.
“Thiago Cervantes was another matter.” She paused. “I saw brown at the edges of his field. The man is confused, uncertain. He’s definitely not the one pulling the strings in that family. I’d love to get a reading on his older brother. I’ll bet it would be as bad as Horner’s.” She rubbed her temples again. “His was unrelenting black. Sitting at the table with him nearly made me physically ill.”
Cole took her hand, wrapping his fingers around it. “I hated having to put you through this, you know.”
“It was my suggestion,” she reminded him. “At least now we know who and what we’re dealing with.”
“I’m beginning to think we still don’t have enough security at the lab. Or maybe we should move it to a different location.”
“That would be a huge pain,” she argued.
“I understand. But this funny itch at the back of my neck won’t go away.”
“You’re doing everything you can. That high-tech system is in place. I’ll be very careful. I promise.”
He gave a rough laugh. “And you’ll have me glued to your side, so accomplishing that will be easy.”
JL lifted the bottle of water from the cup holder, uncapped it, and took a long swallow. “I have to give them an answer, you know.”
“Yeah.” He pulled into a faster lane to pass the slow-moving traffic. “I think you should do it by email. Don’t put yourself in the position of having to talk to them again.”
“I could do that,” she agreed. “They each gave me a business card with their email addresses. But what do you think will happen when I turn them down?” An involuntary shiver skated over her spine. “I wouldn’t put anything past those people. Especially Damon Horner.”
“Not to worry. At least not too much. When I went to the restroom, I called Dan and told him we needed to put someone on each of these people. I want to know everything they do from here on out. Where they go and whom they go with. If I could, I’d bug their phones, too.”
“I just wish they’d go away and quit harassing me. I’m going to be very firm in my answer to them.”
“And then we’ll be on our guard even more. They won’t take your answer lightly.”
JL closed her eyes. Being confronted by someone whose aura was as strong and as evil as the ones she’d dealt with this week exhausted her. Today had been particularly draining. She wanted to climb into bed, curl into a ball, and shut out the world.
“Sometimes I think the big mistake was starting this experiment in the first place.” She rubbed her forehead. “I keep forgetting how incredibly greedy people are. Listen, I’m not going back to the lab today.”
“No, you’re not,” he agreed.
She turned her head to look at him. “You say that as if you already have a plan in mind.”
Cole nodded. “I do.”
“Care to share it?”
“You’ll see. Try to relax and forget about the lab, grain, evil, everything. I’m giving you a time-out.”
She laughed. “This I have to see.”
Whatever she expected, it wasn’t to pull up in front of a gorgeous, Spanish-style bed-and-breakfast halfway between San Antonio and Clayton. Cole parked the truck and came around to open the door for her.
“Come on. Your time-out awaits.”
She gave him her hand to help her out of the truck cab. Her eyes widened when he reached into the back seat and picked up a small bag from the floor.
“You packed a bag? For both of us?”
“Uh-huh. I figured by the time we finished today’s meeting you’d need something to take your mind off everything. Let’s go. I can’t wait to get you inside.”
JL had never been inside this particular B&B before, but she’d heard great things about it. It certainly lived up to its reputation. Tall plants in decorative pots graced the tile floor of the small lobby. The high ceiling gave it a feeling of spaciousness and, to the right, a staircase with a wrought iron railing spiraled up to the next floor.
The woman behind the carved oak desk smiled at them as they approached. “Welcome to Shadow Hills Bed and Breakfast. Do you have a reservation?”
Cole nodded. “Martin. Cole Martin.”
The woman pulled up his information on the computer and studied it. “Oh, yes. Mr. Martin. We have your room ready, and everything is as you requested.”
“Thanks.” He slid his credit card across the desk, and the woman discreetly ran the imprint and slipped it back to him while he filled out the registration.
The woman handed him a key. “Enjoy yourselves.” She smiled at JL. “You’re a very lucky woman.”
“What was that all about?” JL asked as she followed Cole up the winding stairway.
“I don’t give away secrets. You’ll have to be patient and wait and see.”
She couldn’t help gasping when he opened the door to their room. Sunlight poured in through French doors standing open to a balcony. Sheer, full-length curtains billowed in a soft breeze. A conversational grouping for furniture faced a limestone fireplace, waiting for cool weather. Across the room stood a bed, bigger than king-size, with a heap of colorful pillows atop a Spanish-themed quilt.
JL stared, eyes wide, trying to take it all in.
Cole gave a husky laugh. “Come on.” He took her hand. “Let me show you the rest.”
“The rest” turned out to be a bathroom that was the height of decadence. The centerpiece was a massive whirlpool tub on a raised platform. On one corner of the platform sat a wine cooler with a bottle chilling in the ice and a silver plate filled with strawberries dipped in chocolate.
JL turned to Cole. “How did they know when to have this ready?”
“Another call I made from the men’s room.” He reached down and pushed the button to turn on the jets. “Think this will make up for the three lunches from hell?”
Make up? JL could hardly breathe with the emotion flooding her. “This is exactly what I need. Oh, you wonderful, wonderful, wonderful man.” She threw her arms around him, pressing her body against his and her mouth to his mouth.
He pulled his head back slightly and brushed stray hair from her cheek. “How about we get our clothes off, then get back to that.”
His eyes had darkened to the color of rich espresso, and little gold flecks of heat danced like tiny flames. Desire, she thought. Hunger. A hunger matching her own, the craving like a wolf gnawing at her insides. How did he know this was exactly what she needed to wipe away the past three days? To get her back on her feet again? How had she gotten lucky enough to have a man like Cole Martin fall in love with her?
His mouth took hers again, this time very softly, like the touch of a butterfly’s wings. He carefully licked the closed seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue before trailing his mouth along her jawline and nipping at her earlobe. He was busy with his hands, unfastening the tiny buttons on her blouse, pulling it free from the dress slacks she’d worn today, sliding it off her shoulders. His lips followed the line of his hands, brushing against her skin, stopping now and then to place a lick here, a taste there.
Lowering his head, he captured one nipple and drew the tight bud into his mouth along with the satin covering of her bra. Her breath hissed at the contact, and she dug her fingers into the hard muscles of his upper arms. He sucked until streaks of pleasure-pain surged through her breast, then moved to the other nipple where he gave it the same intense treatment. By the time he unclasped and removed her bra, her nipples were on fire, and her breasts felt heavy and swollen.
When he finally kissed her, hot and hungry, she dug her fingers into his muscles even harder to keep herself upright, heat and electricity cascading through her. His lean fingers popped open the button on her slacks and lowered the zipper, but instead of tugging the garment down, he slid his hand between the fabric of the slacks and her thong to cup her pussy. She sucked in a breath when he touched her, her teeth closing over his tongue as she did so.
Cole groaned when she did and ran one finger the length of her slit. It was more erotic with the soaked fabric pressed into her flesh than if he’d actually touched naked skin. As he ate at her mouth, he worked his finger up and down her slick flesh, finding her clit behind the thin shield of the thong and rubbing it around and around.
“Please,” she rasped, breaking the kiss.
“Please, what?” His voice was as rough as hers.
“Please take the rest of my clothes off.”
His laugh was low and rasping. “With pleasure.”
But first he withdrew his hand from her slacks and made a show of carefully cleaning each one with his tongue.
JL trembled with need at the erotic sight.
Cole pushed her slacks and her thong past her hips, then lifted her to sit her on the wide vanity counter. The smooth marble cooled her heated flesh. Anything to settle her racing blood.
So slowly she wanted to scream, he removed her shoes, placing them on a bench at the side, then slipped off her slacks and thong. With his strong hands he separated her thighs, lifted her legs to bend at the knees, and planted her feet on the edge of the counter. She leaned back, bracing herself with her hands, wide open and exposed to his gaze, and more turned on because of it.
With his eyes focused on her exposed pussy, he ran his tongue over his lips. Touch me with it, she wanted to tell him. Let me feel your tongue on me. Oh God, how she wanted his tongue on her. For a moment she thought that was exactly what he was going to do. But then he reached for one of the fresh strawberries and carefully drew it in a line the length of her slit. Before she realized what he intended, he pushed the berry in so it was barely contained by the muscles around her opening and licked the chocolate from her quaking pink flesh.
Oh my God!
JL threw her head back and closed her eyes, giving herself over to the myriad of sensations. His tongue, the rough surface of the plump berry, the clenching of her internal muscles. The acceleration of her pulse at every erotic spot in her body. The brushing and rubbing of her clit in a steady rhythm. When he bent down and closed his teeth over the head of the berry and drew it slowly from her sex, she couldn’t control the spasms racing over her. Especially when he bent again and licked her clean of berry juice and chocolate.
When he lifted his head, his eyes had darkened to burnt chocolate, and his lips were stained with the juice of the fruit and the slick liquid from her sex. Very deliberately, he drew his tongue across his lower lip once, twice, and hummed his satisfaction.
“Cole,” she begged. “Please.”
“Please what?” he teased. “Please give you more fruit? Please lick your pussy more? Please nibble on your clit?”
“Oh God.” Her inner muscles flexed and clenched with need.
“Patience,” he urged, slowly divesting himself of his own clothes. “We have the room until tomorrow. And don’t move your legs. I want to look my fill while I undress.”
“But I want you now,” she pleaded. “Please.” She let out a slow breath. “We have lots of time to do it again.”
His laugh was low and sexy. “Oh, yeah, we do. And we will.” He leaned down to blow on her open labia. “Trust me. That will happen.”
To distract herself from the throbbing need at her center, she watched as he peeled his clothes away. His hard-walled chest with its dusting of curls made her lick her lips, but not as much as the sight of his thick, engorged cock, so swollen and rigid it pointed straight at her. She wanted to wrap her fingers around it and stroke it slowly. Put her lips over the dark-purple head and lick the tiny bead of fluid resting on the slit.
But before she could move, Cole lifted her from the counter, carried her over to the tub, and eased her into the water.
“Legs apart,” he ordered, “and hands on the sides.”
“Aren’t you coming in? Are you just going to watch?”
His grin was a hungry slash of his lips. “Not on your life. I’m making sure this great wine doesn’t go to waste.”
He filled two crystal goblets and, holding them carefully, stepped into the tub behind her and eased down into place. He slid his hard, muscular legs between hers so she sat again spread open, the water bubbling over her aching pussy. His rigid shaft pressed against the crease of her buttocks, the feeling so erotic the aching in her sex increased in its intensity.
“Time for wine,” he told her, nudging her to move one hand and close her fingers around the stem of the glass. When she had it in a secure grip, he touched the rim of his own goblet to hers. “To us, darlin’. To a successful experiment, and to ridding ourselves of the bad guys.”
“I wish,” she said.
“It will happen.” He placed a light kiss on her shoulder. “And to the next several hours where we think of nothing but pleasuring each other.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “I can certainly get on board with that.”
He took a deep swallow of his wine, set the glass on the ledge, and massaged her shoulders while she sipped her own drink. He knew exactly where to place his fingers and how hard to press to ease the tension that had her muscles as tight as ropes of rawhide. She sipped her champagne as her muscles began to soften and relax with his expert ministrations, only to be replaced by another kind of tension. Her clit still tingled from his touch, and the place deep inside her where her orgasm began hummed with need.
“Touch me,” she begged, pressing her thighs against his.
“I am touching you. Here.” He pressed his lips to her nape, the soft kisses like the touch of a live wire. “And here.” He skimmed his mouth over her shoulder. “And here.” He trailed his fingers down her arms.
“You know what I want.” She trembled as need and anticipation built.
“And you’ll get it. But not until you tell me.”
She leaned her head back, holding the wine out carefully. “But you’re the one who usually does all the talking.”
He lightly nipped her neck. “Maybe I want to change things up a little. So tell me, darlin’. Where do you want me to touch you?”
She took a long swallow of her wine, letting the crisp flavor burst on her tongue and the soothing effect ease through her body. Then she closed her eyes and exhaled a slow breath.
“Between my legs. I want you to touch my . . . between my legs. Please.”
“With pleasure.”
He reached his hand down between her thighs to find that throbbing button. The moment he touched it, electricity zipped through her veins and ignited her nerve endings.
“More,” she begged.
And he gave her more, rubbing and pinching and squeezing until he drove her right to the edge. Then, without warning, he shifted their bodies and positioned them so one of the jets spurted directly into her.
“Ohhh!”
The sensation was exquisite, the pressure of the water like a million fingers on her primed flesh. Cole pinched her clit hard and bit down on the tender lobe of her ear, and she exploded. Her body jerked against his, his arm banded around her the only thing holding her in place. She was breathless when the spasms subsided but still not satisfied. She wanted him inside her. She wanted his cock to fill her.
“Not yet.” His deep chuckle told her he knew exactly what she wanted.
He reached for the wine bottle to refill her glass, then plucked a strawberry from the plate and held it to her lips.
“You’re going to torture me, right?” she joked, when she’d swallowed the last bite.
“Not torture,” he told her in a husky tone of voice. “Call it extending the pleasure. When I’m done with you tonight, the last thing you’ll be thinking of is black auras and nasty, evil people.”
“Promises, promises,” she whispered.
He held her against him while she slowly drank her wine, feeding her more strawberries one small taste at a time and idly plucking at her aching nipples. Heat streaked to her core. His hard, thick cock prodding her ass made her want him even more. When her glass was empty, he took it from her fingers and set it aside.
“We’ll save the rest for later. Good sense says to limit alcohol in a spa or hot tub, and I want you primed.”
“I think I’m already primed.” She gave a breathless chuckle.
“Not yet, but you will be. I promise you.”
Shifting her from her position on his lap, he urged her forward onto her hands and knees, the warm water bubbling around her shoulders and neck. Cole’s expert massage and the two glasses of wine had definitely taken the edge off, but the orgasm had been a dual-edged sword. As much as it had satisfied her, it left her wanting more.
When he lazily rubbed and squeezed the cheeks of her bottom, the unsatisfied urge screaming deep inside her yelled all the louder. It didn’t help when he ran the tips of his fingers up and down the length of the crease between those globes, stopping briefly each time at the small puckered opening. As his fingertips made contact with it, bolts of lust shot through her, her inner walls clenching and contracting.
“You’re driving me nuts.” She barely recognized her own voice, thick with erotic hunger.
“Good.” His voice was as rough with need as hers. “That’s the idea. Focus only on what I’m doing and forget about everything else.”
The strokes too gentle, too soft, she pushed back at him, urging him with her body to press harder, to slide his fingers inside her, but the more she silently pleaded, the more he teased.
“Cole.” Her voice shook.
“Right now, darlin’. But first I think it’s time to get out of the tub.”
He pushed the button to turn off the jets and flipped the lever for the drain with his foot. As if she were a baby, he rose with her in his arms, stepped carefully out onto the wide bath mat, and set her down long enough to wrap a thick fluffy towel around her. Very gently he dried her off, making sure he’d gotten every drop of water. He left the towel wrapped around her while he took barely seconds to dry himself off. Tossing both towels aside, he picked her up and strode with her into the bedroom. In seconds, he had the covers pulled back, the pillows bunched together, and arranged her gently on the bed.
“B-but you didn’t. . . you haven’t . . .” she stammered.
“Don’t worry. I don’t plan to miss out. But this is all about you.” He brought the wine and strawberries back into the bedroom and arranged them by the bed for easy access before climbing in beside her. “And we have plenty of time.”
They spent the afternoon in lazy hedonism, slowly drinking the crisp white wine and feeding each other the fruit. Cole played her body like a finely tuned instrument, which, by the time it began to get dark, it certainly felt like. Every nerve hummed, every pulse throbbed, and need consumed her with a raging hunger. When she was sure she couldn’t stand it one moment longer, he finally rolled on a condom, knelt between her thighs, and drove into her with one swift roll of his hips.
His thick length filled her as it always did, taking up every inch of space. He paused, locking his gaze with hers, his dark espresso eyes heated with desire.
“I love you.” The words came out in a husky voice, filled with emotion.
Without waiting for her to respond he began to move, steady strokes increasing in pace, his cock dragging against every nerve in the walls of her sex. Harder and harder he thrust into her, his eyes locked with hers. JL wrapped her legs around him to lock their bodies together.
They rode the wave together, hit the crest and tumbled down the other side. Cole’s arms tightened around her, and he buried his face in her neck, dragging air into his lungs. JL held on tightly as her heart rate finally slowed and she could relax enough to unwind her legs from him.
His breathing slowed at last, Cole looked into her eyes and smiled.
“I don’t know about you, but I think we could make good use of that unbelievable shower in there, and then order something from room service a little more substantial than the strawberries, no matter how good they are.”
“That gets my vote for sure.” She lifted her face to brush her mouth over his. “But I’m not sure I can walk to the shower.”
He laughed as he lifted her from the bed and carried her to the other room.
She hugged him, burying her face against him as he turned the shower on and adjusted the spray. “Thank you, Cole. For everything. For planning all this. For the pampering and the . . . the . . .”
“Spectacular sex?” He grinned.
“That, too.” She curved her lips in a tiny smile. “It was exactly what I needed. All of it.”
He threaded his fingers into her hair and tipped her head back. “It was entirely my pleasure.”
“I’m doing what you suggested.” JL looked up at Cole, who watched over her shoulder. “Sending emails. No phone calls.” She shuddered. “I don’t think I want to speak to any of them ever again.”
“Not even the hottie from Argentina?” He grinned. “I thought all women wanted a Latin lover.”
She twisted her lips in a gesture of disgust. “He’s not hot, and I’ve got my own lover, thank you. I want to be rid of them once and for all. Here. What do you think? I’ll personalize it but send the same message to each of them.”
She shifted in her chair a bit so Cole had a better view of her computer screen.
Thank you so much for your interest in my current project. I enjoyed lunching with you and discussing your possible involvement, but I am going to have to refuse your most generous offer. At this time, I have no intention of changing my situation. I have made a commitment to the Cattlemen’s Association, and I am a person who honors my commitments. I’m sure you can understand the importance of that.
I appreciate your interest, and I’m sure the association will be in touch with you when the project is complete and we have a product for sale.
Again, thank you for your interest.
J. L. Mitchell
“Polite, brief, and to the point,” Cole said. “I have a feeling, however, this won’t be the last we’re hearing from them.”
Her stomach knotted. “You don’t think they’ll give up?”
He snorted. “Not even a little. I don’t know as much about Thiago Cervantes as I do about Cass Grigsby and Damon Horner, but he fits right in with them. These are not nice people, sweetheart. They’re used to getting their way, and they don’t like being told no.”
She slumped back in the chair. “You’re right. I’ve never seen so much black around people in my life.”
“I’m going to call Dan and ask him to have the company that set the security here come out and check it again. And I want to talk to the guards. Let them know we might be in for some trouble.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You think they’ll actually try to break in here?”
Cole shrugged. “I wouldn’t put anything past these people. It never hurts to be on the alert.”
“Well, then.” She copied and pasted the message into three separate emails. When she’d hit Send on the last one, she turned back to Cole. “Now what?”
“Now we do everything possible to protect you and the lab. And I put Andy on the trail of the three assholes and see if they do anything the Dragon can track.”
“Andy? Isn’t some of the stuff he does illegal?”
Cole laughed. “Not nearly as illegal as what these jackasses might do. Come on. Let’s shut down for a while. Miles’s gone to lunch. We should do the same.”
The emails arrived simultaneously in all three in-boxes, eliciting similar reactions.
“Fucking shit,” Horner swore as he stared at the screen. “Goddamn fucking shit.”
Leo Guerra studied his boss. “I gather the news isn’t good.”
“A fucking understatement.” He swiveled in his chair and picked up a cigar. “That goddamn bitch. She won’t get away with this.”
Guerra snorted. “What do you plan to do? Shooting her won’t accomplish anything. You’d be killing the goose that can lay the golden egg. Locking her up until she changes her mind ought to work just as well.”
“Shut up. I need to think about this a minute. I’ll tell you this: if we can’t get that formula, no one else is going to have it, either.”
“Damon.” Leo tamped down his anxiety. He had never seen his boss this anxious, or this desperate. Yes, that was the word for it. Desperate.
“Hold your water. We have a lot of options here. I need to be careful to choose the right one.” Horner narrowed his eyes at the other man. “Tell me again about your flyover.”
Guerra shrugged. “I told you before. The ranch is very large. The steel building is at the farthest corner of the spread. I think they may be bringing in aircraft because there’s a fresh runway that’s been laid down. And they’re working on something at the very edge of that acreage. Maybe a shooting range? Still too soon to tell.”
“Fuck. Damn fuck.”
“What?” Guerra lifted an eyebrow.
“That’s going to turn into a bigger operation than I thought at first. These Phoenix people are dangerous.” He gave Guerra a sly smile. “But not more dangerous than I am. I’ve gotten around people like them before.”
“Don’t underestimate them, Damon. That could come back to hurt you.”
Horner snapped the cigar between his thick fingers and tossed the remains in the wastebasket in disgust. “I need to think. Get out of here for now. I’ll call you when I decide what to do. But be ready for whatever I need.”
Cassandra Grigsby tightened her graceful hands into fists as she read the email for the third time. Then, in a fit of rage, she picked up the crystal paperweight from her desk and threw it across the room. It banged against the door as it opened, nearly beaning Gene Dempsey. He ducked, then bent to pick up the object and carried it back to her.
“You chipped it,” he told her.
“I wish it was that bitch’s head.”
Gene lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug. “I take it she called and gave you a polite ‘thanks, but no thanks’?”
“She didn’t even bother to call,” Cassandra spat out. “Just sent me an email that basically says go away and don’t bother me.” She glared at him. “I’ll ruin her.”
He laughed. “Cass, if you do, she won’t be able to finish working on her formula. What good would that do?”
“I know, I know. You’re right. But she makes me so damn mad.” She looked across the desk at Gene. “I want that formula. And even more, I don’t want Damon Horner or anyone else to get it.”
“And exactly how do you plan to accomplish that? You’ve done about all you can do short of kidnapping her and forcing her to work at gunpoint.”
She grunted. “Don’t tempt me.” She tapped her carefully manicured nails on the top of her desk, looking at Gene but not really seeing him. Her brain worked at warp speed.
“I need another plan,” she said at last.
“Yeah? Like what?”
“Like—I’m not ready to say anything yet.” Tap, tap, tap. “But I have a couple of ideas. How dirty are you willing to get your hands to grab this pot of gold?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think I’d like going to jail. Why?”
“Go on back to your office while I figure this out. But I’m telling you, this battle is far from over.”
In his hotel room, Thiago was not faring much better.
“Tomas, I did everything we discussed,” he protested. “This woman does not budge. Period.”
“Then you will have to find a way around her.” Tomas’s voice was laced with rage. “I will not lose out on this.”
Thiago gripped his cell phone tightly. His brother’s wrath was not to be taken lightly. “You would not have been able to get a different result, I promise you.”
“Bullshit!” The word exploded across the connection. “I knew I should have come myself.”
“And done what?” Thiago’s own temper rose. “Forced her to agree at gunpoint? Kidnapped her and held her prisoner until she agreed to work for us?”
“I am positive I could have done a better job of convincing her of the advantages of working with us.”
“Then maybe you should get on a plane and do exactly that.” Thiago’s patience thinned. “Let’s see what you can do.”
An uncomfortable silence hummed across the connection.
“Tomas?”
“I agree you’ve done all you can do,” his brother said at last. “I’ll take it from here.”
The line went dead. Thiago shoved his phone back in his pocket, his stomach clenched as unease gripped his body. Whatever Tomas planned, it would not be good.
The sun had long ago set, and darkness had pulled its shroud over the town of Clayton. Like other similar small towns in cattle country, with the fading of daylight, most of the activity died. Feed Me, the last spot of activity on Main Street, had finally closed for the night. With everything shut up tight, there were also no cars or trucks anywhere on the street. The artistic streetlights gave off a faint amber glow, barely enough to illuminate anything. And there were none on the side streets.
Leo Guerra gave silent thanks for that. He didn’t want to be here to begin with. Horner’s idea was so wild-ass crazy it could get them all in trouble. But he owed the man a lot, so he’d agreed to this stupidity. Maybe he’d be lucky enough to pull it off.
Yeah, and maybe I’ll inherit a million bucks.
Once off the main thoroughfare, nothing would give away his presence. He cruised down Main Street one more time to check for idiots taking a stroll this late at night. They were all in bed, or at least in their homes. It was midnight, for fuck’s sake. With the town empty, there was no one to pay any attention as he turned onto a side street and coasted to a stop. An alley ran behind a row of six businesses separated by a parking area from the lab where J. L. Mitchell worked her magic, pissing Damon Horner off.
Guerra turned off his lights and forced himself to sit still in the cab of his truck, counting off five minutes to be sure no one popped out unexpectedly. He’d learned a long time ago surprises weren’t necessarily good.
About to open the door of the truck cab, he saw another vehicle, an SUV, head down Main Street, moving nearly as slowly as he had. What dumb shit was out cruising this late at night? He again forced himself to wait until he saw the car turn and the lights disappear. He lifted his binoculars to see whether he could catch anything past the lab, but wherever the vehicle headed, it wasn’t here. He hoped.
The lab building was dark like every place else, but by design. The few windows had been painted matte black, and the door, which was in the back, was solid steel. Leo had managed to eyeball it by taking a detour through this very alley the last time he came into town, although he hadn’t been able to linger. The last thing he’d wanted was for someone to ask him why he was hanging around there. He couldn’t see any lights inside, although they must be on. People didn’t work in the dark, for fuck’s sake.
He wanted a better look. During his last visit to that stupid coffee shop, he’d overheard someone mentioning a lot of new equipment had been hauled into the building. Putting the fact together with what he now knew about Cole Martin, he’d bet a bonus from Horner they’d installed some fancy new security. Well, Guerra hadn’t come up against a system yet he hadn’t been able to finesse in some manner. But first he needed to get a sense of what he faced.
Somewhere, somehow, Horner had managed to get blueprints of the original layout of the building. Probably paid off someone at the county offices. The interior had most likely been altered, but at least it gave him a starting point.
No one could see the lights on inside or the guard Leo had seen when he tried to get into the lab the one time. Horner reminded him whoever was on duty would be alert at his desk, ready to act at any disturbance.
“Be damn careful,” he’d warned.
Like Guerra needed someone to tell him that. He had thought this a bad idea to begin with, but Horner had insisted.
“Get in, knock the guard out, pull the hard drive from her computer,” Horner had continued, “and then get the hell out of there.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is. Are you saying you’re not up the task?”
He should have said yes. But he and Damon Horner went back too far.
Earlier, he’d parked for a moment on Main Street, rolled down his window, and used a high-intensity monocular to scan the roof of the lab building. The damn assholes had placed the cameras so they were nearly hidden from sight. But Guerra had spotted them when he drove around the block, while there was still some light to see. He also had special goggles that could detect things like heat sensors so he could avoid them as he stole across the parking area.
Now, dressed all in black, he moved silently behind the buildings, toward his destination. He had made his way stealthily to a point where he had a good view of the lab without being picked up by the cameras when something caught his eyes. He had to squint to make sure, but damn! Another figure, also in black, snuck up on the lab. What the fuck?
He pressed as hard against the wall as he could and watched. The person crouched and eased toward the door of the building. Was the fucker going to pick the lock? Where did such idiots come from? But then he spotted yet another figure easing between the buildings backing up to the lab’s parking lot. Shit! Had he stumbled upon a flash mob for intruders? Any chance he had of doing any more scouting was circling the drain like soapy water.
Rod Vetter had been inclined to turn down the request when he got the phone call.
“I’m not going back there,” he’d told the caller.
“It’s night,” the voice on the other end had reminded him. “They roll up the sidewalks before the sun sets. Park away from the lab building and ease your way to the entrance. There won’t be a goddamn person to see you.”
“What about the security cameras? What about the guard?”
“I’ve got a gizmo for you that can tell you exactly where the cameras are located. Some other toys that will help you, too.”
“And if I get caught? You’ll take care of it?”
After a moment of silence, the voice said, “Yes. No worries.”
“Yeah, right.” Vetter snorted. “Get rid of me is more like it.”
“Do your job and everything will be fine. Get inside, disable the guard, grab the hard drive from her computer, and get out of there.”
It had all sounded so simple, yet so much could go wrong.
He drove down Main Street and circled the area three times before he parked on a side street. He saw only a couple of cars parked in driveways of small houses located near downtown and a pickup tucked out of the way under an ancient oak tree. He found a place for his own vehicle, parked, turned off the ignition, and leaned back in the seat.
He could do this. He’d been doing this kind of stuff for years. Why get the willies now? All of a sudden?
Maybe because there were so many unknown factors. Maybe because the person who hired him was himself an unknown quantity. Sighing, he unscrewed the dome light in the truck and eased the door open, sliding out with his knapsack filled with the toys delivered to him. He could do this. He could definitely do this.
Moving very carefully, he made his way to the area behind the lab building. Using the equipment from his knapsack, he scanned for the cameras again and checked the parking lot for pressure sensors. The little gizmo he held could read them like infrared signatures and would help him navigate to the door.
Once convinced he had a path plotted where he wouldn’t be seen, he removed the gun and stuck it in his waistband, stuck his set of rare lock picks in his pocket, and slipped the knapsack on his back. Then he began to move stealthily toward the door.
I am an idiot, the man in black jeans and black T-shirt said to himself. Stupid. That’s my name. How could I have even agreed to such a thing? This thing has failure written all over it.
He’d said as much, right when the idea was explained to him.
“You’re just chicken,” he’d been told. “I thought you were tougher than that.”
“I’m not stupid to want to come out of this with my skin intact and not be in some jail.”
“Do it right and you’ll be fine. Like I said, get in, get rid of the guard, grab the hard drive, and you’ll be out of there before anyone is the wiser.”
“And all the alarms they’ve set up?”
“You’ve got equipment to help you avoid them. Use it. And call me when it’s done.”
So here he was, easing his way along the side street where he’d left his car, sure he was about to get his dick in a wringer, when he saw something that nearly made his heart stop beating.
He wasn’t there alone.
Leo kicked his brain into gear and began to inch his way back to the alley. All he wanted was to get back to his truck and get the fucking hell out of here. If anyone got in trouble, it wouldn’t be him. How in hell had whoever this was chosen this particular night to break into the lab? They all had to be after the same thing. But he wasn’t about to get screwed up because of Amateur Night.
So he held his position, waiting until he could slide on out of there. But then the crouching figure moved another couple of inches, and a terrible screeching sound filled the air. At once, hidden spotlights came on, pinning the other two men in their glare. Holy fucking damn! Guerra watched them as they ran like hell behind the lab toward the far side street. He barely made it to the shadow of the stores backing the alley when an SUV pulled into the parking lot beside the lab and parked with its lights illuminating everything.
Two men exited the SUV almost before it settled on its tires. Their movements identified them to Guerra at once—trained security experts, maybe even former special ops. They held guns and powerful flashlights and began an immediate sweep of the area. As one of them inched toward where Guerra hid, he forced himself to move. Little by little, he worked his way behind the rest of the buildings on the block and back to his truck.
Shit, shit, shit!
Well, he might not have gotten all the information he came for, but he knew one thing for damn sure. The Phoenix Agency was all over this thing. Breaking into that building would be next to impossible. A fact he was in no hurry to pass along to Horner.