After two hours of lying low, Rachel inspected her new and improved hair from left to right, angling her head to look at it from different vantage points. Maybe she’d taken the undercover thing a degree too far, but nothing could be done about it now.
About seven inches of wavy auburn hair currently lay on top of an empty Sweet Mahogany Clairol box, leaving Rachel with a stylishly shagged and shoulder-length cut. The style lightened her head by a good few pounds, or at least that’s how it felt.
Adding to the drastic transformation was Charlie’s sleuthing outfit.
The black leather pants clung to her legs like a second skin, making them look miles longer than reality, and the dark, curve-hugging tank left little to the imagination. If this was the operative’s idea of low-key, Rachel dreaded seeing what she’d chosen for their appearance at Sinful Players.
“Here’s goes nothing.” Unable to procrastinate any further, Rachel tucked her burner cell into her cleavage and opened the door.
One step and she collided with a rock-solid chest. She bounced back, off balance and arms flailing. Logan quickly settled her back on her feet—and against him.
“I realize I’m known for making the ladies swoon, but that has to be a new record. I don’t even think you had the chance to lay eyes on me,” Logan’s deep voice teased.
“Guess you’re growing more potent.”
Rachel braved a glance up, and holy hotness. Dressed in a Henley, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and dark jeans, Logan epitomized masculine perfection. Him in any outfit—cowboy attire, camo, or a glittery ballerina costume—put women aged sixteen years to eighty at risk of drowning in a puddle of their own drool.
Logan’s gaze traveled down the length of her body, lingering on her legs before traveling back up in a lazy stroll. As his gray eyes darkened, his grip on her hips tightened. “You look fucking incredible, darlin’. I don’t know whether to thank Charlie or strangle her. Keeping my head on straight is going to be one hell of a challenge.”
Rachel rolled her eyes at the exaggeration. Nothing took Logan’s attention away from a mission, but the compliment still conjured a little stomach flutter.
“You cut your hair.” Logan tucked a strand of now-dark-brown hair behind her ear. The lock stubbornly bounced back into position along her cheek.
“Uh. Yeah. I may have gotten a little carried away.” Any concern about her self-imposed new haircut was melted away by the heated look in his eyes. “You like it?”
His fingers slipped into the shortened strands, brushing her cheek in the process. “I love it. I mean, I loved the long locks too, but this suits you. It’s spunky. Edgy.”
She cocked a dark eyebrow, fighting not to laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called edgy. Maybe before Honduras, but definitely not since.”
Rachel quieted. But unlike at other times, mentioning her time in captivity didn’t paralyze her. Steady and sure, her heart continued at a slow trot, and each breath eased in and out through her lungs without so much as a quick catch.
A slow smile spread on Logan’s lips. “Maybe your edginess was in hibernation, waiting until you were ready to take another whirl.”
Rachel brushed her hand over Logan’s stubbled jaw and into his own freshly trimmed hair. “Or maybe the right person needed to come along and coax it out.”
“I like the sound of that too.” Logan slowly eased her into a soft kiss.
Resting her palm on his chest, she melted against him, hating the eventual break in contact. As much as she’d like to stand there and kiss him all night, they were saddled with a time constraint. Two o’clock in the morning didn’t mean much in Sin City, but it could mean everything to Carly.
“We’re going to have to push pause and continue this later,” Rachel teased, hearing Logan groan.
“You’re right. Let’s go bring Carly home where she belongs.” Palming the small of her back, he grabbed the bag holding their casino clothes and guided her downstairs to where a black SUV sat out front. He held her door open, his eyes ogling her legs as she slid into the passenger seat. “Remind me never to get on Charlie’s bad side.”
“Why’s that?” Rachel grinned, already knowing where his mind had gone.
“Because I hate to think about what she would’ve dressed you in if I had pissed her off.” Logan dropped a kiss on her mouth before coming around to the driver’s side.
His stride remained easy, but there wasn’t a doubt that he was aware of everything happening around them, from the gathering tourist group on the right side of the sidewalk to the group of twentysomething men about to break out into a scuffle. Everyone at Alpha Security did it—including Charlie. They watched without staring and catalogued everything without writing it down. Having spent so much time at Alpha, even Rachel was more aware of her surroundings.
Logan pulled their SUV into traffic, jumping out in front of a cab.
Rachel turned her attention to the street slowly passing them by. They’d gone over their plan a few dozen times, and with each one she’d grown more anxious and formed more questions.
Logan’s hand slid over her knee.
“You okay?” He alternated glances between her and the traffic in front of them, concern tilting his mouth into a frown. “I can turn around and drop you off back at the room…do this on my own.”
“No. I was just thinking.” Rachel’s heart warmed at his concern, and knew that she would’ve felt different about the suggestion a few short days ago. But with Logan it wasn’t about a lack of faith in her abilities or her coping mechanisms. He simply wanted to protect her in general, not because she wasn’t strong enough to deal.
“About?”
“I think the reason Carly told me the location of the bag was because she knew she wasn’t going be at the brothel when I got there,” Rachel admitted painfully. “She’d run out of options, and that worries me, Logan. She’d never put someone in danger if she thought there was another choice.”
Logan nodded, face grim. “I think you’re probably right. But I also think she called you because she knew if anyone could find a way out of a shit-storm, it would be you. We’ll find that damn bag and get whatever’s inside to the proper authorities…and then we’ll bring her home. Trust me?”
Rachel covered his hand with hers, this time giving him the reassuring squeeze. “I trust you more than anything or anyone.”
And she did.
Logan nodded, and his throat worked overtime as he swallowed an unspoken emotion. There wasn’t a single reappearance of his crooked smirk the rest of their drive to the Vegas suburb where the raid had taken place. Twenty minutes later, Logan pulled the SUV to the side of the road, a few houses from the shut-down brothel.
Wooden planks boarded up the broken windows, and yellow police tape covered the front door. The place would have looked far from inviting even without questionable people loitering around the block.
Logan’s jaw hardened as he glared at the nondescript brick house. “What the hell were you thinking going into a place like that alone?”
“It’s really not as bad as it looks,” Rachel lied. The falsehood earned her Logan’s sharp glare. “Okay, so it’s pretty bad.”
“The raid was a goddamn blessing,” Logan growled.
“I would’ve wished it happened a few minutes later…like after I’d gotten my hands on Carly’s little black bag. At least then maybe I’d have deserved getting shot at.”
“No one deserves getting shot at. On second thought, some people do, but you’re definitely not one of them.”
They climbed out of the SUV and headed down the sidewalk. Off in the distance a dog barked. On the left a light post buzzed and flickered before blinking out.
Guiding her with a light hand on the elbow, Logan used his other to pull his gun free. “Let’s go around the rear. And stay behind me.”
The back steps creaked as they climbed onto the rickety porch. Logan yanked the police tape away and leaned his shoulder against the door itself. It gave way easily, and Rachel flicked on her flashlight.
No one had bothered to clean the place up after the raid. Trash and party remnants littered the floor and counters. A small creature scurried away from her flashlight beam. Rachel tried not thinking about it as she swept the light across the room, finally finding the intake vent along the far wall. “Right there. She said it was the largest vent just outside the kitchen.”
Rachel dropped to the ground and pulled out the small screwdriver they’d brought with them while Logan watched their backs. It didn’t take much effort. With one screw out, the grate collapsed onto the floor. She aimed the light inside and peered around. “I don’t see anything. It’s just one big hole that goes to the basement.”
“Feel around the inside of the walls.”
Rachel threw him a glare. “You want me to blindly stick my hand inside a dark crevice and feel around?”
Even in the dim light, she saw him grin. “You wanted to come along.”
Rachel ignored his chuckle and shoved her hand into the dark abyss of the air vent. She felt around, reaching up until her fingers bumped into something soft. She worked at the edges and pulled it free.
A small wave of relief hit her as she shone the light on a small black bag. She tore into it, pulling out its only content. A flash drive. “Someone took shots at me because of a freaking piece of plastic and metal.”
“Makes me wonder what’s on that piece of plastic and metal.” Logan helped her get to her feet. “We need to download whatever’s on that drive and send it off to Charlie. Something tells me that whatever it is, Carson’s not going to want too many pairs of eyes on it—especially ones belonging to law enforcement.”
* * *
Logan locked his eyes on the woman on the computer screen in front of him and not the one grunting in the back seat of the SUV. At least until a softly muttered curse pulled his attention to the rearview mirror.
Rachel, visible from the waist up, shifted in the back seat, tugging on the leather pants still trapping her legs. Her perfectly cupped breasts threatened to spill from her bra.
“Having a problem back there, darlin’? Need an extra pair of hands?” he teased.
Her eyes found his in the mirror, and her threatening smirk matched his. She gave one sharp final tug and pulled herself free. “Tell Charlie that I love her, but she’s never picking out my clothes ever again. Changing outfits shouldn’t have me breaking out into a sweat.”
“Did it do the job? Because really, that’s all that matters at this point.” Charlie’s voice filled the truck. The Alpha operative had been working her technical magic with the information they’d sent her from the flash drive.
“If their job was chafing me? Then yes. They did it to perfection.”
Charlie snorted as she worked from the other side of the computer screen. “You didn’t get caught snooping in a crime scene, so they worked.”
“Sweatpants would’ve worked just as well.”
“But your legs wouldn’t have looked killer doing it.”
Logan chuckled, enjoying the banter. “The woman does have a point.”
Rachel grunted at him before slipping a sleek red dress over her head. A sharp contrast to the black leather, the evening gown encased her body like a soft glove. But the plunging neckline made her bra a no-go. Realizing she had to take it off, Rachel mumbled another string of PG-rated curses.
“So what do we have, Char?” Logan yanked his attention back to their immediate task.
“My decryption software is just about done and…” Charlie tapped a few more keys before letting out a long, low whistle. “Bloody hell. If Carson believed you had this, it’s no surprise he’s sent someone to snuff you out.”
Rachel climbed over the middle console and into the passenger seat. “It’s incriminating?”
“It’s more than incriminating, and not only to Carson, but to a long list of business associates. He’s kept a running log of transactions between him and a bevy of well-knowns.”
“You’re talking what? Celebrities or something?”
“Not just celebrities, but businessmen and high-ranking government officials—local, state, and federal. And if I’m seeing all this correctly, and I am, his charge for keeping them supplied with all the best drugs is favors. Pulled strings. Contacts. Information on this little piece of plastic is enough for the DA to dish out at least two dozen arrest warrants—and that’s a conservative number and only what I can see straight off the top. And let me tell you, some of the people on this list aren’t the type to go down easily. If they get wind of its existence, Carson’s in for a world of hurt.”
Logan and Rachel exchanged glances, but it was Rachel who spoke. “Carly must’ve found it, and either got caught with it, or tried brokering some kind of freedom.”
“But not before contacting you and putting it in what she thought of as a safe place.” Logan nodded. He turned back to Charlie on the laptop screen. “Make sure this information gets to the proper authorities. Rachel and I are going to check out Carly’s apartment at the hotel, and then have a look around the casino…see if anything catches our eyes.”
Charlie nodded, her face grim. “Trapped animals rarely just lie down and roll over. Be careful.”
Logan cocked up an eyebrow. “An animal analogy, Charlie? Am I rubbing off of you?”
The pink-haired operative snorted. “As if, cowboy. Backup’s already en route, but you still need to watch your arses.”
They ended their video call and, after making sure they were sufficiently dressed for an appearance at Sinful Players, drove around the corner to where the casino’s valet stood sentry at the main doors.
Logan handed the SUV keys to the attendant along with an unmistakable wad of cash.
“To make sure he puts it in the spot nearest to the side exit,” Logan explained when Rachel flashed him a questioning look.
Dean Carson had spared no expense when designing his latest hotel and casino. Laid out in an extravagant design, marble-tiled floors covered the main lobby, and in the grand foyer, a two-story fountain trickled into an indoor lagoon. Light from suspended chandeliers bounced off the colored glass artwork that hung from the vaulted ceilings. The effect was a staggering display of colored rainbows throughout the hall.
At close to four in the morning, the place was going strong, with only a few stragglers looking as if they were about to call it a night. Nearly everyone else looked upbeat and lively, as if they had a few more good hours in them.
Draping a hand over Rachel’s lower hip, Logan guided her through to the hotel’s grand entryway and to the rotunda of elevators that would take them to the sixteenth floor. The second the elevator doors closed them in, he spun her around and dropped a scorching kiss to her mouth. Getting lost in the feel of her lips on his didn’t take any acting.
He slid his hand across her hip and over her ass. Rachel moaned against his mouth, slipping her palms beneath the hem of his shirt and quickly finding the path of hair that bisected his eight-pack abs and disappeared beneath the waist of his pants.
They’d wanted to create a diversion for anyone watching on security cams, but the joke was all on him. He could barely remember his name, much less what they were about to do.
“Keep traveling south, darlin’, and you’re going to have your hands full.” Logan nipped her bottom lip.
Rachel chuckled, dipping her fingertips into the band of his suit pants. “Did you mean that to sound so dirty?”
“You’re killing me here, sweetheart,” Logan groaned against her mouth. As the elevator came to a stop, his arm banded tighter around her waist. “Ready to maul me out in the open?”
“Let’s go for the Oscar.” Rachel wrapped her arms around his shoulders and locked her legs around his waist. She fixed her mouth to his a second before the elevator doors opened, spilling them into the hall.
Groping what they couldn’t kiss, they stalked the sixteenth-floor corridor in a flurry of heated kisses and overloud groans. Logan pushed her back against the wall, kicking an empty room service cart for good measure.
In his eight years in the Marines and his five with Alpha, Logan had never once bypassed security cams by tangling limbs with a sexy redhead-turned-brunette. But he wasn’t complaining. Only problem was that their hallway show was supposed to distract Carson’s goons from realizing the room they were entering wasn’t their own, but it was also distracting Logan.
Logan palmed Rachel’s ass, kissing her as if he needed the contact to breathe. He spun, gently pinning her to the door of 1605 as he searched his pocket for their access card. “You’re too damn good at this distraction thing.”
“Thank you.” Slightly out of breath from their kisses, she pulled the credit card from his jacket’s inner pocket and placed it in his hand. “I’m more than a little disturbed that a little piece of plastic is all it takes to get in one of these rooms.”
“It also takes a little finesse.” He inserted the card in the crack of the door and jimmied it into the locking mechanism. In less than two seconds the door clicked open. Logan dropped her to her feet and took the lead position. “Stay behind me until we’re sure the room’s safe.”
A typical size by hotel standards, the room was devoid of generic hotel furnishings. Framed, expensive artwork hung on the walls. An overstuffed sofa and armchair created a cozy sitting area in front of the double-wide window, and the king-size bed overflowed with decorative pillows.
And someone had destroyed it all.
“Either Carly’s allergic to the hotel cleaning service or someone destroyed this place after their last visit.” Logan double-checked the bathroom, making sure they were alone.
Rachel picked up a broken picture frame and stared at the image until tears welled in her eyes. Logan came up next to her, sensing the regret tightening her body as he gazed at the two smiling faces in the photo.
Rachel and Carly.
After their imprisonment in Honduras, neither of them had had it easy. People nodded as if they understood the challenges even the smallest task took, but they didn’t. Hell, even Logan didn’t understand it all, no matter how he tried.
But Carlotta had.
Logan had thanked God every day that Carlotta and Rachel had been able to lean on each other through the rough patches. Helping Carly now was one small way he could thank her for being there for Rachel.
“I want to stop Carson, but I want to find Carly even more, Logan. I owe it to her.” Rachel returned the picture to its upright position.
Logan brushed an errant lock of brown hair off her cheek. “This isn’t your fault, darlin’.”
“No. But I sure as hell didn’t make it any better. I can’t believe Carly would’ve known about Carson’s dealings and stuck around. The last time we spoke, she’d never been so resolved to stay clean and out of trouble.”
Logan took her hand and squeezed. “Maybe he hid it all from her. We already know the bastard’s resourceful. He could’ve kept her in the dark about his little side businesses and by the time she’d realized, he’d gotten her mixed up in something. It doesn’t mean she went down a bad road willingly.”
Hope glittered in her eyes, and Logan would do anything to keep it there.
“Let’s keep looking around. If we’re lucky, we’ll find something that may give us a clue as to where she might be. But we need to hustle before our adoring audience realizes that we didn’t go into our own room.”
“And if we don’t find anything?”
“Then we head down to the casino. Maybe we’ll get lucky and run into one of your old roommates, but I’m not making any bets on it. I’m also making sure Charlie has that backup at the ready—to be on the safe side.”
“I thought everyone’s on assignment. And even if they aren’t, it’ll take too long for them to get here. Who’s Charlie calling in to help?”
“Nice thing about having a boss that’s as badass as they come is getting to draw on his connections. Stone will hook us up.”