“I have business at one of my properties in San Diego.”
“One of your managers will need to handle it for you. There is no way you can cross state lines.”
“This is the sort of job a smart man doesn’t trust to others. According to a recent call, the last time I tried everything fell apart.” Bruce rubbed his hands together, imagining how good it would feel to use his hands for something away from his desk and the signing of agreements. He ached for action. His blood raced and heated at the idea of settling this debt on his own.
Simmons tapped his shiny pen against the scarred table. “People are tired of the drug trade and drug-
related violence.”
The whining masses.
“I’m not interested in public morality. I develop strip malls. My only sin is in helping people to shop. I had no idea anything nefarious was occurring.”
Between the dramatic exhale and the way he slapped the file shut, Simmons telegraphed his disgust. “We need to work on your story.”
“The Border Patrol agent set me up.”
“His record is rock solid.”
The tightness in Bruce’s stomach eased. The idea of destroying the agent who had broken protocol and infiltrated his operation unknotted the ball of tension that had been growing and spinning since the agents had landed on his doorstep with weapons drawn. “Which will make his downfall all the more compelling and the charges easier to throw out.”
“He’s an integral part of the case, but—”
“Then we’ll be fine.”
The briefcase slapped against the table and the locks clicked open as Simmons rifled around inside. “You’re very sure of your position. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.”
“I understand people.”
Narrowed brown eyes peeked over the leather lid of the case. “What does that mean?”
“Simple.”
Simmons closed the briefcase and leaned his elbows on the top. “Explain it to me.”
“Mr. Hill won’t be a problem much longer.”
* * *
J
EREMY GRABBED THE
cotton shirt off the top of the bag Joel had dumped on the floor before he headed out with Davis. At least the three guys had stopped standing around staring at him. Jeremy had almost blown his cool over the petri dish treatment.
Except for Meredith. She could stare all she wanted. Look, touch, smile and crawl right up on his lap. She’d likely kick a little butt as she did it, but he didn’t mind any of the options if they came at her hands.
It would be a long time before he forgot the bone-deep determination in her eyes and snapping through every part of her as she’d pushed with all her might against his side to stop the bleeding. Even through the red haze of pain, he’d felt her willing him to survive.
Before he knew it, a man could forfeit his common sense for a woman like her.
He slipped the shirt over his shoulders and winced when the move sent a sharp tug down to his side. “Hate getting stabbed.”
“Normal people do.” Meredith sat on the bed next to him, rubbing her hands together and fidgeting. She didn’t reach over and button his shirt, but it sure looked as if she wanted to.
To keep from doing something stupid like putting his hands on her as
he
wanted to, he looked at Pax. Yeah, that killed all thoughts of dragging Meredith down on the mattress and thanking her.
Then Jeremy saw the needle. “Put that away.”
“You need to rest. My job is to make sure you do it. Do you know how tempting it is to knock you out?” Pax, six feet tall with shoulders wider than the doorway, tapped his finger against the syringe.
The guy could crush a car in his hands and ignored most orders, but he was behaving now. Acting as if he moved in society all the time, which he didn’t.
Jeremy guessed Meredith’s presence caused the change from Pax’s usual paranoid style. He’d been an army medic. Now he worked on a contract basis for Garrett, who had once said he’d brought the Weeks brothers in when the job seemed impossible, when the team was balanced on the verge of elimination with only hope and spit holding them together.
Like Garrett, Pax and Davis excelled at the impossible. They not only survived, they thrived as the pressure increased to crushing levels.
Pax moved, his smile growing with each step. “I can either sedate you or get my wish and use my fist to knock you on your—”
“Neither. I have to find my brother.”
“We’ll take care of that while you sleep it off.”
Jeremy did a quick assessment. He mentally calculated the distance to the door and how fast he could get there with only one side of his body at normal strength. Didn’t take a genius to figure out there was no way to win his way out of this using brute force. Not when a guy built like a wall stood in front of him, and Meredith balanced on the edge of the bed as if ready to pounce if needed.
No, Jeremy had to use his smarts if he hoped to win this one. “If Davis were lost, would you leave the rescue to someone else?”
“I would if I couldn’t walk without falling down.”
Meredith nodded as Pax spoke.
Jeremy ignored them both. Sometimes playing it safe and following the rules didn’t work. This was one of those times. “I have to find him.”
“I’ll head over to Sara’s house, then check in with Davis and Joel. In the meantime, you’ll rest.” Pax waved the needle in the air in an unspoken threat.
Jeremy held up his hands in what he hoped looked like surrender. “You win.”
Pax put a hand behind his ear and leaned in, exaggerating the moment and making Meredith smile. “What was that?”
“You don’t need that. I get it. No moving.”
Meredith stood up, adding her five-foot-six to the already imposing human blockade. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t move.”
Pax looked her over from head to foot before a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “I actually think you’re tough enough to do it.”
“Comes with the territory.”
He frowned. “Are you Border Patrol, too?”
“Meaner than that. I’m an elementary school teacher.”
“Ah.” Pax hesitated before easing his finger off the syringe’s stopper. He clipped a plastic cover over the needle and put the sedative back in his bag. “Rough gig.”
That was enough talking as far as Jeremy was concerned. For his plan to work, Pax needed to leave. “She lived with Garrett before her house turned to kindling.”
The scowls came at him from Pax and Meredith. Pulsing tension replaced the previous calm in the room.
“But not like that.” Her frown could melt metal. “Stop trying to switch the attention from you to me.”
Pax waved his hand in front of his face. “Hey, that’s none of my business anyway. I don’t judge.”
“Maybe not, but I want the record clear.” The scowl stayed on her mouth and her gaze never left Jeremy. “Neighbors only. Nothing romantic ever happened with Garrett.”
Pax laughed. “That’s a shame for Garrett.”
Yeah, more than enough talking or whatever this was.
Jeremy lay back on the pillows Meredith had stacked behind him. “You can go, Pax.”
“Right.” The amusement hadn’t left the other man’s voice.
Jeremy didn’t find the situation all that funny, but he did appreciate the help. “Thanks, man.”
Meredith followed Pax to the door. He turned and handed her a piece of paper. “You might need this.”
She slipped Jeremy’s phone out of her back pocket and started punching in the numbers.
“How did you get that? I wondered where my phone went,” he mumbled, now knowing to watch her hands while he watched the rest of her.
She peeked up at him. “I’m not stupid. I stole it.”
“No, you aren’t.” Just one more thing about her that fascinated him.
She closed the door and leaned back against it, staring him down. “I don’t buy for one second that you’ve given up your plans to run out of here.”
“I see we understand each other.” He sat up and whistled as a rough breath hissed through his teeth. “I’d leave you here, but I’m not convinced it’s safe, despite the out-of-the-way location. So be ready to go in ten minutes.”
“You better mean that you need help getting to the bathroom.”
For a second he wondered if the attraction sparked in only one direction. Nothing sexy about bathroom talk unless she meant a shower, and he knew she didn’t. “Definitely not.”
“Get back into bed.” She pointed as she walked. The stern look, the clear voice, it all said teacher.
School hadn’t been his favorite thing, except for gym class and the football team, but a teacher who looked like her might have made him reassess his limited time in the library. “There’s somewhere we need to look for Sara.”
“Let the other guys do it.”
“They don’t know about this place.”
Meredith sat down next to him and braced a hand on the opposite side of his legs. “You could tell them.”
Any other time he’d love being straddled by her, but right now he had to find Sara. “Logical, but not an option.”
“Care to tell me why?”
“Can’t.”
“More top secret ridiculous spy stuff?”
“The word you’re looking for is
operative.
”
“It all sounds like a line to me.”
Meredith was not going to let it go and he couldn’t blame her. He’d never have bought this spy crap if she’d tried to sell it to him. “It’s a safe house. A place Sara knew to go if everything else fell apart.”
Meredith sat back up, taking her weight off him. “But why would she go there if she was no longer seeing Garrett?”
The woman asked good questions. Logical questions. But common sense had no place in gut reactions. “I don’t have an answer. All I have is a hunch.”
“How do you plan to get there? We don’t have a car.”
He’d forgotten about the transportation issue. He couldn’t exactly call a cab, and asking any of the guys for keys would tip them off. But he did have a backup. He always had a backup.
She didn’t say “I told you so,” but her smile said it for her. “Guess that settles that.”
As if he’d let a little thing like car theft stop him. Luckily he didn’t have to resort to that. “We’ll borrow one.”
It was her turn to look stunned. Her eyes bulged. “You mean steal.”
“We’ll bring it right back. Well, eventually. Unless we accidentally wreck it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you kidding?”
“Actually, yes. There’s a car stashed in the falling-down groundskeeper shed. It’s old but it runs. We’ll use that.” The way her skin flushed and her eyes got all fiery when she prepared for battle made him hotter than he cared to admit. It was spooky how much he enjoyed watching her. “Make sense?”
She started shaking her head before he finished the sentence. “No, nothing about this plan does.”
“I can’t let anything happen to Sara.”
Meredith stilled. “You like her.”
“Garrett
loves
her.” Jeremy emphasized his brother’s name. “That’s all that matters to me. If he’s not around to save her, I will.”
“You should have started with that explanation. It’s your best argument.” Meredith stood up and raised an eyebrow in his direction. “Why are you still sitting?”
Relief plowed into him. He almost hated to ruin the feeling but he had no choice. “I need to give you a few obligatory warnings about staying back and listening to orders.”
“Not until you give me a weapon.”
He’d rather tie her to the bed and leave her there. For more reasons than one….
A novice with a gun was a dangerous combination. He didn’t even worry for his safety, but she could shoot herself or be attacked for holding the weapon, and the possibility of that made him sick. He couldn’t take the risk. “Absolutely not.”
She didn’t even flinch. “I go armed or we stay here.”
He recognized the tone. Firm and sure and not budging an inch. Still, being a confident woman was not enough. Her attitude didn’t stand a chance against a bullet. “Are you sure you can shoot?”
“Yes.”
Not the response he expected. “A person?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I know.”
Against every ounce of common sense inside him, he handed her a weapon. “It’s a semiautomatic. You shoot and it reloads. You’ll have eight bullets, and be prepared for flying cartridges.”
“I’ve used a semiautomatic before and know how the magazines work.”
He had to ask. Not knowing was killing him. “You’ve practiced, what, once or twice?”
“I’ve shot about four thousand rounds, the most recent time being about five days ago.” She held out her hand palm up. “The gun, please.”
A whole new side of her opened up to him. He wanted to know more. “Is there anything you want to tell me about your past or your life outside the classroom?”
She inched her hand closer to him. “If we want to find Sara before midnight, you need to find me a gun and we need to go.”
Chapter Seven
A half hour later Meredith stood in front of a firehouse garage somewhere in downtown San Diego not far from PETCO Park, the baseball stadium. A rusty lock secured the metal brace to the brick wall of the building. A chain-link fence surrounded the property but its bent bottom didn’t exactly shout safety. The black graffiti scrawled across the twenty-foot-high double doors didn’t inspire confidence either.
“This is it?” She froze when the broken bulb of the safety light crunched under her foot.
Jeremy leaned one shoulder against the wall. “The point of a safe house is to blend.”
She glanced down the abandoned street and rows of falling-down garages. “Define ‘blend.’”
He chuckled. “The neighborhood is in transition.”
“The place looks abandoned.”
“Then we set it up right. It’s the perfect cover.”
“If you say so.”
When he threw an arm around her shoulder and pressed her tight against his side, her heart sped up to a hyper rat-a-tat beat. With his hair damp from his quick wash-up after the medical attention, he brushed his cheek against hers.
“There are two cameras at the top of the building and across the street.” The volume of his voice dipped low. “We monitor the entire place all the time.”
“Is someone here?”
His gaze bounced all around them as every inch of him went still. “Why, do you see something?”