Deadly Desire (Carrington-Hill Investigations Book 2)
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Authors: Kate Allenton
Deadly
Desire
Kate Allenton
Copyright © 2013
Kate Allenton
All rights reserved.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Published by Coastal Escape Publishing
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DEDICATION
Dedicated to Sara Dowd
For whom my character was named after.
Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.
May you and Nathan
find your happily ever after.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A Special Thanks goes to Ilse for being my last line of defense in catching my errors.
And also
Joshua Samolewicz for amazing work on my book covers, even when I’m being difficult and picky.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Ex-FBI Agent Sara Johnson rushed through the halls of her new office building in downtown Kodiak Falls and pushed through the freshly painted conference room door, trying to catch her breath.
“Sorry
,” she mumbled to the assembled group. She was late again but, this time, it wasn’t really her fault. When her father got on a rampage, it was hard to get him off the phone, and he was definitely on another rampage.
Her chest tightened as she remembered their latest conversation and how she’d tried to laugh off the hurt. Spouting the words “disinherit” and “disown” was becoming second nature to the assistant
deputy director of the FBI. It seemed she could do nothing right in his eyes, another embarrassment she didn’t know how to fix. Her latest mistake had been making the headlines in the gossip rags. She sighed and slipped into a seat between her two best friends and braced herself for the teasing to begin; and, it would be coming. She dropped the manila envelope on the table and waited. One…two…
Sara didn’t even make it to three before Lexi Hathaway, her newly engaged best friend,
leaned into her. “Loved the knee-high socks. They really helped rock the plaid schoolgirl mini skirt.”
Sara was helpless against
stopping the heat from creeping into her cheeks.
Catherine leaned in from the other side. “They went perfectly with the tied
-up white shirt and pigtails.”
Sara cupped her face and shook her head
because a quick and witty retort eluded her.
Garrett chuckled from across the table. “I must admit the spy glasses were not only useful but a perfect complement to the outfit.”
Sara groaned as she lifted her face and pegged her coworker with a glare. “The reporters weren’t even supposed to know I was there.” She tilted her head. “You wouldn’t know anything about that…would you?”
Garrett’s teasing grin turned into a deep
-rooted frown. “You know I would never do anything to hurt you. I was just teasing.”
Marco Hill, Lexi’s business partner and co-owner of Carrington
-Hill Investigations, stood at the end of the long cherry table clutching a copy of the morning paper. His usually expressionless face wasn’t so expressionless today as he cleared his throat and gave Sara a hard disapproving smile.
“It seems Ms. Johnson has done it again.”
Immediately the song of the pop star she had dressed to imitate started playing in her head.
Damn it.
He tossed the paper into the middle of the table as Sara tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She reminded herself that dressing for undercover work was just part of the job, something she couldn’t get around.
Suck it up, Johnson
. “I can explain?”
He gave her a pointed look
that seemed to indicate she’d never come up with an explanation that could counteract the proof of the picture. “Sara, is the word
discretion
even in your vocabulary?”
Would this nightmare ever end? Bad enough she
’d been busted leaving the underground club, but now the proof sat in living color in front of her for all of the world to see. Okay, maybe not all of the world, but enough of it to ensure she’d be teased and taunted for a long while to come.
Lexi and Catherine chuckled before Lexi spoke on her behalf. “Give her a break
, Marco. She was just doing her job, and she got the pictures you wanted.”
Lexi leaned into her and whispered
, “You did get the pictures, right?”
Sara nodded with confidence and pushed the manila folder down the table. “Senator Boyles has been a very naughty boy.” She inclined her head toward the package
, knowing how Marco loved pictures as proof. She’d taken the pictures herself. The senator was dressed in leather chaps, shirtless, and holding a whip in his hand, the one he used to hit the half-dressed red-headed woman chained to the bars. They had both been too busy enjoying the play to notice the waitress happily snapping pictures with a tiny camera hidden in her nerdy black-rimmed glasses.
It had taken months to worm her way into the exclusive, very secretive underground
club. Her snitches with the FBI had vouched for her to the club owner; they said she could be trusted. As if they themselves were trustworthy. Her cover wasn’t as a patron. It was as a waitress at the club, appropriately named The Forbidden Fruit. Her risqué uniform provided no room to hide a weapon anywhere on her body. She’d refrained from retaliating against the clientele with the wandering hands and roaming eyes. The experience had pushed the boundaries of her self-control, but she’d prevailed.
Garrett let out a low whistle. “Nice legs, Johnson.”
She glanced at him. “Bite me.”
He winked. “Anytime
, honey…anytime.”
Marco lifted the envelope and pulled a picture out halfway
. Unable to suppress his approval, he grinned and pushed the photo back inside. “Good job, Sara.” He slid another file across the expanse of the cherry table in her direction. “I’ve got another assignment for you.”
An unfamiliar sense of overwhelming pride
infused her.
Garrett grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “I hope it involves her wearing the same type of clothes.” He winked. “I still need a date for Lexi’s wedding.”
“Give it up, G. I’d rather go stag.”
They were truly friends
and she knew Garrett was just teasing her. He was good looking enough, but she’d never test the boundaries of their friendship. She liked him too much in the status of friends, where she kept him nice and tucked away.
Catherine snorted and elbowed her
. “I hope it’s more than a cheating husband.”
Her pride in getting the job done was short lived.
Marco’s face remained passive as he waited for the light-hearted banter to stop. Gone was the satisfaction she’d witnessed moments ago. His lips pulled into a fine line. “The senator’s file contains more than just his exploits. He’s into some heavy shit.”
She nodded and cleared her throat as she flipped the file open on her latest assignment and froze. An eight-by-ten glossy photo of a man the papers had deemed the “world’s most eligible bachelor” stared back at her
, and damn, he was fine. Her mouth parted, and she was sure she drooled, just a little, as both of her friends leaned in for a closer look. Sara knew his name without looking. She glanced up at Marco.
“Problem, Ms. Johnson?”
Sara leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Seriously? Collin Martin?”
She glanced back down at the picture and started flipping through the file for some hint that this was a practical joke. “What’s his story? Someone finally break his heart and he wants us to find out why?”
Marco leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of him.
She suppressed
a giggle and tilted her head. Unable to hide a smile, she tried for the best serious-business voice she could muster. “Suing a plastic surgeon, or, oh, I know… he’s suing his manicurist over a hangnail.” She grinned as she nodded. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Murder,”
a deep voice said from the doorway behind her.
“In the library with a candlestick.”
The words flew from her lips before she could stop them. She spun her chair toward the sound of the meeting crasher. Leaning against the wall was the client himself. All six foot two of yummy, drop dead, panty wetting, goodness. Brown disheveled hair, bright blue eyes, high cheekbones kissed by the sun and a body that promised to rock worlds. He gave her a conspiratorial wink and the gates of heaven opened when he grinned. For a brief moment, she thought she heard angels singing above. Even the glint in his eyes contained a sensuous flame that sent her pulse racing. He was shockingly sexy and devastating irresistible. It was no wonder women everywhere had labeled him “god’s gift to women” because, unfortunately for her, he was even better looking in person. This man had her libido racing from zero to sixty quicker than a truck full of her favorite Chunky Monkey ice cream dripping with hot fudge, covered with whipped cream and with a cherry on top.
“
My ex-girlfriend was killed, in her living room, with a gun, Ms. Johnson.”
He stepped into the room.
Just perfect
. She’d embarrassed the client and herself. She felt an inch tall. Murder wasn’t something she should joke about. She bit her tongue to school herself against her loose words. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
He gave her a slight nod and replaced the smile on his face. The man oozed sex appeal
, and she knew instantly that he was going to be a pain in the ass for whoever got stuck on his detail.
Marco’s voice pulled her back from her thoughts. “Seems the world’s most eligible bachelor is also currently…” He paused for dramatic effect. “…un-dateable.”
“Oh good lord, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Sara’s hand flew to cover her mouth, but it was already too late. Lexi’s and Catherine’s eyes widened in disbelief as Sara clenched her eyes closed and lifted her chin to the ceiling.
Am I being punished?
she silently asked.
Collin chuckled as he stepped into the room and slid into a chair at the other end of the table. “Believe it or not, it’s true.”
She turned back to Marco, effectively dismissing the playboy. “And what’s my job? You want me to investigate the murder?”
A mischievous grin played at the corners of Marco’s mouth. “Your job is to date him.”
Oh, Marco was enjoying this way too much, maybe a little payback. Perhaps for letting the photographer get the drop on her while she was undercover on the Senators case. Marco was out of his freakin’ mind. “I’m sorry; did you just say that my assignment is to
date
him?”
“You heard right, Ms. Johnson. It appears some of Mr. Martin’s ex-girlfriends are turning up dead and we’re going to set you up as the next target.”
Lexi nudged her. “Solves your problem for finding a date to my wedding.”