Pure Dynamite (34 page)

His fingers grazed the wildly beating pulse at her neck before brushing the hair from her face. "Tell me what scared you."

The genuine concern in his voice muddled her image of him even further. Not wanting to meet his eyes, she glanced down, her gaze following the firm muscles of his chest and abdomen.

She had expected the bulge in his jeans, had already felt the taut ridge of his erection. She hadn't expected to find him partially exposed.

With the top snap left undone, his swollen flesh had refused to be restrained. Couldn't be restrained. The head and first few inches of his shaft pressed out the denim V of his open fly.

With a cry, she closed her eyes.

Adam could guess the cause of her distress. Part of him wanted to remind her that she had started it by touching him. Except that wasn't totally true. He'd fought one erection after another for days now.

And as tortuous as it had been at the time, he'd enjoyed her touch. Hell, he'd gladly endure the anguish again. But not if it caused her distress. Not if it frightened her.

Very gently, he nudged her chin. "Look at me, Renata."

Her eyes fluttered. Wary. Woefully humiliated.

He kept his voice low and soft. "I'm sorry if it frightens you. I can't stop it from happening. Take it as a compliment, but know that you are safe. Can you believe that?"

She wanted to look away, to deny his words ... but she couldn't. The truth was she did feel secure with him, for reasons that made no sense. Reasons that made her uncomfortable. Reasons she'd never give voice to.

She desired the man and that was wrong. If it had simply been the desire for sex, she could understand it. Write it off as combat fatigue. This yearning for only
him
though, was upsetting.

She felt Adam's fingertips press just beneath her ear- lobe, his thumb stroking the underside of her jaw. She gulped in air. Once, twice. Then exhaled. So did he.

She became aware that the palm of his other hand rested lightly against her stomach, against her diaphragm. Barely touching. Her breathing calmed. She inhaled her next breath softer, more even.

He was doing it again: that thing where he seemed to control her breathing. He'd matched his breath to hers, then changed the pattern. Slowed things down. Her awareness narrowed. They were the only two people on earth.

He moved fractionally closer, his fingers stroking down her neck. He was going to kiss her again and she felt incapable of stopping him. She recalled the power of this man's kiss, knew that if he touched her lips again, she'd surrender fully —

From the doorway came a sound. Lyle cleared his throat.

Renata wanted to disappear. Even though Adam's frame completely blocked her from the other man's view, she could imagine what it looked like. She bit her lip, felt her skin flush as Adam turned and glared over his shoulder.

"We need to talk," Lyle said. "I just heard from my father."

Adam found Lyle in the living room, the television blaring. The younger man was somber and more coherent than he'd been the night before.

Lyle pointed at the set with the remote. "The old man just told me about this."

Adam braced for bad news, expecting to hear that he and Renata had been identified after stopping at the car accident. While they were now miles away, in Kansas, their being spotted in Illinois would divert police away from their erroneous search in the Northeast.

"They found that prison guard—Irv Wallace. Dead" Lyle continued. "They claim he was killed with his own shotgun, which they recovered with both our fingerprints."

The news stunned Adam. He watched the television report, which was half over. Apparently the guard's body had been found less than three miles from where they'd escaped. The exact time of death was pending autopsy results, but anonymous sources speculated the guard had been dead for several days.

Adam's thoughts flew back to their escape. It seemed like eons ago. That his and Lyle's fingerprints were on the guard's shotgun wasn't surprising. They'd both handled the weapons.

"How much you wanna bet Franklin Potter did it?"

Lyle sneered. "It would be just like that bastard to shoot Wallace and leave the gun with my fingerprints on it, next to the body."

"I don't know." Yeah, the other two inmates could have followed and retrieved the shotguns. But where would they have gotten ammo? Adam had unloaded the guns and taken the shells with him. And then there was the lack of additional fingerprints. Where would a con get gloves on the spur of the moment? "Are you saying your family wasn't involved?"

"Exactly. So it had to be Potter," Lyle said. "At any rate, Pa's bringing us in. And he also wants a confirmation on the C-4."

"I'm expecting that shortly."

"See if you can speed things up. And one last thing." Lyle nodded toward the bedroom. "We need to unload the luggage, man. We're almost home free. And I don't care how good a lay she is, she's a liability."

Adam felt the muscles in his chest contract. "I'll take off with her now, then. It'll give me a chance to check with my partner."

Renata was sitting on the edge of the bed when Adam walked back in. She knew by his grim expression that something was wrong. She had tried to eavesdrop, but hadn't been able to hear anything above the noise of the television.

When she went to speak, he touched a finger to his lips, signaling silence.

He quickly removed the handcuffs. "Get your shoes. Quick."

"We're leaving now?" She looked at the bedside alarm clock. It was four in the afternoon. They never traveled during daylight hours.

"Now," he confirmed. "Just the two of us."

The two of them. Her heart rate accelerated, thudding dully behind her eardrums. Lyle wasn't going? Why? Were the two men parting ways?

She opened her mouth again, but he cut her off. "We'll talk in the car."

Ten minutes later, they pulled onto the highway and sped away from the mobile home. She had not seen Lyle before they took off, yet Adam assured her the younger man was fine. It was that assurance that bothered her. If Lyle were indeed fine, she was no longer needed. She closed her eyes, knew she should feel frightened. She didn't.

"Get the map from the glove box," Adam said. "And tell me where the closest park or recreation area is."

Renata studied the map. "There's a county park about ten miles from here. On a river."

"That'll do."

Adam pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. She recognized it as hers, was surprised he still had it.

He dialed a number, swearing when no one answered. He dialed again, and this time left a terse message. "We need to talk. I'll contact Ethan's man to have the woman picked up."

Renata listened confused. Then suddenly it fell into place. All the reasons she'd sensed he was different.

"You're working with the cops," she whispered when he disconnected.

"I
am
a cop. FBI."

It felt as if the seat had just been pulled out from under her. Reality shifted.

"FBI. You ... you're not one of them?"

"I'm undercover."

Outrage filled her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think we'd be together more than a day or
two." He glanced at her. "Until I knew exactly when I could free you, I didn't want to worry you'd inadvertently give me away. Both our lives could have been at risk."

"At risk?" She recalled the close calls they had. "And when exactly were we not at risk?"

"Your safety has been a top priority."

"My safety? Or your mission?" Renata turned to the window. Her mind whirled as she re-examined every moment of her captivity in new light. And every time she found herself thinking
he didn't have to do that,
she realized that everything he did was consistent with what she would have expected from a criminal.

Yes, she'd suspected all along he was different. But in retrospect she realized she'd fostered some of the suspicion because she was looking for a reason to justify her growing sexual attraction to Adam. She couldn't have allowed herself to fall for an escaped convict.

And yet she'd done exactly that.

She cut off her train of thought. "Where are you taking me?"

"To that park. From there you'll be taken to an FBI safe house and kept under wraps. The McEdwins will be told you're dead."

"What about my family?"

"They will still think you're missing. You won't be able to contact anyone until the McEdwins have been arrested."

She started to protest until she remembered Adam would still be in danger. "If they hear I'm alive, you could be killed."

The cell phone rang, preventing Adam from responding. It was Ethan Falco, which surprised him. He had left the earlier message for Stan.

"I'm taking the woman to a drop-off point now." He gave Ethan the location.

"My men will be there in fifteen minutes," Ethan said. "Tell the woman whatever you need to get her cooperation, then get back to Lyle, fast. I don't like him being left alone. If we lose him now, we'll never find them."

When Adam hung up, Renata looked at him. "How long have you been working on this?"

"Months. And there's something else you should know. The missing guard has been found murdered. They're saying Lyle and I are behind it. I assure you, that guard was alive and well when we left him."

"Then who?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out."

They were at the park entrance now. Adam reached over and took her hand, squeezed it. "We don't have much time. I know I owe you an apology
for ...
a lot of things. I'd like to contact you when this is over, but I'll respect a 'no.' Or even a 'drop dead.' And I don't expect an answer now."

She nodded. "It's hard to realize that it's finally ending. For me, anyway. How much longer will you be involved?"

He knew that an answer like "till it's over" wasn't what she wanted. But he couldn't give her an exact date. In a perfect world he hoped to join up with Lyle's family by the next day. The rest would depend on how quickly Adam could draw a bead on all the McEdwins and relay their location to Ethan.