Running (15 page)

“
So whatever it pertained
to, it was up the food chain for you,” Melody said. “You sure this
partner of yours is completely up and up.”

“
He sent
some more documentation that wasn’t on the memory card to a p.o.
box we’ve set up in Amarillo. I need to get that information, plus
what
I’d
sent, and
put the puzzle together before I take any other steps. To be honest
I’d trust him with my life before I would my own brothers, if that
tells you anything. And I trust my brothers completely.” Bertram
was his partner, his best friend. No one had his back like the
other agent. And no one ever would. He’d stake his life on it—which
was what he was ultimately doing. “He’s my
partner.”

He didn’t have to say
anything else—they were all law enforcement, except for the
youngest—they would understand.

Beck stared at him with
that expression that said he was being dissected and put back
together again by a man who had been damned good at the job. Had
Seth misjudged the other man? Was he about to order his daughter to
arrest Seth? Call the TST to come haul Seth in for
questioning?

Seth wasn’t about to let
that happen. He shifted his hip slightly, reassuring himself that
the weapon he’d taken from Blondie hours before was still there.
Even by gunpoint, he was not about to let that happen.

He hated having to involve
Red’s family in his shit. It just wasn’t right.

But then again,
he
hadn’t involved them.
Blondie had. After
he’d
involved her.

So yeah, this shit was
still his fault. And Seth had been taught as a boy to own his own
actions.

He’d do his damnedest to
keep this family
out
of the rest of this business. Somehow. And part of
that
somehow
was
not letting them know about the memory card he found on Antonio’s
boat before someone konked him in the head. “I appreciate your
offer of help, Mr. Beck, but I think it’s probably best for your
family if the FBI doesn’t know you’re involved. I really appreciate
the offer of a place to stay. And the shower. But first thing in
the morning, I’m going to go. Finish this, however I have
to.”

“
At least
let me help you with the information.” The middle sister looked at
him as she spoke. She’d surprised him. He hadn’t heard her say too
much at all. And she’d rarely taken off the dark sunglasses that
shaded her eyes. When she had he’d been floored by how much
she
favored Red. Even the
same manner of speaking. “I can run it and the list of names
through my databases without anyone knowing. I can have you the
information sorted out by the morning.”

“
I don’t
think that’s a good idea. Whoever in the Bureau is involved in this
is high enough to have flagged anything
I
try to do. Or even Blondie, here.
And they have these computer techs who can find anything you’ve
ever done on a computer within minutes.”

“
Like
Carrie,” Blondie said. “We should have kept her a bit longer. She
could have given you everything you needed with half the hassle. If
you’d just asked and been honest. Or gone inside and talked to
her
husband
when
we’d suggested it.”

“
If
someone
had spilled that the husband in question was
Sebastian
, I might
seriously have done just that,
Barbie
.”

“
I can
help. And the program I can use was designed by me
and
Carrie. And it’s not
yet hooked up to any databases—at least not in any ways that can be
tracked. By anyone other than me…or Carrie. It requires
both
our passwords. And I
have them. I can help. I can.”

“
I don’t
think so. I
won’t
involve anyone else. Not if it’s not absolutely
necessary.”

“
I think, son, that maybe
it is. You can’t keep running. Even with the information and
answers you seek, you’re going to need help and backup just to get
it to where it needs to be. And where is that going to be? Have you
thought that out?”

“
Not yet, to be honest. My
first priority was to keep myself alive. And then to keep Blondie
here under control. She’s a bit cantankerous at times.”

“
I think you should figure
that out before too much longer. And protect your ass in the
meantime,” Melody said. “And quit needling Al. She’s liable to snap
and rip you to pieces. I’m sure it’s a matter of great difficulty
for her.”

“
Oh, Mel, you can only
imagine. This guy is definitely a pain.”

“
And you love me for it.”
He blew the woman in question a kiss. She rolled her eyes, actually
rolled her eyes at him. He grinned.

They were right, though. He
needed to make some serious plans, or he’d find himself up
serious
shit creek. Or
dead. He didn’t want either of those things to happen. He looked at
Brynna. “I’ll give you the memory card, then. But you need to
protect
yourself.
Just in case.”

“
Don’t worry about Brynna.
She’ll be protected, no matter what happens. And if she says she
can get you what you need without being traced, trust that she can.
She’s damned good. The only one who rivals her that I’ve ever seen
is Carrie,” Melody said.

Chapter
Thirty-Four

***

A few hours later Seth was
facing the concept of sleeping on a lumpy pull-out in Kevin Beck’s
den. Not something he was looking forward to. But it was better
than the SUV.

But he missed his
girl.

What was she
doing?

He’d given Brynna the
memory card—the one he’d told her about, he still had the other in
his bag—and now he was just waiting for her to finish data mining
it.

The
other
memory card was staying right
where he’d tucked it earlier—in the folds of the bandage Kevin’s
fourth daughter Jillian had taped to his skin. He figured it was as
safe there as anywhere.

And if he had to leave the
Beck’s house in a hurry for any reason, he’d not have to force
Brynna to return Riaz’s memory card to him. That could cost him
valuable seconds—seconds he might not have.

Was Blondie down the hall
plotting against him somehow, with Carrie’s sisters?

Was she sleeping, curled on
her side like she had the night before? He’d not forgotten the feel
of her pressed against him. He probably never would. She’d felt
pretty damned close to perfect right where she was. He’d wanted to
roll her on her back and see just how perfectly she could do other
things.

Woman like her would melt a
man like him with just a touch. He had no disillusions about
that.

At least she didn’t hate
him now. He’d been surprised to figure that out. She’d looked at
him with a little less distrust today than she had yesterday. That
had to count for something.

Or was she just that good
at pretending?

He wanted to find
out.

Hell, if he was honest,
he’d admit it to himself that he wanted to make certain she hadn’t
slipped that killer ass of hers out the back window and taken off.
It’s what he would do, in the same situation.

She was just down the hall.
He’d check in on her, hopefully show her he wasn’t quite the jerk
she thought he was, and then he come right back to his not-so-comfy
pull out in the den. Like the gentleman he
should
be.

***

She wasn’t sleeping. She
couldn’t; and she didn’t understand it. She had trained herself
early on in her career to sleep when the opportunity presented
itself. This should be no different. It was just a case, albeit one
she’d stumbled into rather than been assigned.

She was trying to convince
herself of that when someone knocked on the door.

Her breath caught in her
throat. She knew who it was. She’d been expecting him, for some
reason. “What do you want?”

“
Blondie,
the things I
want
to do with you will get us both arrested
long
before stealing that Escape
will.”

“
Brynna ran the plates. No
one has reported it stolen…yet. Sebastian’s doing, I’ll
bet.”

“
Sounds like him. Always
covering for me. Goody-goody brother number two.” He pushed past
her in to the bedroom. He took a look around. “Wow. Teenage girl
pink everywhere. So glad I never had to suffer through
that.”

“
It’s a beautiful room. My
little niece’s is done in all pink and purple, too. What do you
want, Seth? Other than what your prurient little mind is
imagining.”

“
Well if that’s so out of
the question—now that you know I’m not a crazy psycho bent on
murdering you—then I guess I should be going.”

“
You’re an idiot, do you
know that?” Al crossed her arms over her chest, feeling strangely
vulnerable with him now. Why? “You obviously wanted something. What
was it?”

His expression turned
sober. He looked at her with that serious look that she had seen on
Sebastian’s face so many times in the months
they’d
worked together. Who was this
guy staring at her? The snarky asshole who’d spent most of their
time trying to get a rise out of her, or the more serious
professional like his brother?

Or was he just some sort of
blend between the two? Why did she find that so
intriguing?

“
Are you still coming with
me tomorrow? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t.”

So it was her choice now,
was it? That changed the whole ball game for her, and they both
knew it.

She also knew that if she
didn’t want to go with him in the morning, there was nothing he
could do to force her.

Kevin and his daughters
would guarantee that. She hadn’t missed the holstered weapons on
both Melody and her father. And she doubted Seth had missed it,
either. “Your brother is one of my closest friends.”

“
So?”

“
He’s saved my life a time
or two. Helped save my sister-in-law’s. He’s covered my butt too
many times to count.”

“
Once again, so?” His body
language turned defensive. What was he expecting her to say? “Are
you coming or not?”

“
I owe
your brother. But besides that fact, he’s a friend. And if my
brothers were in trouble, I’d hope he’d be there to help them. In
fact, he already has. So
yes
, I’m with you
tomorrow.”

“
I can’t figure out if your
just stubborn or stupid, Blondie. Any woman in her right mind would
run for the hills right now.”

Maybe. But in her heart she
knew the right thing to do. And Al had been raised to do the right
thing whenever she could. “I know what I need to do. Do
you?”

“
I know
what I want to do.” He grabbed her before Al even saw him move. She
found herself flush against him. He smelled good. Clean and male.
Why had she noticed that
again?
And what was he doing? “You make a man forget
that his ass is in a sling. Make him think of things he shouldn’t
be when he shouldn’t be. Do you do it on
purpose?”

“
I don’t know what you
mean.” She did. How could she not? She’d not missed some of the
looks he’d sent her—looks that weren’t the same as the joking leers
he’d delivered when he’d first taken her. Before he’d let Carrie
go.

Since then the looks had
been deeper, hotter. More the kind to make her question her sanity
and her own judgment. And mentally review everything she knew about
Stockholm syndrome in her weaker moments.

“
I think you
do.”

He kissed her, and Al let
him. Against all better judgment, she let him. She wound her
fingers in the dark hair that brushed the back of his collar. He
knew what he was doing, that was evident. He wrapped one hand in
her hair and tilted her head back. She let him. Her lips parted
beneath his and he took that as the signal she intended it to be.
He deepened the kiss.

She wanted to stop him. A
part of her knew it was crazy—days. They’d only known one another
for a few days. And those days had been full of tension and
anxiety, highs and lows of emotions that she was just now beginning
to sort out. She didn’t need to add sexual tension to the
mix.

But after he pulled back
she had to be totally honest with herself—the sexual tension had
been there, probably from the very beginning.

Now she just had to decide
what she was going to do about it.

She wasn’t so sure she
liked the way he was able to so easily physically move her around.
Or the way he touched her whenever he wanted. She wasn’t used to
that. It was something Mal did to Jules or Hell did to Georgia. It
wasn’t something she’d ever thought
she’d
experience from a man. Or that
she would even be conflicted about whether she’d want
that.