Assassin's Promise, The Red Team Series, Book 5 (7 page)

Greer felt itchy with everyone looking at him when the team convened in the den after breakfast.

“How’s your research going?” Kit asked. He didn’t even bother hiding his grin. Greer sent Max a glare, only to be met with a smirk.

“Remi’s got—”

“Remi?” Kit interrupted him.

“Dr. Remington Chase. Are you gonna torture me, Kit?”

“Yes.”

Greer shook his head. “Doc Chase has some interesting research on the Friendship Community.” He told the team what she showed him, passing her graphs around.
 

“So where are the new Friends coming from?” Blade asked.

“Don’t know. She knows the community has a relationship with the WKB, but she doesn’t appear to know what that association is for.” He looked at Kit. “She never mentioned the pride.”

“Some of those kids may be going into the various prides,” Max said. “Lion said there were several of them.”

“Some of the new members may be coming from the WKB, but I didn’t see any movement between the WKB and the Friends while I was scoping things out,” Greer said. “And the professor seemed to think the Friends had a closed community.”

A knock sounded on the door to the den. The room went silent. “Ivy’s here. I want to go over the background check that came back on one of her new waitresses. After that, let’s do some research into the data Greer brought us,” Kit said as he opened the door to let Ivy in.

He led her over to one of the chairs in front of Blade’s big desk, which he propped himself on the corner of. “We have the background search results back for your new employee, Candace ‘Ace’ Myers. They’re not what we expected.”

Ivy frowned. “How so?”

“I can’t put my finger on it. All the requisite info is in her file, but that’s all. Her performance in school was standard. She’s paid her taxes on time since she was sixteen. She paid cash for her used beater. She uses a prepaid cellphone. She doesn’t own a credit—or even a debit—card. She’s moved a dozen times since she was twenty-one.”

“How old is she?” Val asked.

“Twenty-four.”

Ivy frowned. “I don’t see what you’re trying to say, Kit. She hasn’t broken any laws…”

“No. She hasn’t,” Max said, staring at her beneath lowered brows. “Nonetheless, something’s not right with her. Why can’t she keep a job? Why move around so much? Why pay cash for everything?”

“She said she was trying to keep ahead of an ex-boyfriend who was stalking her. Besides that, she’s a kid. She doesn’t know what she wants.”

Kit pressed his lips together as a sigh hissed from his nose. “You don’t need this trouble. Let her go. We can’t take chances right now.”

“I don’t see her as a risk. I’m not letting her go. I’ve been in her shoes, struggling to pay bills and feed myself and Casey.”

“She have a kid?” Val asked.

“No—she’s just one herself. Her fear is real. What I would have given if someone had come forward and helped me when I most needed it. No one did”—she looked at Kit—“until you. I can help this girl. I need to help her.”

Greer could see Kit digging in. Before he issued an irrevocable edict, Greer tossed out an idea. “Let Val go talk to her. There’s not a woman alive who wouldn’t hand over all of her secrets to him if he just smiles at her.”

“Not me,” Val disagreed. “I’ve lost my mojo. Let Max go see her.”

Ivy vehemently shook her head. “Oh, no. He’ll scare the hell out of her and send her running.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” Max said, looking at Ivy.

“What happened to your mojo, Val?” Greer asked, wondering if he’d won the bet he and Max had running about whether he or Owen would win Selena. “I’ve never known you not to be a magician with women.”

Val sighed loudly. His head dropped back against the top of the sofa. “Don’t know. It’s just gone. I got nothing.”

Greer grinned at Max, who gave him a quelling glare.
 

Kit shook his head. “Ivy, we’ve been warned that a woman was going to infiltrate our team. Your history, your profile, everything about you has been wide open for anyone to discover. If our enemies wanted to send an operative to get under your defenses—and through you to us—what better way than to send someone who reminds you of you, someone who immediately engages your sympathies?”

Ivy’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not good at this game you play…”

“It’s not a game,” Kit corrected.

She met his hard eyes. “I take people as they represent themselves. If she has anything to do with what’s going on, of course I’ll dismiss her. If she really is a scared girl who’s down on her luck, then I want to help her.”

“Val will go,” Kit said. He looked at the blond warrior who was still lost in his dramatic moment. “Strike up a friendship with her. Find out the truth…or at least come back with a gut feeling we can go off of.” He looked at Ivy. “Whatever he finds, we’re going to live with it, feel me? If she’s trouble, we’re handing her over to Lobo. I’m not putting you or the team in jeopardy.”

Ivy nodded. She sent a glance around the room at the guys. “Thanks. I appreciate your help.”
 

They stood as the meeting broke up. Val didn’t look even moderately interested in his assignment. His hands were in his pockets. “So, what can you tell me about your new girl? What does she look like? What shift does she work?”

“The dinner shift, one to nine. She’s of medium height. Reddish purple hair, kind of shoulder length.”

Max took out his phone. “I slipped a tracker in her purse when I was at the diner yesterday doing some maintenance on the cameras. If you want to run into her somewhere other than the diner, let me or Greer know.”

“She usually stops for a coffee a few doors down from the diner before coming in to work,” Ivy said.

Val put his arm around her shoulders and walked her to the door. “I’ll let you know what I find.” He looked back at Kit. “I’m not as certain as you are that I can still trust my gut.”

* * *

Val spotted Ivy’s girl coming out of the tiny coffee shop straight ahead of him. All of his senses went on alert. A zing of anticipation rippled beneath his skin, across his back, and down his arms. He had no chance to catalog his reaction to her further because she was coming toward him fast, head down as she looked at her phone.
 

He managed to both trip her and catch her within a single motion. Her coffee went a few feet into the air, tumbled lid over bottom several times before exploding as it slammed into the pavement.
 

“Geez, walk much?” she snapped, pushing free of his hold. She turned and glared up at him, flashing lichen-green eyes at him beneath the rough fringe of her hair.

Val lifted his brows in an affronted expression. “I believe you ran into me.” He looked her over. “You okay? Did it spill on you?”

She looked herself over. “No.”

He retrieved the ruined cup. “Let me get you a replacement.”

She shook her head and held up a hand. “Forget it. Just forget it.”

He picked up the empty cup and lid, then tossed it in the trash. “If I don’t get you another, the rest of my day will be a wreck. Cheating a woman out of her coffee is like taking ice cream from a kid; it’s just mean. C’mon. Come back in with me and order a replacement. On me.”
 

The girl’s eyes narrowed, masking their shocking color. “So you admit you ran into me…”

Val smiled slowly. “Maybe. I tend to lose track of my feet if one of them isn’t in my mouth.”

That got a little smile out of her. He noticed her canines were angled slightly. And sharp. In fact, all of her was sharp angles. Her chin. Her shoulders. Her brows were dark and overly thin, enhanced with a narrow pencil into an artificial arch. Her nose was straight and narrow. Her box-dyed punk auburn hair blew about her oval face, emphasizing the haphazard way it was cut, as if she’d chopped at it herself. Her eyes were outlined in black, giving her a hint of goth. She was waif-lean and stood in jeopardy of having the stiff breeze blow her away. She looked urban and out of place in podunk Wolf Creek Bend.

She lowered her gaze, but not before he caught a flash of emotion from her.
Pain
. He frowned.

“Fine. Let’s just get that coffee,” she snapped. She went back to the shop and yanked the door open, neglecting to hold it for him. He followed her inside, watching her walk. Her jeans were skintight. She wore a cheap pair of canvas slip-ons.
 

At the counter, Ivy’s girl—Ace—looked at him, then at the menu board, then selected the largest, most convoluted coffee beverage possible, complete with several customizations. Val ordered a house coffee. And he had the cashier warm up two ham and cheese croissants.
 

“I’m not eating with you,” Ace said.

He paid for their order. “It’s not for you.” He looked at her. “One for me and one for the homeless guy on the corner by the market.”

She looked out the front window toward the market.
 

“Just kidding. There are no homeless people here in Wolf Creek Bend.”

Her eyes met his. She blinked.
Pain
. Like brass knuckles slamming his chest. The hell with Ivy and the team; he wanted to know her story for himself. He was a sucker for a woman in need. He could see why Ivy had had the reaction she did.

Because of the special twists she’d ordered, his coffee and sandwiches were served first. He waited with her.
 

“You can go.”

He grinned. “Dismissing me?”

She bunched one side of her mouth. “Just feeling protective of this cup of coffee. Don’t want to get tangled up with you and lose it again.”

“Probably a good call.” He nodded toward the apron she was holding, the uniform for servers at Ivy’s diner. “Look, do you have a minute? I thought maybe we could have our coffee in the garden area. Have you seen it?”

“I’ve walked past it—”

He smiled at her, his best panty-melting smile, and tilted his head. “It’s like a secret garden. A beautiful place to drink coffee.”
 

He opened the door for her. The day was as hot as any late summer day. One of the nice things about Wyoming was how dry it was. The day’s hundred degrees felt closer to eighty. He walked past a couple of cafe tables out front on his way into the sitting garden on the side. He heard her behind him and was relieved she’d followed him.

An iron fence, covered with climbing roses, separated the garden from the sidewalk. Inside the arched entryway was a large patio paved with red bricks. Flowering plants of dozens of different colors and textures, in-ground and in pots, softened the hard edges of the buildings that the garden sat between.

Val picked a small table and set his tray down. He looked over at Ace. She wore an odd mixture of curiosity and ambivalence. She put her purse on the ground and draped her apron over the back of her chair, then moved her chair around the table, letting her sit with a view to the entry gate. She fingered the cardboard band around her coffee.

Val sat and pushed the plate with one of the croissants toward her. “Eat.”

“Don’t want it.”

“I didn’t buy them both for me.”

“You’re a big guy. They’re probably just an appetizer for you.”

“You’re a skinny girl. You could probably eat a dozen of these.”
 

Her lips thinned.
 

“I’ll eat one if you eat one,” he suggested.

She drew the thick china plate toward her. “I don’t usually do this.”

“Do what? Have coffee with a new friend? Have coffee outside?”

“Yeah. All of that.” She took a bite of the croissant. He watched, hoping for a sight of her angled canines. Her bite was too careful to show her teeth. She held the croissant in her long-fingered hands. Her nails were short and painted black. They were neatly trimmed, but the paint job was a selfie.
 

“Been here long?” Val asked after swallowing his bite.

“No.” She lifted the croissant to her mouth, then lowered it as she glared at him. “Look, we don’t have to talk.”

“Prickly little thing, aren’t you?”

“Who the fuck cares?”

Val grinned. “Fine. We’ll just speak with our eyes.” He tried to quit smiling. Christ, it was fun to meet a female who challenged him. Maybe that was what he’d liked best about Selena.

Ace’s eyes narrowed. Val’s widened. She cracked a grin. “Are you always this noisy?”

Val sighed. “So my friends tell me. You gonna tell me to shut up, too?” The wind fingered her hair, agitating the ragged locks. They looked soft. He imagined them slipping between his fingers.

“You don’t seem like you’re from around here,” she observed aloud.

“I’m not.”

“So, what are you doing here?”

“Fishing. Corporate retreat. Team building or some such shit.”

“You don’t like it here?”

“It’s quieter than I’m used to.”

She finished her last bite, then got to her feet. “Sorry to eat and run”—she held up her apron—“but I really do need to get to work.”

He stood up. “You work at Ivy’s?”

“Yeah. You know her?”

“Doesn’t everyone know everyone in a little town like this?”

She made a tense smile that was gone as soon as it appeared. She held up her coffee cup. “Well, glad you ran into me!”

Val laughed. He stopped her as she was about to step through the metal arch. “Hey—I don’t know your name…”

She looked back at him.
Pain
. He sucked in a breath, trying to mentally unwind the thorny vine climbing through his ribs, reaching for his heart. “It’s Ace. Ace Myers.”

“I’m Val.” He grinned. “Val Parker.”

She didn’t mirror his humor. She only nodded, then slipped away.

* * *

Greer frowned at the screen. It was as if Remi had appeared out of thin air seventeen years ago, the summer before she started high school in northern Colorado. She’d been homeschooled through middle school. No records existed from her primary school years. She flunked three out of five classes her freshman year of high school. She did summer school that year, then managed to carry a 3.5 grade average the rest of her high school years.
 

Her social security number was issued the summer before high school. Her dental and medical records began that year as well. He couldn’t find records for her prior to that summer seventeen years ago.