ChasingShadows (16 page)

“Sorry, man.” James slapped the file on the desk. “I can’t
believe this shit.”

With sausage-thick fingers, Hayes snatched the report from
James. “The airline hasn’t confirmed if the seats were filled. Get on it,
O’Malley. Meanwhile, I can feed the Douglases to the press. We can keep your
source hidden.”

James raced off, giving Hayes the opportunity to grill Alex.
“Who is she?”

Anxious fatigue burrowed into Alex. “Juliana Westwood, a
financial planner by trade.”

“That’s not what I meant. Who is she to you?”

Alex knew Hayes had made him. He sighed, gave in—to a degree.
“An old friend of the family. Recently moved back here from New York. NYPD used
her extensively. We have references.”

Hayes threw Alex another skeptical, impatient look.

“Cap, don’t push it.”

“You better know what you’re doing, MacKenzie. I’d hate to
see you compromise your ethics. And I’d hate to put you on the beach.” Hayes
sent Alex a meaningful glance. He dropped his foot to the floor with a loud
smack, stood and backed toward the door. “Lisette’s one of our own. I’ll be
damned if I’ll let her get the shaft here. I want a full report in a sealed
envelope on my desk before you leave.”

Alex nodded. “Thank you.”

Hayes hesitated at the door, his eyes softening. His tone
held none of his usual brashness. “Alex, we’ll find her. You can count on it.”

Hayes left Alex alone with his thoughts. Apprehension etched
canals on his forehead deep enough to feel to the bone. The urge to strike out
prevailed over the dread lying like a glacier in his gut. If that bastard so
much as hurts a hair on Lisette’s head…

“Hey, man.” James jogged back into the office. “Airline’s
working on a final manifest for the flight out of SFO.”

Alex waved James’ words off with a razor-sharp flick of his
hand. “They don’t have her. Juliana’s positive.”

James rolled his eyes. “I’m not giving up on them.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

“You are in deep,” James said in a mild tone. He turned a
chair around and straddled it.

The glower Alex conferred on James could have shrunken heads.
“Shut the hell up.” He heaved back from the desk. He didn’t need a lecture from
his conscience in the guise of James O’Malley.

“You can’t imagine what she goes through when she has these
visions. She gets sick, puking her guts out.” He reached in his desk drawer for
a roll of antacids and popped a couple in his mouth. Grimacing, he threw the
roll on his desk for easy access. “She’s chasing this bastard in her mind,
seeing what he sees, feeling what he feels.”

“Bad, huh?”

Alex scratched his scar. Reluctantly, he forced her to the
back of his mind. “Give me an update.”

James tossed another folder in front of Alex. “We’ll have a
manifest in a few hours. Short of rousing the airline’s CEO or threatening a
national security breach, they won’t move any faster.

“Here…” James tapped the manila folder. “Is the information
on your Scottish keychain. It’s a custom order item. Each seller should have
records of any buyers.”

Optimism sparked inside Alex. He greedily seized the file. Celtic
Creations, as evidenced by the intertwined “Cs” engraved on the flipside of the
keychain, had created it. The file contained a short list of North American
sellers.

“Give the list to Sterling.”

“Already on it.”

Alex tossed the file on the desk, scattering the contents
across the clutter. “Anything on a ransom?”

James glowered as he straightened the file. “You know
Chamber will receive the ransom demand, and he’ll keep his mouth zipped.”

“I want twenty-four-seven surveillance on them, including
Bremley.”

“Already done.”

“Hayes wants a full report on our mystery source. I’m going
to check in on Andrea. You’ll be there?”

“Yeah.” A hangdog look skittered across James’ face. He
rifled the pages in his file. “I know we haven’t talked—”

“Save it.” Alex smiled wryly. “What you two do on your own
time is your business.” Andrea’s infatuation with James spanned months. How
could he not know, when every weekend he’d spent with his sister, she’d made a
point to invite James? “I’m glad you’re there for her. I sure as hell haven’t
been.”

James rose and turned the chair around. “She gets that
you’re tied up with the case and busy working with Juliana.”

“I’ll never hear the end of it later on. You don’t know my
sister as well as you think you do.”

“No, man, but I’m getting there.” James gave Alex a mock
salute and left him to his own battles.

* * * * *

Alex felt secure leaving Andrea in James’ capable hands. At
least because of this mess, his twin and James had revealed their attraction to
one another. And he wouldn’t have to worry about the next guy in Lisette’s life,
as long as they found her.

He flung the morbid thought out of his mind as he parked his
SUV in Juliana’s driveway.

An obsessive need to possess her in every way surged through
him. He wondered how she’d managed to seep under his skin so fast, after all
these years. But then, she’d never left his heart to begin with.

The dark porch gave brief rise to Alex’s ire. Yet the broken
light didn’t quell the anticipation to see and touch Juliana.

He slipped through the front door, locking it behind him. Soft
light drew him into the empty family room. He became painfully aware of the
pillow and blanket stacked neatly on the couch, as welcome as an iceberg.

A foray into the kitchen produced a smile when he found a
six-pack of beer in the fridge. A couple of swigs of beer hit his empty stomach
like a lead weight. The vending machine sandwich he’d choked down at lunch
hadn’t sat well in his stomach.

He set the half-full bottle on the granite counter; a loud
clink filled the still house. If he finished the beer, it would expand the
inferno devouring his insides.

His real hunger was for Juliana.

The pain of her disappearance so many years ago had receded
like footsteps in a blizzard, leaving behind only memories of love. Something
bottomless and powerful within him wanted to make up for the hurt and
disappointment she’d suffered during her time away.

The memory of her in his arms earlier created a painful
tightening in his groin. The intense feelings exceeded any reaction he’d ever
felt for another woman. It frightened and exhilarated him at the same time.

Alex unbuttoned his jeans to lessen the pressure on his
rock-hard erection. He slipped up the stairs into Juliana’s bedroom. The bedside
light spilled a muted radiance across the bed, across the inviting body within.
He pulled off his shoulder harness and set his gun on the night table. Only
then did he allow his eyes to indulge the fantasies overriding all other
thought.

Alex’s gaze devoured her luscious body, uncovered and clad
in a lacy camisole top. Silky shorts bared her slender legs. Her blonde hair
fanned out around her head in a halo of sunshine. His breathing was ragged
while he fought the desire to blanket her body with his. The one functioning
cell in his brain screamed at him to slow down.

Juliana’s eyes fluttered open and widened briefly in terror.
“Alex!” she gasped. “You nearly scared me to death.” She rose on her elbows,
pulling the sheet up to her breasts.

“I’m sorry.” He eased onto the bed beside her, flat hands
braced on either side of her shoulders, pinning her in position. “Your light
was on. I thought you’d be awake.”

She averted her eyes and smoothed the sheet over her
stomach.

He narrowed his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

She lifted her gaze to his face. “No one else knows what
it’s like to have murderers and kidnappers in my head. It feels the same to
wake up to someone staring at me.”

He’d kick himself if he could reach his ass. “No one knows,
except maybe a homicide cop?”

“Maybe,” she conceded with a tiny smile. “Now you know why I
like having a safety net around me. Even though it’s a false sense of
security.”

Leaning in, he tightened his arms around her. “And the
lights?” Her clean, fresh scent assaulted his senses. He breathed deeply,
filling his soul with life.

She hedged, her face flushed pink.

His eyes rounded. “Are you afraid of the dark?” She seemed
so strong and fearless, despite everything. He wanted to protect her from all
the bad things in her life. Forever.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I was locked up in dark rooms at the
Institute.” Juliana continued to iron the bedcovers with her palms.

Alex laid a finger against her mouth and, with a featherlike
caress, brushed her lips. “Shh.” His gaze strayed momentarily to the decimated
scarf ring in the corner of the room where he’d tossed it the night before. “Let
me be your safety net,” he whispered.

Her plum lips puckered. Freckles dotted her flushed cheeks,
and he traced them with his index finger.

A smile widened Juliana’s mouth. “You are impossible.”

“You used to like that about me.” He caressed her face one
last time, then his fingers fluttered to her neck. He felt her body tremble
beneath him. “Just let me hold you, okay?”

“Is that all you want?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.

“I want all of you. But, I think that’s more than you’re
willing to give me right now.”

“Alex,” she said with no real insistence.

He continued to stroke her neck, fascinated as her emerald
eyes shifted from one emotion to another—ranging from fear to desire.

“I can’t…we can’t. I won’t lead you on.” She rested her
small hands on his arms as if to push him away.

“You’re not.” His hands slid back to the bed, cocooning her
within his arms. Not touching, even though they begged to stroke every inch of
her. “I’ll sleep on the couch. I got the hint.”

Her shy smile squeezed his heart. Without another thought,
he lowered his head and seized her lips in a passionate kiss, exploding the
firestorm within. Mouth molded onto his, her arms wound around his neck. She
clung to him as if she never wanted to let him go.

A harsh groan escaped him while he pressed the length of his
body to hers. Heat from her body radiated through his jeans, causing his
erection to throb. He kissed her like a man starved for her taste, yearning to
unearth a long-buried passion.

They couldn’t savor enough of each other. Couldn’t get close
enough. Couldn’t satiate the long-smoldering flames.

He’d die if she pushed him away. His body hummed and quaked with
an all-consuming need.

Fighting himself before he proceeded too far to stop, he
freed his mouth from hers. He forced frayed words out. “Tell me to stop.”

In a breathy whisper, Juliana said, “I can’t.”

“Tell me what you want,” he demanded harshly, eyes slivered.

“You. Here. Now.” Her fingers delved into his hair and she
pulled his mouth to hers.

Alex struggled against an urge that paralyzed his every
thought and emotion. He had wanted Juliana forever, and now she’d offered
herself to him in ways he’d only dreamed. The need to have her overwhelmed him,
the hunger devastated.

Ending the kiss, she pushed him up and tugged her camisole
off. He sucked in his breath, motionless, mesmerized.

She reached tentative fingers to the hem of his shirt and
helped him pull it over his head. Her touch scorched his already inflamed skin.

A blush stained her cheeks while his eyes scanned the
perfection of her near-naked body. “Touch me,” she whispered as she settled
back on the bed.

Alex caressed her face and slid his hands into the waterfall
of her hair. His body trembled as hers quivered.

“You are so beautiful.” Awe made his voice husky. He claimed
her mouth in another possessive kiss. The kiss grew intense when Juliana
pressed herself against him. Flesh to flesh, tantalizing, searing.

For a brief second, reason entered his mind again. He lifted
his mouth from hers, his eyes heavy. Desire suffused her face. But he needed to
hear the words—again.

“Are you sure?” He held his breath. His nerve endings ached
with his need. He didn’t think such a passion could exist, but it did. It
frightened him, awed him, thrilled him.

“Yes.” Love and desire made up her face.

Slowly, he drew Juliana’s silky shorts off, lightly stroking
her smooth, tanned legs with his fingers. Then he pushed his own pants down as
Juliana’s languid eyes raked over his body with greedy deliberation. A growl
escaped him. Alex caressed every inch of her, leaving a blazing trail of kisses
across her skin. He rose above her. They sank into each other’s eyes, and he
needed no further encouragement.

Juliana shuddered as he kneed her legs apart. Alex’s mouth
covered hers, and they caught each other’s cries of pleasure as he slid into
her, merging as one with each slick stroke. Tangling his fingers in her hair,
he couldn’t imagine a more exquisite woman or a more extraordinary heart than
the one beating so wildly beneath him. All reason fled as Alex lost himself in
her.

Energy built between them as they slipped into a slow, hot
rhythm. Juliana stroked his back, trickling fingers down to knead his butt,
nails biting into his skin. Gently parting her mouth with his tongue, he kissed
her, filling himself with the taste of her mouth. She deepened the kiss, her
teeth scraping his tongue, and moaned. Their mouths separated, she drew in a
deep, shaking breath, and he trembled, thrusting harder and faster. Her lips
and tongue explored his neck, and lightning bolts of sensation burned across
his skin.

Writhing beneath him, she whispered his name between kisses,
and he felt the heat of her breath against his skin. The thrill of hearing his
name on her lips drove him higher and higher into frenzied excitement. Her
petal-soft skin felt like a blanket of velvet soothing his scorched skin,
firing his passion.

Juliana bit his neck lightly as her back arched, muffling a
sharp cry. She lifted her head, while her body quivered and burned against him.
“Alex. God, Alex!” she panted.