Darke Heat (24 page)

“Paige...”

She turned off the cell. That chapter of her life was over. She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks, and wished she had Sheba there to comfort her. She entered her room and fell on the bed. Hurt and disgusted with the turn her life had taken, she cried herself to sleep for the first time in years.

He’d royally screwed things up with Paige and he wasn’t sure he could fix it this time. He needed to finish this job, but the way she sounded just now was so final, like the score was already in and he’d fallen short of the goal. With all the things he’d done, he knew he didn’t deserve Paige, but he wanted her. He needed her to be safe, and as long as this job wasn’t finished, she wouldn’t be. He left the restaurant after eating only the bread sticks while waiting for Paige to get out of the bathroom. When he’d finally figured out she wasn’t coming to the table, he’d called for the check and went in search of her. The valet had let him know she’d called a cab.

Did she really believe he treated her badly? He only wanted to protect her. Didn’t she understand that she was his and the threats she’d been subjected to had him feeling primitive and protective? He wanted…needed…her to be safe. He didn’t know how he’d gotten in so deep so fast, but he was there trying to keep the bad from touching her.

It made him crazy that someone had actually gotten close enough to abduct her. He didn’t know who it was or when they’d strike again, but that was the one thing he was sure of…they
would
try again. They wanted her and her property, and something else. But what?

There were so many questions and no answers. Maybe she was safer where she was than with him, but it didn’t feel right, and the way she talked, as if they were over, was not acceptable.

Paige woke up in the night feeling groggy and sore. She’d slept in her clothes, and she felt drained.
As if crying myself to sleep wasn’t bad enough, I end up feeling like crap afterward, too.

She went into the en-suite and looked in the mirror. She was a wreck and had a sheet print on one side of her face. She took a fluffy face towel off the rack, ran cold water and let it soak into the cloth, and put it up to her face. She immediately felt relief on her puffy eyes. After pressing the cold cloth to her face for a few more minutes, she put it in the sink and glanced around at her retreat. There was a bathroom to go with the fluffy towel set. She looked over at the tub and decided she could use a nice, relaxing bath. There was even some bubble bath conveniently left in the guest basket next to the shampoo, conditioner, and hair dryer: all the amenities of her home, without all the testosterone.

She ran the bath, dumped all the liquid from the tiny bottle into the tub, and turned the water on hot. She checked it to make sure she wouldn’t burn herself, but would steam all the Bryce out of her pores.

Paige went into the other room and discovered an automatic coffee maker. She put a pot on to brew and returned to the bathroom and shed her wrinkled clothing. She dimmed the light, and felt quite decadent as she sank beneath the bubbles. Every muscle seemed to sigh in relief as the water enclosed her in warmth. After the initial sting of heat, it felt luxurious. No wonder women took baths. She’d not taken one since she was a child, preferring showers to conserve first, hot water, then time. The water kissed her skin like a lover. Her mind immediately associated Bryce with this experience.

She jerked upright and yanked up the handle on the plug. She let all the water run out, and turned on the shower to wash him out of her hair, or whatever the old song was. She finished up, toweled dry, and wrapped herself in the fluffy robe the hotel provided. She wrapped her wet hair in a towel, turban style.

It was four in the morning and she didn’t want to go back to bed. She turned on the TV and watched a show on remodeling: anything to distract her until she could go shopping for something to wear. Next time she arranged a date, she would be more prepared.

Colt and Dane walked into the Indian Casino. Colt immediately spotted Willy sitting with Van DeMere. He grabbed Dane’s arm to stop him from going any farther into the room.

“Dane, the man with Willy was part of the last bust I was on. His sister was the one who gave me the kiss with a bullet.”

“I thought he was in Germany?” Dane said.

“Yeah, well, he’s obviously been getting around. We may need to think things through a little differently.”

“Maybe you should give me the four-one-one on the operation you were part of?”

“Yep, let’s go to the bar where we can watch and not be seen. I don’t think any of his bodyguards spotted me or you.”

They were seated with their sides to the tables where Willy, Van DeMere, and his group were seated.

“Can you tell what they’re saying from where you’re sitting?”

“I can try and read Willy’s lips, but I don’t have a clear view of the other guy,” Dane said.

“All right. Tell me what Willy is saying.”

“He’s talking about some job gone bad. Something about not being able to deliver the package, which could be anything with Willy involved.”

“Well let’s assume it’s something Van DeMere wants. The things he’s into are selling arms and information,” Colt said.

“And Willy is into dog fighting and drugs, according to what we saw the other night.”

“Bryce is down here following the drug trade trail with the gangs from Detroit. They must all be connected in some way. Then there’s Libby, who we know is into drugs.”

“We’ll need to puzzle that one out later. But why don’t you tell me about the job in Germany,” Dane said.

“Van DeMere’s sister was moving information. He’s part of an arms trafficking operation that supplies arms for terrorists. They’ve a legit business they hide behind: selling textiles from remote countries, but he was starting to deal in tech information. I was sent in to infiltrate and find out who the traitor was. I got hooked up with his sister. She’d been sleeping with high-ranking officials and getting information from them without them knowing. She was making me her next victim, but when she found out who I really was, she shot me. I had my knife and threw it, catching her in the chest. She died. I was able to get away and get medical attention. End of story.”

“So this Van DeMere has a real hard-on for taking you out.”

“About sums it up.”

“Does he know you have a sister? Because if he does, he may be the one targeting Paige.”

Colt nodded. “It’s a given. It changes things very little. Just helps us narrow down the list of perps.”

“So we tail Van DeMere or Willy?”

“Neither, they’d make us for sure. Let’s get to Paige. That’s who he’s after.”

Dane pulled out his cell and called Bryce to let him know the game change.

“Bryce, this is Dane. We have a little glitch. Take Paige somewhere safe and hide her. The attack is a payback on Colt.”

Colt could hear what Dane was saying and figured out that Paige had given Bryce the slip.

“You may want to get your act together before she decides you’re not worth having.”

“So lover boy blew it?” Colt asked, after Dane rang off with Bryce.

“It would appear so.”

“Who knew a man could get so dumb over a woman?”

“Look who’s talking,” Dane accused.

Colt chuckled. “Yeah, getting shot at by a lady kind of puts me off the list of people to ask. And we all know what a mess you made with Emma, so Bryce is on his own.”

They left the casino without being seen and drove back to Darke County. They headed straight to the police department to meet up with Sheriff Markham and Deputy Blake.

“I’m going to call Paige and see where she’s staying, then we can go pick her up and figure out where to stash her,” Colt said to Dane.

Bryce came through the doors while Colt was dialing Paige’s cell. He let it ring until it went to voice mail. “Paige, when you get this message, call me. It’s urgent and your life is in danger. I can explain when you call.” He hung up and rubbed his hand over his face. The idea that one of his jobs brought danger home to his sister made him want to punch something.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Bryce demanded

“Colt here saw the brother of the woman who shot him, who he then killed, having a chat with Willy.”

“Is that odd?” Bryce asked.

“Considering that the last time I saw him he was in Germany, and now he’s in a casino the next county over…yeah, that’s not coincidence. His sister died, and if I had to guess, I’d say he wants a life for a life.”

“Then we need to get Paige now,” Bryce said.

“Exactly,” Dane agreed.

“Only she’s not answering her cell, and lover boy lost her at dinner,” Colt added.

“Okay, we don’t know where she is, and it stands to reason that your perp doesn’t either. So while we wait, why don’t you bring me up to speed?” Bryce said.

“The man’s name is Van DeMere, an arms dealer who was getting into espionage using his sister to gather information. I infiltrated their crowd to find out how they were doing it, but she found me out. I got shot and she got knifed. She died and Van DeMere blames me.”

“But what about the connection to Willy? And how is that connected to Libby and George?” Dane asked.

“I’ve been thinking about that. You know how Homeland Security has brought all the law enforcement agencies under one roof so to speak, to utilize each specialty and share information. I think that whoever is running the drugs, guns, and explosives, is trying to do the same. They share information to strengthen their operations,” Bryce said.

“Wow, that’s a lot of evil in one bag,” Colt commented.

“Yeah, what’s that cartoon? League of Doom?” Dane asked.

“Great. Does that make us the Justice League?” Bryce questioned.

“I’m
not
wearing tights,” Dane interjected.

No one argued with him.

“I’d look good in tights,” Colt countered.

“Back to finding Paige, your sister,” Bryce reminded them.

“Oh, we’re on it. We just needed a little levity to keep the edge off,” Colt explained.

Bryce could understand that. A steady hand is what they needed.

Sheriff Markham walked into the police station. He had George and Libby in custody, with Deputy Blake bringing up the rear.

“Book ‘em, Blake. I’ll get the rest of the paperwork started.”

“Okay, Sheriff.”

“I want my lawyer!” Libby yelled.

George seemed subdued, as if he’d lost all the fight that was in him.

Libby passed by Colt and Dane and turned her head as if she didn’t want to recognize them, but when her glance strayed to Bryce, she turned red and started screaming.

“This is all your fault! If not for you, my baby would still be alive. We’d be living in a big fine house, and now she’s dead. You killed her,” Libby spat. Blake dragged her back to the holding cell area.

“Bryce, I’m sorry. Aunt Libby was always unstable,” Colt said.

“Then why the hell did you leave your sister with her?” Bryce asked.

“We didn’t know any better. Figured leaving her with another female was better than any other choices we had.”

“We learned later just how wrong we were,” Dane added.

“Do you realize that she lived in the woods most weekends so she wouldn’t get molested by Libby’s company? Her dogs were what saved her once when she didn’t get away fast enough.” By the shocked looks on both faces, he realized they hadn’t known. Both men had gone white in the face at the revelation.

“Good God!” said Colt.

“I’ll kill the bitch,” Dane threatened, as he moved toward where they’d taken Libby and George.

“No, you won’t. She’s not worth it, and Paige would be upset at having her brother go to prison for real. Your sister found a unique way to protect herself with her dogs,” Bryce countered.

“I knew we owed the dogs, I just never knew how much. Sheba and Deeogee are descendants of the original German shepherd Paige took in back when we lived with the old man,” Dane said.

“I would say that dog, or one of his descendants, stopped a group of men from gang raping Paige when she was sixteen.”

“Libby better stay behind bars. It’ll be safer for her,” Colt said.

“If it weren’t for Paige living with Libby, I never would have met your cousin, Sharon.”

“So you were sweet on Paige way back then?” Dane observed. They must have seen the truth in his expression. Then again, Dane had suffered a crush on the much younger Emma, so it stood to reason he would recognize a man suffering from the same affliction.

“I’ve often wondered why you’d kept going out to Libby’s place after we left. Somehow, I couldn’t see you hooking up with Sharon, but if she made you happy.” He shrugged. “Who was I to say anything? But it was Paige all along. What a hard place to be in, with her being jailbait and all. But I’ll not be casting stones since I fell into the same mess with Emma. Nothing worse than having your emotions tied up in a teenager. Damn. It made me feel dirty until I was finally shipped off. Moreover, with my family background, there wasn’t a chance. Her father was ready to pull out a shotgun if my name even came up in conversation. It was a wonder he let Paige and Emma be friends. I guess there was one fight he knew he wouldn’t win.”