Deadly Force (33 page)

Fortunately, Maggie thought they were playing a game and began barking and jumping on them.

Keeping a tight grip on Bianca, Cal climbed the stairs with her legs still wrapped around his waist. Her tongue went down his throat and her hands locked around his neck. He couldn’t see the steps but his feet found them without any problem. Maggie danced ahead of them a few steps at a time before running back and barking. At the next landing, Cal needed to catch his breath, not from the climb, but the intensity of Bianca’s kisses. He took a moment to press her to the wall and cup her breasts.

She moaned against his lips and let her hand trail to the zipper of his jeans. Again, he had a fleeting thought to take her right there, but he needed her in the cozy comfort of the bed after their love-making in order to coax her to sleep. So he stayed her hand, lifted her once more off the wall, and carried her up the remaining flight of stairs.

Inside the main suite’s bedroom, he tossed her on the bed, making her laugh. He put Maggie in the bathroom and came back, staring into Bianca’s eyes as he shed his clothes. Bianca shed hers as fast as he did and set her glasses on the nightstand. She reached for him at the same time he reached for her, and together, they fell into the soft mattress, lips and tongues and hands finding the other’s skin in a manic rush of longing.

He wanted to slow it down…
This could be our last time
…but the fire between them flared like a bonfire and he couldn’t stop the animalistic drive to make her come hard and fast.

She spread her legs, her body arching and her hands guiding him in. Just the touch of her fingers on his cock made him crazy. The moment he got close to her soft, silky entrance, he couldn’t help himself. He took her in one fierce thrust, her crying out his name as her body quivered around his in an instantaneous orgasm.

He gave her a moment to enjoy the sensation, then rode her hard, drawing out the waves of her pleasure. Lowering his mouth, he sucked on each of her nipples, pulling them gently through his teeth.

Without warning, he felt a second orgasm rip through her on the heels of the first, her body tensing, muscles clenching around him once more. This time he went over the edge with her.

He bucked, back arching and pushing himself farther inside her. She took him deep, pressing her hips up and clasping his ass cheeks to keep him pinned there. As his release pumped into her, everything else faded away except for those gorgeous blue eyes and that blond hair splayed across the pillow.

As the last of the orgasms drained from both their bodies, he memorized her face, now happy and relaxed. In the coming hours, he knew it would be the one thing that would get him through the choices he had to make.

In the aftermath, they spooned together, and as he’d predicted, Bianca was soon fast asleep. He waited until her breathing turned slow and deep, and then he slipped out of bed, cleaned himself up, and dressed. After he’d let her out of the bathroom, Maggie had taken her place at the foot of the bed.

Cal stood for a moment watching Bianca sleep. She’d never forgive him for what he was about to do, but in the end, the only thing he had left was her. He had to protect her at all costs.

Patting Maggie on the head, he whispered, “Keep her safe, girl,” before he slipped out the door.

The night air was cool and heavy with an approaching storm. Emit waited for him in the garden behind the winery. His friend was dressed all in black. A heavy-duty duffel bag lay at his feet.

Weapons
.

“You sure you want to do this?” Emit asked.

Leave Bianca?
Hell, no.
Hunt down Lugmeyer?
Hell, yes
. “It’s best this way.”

Emit picked up the bag, hefted the strap over his head, and let it fall across his chest. “She’s going to kill you.”

“At least she’ll be alive to try.”

Insects sounded off in the grass. An animal—probably a fox or raccoon—moved through the grapevines. In the distance, Cal could see headlights on the road heading north to Sacramento.

Emit kicked the bag at his feet. “Better check what I brought, see if there’s anything else you want.”

The duffel was standard-issue Navy. Inside was a plethora of handguns and ammo in their cases. Burn phones, two-way radios, and a few other electronic gizmos Cal had no idea about, rounded out the inventory. Emit always had to have his toys.

“Plane’s waiting at the airport north of here,” Emit said. “We’ll be there in approximately four hours, maybe five, depending on the storm system moving in.”

Taking Emit’s private plane would strand the SCVC Taskforce, at least for a while, and it was at least a thirty-hour drive to Chicago. There was no way Bianca could get there in time for the presidential dinner.

Cal dared not look back over his shoulder to the top floor where he’d left the only two females he’d ever cared about. “Let’s go.”

A sprinkle of rain landed on his cheek, the grass under his boots was already weighted down from a heavy dew. They crossed the yard and headed for the pair of Emit’s Range Rovers, hidden in the nearby grape arbor. As they approached the one closest to them, a dark shadow appeared on their right.

“Going somewhere, boys?” Cooper Harris’s voice was low but still gruff.

Shit
. They were made. Emit and Cal stopped. Cal tried not to sound annoyed. “Thought we’d do a pre-flight check, make sure the plane is ready to take off later.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“You’re going after Lugmeyer on your own. Trying to take him out before Bianca enters the picture.”

Okay, so he did know. “I don’t want her anywhere near Chicago.”

Even in the shadows, Cal could tell Harris was pissed. “I gave her my word that I’d let her be part of this op. Hell, this
is
her op.”

“She’s not a trained operative.”
And she’s all I have
.

“She’s better than a trained operative. She’s got the smarts, the instincts, and above all, she’s got guts. I’ve seen a lot in my years as a cop and a DEA agent, but I’ve never seen anything like her. You want to save your marriage? Stop treating her like a china doll. My team will be right there with her, backing her up all the way.”

Marriage advice? Cal wanted to punch Harris’s face. “I’ll gladly sign the divorce papers and promise never to set foot around her again if it means she lives to see another day.”

Harris let out a long breath. “Look, I get that, Reese. I was in a similar predicament with my girlfriend not that long ago. Bottom line, we can’t eliminate every threat and keep them locked up. You have to trust her skills and you have to trust my team.”

“My senior chief, a man I trained with, ate with, and spent more time with than I’ve spent with my wife over the past six years killed three of my men. Sniped them in the back of the head. Men he’d sworn to lead and protect and cover their asses at all costs. Forgive me if trust isn’t one of my many virtues at the moment.”

They stood, locked in silence for a long moment. Cal could sense Harris studying him, analyzing his stability, and calculating the odds of getting him to give up his plan.

“I’ll let you go on one condition.”

Emit, who’d been quiet, finally spoke up. “What?”

“You can have a head start, but I want another private plane on that runway ready to go for my team at 0800 hours.”

“I don’t have a second private jet,” Emit said. “What about your helicopter?”

“It only seats two plus the pilot. If I have to take that, guess who the second person will be?”

Bianca
. Damn. Cal again considered punching Harris in the face.

“And then,” he added, crossing his arms over his massive chest, “she and I won’t have my team to back us up.”

“They could take a commercial flight,” Emit offered.

“A commercial flight would take six to eight hours, depending on the layover, and the first one out of Sacramento isn’t until twelve-thirty this afternoon.”

Cal’s head felt tight. “And if we don’t agree to your deal?”

“I won’t alert the authorities, if that’s what you’re worried about. But you can’t do this alone, and if you try, it will blow up in your face. When it does, you’ll be living with the death of your men
and
the death of the president on your hands. That’s a lot of red to have in your ledger.”

The back of Cal’s neck heated even as cold rain began to fall. “You’re a bastard, you know that?”

“And you’re
not
a vigilante. You’re a soldier and a decent guy who’s been through hell. Your wife needs you, and this team could use your expertise to stop a killer. You go off on your own without considering the consequences and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. I guarantee it.”

Emit shifted and Cal could feel his gaze on him. Cal thought of Bianca, sleeping peacefully with that look of bliss on her face. His leaving her would gut her. Reinforce exactly what she said was true…he was always leaving her.

“We’ll take the head start,” he told Harris. “And if we find Lugmeyer or gather any pertinent intel, we’ll share it with you.”

“And Mr. Petit, here, will find me another plane?”

“You sure about this, bra?” Emit said softly to Cal.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay, then.” Emit adjusted the weight of the duffel bag. “I’ll make arrangements, call a few people. A private jet will be fueled and ready for takeoff at 0800 hours.”

“With a pilot,” Harris added.

Emit’s white teeth flashed in the dark. “With a pilot, sir.”

Harris stepped forward, offered his hand to Cal. “I’ll take care of Bianca until we meet again.”

Cal forced himself to shake Harris’s hand. “I’m counting on it.”

Chapter Thirty-one

Equal amounts cold fury and disappointment ate at Bianca’s stomach. Maggie had woken her to an empty room and it didn’t take her sleepy brain long to figure out what Cal was up to. She’d run out of the suite, down the stairs, and smack dab into Agent Harris. She’d told him her theory about Cal taking off without them, and he’d told her to stay put and let him handle it.

Rain now sheeted down on her, drenching her as she stood in front of the arched back door of the winery. In the nighttime quiet, a trillion reactions occurred in her cells every second as she overheard snippets of the conversation between Cooper and Cal. A trillion reactions keeping her heart pumping, her organs functioning, and her brain engaged. So why did she feel numb—dead inside—from her husband’s words?

A single overhead bulb illuminated a golden circle on the ground at her feet as Cooper drew near. “You said you would stop him.”

Water beaded in his short hair. “I tried.” He walked past her, opening the winery’s back door. “Come inside.”

She kept her back to Cooper, hands clenched. Puddles formed at her feet. “Why did you let him go?”

A huff came from the taskforce boss. “I’m big and mean, Bianca, but do you really think I can stop a Navy SEAL without using deadly force?”

Cal
was the deadly force, and now he was hunting Justin Lugmeyer without a team to back him up. “He’s always worked ops with a unit of trained men. He can’t do this on his own.”

“He has Petit.”

“Who has a million resources, but no background in covert ops!”

Bianca’s brain should have been trying to figure out ways to stop Cal, to intercept him, to get to Chicago first. Instead, it seemed frozen along with her heart. Arguing felt better than thinking. “If we don’t leave until eight o’clock, they’ll have a six-hour lead. What if something happens and they need help? We’ll be too far out to do them any good.”

“I’ve got eyes on the ground. As soon as they land, my people will keep tabs on them.”

She looked over her shoulder, wiped rain from her face. “Who?”

“Dupé and Celina should be landing shortly. I sent them ahead in case we needed more boots on the ground.”

“Celina, your girlfriend?”

“Before she became a CSI photographer, she was FBI.”

“She brought down the Londano cartel and you kicked her off your taskforce.”

Shadows flanked Cooper’s jaw as he took his time answering her. “You did your homework on everyone, didn’t you?”

“I’m an analyst. It’s what I do.”

“Then you know why Celina left the taskforce.”

“Hard to perform undercover ops when your name and picture have been on
Time
magazine.”

“So was your assignment to investigate all of us or just Dupé?”

“Only Dupé, but I was bored. I looked up all of you. Interesting skeletons in your closet, by the way. Does anyone know how you bribed a criminal with government money to keep your son, Owen, safe when you were still a cop?”

His face contorted and she knew she’d hit a sore spot, but God, she was so tired of secrets. Looking away, she stared out at the distant vineyards. “The real reason I was sent here wasn’t to investigate Dupé, you, or the taskforce. That was my assignment, mind you, by my boss Jonathan, but I knew that wasn’t the real reason. Haley Banner needed me out of D.C. to get me out of her hair and make it easier for Tephra to kill me. Lucky for me, he decided to ask for my help instead.”