Healing Rain (23 page)
A sudden wave of unpleasant emotion smacks him hard in the chest. He is confounded by a feeling that strongly resembles jealousy when he watches in distaste how Brody thoroughly enjoys himself staring at Raina’s retreating derriere. He shakes his head, telling himself he’s just tired, or feeling protective for his partner, reassuring himself that it can’t be jealousy, she’s taken.
They are met with a willing ring of groupies as soon as they walk out of the door. Raina shakes her head and steps back as the girls throw themselves at the band members. Brody wraps his arms around two girls who have their hands in places that seems to please him immensely. Raina practically gags as he leads them both to his car. Curt sets his sights a little lower and leaves with only one.
Raina tries not to smirk as a pretty brunette with too much make-up and not nearly enough clothing grabs Brent’s hand and writes her number on his wrist. She leans close to him when she’s done, whispering something in his ear as she’s sure to rub her breasts against his arm. Brent blushes, and Raina laughs out loud, gaining a scathing glare from the unashamed, brazen bimbo.
Raina ignores the glare and pushes Brent’s arm, “Let’s get you out of here before we have an all out cat fight,” Raina teases. “Unless you wanna go, and in that case, I’ll drive myself home.”
The word ‘home’ rolling off of her lips leaves Brent not wanting to leave with anyone else but Raina. It means nothing to her. It means everything to him. He rubs his thumb across the soliciting number on his wrist, smearing it, “I’m not a one night stand kind of guy.”
Raina smiles approvingly, “I knew you had some class.” She laughs again, and it rips a hole in his heart. “C’mon, I’ve got a call to make,” she declares, dragging him to the car.
His hole just got bigger.
It’s a short drive to their temporary home, and Brent concentrates on the case, trying to distract himself from the troubling emotions surfacing inside. Shadrack, the popular club’s owner, has relaxed with them a little, but it’s obvious he’s guarded, leaving the room with certain phone calls, obsessively locking the office every time he leaves the room, even when making a quick trip to the john. They have seen other suspected traffickers meet with Shadrack in the locked room, and Brent has looked for ways to get into the office, but no one even goes down the hall where the office is located, unless lead by the head trafficker himself. It seems to be some kind of unspoken rule that employees are to stay in the main room, they can party and drink as much as they want after their performance, but they are to stay clear of the hall east of the bar.
Raina immediately calls Kas as soon as she walks through the door, her face lighting up when he answers, and another stab of the hateful emotion hits Brent. He grabs a towel, deciding to take a shower and go straight to bed, hoping the nonsense rioting in him will be long gone in the morning. His plan is shattered when he smells pancakes as he opens the bathroom door.
Raina flips a pancake as she stares at the skillet, her mind miles away, thinking of and missing Kas intensely, and missing how they cook breakfast side by side most mornings. She decided to make breakfast now, even though it’s technically dinner, needing to somehow connect with him. She sees Brent leaning against the wall at the edge of the kitchen when she turns to grab the syrup, “You hungry?”
Brent mentally slaps himself for the inappropriate, wayward thoughts running through his mind at her choice of words. Chastising himself, he shrugs, “A little.”
“Grab a plate, these are almost done.”
He focuses on chewing the food, pushing back the new emotions swirling around in him dangerously every time he looks at Raina. “So, how did you and Pierce meet?” he asks, desperate to remind himself that she’s married, that she is strictly off-limits. He barely hears her answer, too preoccupied with trying to tear his eyes away from her succulent lips.
Later that night, Brent punches his pillow, throwing his head back into the overstuffed cotton puff. Sleep has been avoiding him for the past two hours. Unwillingly, his mind drifts to Raina, who is fast asleep next door, with only a piece of thin sheetrock separating him from her. He groans loudly as he rolls over, slamming the pillow over his head, praying for sleep that never comes.
Michael
swings
by
early the next morning. Raina hands him a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a warm blueberry muffin as he sits at the small kitchen table. “That’s delicious,” he mumbles with his mouth still full. He takes a sip of coffee, “Where’s Brent?”
“Shower.”
Michael glances over at his agent, his concern peaking when he sees how haggard Brent looks when he steps out of the bathroom. “You’re not getting sick are you?”
“No, I just didn’t get much sleep last night,” he grumbles, a yawn escapes his mouth as if showing proof to his words.
“Rest up today,” Michael commands, “we need you to be on top of your game.”
“Yes, sir.”
Brent takes a seat as far away from Raina as possible when the rest of the team arrives. He does his best to focus his attention on the task at hand as they spend the next couple of hours developing a plan to access the locked office if he’s not able to get inside by invitation in the next few days.
The crowd cheers and whistles when the band finishes their last song of the night, some raucously calling for an encore. Shadrack takes the stage flashing his killer smile as he slips his arm around Raina’s waist, pulling her close to him. She manages to keep from ripping his slimy hands off of her as she fixes a smile on her face and gazes as pleasantly as possible at the sleek, well-groomed trafficker who she would consider handsome if it weren’t for his career choice making her furiously ill every time she sees him.
“How’s everyone doing tonight?” the tall, tan, dark-haired handler yells into the excited crowd, his Irish accent eliciting pheromones to ooze from the women. His question is answered by more loud whistles and hoots.
Raina’s stomach churns at the grin that spreads across Shadrack’s lips and how his hand slips lower on her hip as he holds her flush to him.
“You guys want more of the band?”
More loud whistles ring out, coupled with a few profane affirmations, and Raina can’t stand looking at the ignorant girls hanging onto his every word, lust pooling in their hope-filled eyes. She wishes he would shut-up before one of the girls can’t control herself any longer and decides to shimmy out of her panties and toss them on top of the stage. Her anger riots as she thinks of how one of these poor girls could end up getting way more than she bargained for if he takes her home tonight.
“What about my girl here? You want more of Jules?” he yells, his gluttonous hand tightening around her hip, his fingers slipping lower, dangerously close to her intimate area. Raina bites the inside of her cheek, maintaining her plastered smile as she refrains from flipping Shadrack off the stage.
The crowd roars for more, so the band happily delivers. Brody flashes his sexy smile as he taps his drumsticks slowly, steadily upping the rhythm as Curt joins in on the keyboard. Brent jumps in next, his wicked skills making the guitar sing. The rowdy crowd is working itself into a frenzy when it’s time for Raina to sing. She closes her eyes, focusing on the words to Brent’s song, wishing she had more time to practice.
Opening her eyes, she begins to sing, her voice a sultry mixture of seduction and pain, matching the theme of the song. Brent is mesmerized, watching her body move to the music, hearing her intoxicating voice belting out the words. All eyes are on her when she sings the chorus,
I’m
torn
between
the
two
One’s
touch,
the
other’s
love
The
flame
burns
higher
cursing
me
like
a
witches
brew
He
calls
my
name,
and
I
fall
to
my
knees
One’s
innocence
is
my
poison
The
other’s
desire
is
a
tangled
web
I
forsakenly
weave.
Brent has to look away as Raina continues to sing the song he wrote years ago, the words haunting him, cutting into his heart. He knows she has no idea of how she is singing his misery, desperately wanting her, knowing she belongs to another.
Raina takes a long shower. Images of Kas rush through her mind as the hot water spills over her, sending a sharp pain slicing through her heart at how much she misses him. Since she’s met Kas, she’s never been away from him this long, and she’s feeling the loss distinctly more with each passing day. She wants nothing more than to be in his arms right now, to feel his touch, his love, as she drifts to sleep in his embrace.
Brent is cooking hamburgers when Raina steps out of the bathroom, her face clean and make-up free. Her wet hair is wrapped in a towel, and she is completely covered in PJ’s and a robe, drawing Brent to her carefree, natural beauty. A loose, auburn curl frames her fresh, ivory face, and it’s all he can do to keep himself from brushing it off of her cheek, still pink from the heat of her shower.
“Do you want a burger?” he asks, turning away from temptation.
Raina politely declines, telling him she’s not hungry. She grabs her phone out of her purse, needing to hear Kas’ voice again before she goes to bed, but it rings before she has a chance to dial. Brent turns around, seeing her tense as she looks down at the phone. He shoots her a questioning gaze, but she apologetically throws up her finger, slipping into her room. Raina’s heart pounds in her chest as she hears the familiar silence on the other end. Roughly closing the phone, she dials Kas, comfort immediately relieving her when she hears his voice.
“Can’t get enough of me tonight, huh?” he teases, wishing he was there to hold her, touch her, so he could give her as much of him that she wants.
For a few seconds, she’s tempted not to tell him about the call, but relents, knowing it will hurt him if she doesn’t and he finds out.
“I miss you so much,” she begins, pausing briefly before rushing her next words, “I got another call.”
“We changed your number.”
She can hear the tension in Kas’ voice. “Maybe it’s not related,” she offers, feeling slightly guilty, knowing that it is.
“I’m not taking any chances. I’ll trace the call.”
“It will lead to a burn phone.” She hears him sigh on the other end, knowing he knows she’s right.
“Hold on, Rain, I’m calling Pete. I want every inch of Chris’ cell searched again.”
Brent walks by Raina’s cracked door. Every part of him tells him to walk away, but he doesn’t listen to his internal warning, and he peeks through the door, anyway. His heart constricts at the expression on Raina’s face, a combination of worry, sadness, and what looks a little like fear. He backs away, not trusting his judgment lately, especially with his own emotions short circuiting.
“The guards are going to check his cell,” Kas tells her briskly, “I’ll have your number changed again. I’ll call you back with the information on both in a few.”
She doesn’t want to let him go, needing to hear his voice a little while longer, but she ignores her need, quickly telling him she loves him before hanging up. She is sitting on the bed, dreading ever meeting Chris when Brent knocks on her door. Pulling herself together, she tells him to come in.
“You sure you’re not hungry, you barely ate any lunch today?”
Deciding eating might provide a needed distraction, she agrees to try his cheddar mushroom hamburgers. They are sharing funny stories about their experiences with the FBI when her phone rings. He sees her apprehension as she answers, apologetically excusing herself again as she heads back to her room.
“They didn’t find a phone,” Kas informs her, the anger in his voice evident. “I don’t know how he’s pulling this off, unless he is having someone else make the calls.”
Raina chews on her bottom lip, she knows Chris well enough to know that he would want to make the calls personally. “I don’t think so, Kas. Somehow, he has a phone.”
“Maybe I should go to the prison myself and beat it out of him,” Kas growls.
Raina tenses at the undiluted anger in his voice, not used to hearing Kas like this. “Please, Kas, don’t.”
Brent is on the way to his room when he hears Raina’s voice as he walks by, hating how it trembled when she asked Pierce not to do whatever it is he obviously threatened to do. He pauses, tempted to listen more, but guilt wins, and he reluctantly walks into his room, giving her privacy.
The next few days don’t provide any opportunity to breach the office, so after a hefty argument between Michael, the FBI attorney, and a federal judge, a warrant was granted for a listening device. Raina tries to lose herself in the song at rehearsal, pushing the thought out of her head that Brent is going to risk getting caught attaching a transmitter to the underside of the office door. After rehearsal is over, he tells Raina to go to the car, asking her to watch for anyone coming back into the building as he is placing the device.
“If you see any indication of danger, you leave,” Brent demands, hurriedly placing his own device in his ear. “Go to the car, Raina!”
She hesitates, hating leaving him on his own, but realizing she is better able to assist him by being a lookout. She slips into the vehicle and prays that Brent gets done quickly so they can get out of there before Shadrack returns. It’s only been two minutes before she sees Shadrack pulling in the lot and drive around back. Talking into the transmitter, she gives the warning to Brent, but he doesn’t respond. Trying again, she impatiently waits, but there’s still no response. There’s no way she can just leave him there, realizing what would very likely happen to him, so she jumps out of the car and races inside, praying she is faster than Shadrack.
Brent has just secured the transmitter as Raina slides around the corner, racing towards him, panic apparent in her eyes. “Shadrack is here, we have to go, now!”
Brent grabs her hand, and they start down the hall, stopping short when they hear voices. Raina’s heart is pounding.
“Play along,” he whispers quickly, then shoves her against the wall.
The impact didn’t hurt, but it startled her, and she starts to push away from the wall when Brent grabs her arm, roughly pushing her against it again. He starts screaming at her, his finger and nose in her face. “Don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again, Jules!” he threatens as Shadrack and another suspected handler round the corner. He grabs her arm, jerking her towards him, “I’m sick of all your games. One minute you are all over me, then the next, you’re flirting with some stranger.”
Raina knows he’s acting, but the anger in his voice and the firmness of his almost painful grip sends her senses reeling.
“Who’s it going to be?” he yells before giving her a little shake. “Answer me!”
Raina doesn’t know if she is supposed to actually answer or not, so she decides to try to pull away, the action feeling reasonable enough to her.
Her heart stops when Brent raises his hand to hit her, and she turns away from the threat of the back of his hand, instinctively bracing herself.
“What’s going on here?” Shadrack demands.
Brent spins around, letting Raina go as he pretends to just notice Shadrack’s presence. He agitatedly runs his hand through his hair, grabbing Raina again, pulling her close to him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. We’re just working out a private issue. We’ll take it outside.”
The act went over convincingly enough as Shadrack angrily waves them on, grabbing Brent’s arm on the way out, pulling him to the side. “Caleb, whatever you two have going on, I really couldn’t care less, but don’t let it affect the show,” he warns. “Work it out, and don’t be leaving bruises on her where the customers can see them, it’s bad for business.”
Brent nods, wanting to break the apathetic ring leader’s nose. “We’ll work it out.”
“You better. I don’t want to see you in this area again, it’s restricted. I’ll let it slide this time since you’re new, but there won’t be any more warnings.”
“It won’t happen again.”
Brent keeps his firm grasp on Raina’s arm until they are outside and in the car. “You alright, Raina? I didn’t mean to scare you back there,” he asks her, concerned about the fear in her eyes that he’s sure looked too real to be an act. Disgust shoots through him at the thought that he may have accidentally harmed her in the charade, “Please tell me that I didn’t hurt you.”
She shakes her head before turning away from him. “You told me to play along,” she mumbles, looking out the window, trying to push the flashbacks of the recent beating from her father out of her head.
Brent cranks the car, a sickening feeling starting to creep through him. He thinks of what he heard her say on the phone the other night, then tries to push the thought away, telling himself he’s over thinking it, that he just caught her off guard, but he has a nagging feeling she’s experienced a man’s wrath before. He hopes the wrath isn’t Pierce’s.
Brent unlocks the door, glancing at Raina as she steps inside, “You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” she smiles, hoping the transmitter gets them what they need so they can take down the traffickers, and so she can go home to Kas.
Brent
stirs,
his
eyes opening quickly. All his senses are on alert as he lies motionless, listening for what awakened him. He hears it again, Raina’s quiet whimper causes his pulse to quicken. He jumps out of bed, his heart racing as he grabs his gun, rushing to her room. He lowers the weapon when he realizes there’s no imminent threat. Placing the gun on the dresser, he sits on the side of Raina’s bed. He watches her for a moment, his eyes drinking in her silky, auburn hair and her creamy ivory skin as she sleeps. His heart longs for her, and his body recklessly needs her touch. He softly traces his finger down her cheek, closing his eyes and berating himself for coming dangerously close to crossing a line. He starts to leave when he hears another whimper escape her lips, and her body jerks. Gently, he shakes her arm to awaken her from her nightmare.
She catches him off guard when she jerks away from his touch, uttering something he doesn’t quite catch as she jerks upright in bed. He doesn’t miss how she looks like she’s ready to tear into someone as her startled eyes meet his.
“Easy, honey,” he coaxes, holding up his hands, not wanting to frighten her.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles breathlessly.
“That must have been one hell of a nightmare,” he says gently, taking in her slightly trembling hands.
Following his gaze, she shoves her hands under the blanket. Her eyes drops, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You want some water or something?” he offers, desperately wanting to take her in his arms and comfort her, but realizing that would be a very,
very
bad idea.
“No, I’m fine, thanks.” Raina smiles again, trying to assure him.
Hesitantly, he leaves her bed, “Alright, if you’re sure.” He turns back to her when he reaches her bedroom door, “I’m right here if you need me,” he tells her pointedly, “for anything.” He gives her one last worried glance, not at all liking all of the signs pointing to something dark in her life.
Brent
is
awakened
again a couple of hours later. He rubs his eyes, inwardly groaning when he sees it’s only 2:00 a.m.
“We’ve got him!”
He’s wide awake at Michael’s statement, he throws on his jeans as he listens to his boss telling him that there is a meeting going on right now, and the transmitter is picking up all their dirty plans for a group of girls they apparently have stashed away nearby. “I’ll meet you in fifteen,” he confirms, buttoning his shirt on the way out the door, quickly sending Raina a text of what is going on if he’s not back by the time she gets up.
Four and half hours later, he slips through the door, dog tired, but extremely relieved they finally took down the elusive ring that has been quickly growing over the past several months. He checks on Raina, happy to see her peacefully sleeping, before falling on top of his bed, sleep finally welcoming him.