Leather, Lace and Rock-n-Roll (25 page)

Cameron raised both eyebrows. “Superman.”

“Even Superman can’t help you now,” a voice
said behind them.

Rachel grabbed Cameron’s arm and they both
spun around to see who addressed them. Cameron had to blink twice
to focus.

Monica Kensington stood in Rachel’s front
entry with a gun centered right at Rachel’s forehead.

“By the time anyone gets here, you’ll be
dead.” Monica glanced at Cameron. “Hang up the phone and throw it
across the room.”

“I gotta go,” Cameron said into the phone
before she snapped it closed and threw it at Monica.

Monica dodged the flying object and cocked
the trigger. “You really want to start something with me?” She
moved the gun to aim at Cameron.

Cameron folded her arms across her chest.
“Not really.”

Rachel took her hand and squeezed. “Cameron,”
she whispered, “don’t aggravate her.”

Monica waved the gun in circles. “Shut up!
This is all your fault. If you hadn’t found the flash drive, I
wouldn’t have to kill you.”

“You don’t have to kill us.” Rachel inserted
herself between the crazed woman and Cameron.

Monica gave an evil smile. “Oh yes, I do.
I’ve waited years for this opportunity.” She used the gun to point.
“In the living room.”

Rachel took Cameron’s hand and headed into
the living room. “I don’t understand,” she said when she stopped
near the sofa. “I haven’t known you that long.”

“You see, Rachel, Kensington is my maiden
name. Bridgewater was my married name.”

Rachel’s eyes widened. “You’re not the woman
in the papers.”

“A little hair dye, colored contacts, and no
one ever suspected.”

Rachel’s mind spun, thoroughly confused by
the whole turn of events. Monica was the terrorist? Or did Hawke
have it all wrong? “Monica, just put down the gun and we’ll talk
about this.”

Monica snorted. “Sure, and then we’ll go
shopping together on Saturday.”

“There’s a shoe sale on Saturday,” Cameron
suggested weakly.

“Stop!” Monica shrieked. “Everything was on
track until you intercepted the flash drives. But I can fix this.
I’ll take you out and everything will be fine.”

Rachel swallowed hard, now convinced they
were on borrowed time. “Diego will kill you, Monica.”

Monica’s face reddened and she cocked the
gun. “You know nothing about my relationship with Manuel
Diego.”

“I know enough to figure out he’s using you.”
Like Hawke used me. Rachel ignored the pain in her heart. “You’re a
pawn. Once he gets those flash drives, you become unnecessary.”

Monica laughed. “You underestimate my
influence, Rachel. Without me Diego would have a hard time getting
the drives.”

Rachel resisted the urge to shake her head at
Monica’s unbelievable insanity. Did she not realize Diego most
likely employed an unlimited army of peons under him? “I don’t
understand.”

“Diego’s cronies can’t get in and out of the
building as easily as I can. The security manager of our building
and I are very close. I erase myself from the surveillance tapes
every time I visit the mail room.”

***

Brett awoke to the sound of a persistent
voice in his left ear.

“Steele, damn it, wake up!”

He lay still for a few seconds and took stock
of his body parts while he tried to locate the source of his pain.
He lifted his hand to the pulsing area of pain on the back of his
head, cursing under his breath at the mountain-sized knot.

“Steele! If you can hear me, don’t speak,
just tap the earpiece twice.”

Brett frowned at the sound of Shadow’s voice.
That didn’t make a whole helluva lot of sense, but he tapped the
microphone.

He opened his eyes and finally managed to
figure out he was behind the sofa in Rachel’s living room. With the
mother of all headaches, he crawled on all fours to the
kitchen.

“Welcome back.” Shadow released a heavy sigh.
“Long story short, the perp took a baseball bat to your head. We
need Intel. Sterling should be entering the house now.”

Distracted by the pounding in his temples,
Brett swallowed a wave of apprehension when his left leg was
suddenly yanked out from under him. Years of military training
kicked in as he spun around, his fists primed to pummel his
attacker. Sterling grabbed one fist in mid-air, squeezed, and
pointed back at the living room. Brett nodded a silent
understanding and inched closer to their target.

***

Rachel decided she and Cameron had a better
chance of survival if she kept Monica talking. “How did you get in
here?”

Monica shrugged. “It really wasn’t that
difficult. I climbed a tree and waited.”

Rachel glanced at Cameron. Environmentalism
probably had its advantages. Any other time.

“Brett saw you.”

Monica nodded. “Only for a second.”

“Monica, really.” Rachel worked to keep her
voice calm. “This is so unnecessary. Don’t you think this will make
matters worse?”

“Save it. This wouldn’t have gone so far if
the gargantuan bodyguard wasn’t quite so skilled.”

“Yeah,” Cameron mumbled. “A major
overachiever.”

“I would’ve taken you out long before now,
Rachel. When the Rohypnol failed, I was sure the bullet would prove
my point.”

“Perfect.” Rachel squeezed the bridge of her
nose. “Only one in fifty groupies becomes a stalker and I found the
one.” She lifted her head. “So you tried to kill me.”

“Not kill you, dear. Just scare you away. How
does it feel to be denied something you treasure?”

Rachel lifted an eyebrow. “Just peachy.”

Monica shrugged. “I tried to warn Hawke about
you but he just didn’t understand.”

“He was probably too interested in the
lipstick,” Rachel mumbled.

***

Brett walked his elbows across the cool,
marble kitchen tile, his body slithering behind him, as he
attempted to gain access to the action in the living room. As soon
as he was close enough to tuck himself into the shadows behind the
sofa, he glanced over his shoulder to secure Sterling’s location.
Sterling gave a silent nod from behind the archway of the kitchen.
The moment Brett eased to his knees his heart pounded. Things just
officially got real complicated.

He motioned for Sterling to go back to the
kitchen.

“New development,” Steele whispered.
“Somebody invited Diego.”

“Take. Him. Out.” Hawke’s low voice shook the
airwaves with his rage.

Steele’s eyes widened and he glanced at
Sterling for clarification.

Sterling shook his head and spoke clearly
into his headset. “Stand down, Hawke. Wait for my signal.”

Steele felt the hair stand on the back of his
neck when he heard a short, high-pitched whistle from the other
room. He glanced at Sterling. “Silencer, Captain. Someone’s
down.”

Hawke’s voice was the next across the waves.
“Somebody tell me who.”

Steele crawled to the doorway and stood up
just inside the arch. “Relax, Hawke. It’s Monica.” He signaled
Sterling to the side opposite him while he monitored the activity
in the living room.

“Ladies, it looks like I have a small
dilemma.” Diego casually waved the gun in the air and stepped over
Monica’s body. “I could just kill both of you now and be done with
it. Or, we could wait for your SEAL team and I could eliminate all
of you at once.”

Rachel’s already pale face lost even more
color. The barracuda next to her, however, cocked her head to one
side and narrowed her baby blues on Diego. “What’s the catch?
There’s always a catch.”

Steele pinched the bridge of his nose. Was
there anyone she wouldn’t challenge? He lifted his head and glanced
at Sterling, now clenching his fists.

“Shadow, do you have the target?”

“Negative, Captain. Blondie’s in my
crosshairs.”

Sterling glanced at Steele. “We need a
diversion.”

“Want me to go in?”

Sterling shook his head. “Too risky.”

Steele moved his gaze back to the living room
and shook his head. Once again, the pint-sized loudmouth seemed
oblivious to the fact she was held at gunpoint by a maniac.

“You don’t look like a terrorist.”

“Cameron!” Rachel groaned and grabbed her
arm.

“Well, he doesn’t.”

Diego laughed. “You amuse me, little one. I
prefer to think of myself as an international businessman who
specializes in political strategies.”

Rachel snorted. “That’s one way to put it.”
She slowly inched away from him and dragged Cameron along with
her.

“Target acquired.” Steele shoved himself into
battle mode when Shadow finally spoke.

“Hold up,” Sterling cautioned. “We don’t want
collateral damage.”

“Affirmative.”

Sterling stood bone still in the doorway,
watching and waiting for the opportune moment. Brett’s nerves
tingled as he awaited direction. Then he heard Sterling’s muffled
curse. Brett glanced into the living room as all hell broke
loose.

Diego’s gun discharged. The sound of breaking
glass brought Hawke through the front window and racing toward
Rachel. Sterling’s gun fired and then Diego fell to the floor,
blood seeping from a hole in the center of his forehead. Cameron
stood in the middle of the chaos, shell-shocked and oblivious to
the danger. With only one option remaining, Brett went airborne,
knocked Cameron off her feet, and glued her to the floor.

“Max,” she whispered just before her eyes
fluttered closed.

Brett lifted his head in shock.
Max?
A
mischievous grin creased his lips.
Sweet
.

He looked over his shoulder to see Shadow
step through the broken window and nudge Diego with his boot. “One
less arms dealer to worry about.”

“Hawke!” Max bellowed as he dialed his cell
phone.

Shadow pried Hawke’s arms from around Rachel
and rolled him to his back. “He’s down, Captain.”

“I’m fine,” Hawke mumbled from the floor,
“it’s just a scratch.”

Max glanced around the room and strained to
hear something from the peanut gallery. Finally, his gaze rested on
two snakeskin pumps pinned beneath Steele’s iron body. Hell, maybe
they really were in Oz.

“Steele, what’s your status?”

Steele rolled to one side. “We’re good. I
think she’s got the wind knocked out of her.”

“Either that or she’s hurt,” Max said, amazed
something had actually shut her up.

Max squatted next to Hawke and rubbed away
the blood from Hawke’s biceps. He squeezed the edges of skin
together to stop the bleeding.

“Gee-zus, Max,” Hawke hissed.

“Don’t be such a baby, Hawke,” he drawled.
“Your woman is here.”

Hawke responded with a menacing stare.

“Just a flesh wound. Barely grazed him.”

“You’ll have a helluva scar though,” Steele
said.

Rachel gave Steele a heated glare, obviously
unimpressed by his enthusiasm.

Max squatted next to Steele and placed two
fingers against Sleeping Beauty’s wrist.

Steele raised an eyebrow. “Smelling
salts?”

Max smirked. “Ice water.”

Her eyes suddenly flew open and shot a bolt
of pale blue lightning at Max. “I’m right here, Neanderthal.” She
shook his fingers from her arm as she stood. “What took you so
long? That crazy terrorist was about to kill us!”

Max’s lip twitched as he glanced at Steele.
“She’s fine.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Which one of you
accosted me?”

Max gestured with his head at Steele.

“You were standing in the path of a flying
bullet.” Steele shrugged. “I had to take you down.”

She turned to look at Diego’s body then back
at Steele. “Well then, thank you, Brett.”

Max felt a pinch of annoyance. Since when did
she decide to be so damn appreciative?

Steele flashed her another wasted lady killer
smile. “You’re welcome.”

Max waited half a second for some sort of
reprimand. Except, it didn’t come. In fact, she just stood beside
them, silent and docile. So, he took advantage.

“What about my thank you? I took out the
crazy terrorist.”

He knew damn well he shouldn’t have baited
her. He really shouldn’t have.

She simply batted those long eyelashes and
flipped her curls over her shoulder. “It’s your job, remember?”

Staring deeply into Rachel’s eyes, Hawke
cupped her chin in his hand, imploring her to understand the depth
of his feelings for her.

“I love you.”

She placed her hand over his, then turned her
face to kiss the center of his palm. “I love you too. Thank
you.”

Parting her lips, she leaned down to meet his
kiss. Hawke moved his mouth over hers, devouring its softness,
silently reassuring himself she was safe. Yet, as his lips caressed
hers, he didn’t miss her slight hesitance.

Sirens echoed in the still of the
afternoon.

“About time,” Max muttered. “Come on, Hawke.
They’ll want to hear your story.”

Hawke lifted his lips. “I’ll be back as soon
as I can.”

Rachel nodded and gave a weak smile.

Once outside, Shadow handed Sterling a silver
tube. “Found some evidence, Captain.”

Sterling paused halfway down the driveway
next to Rachel’s Mercedes, twisted the tube open and then grinned.
“Taste the lipstick on the windshield, Steele.”

“Say what?”

Sterling motioned to the car. “The lipstick.
Taste it.”

Steele smeared the lipstick with his index
finger and placed it to his mouth. “Cherry.”

“What kind of cherry?”

Steele frowned. “I don’t know. Just
cherry.”

“Hell.” Sterling wiped lipstick on his finger
and tasted it. “Wild Cherry. That’s what I thought.”

Steele stared open-mouthed. “How do you
–?”

Sterling shoved him further across the lawn.
“Drop it.”