Shattered Rules (18 page)

C
hapter Twenty-three

The sound
of the shower running in the bathroom caught Kelly’s attention. Relieved, she lay back in bed and imagined Brick in the shower, soapy lather running down his muscled torso.

In
the bathroom, she breathed in the masculine scent of shaving cream. She found him standing tall and potent in the clear glass enclosed shower, steam swirling around him. His back to her, he rinsed his closely cropped blonde hair. Shampoo lather slithered down his powerful backside.

He turned slightly. S
he watched as he took a bar of soap and made lather circles on his chest, every sculpted muscle flexed. Heat exploded in her core as she imagined his competent hand touching her.

What would it feel like to have him wash her breast?
Her nipples tightened needing his attention. It was so soon to want him again, but seeing him sent desire exploding, causing a quiver of anticipation. She had to touch him.

Without saying a word, she o
pened the door of the shower and entered. She used her fingertips to trace shampoo lather as it meandered between his shoulder blades and down to his firm buttocks.

His breath caught
and he grabbed her hand.

She noticed his eyes
widen as they tracked the warm water that dripped down the cleft of her breasts. He bent forward and licked the trail of moisture from her right breast. His hand claimed it while his mouth descended to suck her nipple to hardness.

His need grew before her.
His masculine power engulfed her. Hot liquid surged in her. She rubbed her skin against his, gliding across his soapy body. There was no friction, just delightful sensations, reminding her of silk.

Only h
e could fill her yearning. She forgot where she was and it didn't matter if the water was hot or cold, she was hot and he was with her. Her nails dug into him, demanding he take her.

He gave in kind, sending his long fingers hard inside her, while he tenderly kissed her neck.
She groaned and leaned against his strength. Her legs became putty.

He easily lifted her to him and positioned her so he could enter. Leaning against the
tiled shower wall, he steadied her and with one swift movement gained access, filling her. She gasped and felt explosive feelings as he expanded her. She kissed him, her tongue dancing with his. He pumped into her, rotating her hips to meet his as he lifted her up and down to meet his thrust.

She was sore from the earlier love making, but it didn't stop her from moving with him, wanting everything he could give and arcing to bring him closer. Finally
, she cried out and clung to him while waves of sensation flooded her.

His
thrust increased and his muscles tightened as he released life giving fluid into her. Then he held her tenderly against him. His strong arms supported her, her legs around his waist, and her head resting on his shoulder.

H
e carefully lowered her to the floor. The water was cool now, but she was still hot. She sagged against him, waiting for her breathing to slow and her self-control to return.

With a soapy washcloth, he bathed her, ever so gently
, touching her core. She shuddered and he kissed her. He rinsed the soap and turned off the water.

M
oisture clung to her skin. He wrapped her in a bath towel and carried her to the bedroom then placed her on the bed.

“
Rest my sweet,” he said before he returned to the bathroom.

Safe and warm under the down comforter, blissful sleep over
took her.

***

Later, Brick returned to the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. He gazed at Kelly sleeping in the king sized bed. Her full lips parted, blonde hair framed her face and the top of one pink breast peeked out from under the covers and begged to be caressed.

His need grew.
He’d like nothing better than to slide under the sheets next to her and let her softness envelop him while he took her again. But problems were building. Events he didn't know if he could stop. Deadlines loomed. Lying in bed with Kelly wouldn’t protect her.

T
hey’d been thrown in the middle of something neither of them fully understood. He’d better get some answers before it was too late. Now he’d experienced Kelly’s love, the thought of her death sent a jab of pain to his gut.

At some point
, he’d have to tell her that he’d returned to investigate Johnny Vega. He'd do it carefully and make her understand that his love for her was separate and didn't have anything to do with the current mess with Vega.

A sense of
remorse shook him. He should’ve had more self-control and waited to make love to her until she knew about his assignment with the FBI. But he’d longed for her since the first day he saw her in her bed at the motel.

T
oday for the third time, she'd asked him to take her. With the threat of her demise hanging over her head, he knew there might not be another chance for them to be together.

He
recalled Annie’s young face, the witness he’d been unable to save. Even though five years had passed, her eyes still haunted his dreams. He tore his gaze from Kelly, dressed and left the bedroom. He’d make damned sure he succeeded in protecting her.

In the living room
, the flames in the fireplace were embers dying one by one. His body heated remembering Kelly standing nude in front of him. Back lit by the flames of the fireplace, the fire's light had turned her blonde hair to pink, the color of her rosy nipples. Her skin had shimmered smooth and evenly tan in the firelight, her hazel eyes filled with love. He groaned. When she knew why he was with her, there’d be loathing her eyes.

He r
etrieved his cell phone from a table near the fireplace. He had a text message from Maryann in the FBI office with facts on George Nickels, the man who’d paid Amanda for information about Kelly. Nickels had entered the U.S. on a temporary work visa. His native country was Greece. He worked for In-Tech. Though it was unclear what he did for them. His work visa expired at the end of next month. The man’s description: thirty-five years of age, six feet four inches tall and a hefty two hundred and sixty-five pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.

Why would a foreign national get hired at a high tech company with defense contacts for the U.S. Government? What expertise could he have that couldn't be found in the
States?

He dialed
In-Tech and asked for George Nickels.

“
Mr. Nickels is in Reno on business, he won't be back until next week. Would you like his voice mail?” A woman asked.

“
Yeah, thanks.”

Brick listened. It was the same
voice message he’d heard when he called the phone number Amanda had given him. He disconnected without leaving a message.

So Mr. Nickels was in Reno. Brick rubbed his chin and wondered if the man had anything to do with Amanda's so called accident
and Agent Simmons’s death.

Nickels fit the description of the first intruder to enter
Kelly’s house, tall, muscular, dark eyes, black hair and wearing a signet ring with an initial “N”. Was the intruder Mr. Nickels? Maybe he dared to wear the signet ring because no one knew him. He was a stranger from off shore.

The intruder
told Kelly she’d die the day after tomorrow. If Nickels was the intruder, the bruises he had given her were just healing. Brick would be damned to hell before he let Nickels get a chance to touch her again.

He relaxed his fisted hands
and thought about the fact. He had names: Johnny Vega, George Nickels and Yi Jun Kim, an American with known ties to organized crime, a Greek working for a high tech company in the Silicon Valley, and a Korean known to have illegally sold electronic parts to North Korea. How were they linked?

It was disturbing that no matter how much he understood he still didn't have enough information to make
total sense of the situation.

He
stared out the window. The beauty of Lake Tahoe had disappeared in the fading light. Evening had arrived.

There was an
other call to make. Don would be feeling pressure from his superiors to get some concrete information. He hoped the name of George Nickels, at In-Tech, would placate Don and his FBI bosses.

The phone rang once
and Don picked up the call. Without preliminaries, Brick gave him the name of George Nickels and told him about his concern that blue prints from an In-Tech long range guidance system might have been stolen.

His boss
made no comment but he could feel his tension. He and Don had been friends for years, but now the warmth of that friendship was gone and unease had replaced it. What was going on? The only explanation he could think of, Don was feeling the weight of the job.

“
If there’s a flash drive out there with plans for a guidance system we better give the CIA a heads up.” Brick paced as he spoke. “Nickels is a foreign national and Greece is close enough to the middle east to make my hair stand on end.”

Silence.

“Don, are you still there?”

“
What else do you have for me?”

“
I put a name to the sketch I sent you. The man's name is Yi Jun Kim, a Korean. I don't know what he's calling himself now, but that was his name when I was in the army and stationed in South Korea. He was caught selling restricted electronic equipment to the North Koreans. At the time it was front-page news.”

“
The South Korean police didn’t apprehend him?”

“
No. Yi just disappeared. My guess is that he high tailed it to North Korea. So, you can imagine my surprise when I see him sitting in Johnny Vega’s conference room.”

“
You're sure it's the same man?”

“
Yeah, it's him alright. My hackles are up. Something is about to happen. The shit’s going to hit the fan. The CIA needs to be told.”

“
Nickels, Yi and their goons, killed an FBI agent. They're going to pay for leaving my agent’s face down in the Truckee River. And I heard about Agent Simmons bleeding to death in his own home. Nobody's taking this case away from me,” Don's said. “As far as I'm concerned the CIA has bumbled one too many cases. They've left this country vulnerable while they were bogged down in their own internal politics and I'm not going to give them a chance bungle this one. We'll handle it. Clear!”

“
As glass.” Brick tensed. He didn’t like it, but he’d been given a direct order. “It’s crystal clear.”

“
I want any new info you get as soon as you get it. Stay in touch.” Don said. “And buddy.”

“
Yeah.”

“
Remember to watch your back.”

The phone went dead
in his hand. He groaned. Don’s decision not to tell the CIA was one they were both going to regret.

C
hapter Twenty-four

Kelly
woke in bed and stretched. A delicious feeling spread through her. Being with Brick had been more incredible than she’d imaged and her dreams had been breathtaking. With her yearning for him fulfilled, for the first time in her life she felt complete.

Where was she in her cycle? It didn't matter. The thought that she might have started a new life with the man she loved thrilled her. It seemed the only sane act in the mist of the chaos that had become her life. She smiled. Brick cherished her.

Later that evening, they dined on Swiss cheese sandwiches, green salad and decaffeinated coffee. In the living room, they sat together on the sofa in front of a roaring fire. He put his arm around her and she rested her heard on his shoulder. She watched the flames in the fireplace dance and remembered the ballet she and Brick had danced together that afternoon. Everything that needed to be said between them had been said. With nothing more to talk about she sat in contented silence just happy to be in his company.

“Let’s go to bed,
” he said.

This time she knew
he meant together. She smiled and then kissed him.

T
he next morning, dressed only in Brick's navy blue polo shirt and her black bikini panties, she stood in front of the old gas range cooking scrambled eggs. A pitcher of orange juice sat on the kitchen table and pancakes were being kept warm in the oven. She’d promised to have breakfast on the table by the time he finished his shower.

They
’d made love again during the night, slow tender love and she woke in his arms.

A whiff of shaving cream entered
with Brick when he walked into the kitchen. Inhaling the masculine aroma, mixed with the smell of pancakes, she grinned. He wore jeans and the dove gray shirt he wore the day he came back into her life. She’d feared him then. She should have known there was no need.

He
seemed taller and stronger this morning.

H
e kissed her cheek. “Hmm, smells good,” he said. “Oh, and the food smells good too.” He winked.

She laughed and poured coffee into a mug for him.

“That polo shirt looks a lot better on you than it ever did on me.” He pulled her to him, hugging her and caressing her neck with kisses.

“
Brick, the eggs will burn.” She laughed again and pulled away to save breakfast.

“
Hmm, eggs scrambled just the way I like them.” He licked his lips.

“I’m glad.”

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“You’re
all I need right now.” She kissed him on the cheek.

“
The men I called to install the security system will be here soon.” He took a bite of egg. “You should get dressed. You look great, but I won’t share you with anyone.”

She glanced down at her bare legs.
“Okay. I can take a hint.” She wrinkled her nose and then grabbed her coffee cup and started to leave the room.

“I thought all you needed was me
.”

“You and a cup of coffee,” she
answered and laughed.

S
he quickly showered and dressed in white Capri pants and pale pink cotton tee and white running shoes and then returned to the kitchen.

Brick
was just taking a cola from the refrigerator. He popped it open and quickly swallowed a gulp.

“
You drink too much soda.” She pretended to scold him.

“
My one vice.” He chuckled.

“
Brick.”

“Yeah.”

“I was thinking about the Asian man you saw in the conference room. You believe he’s here to buy Johnny’s flash drive with plans for a missile guidance system on it.”

“
That’d be my guess.”

She went to the sink and started to wash the breakfast dishes.
“Shouldn't we tell someone Mr. Yi is here?”

“
The FBI knows. I told my boss. But so far, Yi hasn't done anything illegal. So, all the authorities can do is watch and wait.” He got up and grabbed a dishtowel and dried a dish.

“
I remember reading a news story about a mushroom cloud explosion in North Korea. The news media seemed to think it might be nuclear.” She put another dish in the drying rack.

“
Yeah, in September 2004. Many countries, Japan included, wondered if the North Koreans had been doing above ground testing of their Nuclear weapons. For political reasons, it was all hushed up.”

“
Then in the winter of 2005 the North Koreans admitted to the world they had nuclear bombs. They needed them because the United States imperialists were planning a war against North Korea, a North Korean spoke’s person said. With the death of leader Kim Jong Il and his son taking over, we can’t predict what the future will bring. But we know the son wants weapons of mass destruction and is trying to get a long-range delivery system.” He took another sip of cola.

“
How can you be so calm?” She didn’t really expect him to answer. As an FBI agent he must talk about WMDs as an everyday topic of conversation.

Her hands trembled a
s she contemplated the new information. The soap bubbles from a dish she was washing dropped to the kitchen floor. “How many nuclear bombs does North Korea have?

“
Well, I’m no expert. But it’s widely believed that they had at least eight. By now they could have a dozen or more.”

“
And no one can stop them?” She handed Brick the dish she’d just washed.

“
Short of a war, it's hard to influence an isolated country run by a dictator.” He dried it and set it on the counter. “Right now, the U.S. government believes North Korea could launch a nuclear device that could reach Hawaii, maybe even Alaska.”

He put the plates into the cupboard
and turned to face her. “With a longer-range guidance system, they could hit Chicago or Washington D.C.”

“
My God! Why would they do that?”

“
North Korea is desperately poor and almost totally isolated from the rest of the world's commerce. They have trouble feeding their own people.” He took another gulp of cola. “North Korea could extort money from the West by promising not to use the missile guidance system. Or even worse, they could sell the system in the underground weapons market. If a rogue nation got a hold of it, they could bomb the United States.”

She
gasped and looked out the window at the beauty of the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains, strong and silent they jutted toward the azure sky. In the Tahoe Valley with its gray granite walls acting as a fortress and the lake as a moat, she’d always felt safe. But safety was an illusion. There was nowhere in the world that was secure.

With t
he dishes forgotten, she sat at the kitchen table and let out a sharp breath of air. “I can't believe we’re having this conversation. I can’t accept any of this. I can’t believe I’m involved in it.”

She shook her head. “
I use to read about world events: wars, dictators, weapons of mass destruction and I barely gave it a passing thought. Now I'm thinking I could have a flash drive with information on how to build a long-range missile guidance system that could kill millions of innocent people and destroy cities all over the United States.” She paused. “I can't get my head around that.”

He joined her at the table.

She gazed into his clear eyes, “Why would other counties even want the system? They know it could bring the wrath of the United States military on them?”

He leaned forward in his chair.
“Imagine if all rogue nations and terrorist organizations, large and small, could buy nuclear bombs. They still couldn't deliver the bombs past a short range, perhaps a few hundred miles. So, even with nuclear bombs out there, most of the world has felt pretty safe.”

He
pushed his hair from his eyes and took a slow deep breath. “If a long-range system were on the open market it would change the balance of power in the world and give parity to the rogue nations.”

“
I—”Her voice cracked.

“
Yeah.”

“
This can’t be true.” She cleared her throat. “It has to be some horrible mistake.”

“
The only way we’ll know for sure is to get the flash drive and take a look at the files.”

“
I can’t deal with this.” She ran from the room.

The phone rang as she entered the bedroom
. She grabbed it in time to hear Brick say hello. Curious, she listened.

“
Hey Brick.”

“
Don, why use the house phone? You know my cell phone is more protected.”

“
I want to know where you are.”

“
Just ask, I'll tell you where I am.”

“
Have you learned anything more from Kelly?” Don said ignoring Brick’s statement.

“
No.”

“
You have twelve hours to get something I can use or I'm bringing her in and I'll interrogate her.”

“
C'mon Don, she's told me everything she knows. Taking her in isn't going to help you.”

“
When I assigned you to see her it was to get information on Johnny Vega, I didn't care what you did to get it. Well, you've been playing house with her for days and don't have anything to show for it. She knows what’s going down. Find out what or I’m coming there and taking charge of her.” The phone went dead.

“Shit,”
She heard Brick say into the dead air.

She carefully hung up the bedroom phone.

He’d been assigned by the FBI to come to her house. She’d let herself believe he returned to see Carrie, but he’d stayed because she, not her sister, was in trouble and needed help. How stupid could she be?