Authors: Cheyenne McCray
Wicked Magic (39 page)
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to sign up for her PRIVATE book announcement list and get FREE EXCLUSIVE Cheyenne McCray goodies. Please feel free to e-mail her at [email protected]. She would love to hear from you.
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Coming soon from St. Martin's Paperbacks
Without glancing down, Daniel slid his cell phone out of its holster on his belt. As he drove, he flipped the phone open and punched the speed-dial number for Ani without taking his eyes off the road. He'd pushed that button so many times he didn't have to look at his phone to call her.
He brought the phone to his ear as he caught up to a pair of red taillights and switched lanes to pass the vehicle, then moved back into the right lane. In moments he came up on the exit to Benson. If he was going to do any kind of fast driving through the small towns from here to Bisbee, he'd have to use his lights.
A ringing tone started on the other end of the line, but immediately the generic recording came on telling him to leave a message. Looked like she was listening to him in one regardâhe'd told her not to talk with anyone.
When he took the exit, he slowed down but switched on his flashing red, blue, and white strobes. He went a bit faster than he should have through the forty-five, thirty-five, then twenty-five mile-an-hour zones. All of the small towns on this stretch of highway were speed traps, and he couldn't waste time being pulled over.
From the three small towns was a long stretch of highway and a good thirty-minute drive to Bisbee. It felt as if he was steering a boat against a current.
When he finally reached the Mule Pass Tunnel, he should have felt some relief, but he remained as tense as a coiled spring.
Ten more minutes and he'd be there.
Agonizing minutes.
Daniel finally reached the police department. He pulled
out his credentials, shut off his flashing lights, then stepped from his SUV and strode into the department building.
out his credentials, shut off his flashing lights, then stepped from his SUV and strode into the department building.
“U.S. Deputy Marshal,” Daniel said to the officer manning the front desk and showed the cop his creds.
After checking them out, the cop motioned him on.
Daniel strode to the back of the building where he'd been directed. In one glance, he saw Ani wasn't in the room. Only one woman was there, other than a female police officer. The civilian woman was talking with a paramedic.
What the hell were paramedics doing here?
And where the hell was Ani?
His voice came out in a growl, carrying over the discussions in the room. “Where's Ani Carter?”
“I'm right here, Daniel.” The familiar feminine voice came from the left of himâfrom the woman sitting next to a paramedic.
“Ani?” He narrowed his eyes, taking in the slender woman who looked so unlike the Ani he knew that he hadn't recognized her. But her crystalline blue gaze, her dark brown hair, small nose and fair complexion were familiar, even though her face was much thinner. What clinched it for him were her full lips. Lips he'd wanted to kiss way too many times.
Goddammit
. He had to get those thoughts out of his head and now.
. He had to get those thoughts out of his head and now.
She offered him a nervous-looking smile, and he pushed his way past the officers in the room and past the paramedic. He crouched in front of her, wanting to take her in his arms, but he couldn't. “Are you all right?”
“I'm fine.” She looked down at her hands in her lap. “I'm so sorry.”
He hooked his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. “Everyone makes mistakes, honey,” he said in a low voice that likely couldn't be heard by anyone but her. “But yours could get you killed. You can't take chances with your life.”
A tear trickled down her cheek. “I just had to help that boy.”
The desire to take her into his arms and hold her was so strong he found it difficult to restrain himself. He dropped his hand away from her face. “We've got to get you out of here.”
“All right,” she said quietly. “What do I need to do?”
“Wait here for a few moments.” He couldn't be mad at her, no matter what had happened. “I'll be right back.”
Daniel rose from his crouched position and turned away from her. He talked with a couple of officers before heading out to his SUV, then drove up so that the passenger-side door was next to the rear door of the police department. He brought in an extra set of body armor for her to wear for protection. If he could, he'd make her wear a helmetâanything to protect every inch of her.
After she had the Kevlar vest on, over her blouse, he took her by the arm and, with the cover of several police officers, hustled her into the passenger seat of the SUV and slammed the door behind her.
He sucked in a deep breath of relief as he went to the driver's side. They'd gotten her this far. He'd never let anything happen to her.
When he climbed in and shut the door, he paused to look at her. “It's good to see you again, Ani.”
She'd been staring at her lap, but her head jerked up when he spoke. “You're not mad?”
“Hell, yes, I'm mad.” He reached over and gripped her forearm. “Because I was worried about you.”
He shouldn't have touched her. A jolt traveled through him and he removed his hand. Her eyes widened, as if she felt the same electrical feeling he had.
Daniel forced himself to look away from her and turned his keys in the ignition. “Let's get out of here.”
The drive back through the small towns and on to Tucson was less hurried, but the tenseness in his muscles wouldn't let go.
They were both quiet for a while before Daniel said, “I've been looking forward to seeing you for a long time.”
“You have?” She sounded so shocked that it surprised him.
“Ani, we've been talking to each other nearly every week for a year now.” He glanced at her. “Don't you think I'd like to see you?” Daniel clenched the wheel tighter. What the hell was he saying?
“I guess,” she said as he focused his gaze on the road, and he frowned. “I mean, I feel the same way,” she continued, “it's just the circumstancesâ”
“Are behind us now.” He shifted his hold on the steering wheel.
This time when he glanced from the road to look at her, she was smiling. She was so beautiful. He'd always thought she was, no matter what she looked like. It might take him some time to get used to this toothpick version of the woman he'dâ
Daniel clenched his teeth.
Don't even go there.
After a moment's silence, she asked, “Where are we headed?”
“After we stay the night in Tucson, we'll take a puddlejumper to the Phoenix airport in the morning.” Daniel guided the SUV into the passing lane. “We've booked a direct flight out of Sky Harbor to New York. Our plane leaves at noon.”
She shuddered. “The trial. It's time.”
Daniel gave a slow nod. She stared at his profile that was illuminated by the red dashboard lights. She'd memorized his features down to the shadow of a beard on his jaw. But now her heart was pounding like mad.
“Oh, jeez.” She leaned her head against the headrest. “I can't believe it. So much time has gone by that it doesn't seem real now.”
“It's real, honey,” he said in his deep voice. “We've got to do everything we can to protect you.”
Ani's belly did a little nosedive when he called her honey, the endearment he'd used so many times on the phone. Maybe he said it to all women, but it made her feel special somehow.
“Have you had anymore of those bad flashbacks from
your PTSD?” he asked quietly. “You sure had me worried the last time.”
your PTSD?” he asked quietly. “You sure had me worried the last time.”
“Not since then.” Ani paused, then remembered that she nearly did this evening. “Well, I almost had one while I was waiting for the cops, but I pulled out of it.”
He glanced at her. “Did something trigger this one or did it just come on?”
She shivered before she said, “I saw a man outside the window, watching the store. He dropped his cigarette butt and it reminded me of the fireâhow it started.”
Daniel's jaw was hard when he looked at her. “That could have been one of Borenko's men. They could already be on to you.”
Ani took a deep breath. “The doorknob to the back room jiggled just before I heard police sirens.”
Daniel cursed again. She saw him look at the rearview mirror as he said, “It's dark, and with the amount of trafficâit might be hard to see a tail.”
“I'm sorry,” she said, but this time Daniel didn't answer.
They were quiet most of the trip to Tucson. On the way, Daniel had Ani use his secure cell phone to call the hotel and make a reservation. Her stomach dropped to her toes when he said one room, no smoking, double beds.
Her voice shook as she made the reservation. Daniel and her sleeping in the same room?
That thought drove away her worries about the danger from the Russians.
Daniel. Her.
In the same room.
So that he could protect her, of course. That was it.
After she made the reservations, Ani could hardly think straight the rest of the way to Tucson. She didn't know what to do with her hands, so she clenched them in her lap. Every now and then, Daniel would glance her way, and she felt heat in her belly that traveled downward, and it wasn't to her toes.
When they arrived in Tucson, Daniel drove up and down several streets and said if they did have a tail, he hoped they shook him off.
At the hotel, Ani walked beside Daniel up to the front counter, her high heels clicking against the stone-tiled floor in the large lobby. It was a nice place with a restaurant and a gift shop.
She had absolutely nothing with her but what she was wearing, which now included a plain navy-blue windbreaker she had zipped up over the body armor. Daniel hadn't even let her bring her purse, her cell phone, and definitely not her credit cards. He'd forced her to leave them all at the police station. Now that the location where she worked had been exposed, her identity had been compromised.
Daniel had brought in a duffle bag with him, and she wondered if he kept one packed in his SUV for emergencies.
Like helping a dumb protected witness who gave away her true identity to someone from her old life.
He'd put on his Stetson before heading into the hotel and that just about made her melt. Between that bod, the tight Wranglers, Stetson, and boots, she'd been a goner from the first time she met him.
Once Ani and Daniel checked in at the front desk, they took the elevator up to their floor. Daniel swiped the key card in its slot to let them into the room. It smelled of new carpeting and starched sheets when they walked in. She blinked in the darkness and Daniel switched on a light.
The first thing she noticed was that there was one kingsized bed in the room. Not double beds.
She could barely breathe and stood still. He tossed the duffle on the bed, laid his hat on a vanity table, and shrugged out of his plain dark blue windbreaker, which he discarded by draping it over a chair.
“I've got to take a shower.” Exhaustion was evident in his voice and he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. It was well after one in the morning. “Mind if I head into the bathroom first?”
“Uh, Daniel?” She swallowed hard when he turned to face her. “There's only one bed.”
He cast a tired glance over his shoulder at the bed. “Yeah, there is,” he said just before continuing into the bathroom.
Ani stared at his back and then the bathroom door as he closed it. She was standing in the same spot when she heard the shower start.
She closed her eyes and imagined water running in rivulets over his hard, naked body. Her breathing elevated and her heart pounded a little harder at the images. She knew his body would be perfection. Picturing his muscled form caused her nipples to harden and she ached between her thighs like she'd never ached before.
Ani opened her eyes and shook her head. In her fantasies she didn't have a scarred back or an equally ugly pit from a large bullet wound in her shoulder. Even if there was a chance of them getting togetherâa chance in hellâshe couldn't handle him seeing the mess her lower back was now.
With a sigh, she kicked off her high heels. When she went to the mirror over the vanity, she ran her hand through her thick, brunette hair. She'd lost the clip long ago. She sighed at her appearance. Tired, red eyes stared back at her. Mascara smudged one cheek, her makeup pretty much gone from crying. Her black slacks were wrinkled and her white silk shirt limp and clinging to her skin.
This was all she had to wear and she was flying with Daniel to New York tomorrow. She sighed again as the weight of the day settled on her shoulders. She was so, so tired. She pushed out of the windbreaker Daniel had loaned her, and tossed it on the chair by his.
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