Wired (Buchanan-Renard 13)

Allison appreciated their support, but she didn’t want to discuss her retaliation against Brett just yet, so before they could ask anything more, she said, “I have to move my car. I thought I was driving to Nathan’s Bay, so I parked in a one-hour-only spot.”

“Your apartment is close. Drive home and I’ll follow you,” Liam offered.

Deciding his was a sensible alternative, she acquiesced. After he transferred her overnight bag to his car, they were on their way. As usual, traffic was horrible, but Allison had figured out various side streets to take that cut her drive time in half. She parked in her slot in the underground garage, made sure the car doors were locked, and then got into Liam’s car. They didn’t talk much on their way out of town because Liam kept getting one call after another, all work related. His voice was tense. Something he didn’t like was going on, and she wondered if he ever truly broke free from his work and his responsibilities. There was no doubt he was a workaholic. She recognized this in him because she was one herself. Both of their jobs were important, but his sent him around the world on missions that had a powerful impact on people’s lives. She could sense the heavy burden it placed on his shoulders.

The bridge to Nathan’s Bay was in front of them, and just as Allison was beginning to think she would make the best of the awkward situation and try to enjoy the weekend, she got a call from Not-So-Special Agent Phillips. He told her it was an emergency but promised it wouldn’t take long. She translated that to mean she would be at the cyber unit until the middle of the night.

“I hate to ruin your evening,” she said to Liam. “I’ll make Phillips send someone to drive me home.”

“No, I’ll come in.” He slowed the car to turn around.

“What about fishing?”

“What about it?”

Her phone rang again. Assuming it was Phillips, she didn’t bother to look at the caller ID. “Yes,” she answered, trying her best to sound pleasant, not surly.

Aunt Jane was on the line. Allison cringed when she heard her caustic voice.

“You listen to me. We need money, and after all we’ve done for—”

Allison stopped her. “How did you get this number?”

“I know people who— Never mind. I expect you to cooperate.”

“Leave me the hell alone,” she shouted. She disconnected the call, and let out a sigh of satisfaction. It felt good to shout.

“Which one was it?” he asked. “Your aunt or your uncle?”

“My aunt.”

Her aunt called again and again. Allison put the phone on mute, but that didn’t stop the woman. Not only did she call; she also texted insults, all starting with the word ungrateful.

Where were her computer and her headphones when she needed them? She wanted to escape into her laptop and forget about all her worries. She included Liam on that list. She wanted him to either stay or leave, but not do both. Bouncing back and forth was making her nuts. She still hadn’t recovered from not seeing him for months, and then, boom, there he was. Did she want him to stay? She closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest while she thought about it. Three seconds later she had her answer. Of course she wanted him to stay. If anyone was going to leave, it should be her, not him. Maybe then it wouldn’t hurt so much. Liam had the power to crush her . . . and all because she was hopelessly in love with him.

What could she do about it? She didn’t have a clue. She worried for the rest of the drive to the cyber unit.

Phillips looked relieved to see them. He followed Allison to her office, gave her the task he wanted completed—another breach of a government facility—then left her alone. Allison glanced over her shoulder and saw Liam waiting for him outside the glass wall. The two immediately fell into a deep discussion, and whatever the topic was had both of them frowning. Every once in a while, one or the other would turn to look at her. Allison was curious but turned her concentration back to the screen and went to work. Finally, around one in the morning she found what Phillips was looking for. Because the hacker was unsophisticated and easy to pinpoint, her task was a rather simple one. Any of the other techs could have done the job, and she wondered why she had been called in. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Phillips was simply asserting his control over her.

After e-mailing her report to him, she went to Phillips’s office to check out. He and Liam were in a serious conversation that stopped when she knocked on the door. Phillips motioned for her to come in. He didn’t require a long explanation of her findings. In fact, he was rather abrupt when he told her he would read her report in the morning and ordered her to go home and get some rest. If she didn’t know better, she might have thought he actually was concerned about her well-being.

Liam drove her back to her apartment and parked underground next to her car, then carried her overnight bag and his gym bag up to her apartment, which she didn’t notice until he’d unlocked her door and followed her inside.

“Did you text Jordan and tell her . . . ?” she began.

“Yes, she knows. I can drive you out there tomorrow if you’d like.”

She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m going to stay home.”

She put her laptop on the desk and hooked it up to its charger. The cell phone had to be close to her at all times—according to Phillips—so she went into the bedroom and plugged it into the charger on the bedside table. Finished with the mundane tasks, she returned to the living room to get her overnight bag. Liam’s bag was sitting next to hers, and he was sitting on the sofa, checking messages on his phone.

“Liam, why did you bring your gym bag in?”

He didn’t look up from the screen when he answered, “I’m spending the night.”

She was so surprised by his casual and blunt announcement she didn’t know what to say. She felt a burst of joy, which she quickly squelched. “That’s pretty presumptuous, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you have asked me?”

He put his phone down and smiled at her with that crazy dimple that only appeared when he was up to something. Loosening his tie, he stood and walked into her bedroom, stopping to pick up his bag on the way.

She followed him. “Are you going to answer me?”

“Yeah, I probably should ask, but even if you say no, I’m still staying.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” He was being deliberately obtuse.

“Why are you spending the night?”

He took off his jacket and hung it in her closet. “I want to stick close to you for a little while.”

She put her hands on her hips. “This has something to do with Phillips, doesn’t it? I saw you talking to him, and you and he both looked so serious. Something happened, didn’t it?”

He wasn’t at all reluctant to explain. “Phillips has been talking to Bale. The guy has a grudge against you.”

“Why? What did I do to him?”

“You didn’t do anything to him,” he assured her. “When you found the leak in his Detroit office, you embarrassed him. Somehow he thought you manipulated information to implicate people who worked for him. He was in charge of the operation there, but he didn’t want to take responsibility for the lack of security. He had to blame someone. In his warped mind you’re the reason people lost their jobs.”

“But that’s ridiculous . . . isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” he answered quietly. “Bale wasn’t being rational, so Phillips told him to take leave for a couple of months. He came back this morning, and he’s still pretty hot under the collar. Phillips hasn’t decided what to do about him yet, but his career might be over. Until this gets sorted out, I thought I’d stick around.”

He unzipped his bag and took out his shaving kit and a pair of faded boxers. While she stood watching, he stripped out of his clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. She tried not to stare at his bronzed muscular back. A minute later she heard the

shower running.

Every thought running through her head only added to her confusion. She knew she had to keep her distance from him. It was the only way she could protect herself. But every time she got close to him, she wanted to throw herself into his arms. Sleeping together certainly wouldn’t help her move forward. Yet she still wanted to. She didn’t seem to know her own mind anymore.

She forced herself to stop worrying, undressed, and put on a short pink silk nightgown. It had thin spaghetti straps and was low cut into a deep V. Was she wearing it to entice him? Of course she was. And that was the very thing she had vowed not to do. Realizing the mistake she was making, she came to her senses and decided to change into an old T-shirt. Unfortunately, before she could do that, the door opened and there he stood, staring at her. He seemed frozen.

When he finally took a step forward, she walked around him and went into the bathroom. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, and tried to think of anything that would take her mind off him. Her thoughts rambled and she was suddenly wondering about Bale again. Had she gotten people fired? What had she done wrong? Liam and Phillips had seemed so intense back at the office, so they must have thought Bale posed a real danger. Why else would Liam be staying close?

She opened the door and came to a quick stop. Liam was in her bed. He’d stretched out on his back with his hands stacked on his chest and his eyes closed. His gun and badge were on the table next to her cell phone. The lights were out in the living room. She checked to make sure the door was locked with the dead bolt in place, and as she turned back, she looked at the sofa and shook her head. She should have placed a pillow and blanket on it so he would know that was where he was supposed to sleep.

She considered the sofa for herself but quickly rejected the idea. It was her bed and she was going to sleep in it. Decision made, she grabbed her body lotion from the dresser and walked to the other side of the bed. Sitting with her back propped against the headboard, she opened the bottle and squeezed a couple of drops into her hand.

“Liam?” She whispered his name the first time, shouted it the second time.

“Yes?”

“Are you asleep?”

The light coming from the bathroom was dim, but she could see his smile. “I was,” he said.

She rubbed the lotion on her arms while she studied him. He was one fine-looking man, she thought for about the hundredth time. That shouldn’t have mattered because it was a superficial reason for liking someone. Did she like him? Of course she did. She not only liked him; she loved him.

Allison put more lotion on her legs, and when she was finally finished, she smelled like a gardenia. “How many people worked in the Detroit office?”

“I’m not sure. Why?”

“Did I get them all fired?”

He didn’t open his eyes when he answered, “No.”

“You said Bale thinks I’m the reason people were fired. He isn’t wrong. I am the reason.”

He could hear the anxiety in her voice. He rolled onto his side and pulled her down next to him. “You shouldn’t be worrying about this.”

“Did I get them fired?”

“A few people were fired, but there have been problems with the Detroit office for a while, and it was going to close at some point anyway. Most of the employees are being transferred to other locations. What you did was find the source of a serious leak. The man they arrested put countless lives in danger. He insisted that Bale knew about it and encouraged him. We haven’t found any proof of that, but Bale’s pissed that it all happened under his watch and he feels backed into a corner.”

“But I was the one who—”

He wouldn’t let her continue. “Bale doesn’t want to accept any of the blame, and that’s why he’s blaming you.” He yawned. “You’ve had a long day. You should get some sleep.”

She didn’t know if she should address the fact that he was in her bed and shouldn’t be, or if she should just let it go.

Liam rolled onto his back, but this time brought her with him and held her cuddled up against his side. “Allison, I’ll keep you safe.”

“I know, but what if he—”

She raised her head and he gently pushed it back down on his shoulder and kissed her forehead before closing his eyes again. “If he tries to hurt you, I’ll kill him.”

NINETEEN

Allison slept until late morning. Liam was already dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt. His ever-present gun was on his hip. He looked relaxed. He’d rolled up his sleeves and was in the kitchen talking on the phone.

She put on her pink robe and headed to the refrigerator for a glass of orange juice, but as she tried to pass him he turned and saw her. His phone conversation stopped in midsentence. Putting his phone on mute, he took a step toward her and pinned her against the counter. Then, with his hand behind her neck, he pulled her to him and kissed her. She felt as though she were melting on the spot. He didn’t seem to be affected at all. As soon as he ended the kiss, he went right back to talking on the phone. She didn’t move for several seconds, waiting until she was sure her legs would support her. When she finally had the strength, she opened the refrigerator, took out a gallon of milk, and walked out of the kitchen. She made it to her bedroom door before she realized what she was carrying. Without a word she turned around and took the milk back. To his credit he didn’t laugh, but she knew he wanted to.

What had just happened? He had kissed her as though it was the most natural thing in the world and didn’t affect him in the least, and yet it had made her weak-kneed. Might as well face it, she told herself. Liam was a sophisticated and worldly man, and she was inexperienced and naive about such things as sex and romance. What meant everything to her was just sex to him. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t spelled it all out for her from the very beginning so there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding. Sex was just sex, he’d told her, and because he led such an unpredictable life, a long-term commitment to any woman wasn’t possible. The fact was, he didn’t like the notion of being tied down anyway. Her eyes were finally open, and as painful as it was, she had to deal with reality.

After she showered and dressed, she returned to the kitchen. Liam was still on the phone. She drank a glass of orange juice and took a bite out of a granola bar that was as hard as nails and smelled like gerbil food. After tossing the rest of the bar into the trash, she waited for Liam to end his call. Then she wanted to know why he thought she needed protection. She personally thought it was ridiculous that Bale, a federal agent, would hold a grudge against her. If he were a child, perhaps it would make sense, but the man was an adult. Didn’t he have anything better to do than stew over his bad luck?

Liam patiently listened as she ranted, and as soon as she wound down he told her that Phillips would be talking to Bale later today. Until then Allison was stuck with him. He would be sure to tell Phillips to ask why Bale was acting like a child. Would that satisfy her?

She didn’t care that he was humoring her. “Yes, thank you.”

Liam turned to make another call.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” she whispered to herself. She rushed into her bedroom, checked her overnight bag to make sure she had everything she needed, zipped it closed, and headed to the door. Liam was still on the phone. She dropped the bag on the floor just as she thought she heard Liam call someone “darling.” Shifting from one foot to the other, she waited until he finished his conversation, then said, “I’ve decided to drive out to Nathan’s Bay. I’ll spend the night there and come back tomorrow afternoon. Why are you shaking your head at me? I wasn’t asking permission, Liam. I was informing you of my plans because—”

He stopped her. “If you go anywhere I’m going with you. Understand?” His voice was unbending.

“Yes,” she said to placate him. She had already made up her mind that, with or without him, she was leaving.

“That was Ph

illips I was talking to—”

“You call Phillips your darling?”

“I . . . What?”

“I heard you say ‘darling.’”

He shook his head. “I don’t know what you heard, but I didn’t call anyone darling, and if I did, it sure as hell wouldn’t be Phillips.”

She realized her imagination was playing tricks on her, so she didn’t pursue the subject. If she asked any more questions, Liam might have thought she cared. She wasn’t in the mood to argue. She wanted to leave.

“You’re going to cooperate, aren’t you?” It wasn’t a question so much as a statement. He expected her to cooperate.

“Yes, of course. It’s got to get better. I’m staying optimistic. Even though I was informed that Bale is coming after me because I tattled on him. Let’s get going to Nathan’s Bay.” She reached for her bag.

Liam put his hands up and stopped her. “Not so fast.” There was no way he could put a positive spin on the situation, so he was blunt with his announcement. “Phillips wants you at the cyber unit.”

“No,” she groaned.

“It shouldn’t take long.” He managed a smile. Nothing with Phillips was quick. To her credit she took the news in stride. He came to that conclusion when she didn’t start crying. She also didn’t move. “I guess you could try to hide,” he suggested with a straight face.

Allison thought he was serious and shook her head. “No, he’ll make a ruckus if I don’t go in right away.”

“A ruckus?” He put his arms around her and gave her a quick hug. “I like that word. Want to make a ruckus in the bedroom?” he asked with a laugh.

Of course she did. “Absolutely not.” Her voice lacked conviction.

He opened the door for her. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

Usually when Phillips pulled her in on weekends, she took the time to change to her work clothes, but not today. Today she was taking a stand. She was wearing worn-out snug jeans, a cotton shirt, and sneakers. She wasn’t going to change. If he didn’t like her casual attire, too bad.