Taking the Heat (Shadow Stalkers 2)

“I was a last-minute replacement—” Brian’s voice faded when Layla walked by the den’s open double doors. The slump of her shoulders and low-hanging head told him so much about her mood.

Heaving out his breath, he leaned heavily into the front of Jack ’s desk. The other deputy stood with his back to the hallway, but he turned his head to follow Brian’s gaze.

“What are you going to do about her?” Jack asked quietly.

“What wouldn’t I do?” Brian shoved a hand through his hair. “She’s blaming herself for us breaking up in the first place.”

“Wasn’t it her fault? She left you.”

“We’re both equally at fault,” he said gruffly, feeling the need to protect Layla from censure. “We both needed something from each other that we couldn’t vocalize at the time.”

Jack grimaced in sympathy. “I’ve been there.”

“None of which matters now. I can’t even think about living without her again. It makes me insane.” Brian forced his thoughts back to the most pressing issue at hand—keeping Layla safe. “I was brought in at the last minute because one of the deputies who was supposed to be on Layla’s detail called in. I need you to find out who that person was.”

“I’m sure they’re working that angle, too, and if the deputy’s involved, he or she has likely planned for that contingency, but I’ll see what I can dig up.” Jack crossed his arms. “The DEA has a big stake in this. This is personal for them.”

Brian understood what Jack was saying. This was interagency business—reputations were on the line and the media attention was fierce. Every precaution would’ve been taken, most especially assigning only the most trustworthy, heavily vetted deputies. For one agency to have to admit to another that one of their own had gone rogue and betrayed the service was both embarrassing and the opening of a huge can of worms. “With any other situation I’d be betting on the witness fucking it up somehow. But not Layla. She knows better and she values the lives of others too much to jeopardize anyone needlessly. Someone had a price.”

“What else can I do to help?”

Brian’s mouth curved in a rueful half smile. “You’re doing enough already. Layla’s tired and scared and worried about things we can’t change. She needed a safe haven that wasn’t a dingy, by-the-hour dump.”

“You’ll stay the night.” It wasn’t a question.

“We’ll be heading out before oh three hundred. I want to get her into San Diego prior to close of business so she can have at least a couple hours with the AUSA before she has to testify the next day.”

Jack nodded.

“I could use new wheels,” Brian said. “I was pushing my luck getting this far with Jim’s Bronco. Could you help me get a rental with some teeth to it?”

“Take my truck.”

“I can’t do that. You’re doing too much as it is.”

“You and I both know a rental is unreliable and more likely to attract attention.” Jack crossed his arms. “Take the truck.”

Brian straightened. “I owe you.”

“Big-time. Don’t think I’m being completely selfless here. I’m coming out ahead by holding a favor from you in my pocket.” Jack turned toward the door. “I’m going to spend some time with my woman. You do the same.”

“Thanks, Jack.”

His friend paused on the threshold. “Anytime.”

Entering the bedroom, Brian heard the shower running and started to undress. Once he was stripped, he pushed the partly closed bathroom door open and stepped inside the steamy room. Layla stood with one hand on the tiles in front of her and her head bowed beneath the spray of the showerhead. Her long, dark hair hung heavily around her face.

Her pose was one of such pain and dejection Brian couldn’t bear it. Opening the glass door, he stepped inside and turned her to face him, clasping her heaving body close. She was sobbing violently and his heart ached at her misery.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, running his hands up and down her back. “I can’t stand it when you cry.”

She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

He held her, whispering softly, offering what little comfort he could. Eventually, she quieted to hiccupping sobs and he took care of her as he should have been doing the last five years. He washed her hair and body, then bundled her up in a towel and carried her to the bed. They curled together beneath the blankets, falling wearily to sleep.

Chapter 9

He walked in with my brother Jacob and I fell head over heels.”

Layla leaned back in her chair, enjoying the cool evening breeze that sifted through her hair. “I was sixteen. He was twenty-two and breathtaking. Gorgeous really, with a body built for sin. He had such intense sex appeal that it was like a match to my teenage hormones. He was the hottest man I’d ever seen.”

Rachel laughed softly. “Sexual chemistry.”

“To say the least. Totally ruined me for the guys in high school. They were fumbling little boys in comparison.” Layla’s fingertip circled the lip of her water glass. “But he only saw me as his best friend ’s annoying kid sister.”

“If only,” Brian interjected, coming up behind her and pressing a quick hard kiss to her temple. “She had me feeling like a lecher. Totally fucked me up. I wanted her more than I’ve ever wanted a woman before or since, and I couldn’t have her until she grew up.”

“Ha! Don’t let him fool you, Rachel,” Layla said, shooting him a glance. “He was no saint in the interim.”

“Neither were you.” He pulled out the Adirondack chair next to her and caught her hand in his. “You knew you were turning me inside out. You did it on purpose.”

“You needed it. With the number of chicks falling all over you, you were getting full of yourself.”

Jack returned from the kitchen with a fresh bottle of beer for Rachel. The look the other couple passed to each other was both loving and intimate.

Layla turned away, her gaze finding Brian with his head back and his eyes closed. He appeared relaxed, but she knew he was far from it. Neither of them had eaten much for dinner. They were both too worked up to fully enjoy Jack ’s skill at the grill.

“Want to crash?” she asked softly, knowing he was running on fumes despite their earlier nap.

He inhaled deeply and nodded. “We should. We’ll be heading out in a few hours.”

She looked at Rachel and Jack, who made such a striking couple. Rachel’s short blond curls were a lovely contrast to Jack ’s dark good looks. “Thank you for dinner and for harboring fugitives in your home.”

“Thank you for cleaning up after dinner.” Rachel pushed gracefully to her feet. “I’ve really enjoyed having you, Layla. I hope this won’t be the last time we see each other.”

It would be. In a day or few, Layla Creed would cease to exist once again and she would become someone else. Layla pushed the thought away with a forced smile, choosing to take every moment as it came. Doing otherwise only drove her crazy. She hugged the other woman, then Jack.

The deputy looked down at her, his handsome face stark and austere. “I admire you, Layla. You’ve got balls taking on the Tijuana cartel and Simmons here. Stay tough and fierce.”

Her eyes stung. Praise from a guy like Jack Killigrew was high and she appreciated it. “Take care of him for me, will you?” she asked softly.

He nodded.

She backed away. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Brian told her, stroking his fingers through her hair.

She fled with relief, needing time to get her rioting emotions under control. When she got back to the room, she brushed her teeth and hair, then changed into the camisole she’d bought to sleep in. She climbed between the cool sheets and faced away from the middle, her gaze coming to rest on Brian’s gun and badge on the nightstand.

He came in a few minutes later. He moved quietly through his evening routine without turning the lights on. When he got into the bed, he slid over to her side,

fitting his hard body to her back.

She absorbed his warmth and breathed in the beloved scent of his skin. His cock was rigid against her buttocks and sexual tension tightened his frame. His firm lips whispered across her shoulder, while his hand at her waist slid beneath the hem of her top.

Layla responded to his proximity with familiar alacrity—her nipples beaded tight and hard, her breasts swelled, her pussy softened. She’d gone without his touch for too long. She hungered to hear his raw groans and feel his powerful muscles flexing against her flesh. Her arms ached from the need to hold him close.

“Layla,” he murmured, nuzzling her nape. “Don’t shut me out.”

She looked at the clock, which counted down their remaining hours together. “I need you to promise me something.”

His callused hand cupped the swell of her breast and squeezed gently. “Anything.”

“Promise me you won’t wait for me again. Promise me you’ll find someone to love you and take care of you.”

He stilled. “Correction: anything but that.”

She turned to face him. His eyes glittered down at her in the semidarkness. The plantation shutters covering the windows weren’t fully closed; they angled the moonlight upward to the ceiling, bathing the room in a soft silver glow. “I want you to have what Jack has with Rachel. A family, people who love you and are waiting at home for you. You deserve it. You need it. Don’t let me fuck up your life any more than I already have.”