She stalked over to his bed. Probably the latter.
“We had an agreement, but you’re a cop at heart, aren’t you? I thought I could trust you.”
The accusation dug deep. He couldn’t deny his deception or his assignment. That was one of the reasons he wanted to call Tanner, to convince the man to give him some room to investigate. He couldn’t decide if his boss had called his dad for information or to warn him in a roundabout way. Either way, he must focus on who was trying to kill Emily. The tiptoeing around would have to wait.
“Things have changed.”
“Yes. They’re worse.”
“Look. I won’t reveal where we’re staying, but I want to know what he knows.”
“You’re making a mistake. Perry said not to trust the Denver PD.”
“I’m a cop, and you’re here with me.” Mitch rose from the bed and stood toe-to-toe with her, a fingertip away from snapping the towel from around her and finishing what he should never have started last night. “Why is that, Emily? Why haven’t you just run?”
“Maybe I should have.” She turned away from him.
“Don’t. Either you’re here with me, or you’re not, but don’t question my integrity. I’ve said I’ll keep you safe, and I will. If I have one inkling Tanner is involved, I’ll push him out of the loop.”
His stomach churned at the argument. Every word was true, except that their entire relationship was based on his lies, and he could see no way out of it. He’d long passed the point of admitting the truth to her.
“I’m your last chance,” he argued. “Who else are you going to go to?”
She bit out a harsh expletive she had to have heard on the streets she’d so carelessly explored, then spun away from him and headed back toward her bedroom.
He raced after her wearing only his sweats and stuck his foot out as she tried to slam the door on him.
“Trust me.” Mitch tugged her close to him and lifted her chin. “We’re not done. I don’t have this figured out yet, but I have resources. And we have new information. We’ll find someone who knows something.” He twirled a strand of hair around his finger. “People talk, Emily. This thing has too many players for someone not to crack.”
She gripped his arm. “Don’t talk to the police. Please. Not yet.”
Could he answer her without one more lie? “As long as I believe it’s not safe.”
“I don’t know if that’s good enough.” She blew out a frustrated breath.
“It’ll have to be.” He paused and let his finger toy with the tucked corner of the towel. “Get dressed. I have an errand to run, and I want to show you the safe room before I go.”
“You’re leaving me?”
Mitch crossed his arms. “I’m not taking you out in the open. It’s not safe. I won’t be gone long. Call in sick to work, because you’re not going anywhere predictable until we solve this thing. Then go through Perry’s box. See if you recognize anything else.”
“I’ve been through every slip of paper and item in that box. The wine storage facility is on Kalamath. The number Perry yelled—eighty-five—could be a locker number.”
“Or the year. You’re not a bad partner,” Mitch said, with a slightly bemused smile and a heavy heart.
A small rose blush traveled from her full breasts now barely hidden by the white terry cloth. Her lips parted slightly as she smiled at him, and the desire in her eyes flared. “Let me come with you.”
“No. It’s for your own protection. You can use the computer to track down the business owners while I’m gone.”
Her jaw tightened. Just as quickly, the heat between them turned arctic again. “Fine.” She pressed the door, trying to close it.
Mitch didn’t budge. He didn’t like the look in her eyes. It reminded him of her expression when the car almost ran her down that first night. Satisfaction. Secret knowledge. He couldn’t let himself forget she was dangerous. “Emily?”
“I’m getting dressed. I’ll run your check. I’ve become good at research.”
“Which is why I asked for your help. You’ll wait for me? You won’t do anything on your own?”
“Contrary to your opinion, I don’t want to die. I have to live. For Joshua.” She tried to close the door again. He didn’t move. “What?”
“Promise?”
“I won’t follow the lead on my own.” She glared at him. “Can I get dressed now?”
He nodded and let her slam the door closed.
Whew. She was sexy when she was angry. Mitch went back to his bedroom. He needed some space, a break in the case and a cold shower. And not in that order. Once he could tell Emily the truth, nothing would stop him from having what they both wanted.
He’d take her in his arms and wouldn’t let her go until they were both trembling, exhausted and satisfied. Dropping his sweats, Mitch stepped beneath the chilly water, his aroused body fighting for control.
If
she’d let him touch her when she learned about his lies.
E
MILY STARED OUT
THE
front door as Mitch left in a huge pickup. Where, he wouldn’t say. She’d expected him to hide the keys to his brother’s other vehicles, but he hadn’t.
He should have.
She’d promised not to follow the wine-store lead. She hadn’t promised not to leave if she had a reason. Quickly, she headed to the basement, through the high-tech gym that Mitch’s brother had stocked with more equipment than her own clinic. She weaved past the elliptical toward a nondescript door, more like the entrance to a hot water heater closet than a super secret panic room.
She turned the knob to reveal a concrete barrier with an embedded keypad. She knew that she’d be found out at some point, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t trust anyone. Perry had told her that. She believed the man who had died for her.
She tapped in the code Mitch had shown her and walked into the safe room. Stocked with enough supplies to last weeks, it didn’t look like a bomb shelter, but essentially that’s what Mitch’s brother had created. The elaborate décor and survival supplies weren’t what attracted her attention, though. She wanted the fully operational security cameras, and the very high-tech computer system. She walked into a small secondary room. Sure, she could’ve used the office laptop upstairs, but there were more interesting toys in this communications center.
She’d watched Mitch carefully when he’d powered off the system. She sat down and turned on the switches. After a light-speed boot-up, she used the same identification and password Mitch had provided upstairs. She was in. She typed in the wine-storage company’s address into the county’s database and waited for the information to run.
While the government’s computers churned slowly, she let her gaze wander to a small screen Mitch had surreptitiously turned dark. She flicked the switch. The system booted up. Just as she thought. GPS. She hadn’t done all that research over the last nine months for nothing.
A green dot appeared on a screen, moving toward downtown Denver. The internal GPS provided the location of all the vehicles. Four dots were sitting a few hundred feet from her. The fifth headed closer and closer to the Denver Police Department.
“Please, don’t go there,” she said softly to the dot.
The car turned on the street, only blocks away, then slowed to a stop in front of the Denver PD building.
“You lied to me,” she whispered.
The faith that had been growing ever so slowly since she’d met Mitch cracked. She didn’t want to believe he’d lied.
The computer in front of her beeped. She had a name.
She glanced back at the green indicator. Still stationary.
With a muttered curse, she grabbed one of the portable GPS trackers from the table, scribbled names and addresses on a slip of paper and headed upstairs. She’d find out once and for all if she could trust Mitch Bradford.
She snagged a set of keys off the wall of the kitchen and headed to the garage. If he didn’t have a heck of an explanation… She paused. She wouldn’t do anything.
She’d be on her own. Again. Like always. But this time, her heart would be shattered beyond repair.
M
ITCH KEPT THE
ENGINE
running as he waited in front of the police department. He wouldn’t go in. He rounded the block and came to a stop just as Dane Tanner walked across the street.
Mitch rolled down the tinted window. “You wanted to see me.”
Tanner peered behind him. “Where you headed?”
“The vacant lot down the street. My kids have football practice, and I have some questions for one of the players.”
“Is your charge safe?”
“She’s holed up.”
Tanner hopped into the truck. “I don’t want to be seen with you. Drive.”
“What’s going on?” Mitch pulled onto the street.
“Ghost’s breakout. It was too easy. Nobody saw anything. The cameras in holding mysteriously had a glitch during the hour it happened.”
“Glad you finally acknowledged it was an inside job. I was beginning to wonder.”
“Thanks a lot,” Tanner said. “I hate cops on the take more than anything. Nice to know you thought I was one of them.”
“I’ve been burned. You know that. Adam showed me the ropes. Saved my life more than once.”
“And cost you SWAT,” Tanner said. “Drug money will do it every time.”
The words made Mitch’s stomach seize. He shouldn’t be surprised Tanner might think he was finished, but it still hurt like hell.
“I hate this.” The disgust in Tanner’s voice mirrored Mitch’s thoughts. “I’ve asked your dad for some outside help.”
Mitch couldn’t hide his shock. “Why him?”
“He does a lot of work for…one of our top consultants.” Tanner shrugged. “Maybe you should ask him. Sounds like an internal communication problem to me.”
Mitch bristled at the thought of his family keeping secrets. Then again, had he let any of them in on the true state of his rehab? He rubbed his thigh. They might be guessing, but they didn’t know. Just like he couldn’t be certain about Tanner. This entire conversation could be a setup. “What can you tell me?”
“Not much, but don’t call my office line, Bradford. Only my cell. And keep
her
with you until I clear this up. I want whoever’s messing with the Denver PD as much as I want Eric Wentworth’s killer.”
Mitch pulled up across from a large dirt field. A group of teens hovered at one end of the vacant lot. “I’ll keep her safe.” Then he stroked his chin. He decided to plant a seed. “Tanner? You see a missing person’s report go through on a pregnant girl in the last few days?”
Tanner shook his head. “This that case you asked the guys to run?”
“Morgue got an ID through dental records. She’d recently delivered a baby. It’s missing.”
“You think it’s connected to your case?”
“Do you like the coincidence?”
“Hell, no.” Tanner climbed out of the pickup and rounded the vehicle. His breath puffed in the cold Colorado air. “Missing babies. Car bombs. This is bigger than we thought. Keep your charge out of sight. I don’t know who’s talking, but the perp’s in the know.” He zipped up his jacket. “I’ll be in touch.”
Dane started jogging back to the station. Mitch let the reality sink in. He had no backup. At least officially. If he got in trouble, he had few people he could call. Including his father.
“Hey, Coach!”
Ricky ran across the abandoned field. “You find Kayla?”
Mitch shook his head at the boy. “I checked out your sister, Ricky. Why didn’t you tell me her boyfriend was arrested for assault? You holding out on me?”
The boy looked down. “She wouldn’t press charges. Stupid girls.”
“You got any more little tidbits? If I’m going to help you—”
A black SUV pulled up behind Mitch’s truck. A man stepped out of the car. “You owe me big, getting me out of a very comfortable situation in bed, if you get my drift,” the man groused.
“Ricky, this is Ian. Ace football player. He’s going to take my coaching duties on for a couple of days. Now, let’s you and I talk.” He turned to Ian. “You bring the equipment?”
Ian opened the back of his vehicle, revealing footballs, pads and more equipment than Mitch ever brought.
“You went overboard, but thanks, bud. I owe you.”
“Yeah, you do. I swiped it from a local high school with the help of a very sweet English teacher who
was
going to make me breakfast.”
“We’ll return it, and I’ll find a way to replace what got blown up yesterday.”
Several boys shuffled over. Ian barked out a few orders and threw some balls to them. As they passed the ball around, Mitch rested his hand on Ricky’s shoulder. “You know a girl named Vanessa Colby?”
“Sure.” Ricky’s face lightened. “Did you find her? She’ll know where Kayla is. She’s her best friend.”
Chapter Eight
Nausea rose in Emily’s throat as she approached the Denver PD building, but Mitch’s truck wasn’t there. She glanced at the portable GPS unit on the supple leather seat next to her. The blinking green dot indicated Mitch had parked his vehicle a few blocks away. She pressed down on the accelerator, her heart speeding up the closer she got.