In Her Sights (7 page)

“You
were
Jane Sanford.” Luke leaned forward. “What happened to you? Why would a fifteen-year-old change her name? What’s so scandalous that Brian Tower thinks he can use it to bring you down? Or maybe there’s more to this than just your past? Like something going on in the sheriff’s office right now?”

“You think I’m corrupt? I would never dishonor my badge. My job is what I live for.”

“Would you do anything to protect your career? Like Derek did anything to protect himself and his father?” He grasped her shoulders and forced her to face him. “Trust me. Tell me the truth.”

Scorn colored her expression. “Why should I? So you can do to me what you did to Derek? Expose my life to the world? He pleaded with you to drop that investigation, but no, you had to keep pushing. Too bad you didn’t find out he wasn’t guilty until after he put a gun in his mouth and blew his brains out.”

He winced at the dead-center hit. Did she think he hadn’t wondered if he could have done things differently? “He covered up his father’s activities. If Derek hadn’t asked
me
to lie for them both, maybe we could’ve worked together to bring down the organization.
He’s
the one who betrayed our friendship. He knew what happened to my unit in Afghanistan, and he lied to me anyway.”

“He was protecting his family. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do anything for your brothers, or your daughter.”

“Hell yes, I’d kill for them if they were in trouble. But they’d never put the innocent at risk. They’d never put me in a position to lie for them.”

She swallowed, and her breath hitched. “Then you’re lucky.”

A vulnerability Luke had never seen before washed over her before she pushed it back with palpable force. She shoved her hand into her pocket. He recognized the instinct. Had seen it more times than he cared to remember, and he’d never clued in on the real vulnerability the small act revealed. Going for a comfort fix, Luke realized. Her hand shook as she pulled out the roll of butter rum Life Savers. In her nervousness, the candy dropped to the floor.

“Great.” She knelt down to pick it up, but Luke hunkered beside her and reached for the sweet. Their hands touched.

Luke’s nerves tingled with awareness. He knew she was hiding something more than her name, but her secrets didn’t smother his desire for her. The scent of the herbal shampoo he remembered so well curled its tentacles around him. His body hardened, his heart pounded. The first time he’d met her he’d wanted her then and there. Nothing had changed. He knew the strength of her—and the accompanying softness. All this enticement he could have handled, but when her breath caught in an answering pull to his nearness, his treacherous body couldn’t deny the attraction.

A flash of panic crossed her face, but Luke had seen enough.

“Why don’t you just leave?” The slight quiver in her voice revealed more than she would ever admit.

“I don’t want to leave.”

He gripped her fingers, entwining his with hers, and squeezed. He saw the moment she recognized his desire. Her breath caught and she drew her hand from him.

She rose, shaking her head. “No, Luke. It’s a bad idea. We’re better off leaving the past alone. I’ve moved on and so have you.”

“It’s a very bad idea.” As if pulled by an invisible rope, he closed the remaining distance between them and grasped her arms, tugging her against him, her body fragile and defenseless against his strength.

If she’d resisted he would’ve let her go. But she didn’t. Something stronger than logic drew them together. They fit together. In so many ways it was like coming home.

His mouth hovered over hers and the emerald green of her eyes flared hot, smoldering with promise. “If you really don’t want this, Jasmine, tell me now. Tell me you don’t remember how good it was between us.”

She didn’t pull away. The pulse at the base of her throat pounded, and her tongue peeked out to moisten her lips. Her cheeks flushed and her voice came as no more than a whisper. “I remember. Even when I don’t want to.”

With a groan, he let his desires take over. He cupped her face in his hands. Slowly, savoring the sweet anticipation, he lowered his mouth to hers. At the first touch of her softness, his heart slammed against his chest. He felt too much of the past, but at this moment, he didn’t care. He ground his lips against hers like this wasn’t their first kiss in two years, but as if they’d never parted.

He held her head still so his mouth could explore the sweetness of hers. Moments later, she yielded, pressing her body even closer. A flash of heat surged through him, and he let himself sink into the passion.

Her tongue parried thrust for thrust, the mating ritual reminiscent of an age-old, erotic dance. His hips strained forward and she cradled him, nestling against him, welcoming him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her even tighter, eliciting a soft series of sighs. She would be ready for him. He knew that.

He knew her.

He moved his mouth to her ear and nipped the lobe. A throaty purr whispered from her. He smiled with satisfaction. Yes, he knew her.

In answer to his every wish, Jasmine groaned in surrender to the passion and leaned against him, backing him toward the sofa, shoving his jacket from his shoulders to the floor. His foot tangled in the cloth, and he kicked it aside. With a crackling paper sound the wrinkled fax documenting her name change fell from his pocket and landed face up beside his coat.

Luke froze as Jasmine glanced down. With excruciating deliberation, she bent down to pick up the fax and stilled.

“What was I thinking, letting you touch me again, when I know what you really want. A story.”

Her accusing gaze flew to his. Hurt and betrayal burned in her eyes—replaced in seconds with pure fury.

“So, Luke,” she bit through clenched teeth. “Just how far were you willing to prostitute yourself to learn about Jane Sanford and land on the front page again?”

Jazz wiped the stain of stupidity from her mouth. Her lips still tasted of Luke. She felt branded, and that really ticked her off. “I
won’t
be used by anyone.” She stalked to the door and opened it wide. “You know your way out.”

His expression closed down as he shrugged his jacket over his shoulder holster. “You could’ve trusted me, but that’s not in your makeup, is it? You haven’t changed at all.”

“Why should I?”

He stalked past her. She slammed the door after him, shutting his presence out of her life once again.

Damn him
. For a few moments she’d been swept away. He knew exactly how to touch her, to melt all her defenses. It’d been so long since a man had held her, made her body tingle, made her want to be close. Why was he the only one she wanted, when he was out to use her?

She gripped the fax in her hand and stared at the legal notice of her name change. Stupid. She’d witnessed the obliteration of every article in the
Sierra County Sentinel
’s archives referring to Jane. Somehow, though, this obscure notification had slipped through—probably because it was buried in a long list of legal mumbo jumbo. Leave it to Luke to find hard evidence linking her to Jane. She ground the paper into a small ball and leaned back against the worn oak doorframe to rest her throbbing head. If he found out the truth behind her name, he’d destroy the life she’d fought so hard to create.

The cell phone rang and she grabbed it as a shield more than anything. “Parker.”

“We’ve got a hostage situation. Maybe a copycat of our kidnapper. Blue Team is up.”

“I’m there in ten, Sarge.” She hung up the phone, grabbed the keys from the table, and caught her determined reflection in the mirror. She was a sniper. Nothing more, nothing less. She had to remember that. Jane Sanford was gone, irrelevant now. Only Jazz Parker’s ability to protect the hostages and her team mattered.

She took the stairs two at a time as pounding steps rose to meet her. Suddenly Luke blocked her on the first floor landing. She lurched to a stop when she saw the HK gripped in his right hand. “What—?”

“You’ve got a problem,” he said.

“Yeah, you,” she snapped, but he moved to block her. “I don’t have time for guessing games. I got called in. We’re done, Luke.”

She moved to sidestep him, but in one efficient motion he shoved her against the wall and pinned her, his hard body pressed intimately to hers. The square line of his jaw throbbed and his dark brown eyes had gone black with intent. It might’ve been sexy if he hadn’t gone mission critical.

“Listen for once in your life. Someone knifed your truck. Tires. Seats. Everything. It’s not going anywhere.”

She pushed past him. “But we were just outside—”

“Which means someone was watching and waiting for an opportunity. I heard footsteps running from the parking lot. Big guy by the sound of him.”

“If you’re lying, I’ll kick you across the asphalt.”

“I’m not, and you know it.”

She yanked free, pulled out her own weapon, and maneuvered past him down the last flight of stairs. “Fine, but
I’ll
catch him. You aren’t in the army anymore.
I’m
the law.”

She grabbed the doorknob. He slammed his hands on either side of her and leaned forward, his weight preventing her from opening the door.

“I don’t care if you’re Wonder Woman. You’re not going out there alone. Got it?”

She turned in the cage of his arms and faced him. “I have to get to the station. I have a duty.”

“We go together. Slowly. Back each other up.” He punched 911 into his cell and handed it off to her. “Report in. You’ll get a quicker response.”

Jazz spoke to the dispatcher then tossed Luke his phone. “I’ve got to be in the SWAT den ASAP. There’s a situation.”

“Then let’s do this,” he said.

“Stay behind me.”

“Right.” He slid into lead position and headed out.

God, he infuriated her.

They slid quietly into the enveloping darkness then stopped. Jazz tensed. The night held a discordant edge. Even though the street noise seemed louder and grittier, the normal night sounds in the surrounding trees were eerily silent. Was the vandal still out there?

They scoured each area for anything out of place, quickly working their way around the parking lot, back to back, allowing for maximum visibility.

Many snipers worked alone. She did. How different yet how reassuring would it be to work
with
someone—with Luke—that closely? He literally had her blind side. No one had ever done that. Not even the man who taught her cops were the good guys.

She scanned the nearby trees and along the street, the dim lamppost casting only shadows. Nothing. “Seems safe enough,” Jazz said. “Looks like he’s gone.”

“He left a hell of a present.”

They made their way to her truck, but Jazz skidded to a standstill when she saw the mess. Luke clicked on a small flashlight and pointed the beam on the vehicle interior. The passenger door hung open and the upholstery was flayed in shreds.

Her hands white-knuckled her Glock. Someone had violated
her
property, in front of
her
home. Someone had attacked her where she lived.

Then her trained eyes noticed an odd pattern of gouges on the hood. As she moved closer, the marks collided into familiar shapes of letters. A message left by the vandal.

Killer Cop.

The truth in the words made her shudder.

Luke crouched down and swept the outer edge of the truck’s undercarriage with his flashlight. He could still move like a mountain lion—silent and stealthy. A warrior to the core. A man she wanted at her side in battle.

“Anything?” she whispered.

“Without the right equipment, I can’t verify there isn’t a bomb.” He thrust her away from the truck. “No point taking chances. Perimeter seems clear.”

From a distance, she studied the shredded leather seats, the vicious slices. Her stomach burned. “Bastard. I’ve still got two years of payments.”

He faced her, and the intense expression in his eyes worried her: concern, curiosity, and determination—a deadly combination within Luke Montgomery. He rested his hands on her shoulders. “So, Jasmine, who’d you piss off?”

“I—”

Suddenly his gaze shifted. In one seamless motion he smashed her to the pavement, his arms wrapped around her head, his body shielding her.

A sharp crack echoed into the night.