Wyn Security Page 50

  “We both know I have your brother, Eddie Dever. I’ve been looking for him ever since he found out who my buyer was for the disk tech then disappeared. Figured he was selling it to my competition.” By the heavy disgust in Warren’s voice, Eddie was sure he had Leo in the room with him. “Turns out he’s just an idiot feeding low-level information to get kickbacks now and then.”

  Eddie met Hannah’s eyes. Leo had known more than he’d alluded to, and didn’t it make perfect sense the reason he’d been working with the FBI was to get paid from both sides. Once a shyster, always a shyster. Her brows narrowed; she had no idea what Redburn was saying.

  “But he’s a lucky idiot,” Redburn continued, “because you still have something I want, and now I have something to bargain with.”

  “I’ll bring you all the disks I have.” Eddie wasn’t about to toy around and hope for the best like the earlier negotiation.

  “With no cops or the FBI. I know what you do for a living, Mr. Dever. I don’t know how you got involved with the feds, but if you bring them, your brother is dead.”

  Eddie’s insides completely froze up at the words brother and dead in the same sentence. “I want to speak to him.”

  “No.”

  “Then no deal. How do I know he’s still alive?”

  “Because I want to make my deal more than I care about ending Leo’s pathetic life.”

  “Tell me the color of his eyes.”

  “What?”

  “If you won’t let me talk to him, then prove he’s with you by telling me the color of his fucking eyes.”

  “Blue.”

  “I’ll see you soon.” Eddie disconnected and closed his eyes for a moment. All he saw was Leo beaten and bloody.

  Fucking shit. He wanted to punch things and scream and then go whomp on the motherfuckers standing between him and his brother. Instead, he opened his eyes and focused on his current obstacle: Hannah. Always presenting problems for him, she was.

  A major problem was the fact that she’d twisted his head. Broke through his worldview of relationships and closeness. Then she’d lied. Twice. He’d let the first one go. He understood. But to lie to him about his brother’s fate. Had he not proved trustworthy? Had she not valued him enough to be honest? Whatever answers she had were going to piss him off. Because he still wanted her. And that scared him.

  “Get out of my way.” His voice was low and steady.

  She was close. Too close. It would take no effort to move her to the side.

  “I’m coming with you.” She didn’t bat an eye or move a muscle. She wasn’t intimidated by him. Or anyone else for that matter. Even after her deception, she was standing her ground. Standing up to him.

  “What do you hope to gain by going with me?”

  “I’m going as your backup so you don’t get yourself killed.”

  It was all her fault. All of his feelings. All of his yearnings for normalcy. Then she’d taken a big, fat sledgehammer to it. Without him even seeing it coming.

  “And,” her gaze traveled his face as she nervously bit her bottom lip, “because I don’t want anyone else to die because of my poor judgment.”

  He covered the last little inch that separated them, soaking in her sweet scent. “I can’t let you do that.”

  “Why?” She was asking him about more than fearing for her safety. Her whisper held hope; he could see it in her blue eyes. But what would she do once she got what she wanted from him again? Would he ever be able to believe her?

  “I won’t be able to focus, to do what I need to do, with you in harm’s way.”

  Her lips suddenly pressed against his, a despair reaching out and surrounding them. This was good-bye. The last time he’d be close enough to touch her.

  Closer. He had to be closer.

  He opened his mouth to her, meshing them together and breathing her in. His lips grabbed for hers with force, their tongues intertwined, the charge between them electrifying his entire body.

  The night was a wild card. Anything could happen. There was no guaranteed outcome for rescuing his brother.

  He dropped the bag off his shoulder, and it landed on the ground, the metal clink ringing out in the silent room. He could not get his hands to her bare skin fast enough.

  Sliding his fingertips under her white shirt, he moved his thumb softly over the top of her hip. Caressing. He trailed hot kisses down her neck and swirled his tongue and nipped at the delicate skin that covered her collarbone. Her head fell back, and a moan escaped her lips, the noise instinctively making him hard. There was no turning back. Their joined bodies were all he could think about.

  He gripped her thighs and pulled her closer. Her fingertips grazed his nape, sending a heated roll of need down his back. Pure lust took over as her hands knotted in his hair and pulled him harder against her mouth.

  All of a sudden, he was palming her ass and whipping her around to set her on the table in the middle of the room. Her legs locked around him, and he pushed their cores together. Her eyes widened at the feel of him through their clothes before she claimed his mouth again.

  There wasn’t anything left to be said. He felt it in the desperation of her nails running down his back and the way he commanded her hips. He studied the roundness of her cheeks, her delicate jawline, and appreciated her scent as he trailed kisses to her breasts. Her head fell back, exposing more of herself to him. Somewhere along the way, her shirt had come unbuttoned. Maybe he’d done it; maybe she had. In the frenzy, he didn’t know, didn’t care; he only wished all of their clothes were already on the floor of the ammo room.

  Sweet creamy goodness, she wore a front-clasp bra. He quickly flicked the lock and her handfuls of sweet peaks were bare to him. With one hand still on her back pulling her toward him, the other massaged her right breast while his mouth captured the other. Her legs squeezed around him, forcing a groan of his own. He needed the one thing he didn’t have: more time. He sucked her nipple and nipped at it with his teeth as he rolled the other between his thumb and index finger until he elicited a cry of pleasure.

  She started to gather his shirt from the back, and he, in one motion, pulled it over his head to toss it on the floor before trailing circles with his tongue on her left breast.

  She reached down and her hand was around him, stroking him up and down, and he nearly collapsed from the sensation, the pull she had on him. Holy mother. He’d never had to have someone so badly he felt like he’d die if he didn’t.

  He pushed her back on the table, undid her jeans button, and pulled down her pants, taking her boots with them, and let them fall to the floor as he made quick work of his own jeans.

  As soon as their bodies were back together, he shifted and slid into her. All the way. She was hot and wet and perfect.

  She leaned back on the table and he went with her, not willing to let their bodies separate. She flexed her hips up, and he thrust into her, more pleasure sending hot need with each inch he drew in and out of her. Her body writhed underneath him, her nipples perky and hard, commanding his full attention. She could have it. Her body could have all of him. Now. In the present. Forever in the present.

  He grasped at her cheek, cradling her face in his palm, her gorgeous, deep blue eyes meeting his, all the want, the need, the closeness shining through. For that moment, he could see into her soul—the soul she’d given to him.

  Her hands gripped his neck, her gaze still connected with his, as their rhythm increased. Harder and harder, he wanted to feel every single piece of her, fill her completely, and imprint her permanently like this in his memory.

  Her body started to shudder beneath him, and his head fell into the crook of her shoulder as his own release took over.

  Her nails dug into his back, and he pushed into her again before every single muscle in his body slacked and he lay on her, her legs still wrapped around him.

  She kissed the side of his cheek, and he closed his eyes tighter. He didn’t want Hannah to be a permanent fixture in his life. He�
�d not expected it. Now he cursed that thinking, how he’d not valued more their time together. He wanted to let go of the mentality he’d carried around for his entire adult life and more.

  He pulled out of her and reached for the clothes they’d shed in a mad dash only minutes earlier.

  She’d lied to him. She’d deceived him. In a big way. The logical side of him understood the reasoning. The logical side of him wanted to get over it and not care. But his body, his heart, and, dammit, his mind, the parts he didn’t ever care to fully acknowledge, were hurt. Hannah was supposed to be his angel. The one person he could rely on who wouldn’t let him down and remind him why his walls were in place to begin with.

  He separated out their clothes, handing the black shirt to her, then putting on his own, and finding her pants that had been swept under the table.

  “I’m still going with you.” She hopped off the table.

  He nodded. There was no way he was ever going to be able to stop her. She was a beautiful, independent woman who knew exactly what she wanted. Revenge for her brother’s death and nothing else.

  He had to focus on getting Leo tonight. His focus was only on his brother now. He’d deal with the fallout after his brother was safe. He’d get drunk; he’d throw himself into work; he’d try his best to forget Hannah. To no longer remember everything she’d made him feel. The life he’d had a glimpse of with her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They’d rode in silence to Redburn’s estate across the lake in Kirkland.

  When Eddie touched her, when he kissed her, every time her heart beat in tandem with his.

  She’d ruined what was brewing between them. She’d thrown it all away for a man she hated. She’d let her enemy win regardless of whether they succeeded in putting him away tonight.

  She bit the inside of her cheek. No crying aloud. She’d strong-armed herself onto his crazy plan.

  “How exactly do you plan to get Leo back?”

  “Not sure yet. Will figure it out when we get there.”

  “So you just loaded up on guns and weren’t going to call backup?” Of all the idiotic things to do. He would’ve gotten himself tortured or killed. An icy chill ran down her back and settled in her gut.

  “I’m a man of action.” His knuckled whitened at his grip on the steering wheel. He turned off the lights to his truck and slowed down. “His place is just up here. We’re going to go on foot.”

  She rotated her ankle, feeling her gun tucked between her boot and her calf. This wasn’t smart. She should’ve called it in, called for her own backup. One glance at the set to Eddie’s face told her there’d be no holding him back.

  He pulled to the side of the road a couple of blocks down and cut the engine, unzipping the bag on the seat between them.

  “Let’s at least keep a clear head about our approach.” She checked her clip again in her standard FBI-issued gun. She crossed her fingers she wouldn’t have to use it.

  “Oh, why would we want to do that? I find it’s always better to think on the fly.”

  “You know they’re going to have Leo well guarded. You can’t kill them.”

  Eddie checked the scope in his rifle. His sniper rifle.

  “Look at me.” She moved his head with her cupped hand so he’d stop focusing on his weapon. “Think this through.”

  “No time.” He was looking right through her.

  “And you have no time to be dead either. You aren’t good to anyone dead.” Nausea crept up her throat. Eddie could die because of her agenda.

  “I’ll be fine once I have eyes on the place. I’ve seen the schematics.”

  “You have?”

  “I’m thorough.” Now he was seeing her—the intensity of his green eyes stunning the breath out of her.

  “When did you find the time?” She shouldn’t be surprised by his intelligence or planning. He was good at what he did.

  “I’ve been keeping eyes on Redburn for a while, and it’s not hard to get house plans.”

  “I need to keep my eyes on you constantly, don’t I?”

  The heat in his stare was short lived. Probably because he remembered how much he really didn’t like her. She didn’t blame him. All she could do now was make the current problem with Leo right. Get him back to Eddie. Redemption might be in her grasp, if everything went perfectly from here on out.

  In her desperation, revenge had become her addiction. Like any good addict, she had some making up to do.

  They started the trek in the darkness to the Redburn estate’s finely manicured yard that went on forever, staying in the shadows of the bushes when possible and running hunched over when not. She followed Eddie’s lead. He was the man with the plan, after all. She sincerely hoped. How he thought they were going to get in and save Leo and still entrap Redburn, she didn’t know. Part of her didn’t even care. At this point, she was just here to keep Eddie from getting killed. Her issues with Redburn would have to wait.

  She kept her attention firmly in the present, one foot in front of the other. If she allowed herself to believe Leo had been beaten to death, if they were too late, then she’d be directly responsible for what Eddie would go through losing a brother—the exact pain she knew all too well. She’d never forgive herself for causing that hell. Eddie needed strong backup right now, not someone too afraid to move.

  Her deceit was her own. She’d take her lumps.

  She had to shed the notion that Robert’s life, one that was no more, was more important than the actual living people she cared about around her.

  • • •

  Eddie camouflaged himself behind some rose bushes outside of a lit window at the far end of the tan-and-white stucco mansion. From the schematics, he thought this might be the first floor office, and then God willing, they would be able to spot Leo through a window. He signaled for Hannah to stay put as he inched his way carefully through the thorns to the window with white-slatted blinds only partially closed. He just needed to hear Leo’s voice or see part of him to make his plan a go.

  He opened a program on his phone, pointed it to the window, and four heat signatures appeared on the screen. He didn’t earn his reputation as a geek by limiting himself to programming computers; phones were just as useful. For, you know, times when his brother got kidnapped.

  There was no time to check out the entire area; he didn’t know how many people were in the house total. Or how many guns were available to point at them if things went wrong.

  He would merely scope out to make sure Leo was alive before they made the switch and got Redburn dead to rights. There was no way in hell he was letting the asshole live through the transaction if his brother was dead.

  “How is this helping us?” Hannah whispered across a bush. “We’ll give him the disks for Leo, get it all on video, and arrest him. Clear cut.”

  “Because I have to know,” he gritted the words between clenched teeth. If he could get Leo and still make the meeting, that was optimal.

  She held up a finger to him as she ducked farther into the shrubbery. She waved her palm down for him to make himself as small as possible. Guards must be making rounds on the perimeter and close by.

  Who was he kidding? There was no good decision with this. Hannah wanted Redburn, and now so did he. But he’d let Redburn go if that was the only way to get Leo. His brother was about to die and all because Hannah refused to be straight with him from the get-go.

  What else was she lying about? Or faking? He put his body against the cold stucco. He was going to need a hell of a lot of alcohol and assignments to get over this hump life had thrown him.

  He clamped down on his jaw. This was the exact kind of shit he didn’t want in his life. This moment was the prime reason he’d never wanted to get involved in a relationship past sex and a good time.

  There was no telling if one of the bodies in the room was Leo. Eddie attached a remote device, a small flash bang he could set through his phone if needed, to the corner of the window. At least it wouldn’t kill
Leo if he was in the room. Eddie and Hannah worked their way around the first floor windows, attaching the small flash bangs to each.

  “All right. Let’s go.” He slipped his cell phone into his pocket after setting it to record and send all the information automatically to his server.

  “Go where?” Hannah asked.

  “Inside. It’s time.” He didn’t have much of a plan, but the unexpected explosives were on their side.

  “I thought we were going to sneak Leo out from under their noses.”

  “We’ll be outmatched. We need to go straight in, like Redburn expects. Then take him by surprise. Or, hell, maybe this’ll be a legit trade-off.”

  Hannah paused, and he couldn’t mistake her gears turning, calculating the odds. “Okay.” Complete resolve and trust gazed back at him in her dark blue eyes.

  He wanted to smile to acknowledge her blind trust in him, but he didn’t. This would be the last time they would ever work together. The last time they would ever need trust forged between partners in the line of fire.

  Eddie made sure he was standing in front of Hannah as he pushed the lighted doorbell. Just in case of blind fire, if that was the mood Redburn was in.

  An unfamiliar face opened the door and stepped to the side to let them enter. Two bigger dudes checked him for weapons then moved on to Hannah. Eddie kept a keen eye on the big guy’s hands. One inappropriate move and he’d snap his wrist before he broke a rib and they’d never make it back to Redburn. The goons took the three guns he and Hannah had between the two of them. He hated to waste a good weapon, but it would’ve been too suspicious for them to be unarmed.

  Eddie and Hannah followed the hired henchman who practically filled the hallway to the back of the home, to exactly where he’d projected the location of Redburn’s office would be. Good. Their flash bangs weren’t going to go to waste.

  As soon as Eddie stepped through the door, he saw Leo strapped to a chair, blood on his clothes and his face swollen.

  He balled his hands into fists. It was that or go berserk and rip Leo out of the chair while killing Redburn and all his people in the room with the handgun they hadn’t found in his boot. He kept his face neutral, making sure his gaze didn’t linger on Leo long.