Criminal Alliance Read online

  Therese turned the two bolts she’d installed herself, locking everyone out. She wasn’t used to anyone being in the small apartment. No one had ever been there other than a maintenance man.

  And yet, having Wade there didn’t feel strange or awkward.

  No distractions. And no thoughts of them together. They had work to do.

  She scooped up his clothes, draping them over the end of the couch before reaching for the envelope. But Wade gently tugged on her hand, pulling her onto his lap.

  “Don’t you think we should open that?” she asked before glancing at the clock radio on the kitchen bar.

  He skimmed the side of her knee with one large hand. And kept the envelope behind her back. He pulled her close enough to kiss her neck.

  “Maybe you should read what’s inside the envelope before we get sidetracked?” she asked while he nibbled.

  “You don’t think it’s the same instructions that are in with the money?” He dropped the sealed brown envelope onto her lap but didn’t relinquish his hold.

  “I’ve never done anything like this for Rushdan before, so I really don’t know.” She ripped the edge open, then slid her finger, opening up the long side. She tipped it up and a cheap cell phone along with a piece of paper fell to her lap. “Maybe I should sit—”

  “We can read it together if you stay where you are. Unless you don’t feel comfortable?”

  “I’m plenty comfortable. Too comfortable.” Her arm brushed the bare skin of his chest, sending her stomach flipping wildly. She got up quickly before she could change her mind about getting even more comfortable.

  There would be plenty of time to get to know Wade better. Plenty of time when they weren’t due at the racetrack. She flipped the one typewritten page open, holding it by the corner just in case there were fingerprints to process.

  “I don’t know why I’m being careful. Rushdan doesn’t run his business with any connections to himself. It’s the reason he’s out of jail, rebuilding his empire. Lots of non-prosecutable people do the dirty work.”

  “His cronies don’t know what they’re writing or what piece of the puzzle they might be acting on. We discovered that last year after he tried to kill me.”

  “Rushdan is the only person who has an inkling what the whole picture looks like.” She stood by the sliding door, searching the edges of buildings to see if anyone lurked about.

  “What’s it say?” Wade asked.

  “These instructions are different than those in the money bag,” she said, handing the note to him as he joined her. “Everything he’s done so far is part of a test to see where we’d go or who we’d call.”

  “And who stopped to help,” he pointed out, tugging her to the couch again. He flipped the paper to the side table. “Seems awful risky to be switching the plans around from us placing bets to being the ones who pay out the bribes—at least in this version. Damn risky.”

  “I should grab a quick shower and get some real clothes on. Unless you want to go first?” She stood, tossed the cheap cell phone with the others and tried to pass by Wade. He didn’t let her.

  He tugged a little on her hand—too gently for her to blame him for keeping her there.

  He shook his head. “I want a kiss.” He guided her back to his lap, then placed a fingertip under her chin, drawing her lips to his.

  The kiss was good, fulfilling, sexy. Long enough for him to maneuver his hands behind her back and press her breasts against his strong chest. More than enough to shoot her senses into overdrive. More than enough for her to potentially forget why they needed to be anywhere else.

  Feeling safe within his arms, she found it hard to ease away. Especially when she wanted more of him. Her longing was getting harder and harder to control. And why was she thinking about feeling safe?

  Safety wasn’t one of her priorities. Putting Reval in prison for good, discovering who the cash was behind Public Exposure and getting the algorithm off the streets—those were her priorities.

  Three things that would make a lot of people safe.

  She scooted off his lap, pulled his shirt down around her thighs and tightened the sash around her waist. “We can take my car unless you think that’s a bad idea. Jack said your truck was at your place. Is it far?”

  Liar! It wasn’t far at all. About three miles. She’d known exactly where he lived when she’d agreed to rent this place. Being alone, working alone like she had been for so long isolated her. Getting an apartment close to someone she knew—okay, knew of—was her one gift to herself.

  She’d given up a lot to work with Homeland. Her parents may have died when she was eighteen, but she had lots of family in the San Antonio area. Tons of relatives who all thought she’d cheated on a test while at the police academy and had been kicked out. Several knew she worked with a small-time crime boss. Not that she worked for the FBI on loan to the Department of Homeland Security.

  Shoot. Wade didn’t even know that part.

  Wade’s steel blue eyes searched hers. “Thinking of something you need to tell me? Another truth-or-dare question?”

  “I don’t remember any dares.” She shook her head. “I thought we were getting to know each other.”

  He tugged on the long lapels of the hotel robe until her hands were supporting her weight, split on either side of his face against the couch. It brought their lips close. So close she could feel him move to form his next words.

  “There’s another way for us to get to know each other better,” he whispered against her lips.

  “Do you...ah...want a shower?”

  “You go ahead, I need some air.” He took a deep breath and exaggeratedly shifted his seating position.

  After that kiss, she needed some air, too. She ran to the bathroom, throwing her back against the door to save herself.

  Pure oxygen might help clear her head. She opened the bathroom window and overheard Wade. He was on the small patio, talking into his phone. She had a sneaking suspicion he didn’t need air as much as a discussion with his fellow Rangers.

  So why not just tell her that?

  Because he didn’t trust her. Not completely.

  She gently shut the window to give him his privacy, twisted the lock and began the shower. This time he couldn’t “accidentally” open the door and see her in her birthday suit. A girl should leave some mystery. She hadn’t last night, but Ranger Wade Hamilton still remained a gentleman. A teasing gentleman, but a gentleman just the same.

  After the past two years of being in his life but not being in his life... Well, she’d given him no reason to trust her at all. How could she blame him for being hesitant?

  The opportunity to come clean, to tell him why she trusted him had come and gone. Maybe they would continue the game about getting to know each other. But what if it was just a game for him?

  She rinsed out her hair and dropped her forehead to the tile, letting the stream of water pound the back of her neck. It wasn’t really sore, she just needed to think. Or think about another subject that wasn’t Wade.

  They should both be dead.

  What was Rushdan Reval really up to? Why did he need Wade for his plans? He wasn’t the sort of guy who easily forgave anyone. Everything he did had a selfish reason attached to it. Everything.

  For weeks he’d had his people searching for someone with access to public facilities. Rushdan had never hinted that it had anything to do with Public Exposure. But the speed at which he’d acted today made her think it did.

  Wade would help her find out why the domestic terrorism group wanted the algorithm and how it had been improved or upgraded. He was her way inside Rushdan’s inner circle. Wade. Again unknowingly playing the part of her hero. But no longer in the teenage-crush way she’d fantasized about for too long.

  No, this was worse. He was a nice guy. A considerate person. A competent lawman. Distracti
ng. She could actually fall for the real person she’d discovered him to be.

  Chapter Eleven

  Wade awoke from the nudge Therese gave him as they exited the highway close to the racetrack. He hadn’t slept—or napped—long, but it had been deep and reviving. Something he’d needed after staying awake most of the previous night.

  “I think I’m getting too old for hands-on law work,” he said.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Maybe too many days behind my desk recently.” He stretched and yawned. “I could have stayed up two nights in a row back in my highway patrol days.”

  Therese looked sort of funny, paused like she was about to speak, and then she looked out her window. What had he missed?

  She hadn’t complained when he suggested a nap. In fact, she’d told him to close his eyes. He didn’t regret it. There was no telling when he’d get the real thing again and he needed to be on his toes.

  A long line of cars was turning into Lone Star Park and it was almost ten o’clock. They were running a few minutes behind but it shouldn’t be a big deal. She hadn’t seemed anxious in any of the life-threatening situations they’d been in before.

  He couldn’t pin it down. Was she thinking about Reval’s elusive comment about his past? Was she catching on? Would it change her opinion if she knew that he’d run scams like this for real until he was fifteen?

  “Will it be easy to find the guy the instructions told us to find? Do you think he’ll leave if we’re a couple of minutes late? I could drop you off and park the car alone if it will save time.” Therese tapped her thumbs against the steering wheel, waiting on the light to turn green.

  “Are you nervous or something?” he asked, hoping it didn’t really have anything to do with his youth.

  “I guess. Aren’t you? We didn’t really talk about what we were going to do to find the guy, bribe him or even get the money inside the park.” She paused for traffic and looked at him. “I mean, that’s an awful lot of money in that bag. Who pays off a bribe with cash at the actual race track? Our odds of succeeding are not high.”

  “Trust me. It’ll go fine.” He shook his head, but some weird business was happening with his stomach. It had nothing to do with pulling off the bribe. He’d taken care of that with a phone call while Therese had showered.

  He didn’t have to think too hard about what caused his anxiety. It had been in the background since hearing Reval’s words that morning. Having the crook tell him to come to the track had his insides bobbing around like a cork on a fishing line.

  Every distraction he’d tried at the apartment had been countered by Therese. There had been a new professionalism in her since she’d showered. He’d ordered food while she dried her hair. They ate in separate rooms and hadn’t really talked since he’d fallen asleep soon after getting in her car.

  Therese signaled and turned into the racing complex, reading all the signs aloud. He pointed to the left lane away from the regular parking area. It was pretty obvious she’d never been to the races before. But he had. A major portion of his misspent youth had been running behind those gates.

  But after he’d returned to Dallas as a ranger, he’d avoided setting foot in the place. No concerts. No nights out with the guys. No Triple-A ballgames at the stadium next door. No cases associated with anything to do with racing or betting.

  Hell, he didn’t even allow himself to drive on the frontage road around the entertainment complex. He’d done pretty good not looking back for his entire adult life. But now...

  Now it rushed him like speeding down the hill of the Titan at Six Flags. Riding a roller coaster wasn’t something he’d done since he was a kid, either. He had to control the sickening anticipation of what needed to be done. He had to rein it in, use it to his advantage.

  This wasn’t a theme park with a fake shoot-out in the Wild West. If he screwed up...

  He rolled his shoulders—stretching, relaxing, shaking off the nerves. He wouldn’t screw up. He wouldn’t let Therese down. He wrestled the fifteen-year-old’s memories back behind that locked door in his mind.

  Therese pulled behind a line of cars for the parking lot. He remembered exactly where he needed to go for the bribes and broke out of his funk. He put a hand on Therese’s shoulder, then pointed for her to head straight.

  “Keep heading down this road. Enter through the owner/trainer gate. Then we get to the stables and jockey quarters without any real questions.”

  “Are you sure, the note said to—”

  “What if that’s just another test? Look, Therese. I’ve forgotten more about this track than other people can possibly discover. Trust me. If you want to drop off a bribe, you don’t take it through the front gate.”

  “Forgotten? You’ve done this before?”

  She passed the patron parking lots and main entrance of the park, continuing around the curve to an entrance he remembered all too well.

  “What do I tell Sal?” she asked.

  “Maybe exactly what I just told you. Or you just let me handle it.”

  She pulled over, parking just inside, next to the fence. The cell given to them in the envelope rang. Wade pressed the speaker button so Therese could hear.

  “Where are you?” Sal yelled.

  “We’re doing what you instructed,” she answered before he could open his mouth.

  “I’m supposed to be with you,” Sal complained.

  “Bribing a jockey is going to be a little conspicuous if someone’s on our tail with their phone pointed in our direction.” Wade covered her hand when she reached for the cell. “We’ll catch up with you after we’re done.”

  He clicked the phone off while Therese tried to swipe it from him.

  “I’m not sure that was such a great idea,” she said.

  “Trust me. We’d be arrested within a couple of minutes his way. Come on, let’s get this over with.”

  They might be arrested any way they tried to pull this off. He reached over the seat, grabbed the bag of money and slid out the door. He kept walking. Not waiting on Therese. Not turning around to see if she even followed.

  The car lock and beep of her horn told him he could keep striding between the trucks and trailers. But all of a sudden he doubled over, unable to catch his breath.

  “Wade? Are you okay? What happened?”

  Therese’s questions swam through his head. He heard them but something kept him from answering. He stood straight, catching the end of a horse trailer before he fell over a second time.

  “Oh my God, what’s wrong with you?” Therese rubbed his back and gripped his upper arm so tight it just might have held him up.

  What’s wrong? Images swam in front of his eyes, obliterating the real parking lot in front of him. Years drifted away and he was a lanky teenager with his hair hanging in his eyes, jeans he barely kept around his hips and a T-shirt that was sure to have some foul writing.

  “I’m...uh...not sure.” But he knew. He was having a flashback.

  “If you can’t—”

  “I can. I’m okay.” He pushed himself to his full height again as he shoved the thoughts of his father’s arrest back to the place they’d been locked before.

  They didn’t stay. But he couldn’t allow those memories to interfere with today. Everything he saw, smelled...hell, even the sizzle of excitement was like stepping back in time. He was fifteen again and throwing up while they cuffed his father and hauled him to jail.

  It was the last time he’d seen his father before the trials. The first one had convicted his dad of everything from petty larceny to organized crime. His father never made eye contact during the second trial for child endangerment. Terrence Hamilton had given up his paternal rights and Wade had never seen him again.

  “Never look back,” he heard himself mumble his father’s mantra.

  “What? Wade, you’ve got to clue m
e in on what’s going on.” She stopped him from stepping around her by a gentle touch to his chest.

  He could see where he needed to go, knew what he needed to do. It was all right there if he kept looking over her head. She softly cupped his cheek and his knees shook.

  “We’re going to be late,” he squeaked out.

  “Better late than dead.”

  “Everything’s okay, Therese. I won’t let you down.” Dammit, she caught his gaze and locked eyes with him.

  It felt like she could see through his lies. Her X-ray vision into his soul made her eyes crinkle around the corners. The hand she had on his chest slid to his belt loop and shook him while she released an exasperated “errr.”

  “You’re a very frustrating man. What did you mean when you said you’d forgotten more about this place than others could discover?”

  If another woman had been in front of him, he wasn’t certain what he would have done. But their get-to-know-each-other game of truthful facts tugged at him to tell her everything, to not hold back.

  “I know my way around.”

  “You didn’t have a real gambling problem. Did you?”

  “No. Do you think I’d be a ranger—Hell, I’d be out of a job so fast.”

  “Then what is it?”

  His hands found their way to each side of her waist. He was about to physically move her out of his path. But he looked into her eyes and realized his breathing was normal. His knees were rock steady.

  The formidable memories of witnessing his father’s arrest faded as he looked at a beautiful dark-haired woman. Dressed in lots of...sequins? He hadn’t noticed until the sunlight bounced off a couple, making him blink back to reality.

  “We need to get moving. Remember that whole thing about our real objective?”

  “Hard for me to forget after three years.” She stepped aside so they could continue. “You sure you’re all right?”

  “One of those punches caught up with me, that’s all. A momentary thing.”

  The opportunity to come clean passed by without a second thought. Okay, so he was thinking about it as they walked between the vehicles. It wasn’t a big deal. No one in his current world would care.