Part 9 (1/2)

She nodded. aIall meet you back at the station.a She turned and they all watched as Jeffas body was loaded into the transport van.

Anna pulled Roman into a hug, squeezing him tight. She pulled back and searched his face. aYou be careful. You know whatas going on here.a He gave her a sober nod, then his gaze s.h.i.+fted to Dante. aYou look out for her.a aNot going anywhere.a Telling Ellen was about as horrible as Dante predicted it would be, and had to have torn Anna up inside. He felt Anna tense up next to him when Ellen sobbed and turned her face into Danteas s.h.i.+rt.

Anna remained stoic, did her job, gave her sympathies and let Dante handle most of it. Dante had put his arm around Ellen and held her when she would have crumpled to the floor. He knew how she felt, knew every kid whoad stayed with her was like one shead given birth to.

aIall be in touch after the autopsy is completed and heas released to the funeral home,a Anna had told her. The raw agony in Ellenas eyes was enough to make Dante tear up. And nothing brought him to tears.

Theyad tried Gabeas phone a few times, but it had gone straight to voice mail. Dante wanted to deliver the news in person so he hadnat even left a message. Head catch up with Gabe as soon as he could.

They left Ellenas and climbed back into Annaas car. She sighed and leaned her head against the headrest.

aWhat now?a he asked.

aNow I need to drop you off. Then I want to go to Jeffas place.a aWhy?a aI donat know where he was tonight, or where he was when he was taken to that alley. Maybe his house will give us some clues.a She picked up her phone and called for the evidence team, then called Roman and asked him to meet her there.

aI can drop you off on the way.a He slanted a look at her. aIam not going home. And if you drop me off Iall just follow you.a The ride was silent, and he wasnat surprised when she pulled up in front of his condo.

aThought you were going to Jeffas place.a She put the car in Park and turned to face him. aThis has to be dealt with first. I want you to pack up and go back to wherever it is you came from.a He figured this was coming, knew shead want to protect him.

aIam not leaving, Anna.a aYou have to.a He saw the fear in her eyes, the desperation, and knew head have to tell her everything in order to convince her he wasnat going to die.

aLetas go inside and talk about this.a aFine. Iall help you pack and Iall escort you to the airport.a She followed him inside.

Dante noticed her hand on the b.u.t.t of her gun as he opened the door and flipped the lights on. He moved in front of her. aItas okay. Thereas no one here.a aYou sure about that?a she asked.

After tonight he wasnat sure of anything anymore.

She shoved ahead of him. aIam going to check your bedrooms if you donat mind.a He didnat mind, but he wasnat going to let her check them alone. He moved with her, his hand within reach of his own weapon. Once they cleared the house, she stood in the middle of the living room, her arms crossed.

aYou have to leave, Dante.a aIam not going.a aAre you insane? You realize thereas a killer out there who wants all of you dead.a aYes.a aSo youare going to stay and do what? Paint a target on your back?a aYou want me to leave and let the other guys become targets? I canat let that happen. Not when I could stay and possibly do something to stop it.a She lifted her chin. aThatas my job.a aYeah, it is. And I can help.a aReally, how? Youare not a cop. You donat have the resources available to you that I do. You might be able to ride along with me now and then, but frankly you hinder my investigation and it would be easier for me to do my job if youad just get the h.e.l.l out of my way. It would be one more person Ia”one more potential victim I donat have to worry about.a One more persona”what? Head like to know what she was going to say before she stopped herself.

aYou canat antic.i.p.ate what the killer will do, Anna. You donat know who heas going to target next.a aNo, I canat. But I can sure as h.e.l.l make sure it isnat you.a He wanted to explore how she felt about him. What had been about to happen before shead gotten that phone call could have brought them closer together, at least physically.

He wanted to clear the cobwebs of the past. Thatas why head come back. He wanted to be sure Anna was okay, that they were okay.

Now no one was okay.

aI can take care of myself. And Iam not leaving.a He felt the boil of tension inside her as she stepped up to him and gave him a shove that was more frustration than anger. aWhy are you being so G.o.dd.a.m.n stubborn about this?a He slid his hands up her arms to wrap around her wrists, pulling her fully against him until her head rested on his chest. Holding her was killing him, making him want her. He wanted to wrap himself around her, inside her, until they both stopped hurting.

aMy brother was murdered tonight. My foster father was killed a few days ago. Thereas a potential serial killer on the loose targeting the people I care the most about, including you. Do you really think Iam going to walk away from that?a She lifted her head to look at him. aYou walked away before.a The stab to his gut hurt like a cold, sharp knife. Shead said it to hurt him, to make him leave. And she was right. She didnat trust him to stay when she needed him. aI deserved that.a He saw the pain in her eyes and would have done anything to take it away. aThen leave now.a aNo. Not this time. Not again.a aThis is my job to do.a aThis is more than your job now. And Iam not leaving you alone to fight this b.a.s.t.a.r.d.a She sighed. aHeas going to try to kill you.a He nodded. aAnd probably you, too.a aYouare not equipped to deal with someone like this. I canat let you risk it.a Danteas lips curled. Maybe it was time to let her know who and what he really was. aHoney, Iave killed more people than this guy ever will. Trust me, I can handle this crazy f.u.c.ker.a

Eleven.

Anna stared up at Dante in dumbfounded shock.

aWhat the h.e.l.l are you talking about?a She pulled away.

aLet me start at the beginning. I told you I joined the army when I left. But I need to explain why I left.a She folded her arms. aThat would be a good place to start.a aTwelve years ago when I walked out on you, it was because I figured I needed to get out of town fast. I wanted to separate us, Anna.a aWhy?a aI was afraid of the fallout from the murder, of anything tying you to me. I figured distance would help.a aThat doesnat even make sense.a aNow, maybe. Back then it made a whole lot of sense to me. Anyway, during my time away, letas say I learned how to handle myself. And I can watch over you.a aThatas what you mean when you said you killed a lot of people. You were black ops.a He didnat answer, but his eyes gave him away.

She backed away, irritation grating on every nerve ending. More lies. More cover-ups. More about him she didnat know. What else was there? aI donat need you to watch over me. Iam a trained detective. Whatas it going to take for you to realize I can take care of myself?a aA little backup couldnat hurt. Not with some insane killer out there. Look at what happened to George, one of the smartest men I ever knew. He would have never let himself get blindsided like that. And Jeff wasnat exactly a moron. He knew to watch his back. We came from the streets. It was tough out there. Instincts like that are never lost. We had just told him last night to watch out for himself and now heas dead. So whoeveras doing the killing was smart enough to get the drop on him. They could do the same to you, so no matter how tough and capable you think you are, you can still be hurt.a Anna flinched. Dante knew head insulted her, but he needed her to see reason. This wasnat a game, and it wasnat a back-and-forth about which of them was better prepared to take care of themselves. It was life and death and they had to start watching out for each other.

aIam moving into your place.a She looked horrified. aWhat? No.a aUntil this guy is caught, Iam not taking any chances with your life.a aAnd I said no.a aYou want to make sure I stay safe, donat you?a aYou would if you got the h.e.l.l out of town.a aYou need me.a She sighed. aBecause youare some supersecret agent?a aNot exactly, but that could work to our advantage, and itas the reason I didnat just spill to everyone about who I was. Itas not something people are supposed to know.a aHow can you help?a aI can get information you canat. I have carte blanche in this country. h.e.l.l, anywhere, for that matter.a aAgain, how?a He hooked his thumbs in his jeans and gave her a smug smile. aBasically, I donat exist.a aSo what youare saying is that youare above the law?a aPretty much, yeah. So let me help, Anna. You need all you can get on this, and Iam d.a.m.n good at taking care of myself.a aYou might be good at what you do, Dante, but just like you said to me, it still doesnat mean you canat be killed. Sticking around here thinking youare immortal c.o.c.k of the block is the surest way to end up dead.a aIam better than most at watching my own back. And people who do what I do know how easy it is to slip up and end up dead, so believe me, I know how to be careful. I havenat stayed alive this long by being stupid.a She wanted to believe him. But she wanted him to stay alive, too. And maybe she could use his help down the road, because bureaucratic red tape was the worst, especially once you got into the nitty-gritty of working a case. Brick walls were frustrating. If she hit one and Dante could help her bust through it, then he could be useful.

aFine. You can stay in town.a He smirked. aI was staying anyway.a aSmart-a.s.s. But you arenat bunking at my house.a aIall just sleep in your driveway if you donat let me in.a aIall have you arrested for trespa.s.sing.a aWonat stick.a She wanted to kick him. aG.o.ddammit.a aQuit arguing with me. Iall pack a bag and then we can head over to Jeffas house.a aYou canat just investigate this case with me. Youare a civilian.a aI know. I need FBI credentials.a Her eyes widened. aWhat? You can do that?a aYeah. I can pull some strings and make it happen.a aJust like that.a aNot exactly. Iave been working on it for a couple days now, figuring I might need them. Itall take some maneuvering and a few phone calls, but yeah, I can get FBI ID.a Who the h.e.l.l was he that he could grab fake credentials? aYouall never get that bulls.h.i.+t past my captain. Heall want to verify you with the actual FBI.a aAnd heall be able toa”with the actual FBI. I work for people whoall clear it.a aJesus, Dante. Really?a aReally. Give me a few minutes to make a phone call and see if I can push things along. Then Iall pack a few things.a Anna was rarely impressed, but she was impressed. If he could pull off what he said he could.

After he packed, they went outside.

aIall meet you at Jeffas condo. I have to go somewhere.a She arched a brow. aSupersecret black ops stuff?a aSomething like that.a She shrugged, figuring he could do what he wanted. She had a murder investigation. aIall see you there. Or not.a He walked over to her car and pulled her against him. aYou can pretend you donat care, Anna, but I know you do. If you didnat, you wouldnat have tried to boot my a.s.s out of town.a She lifted her gaze to him, half angry and half scared to death. aI donat want anyone else to die before I get this case figured out. You donat mean any more or any less to me than the other guys.a His lips curled in a smile that told her he knew she was lying. aBulls.h.i.+t.a He pulled her against him and kissed her soundly. The emotion of the night got the best of her and she grabbed a handful of his s.h.i.+rt, held on and kissed him back, terrified shead never see him again.

When she pushed away, his eyes had gone as dark as the storm churning within her.

aDo you always take without asking?a He swept his thumb over her bottom lip. aNo.a He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers again. aNo,a he whispered against her mouth. aWant me to apologize?a She shuddered against him, then pushed him away, not sure if she was more irritated at him or at herself.

aIall see you at Jeffas. Be careful.a She nodded, and climbed into her car, her lips still tingling from his kiss.

Oh, sure. Become an FBI agent.

Great idea, Dante. It was a good thing head already set things in motion a couple days ago, because he needed it to happen now and it wasnat like he could pull this whole FBI thing out of his a.s.s in an instant.

And speaking of his a.s.s, his superiors were going to have his over this. The one thing head never done was abuse the power they gave him.

Until now, anyway. He was on vacation, and now he wanted FBI credentials. Sure, he could do almost anything, but he had some tap dancing to do to explain this.

First thing was to meet with a local contact, and since security was paramount he couldnat do it with Anna around.

A half hour after he left Anna, he arrived at a house in South County.

Nice neighborhood. Well established, with thick, full trees and well-maintained lawns.

And one expensive, big f.u.c.king house. Colonial-style, two-story, with those columns and big windows and a lawn that looked as if whoever lived here hired people to take care of it.

Dante went to the address head been provided and through the gate toward the side door to the garage. The garage door was open, so he walked in.

aGood thing my wife is in Tahiti with the kids,a the guy said who greeted him.

He was in his fifties, slightly graying hair short in a military kind of cut.

aSorry to bother you. This is kind of urgent.a The guy had a gla.s.s half filled with amber liquid and a couple ice cubes. aWhatever. Come on into my office.a Dante followed him through the garage and into the house.

He led Dante into a downstairs study, motioned for him to take a seat on the other side of his cherrywood desk.

aSomeone will be here shortly with your paperwork.a aThanks.a Dante looked around the room while his host worked on the computer. Military medals were framed on one wall, law certificates on another, political awards and the like.

Head been out of the country for a while, but not too long to finally recognize who his contact wasa”he was influential and a big player.

This was going to cost Dante next time he got an a.s.signment, which would probably end up being in some s.h.i.+thole he might have been able to turn down otherwise.