Lie by Night: An Out of Darkness novel (Entangled Ignite) Page 7

  Before he made contact, a brown-clad arm shot between the stranger and Emma. “Get lost, bud.” Cole grabbed her and tugged her away, turning a fierce expression at the intruder. “She’s with me.”

  The burly man appeared to outweigh him by at least fifty pounds and towered over him by a good six inches. His flat brown eyes squinted down at Cole, as he weighed his chances. Although Cole didn’t move, his muscles tensed in anticipation; his stance became more threatening.

  The man grunted and turned away.

  Cole turned back to the young man at the counter and retrieved his credit card. The attendant favored him with a grin. “Nicely done.”

  Hurried footsteps sounded behind them. Emma turned to see two security guards approaching, intense looks on their faces.

  The young man’s grin widened. He waved his hand toward Cole. “Big Joe was here and this guy scared him away.”

  The larger of the two guards grunted. “Thanks.”

  “Here are your tickets, sir.” He beamed at Cole.

  Emma indulged in a mental eye roll. Just what Cole needed. More admirers to boost his already inflated ego.

  She felt eyes upon her and looked up to meet Cole’s clear blue ones. The smirk on his face indicated that he knew exactly what she was thinking. Again.

  “Ready?”

  “Let’s go.” She headed for the gate.

  That’s when panic hit. Her Mace was still in her pocket. Heart racing, she slipped off her jacket and wadded it into a bin. She tossed her shoes and backpack on top. Her meager possessions began a slow roll toward the security check. She looked back to find Cole in deep discussion with the security guard and took a calming breath. If they discovered it, she’d just check her bag. No big deal.

  An agent waved her through the metal detector. She reached the other side as her bag entered the machine.

  “Hey Roberto!” The security guard approached with Cole. “This guy just gave Big Joe the evil eye when he was hassling the little lady. Shut Joe right down.”

  Roberto looked up from the screen. “Nice. Too bad you’re leaving James Island. Anyone who can handle Big Joe is guaranteed employment here.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Cole offered a friendly wave as he walked through the metal detector.

  Her belongings rolled through the x-ray machine unchecked. Before she could grab her jacket, Cole scooped it up, along with the backpack. Emma glanced back at the conveyer for the duffel.

  “I checked my luggage because I’m carrying a weapon.” His pointed glance told her he knew her Mace remained in her jacket. With a shrug, she snatched her jacket back and walked down the ramp.

  Ten minutes later, the plane lifted into the afternoon sky.

  “In Miami, you need to check the spray. Or pitch it.” Cole’s whisper tickled her ear. She turned so quickly they almost knocked heads.

  Their gazes held. “I know.” She meant to sound tough—don’t-tell-me-what-to-do—but even to her ears, her whispered response seemed throaty, suggestive. She tore her eyes from his and stared forward as the plane leveled in the sky and the stewardess began her trip down the aisle, offering peanuts and beverages.

  Emma cleared her throat. She turned to him, waiting until he looked her in the eye. “Why did you destroy the warehouse?”

  He said nothing.

  Her gaze hardened. All the frustration, anger, and fear she thought she’d gotten under control came surging back. She tapped his upper arm, demanding response. “Why did you destroy the warehouse? It held answers to my brother’s disappearance.”

  He grabbed her hand and set it on the armrest, enclosing it firmly in his grasp. Heat leapt between them, hung suspended, expanded until Emma found it difficult to breathe.

  He unwound his fingers from hers. “I destroyed the warehouse because it was part of Alistair Forrester’s drug operation. It was an abomination on what was once a peaceful island retreat.”

  “But there were supposed to be answers…”

  “There weren’t answers.”

  “You don’t know that!” She winced at the anguish in her voice. Bringing her emotions under control, she kept her voice low. “You didn’t even—”

  “Emma, I went through the warehouse before I set the fuses. I was looking for clues to help me shut down the drug operation of a man who kidnapped my friend, Zach Weston, his wife, and their son.” He looked out the window before turning back to her. “Alistair Forrester is evil. He tried to destroy the Westons’ lives, just as he’s destroyed other innocent lives. Zach and I have been systematically dismantling his operation, and knowledge is power. So, yes, I looked very, very carefully. There was nothing.”

  “So it’s personal.” She mulled this over. She’d spent the past months certain Cole wasn’t a loyal kind of a guy. Apparently, she’d been wrong. He was capable of loyalty. He just hadn’t felt any toward Jacob. She’d wanted to protest his earlier claim that he’d liked Jacob even as he suspected him of working with Forrester; however, here she sat, attracted to a man she couldn’t fully trust. Although she didn’t like his explanation, she had come to understand it.

  “Yes,” she heard Cole saying, “It’s very, very personal. And it gets worse. Forrester has been in a high security mental institution. Last night, he escaped.” He stared at her. “I will do whatever it takes to find him and keep my friends—my family—safe.” The determination in his hard stare sent shivers down her spine.

  Still, there might have been something in the warehouse, something only she could identify. Only she would recognize. Something in code. Something that held meaning only to Jacob and her.

  Then again, maybe Cole had found something and wasn’t telling her. Oh, he told a great story, but maybe Cole was the reason Jacob had warned her to trust no one.

  Maybe he knew more about Jacob’s disappearance than he’d shared.

  Her eyes narrowed. Until Cole proved himself, she would follow Jacob’s instructions to the letter. For here and now, the man could not be trusted.

  …

  Cole sighed. Emma didn’t believe him. Well, fine. He didn’t believe her, either.

  He thought back to her expression when she realized the building had exploded. Her anger, anguish, and despair had all been real.

  Maybe she was telling the truth, but he was also certain she wasn’t telling the whole truth.

  And her self-defense plan? He’d seen the look on her face when she realized the Mace was still in her jacket pocket and noted the relief when the distracted agent let it slip through security. The woman was a menace.

  “Where are we going? I mean, I know we’re on a flight to France, but why are we going there?” Her question intruded on his thoughts.

  Cole had known this moment was coming. He debated withholding the truth a little while longer. Then he remembered the heat that leapt between them when he’d grabbed her hand earlier. Perhaps it was best if he planted this truth firmly between them instead.

  “We’re going to see Cherise.” He felt the telltale tic in his jaw go to work.

  “Cherise.”

  Not a question. Not even a statement. Cole recognized a curse when he heard one. He nodded. “Cherise.”

  Emma said nothing, but he didn’t need words to know what she was thinking. Cherise. The bitch.

  …

  Having pretended to read the airline magazine cover to cover to avoid talking with Cole, Emma sighed with relief when they finally touched down in Miami. With little time to spare, they retrieved Cole’s duffel and raced to meet their connecting flight. As they approached Customs, a man in military uniform approached.

  “Mr. Stevens, Ms. Bailey, come with me.”

  Emma’s heart raced. Had they found Jacob? Was this her notification?

  “Thank you for meeting us. I wasn’t sure if you’d make it before our next flight.” They shook hands.

  Cole’s calm words reassured her—and made her mad. He hadn’t said anything to her about an armed forces escort.

 
The man moved them quickly through Customs and ushered them to their next security point.

  “Emma, I’ll need your Mace.”

  When she hesitated, Cole held out his hand. “My security clearance has been upgraded with Forrester’s escape. Weston Security is now a civilian counterpart in a joint effort with Homeland Security to find him. I’m cleared to carry concealed weapons on board, but you’re not.”

  Questions raced through her mind. Why Homeland security and not DEA? Granted, her knowledge of the different agencies was limited, but hadn’t he told her Forrester was a drug runner? Reluctantly, she handed over the canister and watched as he zipped it into his pocket.

  His obviously close association with Homeland Security should have calmed her, but instead, Jacob’s warning resounded in her head: Treason.

  Clearly Cole and Weston Security had strong government connections. Strong enough, perhaps, to betray their country and get away with it.

  As Miami faded from sight, she considered this new information. She’d been right to wonder if she could trust him. And it didn’t help that they were headed to confront the source of his first betrayal of Jacob.

  Cherise.

  She’d never liked the woman when Jacob was dating her. She’d liked her even less when she found Cherise with Cole and had to tell Jacob. For some reason she’d never understood, her brother had loved the woman.

  Emma sighed. Would that night ever cease to haunt her? The shock of finding them together, Jacob’s heartbroken disbelief, her own sense of betrayal. Even though she’d only known Cole for a few hours, there’d been a connection, a sense that maybe he was the one.

  Which just went to show that she couldn’t rely on her own instincts when it came to men. Not in college when Jack, the guy she’d been dating seriously, suddenly disappeared from her life with nothing more than an it’s-been-fun-time-to-move-on. And certainly not where Cole was concerned. Sure, she’d been predisposed to like him. After all, Jacob had spoken so highly of his new friend.

  Until Cole turned out to be a snake. She’d best remember that when he turned those crystal blue eyes her way.

  She looked around at her first class surroundings. He might be a snake, but traveling with him appeared to have its benefits. Reminding herself to keep things in perspective, she began cataloging his faults: betrayed her brother, misled her regarding his feelings, decimated her only clue to Jacob’s whereabouts, took her precious Mace—no extra points for getting it past security, supposedly didn’t know where her brother was, but apparently did know how to find the tramp who’d broken her brother’s heart. And last and certainly most confusing, he might be a treasonous bastard.

  Her uncertainty about this last point weighed the heaviest. It left her, as Jacob’s note said from the start, with no one to trust.

  “Listen, Emma, about Cherise…”

  Something in Cole’s tone warned her the discussion was about to get personal. She shot him a glance, hoping he heeded her silent message. Back off.

  There was no place for anything personal on this trip.

  The arrival of a chipper flight attendant preempted his response. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “No.” Cole replied for both of them, clearly intent on continuing his conversational gambit.

  “I’d like a diet soda, please. Anything without caffeine.” Emma smiled a too sweet smile and looked at Cole. “I’m expecting a very long and very boring trip. I wouldn’t want anything that might keep me awake.”

  “Don’t worry, ma’am,” he drawled, but Emma heard the undercurrent of steel. “When she starts to snore, I’ll give her a little poke.” He rubbed his finger back and forth against her shoulder.

  When the attendant hurried off to get her drink, Emma swatted Cole’s hand away. “I don’t snore.”

  He merely raised his eyebrows.

  “I don’t.” It really didn’t matter, but her emotions were jumbled, and she was itching for a fight.

  He shrugged. “If you say so.” His body language clearly communicated you sure as hell do.

  She tipped her chair back and closed her eyes, feeling foolish. The snoring didn’t matter. His ridiculous good looks didn’t matter. The sparkle that took her by surprise and stole her breath because it so rarely appeared in his eyes—that didn’t matter, either.

  All that mattered was Jacob.

  She did want to talk with Cole about Cherise and why they were flying across the ocean to see her, but her mind still reeled with the implications of Cole’s relationship with Homeland Security. And so she opted for the pretense of sleep while she organized her thoughts.

  She forced her breathing to slow. She heard the attendant return with her drink, but didn’t move.

  She felt Cole shift. “I’m sorry, ma’am, it looks like the little lady’s already fallen asleep. I’m sorry to trouble you.”

  “Looks like she needed her sleep.”

  Emma forced her breathing to continue slowly in and out as she awaited his response.

  “Yeah, she’s had a long couple of days.”

  The words washed over her like a caress, unexpected and, she’d like to say, unwelcome. Instead, a little shiver ran down her spine. She heard the attendant move on, cheerfully chatting with the passengers further back.

  A light weight descended on her. Strong hands tucked a blanket around her shoulders and alongside her legs. Bundled securely in warmth, she relaxed. Her last thought before she dozed off was that like it or not, he made her feel safe.

  And she didn’t like it one bit.

  …

  Cole listened to the even cadence of Emma’s breathing, recognizing the exact moment when she gave up pretense and succumbed to sleep. She was quite a woman. But then he’d realized that the first night they’d met.

  He exhaled a sigh of regret.

  Having identified Jacob as a potential member of Forrester’s network, Cole had attended an event for survivors of 9-11 specifically to meet him. It had been almost too easy. Jacob was a likeable guy. Athletic, funny, fiercely loyal to his sister.

  Their friendship had been progressing nicely when Jacob invited him to dinner with friends in the restaurant at Cole’s hotel.

  When Cole arrived, he discovered the other guests consisted of Jacob’s girlfriend, Cherise, and Emma. He smiled, remembering Emma’s, “Awkward, big brother.” Only it hadn’t been awkward at all. It’d been pretty incredible.

  They lingered over dinner, two couples enjoying each other’s company. Then Jacob received a call and had to run. After he and Cherise left, Cole and Emma had talked about everything and nothing until midnight arrived. He’d silenced a pang of conscience before inviting her back to his room.

  It was presumptuous, he knew. Too soon. And he was investigating her brother. Yet, she felt so right. So even though it wasn’t at all his style, he’d asked her to join him. She rose on tiptoe to place a lingering kiss on his lips. Then, she turned him down.

  He walked her to her car and returned for another drink, forced to confront a fact he’d managed to avoid most of the day. It was the second anniversary of the day he’d nearly killed his squad by trusting a teenage rebel. Zach had saved his life that day, and Cole had learned an important lesson about not confusing like with trust.

  A throaty hey stranger had pulled him from his musings to discover Cherise had returned. Forcing himself out of his melancholy, he’d focused on Cherise—a source of information about Jacob. He’d ordered her a drink, smiling although the cloying smell of recently applied perfume left him longing for fresh air. After that, he didn’t remember much. Just the morning sun shining through his window when he awakened to a knock at his hotel door. Head pounding, he’d risen and pulled on his jeans, barely registering the sound of the shower.

  When he opened the door to discover Emma with coffee and a bag of pastries, it was maybe the best moment of his life.

  “Hi.” Even now, the memory of her tentative greeting made his heart skip a beat.

 
; Her cheeks flushed becomingly, her beautiful eyes blinking as she bit the inside of her lip. “I thought maybe we could have breakfast.” She handed him the drinks and bag. “That maybe…”

  The bathroom door opened. A willowy blonde stepped from the bathroom, wrapped in a short towel that showcased impossibly long legs. She pulled a damp towel from her hair, revealing long wavy tresses that fell past her shoulders.

  Cole had stared in disbelief. Cherise.

  The discarded towel slipped from dainty fingers to the floor. Her other hand tucked the second towel more firmly at her ample breasts and she sauntered forward.

  “Breakfast! Oh, Cole,” she reached the doorway and slipped a hand around his waist. “How sweet.” She froze, seeming to register Emma’s presence at last. “Oh dear, this is awkward.”

  With one stricken glance at him, Emma spun and disappeared down the hall.

  At the time, he’d been disgusted with himself. He never drank to excess, but now, in the light of Cherise’s possible connection to Alistair, he wondered…had he been drugged? And, if so, how? As he’d told Emma, he was a trained professional. He was careful.

  Sleep came reluctantly to Cole, his mind flipping in an endless loop between Emma’s pain at discovering Cherise that morning and her stricken face as she watched the warehouse burn. Six months ago hadn’t been their time. Now was not their time.

  Perhaps their time would never come.

  That didn’t stop him from wanting it to…

  …

  Emma roused from troubled slumber in time to hear the captain announce their descent into Charles de Gaulle airport. She’d awakened off and on, spending most of the flight feigning sleep as she ran through facts and fears again in a search for clarity. Her eyes opened to reveal the blanket jumbled at her waist and Cole watching her.

  “Hey there.” He scanned her face.

  The clarity she’d found hadn’t brought her any peace. He was either a good guy who thought her brother was a bad guy, or he was a bad guy who wanted her brother out of the way. Although she was pretty sure he was a good guy, neither option made Jacob’s well-being his priority. Regardless, she needed him. She offered a small smile. “I guess I wasn’t good company for a long flight.” She folded the blanket in her lap. “Look, I’m sorry about before.”