Locked and Loaded Read online

  The tragedy changed the course of his life. Made him turn from computers to guns. Now, with Maddie, was the first time he felt sympathy for someone who dealt in mind-numbing false avenues that stole the lives of so many.

  Maddie should be his enemy, someone he helped out of a sense of obligation, not desire. She should be nothing more than a job. But that hadn’t been true since the second week in West Virginia. He watched her work long hours and treat everyone with a smile. Saw her fight for her life in the woods. She was a survivor and he was far too interested in getting to know the real woman behind the false identity.

  “I don’t know the details of the injury.” Adam picked at the label on his bottle. “Maddie is not talking.”

  “Did you try asking?” He exhaled, not wanting to say the words that would cause Zach to view Maddie as a criminal.

  “She ran drugs. Her boyfriend was an—”

  “She did not run drugs.”

  That was not the response Adam expected. Especially not so adamantly spoken. Not from Zach, a guy who rarely raised his voice. He almost shouted the denial.

  Adam peeked around the staircase to make sure Maddie still slept on his place on the couch. She hadn’t moved. Amazing what painkillers could do for an injury.

  “You’re the expert on her now?” Adam asked.

  “I know the type.”

  “Really?”

  “You know the type.”

  “And?”

  “She’s not it.”

  “You can’t be sure of that.” Adam pushed the possibility out of his head. He’d judged her one way and was not ready to revisit his conclusions, not when seeing her as an innocent opened the door to something almost as dangerous as drugs.

  He’d read the file. He knew how deep Knevin was in the meth trade and how close he’d kept Maddie, then Margaret. Knevin ran a huge operation. Employed kids.

  It wasn’t feasible that she’d stayed ignorant of the guy’s activities. Knowing and doing nothing to stop it was arguably as criminal as being actively involved in his dealings.

  Zach leaned back with his elbows on the step above him. “You can be so sure of her and her background without having the facts? The media’s version of her back then could have been wrong or planted by the prosecution and WitSec.”

  “Trust me on this.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I checked the background.” Adam had also contacted the feds on Knevin and even now they were looking for the evidence to file new charges.

  “I think you have a problem,” Zach said.

  “Yeah, what’s that?” Adam took a long swig, hating himself for turning to alcohol to hide from the conversation.

  “Your usual smooth moves backfire with Maddie.”

  “I’m not interested in sleeping with her.” Now, that was a damn lie. When he wasn’t busy saving her, all he thought about was climbing into bed with her. They argued, and he wanted her. She scowled at him, and he wanted her. She was a sickness that had worked her way into his blood and started a fever there.

  “Did I mention sex?” Zach smiled when Adam stumbled over his response. “I meant convincing her that she can trust you.”

  “She can.”

  “I know that. I also know you’re lying because, man, you want to sleep with her.”

  “I’m not getting sucked in.”

  Zach clapped Adam on the back. “No offense, but you already are.”

  “I meant to this conversation.”

  “I didn’t.”

  Chapter Seven

  The door beeped five seconds before it slid open. Luke walked in already in midconversation. “I need help.”

  Adam sipped his coffee, acting as if seeing his friend handling a weapon and slapping on a Kevlar vest was the most natural sight in the world. “With anything particular or should I start with the list I’ve been keeping about you?”

  “You’re funny. Guess that means you got plenty of sleep last night instead of doing something more interesting.”

  Adam nodded his head. “Nice comeback.”

  Maddie figured this was a good time to make her presence known. Much more of this and the locker room talk would devolve into something that really ticked her off.

  She’d been up for a half hour, staring at the ceiling and wondering what to do about the Adam problem. He hated her for what he thought she’d done in the past. He was clueless on that score, but there was something about him. When he touched her, her nerve endings flared to life. His scent filled her with comfort and his closeness made her smile.

  She’d been with a tough guy who commanded attention. She had the broken back and fake identity to prove it. Adam should terrify her. She should flinch and fight to get away from him. The exact opposite was true.

  She wanted to chalk up the uncharacteristic lack of control to the frenzied confusion and fear of the past forty-eight hours. Or maybe her hormones had finally sparked to life after being in hibernation post-Knevin.

  Either way, she looked at Adam, with his sexy little glasses and killer shoulders, and saw a man who appealed to her on every level.

  Luke’s voice broke into her useless daydreaming. “I’m looking for surveillance equipment.”

  “No problem.” Adam passed the coffeepot to Zach and took a seat in front of the monitors. “Give me the rundown.”

  She noticed no one bothered to question Luke or even ask what was with all the firepower. For a second she wondered if this was a chain-of-command thing, then she realized it ran deeper. This was one more example of their unquestioning trust in each other.

  “Basically, I need to be able to block tracking and listening devices. Also need a microphone and video feedback to you here, preferably one that can beat someone else’s blocking devices.” Luke ticked off his list without lifting his head.

  “I’m assuming this isn’t about Claire,” Zach said.

  “I’m meeting with Trevor.” Luke dropped the gun on the conference table then glanced over at Maddie. “Oh, didn’t see you there. Have a good night?”

  She glanced at Zach then Adam. “An interesting one.”

  Adam put a small case in front of Luke. “Repeat the part about seeing Trevor.”

  “I’m meeting with him.”

  Adam didn’t back down from Luke’s no-nonsense tone. “Since when?”

  She leaned across the table and whispered to Zach. “Who’s Trevor again?”

  “Businessman and all-around dirtbag.”

  “That narrows it down.”

  Adam broke off his argument with Luke to glance at her. “Bram Walters’s brother.” He turned back to Luke. “And you’re not going alone.”

  “You’ll be in my ear the entire time.” Luke lifted the lid to the case and picked up a tiny dot with the tip of his finger.

  “Whoever is at the head of this WitSec disaster is getting rid of the extra pieces, the loose ends. We both know Trevor is a player in this game.” Adam slid the case out of Luke’s reach.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “What makes you think he won’t take you out if he gets the chance?”

  The conversation kept spiraling. Adam threw out every argument, including Luke’s impending father-hood. She waited for them to roll across the floor throwing fists, but the moment never happened.

  Adam could raise his voice without ever lifting an arm in violence. She respected that. Respected him.

  She also knew the right answer. “I’m going with Luke.”

  “You?” Adam’s jaw dropped open three times before he spit the word out.

  “He won’t be expecting me.”

  “Because he knows we’re not stupid enough to bring you.” Adam sliced his arms through the air in an X. “Absolutely not.”

  “I’m a loose end.”

  Zach stood up next to Adam. “One we’d like to keep alive.”

  Adam threw his hands up in the air. “Finally, a reasonable opinion.”

  “I saw you take down three men in the middle of
the dark woods without any help or injuries. I’m betting if there’s trouble, then you and Luke can handle one guy in a proper suit in bright daylight. You’ll be in public after all, right?”

  “You don’t understand how dangerous this guy is,” Adam said.

  “I’ve been thrown off a building, hunted, shot at and threatened.” She counted the horrors on her fingers. “Do you really think I’m afraid of Trevor Walters?”

  Adam’s voice echoed in the room as he shouted, “That just shows you’re not prepared for this.”

  Silence followed his remark. They all stood around the table, no one moving and Adam’s face painted in a mask of fury.

  Maddie waited for the usual sensation to hit her. When the world exploded, she tended to pull in and prepare for battle. She could get hit or worse. But she’d lived through the worst and survived. Broken in pieces, maybe, but still breathing.

  This time the urge to hide or panic never came. She stepped up and faced Adam down, met him argument for argument. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She hadn’t had that sense of peace or sureness of knowledge since she was a kid.

  “The main problem we’d have is that no one can see you. Your cover is in danger already.” She could almost hear the wheels turning in Luke’s brain as he spoke.

  “But we could control the risk,” she suggested.

  Luke nodded. “True.”

  “Don’t encourage her.” Adam spit out the words then stared at Zach as if expecting backup.

  She focused on the easiest mark. “Luke, you can sneak me in and out.”

  “We could cause a diversion with multiple vehicles when you guys leave, make it tough for anyone to follow her,” Zach said.

  Adam’s gaze flipped from Luke to Zach. “No.”

  She reached across the table and tugged on Adam’s arm to get his attention. “It’s not your call.”

  “I don’t know if this is guilt or what.” Adam put his free hand over hers. “But you’re not sacrificing your life for a discussion with Trevor.”

  She let the warmth of his skin seep into hers. “I’m trying to get my life back.”

  “Maddie, no. Not like this.”

  She blocked out the other men in the room and squeezed Adam’s hand. “You’ll be there to protect me.”

  “I still say no.” Some of the heat had left his voice.

  “But you’re so good at rescuing.”

  THEY REACHED THE RESTAURANT an hour before the scheduled meeting. Luke insisted on getting there first and staking out the place. He’d chosen the spot and set the meeting time right after Trevor’s call to prevent him getting set up first.

  Adam admired the plan. Luke, as usual, thought out the dangers and limited them. Holden was with the women just in case this meeting was subterfuge, an opportunity for Trevor to launch another attack on Luke’s home.

  Zach sat in a car a safe distance away, making sure no one tampered with Adam’s truck. And Caleb manned the equipment at the office, even now listening in.

  That was all fine. It was the Maddie piece that ticked Adam off. She stood with her feet touching his, wearing Avery’s clothes and practically vibrating with excitement. Maddie had no clue how dangerous this assignment was.

  It all looked so normal, with Luke sitting at a table in a small private room at the back of the restaurant. The staff and owner weren’t there since the place didn’t open until dinner. The fact she was hiding behind a curtain, her body flush against Adam’s, didn’t even faze her.

  He didn’t know why he cared. Maddie was a grown woman. If she wanted to treat her life like an amusement-park ride, she could. But, damn, the thought of her being hurt—or worse—knocked the breath right out of him.

  He admired her spunk and determination. He couldn’t imagine living half a life under the constant threat of death and watchful eye of the government. Knowing that piece of crap Knevin sat in a cell somewhere plotting against her made Adam want to jump in the car and issue a threat or two of his own.

  “You’re pouting.” She delivered her assessment standing only a breath away from Adam with her hands pressed against his chest.

  The closeness made him twitchy. “Grown men do not pout.”

  “Do they snarl? Because you are.”

  He stopped looking over her head and gazed down at her instead. “I don’t like this plan.”

  “You’ve made that clear.”

  She rubbed her hand over Adam’s chest until he flattened her fingers under his. He doubted she realized she was touching him, let alone caressing him. He knew. His body sure knew.

  When this was over…

  He couldn’t think of that now. “Trevor keeps popping up and every time he does someone dies. I’m trying to make sure it’s not you this time,” Adam said.

  “He called the meeting for a reason.”

  “Everything he does benefits him. Don’t go thinking this is anything other than a calculated maneuver.” Adam’s gaze went to her mouth, slipped down to her long neck and then back to those lips.

  “Then it’s good we have one of our own.” Her husky voice sucked him in. “Yeah.”

  He was going to kiss her. In the middle of a sting with Caleb listening in and Luke a short distance away.

  It had been building for days. Weeks, if Adam was honest about it. He’d dreamed about the smoothness of her skin and how amazing it would feel to wrap her toned legs around his waist. Now he would live it.

  He lowered his head, giving her plenty of time to pull back. “Be sure.”

  “I am.” She whispered the words against his mouth.

  Luke cleared his throat. “He’s coming.”

  Adam jumped, his heart thundering in his ears as he pulled back and realized how close he came to tasting her. Right there at the stakeout. Talk about inappropriate.

  Blowing out a long, ragged breath, he balanced his forehead against hers. “Trevor is all yours, Luke.”

  “Maddie, you only come in if you hear the signal.” Luke’s low voice carried through the thick velvet curtain separating them.

  She couldn’t see Luke, but she nodded anyway. “Right.”

  Adam cupped her cheek before he stepped back and let his hand drop. “Don’t worry, boss. I’ll keep her here.”

  “Trevor.” Luke didn’t get up or extend his hand at the other man’s arrival two minutes later.

  “Luke.” Trevor slid into the seat across from his adversary. “I see you’re alone this time. That’s unusual. You usually bring men with guns to enforce your point.”

  “I can handle you.”

  “If you insist.”

  Maddie watched the scene unfold on the small screen on Adam’s watch. She struggled to listen to the mumbled conversation taking place only a few feet away.

  This was the reason she was here, not to climb all over Adam. She repeated that fact several times in her head.

  “What do you want?” Luke asked.

  Trevor slid an arm across the back of the booth. “No pleasant conversation over the wine list?”

  “It’s ten-thirty in the morning and we’re not friends.” Luke’s hands stayed under the table.

  Maddie knew he held a weapon. So did Adam. Zach could run in with one in only a few seconds.

  Trevor glanced around, his gaze stopping on the curtain for a fraction of a second before moving on. “Interesting you picked a new restaurant for our meeting. I preferred our last location.”

  “Because your listening devices are already in place over there and you have the advantage?”

  Trevor held up his hands. “I come in peace, Luke.”

  “Do tell.”

  “I have some information you may be interested in.”

  “Which is?”

  Trevor dropped his arms to the table, fixing his jacket sleeves as he did. “It would appear Russell Ambrose was not the top of the WitSec corruption. He collected a lot of money by giving away the locations of the WitSec participants, but he had a boss who grabbed even more.”


  “Is this a confession?”

  “Hardly.”

  The patronizing grin made Maddie want to reach out and slap the man. Wealth and power oozed off him. She’d seen Trevor on television, giving charitable donations and talking about the good his company did overseas.

  She’d never really paid attention to the garbage he spouted, and now she knew it wasn’t real. He was corrupt and evil and possibly the reason she was on the run.

  “How did you come by this information?” Luke asked.

  “You know that has to remain secret. Suffice to say, I have contacts everywhere.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Luke sounded bored. “Any idea who the actual head of the kill-for-cash scheme is?”

  “Unfortunately, no.”

  “I thought you might say that.” Luke shifted. “Freedom.”

  “Excuse me?”

  At the code word, Adam and Maddie moved out of their hiding place. Adam kept a death grip on her good arm, tucking her to his side. He stood slightly forward. The move put him between her and Trevor. The goal was obvious. He still protected her. That instinct never wavered.

  “Trevor.” Adam didn’t hide his disgust.

  “Adam Wright.” Trevor’s thoughtful expression seemed real, which likely was a testament to his ability to lie on cue. “The glasses are a nice touch. They match your hacker past quite nicely.”

  “I can beat you to death with or without them on.”

  “Now I can see why you were so at home hunting in the woods of West Virginia. The sense of lawlessness fits with your bloodthirsty personality.”

  Maddie caught the reference, the small hint of the past Adam hid, and she tucked it away for later. Now she had to focus on Trevor.

  He leaned forward, letting his gaze wander over her. “And who is this?”

  Objectively she decided the man was handsome. He had that put-together D.C. look that came with sharp suits and expensive haircuts. She now understood that the perfect facade hid the blood on his hands.

  She shifted so he could see her without straining. “I’m the woman you’re trying to kill.”