Chapter 10

Coming out of the little shop, Alec scowled at the sidewalk. Nothing on this stop, the fourth one, and her last option. If there was really a plan in progress to snuff her ass, then why didn’t any of her top informants know dick about it? She walked to the curb and tried to think of any place else she could try. It had to be a tight group if no word was leaking to the streets. Reaching up, she tightened her ponytail and then dropped her hands and tucked them into her jeans. There were a few more places she could try but then she’d be late for work and she didn’t want to miss the chance of smacking Bill’s head off his desk for screwing up her bust.

Turning, she paused when the hair on the back of her neck stood up. This feeling of being watched had been bugging her since she left her place. Pulling out her phone, she dropped her jaw like she was looking down at it and then glancing out of the corner of her eye checked out the reflections in the windows of the shops. She couldn’t see anyone. Great now I’m paranoid. Tucking the phone in her pocket, she started walking quickly to where she’d left the car.

Half a block later, her stomach was clenched, and that feeling was back and grating on her nerves. Without second guessing herself again, she stopped and turned around to face the other way. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement and froze. Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at the display in the window and searched for the reflection she needed to see. Bingo. That’s the same guy that was hanging around at my building this morning. So, who are you? I think an introduction is in order.

Feeling better that she wasn’t losing it; she slowly started to walk again. She knew this area pretty well and just had to find the right place to meet her shadow. Spotting the Two for One store, she smiled, they had a side entrance as well. Now, hopefully, the guy on her boot heels thought like every other lowlife out there and would hover at the corner and watch the front door.

Adrenalin pumped through her at lightning speed as she walked through the store at a leisurely pace while heading to the side door. She’d missed her workout this morning so a little tussle with this guy would qualify as one, at least in her books.

Pushing the side door open, she held it to make sure it didn’t make a sound as it closed. Leaning her head out of the little stoop, she checked to see if her guy was predictable. With a grin she stepped down, he was right where she thought he’d be. Checking the asphalt to make sure there wasn’t anything she shouldn’t step on, she moved soundlessly toward him. He almost looked bored, leaning half his body against the wall at the corner so he could see the front entrance.

Flexing her hands a few times, she sized him up when she was only a few feet behind him. He wasn’t huge by any means, but he was big enough that if she gave him an inch, he’d get the upper hand. There was no time for doubt; she knew the drill to this.

Taking the last two steps in a rush, she slammed her body into his and shoved him against the brick. Grasping the back of his head with one hand, she ground her elbow into his kidneys and kicked his legs wider. The guy grunted when his face hit the wall. “You better only be tailing me because you like watching my ass,” she growled near the side of his head, “you have about two seconds to explain before I get really crabby.”

With a frustrated sound, he completely relaxed in her hold. “Check my ID.”

“Where?” She wasn’t going to fall for this complacent move.

“Back pocket,” he sighed like he was annoyed she was bothering him.

Looking down, she spotted the outline of his wallet. “Reach really slow and pull it out for me.” She might want this guy in a bad way, but she knew better than to help herself to anything on his person. Bracing for trouble if he made the wrong move, she eased back enough to let him awkwardly reach his pocket. With a finger and thumb on the wallet, he held it toward her. Releasing his hair, she took it and flipped it so it would open. Staring at her in the black leather was a badge, one that looked the very same as her own.

Frowning, she released him completely and stepped back. Looking at the wallet again, she shook her head. “You’re narcotics? Why the hell are you following me?”

Straightening away from the wall, he flexed the wrist she’d twisted and rubbed the side of his face. He took the wallet she held out to him and sighed. “I was asked to keep an eye on you.”

Alec felt her breath seize in her lungs. “What? By who?”

Sighing, he leaned back against the wall and looked at her with embarrassment on his face. “Reid Merritt.”

She studied him for a second more, barely seeing him as her vision was hazed over in anger. “I don’t need a babysitter.” Turning, she headed back to the street.

“They’re only concerned about you...”

Waving him off, she took off running to her car.

The door slammed so hard it rattled the desk Ian sat at. Clutching the pages that had scattered onto his lap, he turned slowly to see who had stomped into the room. Alec stood there with her hands on her hips glaring at the two men leaning over a table of folders. Brent and Reid straightened slowly and looked at her. Ian didn’t have to even try to listen in on anyone’s thoughts; the expressions told him all he needed. Whatever the men had done, they knew they were about to get hell for it.

“You two are having me tailed?” Alec’s voice was shaking with rage as she almost whispered so quietly Ian barely heard her from a few feet away.

Brent glanced at Reid for a second and then looked back at her, his spine straight like he was preparing for an attack. “Yes.”

“Do I look like I need babysitting?” she demanded.

Reid crossed his arms over his chest and looked her up and down. “No. You look like the detective that someone is targeting.”

“We only wanted you to have a backup on hand should you need it,” Brent added. He sounded convincing to Ian, but with the way Alec’s back stiffened he doubted she was going to see it that way.

“Besides the fact that you are wasting taxpayer’s money by tying up one of our guys while he’s slinking around corners everywhere I go,” she growled and then huffed out a breath. “I do not need any damn backup. I can handle shit for myself and you both know that.”

“The captain approved it,” Reid said matter of factly, which surprised Ian that he of all people played the superior card.

Growling again in frustration, Alec threw her arms up and then slapped them back down against her legs. “Whatever! Since when do we run to the Captain over something as stupid as this?”

“The tail stays in place.” Brent crossed his arms and gave her a look that dared her to argue.

Setting the folders on the desk, Ian debated on getting up and stepping into this. Her life wasn’t something stupid. Before he could move, she spun around and her pale eyes locked on him.

“Did you know about this?” she stomped over and stood in front of him.

Why step in when you can be dragged in? Standing slowly, he continued to watch her carefully. “No, but I agree with your co-workers. You should have someone close by in case something happens.” A noise he couldn’t describe came from her, all he knew was she was seething now, and he was the one in the direct line of fire. How the hell did that happen?

“As if your opinion matters. I’m sorry, did you grab some certificate off the internet saying you know how to be a cop all of a sudden?”

He tried hard not to notice how appealing she looked when she was flushed with anger. “No. It’s common sense actually; I believe I was born with it.”

“Common sense?” She stepped closer and squinted at him. “So you’re saying I don’t have any and should concede to this ridiculous plan and have someone shadow my every step? Or maybe you think I’m just some little woman that might get all scared and faint if some slime bucket makes a move on me.”

It was as if a switch flipped inside him and his entire mood went from agreeable to pissed off in a second’s time. “I’m not saying any of that,” he closed the short distance between them and stared down at her. “What I am saying is your life has been threatened,” he said quietly through clenched teeth, “and it wouldn’t hurt to take a few extra precautions until you have a lead to follow.”

She didn’t back down from him. “It’s a waste of time.”

It dawned on Ian that he actually cared what happened to her. Not that he was cold, obviously he cared, or he never would have come to them in the first place, he really cared and had no idea what to do with that. “So, your life is a waste of time?”

Alec frowned. “I didn’t say that.”

“You implied that having Brent and Reid look out for you and your well-being is a waste of time.”

“Don’t twist my words.”

Never had he wanted to shake someone before, this was a first and not something he liked. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. “Maybe they just want to make sure you’re safe, Alec...”

“Do I look like a meter maid or someone with no training?”

Several replies came to mind, but he couldn’t bring any of them to voice. Frustration mixed with his anger and all he knew was he needed to get the hell out of there before he said or did something he’d regret because that had been happening far too much lately. Without taking his eyes off her, he took a step back. “I’ll leave you professionals to this. I need some air.” Spinning on his heel, he went to the door and was out it before anyone else could say a word.

He almost ran through the station to get outside and away from people. In any sort of heightened mood, he picked up more thoughts around him and he couldn’t deal with that right now. As he shoved out through the last door, he took a ragged breath and tried to find some sense of calm.

She was the most frustrating woman he’d ever met and that didn’t even include the fact that he couldn’t tap into her thoughts. Someone was gunning for her and not just an ordinary punk but someone that was involved in organized crime that didn’t care about the laws of modern society or have any morals to speak of.

He paced to the side of the building and stood in a shadowed recess of a doorway. Should he even care that she had no self-worth or preservation? No, he shouldn’t but he did, and why the hell that was he had no clue at all. Somehow, she’d managed to get under his skin and there was no shaking her. Leaning back against the wall he glared at the ground and wished for a cigarette. Why had he quit again? The reason eluded him at that moment.

“Hey!”

Ian looked up to see the cause of his frustration stomping with a determined stride toward him, those long legs chewing up the distance between them with a grace only she possessed. He waited until she was close enough before speaking. “Not now, Alec,” it was the only warning he was prepared to give her and hoped she would heed his tone.

She kept coming and didn’t stop until she was breathing in the same space he was. Her eyes were shooting darts at him. “I wasn’t finished talking to you...”

“I was.” He tried to remain calm and keep his back against the wall, his hands at his sides.

“Too bad,” Alec glared at him. “You can’t just dismiss me like I’m some lowly piece of...”

“I didn’t dismiss you, I left before I said something I’d regret.” She needed to leave. Now.

She snorted. “Like I care.”

As she angled a little closer to him, he tried not to inhale the scent of her shampoo, that for the strangest reason was like breathing in an aphrodisiac for him. His hormones joined the collage of anger and frustration inside of him and he was losing ground on keeping things under control.

“I will admit some of that shit you said in there had a little merit, but what I don’t get is what is it to you?”

Ian counted to ten inside his head, hoping the inclination to act on his thoughts left. Now wasn’t the time and this wasn’t the place. When she raised her eyebrows at him, the look demanding an answer with fire in her eyes he lost the grip on his control. He palmed the back of her neck and jerked her into his body, spinning them so she was pinned to the wall; he crushed his mouth down on hers.

He half expected to get his ass kicked for pulling something like this with her, but instead, she pushed into him and kissed him back with such heat he was sure his lips were going to be singed from it. This was not going to help the situation, and he knew he should stop but the way she was melting into him made all logic fade. Every curve he was dying to explore molded perfectly against his body. Pinning her with his hips, he reached around to grasp that ass that had been driving him crazy for the last week, a car door slammed, and reality hit him in a flash. Lifting his head, he rested his forehead against hers and tried to find his breath to say something. Lust-filled eyes opened and looked back at him, her breathing as ragged as his own.

Slowly he made his fingers release her as he eased his throbbing groin off her warmth. His conscience was kicking in again and he knew he had to somehow right this without doing more damage. With the risk of the job he was taking on he had to get away from her for her own safety. “If this were another time...” Unable to stop himself, he brushed his lips lightly over hers. “We’d finish this.”

Ian watched as he exhale slowly, the passion clearing from her eyes. Regret filled him. “I can’t...” She stepped to the side out of his reach. “This was...” Alec huffed out a breath. “The adrenalin from being so pissed off...”

Part of him wanted to say what the hell as she wrote it off as a fluke, but he gritted his teeth and nodded. “No harm, no foul?” Shaking her head quickly, she reached up and tightened that damn ponytail, he wanted to pull the elastic from it and watch her hair fall around her face. Needing to add some space between them, he moved back out of the small sheltered entrance. “All right. I’ll go back and see if we can’t find someone for you to arrest.”

Her smile was weak as she nodded again. Dragging his eyes from her lips, he spun on his heel and took long strides in the other direction all while saying a silent mantra reminding his hormones of his objective.