Chapter 15
Rowan was far too aware of Adalyn as she stood by the closed doors at the back of the cabin, looking onto the deck. The windows had a tinted reflective layer so no one could see in but she could see out. He stared at her profile for a long moment, the sharp lines, her hard jaw as she looked out onto the rough waters.
Somehow he forced himself to look away, to actually work instead of focusing on her. Though part of his focus was always on her, something he just had to deal with. The woman was under his skin, and even that description felt like an understatement. He’d been fighting his attraction to her for months—or more accurately almost a year. He’d managed to compartmentalize what he felt for her when everything had gone to shit. And then he’d reacted like a giant asshole.
Sighing to himself, he shelved those thoughts. He’d just launched another drone and was currently sweeping the grounds while Tiago got closer to the house—mansion?—with his.
He’d made notes of all the security cameras he’d seen and their locations, as well as weak points in the security—and there weren’t many of those, unfortunately. Even the water access had proven to be difficult because of the guards.
Sure, they could infiltrate under the cover of night using diving gear but they’d still have to contend with guards. And they wanted to remain unseen at this point, to plant listening and hopefully visual devices that would give them more info on Ali. Because they had no idea if he was involved in any of this.
Though he was a prime suspect given the timing of his trip to New Orleans.
But getting caught by security would only tip him off so they had to be smart.
“I think we’ve got another group looking at the target,” Adalyn said into the relative quiet.
“Ooh.” Ezra went to stand next to her, brought binoculars. “What do you think, FBI or DEA?” he asked as he handed them off to her.
She paused as she looked through them. “Definitely FBI. The DEA guys I’ve worked with usually look kinda dingy.”
Rowan snickered. “They certainly get into their roles well enough not to stand out as Feds.”
“Yeah and this group looks too clean-cut. They’ve got fishing poles set up but they’re not even into their cover. They’re too busy watching the house.”
“Security crew has certainly noticed,” Rowan said, keeping his drone up relatively high. “Two guys with binoculars out on the top patio. They’re sticking to the shadows but I can see them. No way we’re going to get anything useful here.”
“Maybe with parabolic mics,” Adalyn murmured as she moved to the galley, started rummaging around in one of the drawers. “I’m going to step out and pretend to smoke, see if I can get any images of the Feds. We can get names, see if they’re on a task force.”
He wanted to tell her to be careful, but that was more for himself than her. She was skilled and trained. He was just…protective of her. And after she’d been on top of him, grinding against him in just a skimpy pair of panties, her breasts shoved into his face, a Pandora’s box had been opened in his mind.
Now all he could think about was having her on top of him again, without any clothes, while he made her come. Over and over. God, he wanted to bury his face between her legs and hear her cry out his name, to completely lose control. Because getting Adalyn to let go of her legendary control would be everything. It would mean she finally trusted him again.
“Maybe,” Tiago said.
And Rowan remembered what she’d said about the parabolic mics, had to stay on topic. “With this amount of security, I’m guessing he’s got things in place to combat that.”
“Yeah,” she growled. “We need to bring him out in the open. Make him go where we want him to go, then grab him.”
“You want to kidnap him?”
She paused, so he looked up. “Is that off the table?”
“It’s…I don’t know.” He shrugged. At this point they’d just been trying to figure out if he was behind things and to plant listening devices, but maybe it wasn’t off the table.
“If we can get him to essentially come to us, scoop him up, I can make him talk. And not through torture,” she added when he shot her another look. “Torture is bullshit for the most part.”
He hadn’t thought that was what she meant, but understood the denial considering who she used to work with.
Without another word she stepped out onto the back deck, her phone out, a cigarette lit, and went to sit against the side of the boat facing the house. He could see what she was doing, pretending to look at her phone while she smoked, her face angled down, her sunglasses and wig blocking her face as she took stealth pictures.
“The Feds might run our boat and figure out that the owner isn’t here if they do a deep dive,” Rowan said.
“Yeah, just thought of that,” Ezra murmured. “She’s good. She’s done taking pictures but is finishing her cigarette.” He paused, then cleared his throat. “You’re going to want to be careful with her.”
“And you’re going to want to mind your own business.” Rowan looked back at the screen, refusing to have a conversation with Ezra about Adalyn. He wasn’t talking to anyone about her. Ezra had gotten his heart broken, had left someone behind or something like that. He didn’t know all the details, but he knew that Ezra had never seriously dated anyone, had never really seemed interested in anyone at all. “I see movement at the main gate. Two SUVs being waved in. We need to get out of here soon if the Feds pick up on us. Have you found a way in?” he asked Tiago.
“Yeah, but it’s a risk. One of the patio doors is still ajar.”
“Go for it.” The risk was an acceptable one. Mainly because they weren’t the only ones watching Ali and he could easily assume the Feds tried to use a drone on him.
Though the Feds tended to be more old-school so they very likely wouldn’t. No, that was something the DEA and CIA used. And his team—and they didn’t need a warrant. “I’m going to fly my drone south of here and park it. We’ll grab it once we’re farther away from the Feds.”
“Good idea,” Ezra murmured. “Because they’re eying us. Not too overtly, and probably just trying to get a peek at a hot woman, but one of them is looking over here.”
Adalyn stepped back in then, a rush of wind shoving inside as the sliding door whooshed open. “We should get out of here soon. I got some pictures, already sent to Gage, but one of those guys was looking in our direction.”
“Give me five,” Tiago murmured, working his controller intently.
Rowan set his drone down on a bank of grass in someone’s property that faced the water, then moved to watch what Tiago was doing.
The feed showed that he was inside the house, flying high up in the air, using those high ceilings as cover. Their drones were state-of-the-art and not even on the market yet. They had a 360-degree view and were whisper quiet. And more expensive than he wanted to think about. This was next-gen technology, and on some level, it terrified him that it even existed.
“Should I look for an office to drop off the listening device?”
“Or you could leave it in the kitchen,” Adalyn suggested. “People talk when they’re prepping food, or eating. And he’s got a decent amount of guards. I guarantee they all eat on-site. Or a game room? Office works too but it’ll be more secure. And we’re going to hit his place again so this won’t be our only option.”
“Kitchen it is,” he murmured, zooming over to the connected room.
The audio was currently on silent, but… Rowan snorted to himself. There were four guys in the kitchen, two eating at the island top, one leaning on the countertop talking on his phone while another was cooking something at the stove. The feed moved to one of the higher cabinets, then Tiago worked to position the tiny camera at the right angle.
“Just leave the camera, don’t worry about the angle.” Adalyn was at the back sliding door again, watching the other boat. “Audio is the main thing that matters.”
“I’ll pull up the anchor,” Rowan said, already moving into action.
Adalyn simply nodded as she texted someone, likely Hailey and Gage.
It was time to get the hell out of here.
“The Feds are definitely following us,” Adalyn murmured twenty minutes later as Rowan steered back to the marina.
“They’re keeping a decent distance. I’m guessing they saw the drone leaving after we dropped off the listening device. Maybe realized it was us.” Rowan kept his speed steady as he started to formulate a plan. “When we pass under the bridge and make that final turn toward the marina, I’m going to pull up close to that closed restaurant we passed on the way here. The three of you are going to disembark, then make your way back to the safe house. It’ll be easier for me to get away at the marina than all of us. One person can disappear quicker than four.”
The three of them nodded, though Adalyn frowned even as she helped the others load their gear into backpacks. Then she started working to wipe down all the surfaces they’d touched and then some. The other two joined her as he made that final turn.
“Whatever you’ve wiped down is good enough. Get out of here,” he ordered.
The three of them filed out onto the back deck as he slowed, maneuvering through the shallower water to reach the long deck that stretched out next to a restaurant that had likely once been successful. But time and weather had worn away the shine and left behind a boarded-up building with spray paint, kicked-out boards and overgrown grass and weeds.
“Clear!” Ezra shouted.
He couldn’t see them from his angle in the wheelhouse, but he gunned the engine, putting a little more speed on than he had before.
As he did, he heard or sensed something behind him. “What are you doing?” he growled, not much heat in his voice when he realized it was Adalyn.
“Not leaving you to do this alone. Besides, I’ve got a plan to distract the Feds if they follow us at the marina and we need two people to do it.”
“You’re going to need to learn to take orders better.”
“You’re not my boss.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say something dirty, but he bit back the impulse, swiveled to watch the GPS and screen in front of him. “So what’s your plan?”
“It involves fireworks as a distraction.”
He glanced over his shoulder again, saw her smiling. “Oh, you’re serious.”
Her grin grew wider. “As a freaking heart attack.”