Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
M arti got up and looked out the window. “It looks like the same people, plus a few others.” She whispered, so she didn’t blow the audio away when it was played back.
Caleb looked through the camera lens and then he growled.
Marti was sure he’d seen his brother and wasn’t happy. This had to be the most difficult thing for him. She couldn’t even imagine if she’d seen her brother Luke here. She’d want to do everything in her power to save him, even if it was from himself.
She touched Caleb’s arm. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he shot back.
“Okay, we’ll talk later.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
Looking out again, she saw a truck resembling those old army trucks soldiers would pour out of in the movies. It drove right into the warehouse across the street.
Caleb cursed. “We’ll never see what’s inside or hear them if they all go in like they did last time.”
“What should we do?”
“I have to figure out a way to get into that warehouse without being seen.”
“Or heard.” She knew what he wanted to do was exceedingly dangerous, her heart pounded as her blood raced through her. She pointed to the side of the building. “Look, there is an old fire escape. Could you use that?”
“I could kiss you. That will be perfect. You’ll have to stay here and be very quiet. No matter what happens to me. Don’t engage unless you have no choice. Got it?”
“Yes, sir, boss.”
He took her by the front of the shirt, pulled her to him, and pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss.
She deepened it, wrapping her arms around his neck, and her body pressed flush with his. Marti had never felt like this before. Not even with Vance, and she’d married him. But she’d known almost from the beginning that the marriage was a mistake. She was determined to make it work. It was in her DNA. Her parents, both sets of grandparents, her sister and her brothers, all were in long-term marriages. She was the only one who was a failure. But not this time. She was falling hard for Caleb.
He made her feel things she’d never felt before. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure he could hear it.
Caleb never pulled away. He stayed right there with her, holding her and tilting her head to take the kiss deeper than before.
Marti eased her arms from around his neck and slid them down to his chest. Then she pushed gently. “We can’t do this now.” She pointed a shaky finger at the camera screen. “They are coming toward us.”
He grabbed her hand. “We have to move. Let’s go.” He hurried to the fire escape on this building. It was on the right side of the building, just as the other was. He pulled Marti along.
All she could do was jog to keep up.
When they reached the window, he opened it and quickly climbed out, then he helped her before they both scrambled up the stairs to the roof.
There they waited. Not moving. Not breathing.
“So far they haven’t found the equipment,” Caleb whispered.
“How do you know?”
“This place would be swarming with cops right now if that happened.”
“How would the cops know?”
“I set an alarm, but we need to get the police out here now anyway. If this shipment gets to the street—I don’t even want to think about that.”He reached into his back pants pocket and pulled out his phone.
After a moment, someone apparently answered.
“Malone here. The merchandise is on site. Come in now. Now!” He swiped the phone off. “They’re on their way. Time for us to go back down. Be ready for anything.”
“I didn’t hear anyone leave.”
“At this point, it doesn’t matter. We have to go back inside.”
He walked to the fire escape and climbed down to the second-story window. He climbed through and waited a moment, then helped Marti in through the opening.
They walked across the floor to their equipment.
It appeared to be untouched.
As Caleb began packing up, someone started clapping.
“Very good. Both of you.”
Marti’s pulse raced, and she shook as she stayed behind Caleb and felt him tense.
“Jamison.”
Marti peered around Caleb and stared at the man who was his brother. Jamison’s hair was lighter, but they were about the same height. Caleb was more muscular. Jamison looked thin. His face was more angular and he appeared evil looking to her. His upper lip was curled into a sneer despite his apparent amusement.
“Hello, big brother. And who is your little friend? Let me guess, Marti Parker. I don’t know what she’s doing here, or why she decided to turn to you, but it doesn’t matter now. Neither one of you will leave here alive. So sorry, Caleb. I’ll just have to go back and raise Danny myself.” Jamison raised his pistol.
Marti widened her eyes and opened her mouth to scream.
Caleb dropped to the floor, pulling Marti with him.
Suddenly, boots pounded up the stairs.
Jamison turned toward the sound and lowered his weapon before quickly running past them, heading to the back of the warehouse.
How would they ever catch him now?
Caleb stood and helped Marti to her feet.
She was shaking.
He opened his arms wide. “Come here.”
“He would have killed us both. He’s your brother. How could he even think that? You’re his brother.” She was still shaking and burrowed into Caleb as she registered his warmth.
“Sometimes, to people like Jamison, money and power are more important than family.”
Marti heard a defeated note in his voice. “I don’t understand that reasoning. It’s completely warped.”
“It is.” He rubbed her back, up and down, and then in small circles.
She found it comforting and relaxed.
The quiet moment was snatched away when a tall, redheaded woman barreled over.
“What do you have for me, Malone?”
“Not sure yet. I haven’t had a chance to look at the video.”
“Fine. Let me know as soon as you do.”
“Will do, Renee.”
She walked away and headed toward the rest of her team.
“Is she your boss?” The woman didn’t seem old enough to be in charge of the office Caleb was assigned out of.
He shrugged. “She is. She is the head of the Billings office, which oversees all the other offices in the state. After Billings, the Bozeman office is the largest.”
“Why didn’t you tell her about Jamison threatening to kill us?”
“I don’t want agents going off half-cocked after him for threatening one of our own. It might not happen…probably wouldn’t happen…but I’m not willing to take the chance. I want to bring him in alive.”
She held her hand up palm out. “So, what do we do now?”
“Pack up and head back to the ranch.”
“Do you think this is the end of it? Is your mission over now?”
He shook his head. “Not by a long shot.”
She let out a sigh, fatigue nearly overwhelming her. Marti knew it was just the aftereffects of all the differing emotions she’d gone through tonight, most of which was fear. Her body was trying to right itself and needed rest, or at least a moment or two of normalcy, to do that. “Well, if it’s not complete and we know that at least one principal got away, your brother, I’ll continue to get tips from Rocket. He seems to be as interested in taking down the cartel as we are, though I don’t know anything about him or his background.”
He wrinkled his forehead and clenched his teeth, before huffing out a breath. “It would help if we knew more about him. It might be easier to trust him.”
“Not for me. Maybe if his tips hadn’t all panned out, I would agree, but I have no desire to invade his privacy as long as he’s giving me good information.” She paused and then cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t think you should, either.”
“I can’t promise Renee won’t want to find out more about him. But I’ll try to honor your wishes.”
“Thank you. That’s all I ask.” She looked around and saw that they were alone. Apparently, everyone else had other things to do. Marti reached up and hooked a hand behind Caleb’s neck, then she brought his head down and slammed her lips against his, giving him a hard kiss.
He took control of the kiss, angling her head just so, then cupping the back of her head and anchoring her there. He pressed his tongue against her lips and then tasted her when she opened.
She smiled as he kissed her with passion, like she’d never known. Marti couldn’t wait until they could kiss all they wanted in bed and then explore each other and the undeniable heat that passed between them.
“Let’s get this stuff packed up and get home. I can’t wait to have you in my arms again and keep you there.”
She grinned. “I feel the same.”
They packed all the equipment and trudged the two blocks to Bethany’s dually pickup. After everything was in the backseat, Caleb helped Marti into the passenger seat, and then he hurried around the front of the truck, got inside, buckled up, and turned the key.
Thirty minutes later, they were in the garage at the ranch.
Marti hurried out of the truck and was waiting for Caleb when he came around. Before she could change her mind, she pulled his head down and crushed her lips against his.Though he was surprised, his lips softened, and she felt him smile.
He pulled her close and kissed her back.
When she finally backed away, she smiled up at him while she caught her breath.
“What brought that on?” he asked, as breathless as she was.
“I didn’t want the night to end without you knowing how I feel. Without you knowing how much I care for you.”
“Marti, I…I care for you, too.” He gave her a squeeze and then let her go.
He’s holding something back, but what?
When they headed to their rooms, Marti was upset. She understood Caleb might not be ready for a new relationship, and maybe this one was more for show than not, but she didn’t really want to believe that. They’d told their families. She felt she and Caleb had a genuine connection, but now she also felt fear.
Marti knew she was a little afraid. She hadn’t had an actual relationship with a man since she and Vance split up and she’d moved to Montana. Was she rushing things with Caleb? Maybe they should slow down. Maybe she should slow down.
Caleb walked her to her room. “I’m sorry about tonight. Seeing Jamison threw me. Even though I know he’s involved, I didn’t want to believe it was true.”
They stopped in front of her bedroom door.
He started to turn away.
“Don’t.”
He lifted his shoulders. “What?”
She tilted her head and furrowed her brows. “You know what. Don’t walk away like this. We have things to discuss, that’s true, but shoving them totally away is so wrong. We need to be here for each other. A relationship won’t work if we fold after the first disagreement, though I don’t know that this qualifies as a disagreement.”
He furrowed his brows and lifted his hands palms up. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“That we aren’t giving up, that you still want to see me and my new red dress.”
He grinned. “You haven’t even gone shopping yet. How do you know you’ll have a red dress for tomorrow night?”
Keeping her eyes lowered, she pushed out her bottom lip and looked up at him through her lashes. “I decided I don’t need to go shopping and brought my red dress with me, but you’re not going to see it if we’re breaking up over one disagreement.”
He stepped forward, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her close. “Honey, we aren’t breaking up. We’re having a disagreement. We’ll work it out. I want this to work, but I can’t promise certain things right this minute. I can’t say I love you, because I don’t, but I like you a lot.”
“I like you a lot too. But I don’t love you, either.”She knew the second the words came out of her mouth they were a lie.
“Good, at least we agree on that point. For now, we need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We need to look at the video. I want to see what we got, and I want you to watch it, too. You might see things that I don’t or see them differently than I do because of your perspective.”
“But, except for Jamison, didn’t they arrest most of the cartel members?”
“No. From what I saw we only got low-level members. The head of the cartel wouldn’t bother himself with the day-to-day operations of supply and demand. That’s what he has people like Jamison for. He might be the head of the Bozeman operations, though I still can’t figure that one out, but he reports to someone else…the head of the Montana cartel. Who answers to the Western United States head, and so forth.”
Her shoulders sagged. “I thought we’d stopped them. That they were done in Bozeman.”
“If only it was that easy. I fully expect to start finding bodies because of this fiasco. The cartel lost a lot of product tonight, and that won’t make anyone happy.”
A shiver when up her spine at the thought of dead bodies. That could have been her and Caleb’s fate if Renee had been just a little slower about coming into the warehouse. “Will they kill Jamison? Is his one of the bodies you expect to find?”
He dropped his gaze to hers. “It is. I won’t lie to you. That might be the best way for him right now. It’s death here or death in prison. Those are his only choices. Though he might think death by cop is an option, it’s not. I won’t let my officers get involved in something like that. And, if he thinks I will do him that favor, he’s got another think coming.”
“You don’t really believe that do you?”
Caleb was silent.
Marti’s mouth dropped open. “You do. You believe your brother is mentally unbalanced enough to take his own life. But the man I saw tonight wasn’t unbalanced at all. Instead, he was determined. If he can convince the powers-that-be to give him another chance, he knows it will be the last.
“That will make him desperate. Desperate people make mistakes. He’ll make them, more than one, and you can arrest him after one of those errors in judgment.”
Caleb’s shoulders were stiff and his back straight, like someone had shoved a steel rod down it. “I hope you’re right. As angry as I am, he’s my brother, and though I can’t love him, knowing what he’s done, I don’t want to see him dead in a ditch, somewhere.”
Marti leaned a cheek against his chest. She listened to his strong heartbeat. “And you won’t. I believe he’ll get that chance with the higher-ups. I also believe when he can’t deliver, he’ll most likely lose his life. They’ll order someone else to takeover. Someone who can deliver.”
Caleb closed his eyes.
Pain was etched on his face.
He opened them, and determination took over. “I know but it still hurts he has strayed so far. I feel like it’s my fault for not getting to him before this happened.”
She hugged him tightly. “Caleb.” Marti leaned back enough to see his face. “You listen to me. None of this is your fault. Jamison had the best of everything. You gave that to him, and it wasn’t enough. That’s on him. You don’t see Bethany complaining or finding somewhere else to go. She’s loyal and she’s happy, doing what she loves to do. Working with horses and with kids. I’m convinced she’s the reason Sophie took to riding like she did. I never thought she’d get that good so soon.”
Caleb placed a soft kiss on her forehead and then one on her lips. “We need to get to bed so we can watch that video. I’d like to do it before breakfast, but the kids get up so darn early, it will have to be after.”
“That’s fine, we’ll get more sleep. Sophie knows not to wake me before seven o’clock. If Danny tries to get you before just tell him he can’t wake you before Sophie gets me.”
Caleb chuckled. “I don’t think he’ll let me go back to sleep.”
She understood that Caleb would have trouble trying to force Danny into new habits, but he had to learn, especially if she and Caleb were seriously talking about marriage. They couldn’t have one set of rules for Sophie and one for Danny. “Then he needs to learn.”
Caleb ran a hand behind his neck. “We’ve been doing this for so long, it feels wrong somehow.”
She reached up and cupped his cheek. “It’s not wrong for him to have boundaries. You’ll see, he’ll like it. He’ll understand in no time. Sophie will help him. Trust me.”
“That’s the problem I do trust you.” He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her again, this time lingering and exploring.
She kissed him back with all the passion in her heart. She was falling in love, oh who was she kidding? She was in love with her boyfriend, Caleb Malone, and she wasn’t sure he was ready for that. She’d make sure they kept going slow…for him. She already knew what she felt, but Caleb needed to catch up. She wasn’t about to sleep with him until she knew how he felt. She had to know this was a two-sided relationship. Not just her.
Pulling back, she ran her fingers down along his jaw. “Good night, Caleb. I’ll see you in the morning.” She kissed an index finger and touched his lips, then stepped back, turned, and opened the door to her bedroom, closing it softly behind her.
She stood there for a moment and went over everything in her mind, wondering if she’d done the right thing. She really shouldn’t interfere with how he raised Danny. He was Caleb’s son, and he could raise him how he wanted, but she knew down deep, Danny wanted structure; he needed it. He would become a better man for it and not take the path Jamison did.
Only two reasons she could think of for Jamison to have gotten involved with the cartel—greed and power. What he had wasn’t enough. He wanted everything—Caleb’s money, his businesses and maybe his family, too.
She was as sure of that as she was her own name.Now, if she could just get Caleb to see it and know that nothing Jamison does is Caleb’s fault. But could she or would he always blame himself?