called your office was I told that Jack Kincaid never worked there?”
His expression dulled and regret flared in his eyes.
“Do you have any idea what that was like for me?” she whispered. “I didn’t know if you were dead or if someone was playing a sick joke, or maybe you just indulged in a quick fuck and were too cowardly to tell me you wanted me out.”
“God, Mia, it wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it like, Jack? I’m waiting.”
Tears streamed down her face. She wiped angrily at them, but they continued to slip down her cheeks. So much grief was bottled up inside her, she felt near to exploding.
He ran a hand through his unruly hair and closed his eyes.
“You’ve changed, Jack,” she said in a low voice. “I don’t know what happened, but you aren’t the same person. Your clothes, your hair, the tattoo.”
He held his hands out and cupped her shoulders. He pushed her gently down to the bed. “Please, Mia, just listen to what I have to say.”
She looked back up at him, waiting.
“I’d been working undercover on a case. I’d been trying to gain access to a large motorcycle gang in southwest Texas. They were one of the largest drug traffickers in the entire South. They had border connections, and their network was so large, so far reaching that they were virtually unstoppable.
“Their connections made it almost impossible for an undercover agent to break in. I’d been trying for a year. We had just about given up when the call came in. I was invited down to Mexico to meet the leadership. We knew this was a huge step. We also knew that while I was there, they’d launch an extensive background check. Uncover every detail of my life since my birth. We couldn’t chance anything. We had to make Jack Kincaid disappear. So I left.”
She stared at him for a long moment then burst out laughing. A wave of hysteria washed over her, and she buried her face in her hands.
“What the hell is so funny?” he demanded.
He reached down and tipped her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“You left. Just like that,” she said helplessly. “Glad I meant so much.”
Jack knelt in front of her, gripping her hands in his. “I lived each day in a hell of my own making, doing things I’m not proud of, things I had to do to bring down a network of criminals.”
She stood up and shook off his hands. She tried to control her anger, her grief. Then she turned around and focused her stare on him.
“Tell me something, Jack. Why didn’t you make sure I knew what was going on? Don’t you think I would have understood? That knowing anything was better than the hell of not knowing whether you were alive or dead or just didn’t give a flying fuck about me? Or maybe you thought you could lay it all out to me after the fact, and I’d forgive you for being so cruel because you’re a fucking hero now.”
He didn’t immediately respond. He looked confused by the question.
“I’ll tell you why you didn’t bother,” she said softly. “Because you didn’t love me. You didn’t care about me.”
He started to protest, but she held up her hand to silence him.
“I’m not playing the martyr here, Jack. I’m facing facts. If you had loved me, if I was important to you, I know you well enough to know you would have moved heaven and earth to make sure I knew something. You wouldn’t have wanted to worry me. You wouldn’t have allowed yourself to leave without me knowing you cared. I mean honestly, would a cop ever just leave without telling his wife?”
“Mia—”
Again she held up her hand. “I’m a big girl, Jack. I may not have always acted like it, but I’m capable of taking care of myself. I’ve spent the last two years hating you when I should have been hating myself for throwing myself at you like I did. I made it too easy for you, and I paid the price.”
Silence crept over them, laying heavy like a blanket over the room.
Finally she broke the silence. “I need to go to work, Jack. I don’t have a choice. It’s not as easy as just picking up and leaving. I didn’t have to run away like a hurt little girl when you left, but I did, and now I have to face the consequences.”
Jack closed the distance between them. He cupped her face in his hands and stared down at her, fury in his eyes.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Mia? What is going on here?”
“Please, Jack,” she whispered. “Take me to my apartment so I can change. I have to do this. I do not have a choice.”
His eyes narrowed and his jaw ticked. “What kind of trouble are you in?”
She closed her eyes, wishing she could tell him. But he couldn’t help her. Telling him wouldn’t change a damn thing.
“Please, Jack. Don’t make me beg.”
He swore violently. “What is that motherfucker holding over you, Mia?”
She felt the blood drain out of her face. He was getting too close to the truth. But then how would he ever guess what she had done?
“What matters is that I get into work. Tonight is important, Jack. If I don’t show up, I’ll be in a lot of trouble,” she said quietly.
He wavered, indecision etched in his face. “All right,” he finally said. “I’ll take you in, Mia. But after tonight, you’re not going back. I don’t give a shit what kind of trouble you think you’re in. This conversation is far from over. After tonight you’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on, and you’re not going to leave anything out. Are we clear?”
Mia sighed in relief.
“I’m going with you,” he added. “I don’t trust that fat fuck as far as I could throw him.”
CHAPTER 8
Jack glanced sideways at Mia as he drove toward the club. He couldn’t believe he was agreeing to this. He should drive right out of town and keep on driving. Take Mia as far from this place as he could.
But he couldn’t do that without finding out what sort of hold Fat Man had over Mia. Whatever it was, Mia feared him deeply.
Tonight, while Mia danced—her last dance—Jack was going to find out what was going on.
She looked tired. And too damned vulnerable. Her words echoed in his memory. She’d delivered the statement that he didn’t love or care for her with so much hurt, so much emotion swimming in those blue eyes that he’d felt gut shot. And he hadn’t even been able to respond, because damn it, she’d been partially right.
That night, the whole episode had seemed like a dream to him. It had happened out of the blue, so unexpected, like one of his most erotic fantasies come to life. He’d fought his feelings and physical reaction to Mia for so long that he hadn’t been able to hold out under her direct assault. And afterward, he’d felt guilty as hell.
A part of him knew that he hadn’t explained to her, hadn’t made her understand about his departure, because he secretly hoped she’d move on with her life and forget about him. If he hadn’t had to leave, he would have taken over her life, possessed her completely, and that wasn’t what she needed.
She was young with her whole life ahead of her. She didn’t need to be tied to a man who’d demand everything of her. Who’d expect her to give herself completely and wholly to him. He couldn’t change who he was for her or anyone else, but he’d be damned if he couldn’t protect her from him. And his needs.
Even now, two years later, his response had been to barge back into her life, take her home and stamp her his. He shook his head. He wanted her, but he knew it wasn’t enough. She deserved more. More than he could give her.
Which left the question of what to do when he got her the hell out of here. Take her back to Dallas? Take up where he’d left off before, watching over her as he had since she was sixteen and homeless?
He pulled into the parking lot of the strip club and shut down the engine. Then he looked over at Mia again.
“This is it, Mia. I mean it. Last night. We’re going to get this over with, and then you’re going to tell me what I need to do to get you out of whatever mess you’re in.”
/> She turned her head, raising her eyes to meet his gaze. There was so much sadness reflected in the blue pools.
“There’s nothing you can do, Jack. This is something only I can fix.”
“Bullshit.”
She opened the door and slid out of the truck. He yanked his keys out of the ignition and followed her to the door. She turned around and put her small hand on his chest.
“Don’t come in, Jack. You’ll only make things worse. If you want to come for the performance, fine. Come back a little later. But if you barge in with me and hang over my shoulder, you’ll only make things worse for me.”
He tensed, every instinct he had screaming at him to go in anyway, to not let her out of his sight.
“I need to know what is going on, Mia.”
She looked down, her glossy blond hair falling over her shoulders. “I’ll tell you everything. Tonight. I promise.”
He nudged her chin up with his finger. “We’ll find a way, Mia. I swear it. No matter how bad you think it is, I’ll find a way out.”
She smiled and reached up to touch his cheek. “Thank you, Jack.”
He stepped back. “I won’t go in until the show, but I’ll be here watching. I want to make sure nothing hurts you.”
She expelled a long sigh. “I’m not in any danger, Jack. There are just things I have to do. Consequences for choices I made. I don’t want you to worry.”
“There’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
She turned around and pushed open the door to the club. She glanced back at him once before closing it behind her.
Jack slowly walked back to his truck. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Mia on her own, but he did need time to do a little investigating. Primary on his list was Fat Man. A guy like that was bound to have dirt piled a mile high in some corner of his universe. It was just a matter of finding it.
He flipped open his cell phone and made a quick call to Kenny.
Mia knocked on Martin’s door and waited for him to answer. He’d demanded she come in early today, despite her late night entertaining his slobbering guests. He’d seemed agitated lately, not that him being hyped up over anything was unusual. She was convinced he had a pretty nasty drug habit. Ironic that he’d saved her from serving a prison sentence for drug possession.
She opened the door when she heard him snap out the command to enter.
His expression brightened when he saw her standing in the doorway.
“Ah, there you are. Good, good. Come in.”
She cocked a suspicious eyebrow at him as he hurried around the desk to greet her.
“Sit down,” he said, shoving a chair at her.
“What’s this all about, Martin?” she asked wearily as she sat down.
He wiped his sweaty brow with a rag then dropped it back onto his desk.
“You, my dear, are the answer to all my problems, just as I was once the answer to all of yours.”
“I seriously doubt that,” she muttered.
“Oh, but you are,” he said, a gleam entering his eyes. “You see, Mia, there is, how shall I put this, much outside interest in a girl such as yourself. I stand to make a tidy profit from auctioning you off to the highest bidder.”
She shot to her feet. “You’re out of your fucking mind! There is no way I’m selling myself off to anyone. I’ve had enough of this. If my alternative is jail, then so be it.”
Martin smiled. The confidence in his smile unnerved her. Made her afraid.
“I don’t recall offering you a choice in the matter. This is no longer about your working off a debt to me, a debt that was fabricated by the way. You see, the good sheriff and I have a little agreement. I pad his pockets, and he, well, he supplies me with suitable girls for my business.”
“You bastard!”
She turned around to storm from the room only to find herself barred from the door by a very large, very formidable-looking man. She hadn’t even heard him come in.
She shrank back, and for the first time felt real fear. It tasted metallic in her mouth. She looked back and forth between the two men in panic.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“The auctioning of slaves to a master is a lucrative business,” Martin began. “A business I’ve been involved in for some time. I hadn’t planned to sell you so soon. You bring in a lot of customers to the club. But you’ve captured the interest of several parties. Several wealthy parties. I find myself in need of a large sum of money. A sum you will certainly fetch once I put you on the auction block. I can always replace you in the club. There’s always a dumb young girl willing to get into trouble.”
His gaze slid over her body, and he smacked his lips in satisfaction. “By the night’s end, you will have a new master, someone who will not treat you as well as I have no doubt, and I will be free from my current money troubles.”
“I won’t do it,” she said shakily. “I won’t agree to this.”
“And again, my dear, you don’t have a choice.”
She felt a prick in her shoulder, and she whirled around to see the man who’d stood in the doorway holding a syringe in his hand. The room swirled and blurred in her vision. Then she felt her legs give out as she sagged to the floor.
CHAPTER 9
Jack settled into his chair and took a swig of his beer. He tried to act casual, but his nerves were on edge. His call to Kenny had been productive. Maybe. It could mean something or it could mean nothing at all.
The little town Mia had settled in was not known for being the center of justice and the American way. The Texas Rangers had been investigating the local sheriff’s department for a year, but so far had been unable to uncover anything concrete. But the alleged connection between the sheriff and one Martin Lindelle was enough to make Jack’s internal radar leap off the scale.
Then there was the fact that a six months ago, Mia had been pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy. No charges filed, no suspicion of wrongdoing, and yet suddenly Mia decided to stay on when she’d professed to be driving through. And ironically enough, she went to work for the man rumored to have an illegal connection to the sheriff.
It got more interesting and coincidental by the minute, and Jack didn’t put much stock in coincidence. All he knew was that he wanted to get Mia out of town as soon as possible.
He drummed his fingers on the table and checked his watch. Mia should have been on by now. Instead another stripper was ten minutes over her routine and the crowd knew it.
Movement in the hallway across the room focused Jack’s stare on the doorway. He saw Martin amble forward and peek out as if searching for someone in the room.
Jack stood up and donned his best asshole sneer. It was something he’d perfected during his time undercover with the Sons of Sin. He walked casually across the floor toward Martin. As he drew near, Martin looked up.
“You’re looking for Mia?” Martin asked in a calculated manner.
Jack allowed his expression to grow dark. “Yeah, I’m not happy with last night’s arrangement. Bitch snuck out on me after knocking me out cold.”
Martin’s eyebrow shot up in surprise.
Jack slid his shirt upward, just enough that Martin caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his abdomen.
“I’m not used to being ripped off. I’m not happy about it at all. What kind of scam are you two running anyway? You collect the money and she rips off the customer?”
Martin’s eyes were fixed on the tattoo. Jack knew he recognized the symbol. He should. It had been on TV enough lately.
Martin ran a nervous hand through his hair. “I didn’t know she skipped out, I swear it.”
“Where is she?” Jack growled. “We have unfinished business.”
Sweat beaded on Martin’s forehead. He licked his lips nervously. “She’s not, well, she’s not here, exactly.”
“What do you mean ‘exactly’?” Jack’s voice dropped to a