Page 12

P ale sunlight leaked beneath the blinds and Jake, still half asleep, rolled over. He reached across the bed, but found nothing but cold sheets. Opening his eyes, he saw Livvy in the other bed, still sound asleep.

He flopped onto his back and swallowed hard. That had been a hell of a dream. He glanced at Livvy quickly, then dragged his gaze away from her sleeping, still figure. She’d apparently kicked at the sheet and blanket in her sleep, exposing the thin, worn T-shirt she wore. It didn’t leave much to his imagination, and the realization that he was being a creeper made him drag his gaze away from the other bed.

Staring up at the ceiling, he counted the sprinkler heads to try and erase from his brain images from his dream -- he and Livvy twined together on his bed. He already knew how Livvy tasted. He wondered how soft her skin would be. Wondered if she’d shiver when he smoothed his palm over her bare skin. Wondered if she’d taste as good if his lips and tongue were somewhere other than her mouth.

He rolled onto his side, putting his back to Livvy, but it didn’t help. He heard her breathing in the quiet room, heard her legs move against the sheets with a soft rustle. Heard the tiny sound she made, deep in her throat, as if she were dreaming of something sexy. Something arousing.

Enough . Jake slid out of bed, grabbed clean clothes and hurried into the bathroom without looking at Livvy again. He closed the door and contemplated locking it -- not to keep Livvy out, but to keep himself from stepping back into the room and sliding onto that bed with her. Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against him.

Closing his eyes, he banged his head against the door. Livvy probably slept with her gun. And if he slid into that bed with her? She’d probably pull it out and use it on him.

He turned the water on in the shower, setting it so cold it would probably shoot out ice cubes. Exactly what he needed to get control of himself. While the water got sufficiently cold, he brushed his teeth. Then stepped beneath the ice-cold spray.

Ten minutes later, shaking with cold but all thoughts of Livvy erased from his head, he stepped out of the shower. Dried off and got dressed, then drew in a breath and slid the bathroom door open as slowly and quietly as possible.

As he exited the bathroom, he tossed his dirty clothes into his suitcase on the table. Grabbed a clean pair of socks, sat on the couch and pulled them on, followed by his shoes. Then, without looking at Livvy in that bed, he pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his emails.

Livvy’s sheets rustled, like she was moving around in bed. He forced himself not to look over at her. Desperate for something to do with his hands that didn’t involve touching Livvy, he walked over to the coffee maker and programmed a cup for himself. He dumped in one of those little cups of creamer, then swallowed too quickly. It burned his mouth and all the way down his throat, but that was okay. It took his mind off Livvy.

“You must be desperate for coffee, gulping it down that way,” Livvy said, her voice still raspy with sleep. “Didn’t that burn your mouth?”

“Didn’t notice,” he said, refusing to turn around and look at her. He waved a hand at the bathroom. “It’s all yours,” he said. “I already took a shower.”

“Thanks,” she said. He heard the swish of the sheets sliding against her skin, then the almost silent padding of her feet as she walked to her suitcase. Clothing whispered as she searched through her bag, then she walked past him, leaving the faint trace of her flowery scent behind. When the bathroom door slid closed, Jake dropped onto the couch. Gripped the coffee cup tightly in one hand as he navigated through his phone with the other. He saw the news stories but couldn’t have said what they were about.

When Livvy opened the bathroom door again, a cloud of fresh-smelling steam wafted into the room. Surrounded him with the faint scent of Livvy mixed with the same soap he’d used. “Any more of that coffee?” she asked.

“I’ll get you a cup. What do you like?”

“Nothing fancy. Plain coffee, plain cream.”

“You got it.” Without looking at her, he programmed the coffee maker, and when her cup was brewed, he carefully emptied a tiny container of cream into it. “One cream or two?” he asked without looking at her.

“Two, please,” she said, and he heard her bed springs pling.

Moments later, also wearing shoes and socks, she sidled up beside him. He handed her the cup of coffee he’d prepared, and she murmured her thanks. Brought the cup to her mouth and moaned. “Oh, God, that’s good,” she muttered.

Jake closed his eyes, unable to look at her. Based on the sounds she’d made, she was really enjoying that cup of coffee. And that was something he definitely didn’t need to see. He was having a hard enough time controlling himself around Livvy.

Clearing his throat, he said, “Want to order breakfast?”

“Hmm,” she said, and he realized she was right behind him. “Maybe we should go out for breakfast. See if we can spot any of those Bratva guys, eating while they strategize their day.”

He finally turned to face her. “You sure that’s a good idea? What if they know what I look like? What if Nelson sent them a picture? I’d rather they not know that I’ve got a backup with me.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily be your backup,” Livvy said. “When I met with my Bratva guys a few months ago, there were no women around. The women were in the butcher shop and the delis. They don’t expect women to be in positions of authority. I think it makes them… uncomfortable.” Her lip curled. “As if a woman in authority is a threat to them.”

Jake let his mouth curl into a half-smile. “In the case of the Bratva group you visited, you were a threat to them. Which is probably why you were able to get away without being hurt. Or killed. They weren’t expecting you to be proactive. Smart. Clever.”

Livvy shrugged. “Yeah, well, if these guys talked to my guys, they’d get the scoop from them. ‘Don’t turn your back on her. Watch her the whole time.’” She shook her head. “They see me with you? They’re not going to underestimate me, unfortunately.”

Jake digested what she’d said and finally nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right. So I guess it’s room service for breakfast.”

“Yeah, unless the hotel has a dining room.”

Before she was finished talking, Jake was shaking his head. “Not going down to the dining room,” he said, his voice flat. “Too many eyes down there. For all we know, they’ve sent men to all the hotels in the area, watching for me. So they know where I am in case I get away from them.”

Livvy frowned. Opened her mouth to respond, then shut it again. Finally sighed. “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking strategically. The last thing we want to do is clue them in on where we’re staying. So I guess it’s room service.”

“Yeah.” Jake leaned closer. “This way, we’ll have in-room entertainment. We can listen to the feed from the cameras in the office while we eat breakfast.”

“You gonna take notes? Or do you want me to do it?” Livvy asked.

“I’ll take notes,” Jake said easily. “You listen for other sounds in the office. Things that might give us a clue to their intentions.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Livvy drew a deep breath. “You want to order something?”

Jake grabbed the room service breakfast menu. Handed it to her. “You first.”

Five minutes later, Livvy ordered French toast with bacon for herself, and an omelet with a side of bacon for Jake. When she put the phone down, she said to Jake, “Twenty minutes.”

“That works,” he said. “While we wait, do you wanna get a look at the cameras I installed in my office? See if we have any action there?”

“Yeah.” Livvy’s face brightened. “Sounds like a great idea.”

Jake pulled out his laptop and opened the camera app. Moments later, he got four real-time videos of his office, one from each camera. No one was there. It looked exactly like he’d left it.

“I’m gonna scroll back to when I installed the cameras yesterday,” he said. “Look at every moment of the recording.”

“Yeah. Let’s see if Nelson or Windsor or someone else took the bait.” Livvy said. She slid onto the couch beside him, and he could smell the soap she’d used in the shower. As well as that tart, citrusy scent he always associated with Livvy.

Instead of allowing himself to be distracted by Livvy sitting so close to him, Jake focused on reviewing the video for any sign of someone in his office. He’d scrolled through the afternoon and into the evening, when one camera registered his office door opening. He looked at the timestamp on the video.

“See that?” he said. “Ten p.m. No one’s usually in the office at that hour unless there’s something urgent we’re working on. By ten, pretty much everyone is gone.”

“Not everyone,” Livvy said quietly as she stared at the screen.

As the door swung open, both Jake and Livvy eased closer to the computer, waiting to see who the intruder was. Her scent swept over him, but he was able to ignore it as they saw a man step into his office. The man kept his head down as he slid into Jake’s chair. Opened the drawer and took out the computer. Not until he looked at the computer screen could they see his face.

Livvy elbowed Jake. “Fred Windsor. You were right. Let’s see what he does.”

They watched him type in Jake’s ID and password, and the screen opened. Windsor reared back as he stared at a blank screen. Frowning, he pressed several keys. When nothing happened, he picked up the computer and turned it over, as if looking for a reason that it wasn’t giving up its content.

After about twenty minutes, when he wasn’t able to access anything, he slammed the lid down and shoved it back into the drawer. Then he stood up and stormed out of Jake’s office. He slammed the door closed, then opened it again, reached in and turned off the light, probably because he knew a light left on would raise questions when Jake got back to his office. They watched for another twenty minutes, but he never came back. Neither did anyone else.

“You think someone could get a fingerprint from the doorknob inside your office?” Livvy asked. “He wasn’t wearing gloves.”

“I noticed that, too,” Jake said. “I’ll call Diana right now and tell her what we saw. Suggest she get someone over to collect fingerprints from my computer and door.”

“Great idea,” Livvy said. “You want me to call her while you shut down your feed?”

“Yeah, thanks. Go ahead.”

Livvy pulled out her phone, and Jake heard her talking to Diana. “Yes,” she said. “We just looked at the feed from Jake’s office. Fred Windsor was at Jake’s desk, using his computer.” She smiled. “He seemed quite frustrated when he couldn’t find any files on it.”

She listened for a long moment, then said, “Thank you, ma’am. We appreciate that. We have the video of Windsor breaking into Jake’s office, but fingerprints would really seal the deal.”

Livvy finally said, “We installed cameras in the office where Jake’s supposed to meet members of the Bratva team.” She listened for a moment. Finally said, “Yeah, we had an exciting twenty minutes or so. A group of men came into the building while we were still there. Fortunately, Jake found a fire escape ladder on the roof of the next building over. We used that to get away. We’ll monitor the Bratva meetings today and tomorrow. Make sure it’s gonna be safe for Jake to meet with these guys.”

She paused to listen, then nodding her head. “Yeah. If we don’t like what we hear, Jake’s not taking the meeting. We’ll keep you posted.”

Livvy ended the call, then looked at Jake. “She’s gonna get a fingerprint tech over to your office today. They’ll collect prints from the door and your keyboard. When they match Windsor’s, that should seal the nail in his coffin.”

Jake’s eyes held hers for a long moment, then he said, “I don’t think Nelson and Windsor could come up with all this by themselves. There’s got to be someone higher up the food chain who’s coordinating this.”

“I agree,” Livvy said. She bit her lip. “Nelson and Windsor couldn’t set this up by themselves. Frankly, they’re not that bright. There’s someone higher up who’s involved. The question is, how do we catch him or her?”

Jake leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and sighed. “I have no idea. I suppose they could arrest Nelson and Windsor, press both of them for the name of the other people involved. But I’m pretty sure neither would give up their boss. They’re probably afraid they’ll be killed if they do.”

Livvy frowned. “Yeah. And they’re probably right. They squeal and they’re dead men. But Diana must have people who could tail them. Watch them 24-7. She could probably even get a warrant to bug their houses and cars. Put cameras with audio feeds into their houses. See who they meet with and what they discuss. Unless they’re super careful and only meet outside. In a public place.” She frowned. “Not sure what you do in that situation.”

“Not our problem to solve,” Jake said. “We’re pointing her in the right direction. Diana has to be the one who figures out how to keep tabs on them. How to ensure they’re caught with enough incriminating evidence to put them away forever.”

Livvy slumped back against the couch. “Knowing who’s behind it is good. But it still doesn’t tell us why you and I were targeted. What did we see or hear that made us targets.”

“No idea,” Jake said. “But I’m guessing that if Diana can get bugs set up in their homes and cars, if she can have agents tailing them, something will click. Because if we knew why they wanted to kill us, that would also tell us what they’re trying to hide.”

“Yeah,” Livvy said. “Easy to speculate. But until we have solid information, Windsor and Nelson are free to do whatever they want.”

“If anyone can get it done, Diana can,” Jake said.

Livvy shook her head. “She’s still got to follow the rules. And Windsor and Nelson don’t,” Livvy pointed out. “They can do whatever they want.”

“Diana has a lot of power,” Jake said. “I’m betting she’ll figure out a way to nail those two guys. And figure out who’s working with them.”

“I hope so,” Livvy said. She glanced at the clock on her phone. “Time to tune in to our other Russian buddies and see what they have planned for you tomorrow.”