All or Nothing: A Trust No One Novel (6 page)

“Wouldn’t want to ruin your scarf.” He concentrated on her hair as he began to carefully apply the color.

A strained silence invaded the room as the unspoken question hung over them. What would she say if he asked about the scars? It would be best if he knew nothing more about David. Cara worried and waited impatiently for the allotted amount of time to pass before the final rinsing.

Finally he tapped his watch then took her hand and pulled her up. “Lean over the sink.”

“I can handle this part.”

“Just do it. It’ll be faster if I help.”

“All of a sudden we’re in a hurry?”

“It’s always a good idea to stay ahead of the bad guys.” He pointed to the sink.

She thought about defying him, but something told her he’d use whatever means necessary to get what he wanted. Besides, she knew he’d noticed the scars, even though he was polite enough not to comment. As long as he didn’t see the other one. She tugged unconsciously at the hem of her shirt. Sighing loudly, she leaned over the sink. “Have you been in a lot of these situations?”

“A few.”

Fear tingled along her spine. How ruthless was this man? Maybe last night was a slow night for him. What if she regretted forming an alliance with him? Unfortunately, she’d given him her word and it wasn’t her style to back out. She’d see it through until there was justice for Charlie.

He was almost finished when her shirt started to ride up, exposing her lower back. Instantly she tensed and reached to pull the fabric down. She straightened and took a step away from him.

“Hold still. I’m not done.” He pushed her down and knocked her hands away.

She held her breath as he paused and gently lifted the hem of her shirt. In desperation, she twisted free and ducked out from under his arm.

It was too late. It showed on his face.

“We’re done now.”

Joe went chillingly silent. Shock was replaced by anger in his eyes, but the revulsion she’d come to expect was strangely absent. There was something there she liked even less.
Pity.

“I need to rinse the rest of those chemicals out of your hair.” His voice was calm, as though he hadn’t just seen the scar from hell.

“I’ll finish it,” she snapped.

Again, his gaze held hers in silence. Finally, he picked up the towel that had fallen from her shoulders and tossed it to her then left the room. She pulled the door closed and locked it. Humiliation flooded her face with heat. Would she ever get used to it? Tears formed in her eyes. God, she hated crying. It was a frailty she couldn’t afford.

Quickly, she returned to the sink and finished rinsing. She towel dried her short brown hair then completed the job with the motel’s blow-dryer. When she was finished, she had to admit it wasn’t so bad. The dark brown, combined with her blue eyes and tanned skin, added an exotic element to her face. If only her life could be changed as easily as her hairstyle.

She breathed deeply before she opened the door. Thankfully, Joe wasn’t in the bedroom. She threw the last of her toiletries into her bags and zipped them closed. He met her as she stepped into the outer room, took her bags, and set them on the floor. Then he motioned her into the same chair he’d forced her to sit in last night and took his place in front of her.

“Who did that to you?” His eyes blazed with anger.

“Leave it alone, Joe. It’s none of your business.”

“Who did it?” His voice was hard as granite.

“I’m not going to tell you anything.” She jumped up. He caught her wrist, tightened his grip when she tried to twist free, and pushed her back in the chair. She glared at him, rubbing the red marks already forming on her wrist.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Anything that endangers you is my business.”

“Oh right. I forgot. You’re my self-appointed savior. Well, I didn’t ask for your help.”

“No. Charlie did, and I’m going to keep the promise I made. That means you’re going to tell me anything I want to know. Right now, I want to know who put that mark on you.”

The knot in Cara’s stomach made her nauseous and the room seemed to sway. Her pulse hammered in her ears. She didn’t have the strength to fight him. He didn’t care. He was only interested in his precious promise. She hated him in that moment. Him, and Brian, and David, and even Charlie.
Damn them all.

“David,” she whispered.

“Your ex-husband.” Joe didn’t sound surprised.

She couldn’t look at him but felt his gaze settle on her as the silence stretched. Cara knew what was going on in his head. Pity. Contempt. Outrage. She’d been here before.

“That guy must be a real charmer. I think I’d like to meet him someday.”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t.”

He reached out to tip her chin up then gently brushed his fingers along her jaw. “Did he do this too? And this?” His hand dropped to her neck.

She pushed his hand away and brushed angrily at a lone tear that escaped and rolled down her face, blinking furiously to keep the rest at bay.

“Want to talk about it?”

She laughed scornfully.
“God, no!”
The battle lost, tears slid down her face. She had to get away from him. Stumbling back onto the deck, she closed the slider and fell to her knees. Crying would help nothing, but she was powerless to stop the drops that ran down her cheeks and fell from her chin. Nor could she keep from despising Joe for the images that now crowded her mind. Images she would never forget.

David snickered as he backhanded her across the face and knocked her to the floor… he yelped and swore when she jerked his little finger back until it broke and he dropped to his knees, yelling for his bodyguard. His eyes wild, he held his injured hand. He pulled a knife from his pocket. No, David, please don’t, please! He ripped her shirt off and threw her facedown on the bed. His men held her while he punished her. David laughed as he carved the word
bitch
in two-inch letters into the skin of her lower back.

She’d been stupid to think she could inflict more damage than he could. The police were sympathetic, but they weren’t willing to go against the Dennelli family. She never went back. Left her clothes, her car, everything, and ran to Brian as soon as she got out of the hospital. She begged him for a gun that couldn’t be traced and enough money to disappear after she killed the son of a bitch. Brian talked her out of it.

Cara knelt on the deck, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle so she wouldn’t throw up. Sobs came, rolling over her in waves of deep sorrow that went on and on. When the tears finally stopped, she stayed there, kneeling on the deck until the cold sea air and moist fog of the coast worked its way beneath her skin and chilled her. Shaking from the cold, she stood and went back into the room, hoping Joe had given up and gone away.

He hadn’t. He met her at the door with a blanket and a cup of coffee and settled her in a chair by the heater. He rubbed warmth back into her arms and legs, kept her coffee cup filled, and didn’t press her to talk. She appreciated that she wasn’t alone.

When she finally stopped shaking, she shrugged out of the blanket and stood. He handed her a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap with
OREGON COAST
spelled out in sequins.

“We have to go.” He studied her without moving for a moment.

She got the impression he was asking… rather than commanding.

She grabbed her bags and opened the door. He stopped her, taking the luggage.

He smiled, fleetingly reminding her of the man from the casino. “Cara, stop fighting me. I’m on your side. That bastard won’t hurt you again.”

His eyes said he meant what he said, but he didn’t have a clue what David was like. Not even Joe could keep that promise. David would win. He always won. She had to get away from Joe before he became terminally involved with the Dennelli family. Either way, she couldn’t stand him feeling sorry for her. She turned away.

“Don’t pity me.” She bit off each word and winced from the pain she still felt, long after the knife was gone and the wound had healed.

Chapter Five

Saturday, 10:50 am

J
OE FUMED AS
he led Cara down a flight of stairs to the parking lot where he loaded their bags into his rental car then opened the passenger door for her.

“Where are we going?” She rested her hand on top of the car door and turned slightly to look at him.

“I thought we’d have some breakfast. That okay with you?” The moment the words were out, he regretted the brusqueness of his tone. He wasn’t angry with her. He understood where she was coming from. Her ex-husband, however, he didn’t understand. If that SOB were here right now, Joe could pretty much guarantee the man would never bother Cara again.

She didn’t reply, but her chin came up and a glint of stubbornness flashed in her eyes. She was strong, but Joe sensed weariness deep in her soul. For a moment, the need to protect her was overwhelming. Far exceeding his obligation to a friend.

Damn it. He had to get a grip. He couldn’t afford to get personally involved. Why the hell hadn’t Charlie listened? If he had, they’d be done with this now. Sinclair would be in jail, Cara wouldn’t be in danger, and Charlie… would still be alive, free to pursue her and make her his. Joe tensed, angry with himself for the pinprick of jealousy that shot through him. If he wasn’t careful, this job would be his undoing.

He held her door and waited for her to latch her seat belt before he closed the door and crossed to the other side. He slid behind the wheel then started the car and drove out of the parking lot. Glancing sideways at her, the baseball cap pulled low over her eyes, partially covering the boyish cut of her hair, caused his lips to twitch with amusement and banished his annoyance.

“I always seem to come off sounding angry with you. I’m not.” He wished he hadn’t given her those damn dark glasses so he could see her eyes. “It’s just… you’re so hell-bent on going it alone. Surely you realize that’s not possible anymore.”

“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. It’s just really hard for me to trust anyone. If you knew David, you’d understand. You can’t protect me from him.” She laid her head back against the headrest and sighed. “No one can.”

“I get why you don’t trust me, but that has to change if we’re going to help each other. Charlie trusted me. Maybe you could give me the benefit of the doubt?”

“Oh sure. Somehow it doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing the last man who lied to me vouches for your trustworthiness.”

“It wasn’t all a lie, Cara.”

“I’m not buying.”

“You don’t believe me? Charlie was a professional, and he never got involved with a woman undercover… until you. He couldn’t tell you the real reason he was there, but my guess is anything he told you on a personal note was probably true.”

Her chin trembled, and she looked quickly away. Her shoulders slumped under a burden he could only imagine, and he wanted to bear some of it for her. She wouldn’t allow it. This was a woman determined to take care of herself, and doing a lousy job. At least she was talking to him. Maybe he could still salvage something from this chaos.

“Who do you work for?” She sat erect in her seat again, evidently determined to change the subject.

“I guess you could say I’m self-employed. Right now I’m helping Murphy on one of his projects.”

“Who does Murphy work for?”

“ATF.”

“Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms?”

Joe nodded without looking at her.

“So, you’re what? A mercenary? Selling your services to the highest bidder?”

“I’ve been accused of worse.”

“Yeah… probably by me.” She turned away again, staring out the side window in silence.

Joe parked in front of a small diner on the edge of town. Inside, the aroma of frying bacon and fresh coffee assailed him, and his stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten in the past twenty-four hours. Cara looked like she could use a good meal too. He threaded his way through the tables to a booth in the back, where the man he’d arranged to meet them already waited.

“Cara, this is ATF Special Agent Michael Murphy.”

“Oh yeah, the medic, right? The one who drugged me last night?” She removed her dark glasses and scooted into the booth across from Murphy, skewering him with a challenging glare. Joe slid in next to her, suppressing an amused grin as Murphy’s confident demeanor wavered for a fraction of a second.

“That must make you the former Mrs. David Dennelli.” Murphy’s smile didn’t reach his cold gray eyes.

Joe recognized the name and caught himself before he reacted, allowing his gaze to slowly settle on her face. This was the piece he’d been missing. Everything was beginning to make sense now.

A slight hesitation preceded her reply. “Do I know you?”

“No, but I know you, since Joe asked me to find out everything I could about you.” He lifted a file folder off the seat beside him.

She glared as Joe accepted the file. “I would have told you anything you wanted to know.” She spoke through clenched teeth.

“Actually, I didn’t ask him to find out about you.” His gaze held a silent warning for the man across from him. Murphy smiled smugly, obviously enjoying the exchange. “I asked him to find out about your ex-husband—a subject you haven’t been completely forthcoming about. Now I know why.”

“I told you I’d help you get Brian. David has nothing to do with that. What do you want to know about him anyway?”

“Just whether the man has any weaknesses.”

When she’d said Mafia connections, Joe hadn’t realized what an understatement that was. David Dennelli, mobster and one sick son of a bitch, if the rumors were true. No wonder she was scared to death of him. He studied Cara’s white face. How in the hell did she get involved with a creep like him?

Another question bothered him as well. With all the background they had on Sinclair, how had they overlooked his connection to David Dennelli? Joe met Murphy’s gaze. The same question was reflected there. Someone had obviously gone to a great deal of trouble to bury that fact. Why? Prostitution, drugs, money laundering, even human slave trading were rumored to be in Dennelli’s portfolio, but never a whisper of gunrunning.