Unquenchable Desire (23 page)

“Maybe we could take the women along and let them be
the lookouts or something.”

“When you identify the host body we’ll set a trap, not
before.”

“That’ll be too late. We have to play with the skimpy
cards we’re dealt. But if you need me to choose someone, it’s Rory. I have a
strong feeling about him. I got the distinct feeling he knew
me
before we met. And I get bad vibes
from him.”

“Maybe you get bad vibes because you both want my
Valerie.” Damon frowned and dropped into his chair. “You fought with the wolf
in the barrio. Why can’t you identify him?”

“Excess hair and werewolf features masked his human
facial structure, but not his quarterback build. Rory knew Valerie was CEO of
the foundation, and somehow he found out about
Kindra
and her mother. The more I think about it, the surer I am it’s him.”

Damon eye-balled him,
his stare piercing, skeptical.
“What about Kyle?”

“He’s not in the running. He’s too
slender and amenable. I’ll prove it’s Rory, if you let me set him up.”

“By using Valerie
as bait.”

“Yes, Sir.
But all of us working together can keep her safe. I promise you on my life, I
personally won’t let anything happen to her.”

A vein throbbed in Damon’s jaw. “You
haven’t convinced me.”

“I’m sorry about that, Sir. Real
sorry, because I think Valerie will do this with or without us, and I’d rather
be with her than have her leave me out of the loop.”

Damon shot out of his chair, his
face flushed. “That sounds like blackmail. Maybe she’s the one who needs to be
locked in a steel cage. And you with her.”

“Not cool, Sir. Then she’d be a
sitting duck for an attack. And if we’re both locked in a cage—”

“Brian, have you ever killed a man
before?”

“No, Sir.”

“Well, I have. It eats at your soul
and you’re never the same again. I still have nightmares about it.”

Brian’s heartbeat accelerated. “I’ve
thought long and hard about the potential damage to my soul, Sir.” Brian forced
himself to hold Damon’s gaze and suddenly felt the man’s anguish clear to the
pit of his stomach. In that moment, he felt he knew Damon Lamont…really knew
him. And oddly, he felt their shaky bond tighten.

Brian took a gulp of coffee to
moisten his aching throat. “I tried to analyze everything. I mulled over what
Momma Maggie might think about me planning a murder. She’d undoubtedly advise
me to follow the Bible—
Thou shall not
kill.
But for Valerie, and the rest of you who have taken me in and treated
me more or less like family, I’m prepared to face the repercussions of my sin. The
way I see it, the resurrected Reeves intends to kill this whole family and has
already killed so many innocent people in the community. He must be stopped. I
view the deliberate plan to kill him like going to war against a deadly enemy
and as they say, in war there are casualties.”

Damon leaned back in his chair. “I’ve
been lucky. Angela has understood the damage to my soul and has stuck with me
through thick and thin. But what if after you damage your soul for Valerie, she
can’t accept the anguished, damaged man?”

“I’ve thought about that, Sir. But
to save her life, I’m willing to gamble that her love is as deep and binding as
mine.”

“I hear little passion in your
voice. With your religious background and unique rearing, how do I know when
the chips are down, you’ll have the killer instinct?”

“All men have it to different
degrees, Sir. But Valerie has become my reason for living—I’ll meet the devil
face to face to keep her safe.”

“In a way, you already have.
Reeves is
the devil’s creation. You’ve already fought him
once. Why didn’t you kill him then?”

“I hadn’t made the decision to
kill. But after the attack at the foundation and Valerie’s determination to end
all this, I see that to save her I must be a part of his eradication, even if
it means I have to do the actual killing.”

“Reeves
has
all his own knowledge and skills plus those of Lazar and his present host-body.
That’s like taking on three men. Are you prepared for that?”

“I’ve fought more than three
before.” Brian felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck prickle. “And I’ll
have backup, right, Sir?”

“Would you still go through with it
if you didn’t?”

Brian’s throat went dry. He
suddenly felt like a lone man in a leaking raft, bobbing in the middle of the
ocean with no land in sight.
“For Valerie…her family…and the
community, yes, Sir.”

“Damn it. This is against my better
judgment. But go ahead. Set it up.”

Brian felt no elation over the
victory. This was the most terrifying responsibility of his life and if he
failed, the woman he loved would die.

****

Brian spotted Valerie waiting out
by the pool for him. His heartbeat did double-time at the sight of her sitting
on the edge of the sparkling aqua-marine pool, looking like a Goddess. Wind
lifted strands of her lemony blonde hair while the sun danced ribbons of gold
through it. The profile of her slender curves was enough to drive any man wild.

Gesturing the O success-sign with
his finger and thumb, he rushed forward and dropped down beside her. “We got
the okay from your dad.”

“I suspected you were a slick
salesman.” Her cactus-green eyes with sunny flecks of silver glinted with joy.

He wanted to kiss her so damned
bad, but first he had to make her understand the seriousness of the plan and lay
out the ground rules. “This is just the first hurdle. To move ahead on the
plan, we must handle the setup like a statistics problem by establishing certain
assumptions. Based on previous behaviors, we’ll assume the evil werewolf,
Reeves, is most likely Rory.”

Brian thought he saw of tremor go
through her. Then she confused him by wriggling closer. She met his gaze. “Good
assumption.”

“Your Dad has agreed to use you as
bait. But only if you promise to follow all the rules we set out without
exception or deviation.”

She slowly drew her pink tongue
across her lips and inched toward him until their hips touched.
“Done.”

He didn’t like how quickly she
agreed or how out of control she made him feel. “Are you listening carefully?”

She stroked his thigh.
“Memorizing every word, my sexy
wolfman
.”

“Good. This is important. One of
the rules is to tempt him without letting him get too close. If he steps forward,
you take two steps backward. Stay in plain sight at all times.”

She leaned forward until he felt
her breath on his lips. He yearned to succumb to the lure of her poorly-timed
flirtation. He fought the tension building between them as they stared into one
another’s eyes.
 
Her gaze darkened. Was
it from anxiety or smoky passion? Unable to stand the escalating torture a
second longer, he captured her lips and delved into her mouth, putting his
whole heart into the blissful scrutiny. She trembled. Out of desire or raw fear
about the plan? He thrust her away. “Now isn’t the time for this, Valerie. We
need a meeting of the minds before we explore the meeting of our bodies. Each
step is critical.”

She pouted, but her sidelong look
told him she was teasing him, perhaps to cover her unease. The poor kid was
probably scared to death and he was too caught up in making the plan work to
realize her brave, flirty front was just a façade.

****

Brian set up a few small meetings
with the critical people before he set the plan in stone. Valerie had to be
present each time because she was the key to everything. Immediately after
dinner, he requested a meeting with her parents. They gathered in the den away
from the others over coffee. Damon and Angela’s serious, uncertain expressions
warned Brian that his sales job was far from over.

Angela tucked a loose tendril of
auburn hair behind her ear with tense fingers as she sat down on an upholstered
chair. “I like things logical and direct, Brian. So please don’t soft-pedal the
danger for my benefit. And I must be absolutely certain Valerie knows exactly
what she’s volunteering for.”

Brian put his arm around Valerie
who sat next to him on her dad’s desk. “We’re on the same page about that, Mrs.
Lamont.”

“Angela,” she corrected.

“Right.
I’m
sorry, Ma’am.” He clapped his hands once to release nervous energy. “Okay, to
get right to it...” He got up and started to pace. “We’ve decided on certain
assumptions—since Rory is the most logical suspect, we’ll start with him. And,
because you’re the one he’d be most likely to trust, I’d appreciate it if you’d
consider calling him.”

Angela’s eyes flew wide. “And say
what?” Her voice cracked.

Damon strode over to his wife. He
lifted his tailored, gray trousers leg slightly before perching on the arm of
her chair. He gently touched her shoulder as if to calm her.

Angela looked up at Damon with a
pleading look. When he didn’t rescue her, she pressed her lips tightly together
and stared at Brian with a questioning expression and waited.

Brian cleared his constricted
throat. “You could say something like…Valerie is terribly distraught over the
murder of her night watchman and I’m worried about her. She left the house
without saying where she was going. After four hours passed and she still
hadn’t returned I started calling her friends to check if anyone had seen her.
We suspect she’s gone running in the hills to vent her frustrations.”

Looking thoughtful, Angela picked
invisible lint from her beige slacks.

Wondering if she’d do it, Brian
studied her. Her matching halter top revealed a woman who took excellent care
of herself. He glanced at Damon. It was clear he worked out every day. With
such handsome parents, it was no wonder Valerie was such a knockout. Whoever
was lucky enough to marry her would have beautiful children.

Angela met Brian’s gaze with moss
green eyes. They were so like Valerie’s, except Angela’s flecks were gold and
Valerie’s silver.

“I don’t understand how a call like
that will bring him to the bait,” Angela said.

“Think about it, Mom, an egomaniac
like Reeves probably can’t resist fooling us if it’s a trap, and if it’s not,
it’s the opportunity he’s been waiting for.”

Angela closed her eyes. “Dear, God.
Can you imagine the image you just painted in my mind?”

“I’ll stay close by every second.” Brian’s
heart pounded. It was a life or death responsibility and he couldn’t fail.

Valerie touched her lips as though
thoughtful. “It’ll probably work best in daytime to throw Reeves off,” she said.
“He’d be more apt to expect a nighttime set up. If you don’t want to call him,
Victoria
’s always up for
a challenge.”

“Forget that,” Angela snapped. “Rick
wouldn’t appreciate
Victoria
calling an old boyfriend. If anyone does it, it probably should be me. But I
want to hear the whole plan first.”

“I agree with her,” Damon said.

Brian glanced at Valerie. She
shrugged.

“So we all agree,” he said. “Let’s
call the others in.”

Brian found Hugh in his room and
Victoria and Rick out on the veranda. Once they brought in folding chairs and
were all seated, Brian laid out the bones of the plan and then started in on
the specifics of date, time, location, and equipment needed.

“You can count on me,” Hugh said. “The
risk is worth setting Valerie and all of us free.”

“I want Reeves dead more than any
of you,” Damon said, “but if I thought for a second we couldn’t protect
Valerie, I’d pull the plug on this whole damned idea. But if Valerie behaves
and everyone stays on their toes, this just might work. We’ll all have a part
in this, and
Deeto
has agreed to fly down to join us.
He wants this over as much as all of us.”

“We’ll be stationed in a fairly
tight circle,” Brian said. “But there has to be a pathway to Valerie, which we
close tight after our suspect enters the ring.”

“If Reeves doesn’t show up,”
Victoria
said. “All this
preplanning will be useless.”

Valerie shook her head. “From what
I’ve seen, his ego won’t let him pass this up, even if he suspects a trap.”

“The only part of the plan that
can’t be adjusted as required is Valerie’s part. She has to follow her rules to
the letter,” Brian said.

“That’s right,” Damon said, “Valerie
can’t stray one iota from her script of safety first. No heroics.”

Victoria
shook her head. “It’s already
heroic for her to even consider being the bait. But I’m not worried about her
because I’ll be in the wings ready to help.”

“If my girls are in danger,” Angela
said. “I’ll be there, too.”

“Damn it,” Dad said. “This is
already getting out of hand.”

“Damon’s right,” Brian said,
surprising himself. It was the first time he’d dared to refer to Valerie’s dad
in such an informal way to his face. He figured his boldness was a natural
outcome of being in charge of the setup. The project required equal respect and
trust between he and Damon. “To set this trap, we can’t have dissention in the
ranks.
And no female heroics.”
Brian met each of the
women’s gazes. All three glared at him. “You’re all strong and skilled at
defense, but for this to work smoothly, you ladies must sit this one out. If we
have to worry about you, it will split our concentration and focus. No games or
one up-man-ship. Is everyone clear on that?”

Valerie’s sudden sly smile warned
him he was dealing with a female who, although no longer a wolf, was still an
alpha through and through. And if she thought any of them were in trouble,
she’d fly to the rescue, even at the risk of her own death. God, he had his
work cut out for him to keep this courageous, unpredictable woman safe.