Where There's Smoke (6 page)

“I can stop and come back later if I’m boring you.” The icy glare in the man’s eyes was at odds with the moderately calm words.

“No, I’m following you. Watching the prostitute was the case. The man who hired you was more involved than he let on. Go on.”

“I didn’t say all that.”

“I know, but that’s where you’re headed,” Smoke said, stretching, trying to relieve himself of the kinks in his muscles. A hard workout was in order. Yeah, he could barely walk without pain.

“Okay, so that presents a dilemma.”

“Dilemma?” He wanted to ask for whom, but realized that might not be the best idea at the moment.

“Yeah, now the client knows we know he’s been the one visiting the prostitute all along and we have proof. He’s hired someone to track us down and return the pictures. It’s a small community of professionals and someone tipped us off.”

“How does he know you know?”

“Someone found the cameras I placed monitoring the woman in the hall. I didn’t have time to remove them and get you out. I didn't know it was our client who went to get management when the prostitute wasn’t in the room. Once I found that out, the clock started. It was only a matter of time before they checked the room with the bodies. I guess when the police came they found the cameras. It wouldn’t have been a great leap of intuition to make the connection.” Footsteps neared the table.

Smoke wanted to turn, look at the husky voice. Instead, he locked eyes with the man in front, who smirked. Known for his cool under pressure, Smoke pulled on those reserves before nodding for the man to continue.

“So now we have a vindictive client on our ass and an ongoing case in Wisconsin.”

Smoke wondered what this had to do with his phone call. But since their current problem stemmed from saving his ass, he’d wait until they fully explained.

“Our client’s a long time judge with heavy connections,” the man continued. “All our phones, credit cards, and pertinent information’s been compromised. He left a message on my cell saying he wants to know who killed his daughter in-law.” He scoffed and stabbed the cigarette stub into the plate.

“As if I believe that’s who the woman really was. He was an older man with a young woman on the side, probably planted a lot of information to make the story seem plausible.”

That surprised Smoke. “How's that possible?” He didn't know much about private detecting, but he'd have thought they investigated their clients before accepting the cases.

“I never met him,” the voice from behind him admitted. “Everything was handled through our office clerk and online. Now law enforcement is after me for leaving and tampering with the scene of a crime, although how they know that, I don’t have a clue.” The voice sounded genuinely confused. Smoke identified with the emotion, he’d been in that state since his abduction. He still had so many questions that needed answering.

“Okay. Things are hot for you right now, I get that.” He looked at the man expectantly, and didn’t care for the Cheshire grin spreading across his face.

“The cost of the phone call is your help.”

Years of practice kept Smoke’s calm facade in place. Inwardly, he groaned. They had no idea of the upheaval in his life at the moment. “What do you need?”

“My associate and I need to split up until things cool down. I have to finish this case in Wisconsin. And with the evidence my associate has, it’s not a good idea to leave Michigan right now.”

Smoke nodded. “True, you don’t want to complicate things. You saved my life. I owe you. What do you need?” He repeated the question, hoping they'd answer so he could make the call.

“A place to hide and work through the kinks of this case, along with another set of eyes to protect her back,” the man said watching his face intently.

“Her?” His brow rose in surprise. He hadn’t realized a woman was here. His hound meter hadn’t picked up any signals. Although being in and out of consciousness for the past forty-eight hours probably attributed to that. Normally, he picked up natural cues, scents, even tasted their voices in the air. Smoke admitted to anyone who asked him, he was a dog. He did discriminate when it came to women. As a man with standards, he wouldn’t tolerate some things in a woman he dated. And dating was a far as it would go with him. He’d seen enough in his thirty-five years to leave him disenchanted with the marital contract.

The words of the husky voice rushed over him. “Someone
found the cameras I placed monitoring the woman in the hall. I didn’t have time to remove them and get you out
.” How could he have not recognized her voice? His pulse increased remembering the narrow escape. How he'd focused on her voice to make each step in spite of the pain. Heart tripping, he straightened in anticipation of meeting his sexy sounding savior.

“Vianca Marino,” the husky voice said, walking to the side of him, hand outstretched. Tingles of pleasure shot through him as she came into view. Damn, he shouldn’t be this nervous. It hadn't it been that long since he’d been with a woman. He sent a stern command to his hardening erection to lay low.

Smoke stared up into the tawny brown eyes of the woman in front of him and knew he had to have her. His body tightened realizing she'd seen him naked, at his worst and she risked her life to get him to safety. His cock jumped demanding he give her a taste of Smoke. This woman exuded an inner sex appeal that slapped him upside the head even as he stretched forth his hand to shake hers. She smiled and the small gap between her two front teeth added to the allure. A dizzying array of erotic videos flashed across his mind, with her sexy mouth in the starring role.

She released his hand and his eyes, turning to her partner. Smoke missed the connection and forcibly pivoted to listen to the two of them plan.

“We’ll split the cash, don’t use the cards.” He admonished.

“I know that, Nando,” she snapped as she pulled the chair out beside him.

Smoke realized the man had never introduced himself. Vianca called him Nando, now he had a name for the face. His eyes slid to her. She still wore the baseball cap pulled low, but the side view displayed her high cheekbones, full lower lip, and sharp pointed nose. Smoke found it difficult to concentrate on the conversation.

“Okay, don’t get upset. I’ll take your car, that’ll give you a head start. The two of you’ll head to...” He looked at Smoke. “Where do you live?”

“Huh? Between Flint and Lapeer.” His face warmed at being caught staring.

“Shouldn’t take more than four, five hours. Then lay low.” Nando looked at Smoke. “Give me your phone numbers, addresses, so I can contact you as soon as this case is over. Understand, I’m not going to contact Vee directly. They’ll be monitoring me like nobody's business. I expect you to know where she is and what’s happening. She can update me once I contact you, but you’re the conduit we’ll use, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s cool.” His mind raced as he grabbed the paper and pen.
The two of them alone, together in his place.
Things were definitely looking up. How long should he wait before taking her to bed? There was no question in his mind that's where this was headed. The balcony overlooking the water would be a great place to strip her down one night. His mouth watered, imagining her taste. “Phone call gotta wait, huh?” He coughed into the silence, grateful for his dark complexion since his face had heated behind his x-rated thoughts.

She shrugged, “maybe if we see a pay phone on the side of the road. But I’m thinking you’ll be home soon and can join in the ass-kicking party.”

The honey sweet cadence of her words took a moment to register. Once they did, he smiled. Oh yeah, she was most definitely staying with him.

Chapter 7

After agreeing to give Vee a secure place to hide, things moved quickly. Nando switched everything from her car and loaded her few items into his Ford Explorer. Smoke watched as she straightened the cabin, her movements economical, silent. The large khaki pants she wore hung off another pair of beige pants.
Why does she have on so many clothes?
Now that he could see her fully, there was no doubt he’d been saved by a woman. Smoke pegged her around five feet five or six, nice ass despite the padding, nice face, the little he could see, and long legs. Her breasts were hidden behind layers of clothes, but his imagination told him she was fine and would fit him perfectly. She glanced at him while he stripped her in his mind. He’d bet his last dollar, she was a screamer. Nando broke his reverie.

“You ready?” The big man looked around the common area and stomped to the rooms in the back, closing doors as he finished his inspection. After a meager glance in Nando’s direction, Vianca finished whatever she’d been doing.

“Yeah, just about.” She looked down at him. “Stand up.” He stood and looked down at her. At a little over six feet, he was the shortest of his partners, which provided a continual source of teasing from Red, the jolly giant. Nando re-entered the room where they waited. In silence, they filed out of the structure into the darkness of the early morning. Stillness greeted them as they prepared to undertake the last leg of their journey. After Smoke slid into the front seat, Nando placed the handcuffs around his wrists.

“Just an added measure of protection, we don’t know you that well.” His lips curled sardonically. “No hard feelings, okay?”

“None.” Smoke just wanted to get home, and if that meant handcuffs, tied in ropes or blindfolded, he would’ve agreed. His respect for the man raised a notch; sometimes in the heat of critical situations, people overlooked the small things. Nando shook his hand and pulled Vianca to the side. Smoke watched a moment as they talked before closing his eyes. They remained that way even after the door opened and the car moved.

Instead of going straight to his place, they would stay with Ross until his place was checked out before he took Vee there, in case the men after them had searched or violated his condominium.

Vee
, he glanced at her. Glad to be alone with the Latina seductress. He tried to inhale her fragrance, grimacing slightly at the pain in his sides. Soft jazz played in the background, setting a mood for romance.

She ignored him. The scenery passed in a blur, his cock stirred. She still wore the baseball cap and a ridiculously baggy shirt. He wondered about her hair. He didn’t think he had hang-ups about hair as long as he had enough to play with, especially during sex. Images of her on her knees, over the bed, on the bed, on the floor, ricocheted through his mind. Struggling through the morass of erotic scenes, he changed the direction of his thoughts to break free. According to the dashboard clock, they’d been driving thirty minutes and neither had spoken. Normally this would be cool with him. He disliked chatty women. But Vianca intrigued him.

He wanted her to talk, open up so he could get to know her. Why would she risk her life to help a stranger? He could’ve been anybody. He wracked his brain, but outside his small cache of friends, he couldn’t think of anybody who would’ve stepped up as she had.

“Do you prefer I call you Vee or Vianca?”

“It's up to you. I'll answer to either.”

“I’m not sure I thanked you for saving my life,” he said. Visuals of different scenarios assaulted his mind. “I am deeply grateful. Thank you.”

She shrugged. “You’re welcome.” They lapsed into a comfortable silence as the SUV ate the miles toward Lapeer.

“You been doing this long?” he asked wanting to hear her talk. The cadence of her voice tightened things in his groin region. In lieu of actual contact, the verbal strokes would do in a pinch.

“Ten years or so.”

“Get into difficult spots?”

“Spots?” Her lips tilted up at the corner. He liked that.

“Yeah, like you ever almost get caught, or killed?” She paused, tilted her head and then shrugged.

“There was this time, when this big guy was dead weight and I needed to get him out of a room. I had ten minutes, tops, to get him out the room and the building. The service elevator closed as the hall elevator opened with people coming to look around. It’d been that close.”

“How’d you do it?” He sat up, intrigued.

“I told him if he wanted to live, he’d walk out the door. I could help, but not carry his big ass.” She smiled.

Smoke watched the transformation on her face. “You talking about me, right? I was your closest call?” She nodded.

“As a general rule watching people isn’t that dangerous. On TV, it’s all glamour and half-misses. In reality it’s a lot of tedious, repetitious work.”

Vianca had wondered if he’d talk to her during the long drive. She had lots of questions. The forefront, his relationship with his gringo partners. After seeing their website, she still had a hard time wrapping her mind around that fact. Bitter past experiences with white people left an acrid taste in her mouth. She rarely gave any pinche gringos the time of day, which shrunk her pool of professional associates. Adjusting the rear view mirror, she glanced at him, their eyes met. He winked.

“What made you decide on your choice of business partners?” His brow rose. She smiled; glad to have thrown him off course momentarily.

“We served time together and things took off from there.”

“What? You couldn’t hook up with some black men to start a business?” she snorted.

“I probably could’ve.” He paused. “I’m from Mississippi, the deep south, and I saw biases and hatred like you wouldn’t believe. In high school, I didn’t have close white friends. I joined the military. Although there are a lot of problems with Uncle Sam, they break you out a lot of that bullshit fast. When your life is on the line, you don’t give a damn about the color or ethnicity of the person covering your ass. It just don’t matter. That changed the way I see people.”

She nodded in understanding, realizing his experiences shaped him just as hers had.