Whirlwind (SAI Book 2) (6 page)

“Did he steal the players from the Russians?”

“Yeah, I’m sure we’re gonna hear about it, but fuck ’em. I’m tired of hearing them whine,” Solly replied. “Just got word that the guy who popped Sal last year met his maker up at Marion County Jail. Seems he made an alliance with the wrong people inside. The Feds are probably crying in their coffee over not bringing him to trial.”

“What a shame.” Sitting back in his chair, Frank steepled his fingers in front of his face. “You think we’re ever going to find that money Sal stole from us?”

“If we find the kid, we may. The contract is still out there, so if we ever pick up her trail again, then we’ll know for sure.”

“The Feds got lucky on that one. They fucking scooped her out from under our noses and made her disappear.”

“We didn’t know he had a kid until Richie “The Cat” called from the restaurant. It was a shock to everyone,” Solly responded.

“It’s bad luck all the way around.
Stupido ragazzino
cost us. He was supposed to get the password before killing him. He was a
sparatutto in ansia
, and now we got nothing. No list, no money. And the Feds acting interested again. I thought Homeland Security would keep them all busy with the terrorists. But now the local guys are looking our way.”

A light knock on the door interrupted the conversation. “
Entra
,” Frank yelled. The door opened, and the ancient maid walked in with a tray that held coffee and some biscotti.
“
Il tempo per un café
,” Alma said quietly.

He watched as the woman poured two small cups “
Grazi
,” Solly D replied. Alma nodded and then slowly walked out. They each took a cup and sipped quietly. “I’ll put some feelers out and see if we can pick up a trace on the kid. We know it’s a long shot, but we may get lucky.”

“Yeah. Sal was never a man to trust anyone, so it doesn’t seem likely that he would trust a kid who showed up out of the blue.”

“Richie said she has the Marino witchy green eyes, so she’s probably his,” Solly said, as he leaned forward and grabbed a cookie. “Maybe she’ll get tired of hiding.”

“No one can disappear forever,” Frank responded. “No matter how much she wants to.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Friday

Sara stood next to her pool and pushed the net around. The gumbo tree that sat against the fence had been littering her pool all week. Even at seven in the morning, the heat was sweltering. Sweat trickled down her back as she slowly walked around the pool. A large lemon splashed into her net, and her head jerked up. Grady sat on the fence that separated their property with a grin on his face. Sliding her headphones off, she waited. “Is that your way of saying good morning?”

She watched him hop down and stride in her direction. Over six feet of almost naked glory was headed her way, and she had no idea what to do. Scratch that—she had lots of ideas. Most of them inappropriate.

Standing her ground, she tried not to fidget…or lunge. When he was close enough that she could count the hairs on his glorious chest, she wondered why control was such a good thing. Right now it seemed pointless.
Damn!

“I threw the lemon so you wouldn’t get spooked. I noticed your earphones, and I figured it was the only way to get your attention.”

When his gaze slowly stroked her across her skin and his eyes darkened, she knew he was going to be almost impossible to resist. But for the next sixty seconds, she was going to give it everything she had.

“I like your pink bikini. Had I known that’s what you wear in the morning, I would’ve made more of an effort to stop by earlier in the week.” He walked in a circle around her and whistled. “Damn, girl.”

“Is there a specific reason for this visit?” Holding on to the net, she tried to appear disinterested. When she couldn’t peel her eyes away from his, she figured it probably wasn’t working.

“The most honest answer I can give you is, I’m here to get another kiss from you. All I’ve thought about since Tuesday is how much I enjoyed having your mouth melded to mine. I’ve used up every brain cell I have—to figure out how I can do that every day…all day.”

“How’s that working out for you?” Sliding her hand on her hip, she tried to come up with a reason she didn’t like his idea. Unfortunately, none came to mind.

“Since you’re standing there with your hand on your hip, giving me the evil eye, I’d say lousy. But the day is young,
and I have a lot of things that I’m going to try.” 

Moving closer, she placed her hand on his arm. When he tilted forward, she kissed him gently on the cheek. “Now you’ve had your kiss.” She stepped back and winked. “You can use your brain for something more useful.”

Bending over, he grinned. “As nice as it is having your lips against my skin, I want more. I crave your mouth sealed with mine.”

Speechless. Nothing came to her mind as her mouth opened and closed like a fish’s. When he laughed, she stepped back and frowned. Lord, he was a lot to take before eight in the morning.

“The mouths sealed together was too much…right?”

Pulling the net out of the pool, she handed it to him. “I need to cool off.” Without another word, she dove in and swam to the shallow end. When she stood and wiped the water out of her eyes, she noticed Grady standing at the edge of the pool with a satisfied grin.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He walked over to the shed and placed the net inside. “I’ll just have to come up with a different approach.” He jumped in and swam up next to her. When he surfaced, their faces were inches apart. “Hi.”

“What has gotten into you? I’ve lived next door to you for close to a year, and I don’t think we’ve spoken more than twice. Why are you acting so crazy?”

“Because you kissed me. It’s all your fault.”

“I only did it because there was no other choice. I had to get away, and it’s all I could think of.” When he patted her shoulder like she was a child, she almost lost her temper. “It was!”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself to get through the day. I, for one, know that you enjoyed it as much as I did. Your body melted against mine, and that means something.”

“Aaargghh! You are the most frustrating man in the world.”

“Now, that’s just not true. Have you met every man in the world?” Taking a step closer, he trailed his fingers up her arm. “We have old-fashioned chemistry, and I don’t plan on ignoring it.”

“Stop it, Grady. I can’t! My life is very complicated.” Stepping away from his hand, she dove under the water. Fully submerged, she felt a moment’s relief. Swimming to the surface, she saw him waiting for her.

“I don’t mind complicated, Sara. I’m going to figure out what you’re running from, and then I’ll take care of it.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but I could never involve you.” When he moved closer, she could see the determination in his gaze and knew he wasn’t going to give up easily. If ever. “Grady, please…” Her hand held the side of the pool, and she watched him place his on top.

“Please kiss you?” Slowly he lowered his head and captured her mouth.

When their lips met, a flood of desire swamped her body, and she did the only thing she could. Kissed him back. When he gradually released her mouth, she traced his mouth with her fingertips. “That shouldn’t happen again for a million reasons.”

He threw his head back and let out a loud laugh. “Oh, we’re definitely doing that as often as we can. We like each other, and we should just surrender and save ourselves a lot of trouble.”

“I’m not surrendering to anything.” Turning, she swam over to the ladder and climbed out of the pool. When she hit the top step, she heard Grady mumble something. It sounded like he said,
yet
. Well, she wasn’t surrendering…ever.

She strolled over to the lounge chair and wrapped herself up in her towel. As Grady lifted himself out of the pool, she silently whistled to herself. The man was a work of art. Having studied art for so long, she knew what she was talking about. Everything about him was perfect.

Rubbing her head, she realized that she was acting crazy. One second she was lusting after him, and the next she was trying to push him away. Never before had she been on such a seesaw. “Grady, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Thank God. Because neither do I.” He tugged at her towel until it dropped and then brought her body flush against his.

Looking into his eyes, she sighed. “Even the graze of your hand on my arm is annihilating.”

The heat in his eyes told her that he didn’t operate by half measures. The seconds that passed felt like poetry.

Possibility hung in the air as he whispered quietly, “I’m going to kiss you so that you can never get the taste out of your mouth. I’m going to be the last man you kiss.”

His gaze moved across her face, and then lingered on her mouth. He leaned forward and kissed her deeply. Teasing her with his tongue, he took his time exploring her mouth. Breathless, she gripped his shoulders as he kissed every objection out of her mind. The way he kissed her made his words seem like a guarantee, and that wasn’t something that she could let happen.

***

As she stepped out of the shower, she thought about the kiss Grady had given her. It was nothing less than a full frontal assault. And she liked it. Damn it!

All those years of polite kisses had not prepared her for a man who knew what he wanted and took it. She had gotten a glimpse of the warrior who never failed a mission. Somehow he had decided in the last couple of days that she needed his protection and affection. Sweet Lord, how was she going to talk him out of it?

Before she could take time to come up with an answer, her cell phone rang. Whoever it was could wait. She wasn’t going to slip and slide across her house to catch the call. If it was Gladys or Agnes, they would just come over if it was important. The other three people who had the number would leave a message. That was one of the benefits of disappearing. You had fewer people you had to worry about. And, unfortunately, fewer to worry about you. It was always a tradeoff.

Before she made it through her full routine, the phone rang again. Dread slid down her back because she knew it was going to be bad news. Walking slowly into the kitchen, she lifted the phone and realized it was going to be
very
bad news. She hit the redial button and waited while the call was connected. When Sammy’s deep voice came on the line, she braced herself. “How bad is it?”

“On a scale of one to ten, it’s about a six.”

Slumping into a chair, she leaned her head against her hand. “When a federal agent tells you it’s a six, then for mere mortals it’s probably closer to a nine.”

“I can always put you into the program formally, and then we won’t have to worry about any of this.”

“I’d rather eat nails than go into witness protection. But thanks for the offer.” The doorbell rang and Sara froze. “Someone’s at my door. Let me check and see who it is.”

“Be careful, Sara.”

“Always. Hold on.” She walked over to the hall monitor and checked the cameras. Letting out a breath of relief, she saw that it was Gladys and Agnes. “Just my squad, Sammy. No hit men have shown up today.”

“That’s always a plus. Do you want to call me back or should I just wait?”

“Call me on Skype. You know how those two like to drool over that pretty face of yours. I’d hate to deny them that pleasure.”

“Okay. I’ve had about ten cups of coffee this morning, so I should be ready for the dynamic duo.”

“Talk to you in a few.” She disengaged the security system and opened the door. “Hi, ladies. Come on in. Sammy is going to Skype us in a few.”

Agnes patted her hair and smoothed out her acid-green caftan. “Good thing I put some lipstick on this morning. I wouldn’t want that big, sexy man to think that I was losing my looks.”

Gladys snorted and pushed passed her friend. “Sexy Sammy only humors us when we flirt with him. But I must say that I appreciate it, because he makes me tingle in places that I forgot I had.”

Sara closed the door and followed the ladies into the kitchen. “Gladys, what about Bert down at the center? I thought you said he made you tingle.”

“Pff. You can’t compare the tingles from an eighty-five-year-old and a man who’s in his thirties. One man’s parts still work and the other’s don’t. I’m sure you can guess which one I’d prefer.”

“Speaking of tingles, I saw Grady come out of your gate this morning half-naked. Anything you want to share with us?” Agnes asked.

Before Sara could answer, her laptop chimed. “I better get that.”

“Don’t think that gets you out of answering the question. We’ll be circling back to it later,” Gladys commented.

Waving her hand, Sara opened the call from Sammy. When his handsome face filled the screen, both Agnes and Gladys sighed. She couldn’t fault them. Sam Barton, FBI agent extraordinaire, was a handsome man. He had midnight-black hair and piercing blue eyes. The things that threw his good looks over the top were his dimples. Which he was showing off beautifully.