Death’s Desire: Excerpt

Sean

He wished he knew what Gabby was up to. He didn’t want to think about her being involved with whoever was trying to harm the Horsemen, but he had to admit it was a possibility. Then again, if she was, why would she have spent so much on the new security measures?

Nothing about her made a damned bit of sense and it was giving him a headache.

Sierra tapped on the doorframe, surprising him from his thoughts. “Hey, Sean. I just got the weirdest phone call.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. It was from a federal marshal named Tessa Warren. Apparently, Gabby needs a ride home from the county lockup. They want to release her into your custody.”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s what I said. I thought it was a joke at first, but they let me talk to her, and she’s definitely in jail.”

“What the hell happened?”

Gabby was a lot of things, but he didn’t think she’d have done anything to attract the attention of federal marshals. Of course, she had been on her way to Dubai, and had refused to explain it.

“No idea. I’d offer to spring her, but they mentioned you by name.”

“I’ll take care of it. Thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem. Hope you can get things straightened out.”

“Me too.” Cursing under his breath, he grabbed his keys, then went to fetch his rainbow haired troublemaker from jail.

When he arrived, he was shown into an office instead of a holding cell. Legs crossed, Gabby glared across a metal desk at a man in a dark suit with a badge on a lanyard around his neck. The man was of late middle age with graying hair and carried himself with the bearing of a career soldier.

“Sweetheart,” he purred. “Did you honestly think we were going to let you go to Somalia without a detail?”

Wait. Didn’t she say she was going to Dubai? Sean resisted the urge to paddle her ass until she told the truth.

“One could only hope,” she muttered. “This really isn’t your business, Michael.”

“Yeah, about that…” Michael rested his arms on the desk separating him from Gabby. “I’m putting you into protective custody as of now.”

She shook her head and stood. “I’m afraid that doesn’t work for me. I need to—”

“You need to sit your skinny ass down,” Michael barked.

To Sean’s surprise, she dropped back into her chair, then crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “My ass is perfectly round and plump,” she muttered. “You can kiss it on my way out.”

“Move from that chair and so help me, I will put you in Leavenworth.”

Judging by the angry expression on his face, Sean had a feeling Michael wasn’t kidding.

“But that’s in…Kansas.” A fleeting smile crept across her face, then vanished when Michael scowled at her.

“I agreed to let you handle this on your own, but you fucked up.” He studied her for a moment, then leaned back in his chair. “A year ago—hell, six months ago—you’d have never let an unfamiliar agent remove you from your plane, take your phone, cuff you, and put you in an unmarked car. Alone. You didn’t even demand Alfred stay with you. Aside from that, a legitimate agent would have come with a partner, and would have shown you their badge and a warrant. What the hell were you thinking?”

“You were…testing me? How dare you!”

“Save it. You literally walked yourself to a shallow grave in the desert, Gabs.  Your situational awareness is shot. You’re not paying attention and you’ve lost focus. They’re shooting at your friends because you’re off your game. Are you willing to risk innocent people for your pride?”

Sean winced. He hadn’t heard such a brutal dressing-down in years. Better an ass-chewing than a shallow grave though. It sounded like she had it coming, but Michael wasn’t done.

“And you let yourself get baited into coming to Arizona because an adult resort was getting hacked, and you recognized the code signature?” He surrounded the last few words with air quotes. “How’s that working out for you?”

Sean tightened his hands and tried to control his fury. If what Michael said was true, they’d been protested, bombed, and finally burned out because of her. Logically, he knew it wasn’t her fault, but he’d be a long time calming down.

“That’s not fair! I—”

“A fair is a place where grown men throw cow shit for distance and accuracy. Do I look like a fucking carnie?” Michael turned his attention to Sean and inclined his head. “Captain Franklin, I’m Special Agent Michael Lewis, Homeland Security. I’ve been handling Dr. Knox for about five years now. As you and she are already acquainted, I’m entrusting her to your care.”

“No!” Gabby’s shout hurt his ears, but Michael ignored it and looked at him expectantly.

He knew he should refuse, yet the thought of having Gabby at his mercy… “I’m retired. Why me?”

“You’re qualified, quiet, and most importantly, you’re here.” His left eye closed in a slow wink. “You’re also a reservist, according to your file. Consider yourself called up for duty. You will treat this as classified information. It goes no further than you and the other Horsemen.”

“I think she needs a more qualified babysitter, sir.”

“I’m sure the Horsemen can handle one woman.”

“Don’t get your hopes up. Our track record has been abysmal of late.”

Gabby sent him an ugly scowl, then turned her attention back to Michael. “Let me go back to Paris. I promise I’ll stay there.”

“Gabs…” Michael sighed, then tossed a photo on the desk.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Used to be your La Marais apartment. They got your homes in Gràcia and Bruntsfield too.”

“Matilde? Carlos?” She covered her mouth with her hand, but Sean didn’t miss her whimper of distress. “Peter?”

“Carlos is dead. Matilde is on life support, but the doctors aren’t hopeful. Peter was visiting family in York. All three properties were hit within five minutes of each other. None of the others were touched.”

Frozen with shock, she stared at the photo as tears welled and trickled down her cheeks. “They were the ones I’ve had the longest.”

“I’m aware. La Marais was first, then Gràcia. Bruntsfield was last.”

“I bought them in that order.”

Sean’s anger faded at the evidence of her distress. Her choked whisper tugged at his gut, making him want to hold her tight and promise he’d make it better. Unfortunately, he couldn’t combat a foe who stayed hidden.

“And they were the only ones in which you had live-in staff.” Michael let out a breath and stood, then walked around the desk to crouch in front of her. “This will be hard for you to hear, but you have to consider that it’s someone you know. I need you locked down with the Horsemen until we figure this out.”

“Why them? Why not my own people?”

Michael rubbed his forehead and gazed at her sadly. “As unpleasant as it is, you can’t trust them right now, meaning you’re going to send Alfred back to Edinburgh. Aside from that, I’m well aware of how much you’ve spent on security for Club Apocalypse. It’s as safe as I can make you unless you want to have your mail forwarded to Kansas.”

“That isn’t much of a choice.”

Sean resisted the urge to tug on her pouting lower lip. Or better, bite it. Unfortunately, if he was going to be stuck guarding her, he needed to get his mind on protecting what was obviously a government asset, and off how beautiful she looked when she came for him.

Michael squeezed her knee, then returned to his seat. “I want you to keep working too. The identity of the person targeting you is somewhere in that overclocked computer you call a brain. Find them before they hurt anyone else.”

Gabby rose to her feet, then reached into her pocket and let one of those damned cock lollipops she always carried slide across the desk. “Suck my lady dick, Michael.”

Calmly, Michael unwrapped the candy and sucked on it for a few seconds. “Thanks. I like the grape but ask Rhonda to send you some cherry ones next time. You and Captain Franklin can show yourselves out.”