Chapter 2
Joe didn’t know what the hell he’d expected to find, but a legitimate friggin’ sex kitten with a husky voice and irreverent smile wasn’t it. He’d thoughtMary Ann Mondaywas some naïve middle-aged wardrobe lady who’d somehow gotten on the wrong side of some bad people. The woman he was looking at had dark lush hair, lush lips, exceptionally lush breasts—hell, lush everything. And she was dressed in vivid colors with more jewelry sparkling than a chandelier.
Now he couldn’t be so sure this handful of woman was so innocent after all. He’d need to make a call to the general. Soon.
They rumbled through the suburbs until they got close to the freeway on-ramp that would take them to LAX.
“You going to tell me where we’re going?”
He could have sworn she purred the words. He didn’t look her way. Didn’t want to take a chance on the distraction factor of those ridiculously pouty lips. Or the va-voom body. He told himself she’d probably had enhancements. He hated the plastic people in Hollywood and their plastic surgery world. Where he came from, everyone was real. Thank God he didn’t have much call to hit the West Coast. He couldn’t wait to get back to his side of the world.
“Boston.”
“Boston?” Her usually husky voice rose to an unnatural high octave and cracked.
He let a smile slip. “You know—the real world. Old school.”
“But why?” She said it as if she wouldn’t have minded if she never landed in the real world.
“Never been to the East Coast?” He turned right onto the freeway ramp, sliced to the left lane, then booked it. The general had lent him his brand-new Cessna Citation Longitude 700 as well as his pilot, Zero Go Team member Ben the Bang Bolton. While Ben took care of the details for refueling and restocking, Joe had found the Land Rover in the team’s LA hangar. Luck and skill had gotten him to Mary Ann Monday’s house without incident and before anything bad happened to her. Apparently, he was the back up. The team member who was originally assigned ran into some problems. Now they were short a man on the West Coast.
The plane waited for them. And he could not wait to leave. The glare of the sunshine off too many shiny objects was affecting him. And he’d been here less than three hours.
He saw her shrug. He had damn good peripheral vision and couldn’t help but notice the mound of newly exposed flesh as the movement opened her blouse. Damn. He reminded his overactive pecker it was all plastic.
To no avail.It had been too long.
“We can’t leave town without my clothes.”
“Don’t worry. They sell clothes in Boston.” He didn’t bother looking at her.
“No, you don’t understand. My wardrobe is key. It’s what they’re after.”
“What are you talking about? I thought you were being threatened by some dead mobster’s son with an ax to grind—and what isthatall about anyway?”
“It’s about mywardrobe. Like I told you.” Mutual exasperation hung between them.
“I’m sorry. I should have said something sooner. It’s just—I’m all shook up.” She paused and actually shook her head. “Turn off this exit.” She sounded more confident now than shaken as she pointed her fingers, which were adorned with fake red nails. Everything about this lady seemed fake. Except he felt there was something very real underneath it all. Maybe it was her fear. He knew what that was all about, anyway.
Joe made a snap judgment, the way he’d been trained and expected to do in the field, and took a sharp turn off the freeway.
“Now what?”
“Take a right. It’s only a mile down the road on the left.”
“Where are you taking us? This looks like a warehouse district for the airport—“
“I’m taking you to a warehouse.” She arched a brow at him, daring him to . . .dosomething. Damn if he knew what.
He decided to keep his mouth shut—he was good at that—and let it play out. Slipping his com device from his pocket, he punched it on and let the pilot know they were running late.
“Problem?”
“No. Minor detour.”
“You sure that’s wise?”
“Yes.” He wasn’t in the habit of lying his ass off, but this was the equivalent. He, in fact, had a premonition, as they pulled up to the front door of a large metal warehouse, that coming here with her wasveryunwise.