InTooDeep Read online

  Why couldn’t she back away from him or push him away? Her body gravitated toward his, eating up the small span of distance that had remained between them.

  Now they stood body to body, his chest brushing her breasts. Their breaths mingled, colliding in the air as their hearts thumped out identical rhythms.

  “We should talk. You need to know about Dani, oh, and about Scott. She’s dating a guy named Scott.” Was that desperation she heard in her voice? Damn him. No man had ever unnerved her like this.

  “Let’s get one thing straight first.”

  She wondered how his lips tasted. “What’s that?” Was that her own breath coming so fast?

  One of his arms slipped around her waist, drawing her even tighter in. “We do things my way.” His lips captured hers, bruising, unyielding. Pure, sensual magic. And just as quickly as it began, it was over. He lifted his head, pierced her with a hard stare. “That means everything by the book.”

  Carley’s lips tingled. “I get it. No felonies.”

  The look he gave her told her he didn’t appreciate her humor. “That wasn’t a joke.” He extracted his cell phone from the pocket of his jacket just as it rang. His gaze centered on the number before zeroing in on her face. “Dammit. I forgot.” He silenced the call.

  “Forgot what?”

  “The reason I came looking for you. You might have been the last person to see our victim alive.”

  Victim. The word made Carley sick inside. “What are you talking about? Who did I see?”

  “Her name was Maggie Buttle.”

  Carley’s knees went weak and she backed up until her spine connected with the wall. “Mrs. Buttle’s dead? Oh my God. She’s dead because of my sister.”

  Chapter Five

  Hunt took hold of her arms and guided her to the couch, afraid her legs would give out any moment. He’d never seen a woman lose so much blood in her face so fast. Once he had her down on the edge of the cushion he knelt, taking her hands in his. They felt like blocks of ice and he chafed them for warmth. “I know they were neighbors but what does Mrs. Buttle’s death have to do with your sister?”

  Carley swallowed hard, her eyes filling with tears. But only briefly. Then she shuttered her gaze and lowered her head. “I went to see Mrs. Buttle last night to find out the last time she’d seen Dani.”

  Shit. Could things get any more complicated? With the old woman dead there was every reason to believe Carley’s sister was in serious trouble. And he didn’t have a choice but to involve his department.

  “Carley.” He placed his hands on her knees. “I think you know what I’m going to say next, but I have to let my partner in on this. Your fingerprints were found at the scene of a homicide and he knows I came looking for you.”

  She pushed him back and stood. “I’m not going to the station with you, if that’s what you’re thinking. Now that I know Dani is in real trouble I have to work fast.”

  Hunt glared at her. “You’re not getting this. My partner knows who you are. I can’t just sweep this under the rug.”

  Fiery red curls dropping across her shoulders, Carley whirled around to face him. “Did he tell you where I was?”

  “No. I told him I could get in touch with you.” With a heavy sigh, he shifted positions to sit on the sofa. “This isn’t a game. There will be serious consequences if I don’t report this.”

  “They have no proof you found me.”

  His eyes narrowing, Hunt straightened, took a moment to collect himself before he seared her. “Are you kidding me? Now you want me to lie to my partner, my lieutenant, just to keep you out of jail?”

  “No. I want you to lie to help me save my sister. You know as well as I do that she’s in trouble. Whoever killed Mrs. Buttle probably knows where Dani is, and if you take me in I’ll spend time in a cell while you’re being grilled by your superiors. We’ll both be wasting precious time Dani might not have.”

  Carley crossed the carpet to stand in front of him, sparks practically shooting from her eyes. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

  He wished he could. It changed nothing. “It’s my job, Carley.”

  “And it’s my sister’s life.”

  “Now that we know she’s officially missing, we can put a team on it.”

  She held up one hand. “Don’t give me the department bullshit line, Hunt. Dani will be just another missing person in a long line of missing persons. She won’t be any more important to the Charleston Police Department than the last woman who went missing. But she’s important to me. She’s all I have left.”

  Damn. She was going to make him do it. Force his hand. He didn’t want to arrest her but the set of her shoulders and the tone of her voice told him she wasn’t going without a fight.

  And because of his badge, he’d have to give it to her.

  Carley’s mind raced with possibilities. She’d taken Hunt down once but she’d caught him off-guard. Now she wasn’t so sure she could, but there had to be another way out of this.

  The loud shrill of her cell phone startled her. She whipped around and stormed across the room, ignoring Hunt’s command to let it go to voice mail. She retrieved the phone from her purse and answered tersely. “Carley Morgan.”

  “Ah, Ms. Morgan, so good of you to answer your phone. I thought you might be too busy stealing another precious jewel.” A synthesized voice, gender indistinguishable, greeted her.

  Though her heart stopped for a brief moment, Carley didn’t acknowledge the barb. “Where is my sister?”

  Hunt crossed the room to her side. His ear pressed close to hers as the kidnapper continued.

  “Danielle is quite safe and comfortable…for now.”

  “I want to talk to her.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

  “I need to know my sister is alive, or you won’t see one dime of money.”

  A chuckle that held no humor scraped the nerves up the back of her neck. “Ms. Morgan, you underestimate us. What makes you think it’s your money we want?”

  Her hand went cold around the cell, and even the warmth emanating from Hunt’s body so close to hers didn’t help. “Don’t try to play me. You took Dani because of me.”

  “On the contrary. We didn’t even know you existed…until yesterday. So actually, this was quite a fortunate turn of events for us. You see, we did know who Dani’s father was.”

  Carley’s breath caught, stalled. Her father? He’d been dead for two years. What could he have to do with this? Maybe someone he’d pissed off in his infamous career.

  “My father can’t give you anything, he’s dead.” She said the words briskly, biting off each one. Her mind vaguely registered the low rumble of Hunt’s voice on his own cell phone.

  “That we know.” A cough sounded in the background but she couldn’t tell if it belonged to a man or woman. “But he left a few things behind you have access to.”

  “Such as?”

  “His safety deposit box at a local bank in Houston, Texas.”

  Her head started to throb. That’s what this was about? The money her father had amassed? Money she and Dani had since absorbed, but what difference would it make to these guys where the money came from?”

  “My father left his money to me and Dani. So I guess you’ll have to get it from me after all.”

  “It’s not about the money, Carley.” All pretense of cordiality dropped from the synthetic voice. “We want access to the safety deposit box. We need the key.”

  “My father never told me anything about a key, and the last time I looked there wasn’t one in the safety deposit box.” Why in the hell hadn’t her father ever told her about a key that might be important enough to be dangerous?

  “You’re a poor liar, and those lies are going to get your sister killed.”

  Carley’s blood chilled. She recognized pure fury, had felt it many times herself, and the person on the other end of the line wasn’t kidding. “I really don’t know about any key but I’ll look again. I don’t know
where it is so you’ll have to give me time to find it. It has to be in my father’s things.” She played for time, hoping to tap into a shred of decency this person might possess.

  Another abrupt chuckle followed her plea. “You have forty-eight hours. I’ll call when the time is up and give you the drop-off point.”

  Before Carley could respond the line went dead. She could only stare at the phone while her brain tried to formulate words. “They want a key.”

  “What? Are you sure?” Hunt had returned to her and was now gripping her shoulders so tightly her skin ached.

  She looked into his white face. “I’m sure. What? What is it?”

  He closed his eyes for a minute and when he opened them the look of abject pity on his face shredded her soul. “This isn’t about a key, Carley. It’s a ploy for time. They gave you forty-eight hours, didn’t they?”

  Her world started spinning. “Did you hear?”

  His fingers relaxed against her skin then his hands dropped away. “Your sister’s kidnappers don’t want money, they already have what they want.”

  Her heart rapped so loudly against her breastbone she heard the rhythm in her ears. “To what?” She snagged hold of his arm and dug her nails into the skin beneath his shirt.

  He broke away from her and stalked across the room, leaning both hands against the far wall. “I can’t give you any more information.”

  “Yes, you can. You just won’t.” Just as determined, she squeezed herself in between his body and the wall, pressing her hands against his chest. “Tell me I wasn’t wrong about you, that Faron wasn’t wrong about you.”

  His gaze flicked over her face then away. She read the hesitation in his eyes and continued the push for more information. “Hunt, you know something more about this. If it’s not just about Dani, what is it? Why can’t you tell me?”

  “Because it’s against regulations.” He captured her hands and lowered them, holding them in a tight grip.

  “But you’re not just about regulations,” she countered. “I read that in your file.”

  “The file is a cover.” As his words sank in, he continued, “And my boss could have my ass on a platter for this, but I’m not a cop.”

  She jerked back and looked up at him. “What? What do you mean you’re not a cop? I just said I’ve seen your file.”

  Taking a step back, he began to lead her away from the door. “You saw what anyone checking on me is supposed to see. The information was planted.”

  Irritation made her glare at him. “If you’re not a cop, what are you?”

  “I’m with the FBI.”

  Shit. The second the words left his mouth, he knew he’d stepped in it. He’d never broken cover before. Ever. And he could have walked away, kept his mouth shut. Instead he’d violated a cardinal rule, entrusting not only his own safety but the safety of his team to an outsider.

  But protecting Carley had become paramount to him, and it scared him to think about why. He barely knew her but he read something in her eyes, something more than just “criminal” or “damn good thief”.

  Whatever had caused her to choose crime was just a small part of who she was. Behind the mask of strength and determination existed a woman he wanted to know. Maybe even one he had to know.

  “Y-you’re what?” Carley’s open-mouthed stare dragged his attention back to her face.

  Finally he’d caught her off-guard. He eased her down onto the sofa. “And I shouldn’t be telling you any of this.” He sat down beside her. “But if it were my sister, I would want to know everything.”

  She shifted away from him, tucking her legs to one side. “What does the FBI have to do with this? Why are you here?”

  “I was sent here because of a tip we received about one of the lieutenants. IA couldn’t find anything but, for some reason, they felt it warranted a pass to Special Investigations. That department, in turn, passed it to us, and I was assigned as a detective in Lieutenant Franklin’s squad.” He saw her dubious expression and added, “Since I don’t have my credentials, you’ll just have to trust me.”

  “Is Hunt Brandon your real name? Do you even live here?”

  “Actually, it’s Hunt Chandler.”

  “So what exactly was this tip and how does it relate to my sister?” She angled her body to face him.

  You shouldn’t tell her any more than you’ve already told her, Hunt. You’re in way too deep as it is.

  “Hunt?” She touched his hand. “I need the truth.”

  The truth. He wished it were that simple. Neither one of them were actually stellar in the truth department, but he had a hell of a lot more reasons to keep quiet than she did, he’d wager. His career was on the line for starters but how could he tell Carley that this case was more important than her sister? He couldn’t.

  “The key is a ruse. Many of these rings need to buy time when they discover the woman they’ve kidnapped has a family. So they come up with something to keep the family members busy. Sometimes money is too easy to come by.”

  Carley sat back against the cushion, keeping her gaze trained on his face. “But they knew about my father. That’s why they took Dani.”

  Hunt scooted forward and dropped his hands between his legs. The tension of Carley’s body reached out to him and he wanted to hold her. The need unnerved him. His life was his job. He didn’t have room for anything…anyone else.

  And giving Carley any more information was bound to produce more pain. There was no easy way out of this. She wouldn’t back down and he wouldn’t give in.

  “It’s time we were honest with each other.” Carley’s voice carried a bite that drew his gaze to her face.

  “Yeah, well, that doesn’t seem to be high on either of our priority lists, does it? The only difference is my half-truths are sanctioned by the government.” He blew out a breath, dropped his gaze back to his hands. “I can’t tell you any more than what I’ve already told you. Even that’s too much.”

  She touched him then, and just the simple placement of her hand on his forearm caused his stomach muscles to tense. Damn. He really was in too deep, and there was no way out. He wasn’t even sure he wanted out. This woman, this thief, had gotten under his skin, touched something inside him no one had touched in as long as he could remember.

  “Why do you think the key is a ruse?” Carley’s hand tightened on the sleeve of his shirt. “Dammit, Hunt, I have to know. Why else would these men take my sister if not for my father? They knew about him.”

  He shook his head slowly, damning himself seconds before he replied. “They didn’t know about your father, Carley. They found out about him. Big difference.”

  She blinked at him for several seconds. Then her eyes went wide. Horror struck, settled across her face. Her hand withdrew and she slid away from him. “You’re trying not to tell me that my sister told her kidnappers about our father.” Carley shook her head and Hunt saw a tear leak down her cheek, knew it was going to be his undoing.

  “Dani wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t.”

  The insistent tone of her voice cracked his heart a little. Damn. Damn. Damn. Doing his job had never been so hard before.

  Hunt dragged both hands through his hair, cursing under his breath. He could just walk away. Get up and leave the suite without looking back. Couldn’t he? It wasn’t like he owed Carley anything, and he had a job to do, one that didn’t involve a clever thief. So even if she didn’t understand why he was leaving, it wouldn’t matter.

  But it did matter. Even as the thought of leaving slipped into his mind, he pushed it out. Carley wasn’t the type of woman to give up, she’d keep looking with or without him. And without him, she just might end up getting herself killed.

  There was really no way to soften the blow of his next words. He doubted Carley would want the truth sugarcoated anyway. “People will do just about anything when they’re being tortured.”

  The blood drained from her face but her lips set in a grim line. She didn’t break down. Not that Hu
nt expected her to. Her strength had been apparent the moment he’d seen her standing in his bedroom. Carley had a mission and brutal honesty wouldn’t make her run.

  “So Dani wasn’t really kidnapped because of my or my father’s money. She was a random victim?”

  “No. These guys don’t do random. More than likely they’ve been watching her for some time. They tend to focus on younger women who have no obvious family support in town.”

  “But Dani and I talk every day. She has family support.” Her hands shook as she scrubbed them over her face. “I’ve always been here for her. Only a phone call away.”

  “They made a mistake taking her but they won’t rectify it by returning her.”

  She pushed herself to her feet. “This can’t be true. Dani is a schoolteacher. She reads to kids at the library on weekends, volunteers at an animal shelter. There’s no reason for her to be kidnapped other than money. These guys had to have known who she is.”

  Hunt got to his feet to stand beside her. “No, they didn’t. They couldn’t care less about any money you could give them. They can make a hell of a lot more with Dani than without her.”

  More tears filled Carley’s eyes. “What are you saying? Are they going to prostitute her?”

  He couldn’t look away now, he was all-in. “No. It’s much worse than that.”

  “Oh my God. Are you trying not to tell me that my sister is going to be sold?”

  Shit. He’d rather take a bullet than tell her the truth but there was no way to soften the blow. “More than likely, she already has. That’s why you got the call about the key. If they discover the victim has family, one of the men will call and give a family member forty-eight hours to come up with something obscure. That gives them plenty of time to—” He broke off and watched Carley brush away the tears with the backs of her knuckles while her jaw clenched.

  “To what? Complete the sale? What?” She whirled on him, her eyes blazing. “Tell me, damn you! Tell me what they’ve done to my sister.” As the last word left her lips, Carley cracked, doubling over with her grief.