Forbidden Fantasies Bundle(171)
“Huh?”
“You grunted,” she said. “At least I thought it was a grunt. If you burped, then I’m sorry I mentioned it.”
He looked at her, at her haunted eyes. Good for her that she could keep her sense of humor. “Why haven’t you asked me to help you disappear?”
She blinked a couple of times, her pretty lips parting just a bit. “Because you’re going to catch him. Aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am,” he said, his gaze back on the road in front of him. “We’re going to.”
“Don’t count on me, Kemo Sabe. Despite the excellence of your tutoring, don’t forget that I passed out. I’m an interior decorator. We’re not known for our guerilla tactics and fighting acumen.”
“You’re stronger than you think. Knowing what to do is going to help. A lot.”
“You catching the bastard is going to help more.”
“Fair enough.” He made a couple of turns he didn’t need to, just as a precaution. It was no secret they were going to her place, but he didn’t want any surprises. Christie was silent, but he didn’t think that would last.
“Hey,” she said, softly.
He turned to her, and she was staring at her hands in her lap. “What’s wrong?”
“All this training, and eating right. Just how long do you think it’s going to take to get this guy?”
“I don’t know. We could get him tonight.”
“But that’s not what you expect, right?”
“There’s no way for me to know. I believe the best approach is to make him jealous. To make him feel out of control, as if he’s going to lose you. To me. We need to make him reckless. Our only hope is to get him so riled that he’ll have to make an overt move. His goal so far has been intimidation and fear. We want him to get so furious he’d come into the house, into our territory.”
“For the record, this scares the crap out of me.”
“Just remember that once he steps into the house, we’re in control. He doesn’t stand a chance, okay? That’s why we’re getting you into fighting shape. We can’t predict where or when he’ll enter, but we can be one hundred percent ready for him. Both of us.”
“So you’re not going anywhere, right? You don’t have a doctor’s appointment you can’t miss or a date or anything?”
“No. Until we catch this guy, I’m with you. That’s all.”
She nodded, then leaned back, resting on the headrest. He wanted to touch her, give her some reassurance, but he didn’t. Touching her had a funny way of distracting him. Even looking at her had its dangers.
As they turned the last corner, Boone slowed the truck down, searching for anything out of the ordinary. The street, typically suburban, mostly one- and two-story houses, with one apartment building on the corner, looked quiet. A lawn was being watered, and he could see the flicker of televisions through drawn blinds. The cars lining the street were ones he’d catalogued before, except for three on this side of Christie’s house. He drove past it and saw two other newcomers.
One of them could belong to the geek. With a parabolic mike, he could be waiting to hear them as they walked to the front door. Boone decided to act as if that were the case. He sighed, then turned to drive around the block. “Christie.”
“Yeah?”
“Just a reminder,” he said, his gaze moving rapidly from the road to the assorted vehicles on either side of the street, “he might be listening.”
She stiffened in her seat, and looked at him with wide eyes. “Now?” she whispered.
“No. But when we walk into the house. So we have to…”
“Act like we’re lovers.”
“That’s right. And I want you to say something about us making it legal.”
“As in getting married?”
He nodded.
After a deep breath, she asked, “What else?”
“That’s it. Only, don’t stop pouring it on when we get inside. I want to make sure.”
“Of?”
“I want to sweep the house. For all we know, he’s been there.”
He could see her start to tremble. Even after she clasped her hands together. There were too many shadows to say whether she’d lost her color, but he’d bet on it. “Get your gun out of the glove compartment,” he said, keeping his tone even and soft.
She did, and held it in her shaking grip.
“Load her up. Triple-check the safety, then put it in your waistband, with your T-shirt over it. Make sure you can get to it quickly.”
She bent to the task as he slowed the car even further. He didn’t want to turn onto her block before she was ready, physically and mentally.