It did seem unlikely that an important guy at the DEA would steal family heirlooms-and for what reason?-but she'd already learned once that good guys couldn't be trusted to always do the right thing.
She lifted her chin. "You have your hunches, and I'll have mine."
One corner of his mouth went up, and he mirrored her move with his arms. "You're just as stubborn as you used to be."
"Look who's talking. Guess some things never change."
"Guess not."
Their gazes met and something passed between them. Something familiar. Charged. Meaningful. He must have felt it, too, because he cleared his throat and shifted his weight from one leg to the other.
He held an open palm out to her. "I'm gonna need that list now. Or … " He smiled as his gaze skimmed down her bikini-clad body, making tingles erupt everywhere it touched. "Am I going to need to search you for it? Given that tiny scrap of fabric you call a bathing suit, there are only so many places you could hide it. I'd want to be sure I covered every inch." His eyes went to the apex of her thighs.
She'd been in such a rush to catch Landry, she didn't bother to throw on a cover-up. While she might be in a bikini, it certainly wasn't a G-string. It was tasteful and covered all the necessary bits. But based on the way Bear's expression heated, she wished she was in a brown paper bag. From head to toe.
She backed up a step. "Lay one finger on me and see what happens."
He stepped forward.
"I'm serious." She took two steps backward, a rush of excitement racing through her at their familiar cat-and-mouse game. "You'll lose some beloved body parts."
"Give me the list, Kenna."
"No. I'm making better headway than you."
"Damn it, woman. Give it to me."
Her heart was ready to beat out of her chest. "Say please."
"Now," he growled, reaching for her.
"No!" she squealed and took off.
Kenna made it four steps through the door and out into the hot afternoon before a strong arm wrapped around her midsection, pulling her back. She lost her footing, but the arm around her held her up. Feet dangling, she was pinned against Bear's chest. Although he wore a fitted T-shirt, he might as well have been bare-chested. The friction of his body against hers brought on an onslaught of memories she thought she'd buried. But now she remembered every aching inch of him. Every moan he'd coaxed from her. Like it was yesterday.
"How far did you think you'd get?" he said. "You know I always catch you."
Yeah, she knew.
"You can put me down now," she said.
His mouth brushed her ear, the whiskers from his beard rough against her heated skin, and a powerful shudder wracked her body. "I can't trust you not to run."
"I promise I won't run." Far.
There was a pregnant pause, then he lowered her to the ground and slowly released her.
"I'll save you the extra effort on the remaining names," he said. "None of them fit your thief's description."
"That's only half the list, though, right? Aren't there more?" She remembered it was ripped at the bottom, as if it had been torn in half.
"There's another list, yeah," he said. "I gave it to Reese. Figured we'd cover more ground between the two of us. He said he has two more guys to check out who match the description. He's scoping one of them out on the beach now."
"Excellent, let's go-" She took a step, but his arm pulled her back. Broadcasting her frustration across her face, she hurled it at him like an anvil. "Get off me. I want to go to the beach and-"
"Reese can handle it."
"But he never saw the guy, I did. I can ID him."
"Like you did with Landry?"
She held off the eye roll that was seconds from exploding. "Bryan, let me go."
His face suggested he was struggling with some sort of internal battle. After a few moments, he said, "I'll make you a deal. Stay out of Reese's way and I'll take you with me to review the security camera footage."
"Security footage?" she asked in what she hoped was a composed voice.
Bear lifted an eyebrow.
Damn, so her voice wasn't as calm as she'd hoped. She relaxed her features and tried to appear nonchalant.
A slight pinch of his lips told her she wasn't fooling him, but he didn't say as much. "The guy in security told me the video's ready. I'm going down there in a few." He paused. "If you can behave yourself, you can come."
"Deal," she said a little too hastily.
He eyed her. "Understand that we do this my way. If I think you're in danger or interfering, I won't hesitate to ship you off to Estelle's hotel room and keep you in the dark on this whole thing."
"I get it. I'll behave."
For the most part.
Chapter Nine
Tyke and Kenna stood in a small room with computers, phones, a blinking switchboard, and a team of people chatting into headphones. Al Carpenter, Kilos's supervisor and the director of security at the resort introduced himself. He was average height with ebony hair and dark brown eyes. His full midsection and meaty arms hinted at Al's life as a retired police officer who got comfortable behind a desk.
They'd already viewed footage from outside Richard and Claire's room, but no one except the couple went in or out. That piece of information definitely compounded the investigation. How had the thief taken Claire's watch if he hadn't entered her room? Was he also snatching things from people while they were out and about?
"Anyone else report things missing?" Tyke asked as they waited for the tech guru, who was introduced as Vin, to pull up the feed outside Kenna's room.
Al shook his head. "No one other than the two incidents you've informed us of."
For now. Tyke hated to think it, but bad guys usually didn't stop at one or two. If they knew they could get away with something, they'd keep doing it until someone stopped them.
Someone like Tyke.
"We've handed everything over to the local police," Al said. "They're sending over some uniformed and plainclothes officers to increase our security presence at the resort." He turned to Kenna. "They'd like to speak with you."
Tyke stepped in front of her. "Only with me present."
Al's gaze skated from Tyke to Kenna. "I'll let them know."
Vin, wearing a headset over his short brown hair, pushed back a few inches in his chair and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, sir."
Al gestured to the far-right TV screen on the wall. "This should be it."
The screen came to life, showing a black and white video of an empty hallway.
"The room is right there." Al pointed to a door in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Vin pressed a button on his control pad, and the time stamp in the corner of the video sped up. People raced up and down the hallway.
After a few moments, something moved near Kenna's door.
"There," Tyke said. "Stop."
The guy slowed the video to normal pace.
The four of them watched as a lean, dark-haired man approached her door with his back to the camera.
Son of a bitch. Despite what he'd told Kenna, from this angle, the guy on the screen did look like his boss, Joseph Landry. But that was impossible.
"Show me your face," Tyke said under his breath. It's not him. It's not him. "Come on. Turn around."
The man kept his head low as he slid something out of his pocket and fiddled with the door handle. Another second and then the door opened, and he walked into Kenna's room.
Her body tensed beside him as she sucked in a sharp breath. "My God … "
Her reaction skyrocketed Tyke's protective instinct to a billion.
"Interesting," Al said. "That's why our security alarm didn't sound. There was no forced entry. He used a key."
"But how?" Kenna asked, her voice anxious. "How did he get a key to my hotel room?"
"I don't know," Al said.
Wrong answer.
Tyke gripped the guy by his shirt and smashed his back against the closest wall, holding him there with his feet off the ground.
"But I'm going to find out," Al croaked, his dark eyes bugging as he strained for air. "I'll find out, okay?"
"You better," Tyke said. "Because the way I see it, either your hotel mixed up keys or someone here intentionally put her life in danger. Either way, you better pray you find them before I do."
His face turning an unhealthy shade of purple, Al rasped, "We'll have a new key printed and we'll move Ms. McCord into another room immediately."
Kenna rested a hand on Tyke's shoulder, making the red in Tyke's vision dissipate. He lowered Al to the ground, straightening the man's lapels but not letting him go quite yet. "I'll be back, Al. Don't disappoint me."
Al nodded with an expression that said disappointing Tyke was the last thing he wanted to do.
Good.
He sent Al one more meaningful look before they exited the room.