Hard Justice Page 9

  It took all of five seconds to note that nothing had changed about Arturo’s security, including the dummy cameras. All ancient by prehistoric standards, they were visible to the naked eye, not hooked up to a live power source. Every night she’d had on the town as a teenager had been because of those things.

  Charlie turned into the left corridor leading to Arturo’s office and kept to the perimeter. Just outside the door, the same squeaky floorboard that had been present years ago squeaked under her shoe, indicating that not only had he avoided updating his security, but shunned house repairs too. She carefully stepped over it and slid into the office, undetected.

  Natural wood bookcases lined the white, weathered walls of Arturo’s office, making the space functional, but with the old-world Italian flair her uncle coveted. Sitting at the desk, she turned on the laptop. While she waited for the decrepit machine to boot up, her gaze snagged on an old photo.

  She’d seen it before—one of her aunt, her mom, Tina, and an eight-year-old Charlie. All smiling. All happy. Two days after that picture had been taken, Charlie’s two-week family reunion had ended up becoming a permanent stay.

  Big world. One little girl.

  Not exactly the stuff of which dreams were made.

  “Throw yourself a pity party later, Char,” Charlie admonished herself, jiggling the mouse as if it would speed up the hunk-of-junk computer. Without her around to keep things updated, Arturo’s tech was in serious need of upgrades…and a new password.

  The second the screen flashed to life, she grabbed a flash drive from between her cleavage and inserted it into the USB port. Time to go fishing.

  Anyone who didn’t know how Arturo’s mind worked could have searched the hordes of files for days and not have a thing to show for it. But having cracked his system when she was thirteen, she easily found what they needed on his businesses—both the public ones and those he only financially backed—and started copying.

  Charlie got into a routine of clicking and dragging, not wasting the time to read the open docs. There’d be time to sort through it all later. Outside the office door, the loose floorboard groaned under someone’s weight.

  She shut down the system moments before Vince slid into the room.

  “What the hell are you doing?” He silently closed the door behind him before drilling her with the intensity of his disapproval.

  “I told you that the best way to get into his files was to go directly into his files.” Charlie pocketed the drive back between her breasts, noticing Vince’s gaze tracking the movement. “He’s not going to know I was here.”

  “Not the point. We agreed this was about making the first contact.”

  She came out from behind the desk and drilled a finger into the center of his hard chest. “No, you said we were going to take our sweet ol’ time. I told you waiting wasn’t an option. If opportunities don’t pop up on their own, then we need to make them.”

  “And if someone caught you in the process?”

  “Arturo’s allergic to technology. Sneaking out of this house was always easy as pie, and I’m a significant degree smarter than my sixteen-year-old self. No one was going to catch me.”

  The same floorboard that had alerted her to Vince’s presence alerted them to another. Charlie didn’t blink. One tug on Vince’s shirt and her mouth was on his, tasting the hint of coffee and mint on his tongue. He didn’t miss a beat, walking them backward until her bum hit the edge of the desk. Arturo’s desk rattled.

  Vince’s mouth feasted on hers. The man could perform a search-and-rescue of her tonsils any damn day he’d like. Palming his rock-hard arse, Charlie tugged him even tighter. He took the invite to get closer and slid his fingers beneath the hem of her dress and up her thigh. A not-so-little—and very real—moan slipped from her throat as the door clicked open.

  Tina’s disgusted grunt barely inched them apart. “Ugh. Really? Now I’m going to have to get the cleaners in here to sanitize every square inch of this room.”

  Breathless from the intense kiss, Charlie reluctantly pulled her mouth from Vince’s. Her gaze dropped to his swollen lips and before she dove back in for another round, she was reminded they weren’t alone by Tina’s not-so-subtle throat clearing.

  Charlie flashed her cousin a naughty smirk, but didn’t move from Vince’s embrace. “Sorry. You know how it goes. When you find the man of your dreams it’s practically impossible to keep your hands off each other. Or maybe you don’t know. I never did ask, Ti, is there someone special in your life?”

  “Yes. My father,” Tina snapped. “If you both could please put yourselves back together, Daddy’s making plans.”

  Charlie wiped a speck of lipstick off Vince’s mouth, and he gently bit the pad of her thumb. Her eyes shot up to his, immediately registering their still-sweltering fire. Maybe they had gotten a bit carried away.

  “What do you mean ‘plans’?” Charlie turned, facing off with her cousin.

  Tina’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Daddy wants to sponsor a girls’ day at the spa while he gets to know your boy toy here. Personally, I say we don’t and say we did. Or better yet, I’ll go and say that it turned out you’re allergic to grooming. I’m sure I’ll have no problem selling that as an excuse.”

  Charlie clenched her teeth. “Fine. You tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”

  Tina’s eyes narrowed. “You realize I said ‘spa,’ right? Not a tattoo shop? I won’t let you embarrass me by asking Gustov to put more of that…whatever the hell it is…in your hair.”

  “Time and place, Tina. I’ll even drive.”

  With a disgusted growl, Tina turned away and click-clacked out of the office.

  Vince shook his head. “I don’t know who’s going to have it worse—me for getting grilled by your uncle, or you for having to put up with that.”

  “Me. Definitely me.” Charlie sighed, turning around, and fixed his shirt, which she’d somehow managed to partially unbutton. She paused in re-dressing him and rubbed the back of her fingers over his stubble-laden jaw. “Do you want to switch? You could probably use a thorough exfoliating scrub…maybe a little man-scaping?”

  “Fuck no.” He snorted, glancing at the door where Tina had disappeared. “And be nice—maybe see if she knows anything about anything.”

  “Fine, but I’m taking the truck.”

  Vince’s mouth opened to argue, and it made her laugh. “Seriously, Navy. I have to go to a spa—for hours—with the devil’s spawn. I will be bloody damned if I’m left without an escape route.”

  Chapter Ten

  Vince wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower to the chorus of British curses coming from the suite’s living room. A few more days of working with Charlie, and his vocab was going to expand by at least 50 percent—and considering he used to be in the Navy, that was saying a damn lot.

  Ever since they’d returned from Arturo’s, Charlie had been in a roaring mood, even threatening physical harm to the goddamned laptop itself. Escaping to the bedroom and hoping a little more time alone would chill her out would be the smart thing to do.

  Too bad he wasn’t smart.

  He barely reached her before she hurled the laptop across the room.

  “Give that back to me right the bloody hell now, Navy!” Charlie grabbed for it, and he lifted it further out of her reach. Sometimes being as tall as a mountain paid off.

  “Calm the hell down, and I’ll give it to you. We both know if you toss it, you’re going to be pissed about it five seconds later. And then who are you going to take it out on? Me.”

  Charlie sank a fist into his gut. He lowered his arms with a grunt, and she ripped the damn thing out of his hands. “I don’t need you to tell me what I’m going to be pissed about.”

  She plunked her small body onto the couch, cross-legged, and rested the computer on her lap.

  “I take it things aren’t going as well as you’d expected,” Vince teased dryly.

  She threw him a g
lare. “Really? Now you’re going to try and grow a sense of humor?”

  “Better late than never, right?”

  Her attention dropped to his towel, and damn if his body didn’t respond. Thank God she diverted it back to the computer screen or she’d have seen the terry cloth twitch. Hyperaware—that’s how his body reacted whenever she laid those brown eyes on him.

  He made his way around the back of the couch, putting an additional barrier between them, and leaned over her shoulder. “You can’t find anything?”

  She let out a sign and tucked a stray pink hair behind her ear. “Nothing useful. Everything I’ve come across so far makes it seem like Arturo really isn’t talking out of his arse—that he’s trying to make his businesses legitimate. Those that aren’t hacking the change are slowly being shut down.”

  “So either there’s something we’re missing, or there’s nothing there. You said before, Arturo’s no angel, but selling humans doesn’t seem like his thing.”

  “Yeah, but someone is. That’s awfully ballsy to do in Arturo’s turf—and all of Miami is his turf, not just the clubs on Ocean Drive.”

  A beep sounded right before a video chat request popped up from headquarters. Charlie clicked on it, and Logan’s face appeared on the screen. “Hello, my love—” His words cut off. “Well, I was going to say ‘my lovely,’ but you look like you’ve been on a week-long bender. Jesus.”

  “It amazes me how you’re not taken, Callahan,” Charlie joked.

  “Amazes me and my gran too. I’m quite the catch.”

  “What do you need, Logan?” Vince asked, trying to get them back on track.

  Logan’s smile slowly faded. Fuckin-A. That was never a good sign.

  “There was another abduction last night—this one outside a club called Hot Lips.”

  Vince arched a brow. “You know where?”

  “Sure do. According to the DHS who questioned the witness, the abductee’s friend saw her being hoisted into the back of a van, but the alley behind the club was too dark and she was too blitzed to give much detail—or any. She swears one of them looked like one of the Avengers.”

  “Well, that’s credible,” Vince joked dryly.

  “I’m sending you what DHS gave us, but I’m warning you ahead of time. There isn’t much.”

  “Any link to the two girls who disappeared last week? Or the ones before?”

  “Nothing concrete. They look nothing alike and they’re all from different backgrounds.”

  “You said nothing concrete.” Vince caught onto the former Marine’s words. “Does that mean there’s something?”

  “The two last week were friends, military brats celebrating the end of semester finals. One has a general grandfather and the other, a JAG lawyer father who’s been retired five years now. Last night’s, Tif Jansen, has a colonel uncle.”

  Charlie bit her lower lip, contemplating the new information. “So the last three have a military connection. It could be a huge-ass coincidence. I mean, the girls taken before this point didn’t have military ties.”

  Vince leaned on the back of the couch, his arm sliding behind Charlie’s neck. Her slight shiver gifted him a little thrill before he focused back on the assignment. “Okay, so we have at least a dozen abducted young women, the latest three of which have military connections.”

  “But you can’t forget, Miami’s a vacation destination. People flock here in droves, especially the young, I-have-nothing-better-to-do-with-my-money coeds,” Charlie pointed out, half-turning in her seat to look at Vince. “I know what you’re thinking, but Logan’s right. We can’t say it’s a new trend in the pattern. It’s horrible to think about, but human trafficking is big business here. But it is a business. The more grabs they make, the more money they can stuff in their wallets. Traffickers sure as hell aren’t doing background checks on their targets.”

  “This whole damn thing is fucked-up,” Vince muttered.

  Charlie murmured in agreement, turning back toward Logan. “Send everything DHS gave you and maybe between the two of us, we’ll find something else linking all the girls.”

  “You mean something other than being last seen at one of Franconi’s clubs?” Logan asked. At Charlie’s scowl, he backtracked. “You got it, darlin’. I’ll send away. So, how’s engaged life treating the two of you? Looks like a nice room. Double bed? Queen? King?”

  “Logan,” Vince warned.

  “Hey, I’m curious how sleeping arrangements are working out for you all.”

  “Good-bye, Callahan.” Vince reached over Charlie’s shoulder and closed the video-link. Suddenly, he felt like he hadn’t slept in ten damn years. He stretched his arm over his head, working out the coiled muscles in his back. “Bed sounds like a good idea.”

  Charlie looked at him like he’d sprouted a horn in the middle of his head. “Did you not just hear him? There was another kidnapping. We don’t have time for things like sleep. We need to get to that club and see what we can find out.”

  “It’s three in the morning. The club’s closed. Hell, if there’s been another abduction, it probably closed even earlier. You’re not going to find out anything—and you’re not going to be able to function tomorrow and make sound decisions without rest.” He came around the couch and removed the computer from her hands. “Bed now. Worry later.”

  “I’ll take the couch tonight, since I had the bed last night.”

  Vince snorted and pulled her off the couch in one tug. “I wasn’t born yesterday, English. If I leave you here with your computer, you’ll be back on it before the bedroom door even closes. It stays out here—with me. Now go and get at least four hours.”

  Charlie glanced to where his hands remained cupped over her elbow, not just holding her steady. His thumb, having a mind of its own, caressed the soft skin on the inside of her arm.

  He dropped his hand, fisting it at his side, as if that would get rid of electric buzz that had started when he’d first touched her. No such fucking luck.

  “You’re getting awfully bossy, Navy…and hands-y,” warned Charlie.

  “I’m your fiancé, right? Looking out for your welfare it part of the job description. And before you start going on about sexism and equal opportunity, I’d be telling any of the guys to hit the sack too.”

  “Would you also be holding their hand?”

  Vince shrugged. “If the assignment called for it? Maybe. Or maybe I like touching you. Ever think of that?”

  Charlie’s cheeks pinked. She stormed away in a mad huff, his name and a slew of curse words flying off her lips seconds before the bedroom door slammed.

  “Was it something I said, sweetheart?” Vince called out. Something hit the door from the other side, making him chuckle.

  That was one way to get her to run the other way.

  Too bad his words held way more truth than made him comfortable. He liked holding her. Touching her. Kissing her practically sent him into fucking orbit. Hell, being close to her was starting to feel so damn natural he reached for her without thinking.

  Maybe he should be turning around and running the other way too.

  * * *

  Sixteen clicks away from the forward operating base, they got their first whiff of smoke. At three, Vince and his team stood on the bluff overlooking the destruction and tried to decipher the charred remains. People below shouted and called out, alerting them to the fact that not everyone was gone, but there was a big-ass crater where the sleeping quarters used to be.

  The bastards had attacked while everyone had been fucking sleeping.

  “Franklin, over here.” Rico gestured to the right where a small divot in the earth cut a rough road through the mountain.

  Vince aimed his binocs toward the fast-moving group of nine men—not theirs—all hustling like their lives depended on it. The mobile wagon with the military-grade rocket launchers on it pegged these fuckwads as the ones who’d tried taking out their friends.

  Vince knew what Rico wanted to hear, but as team comma
nder, it was his responsibility to give the order.

  “We can’t let them fucking go, V,” Rico protested. The native New Yorker knew Vince better than anyone and immediately read the thoughts going through his head—and didn’t have any qualms about questioning him, despite being outranked. “They smoked half the goddamn base.”

  “We should see who’s alive and help where we can.” Vince said the words he was trained to say, although he didn’t agree.

  “I’m no fucking nursemaid. My talents stray much more heavily toward kicking some insurgent ass.” Rico nodded to where the group of nine men quickly hustled their way out of the valley. “If we wait too much longer, they’re gone.”

  Every one of Vince’s five-man team nodded their agreement. Return to base or hunt for a little retribution. An argument could be made for either decision, but goddamn it, some of those men and women had been prepped to go home next week.

  Orders or emotions. Vince had to choose.

  “Pack up and haul ass,” he barked, his decision made. “Once they get out of the ravine, they’re going to be practically impossible to find.”

  Two hours and one shoot-out later, they’d finally cut the bastards off, with meters to spare before they could’ve tucked tail and spread out into the mountain.

  “They’re retreating!” Rico shouted over the hail of gunfire, and despite the fact that he was crouched next to Vince behind the boulder, he could barely hear his teammate. “Those assholes are getting the fuck away!”

  “Like hell they are,” Vince growled. “Eagle Eye,” Vince snapped into his radio, “what are we looking at from the bird’s view?”

  “We got six at your twelve, hauling it east—and fast,” Eagle Eye Sanders came online. “And we got two veering off, one north, one northwest. They want to split us up, evidently not as stupid as we thought.”

  Six and two. Split or not, it was still a piece of fucking cake. Vince divvied his team like he would on any other mission, and they immediately jumped to execute his orders. Next to him, Rico was anxious to get moving, too, and he couldn’t blame his friend. People they’d come to call family were in the camp, and they had no idea if they were alive or dead. The only thing they did know? Their camp had exploded from the inside out, and these bastards were responsible.