Engaging Bodyguard Page 10

  Quamar was also heading up to Shadow Point, something Cain had decided to keep to himself for now. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have someone else around to help keep an eye on Celeste. Cain couldn’t ask for better back up than Quamar Bazan. Mercer had recently contracted Bazan for Labyrinth after the ex-Mossad agent had helped Cain save Roman’s and Kate’s lives the previous year.

  “Joyce Raines.” Sorrow shadowed Celeste’s eyes, dimming the blue. She took another look at the PDA, but not before Cain saw the muscle flex in her jaw. Had he ever cared for people that much? “Just another statistic, isn’t she?”

  “Whatever she was, Gypsy, she didn’t deserve to be murdered.”

  “Did you notice the list of items that are being held at the warehouse for the Cambridge auction?”

  “Yes.” Not for the first time, Cain noted the strength beneath her strained features, her pale skin.

  “I think we should take a look.”

  “Not we. Me.”

  “You?” Celeste’s temper flared, but Cain watched as she managed to control her exasperation, just barely. At this rate, Cain decided, it would take her years to master the technique. However, he found it intriguing that in spite of her experiences, she still wore her emotions out in the open for everyone to see.

  “I’ll decide if I’m going, Cain. Not you,” she said. “Gabriel is upping the ante with that bomb. He wants to see just how much we can endure, if we’re smart enough to survive his tactics or scared enough to run. I’m not going to let him win, not when we’ve come this far.”

  “I’m taking you to my place.” His hand tightened, halting their progress, his eyes catching a black shadow by the porch.

  “Cain, what quarters did they find on Joyce Raines?” Celeste stepped forward, then froze. Her whole body started to quake.

  “Kentucky.” Following her gaze, Cain understood. “My old Kentucky Home.”

  Chapter Ten

  The bastard had left it just for her. Only a few feet away from the front stoop of the store. Close enough to the burning building so it wouldn’t be missed. Far enough away so the fire wouldn’t touch it. He’d even dropped a blood-red bow from her shop on the body as if it were a gift.

  She took another shaky step forward, her anguish palpable. Still several feet away, she reached out to touch the mangled animal. Cain stopped her, clasping her trembling hand within his when what he really wanted was to gather her close and take away the torment he saw in her eyes.

  “I should’ve realized Gabriel would target…” the rest of the sentence caught on a sob.

  In the background, a police officer’s camera flashed systematically, catching onlookers for future scrutiny. Just in case the bomber wanted to enjoy his show. Soon, Cain knew, they’d take pictures of the cat. Something he wanted to avoid her seeing.

  There was little blood around the carcass, which meant whoever had killed the animal had done so somewhere else. Maybe inside the store. Cain looked up at the blaze as the firefighters fought to control it. The fire had climbed as high as the treetops, the flames stroking the blackened sky. A small crowd of people had formed—some neighbors, most strangers—forcing the deputies to push them back to a safe distance.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Cain responded, gentling his voice. Looking again at the heap of raw meat, he forced himself to remain objective. Only a slight tremor of his jaw gave away the fury that brewed under his calm surface.

  The cat had been decapitated, the head left by its partially skinned, mutilated body. The guts had been thrown like discarded streamers over the steps and sidewalk. Amidst the gore near the tail lay five quarters—all North Carolina, all flashing brightly against the black fur.

  Gabriel had wanted her to be able to recognize her friend, and leave no doubt about the torture he’d suffered.

  Cain pulled her to his chest, and forced her face away from the gruesome sight. “I’m sorry.” This time the comfort came naturally to him, like breathing. Trouble was, he wasn’t sure he liked this new side of him. The hate had been easier to handle.

  A sob escaped her, muffled by his clothes. Lightly, he soothed her, his fingers tracing long lines of comfort up and down her back. “It’s over.”

  Another sob, this one a vicious jab just under his heart, a heart he’d thought long ago had stopped feeling anything.

  Celeste drew a shaky breath. “I can smell him even through the smoke, Cain.” Fur soaked with blood had a distinct scent. Sour. Tinny. Heavy. The grief raked her from toes to chin, laying her wide open to its pain.

  “I want him autopsied. Tonight.” Slowly, she straightened, stiffening her spine to keep from crumbling into a ball. “If Gabriel left something behind, even the tip of an eyelash, I want it found.” She sidestepped Cain, to get a closer look. To remember every detail. Bile rose in her throat. She tasted the acid before beating it back down.

  “I’ll talk to the deputy.”

  She glanced at the burning building, though she no longer cared about her lost possessions. No longer cared that the rose and talcum that was Grams was gone forever with the ashes and smoke.

  “Miss Pavenic, I think I might have found something that belongs to you.”

  Both Celeste and Cain turned as Sheriff Lassiter approached them.

  A worn Stetson, a sheepskin coat and his long, easy gait only accented the sheriff’s small-town persona. Not an easy feat considering that until a few months before Lassiter had been a city boy.

  In his arms, he held a bundled rescue blanket, but it wasn’t until he’d almost reached them that Celeste heard the angry hissing.

  Pan!

  With a cry, she reached for the cat, hugged him tight. Her fingers smoothed the damp fur while she instinctively counted the heartbeats beneath.

  The answering mew, although irritated, sounded healthy. Celeste offered a prayer for the animal on the ground a few yards away that hadn’t been so lucky.

  “Thank you, Sheriff,” Celeste swallowed the knot of tears, that clogged her throat. “I don’t know what to say—”

  “Part of the job,” Lassiter replied, shrugging. “I found him under the Dumpster in the alley. Put up quite a fight when I went after him.” Lassiter pushed back the brim on his Stetson, and smiled gently. “If I were you, I’d keep a close track on your pet from now on. He’s probably down a life or two.”

  “Probably, but thank you anyway,” Cain answered, shaking the sheriff’s hand and then nodding toward the blaze. “Have you found out anything yet?”

  “The firefighters say that the flames caught hold of the lamp fluid stored in your stock room. Only took seconds after that.” Lassiter looked up at the two-story inferno and scratched the stubble on his cheek with his knuckles. “They haven’t figured out what caused the explosion though. Could have been a gas leak. Could have been arson.”

  Cain slipped his arm behind Celeste’s shoulders. When she tried to shift away, his hand curved her hip, stopping her.

  “I hope you all don’t mind if I ask a few questions.” Lassiter tilted his head in the direction of the fire. “Like why someone would want to burn you out?” His lips flatlined. “Or leave a mutilated cat on your doorstep?”

  “A burglary gone wrong?” Cain suggested. “We’ve heard there have been several break-ins lately.

  “You did?”

  “News travels in small communities. Especially bad news.”

  Slow to answer, Lassiter’s gaze shifted from Celeste to Cain, intense and curious. “A mutilated cat adds a new twist, don’t you think?”

  “That’s the problem. We don’t know what to think, Sheriff.” Celeste answered, cutting off Cain. The slight pinch on her hip told her he wasn’t happy about it either. “The building exploded. Other than that—”

  “Frankly, I’m amazed we got out alive. Once the explosion hit, we were running,” Cain interrupted. “We gave our statements to your deputy.”

  “He told me.” Lassiter paused long enough to rub the back of his neck. “You know, I’v
e only been in town a little over two months, and I’ve seen more action here than during my last six months in Detroit. Whoever’s behind these burglaries is leaving one hell—” He coughed, covering his slip. “Is leaving a mess.”

  “Any leads?” Celeste asked casually.

  “None. Despite the mess, the places have been clean. No evidence. The trouble is that robberies rarely happen in Shadow Point, so people don’t have security systems or surveillance. Most don’t even lock their doors at night.”

  Celeste stiffened in defense of her neighbors. “Most have lived here all their lives and don’t feel it’s necessary.”

  “Yet, you did,” the sheriff speculated. “Didn’t you, Miss Pavenic?”

  “Yes, but I haven’t lived here my whole life, either.”

  “Funny though, them firefighters over there told me that someone would’ve had to be pretty savvy to breach your alarm system. Now, why would a thief target a store with a security system, when another with a dead bolt is just a block away? And why would he break in while you two were enjoying your dinner upstairs?”

  “I’m not an expert, but maybe this particular one preferred a challenge.”

  “Maybe,” he agreed, but his narrowed eyes said he didn’t. “But why isn’t your system set to notify my office when it’s breached?”

  “I felt safe enough that the extra precaution didn’t seem necessary, Sheriff.”

  “Next time, you might want to consider it.”

  “Next time, she will,” Cain responded easily, intentionally cutting off the sheriff’s questions. “But for right now, I think we both need to regroup.”

  Lassiter paused, then nodded his agreement. “I’m sorry about your store, Miss Pavenic. But I promise you, I’ll get to the bottom of this.” He turned away, only to swing back again. “Do you folks have a place to stay?”

  “We haven’t decided—”

  “She’ll be staying with me,” Cain said, then slid his hand into the soft curls at the base of her neck. “I’ve rented a place just south of town. Your deputy has the address.”

  Her arms tightened in surprise. Pan screeched and struggled to get free. When one claw found it mark, Celeste gasped.

  Smoothly, Cain grabbed Pan and bundled him into the rescue blanket. “I’ll keep an eye on her,” Cain said, keeping his tone casual. “And the cat.”

  On cue, Pan popped his head out from between the blanket’s folds, and Lassiter scratched him between his ears. If he thought it strange that Cain had his own place already, he kept it to himself. “That’s good to hear.”

  “Once your investigation is finished, I’d be interested in knowing how the burglar got through the security system,” Cain admitted easily.

  “I can’t make any promises.” Lassiter glanced back at the roof engulfed in flames. “Looks like it’s gone now, but I’ll let you know what we find. Meanwhile, you folks be careful. I’m not convinced this is the end of things.”

  “We’ll keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.”

  “I appreciate that.” Lassiter nodded and turned away.

  Celeste watched the sheriff amble towards his patrol car. “He didn’t believe us,” Celeste murmured, then rubbed noses with Pan, letting the warm velvet fur re-affirm that he was safe.

  Cain’s mouth twisted wryly. “Maybe we should have gone with the seagull story.”

  “First Grams, then Jonathon, now my store and Pan.” She scratched Pan under his collar, eliciting a purr. “He’s destroying everything personal to me. We need to warn Olivia Cambridge, Cain.”

  “Not yet, Gypsy. Not until we know for sure she’s not behind all of this.”

  “We can’t take the risk—”

  “I’ll make sure we boost her security a little bit, to cover our bases.”

  There was a loud crack, like thunder. Celeste jerked around just in time to see her apartment collapse into her store. Cain squeezed her into her side, reassuring her.

  The gesture made her chest constrict.

  “Cain, I want Gabriel,” Celeste said, trying not to think of the blazing mass behind her. Instead, she concentrated on the coins and the stray cat that lay cold on the ground next to them. “I want back in my store first thing in the morning. If Gabriel left anything behind, I want to know.”

  “There’s a lot of hours between now and the morning,” Cain answered grimly. “I think we’d better put them to use.”

  “I agree,” she said, this time taking comfort not from the we but from his arms. For the moment she was safe.

  “Cain,” she whispered, suddenly overwhelmed with the realization of what he’d done for her. Of how this evening could’ve ended.

  “Hmm?”

  A firefighter yelled. Another raced past. The savage looks on their faces told Celeste she’d lost everything.

  Celeste gave herself a second or so to allow the words to unclog from her throat. She glanced up at the swirling snowflakes that danced in the wind above their heads. The more unfortunate ones were caught in the flames, their split-second sizzle echoing in the night air. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “I haven’t saved it yet, Gypsy.”

  She saw the cold determination cemented on Cain’s features.

  And loneliness took on a completely new meaning.

  “NO MORE, Celeste. You’re done.”

  “Don’t you ever get tired of bossing me around?”

  “I wouldn’t have to, if you stopped letting your emo tions cloud your thinking. You’re injured and that makes you a liability in a situation like this.”

  “You’re not the team leader here, MacAlister.” Exhaustion tugged at her, but she refused to give in. It had taken another half hour for the fireman to contain the fire. Once they had, Celeste and Cain had left. “I’m a trained operative,” she added, ignoring the fact that her ankle still throbbed.

  “A trained operative who spent all her time in satellite offices with very little field experience.”

  “The quarters were a message for me. You and I both know that the odds are he’ll show up at the warehouse tonight.” She thought of the North Carolina coins. “The airplane on the quarter? The airfield by the warehouse?” Her laugh ground to bitter dust in her throat. “Gabriel’s not even trying to challenge us now.”

  Cain flicked off the headlights and slowed the car to a stop. The warehouse was a converted hanger located on the north edge of town, just past an old airstrip. The steel building sat a couple hundred yards back from the road with only some floodlights in the distance marking its position.

  Still, she was annoyed when Cain switched off the ignition. “We could probably creep a little closer, don’t you think?”

  “What I need you to do can be done from here where you’ll be safe.” He glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Pan lying stretched on the seat licking his paw. “Besides, you have Pan back there to keep you company.”

  The cat stopped in midstroke, mewed, then continued his onslaught. Celeste ignored him, knowing the cat was biding his time. He didn’t like being cooped up any more than she did. “How am I going to be any help here?”

  “Look, Celeste, I need you to watch my back while I place the security cameras.” Cain dropped the magazine of his gun, checked it, then slid it back into place. “Will you do that for me?”

  “Fine.” She spat out the word and permitted herself a withering stare. He was lying of course, but when he put it that way…

  She folded her arms, furious at her vulnerability. The problem was, she was beginning to wonder if there was anything he couldn’t do by himself.

  Cain punched a few buttons nearby. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

  A circular screen blipped. Within seconds of inputting information, a schematic of the warehouse superimposed itself over the original diagram. Cain used a small toggle to guide the tracking until it focused on the different areas. With a few taps on the keys, he zoomed in. “If we’ve jumped to the wrong conclusion and these burglaries a
re just a coincidence, then we’ve only assisted Lassiter in getting his guy. No harm, no foul.”

  “We’re not wrong,” she argued, still irked that he’d won.

  Two white figures appeared on the monitor. “An RTI?” Remote Thermal Imaging Systems, used to track a person’s body heat by satellite. She’d seen many like this one during her career with Labyrinth but always in surveillance vans, never in cars, let alone a Jaguar.

  Celeste tapped the screen. “You’ve got two guarding the warehouse. I’m betting private hires looking for extra cash. Not any big threat for the great Prometheus.” Celeste leaned over the screen, almost bumping heads with Cain.

  “Don’t tell me you’re worried?” When his eyes found hers, the eerie green of the computer screen cast a sharp and very dangerous edge to his features. “Don’t be.” He held up a miniature camera, the size of a tack. “Planting the cameras is easy. In and out. Thirty minutes max.”

  “Why can’t we just tap into the warehouse cameras?”

  “Unreliable. I prefer my own.”

  “Easy or not, watch yourself.” Her request drifted in a hushed whisper between them, thick with tension. “I’ve never lost a partner,” she said.

  “You’ve never had a partner.” A sensuous light passed between them, and its implication sent unwelcome waves of excitement rolling through her. “Not like me anyway.”

  “Yes, well…” She cleared her throat, pretending not to be affected, before glancing again at the console. Both guards had remained stationary—one at the back of the building, the other in front. They looked like small white globs.

  How dangerous could white globs be?

  “Here.” He handed her a small piece of flesh-colored, gum-like substance. “There’s a small transmitter in the center.”

  “I’ve used them before. It amplifies my voice with vibrations so no one else can hear me but you. And vice versa.” She took a moment to adjust to the foreign feeling of chewing gum in her ear. “If I think you need help, I’m coming in.”

  “Not unless I give you the okay. Agreed?” Cain took an identical one and placed it in his left ear.