“Remote detonation,” Seth confirmed.
For the second time in only seven days, Cody was standing in the hallway of Community Hospital with his gut in a knot. “Send the stuff to the lab in Helena,” he told his brother. Then he turned, his gaze seeking out J.J. He walked over to her and didn’t even try to hide his annoyance. “You. Follow me.”
Stomping down the corridor, he checked doors until he found an empty room. He went inside, pulling J.J. along with him. “What the hell were you thinking?”
She flinched. It was quick and she recovered quickly, but at least he figured he had her full attention. “Well?”
Brushing hair away from her face, J.J. met his gaze. “I’m sorry Lara was hurt. Thank God it was just a minor break and a concussion, not something a lot worse. But it was an innocent trip, Landry. We all agreed to—”
“You got one of my team members blown up! Don’t try to minimize it. Rule number one has always been that you don’t leave the house without my express permission.” Cody let out a frustrated breath and fought off a compelling urge to punch a hole in the closest wall. He was too furious to even look at her.
“I accept full responsibility for the incident. You’re right. It was stupid of us to go out. But, dammit, Landry, we all had cabin fever. Besides,” she continued hotly, “your express permission doesn’t mean a whole lot when you’re always off with The Brady Bunch.”
“Incident?” He felt his eyes narrow as his blood began to boil. “Don’t you dare question my handling of this assignment, Barnes.”
The smart move would have been to back away, but Barnes took a different tack. She got right in his face. Her breath washed over his throat. “Why not? So far, I haven’t seen much in the way of leadership from you, Landry. No wonder you keep losing your protectees. You’re never around to protect anyone.”
Forget impulse control. Cody slammed his fist into the wall to the left of her head. The drywall caved from the force.
J.J. grunted her disgust and made a production out of putting her hands on her hips. She looked like an irritated parent about to chastise an errant child. Didn’t do much to improve his temper.
“Feel better now?” J.J. said evenly. She hadn’t even flinched as his fist came within inches of her head. “Hitting things is never a solution. It won’t unbreak Lara’s collarbone nor will it cure her concussion. And it certainly won’t tell us how the snowmobile ended up rigged with potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur.”
Furrowing his brow, he felt his anger dissipate. Intrigue replaced it, as he tried to figure out how she knew so much so soon. “Guessing, or do you want to share how you know the components of the—”
“Hardly a psychic revelation moment, Landry. I was there, I smelled the blast. It was gunpowder. Since I neither saw nor heard a flash prior to the explosion, it had to be detonated by a signal or timer.”
“Remote job,” he confirmed. “Bomb squad found enough in the debris to confirm that much.”
She took in a deep breath, held it for a second, then exhaled. “Inside job.”
Cody’s chest tightened hearing her say what he didn’t want to hear. Even if it was the most logical explanation. Problem was, he couldn’t tell her that the perimeter of the farmhouse wasn’t completely secure or that he’d been absent a lot because he couldn’t stomach the notion of hanging her out to dry. He couldn’t tell her without disobeying orders. Even ones he fervently disagreed with.
“Looks like. But can’t be. I trust my team.”
“I’d trust only Lara and Martin if I were you.”
He speared her with a look. “Why just the two of them? Why not trust all of us?”
J.J. put up a hand. “Hear me out, okay?” She explained how the two had argued over the rigged snowmobile which made it pretty unlikely that either knew it was potentially fatal. “So that leaves Denise.” Her lashes fluttered briefly before she added, “And you.”
“Me, huh?”
She nodded. “In fact, you’re at the top of my list.”
“I am, am I? In that case you’re pretty stupid to be standing here—alone—with a murderer, and a mad bomber, aren’t you? What’s to say I won’t kill you right here and now, Agent Barnes? If I wanted to hurt you, J.J., I’ve had lots of opportunities.” He stepped closer until she was trapped between the wall and his body. He was cautious to keep a single hair’s space between them. Flattening his palms on either side of her head, he dipped his head, bringing them almost nose to nose.
Her nose was perfect, he noted. Small and precisely centered above her full, rosy lips. He smelled soap, but not fear. There wasn’t so much as an inkling of hesitation in those clear, stunning eyes. J.J. Barnes wasn’t a woman prone to intimidation.
“Ditto,” she returned.
He smiled. It had been nearly imperceptible, but he heard the evidence that she wasn’t quite as self-assured as she appeared. Nor as immune to him as she wanted him to believe.
“Really?”
Cody relaxed a bit and was feeling pretty cocky. Until he felt a sharp pain in his arm, another in his calf, and then realized he was lying flat on his back. J.J. Barnes had dropped him like a bad habit and he hadn’t seen it coming.
His ego hurt almost as much as his back. Correction. More.
Reaching out a hand to him, she did nothing to keep the smug smile from her face. “Any more questions?”
He shook his head as he stood without her assistance. “Pretty much cleared that issue right up for me.”
“Fine. So explain to me why I shouldn’t think of you as my prime suspect.” Moving to the bed, J.J. sat on the edge and hoped he wouldn’t figure out that tossing him to the ground had sapped a good portion of her strength.
Cody pulled a chair close to the bed and sat. Rubbing his shoulder, he said, “Because I’m willing to admit to being distracted, but I’d never, ever, put you or any member of my team in danger.”
“Distracted by what?”
“It’s personal.”
Personal as in girlfriend? What? “If you want me to move on, then I need more than that. C’mon, Landry. You’re one of only two people who know about…about my attack. I trusted you with that information, so I think it’s your turn to show some good faith.”
He offered a sheepish grin. “If I don’t, are you going to toss my butt onto the tile floor again?”
She found his smile contagious. “I might. Whatever it takes to get the job done.”
“I’ve been trying to get a gift for my brother’s wedding.”
“A wedding gift?” she scoffed. “I got shot at and Lara got blown up because you were shopping for a gift?”
“No. Not shopping, exactly.” He turned his dark head, his expression growing distant. In the ensuing silence, it felt as if he no longer realized she was in the room. “My folks took off several years ago. I was too busy, so I hired a private detective to try to track them down. I had hoped to find them in time for this wedding.”
Wow. “Took off?” she asked. It didn’t fit with what little she knew. The Landrys seemed to be such a close-knit clan.
“I think they were having some problems, then they up and left.”
“What kind of problems?”
He shrugged. The action caused the soft fabric of his chambray shirt to pull taut against his broad chest. She knew she shouldn’t be distracted; she just couldn’t help it. How sick was that? Here he was spilling his guts and she was lusting over him. Focus, Agent Barnes. Focus.
“Stuff,” was his evasive answer. “They were my parents. They didn’t exactly seek out my counsel.”
“Come on, Cody,” she said, leaning forward to rest her hand on his knee. “You and I both know people go missing by choice every day of every year for all sorts of reasons.”
“I know.” He sighed. “Just not my folks.”
“You said they were having problems. Maybe they needed some space.” When did I start channeling Dr. Phil?
“For more than ten years?” he countered, obviously frustrated. “I could buy it if nothing much had happened in all those years. Marriages, births. I can’t imagine them missing all that. Hell, Clayton went to prison for murder. He was later exonerated, but it doesn’t make sense that my parents wouldn’t so much as send a note during the trial or after his conviction.”
J.J.’s brain whirled as she considered possibilities. One was particularly obvious. Squeezing his knee gently, she quietly asked, “Could they be dead, Cody? Maybe an accident and—”
“No notification?” he cut in. “I’ve contacted every jurisdiction in this country. No matches. Not as a couple and not as individuals. It’s like they dropped off the face of the earth.”
“Maybe they went out of the country.”
“That’s why I called Wilkofski,” he explained.
“Wilkofski is your P.I.?” That explains the card taped to the wardrobe. Kinda.
He nodded and she saw a spark in his eye. “Yep, it’s a firm with contacts all over the globe. One of his operatives might be on to something, but he probably can’t track it down in time for the wedding on Saturday.”
She felt her heart tug at the sound of utter disappointment in his voice. “So, you’ll keep at it and in the meantime, you’ll buy a place setting like every other self-respecting wedding guest.”
The smile that reached all the way to his eyes made her stomach clench.
“How about I call in some favors?” she said. “See if the FBI can come up with anything?”
“I’ve tried that.”
“I’m sure you have,” she agreed as she patted his muscular thigh. “But I’ve got a slight advantage over you. I’ve got some people who owe me favors. It can’t hurt, right?”
His hand slipped over hers, sending a shock the full length of her arm. “Thanks, J.J., really.”
“No problem,” she said through the tightness in her throat. Halfheartedly, she attempted to pull her hand away. “You can let go now.”
“Yeah, I can,” he replied, though he kept his hand in place.
The soft, husky sound of his voice resonated through every cell in her body. All of her thoughts should have been focused on the investigation. But they weren’t. Not by a long shot.
Ever so gently, Cody urged J.J. from the bed, into the V of his thighs. Words scrolled through his mind like a marquee— Wrong. Stop. Don’t. Shouldn’t. He ignored them all.
Instead he slid his hands over the sides of her legs until his fingers gripped the smallness of her waist. He scanned her face, looking for even the smallest hint that his attentions might be unwanted. Relief filled him when he saw curiosity smoldering in her incredible eyes.
His pulse increased in correlation with his interest. Slipping his thumbs beneath the hem of her shirt, he felt the warm, silky softness of her skin. That alone was enough to ignite a fiery passion in the pit of his stomach. J.J. dipped her head, her full lips coming dangerously close to his.
Purposefully Cody countered the move, wanting—no needing—to make this moment last. He wanted to imprint every second on his brain. The feel of her skin, the erratic rhythm of her breathing, the lilac scent of her hair, the anticipation in her gaze. All of it mattered. He knew the kiss would be the end and he wanted to postpone that for as long as possible.
Slowly he began making small circles with his thumbs against her skin as he squeezed his thighs, trapping her in place. He watched, fascinated, as her lips parted and a faint, telling moan spilled from her mouth. Her hands went to his shoulders, her fingers digging into him as he teased the pad of his thumb a fraction of an inch below her waistband.
J.J.’s grip became more insistent and she again tried to brush her lips against his. Not yet.
Cody countered by placing his mouth against the base of her throat, tasting the warm skin. He heard her breath catch as his tongue darted out to flick the pulse point on her neck. She pressed closer, hindered by his tight control over her ability to move. Feeling the full, soft roundness of her breasts against his chest, he nearly abandoned his plan for a slow, patient approach.
He worked a deliberate path up her throat, teasing and nibbling sexy little sounds from her as he went. When he reached her jawline, he spent extra time there, tasting and kissing her heated skin.
Lifting his hands from her waist, he cupped her face in his palms and angled her head toward him, careful to keep just a whisper of distance between them. Hesitating, he studied the hooded passion in her eyes, the way her pupils constricted with each labored, uneven intake of breath. Kissing one cheek, then the other, he rubbed his thumb along her bottom lip.
Her mouth opened wider as her tongue flicked out and touched the pad of his finger.
Need stabbed through him. How could such a simple action cause such a strong reaction? His body turned into an electrified jumble of cells, all wanting and needing one thing. Her.
His commendable self-restraint was fading quickly. Replaced by raw, primal passion. Blood pumped through his veins, carrying his desire to every inch of his being. His own heart pounded against his ribs as he fought to retain the last vestiges of control.
It would have worked. He was a decent guy, not some animal. At least he wasn’t until J.J. pulled one of her role-reversal moves.
Lacing her fingers through his hair, J.J. pulled Cody to her, crushing his mouth with her own. There was nothing tentative or speculative about the kiss. She made sure of that. Cody had set her body on fire and she was determined to do the same for him.
It didn’t take much. Adrenaline and desire fed her strength as she pushed past the grip of his thighs until she was finally able to feel the full press of his body. All the while, she greedily tasted and unabashedly enjoyed his mouth.
Incredible. That was the only word to describe the magical feelings churning inside her. Need, curiosity, passion, frustration—all fueled by the feel of him. She wasn’t quite sure what she wanted or in what order. Only that she wanted more. Much, much more.
“Hang on,” Cody breathed into her mouth.
Reason intruded into her consciousness. “Right,” she agreed, “the door. I’ll lock the door.”
J.J. half-turned when Cody caught her wrist and then held her gaze. His hair was tousled and sexy and, if she did say so herself, the man looked thoroughly kissed. She smiled at him, enjoying the anticipation tingling all through her.
“Don’t lock the door.”
So Cody had a wild side, eh? “But someone could walk in.”
Lifting her hand to his mouth, he placed a kiss on her palm that made her want to swoon on the spot. “I’m not worried about someone walking in. I’m telling you that we should be walking out.”
“Out?” she repeated as if he’d said it in tongues.
Cody rose slowly. He had that look. It was the I’m-about-to-reject-you look.
She yanked her hand free and all but jumped as far away from him as possible. Boy, did I get that all wrong!
Closing her eyes tightly, she braced herself for his rejection as she prayed for inner strength. Please do not let my utter humiliation show.
“J.J., we can’t do this.”
Crossing her arms, she willed her heart rate back to normal. “You’re right. It was a stupid lapse of judgment on my part. It was unfair of me to use you to feel better about myself.”
He cocked his head and his lips drew into a thin line. “Are you telling me that was some sort of exercise in emotional healing?”
She covered with a nervous laugh. “Of course. I was the victim of an assault, so on some level, I guess I needed to know I was still capable of summoning up a normal physical reaction to a man.”
Shaking his head, he smirked at her. “The only problem with that lame comment is that I know you don’t remember the assault.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t have…issues.”
“The only issues you have, Barnes, are poor timing and a doctor’s note. I’m a patient guy, so don’t think for a minute that this—” he wagged his forefinger between them “—is finished.”
“In your dreams.”
“Really?” he taunted, one dark brow arched. “Five minutes and I could have you begging me.”
“To stop? That you could manage in about ten seconds.”
He chuckled. “Every chance I get, I’ll be reminding you that it was your idea to toss the gauntlet, Barnes.”
“Who needs a gauntlet, Landry? Right now I’d be willing to toss pretty much anything at you.”
“That’s because you can’t stand the fact that I’m right.”
“Right annoying.”
“Try being honest for a change. You want me, Barnes.”
“I do not want you. And I am honest.”
“Really? Then why did you melt in my arms?”
“Did not.” Lord, I sound like I’m in kindergarten!
“We will argue our mutual attraction another time in another place. As for your honesty, at what point were you going to tell me your real reason for being here?”
Her throat went dry. “My reason is to stay alive until the Visnopov trial.”
“And?” he prodded.
Her eyes narrowed. “And nothing.”
He shrugged, turned his back to her and started for the door. “Too bad, Barnes. If you’d have opened up to me, I might have told you about the date on the back of the card you found when you searched my room this morning.”