Dell started his truck and drove off. He needed to think. He wasn’t stalking her. He knew whatever she was doing had to do with her job. It was a part of her he wouldn’t step into the middle of. At least, that’s what he told himself as he drove back to the ranch and threw himself into work.
That lasted until the next morning. He’s spent too long burying himself in work because every time he stopped, he saw Tasha with a black eye, roaring off on a motorcycle. He was at the Federal Building early, waiting. He had to know because not knowing was killing him inside.
Ben Murphy had just dismounted when the hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned just in time to catch a full jaw on strike from a closed fist that packed one hell of a wallop. He bounced back against the bike, his hand going beneath his jacket. His fingers stopped the instant they wrapped around the butt of his nine mil, ready to shoot first and ask questions later.
But He recognized his assailant from a photo.
“Fuck. I should just shoot you and accept the paperwork,” Ben released his grip and withdrew his hand from inside his jacket. He rubbed his jaw, matching glare for glare with the cowboy. “You must be Dell Russell.”
“Yeah.”
He continued rubbing his jaw with one hand, extending the other. “Ben Murphy. I should arrest you for assaulting a federal agent, but I think love makes you a little nuts.”
Dell accepted the hand. “Federal agent?”
“For twenty-nine more days, at least,” Ben leaned back against his bike, ankles crossed. “I’m guessing this is about Tasha Banks.”
“I saw her yesterday. Here. With you. And a black eye,” Dell kept his gaze on the man in front of him.
“Make-up for the scam,” Ben said quickly, not relishing another of those punches. “Damn…you fight for a living? I’ve been belted by pros that hurt less,” he twitched his jaw back and forth.
“Sorry about that…really…I…” Del pulled in a slow breath. “Where is she?”
“You do know she was only with me because of the job, right?” Ben accepted the curt nod and flipped his phone from an inside pocket. “Last I heard, she was holed up with the computer guys going over the stuff she downloaded from the school system. I haven’t seen her since yesterday,” he paused and held up a finger. “Henry? Is Miss Banks around the building?” He listened, straightening slowly, frowning. “Thanks.”
He snapped the phone closed.
“What?”
“He hasn’t seen her. She left about eight last night and was supposed to go home.”
“She doesn’t have her phone with her. She left it in her apartment,” Dell said, staring past the motorcycle. He pulled his phone out. “Maybe…Jonathon? It’s Dell…is Molly around?” He listened, nodding. “Can you make certain? I can’t locate Tasha and the people she was working with sent her home last night. Yeah, I’ll be here.”
“Why is my neck twitchy…” Ben exhaled and climbed on the bike. He turned the key, listening to the hum when the phone sounded.
“Yeah…shit…no, I’m on my way to the resort. I’ll get with Cassidy. She was supposed to have someone with Molly at all times until this was over. Thanks.”
“I can get us there faster,” Ben said simply, handing the spare helmet to the cowboy with one arched brow. “Your girl managed not to puke on my bike.”
“I’ve ridden before and thanks for that. Now I’ll never get her on mine,” Dell growled, mounting behind Ben and gripping the bar behind him. “Nice set up.”
“Thanks. No one knows where she is?”
“Jonathon said Cassidy is out looking. The guy assigned to watch her hasn’t checked in and Molly isn’t at the clinic. She’s over an hour late,” Dell told him, the edge in his voice sharpening with each passing minute. “I don’t like the feeling I have, either. The school was one angle; the three guys that had been tracking Molly, a whole different problem.”
“We thought they were connected,” Ben said thoughtfully, his voice traveling through the mic connecting them.
“So did Tasha. Hell, I don’t know. They might be. I know the young one makes me twitchy,” Dell thought about the young man who had been watching Tasha. “I think he’s more the key than the other two. I just don’t know how…”
“Yeah…intuition bites at times,” Ben agreed tensely. “Especially when you have a reputation of being right too often. I’m not real big on coincidence. When she left the feds, she was done. We have what we need. The school was shut down last night, the kids all relocated.”
“Then she would have come to me…to the ranch. Or at least, she would have called me,” Dell stared through the tinted visor, his jaw clenching tighter with each mile that slid beneath the tires of the bike.
“I won’t risk getting hit again by asking if you’re sure of that,” Ben let the humor flow in his voice, trying to a lighter mood. “Seriously, I don’t think she knew the helmet had a mic in it. She kept working on this ‘how am I going to explain what the bureau talked her into doing’ speech through most of the return trip.”
“And that was?”
“Pose as a perspective parent. Get into the main office and download files from their system,” Ben breathed slowly as he took the exit off the highway and toward the resort. “I stood guard for her. Believe me, she was perfectly safe at all times. I wasn’t keen on taking a civilian on an op with me. They used makeup to make it look like she had a black eye, which would explain the glasses. If we’d gone in without glasses…her eyes give every fucking thing away. They’d never have believed she was willingly giving up her kid.”
“No…no, I can’t see Tasha doing that,” Dell agreed quietly.
Ben pulled before the valet at the side of the resort entrance, his hand inside his jacket and badge pulled out.
“Official and I want it left here,” he ordered without hesitation. He kicked the stand into place and removed his helmet while the valet nodded briskly. He waited for Dell to step off and return the helmet before he climbed free of the bike.
“Cassidy? It’s Dell…” He stepped to the side about to speak when Cassidy Parker-Lawson came at him, her long legs taking up strides that had her in front of them.
“We’ve found them,” she said, quietly nudging with her head and leading them into the expansive lobby of the resort. She kept silent until they were in the elevator heading up, just the three of them.
“What’s wrong, Cassidy?”
“Who’s your friend?” She asked, glancing at Ben with a little frown. “New guy for Hunter’s Cruise line. Just got the paperwork. Are you armed?” She waited while he lifted the side of his jacket. “Good.”
“Cassidy,” Dell ground her name hard.
“Melville has them in four-twelve. He registered last night using his own name and we didn’t catch it. No one saw him as the problem. We were busy watching Harriston and Hamilton,” she strode off down the hall to the right once the elevator came to a stop. Her pace slowed, her voice lower. “We haven’t been able to locate them, either.”
Ben had his gun out of the holster, the safety cleared when she came to a stop.
“You think they’re all in there? How did you pinpoint them?”
“Molly’s phone is one we issued. It has a locater in it, regardless of being on or off,” Cassidy said simply. “She knows it’s there, but evidently they don’t.”
Ben shrugged out of his jacket and laid it on the floor before stepping very slowly down the hall to four-twelve. He only heard one voice. One male voice.