Crime Of The Heart Read online

  He took possession of her mouth in an instant, just as he’d dreamed of doing for the past nine months. Hot, fast, complete. She was his now, he thought, feeling her response, feeling the way her lips came to his and parted with just as much need. She opened herself up to him, letting him take whatever he needed.

  And Lee drank her in, feeling his blood, like flowing fire, race through his veins at the mere taste of her.

  Passion. Need. Both came crashing together into the two of them at the same time, like a bolt of lightning, stunning them both, stopping them both, causing them to cling to one another as though their very lives depended on it. Fire consumed him. It was hotter than anything he’d ever felt before. Hot enough to melt the remaining chunks of ice that had encased his heart since she’d left him.

  He had to have her. Right there. Right then. It would be easy, he realized. She felt so pliable against him, melting as he thought he must be. She was hot putty in his arms, hot putty pressed against his entire body.

  Her breasts pushed against his chest with her sharp intake of breath. He’d never make it to a bed upstairs. He’d never make it to the sofa in the living room, either. He could take her to the kitchen table. But somehow he knew he couldn’t even make it across the room.

  That left the floor.

  Erin pulled his T-shirt free of his jeans, working around his shoulder holster, and ran her warm palms over his back. He had to stop himself from ripping off her blouse. And suddenly, even the floor seemed too far away.

  He managed to free a few of the buttons on her blouse, just enough so that he could get his hands under the soft cotton and feel the silky warmth of her skin. He couldn’t touch her enough. Drawing himself down toward the floor, he held. her and took her with him.

  The hunger of his belly was now forgotten, replaced by a stronger, more urgent hunger that filled him somewhere closer to his soul. Lee could think only of having her. She would be his completely and his dreams would be coming true. She would quench his burning need and he would have her forever....

  The glass backboard of the stove that housed the digital clock exploded just above their heads. Across the room, glass shattered at the same moment. Gunfire from an automatic weapon of some sort tore through the kitchen.

  Lee didn’t care what sort it was as bullets whizzed past them, slamming into the oven and the overhead cabinets. He pushed Erin flat on the floor and threw himself on top of her.

  Which, of course, was just where he’d wanted to be moments before. But not like this.

  She cried out and held on to him. All lingering desire was wiped away in an instant as Lee’s instincts took over. Dragging himself away, he kept as low to the floor as possible while keeping himself between Erin and the one or more gunmen who had to be somewhere outside the sliding-glass back door, judging from the direction of the bullets. Lee didn’t want to take the time or the chance in raising his head to find out for sure. He dragged Erin with him—not that she would have given him much choice to do anything else.

  She clutched his arm so tightly he thought she must be drawing blood with her nails. More cabinets splintered around them, more glass shattered, but Lee didn’t care about the damage. Only their survival counted now.

  In a split second, they’d gone from heaven to hell as bullets continued to spray the room. Lee couldn’t even begin to guess why they weren’t being hit.

  Thank God for the island counter that stood in the kitchen between them and the back door, giving them a shield to huddle behind. They’d both be dead if it wasn’t for that. “Come on,” he muttered, pulling out his gun. He fired two rounds, covering them as he pulled her out from behind the island and slid her across the floor toward the door that led into the dining room.

  “They’ll be able to see us if we go through there,” she argued, fighting against him just enough that he could feel it.

  “We can’t stay here and wait for them.”

  Lee pushed his way through the doorway and rolled beyond to the opposite wall, taking her with him. Bullets sliced through the air around them and splintered the wall and woodwork around the door. Something burned his left arm but any thought of it was wiped away when Erin cried out again.

  “Are you hurt? Are you shot?” he screamed at her, the very thought almost enough to cause his heart to stop.

  “No, I just hit my head on the frame,” she said.

  Lee glanced at her, taking in the way she was crouching, pressing one hand against her forehead.

  The phones were in the kitchen, his office and upstairs. He couldn’t reach any of them. He wondered momentarily where Tom’s men and the FBI were. He had to assume they couldn’t help or they would have already. So he had to consider that he and Erin were on their own.

  There wasn’t time to analyze Erin’s injury or the pain in his own arm or think about help that probably wasn’t coming. More glass shattered from within the kitchen. That sound was followed a moment later by the sound of a footstep in the kitchen, crunching the pieces of glass on the floor.

  Crunch... crunch...

  More footsteps in the kitchen, coming closer.

  He could make a stand, Lee thought. He had his gun, and he could make a stand. But he still didn’t know how many there were or if there were others waiting outside. If something happened to him in the process, Erin would be left unprotected.

  They could worry about Erin’s head and his arm, as well as the missing men, later. Now, they had no choice. They had to get out. Or chances were they’d be getting out later—in body bags. Wasn’t that Tom’s rule? Don’t go up against these guys alone.

  Lee grabbed Erin by the arm, more roughly than he meant to, and hauled her to her feet. There was only one other door out of the dining room. It led to the basement. From there they could reach the garage.

  Crunch...crunch...

  The only problem was, they’d never make it around the large table and to the door. The gunmen were too close. And Lee didn’t even know how many there were.

  “Where are they?”

  How Lee could hear the gunmen over the pounding of his own heart and the continuous crunching of glass under their feet, he would never know. But he heard the whispered words loud and clear.

  “They’re in here somewhere, now shut your mouth,” the closer of the gunmen replied.

  “But Burke said to make it clean. This isn’t clean,” the other argued.

  “I said shut your mouth!” the first hissed just as he stepped into the darkened dining room.

  Lee and Erin were standing just inside the doorway, pressed flat against the wall. Lee didn’t think. He merely reacted, his years of training coming back to him as though he hadn’t been away at all. Silently, he holstered his gun. Grabbing the barrel of the assault weapon in the doorway, he easily swiped the gun from the man’s hands, then used the butt to smash in the man’s face. Quickly and smoothly, he turned the weapon around and fired it at the second man who stood in the kitchen. The man dropped to the floor on the other side of the island.

  Lee didn’t know if he’d hit the guy or not. And he didn’t care. Nor did he waste valuable seconds finding out. He merely grabbed Erin, who stood stiffly beside him, and pulled her out of the room and down into the basement.

  The basement was dark, and Lee didn’t bother turning on the lights. The single-car garage took up half of the basement. Lee pulled Erin toward it. In the dark silence, he could hear her breathing, quick and shallow. God, she was probably going into shock. Just what he needed.

  They reached her car, which was still parked in the garage, and he shoved her into the passenger seat. “Keep your head down,” he instructed, slamming the door. Making his way around the car to the driver’s side, he jumped in beside her.

  “You left your keys in the ignition. Good girl,” he muttered without looking over at Erin. The little sports car revved to life with a turn of the key. He set the gun he still held between the door and his seat where he could grab it easily and quickly if he needed it, but
it was pointed at the floor where it couldn’t hurt anyone if it accidentally went off.

  “The door...” Erin said beside him, sounding as though she had to force the words out.

  “Hell,” Lee muttered, jumping out in a flash to hit the automatic switch. The door slowly moved up, seeming to Lee to take forever and making too much noise. All the while, he expected the dark figure from his dreams to come dashing in from the rain now falling or from the basement behind them. But no one came at them. The door rose high enough for the car to clear and Lee put it in drive and stepped hard on the gas. Lee was only grateful that yesterday he had parked his own car several yards from the garage door. Otherwise they might have crashed head-on into it or been blocked in. As it was, he had just enough room to maneuver around it, driving into his own front yard to do so.

  Rain hit the windshield in an instant, and Lee flipped on the wipers and the lights. The lights, however, didn’t seem to brighten anything in the cloudy darkness of the evening. At the end of the block, Lee stopped beside the parked police car. It took only a glance to see the blood and know the policemen weren’t going to be of any help to them even if they were still alive. He didn’t take the time to wonder where the FBI might be.

  “Oh, my God,” Erin moaned beside him. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “Not yet you can’t,” Lee replied, speeding off down the street. “Put your head between your knees and take several deep breaths.”

  She did as he said.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, her voice sounding muffled.

  For the first time, Lee glanced down at her. Then he gave in to the urge and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, massaging her gently. “I don’t know,” he replied. She sat up. Another glance and he could see how pale she was still. “Better?” he asked.

  “I think so. Maybe.”

  He didn’t take his hand off her shoulder. Even when she leaned slightly toward him as though his hand wasn’t enough.

  “Shouldn’t we go to Tom?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” he said, looking straight ahead and still not really seeing the streets before him. He was automatically heading toward the Dan Ryan Expressway. He could feel the blood trickling down his arm. He felt the hot pain but he could still flex his fingers, he could still grip the wheel, so he said nothing. He couldn’t think about it yet. Not until he found them a safe haven.

  “Not yet?” she echoed in question.

  “Only Kaffel and a few of his men knew we were there. So did Tom and a few of his men. Someone told Burke. Until we know who, I can’t trust any of them.” He was finally forced to take his right hand off her shoulder and use it to grip the steering wheel. The fiery pain was beginning to spread down his left arm and into his fingers. He’d have to stop soon.

  He felt Erin shift in the seat and knew without looking she was leaning against the headrest. They drove around the city as darkness engulfed them. Lee wished he could think where to go. But he couldn’t. He needed help, and Erin’s breathing was still quick and shallow.

  Without thinking, he pulled into the drive-through at a fast-food restaurant. Probably neither of them would keep down any food, so he ordered them both extra-large sodas, thinking the sugar would help them. The young girl working the window looked at him strangely as she passed him two large cups, and he knew she must be able to see the blood he could feel on the back of his arm.

  But he took the sodas and tried to smile.

  “Are you all right, mister?” she asked.

  “Just dandy, thanks,” he lied.

  Lee handed the drinks to Erin, who took them automatically and put them in the cup holders fixed to the dashboard in front of her. He drove off before the girl could say more.

  “I don’t think I can drink any of this without getting sick, Lee,” Erin said, her voice sounding weak, drained.

  “Drink it anyway. I don’t want you going into shock.” She was already there, he decided as he looked at her in the dim glow of the streetlights. Her eyes were large and shining, her face chalky, her lips pale. “Do it,” he ordered.

  Erin took a sip through the straw and he could see the way she had to force it down.

  “Those men almost shot us,” she said shakily.

  Was she trying to convince herself that it was all real?

  “Yes, Erin,” he replied, trying to watch his driving through the rain coming down in buckets.

  “They would have killed us if you hadn’t kissed me like that. We’d both be dead....” Her voice faded away into the drumming of the rain as it hit the car.

  “But we’re not,” he countered, wishing he didn’t have to drive. Wishing he could take her in his arms and keep her warm and help her through this ordeal with more than just his words. But they couldn’t stop. Not until he was certain there was no one following them.

  Lee flipped the heater of the car on high when he heard her teeth begin to chatter. The horror of their situation was hitting her hard and fast. He had to find a safe place for. them to stop. And he had to do it soon.

  Lee had to admit that the shock of what had happened was hitting him, too, but it was a different kind of shock. It was almost as though he could feel his protector mode kicking into high gear as the circumstances became more desperate. He hadn’t frozen; he hadn’t been terrified. He had reacted with all his training and he had gotten them both out—ative. Knowing she couldn’t see him in the darkness, he grinned against the pain in his arm. Boy, did it feel good to be back.

  He drove on, letting the rich, wonderful feeling rush through him for a short time before he brought it under control. He didn’t want it to overwhelm him and interfere with the job that lay ahead.

  His next stop was an automatic teller machine. He was thankful he hadn’t left his wallet up on his dresser as he’d done a few times in the past several days. After withdrawing as much money as his card allowed, he reached for his own soda. Needing the drink to keep himself going, he swallowed half of it before setting the cup back into the holder. “Drink some more,” he ordered without looking at her.

  “I’m too cold,” she said, her voice sounding small and far away.

  “Listen, Erin,” he said. Forcing himself to drive with the arm that felt as though it was on fire, he reached over with his other and grasped her hand—tightly. “I need you with me, okay? Stay with me. I need you to help me.” Lee never in his wildest dreams would have thought he’d be saying those words to Erin Flemming. But he was, and they were true.

  “I’d rather just go to sleep.”

  “No, you can’t,” he said, his voice rough. “We won’t drive much longer, I promise. I’ll find us a place to spend the night. And I’m going to need your help when we get there. Do you understand?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. “Now drink up and stay awake. Talk to me. Sing with the radio. Do whatever it takes, but stay with me.”

  “All right,” she replied softly. She took a drink. “I’ve never been able to refuse anything you’ve ever wanted.”

  Those words made him think. Just how true were they? Would she have stayed if he had asked differently or been more persistent?

  He forced the questions from his mind. He couldn’t handle them at this point. There were too many other things to worry about. Such as where would they be safe? Who was the traitor who told Burke where to find Erin? At least now they knew it was Burke who was after her. Not that there was much consolation in the knowledge.

  He had switched on the radio before and told her to sing with it. He was half listening to it when the news came on and he took note on hearing about a painting recently stolen from a private collector in Chicago.

  “Do you think Burke has something to do with these robberies? Do you think that’s why he wants to stop me before I can connect him to them?” Erin asked, sounding no stronger than before. But at least she was staying awake.

  “All I know is that he’s after you. Let the FBI and the police worry about the thefts.” Lee knew he didn’t have
the strength to worry about it himself.

  He took another long drink of his soda and wondered at the most important question swirling around in his head. Would they even make it to safety anywhere before he blacked out? Heaven help them, he didn’t want to pass out at the wheel and crash and kill them both. Nor did he want to leave Erin alone and unprotected. And Erin looked worse than he felt. He didn’t think she could drive. More than that, he didn’t know if she could face the reason he would need her to drive. At least not yet.

  Minutes passed like hours, the windshield wipers counting the seconds.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, breaking the silence again a short time later.

  “South. I’m almost certain no one has followed us. So I’m going to find a motel.”

  “A motel?” she echoed.

  Lee looked over at her and tried to grin lightly. “Yes, a motel. One of those out-of-the-way motels where you pay in advance, by the hour if you want, and never get disturbed unless the place is on fire.”

  “A dump, in other words,” she added. She finished her soda, slurping momentarily through the straw.

  “You got it,” Lee said over the noise.

  “What if they find us or see the car parked in the lot?” she asked.

  “That’s why I’m picking a so-called dump. There are enough of those to keep anyone looking for us for days,” Lee explained.

  Erin sounded stronger, more in control now, for which he was eternally grateful. And she turned down the heat, too. But he didn’t look at her. He looked straight ahead, trying to keep his mind on his driving, trying to keep his concentration clear. It would be so easy to give in to the pain in his body and lose control of the situation.

  Finally, he spotted just the kind of motel he was looking for, one with the rooms in the back. He pulled in, parking the car behind the main building where it couldn’t be seen by anyone driving by.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said, reaching for the door handle. He would have liked to send Erin in to get a room, but he wanted to request a specific room, hoping to get one of the back rooms hidden by the office building so he could keep the car parked out of sight. Besides, she didn’t yet look strong enough to ward off whatever scum might be lingering in the office. Most of all, he didn’t want her seen by anyone.