Cold Silence Read online

  “Mind if I come in and double-check your security system?”

  Her arms were still crossed tightly across her chest, her spine and shoulders rigid. “You heard Alex say he set it up, right?”

  “I did.”

  “You know he’s one of the best in the world at all that stuff, right?”

  Shane glanced over his shoulder. “Security systems become moot if you open your door to an attacker or give out information you shouldn’t when you bump into someone on the street.”

  She exhaled, sounding annoyed. “I wasn’t going to tell him anything.”

  “Sure you weren’t. Except your name. And the fact you just moved here too and don’t really know anyone either. And the big armed guy standing in your driveway is just some loser from work and won’t be here overnight.”

  “Which he would probably already know if he is Evi1Geni-us and has tracked me down.”

  “He wouldn’t know I’m not staying,” he argued and pushed aside the feelings that thought evoked. “But that’s not the point. Presumably the UNSUB is not part of your inner circle and you don’t want to give him the opportunity to wheedle his way in.” He stared down at her and saw the way she shivered in the cold garage. “Don’t let the societal need to be polite mean you let your guard down. You can make friends with Kevin after this asshole is caught.”

  The corner of her lips twitched. “I can’t believe I’m being lectured for being too outgoing or nice to strangers. That there is the height of irony.”

  “You don’t like people?” he asked.

  “I like some people.” She shrugged and moved past him, headed into the house.

  He followed her, checking the door and lock which were both high quality. “The attached garage is your weakest spot. Not that difficult to spoof the garage door opener and for the bad guy to wait inside the garage ready to jump you coming in or out of your house.”

  “Funny.” She hiked one delicate eyebrow and he shut down the desire to reach out and smooth his finger along the fine edge. “Until that monster SUV was parked in the garage, I pretty much had an unobstructed view of every inch.”

  He grimaced.

  “Plus, I have cameras set up on front and back entrances, although…” She trailed off.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “What?” he pushed.

  “I am a little worried that he could somehow manipulate the system to either let himself in without tripping the alarm or…”

  “Or infiltrate the cameras and spy on you?”

  Her lashes swept lower over those dark brown eyes. “Yeah.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Good?” Her eyes flashed indignantly.

  “Sure.” Shane walked down the hallway without waiting for an invitation. “Means you won’t completely rely on technology at the expense of your instincts. Mind if I grab a glass of water?”

  She looked a little nonplussed. “Of course not.”

  She squeezed past him and he caught her scent again. It must be her shampoo. Some sweet berry that made him want to sink his hands into something that didn’t belong to him.

  “Any progress on tracking down our killer?” he asked, following her into the bright white kitchen with a six-burner gas range.

  “Not really, but I set up a web crawler to search websites for a few specific lines of code he used when he hacked my system. I’m not familiar with them so…”

  “How long before you get results?”

  She picked up her hoodie off the back of a kitchen stool and shrugged into the soft-looking cotton before grabbing a glass out of the cabinet. The tattoo on the inside of one wrist was a small intricately worked snake. “Difficult to say. I have sparkling water if you want?”

  “Sounds good.” Whatever took longer to prepare. “Why is it difficult to say?”

  She made a bottle of fizzy water and poured him a glass. Put it on the counter rather than risk making contact with him. He didn’t know how he knew that except when he went to catch her gaze, she avoided it. He made her nervous but he didn’t think it was because she was physically scared of him. It was something else.

  Attraction? Or guilt?

  He could work with attraction. And he would uncover whatever it was she was hiding. In the meantime, he was happy to keep pumping her for information pertinent to the investigation.

  “The sheer volume of websites and pages means it could take hours or days or even weeks to crawl over all the data. On top of that, the code might be something generic that I’m simply not familiar with and yield hundreds if not thousands of hits. In which case I will either sift through the results or ditch the search or refine it.”

  “Sounds complicated.” He took a drink.

  She clasped her hands together. “Not really.”

  “To me it is.”

  “What you do is complicated. I simply review computer code and assess threats.”

  He stepped closer. “Don’t put yourself down. You search the internet for things that hackers are trying to hide. What you do is important and I think you know it.” He reached out and gently freed a strand of her hair that had escaped her ponytail and been trapped in the neck of her hoodie.

  He saw the way her eyes dilated when she looked at him. He was pretty sure it was attraction reflected in her dark irises, but he also saw the wariness. He wanted Scotty’s killer to pay. He wanted all the retribution he was legally allowed to inflict and maybe a little extra to go with it. To get that he needed to sneak under this woman’s guard.

  He took another drink of water. Stepped back. “Where are the cameras?”

  She blinked in surprise. Good. He wanted her a little off balance. He needed her to trust him first and foremost, and he had the suspicion that if he made a move now, she’d never let him through the doorway again.

  An image of Grace hugging her fatherless children flashed through his mind. It killed the desire that had started to sneak between the cracks of his armor.

  Yael pulled out her phone and opened the security app she used. Handed it to him and then walked him across the living room through a sliding door onto the deck. The deck had steps down to ground level with no other entrance out back. She pointed upward to two cameras mounted on either side of the house. Yael was clearly visible on both and there were no blind spots that he could see.

  Her teeth chattered from cold as he led the way back inside. He checked the front of the house. There was one camera inside the garage and another mounted on the front door with a view of anyone approaching the house.

  “And these are live 24-7?”

  She nodded, then took her hair out of the elastic that held it. It fell over her shoulders in a glossy wave.

  He wanted to take another step toward her and touch it but knew he’d be crossing a line that would be hard to come back from. He’d already pushed the boundaries enough for one day.

  “Monitored?”

  “I get a notification whenever anything cuts through one of the beams close to the house. It records constantly and data wipes over itself every seven days. Alex installed a silent alarm that triggers if anyone besides a few named individuals—basically me and him at this point—even attempt to interfere with the system. And a screenshot of whoever is disarming the panel is taken and sent whenever the alarm is disarmed. Obviously, I’ll remove Alex as soon as EG is caught but right now, I appreciate the backup.”

  Shane nodded. The security system could be circumvented but not easily and not without setting off a warning. This was sophisticated stuff.

  He opened her contacts app on her cell and pulled up his number and dialed it. His phone rang.

  “And now I have your number if I need you for anything.” He handed her phone back to her, once again caught off guard by an errant spark that jolted between them. Maybe it was actual static? Or maybe it was because she was off limits? Or actively resisting whatever this thing was between them.

  She rolled her eyes. “I can always block or delete
you, you know.”

  “Why would you do that?” He headed for the front door. “Think of me as the backup plan.”

  He opened the front door and noted Kevin Karvo bringing out more trash across the street. The guy stopped and raised a hand.

  Shane nodded in return then turned back to Yael who leaned against the doorframe.

  “Yael.”

  “What is it?” Her brows pinched together.

  “Brace yourself.”

  “For what?”

  “I’m going to kiss you so that guy across the street doesn’t get any ideas about coming over here to borrow some sugar the moment I drive away.” He moved closer, sank his fingers into her hair and gently around her skull. Slowly he pulled her toward him. “Okay?”

  Her eyes flicked to the side and she held tense for a fraction of a second before nodding slightly.

  “Try not to run away screaming.”

  A smile touched her mouth, but now her dark eyes were on his lips.

  He shifted a little closer, wishing for the millionth time he didn’t have a cast on his dominant left arm. He rested his left hand lightly on her hip.

  Slowly he lowered his mouth to meet hers, a quick brush of lips. She blinked in response and swallowed. Her lips parted slightly and her gaze stayed on his mouth. He couldn’t resist another taste so he lowered his head again. She raised herself up on tiptoe, her breasts brushing his chest and making his IQ drop thirty points. He nipped her bottom lip and then went a little deeper. He almost fell over when her tongue glanced off his bottom lip. Then her hands slid up his chest and around his neck. He pulled her closer, kissing her properly now. Feeling the rush of his body’s reaction. Feeling the pent-up desire that heated his skin and made his pulse pound. A quiver ran over his entire frame as he put his left arm around her waist and pressed her against the wall. Pain shot to his elbow and he pulled away, clenching his jaw in irritation. Not at the pain, but at the fact he’d forgotten about his broken arm and that they were in a semi-public space. He’d let his guard down and he was supposed to be helping to protect her.

  He let her go, reached out with his good arm to cup her chin. He lowered his lips one last time, telling himself they may as well make it look good. This time, when he pulled away, he didn’t have to fake the regret that flooded his whole being.

  “Is he still watching?” Yael asked softly.

  He glanced to the side and shook his head.

  “Good.”

  “Yeah.” He was such a fucking liar.

  She swallowed, the delicate line of her throat rippling.

  “Keep the doors locked. Call me any time if you’re worried or nervous about the slightest thing. Remember.” He held her dark gaze. “Your instincts are your best protection. Better than any security system or weapon. Trust them.”

  She stared at him, seemingly rendered mute. Because of the kiss? It had been pretty incredible. Or was she terrified of him because he’d basically forced himself on her? He took a step back watching her carefully.

  He didn’t want to freak her out. “And anytime you need a fake boyfriend I am here for you.”

  That at least made her laugh. “Fake boyfriend, huh? Sounds like all my boyfriends.”

  He laughed too but he wanted to ask her about that. Why? Were they online? Imaginary, or not invested, not honest with her?

  He couldn’t afford to get in any deeper with this woman. Not if they both hoped to get out of this with their reputations and lives intact. But he had questions, lots of questions.

  Smart, interesting women—absolute fucking kryptonite.

  “Lock up behind me. Don’t answer the door to anyone. Don’t sit out on the deck. Don’t go for long lonesome walks in the woods. Not until we catch this guy, okay? And we will catch him.” He held her gaze until she nodded, even though she appeared loath to follow orders.

  She closed the door on him, still looking a little stunned—because he’d scared her to death? Probably. And that was a good thing. She couldn’t afford to take chances. He heard the double locks slide into place.

  He glanced over at Kevin’s house before heading to his truck. Shane planned to run a background check on the guy before heading home and it wasn’t only because he’d recognized that look of male interest in the other man’s gaze. It was because he fit the general size and shape of Evi1Geni-us and the timing was suspect as hell.

  And if Kevin Karvo was Evi1Geni-us, Shane looked forward to greeting him properly with his SIG Sauer P226 and a pair of stainless-steel handcuffs.

  Welcome to the neighborhood, motherfucker.

  9

  Shane took aim at the target and squeezed off a group of shots with his right hand before moving to the next station and squeezing off a few more. He examined the chamber of his SIG to make sure the gun was empty before checking the targets. He’d shot a set with his dominant broken arm earlier to keep in practice and he was happy with it, despite the ache that seemed to cut through the bone when he pushed it too far.

  The day was overcast and chilly. Charlie assaulters were running close quarters battle (CQB) drills in the shooting house. Echo assaulters were waiting their turn in another hour or so. Shane was disappointed that he was missing out on the action, although he planned to observe. See how the new guys integrated with the others.

  Gold team snipers had headed over to one of the Marine Corp ranges to sharpen their technique. Marksmanship was a perishable skill and even the best shooters in the world needed constant practice, and that went double for people who trained with live ammunition under dynamic conditions.

  He pulled off the ear protection and walked back to a table where he’d laid out his gear.

  “Hey, Livingstone! Someone to see you.”

  Shane glanced over to where Cowboy stood near the compound gate.

  Ryan Sullivan was one of his best friends in the entire world but the sight of the guy giving Yael Brooks one of his infamous piratical grins as she stood there looking like a lost schoolgirl nervously clutching her bag to her chest made Shane want to deck the guy.

  He drew in a deep breath and placed the weapon on the bench and waved her over. Yael eyed Hugo, the dog, nervously. Cowboy was doing some basic handling work with the Belgian Malinois today in case Ford Cadell—Hugo’s usual handler—was ever incapacitated. She headed cautiously down the slope to the range. She was dressed in her usual jeans, boots, graphic t-shirt and old leather jacket.

  She wasn’t wearing makeup but her lips looked shiny, probably with lip balm to protect from the frosty morning air. He’d tasted those lips…

  Shane looked away and took time reloading his weapons, placing the SIG in a thigh holster and the Glock on his hip. Then he swept up the spent bullet casings. Was Yael here because of that kiss? In retrospect it had been a terrible idea, but she had kissed him back.

  Was she interested in more?

  He looked up. She didn’t strike him as the sort of woman to chase a guy, especially not into a compound full of alpha males who ate ammunition and explosives for breakfast.

  “Come for that firearms lesson?” he asked when she got near enough to talk to without raising his voice.

  As she came closer, he saw her glance anxiously at the weapons. He picked up his carbine, checking the safety before he slung it over his shoulder. Confirming his overall impression that she hated guns her brown eyes went huge and she quickly shook her head. “Not in this lifetime.”

  She seemed to grow paler. She really didn’t like guns. Had she gone through some kind of trauma? He wanted to ask but sensed pushing too hard too soon would have her retreating behind those walls she liked to hide behind.

  Snipers weren’t the only ones who learned the art of patience.

  “What can I do for you?” He tried to sound professional and nonchalant rather than intrigued and eager.

  “I realized after you left last night that you forgot to give me Myrtle’s keys.”

  Duh.

  “I can’t believe I forgot to hand th
ose over last night.” And it was entirely possible he’d purposely held onto them as an excuse to see her again. Building trust took time and Yael seemed reluctant to warm up to him—not a problem he usually faced.

  She raised a skeptical eyebrow that said as clearly as words she didn’t believe him.

  “Although, that kiss did kind of blow my mind even if it was all for show.” He gave her a smile. The deflection worked because her cheeks flooded with pink.

  He searched her warm brown eyes for some inkling as to whether or not she had regrets about the kiss but once again her expression was difficult to read.

  He gathered up the rest of his belongings. “The keys are inside with my gear. Want a quick tour?”

  She looked torn. Very few people were allowed inside this compound but with her working on the task force he didn’t see the front office complaining. She might not like weapons but he could tell she was interested in how HRT worked. And even if by some remote chance she was somehow involved in being a leak he wasn’t about to show her anything classified or operationally sensitive. He’d keep his eyes on her the whole time.

  “Sure.”

  They headed up the hill past Cowboy who was eyeing Yael with undisguised interest. Shane introduced them, because not doing so would look like he was staking a claim.

  “Ryan Sullivan, this is Yael Brooks. She’s working on the joint task force with me.”

  Understanding flickered over Ryan’s features but his eyes didn’t lose their appreciative glint. Ryan considered himself a connoisseur of women. Shane considered him a bigger dog than the K9 sitting patiently at the other man’s feet.

  Ryan held out his hand and Yael reluctantly took it even as she cautiously eyed Hugo who was watching them all with his intelligent dark eyes, long pink tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

  “I’m sorry for the loss of your teammate,” Yael said to Cowboy solemnly. She withdrew her hand quickly and Shane noticed she wasn’t a particularly touchy-feely person.

  Ryan’s expression immediately turned somber. He nodded firmly. “Appreciate that.”