Chapter 7

Audrey

I stare at my phone, sure I’ve misread it, and have to blink a few times to make sure.

Ignoring the cryptic message, I dial my father’s number and hope he can validate what the agents are saying.

Before I can even finish dialing there’s a knock at my door. “Ms. Bishop, could you open the door please?”

Feeling increasingly wary of their behavior, I ignore them, and press the phone against my ear, and try to listen over my now speeding heart.

“Pick up, pick up,” I mutter.

A clipped voice answers just as I’m losing hope he’s going to answer. “You left Atlanta without informing me first. I would have sent bodyguards.”

I wince because that’s exactly why I didn’t tell him. “There are two federal agents outside my door asking me about very personal things. Did you send them here?”

The pause stretches on for too long and I have to push my finger into my ear when the agents start to bang a little louder on the door.

When he finally speaks, it’s the calm tone he uses when he’s reached the end of his patience.

“No, I did not. What did they ask you about?”

I glance at the door. “About a man I met this weekend.”

He’s silent for half a second before I can hear the tightness to his voice. But more concerning is that he’s not answering my question. “You’re at the resort your cousin is staying at?”

I should have known he’s been made aware of that. “Yes.”

He grunts and I can hear him cupping the phone and giving someone orders. Most likely to get someone here to rescue me.

Sure enough, when he speaks again it’s to take charge of the situation. “Stay where you are. I’ll send someone from the local police to collect you.”

I’m about to tell him I can handle this myself when the fire alarm starts to go off. But I never get the chance. The door splinters and both agents burst through the door with their guns pulled.

Running on pure instinct, I back up until I’m at the dresser where I left my purse.

“Come with us,” Agent Higgins says.

My eyes still on the approaching agents, I rummage around until my fingers grip the cylinder of mace. “I have rights. And you are violating them,” I say.

Her eyes narrow. “You have no idea who Spencer is, do you?”

I skirt along the wall. “You’re breaking the law. Unless you have a warrant, leave,” I say.

But she keeps advancing, and more alarming than the fact her partner is just watching on, her gun arm is slowly creeping up. “You’d know all about breaking the law, wouldn’t you, Audrey?”

Tremors of fear start to shudder down my body and I can barely hear my voice over the beeping of the alarm. “What do you mean?”

She has no chance to answer when Spencer comes charging like a bull into the room.

“Audrey. Get out of here!” he yells.

My surprise is overridden when the male agent tackles him and they crash to the ground, and the female agent makes a grab for me. “Don’t be stupid,” she hisses.

With Spencer grappling with the larger man on the floor, I act without thought of the consequences. I withdraw my hand from my pocket and depress the button and hit her square in the eyes.

She screams and staggers backward, coughing and yelling as Beth picks now to arrive.

The male agent doesn’t hesitate, he scrambles away from Spencer, grabs his partner by the arm, and drags her out of the room, past a startled Beth.

“What the hell?” She says.

Spencer doesn’t miss a beat, just looks at Beth. “Tell the cops someone broke in and took off after you arrived.”

She gawks at him and at me, not surprising since I’m holding the can of mace in my hands. “What is going on?”

I can’t seem to look her in the eye. “Two agents were here asking a lot of questions. Then they kicked in my door.”

Her nose wrinkles as confusion clouds her features. “You think this is about your dad?”

I swallow hard. “I don’t know.”

With the smoke alarm blaring I can barely hear him when he speaks to Beth. “Audrey’s life is in danger. I need to get her out of here.”

Beth just stares at him then at me. “Isn’t he the bartender from last night? Holy shit, Auds, what have you been up to?” she asks.

I don’t have any time to reply when Spencer steps closer, and I have to strain to hear him over the siren. “I need you to come with me before things get worse,” he says.

I frown at him; incredulous he’d even ask such a thing. “Absolutely not,” I say.

He glances over his shoulder at Beth, who’s staring at me like I’m insane, and at that moment realize I probably am.

I linger at his lips now swelling and can’t believe just hours ago those same lips were peppering my body with kisses. “I don’t see how this can get worse,” I say.

When he gives me a look so meaningful, I know that whatever he’s accidentally gotten me involved in is worse than embarrassing my father.

But when Spencer takes my hand and tugs me out of the room, I ignore my father’s instruction to stay and go with him instead.

***

Spencer

I’m so surprised she’s actually coming with me; I don’t notice I’m bleeding until we’re in the stairwell and she mentions it.

I shake it off and grip her hand tighter. “It’s nothing.”

The alarm has gone silent, probably because the cops have arrived, and the hotel have realized someone tripped it in the lobby.

Since I’m not about to risk getting caught in the open with a bleeding nose and endanger Audrey further I open the door and wait until there are enough people that we can get lost in the crowd heading for the front exit.

Audrey is thankfully compliant as I lead her towards the car I hastily jacked after I lost the car following me and came back here.

She pauses as I lead her to the beat-up sedan. “Don’t ask,” I say as I open the door.

With a frown, she climbs in and closes the door with a hard-enough slam to let me know I’m in for it.

“Start talking. And make it good,” she says.

I look in the rearview and make sure the coast is clear before I answer her. “I think I’m being set up.”

She folds her arms across her chest. “By who and for what?”

“The Mob, the Feebs, The Russian Mafia, and for what, I’m not sure yet.”

She looks angry enough to slap me, but she just stares at me like I’m a monster. “Who the hell are you?”

I try for a smile, but my face hurts so bad, it probably misses the mark. “I’m the same guy you were with on the island.”

She snorts a laugh. “The same guy who lied through his teeth and neglected to mention he’s a felon?”

I wince and not because of the pain in my jaw. “That’s harsh. And technically I’m not a felon. I’ve been arrested but never charged. But looks like someone plans to change that.”

She sighs heavily and shakes her head as if she can’t quite believe this is happening to her. “What were you doing on the island?”

I use my shirt to wipe the blood from my chin. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Her eyes narrow. “Try me.”

I check around us once last time just in case before I answer. “Collecting information to use to blackmail someone.”

She near spits the words at me. “Did you seduce me to blackmail my father?”

I pull a face at her. “No.”

She jerks her thumb in the direction of the resort. “But why were they asking about you and my father?”

I choose my words very carefully on the off chance I can undo some of this. “I’m not directly blackmailing anyone, but I collect a lot of data, so if he’s into weird kink, or has skeletons lurking in his closet, I may be involved.”

Her entire body tenses and I’m pretty sure if she had the mace in her hands, I’d have copped a spray. “You don’t even know who you’re blackmailing?”

I scratch my chin and have to mentally retrace my steps. “I might know if you tell me who he is.”

Her lips press together. “My father is the Interim Chief of Atlanta.”

Well, shit. Her father is a cop. And not just any cop. A mega cop with power. No wonder she handled herself so well back in her room.

“Ah. Well, shit. Yeah, I could be. Sorry.”

She doesn’t return my smile, just shakes her head. “That’s how you make a living? What is wrong with you?”

I sigh. “Ah, yeah. What’s wrong with me. I get that a lot. Mostly from women.”

“I’ll bet. From a lot of women, I imagine.”

A smile tugs my lips up. “Jealous?”

Her eyebrow arches but she remains outwardly calm. “I am not jealous. I’m incensed I just spent the weekend with a man who might be blackmailing my father.”

A rumble of pleasure trickles through my body, which is highly inappropriate given the situation.

“Maybe. I’m not sure yet.”

She frowns harder. “And if you are, where does this leave me?”

This I prepared for even if this conversation isn’t going as well as I’d hoped.

“If I am, and the Feebs knocked on your door, they may think you’re involved in it. You’ll need to stay with me until I clean this all up.”

The silence stretches on, and for two seconds before she scowls at me, I actually think she might go for this.

***

Audrey

I’m still deciding whether he’s insane, or delusional when my phone vibrates.

It’s my father, so I answer it immediately. I can hear the thinly veiled anger in his voice and know in an instant what he’s going to say before he says it. “You know how this reflects on me. I can’t afford any controversy.”

My stomach clenches as I look at Spencer and whisper the words. “Is this about the trial?”

I can hear him breathing, but when he speaks it’s with a reprimand that makes me sit up a little straighter. “You need to be very careful about what you say on this line, Audrey.”

I close my eyes and take a few calming breaths in the hopes I can settle the dread coursing through me.

“Can you find out why the agents came to me?”

My father’s voice comes out terse. “It’ll take some time. And I’m not happy you disregarded my instruction to wait for one of mine to get you.”

Irritation surges through me and the words slip out before I can filter them like I usually do.

“They broke my door down. What else was I supposed to do?”

He’s silent for a moment, but I know he won’t apologize. He never has. He’ll place the blame squarely on my shoulders.

“Where are you now?”

I look at the street sign above my head but at the shake to Spencer’s head and the urgency on his face, I just rub my temple as I try to keep my voice level.

If I give him even a hint of my location, he’ll probably send a helicopter in to find me. “I’m safe. But I’m not going to tell you where I am.”

“You will tell me where you and with who. You will follow—”

With a flinch, I press the end button before he can tell me I’m going to destroy his career.

When Spencer blows out a breath and drags his hand through his hair, I try for a smile. “So where to now? And if you say the island, I will get out of this car.”

A smile tugs at his swollen lips. “I wasn’t. But I need to get you as far away from the city as I can. I know somewhere. It’s rough but we’ll be safe enough while we can figure out who’s behind this.”

My stomach backflips and I’m not sure if it’s because of the danger I’m in or because I’m going to have to spend more time alone with Spencer.

He might be charming, and incredible in bed, but he’s everything my father has raised me to despise. “You better get going then,” I say.

He looks so pleased when he pulls back out into traffic, that I could almost forget I’ve just agreed to spend more time with a wanted man.

As soon as we get out of the city, I’m calling Beth, then my shrink.

If my behavior is anything to go by, I’m obviously long overdue for a mental check-in with her.

Spencer switches the radio on, and since the air conditioning seems to be broken, he rolls down the window and grins so casually as he leans his arm out the window, he could be mistaken for someone on his way for a surf.

I should hate him right about now. He’s just upended my entire life.

My nice, neat, and perfectly normal life.

All built on a lie I’m tired of retelling.

Rather than return his smile, I angle my neck so I can look out the window and try not to keep having thoughts about him that I really shouldn’t be having right now.

Spencer might be charming, handsome, funny, and roguishly endearing, but he is most definitely not someone I can build a life with.

Even if I could overlook his criminal activities, after this, I don’t think there is any way he won’t wind up in jail.

A rivulet of fear runs down my spine. Familiar, crushing, and a cruel reminder of how little power I have over my life even now.

Oddly, when Spencer starts singing, a smile curls at my lips.

But I refuse to acknowledge I’m having fun.

And I am absolutely not having Bonnie and Clyde sexual fantasies right now.

I place a palm to my eyes and have to face the facts.

If I were as happy with my life as I say I am, I’d be running away from trouble, not toward it.