Vegas, Baby (6 page)

“You!” Rio scolded Eddie with angry eyes. “You did this?”

“Guilty.” Eddie quirked his eyebrows a couple of times and smiled slightly. He pulled away from her upbraided glare. “Hello, Mr. Laraquette. I’m Eddie LaCall.” He stuck his hand out. “I’m Rio’s new partner.”

“Please call me James.” He shook Eddie’s hand. “Thanks for giving me a call.”

Rio’s gaze zeroed in on her father, but she said nothing. She was speechless. That was a new one. Rarely did she find herself at a loss for words.

“It wasn’t my intention to upset you or alarm you when I called.” Eddie stuck his hands in the pockets of his Levi’s. “I’m merely worried about her welfare,” he added, nodding at Rio.

“You were right to contact me,” James said. “There is nothing more important to me than my daughter’s safety.”

“Okay, you two can stop talking about me like I’m not even here.” Her tone inferred that a change needed to be made, and quick. “I don’t need you guys laying out some security plan to keep me safe.” She mocked the idea. “For God’s sake, I’m a cop. I can take care of myself.”

“Famous last words.” James managed to get a laugh out before anxiety drowned his amusement. “Are you done here? Is it too late for breakfast?” He checked his watch. “How about lunch?” He turned to Eddie, saying, “Would you like to join us?”

“Yes, I believe I would.” Eddie glanced at Rio. “Besides, I’m not letting her out of my sight.” She gave him one of those quirky looks he was starting to recognize as a precursor to annoyance. “If somebody’s after you
,
they’re going to have to go through me.”

“While I’m sure you’d be a very capable bodyguard, she’s safe in my building. I have top- notch security.” A definite chill resided in James’s voice.

His building? Wait. Did her father own the building she lived in? That sure changed things. Since his entire focus on her was based on her extravagant lifestyle, the likelihood of Rio being on the take had just taken a nosedive.

He’d bet James Laraquette had paid for the car too. Relief started deep in his heart and crept outward until it filled up most of his soul.

“I’m sure that’s true,” Eddie said, quickly recovering from the unexpected news, “but I’m not willing to test your theory. Are you?”

“You’re right,” James conceded. “Too much protection is better than not enough.”

Eddie may not trust Rio entirely, and he wasn’t sold on the slashed tires being tied to the weird letter, but something was going on and he intended to find out what it was. There was no better way to do that than stick to Rio Laraquette like glue.

CHAPTER 7

WITH nothing between Rio and Gabe but the desk in his office, she challenged her boss to a stare-down. “Why not?”

While that glare of hers worked on most people, her godfather had become resistant to her intimidation tactic. That happened, she suspected, sometime during her teenage years when she and Digger were always trying to pull a fast one.

“Like I told you yesterday, you won’t be investigating your own case.” Gabe fiddled with the pen in his hand, rolling it up and down his fingers and stopping every so often to click the retractor repeatedly.

Just as he knew her, she knew him. While he thought this was a distractive ploy, mostly it expressed his anxiety over a given situation.

“This is so not fair.” She threw one leg over the other, and while she was at it she gave his desk a swift kick.

Gabe pointed the ink pen at Rio. “If it is Atkins, which I firmly believe it is...if you’re on the case, he’ll know we’re on to him.”

Rio cemented her anger in her gaze and projected her most intimidating stare at her boss. She’d played this game with the best of them. She’d done it with Turner Atkins and won—impressively. After that, everyone else was a breeze. Except for Gabe. He never seemed to budge.

“Well, he does have a point.” Eddie shifted uncomfortably in his chair beside hers. “If you’re not going to put me on the case, I do request that we at least be kept apprised of the situation.”

“Yeah,” Rio agreed halfheartedly, and her gaze darted between both men. “Yeah.” She repeated herself but with more confidence this time, and fixed her focus on Gabe. “Who, pray tell, are you putting on the case?” she asked. “If not us.”

The door opened and, as if he’d been waiting for his cue, Blake Switzer entered the office. Smiling, he shyly scanned over Rio and positioned himself beside the door.

He’s my hope
? Rio’s confidence crumbled around her. She wanted to talk to Gabe alone. To know why he’d risk placing her life in the hands of a meek little guy like Blake Switzer?

“Him?” Eddie’s skepticism was so obvious that it almost ended in laughter.

“Actually, LaCall,” Gabe said, “Switzer happens to be an expert on ransoms and anonymous letters.” Clearly, Gabe had more faith in Switzer’s abilities than either Rio or Eddie.

“That’s all fine and well,” Eddie said, matter of fact, “but who’s going to be responsible for Rio’s physical safety while genius here is trying to figure out how to tie this Atkins guy to the letter and her slashed tires?”

“Here we go again.” Rio flung a waving hand around in the air. “Like I told you and Daddy, yesterday,” she said, tossing him her best icy glare, “I can take care of myself.”

If her defiant stare bothered him, he recovered quickly. “Yes, I remember,” he said instead of retaliating. Then he presented her with a wink and an inviting smile that raked through her, tugging at her deeply buried desires.

Slowly, helplessly, Rio shook her head. She closed her eyes, hoping it would help stifle her frustration. It didn’t. She couldn’t decide which she wanted to do more—scream at him or take him home and have her way with him—

Stop that! Sex with Eddie LaCall was out of the question. It was a bad idea, for one. Aside from the fact that he was up to something, this guy had heartbreak written all over him. And, truth be told, Rio wasn’t entirely convinced he and that chick from Phoenix were completely finished.

“When you two are done,” Gabe’s harsh tone cut into Rio’s mental musings. “Let me know so I can fill you in on your next assignment.” His attitude indicated that his patience was wearing thin, but that mattered little to Rio.

Next assignment? “Are you trying to distract me?”

“I’m putting you where I think you can do the most good.” His resolve indicated that he wasn’t budging.

Neither was Rio. “And where’s that?”

“The Golden Sunset.”

Rio raised an inquiring eyebrow. She knew the hotel-casino’s reputation. It was one of Vegas’s most illustrious resorts.

“The casino sponsors a series of poker tournaments annually,” Gabe explained. “Allegations have arisen that the games are tainted.”

“Credible allegations?” Rio wondered out loud.

“Allegations nonetheless.” If Gabe was trying to maintain his composure, he wasn’t doing a very good job. His patience was waning and she couldn’t tell if it was her, the threat to her life, or the accusations about the poker tournament. “You two are on it,” he said. “The tournament starts next Monday. You’ve got until then to figure out if the accusation has merit.”

* * *

Eddie LaCall soon learned that lodging with his new partner, even on a temporary basis, presented a problem. It made it hard to check in with his contact.

Not that he had anything to report. Not since his number one contender had fallen clear down the list and landed at the bottom with a thud.

Explaining that was taking more effort than Eddie had anticipated. “No, I’m not one-hundred percent certain.” Having found a moment alone in an elevator at work, he’d called to report in. “But the reason I targeted her was because of her opulent lifestyle...which now I’m finding is funded by her very wealthy father.”

That wasn’t entirely true—at least the part about her lifestyle being his sole motivation. Rio Laraquette had a way of bending the rules to suit her needs, and that bugged Eddie, but it wasn’t enough to bump her back to the top of his list. All it merited was a closer eye on her loose practices, certainly not more finger pointing. Not yet anyway.

The elevator landed at the third floor as he said, “I haven’t given up.” The compartment doors slid open. “I’ll figure it out. I’ll find a way.”

Blake Switzer moved inside Eddie’s peripheral vision and looked at him with one of those cold stares that said he’d heard part of the conversation and thought he’d stumbled onto something.

Eddie laughed inside. Switzer could never hope to decipher the meaning of what he’d just heard. He wasn’t that smart.

They passed each other. Switzer entered the elevator as Eddie left it. “I’m watching you, LaCall,” he said with a leer that turned out to be more comical than scary.

Likewise. Eddie pivoted around and showed him what a real glare looked like. “What exactly are you doing to determine the validity of the threat to Laraquette’s life, and discover the identity of the culprit?”

“Last time I checked...” Switzer smirked. “I don’t answer to you.”

“Maybe you’d better check with your boss and find out just who has clearance to review your findings.”

“You, like everyone else, can wait for the report.”

The elevator doors closed between Eddie and the man who was quickly becoming his nemesis. The guy was worthless, not only as a cop but Eddie could tell he had high aspirations of winning Rio Laraquette’s heart.

Eddie didn’t know which bothered him more, the fact that Switzer thought he could, or that he, Eddie, wanted him to fail.

CHAPTER 8

EDDIE made himself comfortable on Rio’s couch while she leaned against the kitchen counter, talking on the phone to what she’d deemed her favorite Italian restaurant.

She’d pinned her wild red tresses back into a ponytail, but some of the defiant locks had sprang free and laid against her face with eloquent grace.

Damn, the girl was sexy. Even in her cutoff tee and sweats.

She hung up the phone and cut her eyes at him. “Pizza in forty-five.” She moved to the refrigerator. “You want a beer, tea...milk?”

“A beer would be great.” He studied the Overnight Envelope Larry had given him downstairs. His mother, wanting to cheer him up, had dropped replacement copies of the photographs he’d lost in the fire into the mail as soon as she’d heard the news.

He ripped the pull-tab on the envelope and peered inside. A note accompanied the photos and he plucked it out first.

Dear Eddie,

Here are the photographs you lost in the fire. I’m so glad to hear that you’re okay. If you need anything else, let me know and I’ll talk to Pastor Redman to see if the church can help out.

I do hope you find what you’re looking for in Las Vegas.

Love Always,

Mom

Rio watched him reading the letter, wondering, trying to imagine what a loving mother might say to her child who’d just lost everything in a fire. She couldn’t fathom a guess.

Eddie folded the letter and stuck it back inside the envelope, trading it for a handful of photographs. A slight smile joined his saddened, faraway demeanor.

“Ooh, pictures,” Rio flew to his side and offered him one of the two beers she’d brought with her as a trade-off. “Can I see?” she asked, dropping onto the couch beside him.

The sun had almost disappeared behind the mountains to the west, casting a golden hue through her windows. By now, billions of lights were beginning to twinkle along the Strip in anticipation of the upcoming blanket of night that would soon descend upon the city.

But tonight, she couldn’t care less about the wondrous scene unfolding beneath her. She was more interested in Eddie, even though she shouldn’t be. But she couldn’t help herself. He smelled of exotic spices. She recognized the scent but it had never intoxicated her the way it did now.

“This is my dad and his most prized possession.” Eddie pointed to a faded and worn photograph of a man standing proudly beside his car. “His ‘67 Chevelle.”

The picture, Rio figured, was taken sometime during the late seventies. His father, young at the time, and not much older than Eddie was now, stood beside an immaculate red car, beaming with pride.

“Does he still have it?” she asked of the Chevelle. Did his fascination, so clearly displayed in the photograph, still remain for the car?

“Uhm...” Eddie hesitated and fiddled with the pictures. “My father died about twenty years ago.”

“Hey, I’m sorry.” She caressed his arm with a consoling touch.

“Don’t be,” he said, moving on to the next picture. “This is my mother.” His voice brightened.

“Wow…she’s beautiful.”

“Yes, she is.”

Rio was looking at him now, probably comparing him to the younger version of his parents. His eyes were the mark of his father, but his face, he’d been told more often than not, was a masculine version of his mother’s.

Sometimes he’d been called pretty, but he didn’t care for the term. It was a little too feminine for his tastes.

“You look like your mom,” she said. “In a manly sort of way.”

Eddie let out a soft chuckle and led her through the stack of pictures, explaining the hows, wheres, and whys that brought each picture into existence.

The last photograph brought with it a dark veil that blanketed Eddie’s spirit as he studied the image of his sister Olivia, a child of eight, frozen in time. She looked more like their father.

Eddie’s heart began to cry. Soon, inevitable tears would blur his vision, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. He gave himself a mental admonishing for showing his weakness to someone who could very well use it to her advantage.

He hoped he was wrong, but he didn’t know enough about Rio to make a skilled guess.

His thoughts had traveled too far to stop now. “This is my sister, Olivia.” His sadness poured out to his lips, curling them into a sad smile. Slowly, he traced his fingertips over the image, willing his heartache to subside. It didn’t.

“What happened to her?” Rio’s soft whisper barely penetrated his sorrow.

Eddie’s breath caught in his throat. She knew. But how? Was she so in tune with him that she felt his pain? He closed his eyes, challenging the tears that were part of the bargain every time he recalled that awful day.

His mother had said he’d been sick. While he did recall being home from school, the illness itself was not in his memories. But then, he was only six.

The one detail that was there—the one he wished he could get rid of—was the sound of the doorbell ringing, and then the sight of the policemen at the door. The cop in his memories had no face. He was just this big, gigantic man dressed in blue. And while the policeman was only the courier, his message had changed the LaCall family forever.

If only he could get rid of the memory of his mother collapsing and dropping to the floor amid her terrible screams of despair. If only the sight of the policemen standing over her, not knowing what to say or do, didn’t tug at Eddie’s heartstrings. If only they’d caught the monster.

Eddie lifted his dewy gaze to look at Rio. Tears crested her eyes as if she’d heard his thoughts, felt his pain.

“Olivia’s class had gone on a field trip.” His voice gave way to his misery. “They don’t know how long she’d been gone when the two teachers accompanying the class realized she was missing.” Eddie paused, trapping his heart at the top of his chest before it had the chance to claw its way up into his throat. “They found her three days later, thrown out like trash in some dumpster…” His tone hardened as his mind reflected on what his sister had endured before she died. “Naked, battered and bruised, and strangled.” Eddie’s words choked on him, just like his thoughts had so many times before.

Rio’s delicate hands took his face and held it. If only she could make the pain go away.

“I couldn’t help her...” Tears of remorse flushed his eyes. “Brothers are supposed to look after their sisters.”

She moved closer to him. “Oh, baby…” Her breath softly fanned his face. “Let me help you.” Her lips slid over his cheeks, kissing away his tears. “Let me ease your pain.”

He should stop her, but her kiss, as unintentional as it seemed, was gratifying. An urge to seek out her lips with his own chipped away at Eddie’s tenuous hold on his emotions.

She straddled his lap and draped her arms around his neck. This couldn’t be good. It felt good. But it wasn’t a good idea.

“No, it’s wrong.” His weak objection breathed out in a whisper. And, even though his mind was saying “no” the rest of him was saying something else entirely.

She smelled so good. He couldn’t identify the scent but it was seductive—like roses floating on the gentle breeze of a warm summer night.

“No, it’s not wrong.” She pressed her body against him. “Go ahead and use me. Use me up.” Her plea was hard to resist, especially with those sweet kisses of hers adding their own whims of encouragement. “Let me take your pain...if only for a little while.”

His desire to touch her hammered in his ears. He caved, and slid his hands up her arms. She felt so nice. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d felt this good.

Won-over, he tangled his fingers in the spiraling, silky strands of her hair and cupped her face in his hands. His mouth found hers and he kissed her softly...slowly...seductively.

Her lips, soft and sensuous, tempted him, and his pain took a back seat to the pleasure she offered. Trailing his hands down the side of her neck, he let the softness of her sleek skin carry his thoughts away. He longed to fill his hands with the swell of her breasts.

The good guy in him forced the animal to ask, “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” She ripped the Schruncie from her hair and tossed it aside. “Do it. Use me to chase your pain away, if only for a little while...” Her words trailed off into breathless desire. She loosened the leather strip holding his hair and released his ponytail, letting his long hair fall about his shoulders.

Eddie lifted her T-shirt and skimmed his fingertips over her sizzling skin as he removed her top. The sight of the red-laced bra covering her voluptuous breasts tugged at his loins. He ached for release.

Savoring the sight of her, he peeled the bra straps off her shoulders and laid them gently against her arms. He pulled her closer and she relaxed, sinking into his cushioning embrace.

He blazed a trail of kisses down her throat and by the time he’d arrived at the mounds of her breasts, goose bumps had formed on her skin, leaving her trembling in his arms.

Inside his Levi’s, he’d grown hard as steel. She rubbed against him, desperately wanting to experience the feel of his naked body against hers.

Eddie peeled away the cup of her bra, exposing the swell of her breast. A brief shiver rippled through Rio as he closed his mouth over one nipple and tugged gently, suckling it. She let out a sharp gasp, pressing herself hard against him.

Enough was enough! The time had come to dismiss with the clothing.

She pulled away and stood, leaving him moaning an objection. The idea seemed to grow on him when her hands moved to the waistband of her sweats. His look was so provocative, it sent a tremor through her.

When she positioned her fingers between her pants and her hips, his smile widened in approval.

Gradually, she peeled away the layers—panties and all—and trailed her fingers down her bare legs, removing her clothes.

She dropped the sweats at her ankles and toed her feet out of them. Standing before him, naked from the waist down, she reached behind her and unsnapped her bra.

“Okay,” she said breathlessly. “I’m not a patient person. You should get out of those now.” She acknowledged his still-clothed body and tossed her bra into his lap.

Desire pounded through his body like a runaway freight train that came to a crashing halt in his loins.

Eddie stood without a word and removed his Levi’s, all the while his gaze fixed on her perfectly proportioned body. Beautiful, bountiful breasts to caress for her pleasure and his entertainment. Long, luscious legs that he would soon encourage her to wrap around him. And that long, wild hair of hers—he had plans to twist and twine it around his hands while they rode over the edge together.

Eddie rid himself of the remainder of his clothing and then yanked her to him, taking pleasure in the feel of her bare skin against his.

Rio pushed him down onto the couch where she resumed the position, straddling him. This time he throbbed against her bare skin and she arched her back, begging for pleasure. And he wanted to give it to her. For the first time, he was consumed with giving rather than receiving.

He locked his hands on her bottom and coaxed her to stroke back and forth over him as her breasts tickled his chest. Eddie kissed her and whispered his appreciation for each part of her lovely body while his hands explored her soft flesh with lustful, arousing strokes.

She moved faster, quickening her pace and clinging to him. Her breath was warm and moist against his neck as she muttered her sweet approval. He liked their reciprocating, dually-shared trip into euphoria.

The pleasure building inside was pure and explosive, but it was too soon. Eddie wasn’t ready for it to be over yet.

Rio opened up and he slipped inside her. Instinctively, he latched onto her bottom and tightened his grip to stop her from moving. Just a little longer. He wanted to savor the feeling a little bit longer, but knew the end was near. Impulsively, he moved her up and down at a frenzied pace, relishing in his desire as long as he could. He tasted a measure of satisfaction as he emptied himself inside her scorching, slippery walls.

Rio fell against him, exhausted. But he didn’t want to leave her yet. Eddie held her in place, assuring he remained inside her as long as possible.

“This wasn’t as disconnected as it may have seemed,” he felt the need to say.

“I felt a lot of things, but distanced from you wasn’t one of them.” She giggled softly and he threatened to retreat.

“Good.” He sighed at the thought of leaving her and traced his fingertips lightly over the contours of her back. “I’d never use you like that.”

She clung to him in the darkness. “I know.” Her breath wafted over his neck. “Is Olivia the reason you’re a cop?”

“Yes,” he said without thinking about it. “Her death destroyed my family. My father killed himself in his Chevelle less than a year after she died.” Eddie tightened his embrace, cherishing Rio. She was the only thing that had ever eased his pain. “I wanted to be able to at least try to save other families from the suffering my own endured.”

* * *

Even in the searing light of the next morning’s sunrise, Rio longed to heal Eddie’s heart. Her fascination with him had been coming on so gradually she hardly knew where to mark its beginning, but the other day in the garage when they’d found her car with slashed tires was a good place to start. He’d swept over her car in true spy form. He was like James Bond with an edge.

She checked herself in the mirror. Her tan slacks and emerald-green, button-front blouse held fast around her curves. She looked good.

Good. She wanted Eddie LaCall’s undivided attention, at least sexually. He was too good to taste just once.

Yes, but
... Her head played devil’s advocate. Doing him again was a really bad idea. She tried to ignore the raw hunger creeping up her chest. She had to find a way to conquer her desires before they ended up compromising her principles.

She grabbed her cell and stuffed it down her shirt and latched onto the doorknob. Cracking the door open, it hardly made a sound. She hoped he was awake.

Eddie’s voice, intoxicating and low, filtered into her space. Rio’s cheeks heated.