Читать книгу Navy SEAL Security - Carol Ericson - Страница 12

A jolt speared Amy’s chest and she sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t believe you. Why are you saying this?”

“My…associate gave me his name. Carlos Castillo, right?” Riley tightened his grip on her shoulders and gave her a shake.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she nodded. She hadn’t told him Carlos’s last name. As her heartbeat raced, her mind slowed to a sluggish crawl. Her tongue felt thick and numb in her mouth. She didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to face any of it. Hadn’t she endured enough drama in her life already from her childhood?

“I’m sorry.” Riley released his grip and rubbed her upper arms. “I’m worried about you. What was Carlos doing here? Why did he single you out?”

“I don’t know.” Amy dragged her hands through her tangled hair and blew out a breath, expelling all her self-pity with it.

She straightened her spine. “It must have something to do with the beach. That’s where we met. He must’ve sought me out there for a reason.”

“Hold that thought.” Riley grabbed the toiletry bag from her hand and charged past her into the bedroom. He dropped the bag into the open suitcase and glanced over his shoulder. “You have everything you need? I’m getting you out of here.”

It looked like she had everything she needed standing right beside the bed. Riley knew how to take control of a situation and obviously relished the challenge. “I was waiting for a call from my friends before heading over to their place.”

“How about you head over to my place for now? With what you know and what I know, maybe we can figure out your level of involvement in this mess.” He zipped up her suitcase and hauled it off the bed.

She tilted her head. “You’re going to tell me what you know?”

Shrugging, he yanked up the handle on her bag and wheeled it out the door as she stepped aside. “You’re in it up to your pretty chin, so you deserve to know what’s going on. And I’m relieved to find out I’m not responsible for your involvement or Carlos’s death.”

He thought she had a pretty chin? She rubbed it and then clenched her teeth. “I’m glad the fact that Carlos targeted me for some kind of criminal enterprise is making you feel warm and fuzzy inside.”

Riley grinned, and then she felt warm and sticky inside. If she had to take off into the wild unknown with drug dealers pursuing her, at least she had a hot guy along for the ride.

“You know what I mean.” He pointed to the front door. “I still have Carlos’s car. Let’s use that instead of yours.”

She held up her index finger. “Hang on. I need to leave a note for the neighbor girl to feed my cat.”

As she scribbled the note, Riley flung open the front door and peered into the darkness. “It’s all clear. Where does the girl live?”

“Two doors down.” She waved the piece of paper stuck to her finger with tape.

She jogged down the sidewalk and slapped the note on the outside of the mailbox. Poor Clarence must’ve high tailed it out of there when Carlos came calling. Her cat never liked Carlos. She should’ve paid more attention to his feline instincts.

She joined Riley at the rear of the BMW. He popped the trunk and heaved the suitcase inside. “When we get to my house, we’ll search the car. I haven’t had time yet.”

“Looks like you haven’t had time for anything.” Amy allowed her gaze to wander down his body to his swim trunks, now dry and hanging loosely from his slim hips. The muscles of his flat belly clenched as he slammed down the trunk.

He tugged at a stiff lock of her hair. “You, either. When we get to my place, we can take a shower.”

Her cheeks warmed, and Riley lifted one brow. “One at a time.”

How’d he see her blush in the dark? Unless the same naughty thought had popped into his head.

As she slid onto the passenger seat, Amy drew her eyebrows together. She must be overcoming her trust issues—by leaps and bounds—since she’d accepted Riley’s story so readily. Something about the man instilled confidence—and a whole lot more.

Of course, she’d been willing to trust Carlos, too, and look where that had landed her. Or had she? She’d never let Carlos completely into her life. She’d never slept with him. He had accused her so many times of holding back. That’s why she was surprised when she’d discovered his marital status. Usually men cheated on their wives so they could sleep around, not hold hands and walk on the beach.

Unless those men were sinister drug dealers with ulterior motives. Carlos probably didn’t even have a wife.

Riley hit the highway and accelerated. “So the cops didn’t believe you?”

“It’s like you said.” She slumped in the leather seat. “They didn’t find anything at the beach, and then when we got to my place, someone had removed Carlos’s body.”

“Did they question you about me?” He slid a sidelong glance at her.

She snorted. “They thought I’d watched too many James Bond movies.”

He smiled, but she heard him release a long breath. “I wonder why they took Carlos, and how. You’d think your neighbors would’ve noticed people dragging a dead body from your house.”

“Lots of older folks in that neighborhood, not much activity at night. So how’d you find out about Carlos’s connection to the drug dealers?”

“I saw his registration minutes after my contact gave me his name. It makes sense, but it doesn’t explain what he was doing at your house at the time of the drop, or why his associates killed him. What can you tell me about Carlos?”

Amy curled a leg beneath her and gazed out the window. “I met him before summer started. He was charming and interesting and he kept coming back to my beach. We started dating and then I discovered he had a wife.”

“How’d that happen?”

It sounded so petty now, but any information she could give Riley might help. Amy cleared her throat. “I—I didn’t trust Carlos. Some of his actions seemed suspicious—the parking around the corner, the excuses for never meeting at his place, the endless cell phone calls. So one day I answered his cell phone.”

Riley reached over and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Don’t look so sheepish. You had good reason to suspect him and you followed your instincts. Who’d you find on the other end, the wife?”

“Yep.” She clasped her hands between her knees. “Of course, now I’m not so sure. For a wife, she didn’t seem very upset that another woman had just answered her husband’s cell phone.”

“Did you confront Carlos?”

“I did and he admitted it. I immediately ended the relationship.”

Riley drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel and narrowed his eyes. “She could’ve been the real deal. Drug dealers get married, too.”

“I guess.” She lifted a shoulder. “So why do you think he hooked up with me in the first place?”

“He wanted access to that beach.” His lips quirked in a quick grin. “Not that you aren’t without your charms.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. No offense taken.”

“He probably wanted to find out about lifeguard schedules and procedures and pass the information on to the guys in the boat.”

“He did ask a lot of questions, which seemed natural at the time. But what was he doing back at my place tonight, why’d his associates kill him and why’d they come back for me…or you?”

“And now you’re asking a lot of questions, none of which I can answer.”

“How about I start asking some you can answer?” Amy shifted in her seat and studied Riley’s profile. This man with his ready grin and sarcastic quips could turn lethal in a matter of seconds. His dark blue eyes could shine with humor and cloud over with secrets just as fast. She wanted to dig deeper to solve the enigma of Riley…. Riley. She didn’t even know his last name.

“I’ll answer anything you like once I’ve had a shower and something to eat.” He jerked his thumb toward the window. “We’re here.”

Riley wheeled the car into the parking lot of a nondescript apartment complex. Amy didn’t know what she expected for a safe house, but a sprawling apartment building in the middle of San Diego didn’t exactly fit the bill for a secret agent.

Riley pulled into a numbered parking slot. “Good thing I stole Carlos’s car since I left mine down by the harbor.”

“It won’t be such a good thing if Carlos’s wife reported the car stolen.”

Riley grabbed the door handle and raised his brows. “If Carlos had a wife.”

Amy scrambled from the car while Riley unlocked the trunk. She joined him at the rear of the car as he yanked her suitcase from the back and set it on its wheels. Then he ducked back inside the trunk, sweeping his hands across its surface.

“Doesn’t look like Carlos kept anything in here, but he left his jacket in the backseat along with his cell phone. We can take a closer look at the phone once we’re inside.” He slammed the trunk closed and locked up again.

Amy liked the sound of that. Riley really did plan to include her. Must be because the drug cartel had put her directly in their line of fire.

Every crisis had a silver lining.

She followed Riley to the elevator as he dragged her bag behind him. He had a small place tucked away in the corner on the third floor of the building.