Leah Braemel - Deliberate Deceptions

He shared a confused look with Troy when she knelt at the side of the bed and stuck her hand between the box spring and mattress. “Lauren? What are you looking for?”

“The transponder.”

“The what?” He took a step forward at the same time as Troy.

“A transponder-Ed gave it to me in case things went bad here and I needed to be extracted.”

“You didn’t have any sort of device with you.” Troy’s eyes were wide with horror when he met Chad’s glance. “I swear, we checked. Walters went over her with a wand before they took off the first time, and we checked again right after I met her. We took her purse away, everything. There were no devices on her. I swear.”

Lauren sat back on her heels and stared at the device she’d retrieved. It was smaller than the key fob Chad used to unlock his car doors. “Ed tucked it in my hair just before he left. Andy was thorough but you…”

“Just checked your fucking clothes,” Troy snarled.

From the look on Troy’s face, Chad was pretty sure if he hadn’t been in the room Troy might have attacked Lauren.

Her fingers closed around the device. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t broadcast its location unless it’s turned on. Which it hasn’t been since I arrived. So if Harris took the other unit from Ed, he can’t find me.” She placed it on the floor. “We have to destroy this one so there’s no chance it can ever broadcast our location. Troy, stomp on it. Break the damned thing.”

“No. Don’t,” Chad barked when Troy took a step forward. “We might be able to use it to draw Harris in.”

It was almost comical the way both Troy’s and Lauren’s expression mirrored identical looks of understanding within a split second of each other.

“We set him up.” Troy scooped up the transponder and started pacing, toying with it with each step. “We choose a place we can watch without him realizing it. Make him think Lauren’s there. Catch him in the act of breaking in.”

“There’s always the chance he may not have Ed’s device or the right codes,” Lauren said.

Chad shook his head. “Someone’s going to know if it’s among Weir’s things. Sam said there was a single report on the news this morning but nothing since. Someone is keeping a lid on it.” Which meant Davis had a helluva lot of connections to keep the press muzzled.

“Andy might be able to find out if it’s missing through his police buddies,” Troy suggested. “In the meantime, I’ll take this effin’ thing back to D.C. and set something up with Cooper so he can…neutralize Harris nice and quiet.”

“We’ll be fine with Andy in charge of things up here.” Chad stopped Troy before he could leave the room. “When I came in, you two were talking about the club being used as a front. Lauren, will Harris be looking for you there?”

Lauren hesitated. “I don’t think Harris knew anything about the club. There was some emergency going on that Cooper couldn’t get away from, so he had Ed and I meet him there. It was one time only. I don’t think any of the other team members knew about it, or would connect it with the group.”

It didn’t quite add up. If it was only used the one time, why refer to it as a front? “Tell me no one in the club has ever been put into any sort of danger.”

“No.” But doubt fluttered about the edges of her response. Shit, he had to get word out. Make sure Thalia stayed away. Sam and Rosie too.

“Is it possible Harris will go after Cooper himself?”

Lauren pursed her lips for a second before shaking her head. “Cooper’s deliberately created opportunities for Harris to go after him if he wanted. As far as we can tell, Harris is fixated on me.”

“Have you told me everything I should know about it?”

There was a split second’s hesitation to her “yes” this time. Shit. Shit. SHIT.

“I’ve told you everything I’m allowed to tell you,” she finally allowed.

His suspicions settled down at her answer. Somewhat. Rules and secrets were part of his world. And hers. “Is there anything you’re not telling me that might affect how we’ve set up the protection of this place? Or of the club?”

“No.” No hesitation.

All right, he could live with that. As long as she was telling him the truth. “When this is over, you and I are going to sit down and have a long talk.”

Troy snorted. “Since you’re both stuck here until we stop Harris, I’d say you two could start talking now.”

He turned on Troy. “Before you start casting stones, you might want to remember that you’ve known about this for almost a year and not said anything. So don’t go postal on Lauren for keeping quiet.”

Troy had the good grace to look away.

Chad rolled his shoulders, releasing the tension that had been building in them. “All right. Let’s plan what we’re going to do to draw him in. The sooner we can get it underway the sooner we can get out of here.”

Lauren shifted her weight between the balls of her feet, watching for an opening. When she saw it, she brought up her knee and snapped her foot out, aiming toward Chad’s solar plexus. Perhaps she’d telegraphed what she was going to do, or maybe she shouldn’t have tried it twice in a row because this time he deflected the kick and spun away.

“You always did have a nice roundhouse.”

“Thanks.” She raised her hands and started circling again, allowing herself to admire the play of his shoulder muscles. Muscles that had rippled beneath her fingers the night before. The quick jab she took at him didn’t make it past his glove.

For the next two minutes there was only the smack of leather on leather, and the occasional grunt when a hit connected, interrupting the silence of the gym. Then Chad telegraphed what she thought was going to be a right cross. Turned out it was a feint and he landed a forward kick to her solar plexus. She would have cursed him. If she could have drawn a breath.

“Shit! I tried to pull it but you leaned in.” He grabbed her under her arms and held her so her lungs could fill with the air he’d knocked from her.

She hauled in a breath, then another. “Good one.”

“Thanks.”

Covered in sweat from her workout, Lauren stripped as she followed Chad to the bathroom. “Mind if I join you?”

The dark look he gave her sent a thrill down her spine and into her very core. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”

He turned on the shower then stripped off his tee. Lauren frowned when he folded it before putting it in the hamper. She’d noticed that about him before-from the way his clothes were arranged in his closet, to how everything on his desk was neat and tidy. Even tidier than hers. “What’s up with the neat freak routine all of a sudden? Did you have a housekeeper who complained about how you left your clothes on the floor the way you did when we were married?”

The heat in his eyes changed to ice, as did his tone. “There’s no pleasing you, is there? When we were married, you’d complain that you were always having to pick up after me, and now I put things away properly, you’re questioning me?”

Tread carefully. “I just wondered what changed-you never used to worry about dropping your clothes on the floor or leaving papers piled up on the desk…”

“What changed?” He advanced on her until they were inches apart. “You left. That’s what changed.”

Oh God. He didn’t mean…“You thought if you kept things cleaner, if you hung up your clothes, I’d come back?” She reached up and stroked his neck. “Chad, I didn’t leave you because you left your clothes on the floor. You know that, don’t you?”

He shook his head. “All I knew was you weren’t there anymore.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I knew you were upset that I didn’t talk to you about going against orders to protect Thalia but I couldn’t go back into the past and change it.”