Samantha Hunter - Unexpected Temptation

Her expression changed and gone was the fierce, angry woman. In her place was a shaken, clearly exhausted one who faced him with eyes full of tears.

“Why are you doing this? You did save my life, but you act like you hate me. And you don’t even know me. You clearly have me confused with someone else. This Nicky person, whoever she is.”

Luke felt a pinch of sympathy—and a fleeting moment of doubt—before he capped it off. Nicky was an expert at manipulating emotions, hers and others’, with precision. It was why she was such a good con artist and thief.

“I don’t hate you. I want you to pay for what you’ve done. To me, and to others. Innocents.”

She looked at him, pensive, wiping the tears away.

“What is it exactly that you think I’ve done?”

So this was the game she wanted to play? Fine. He had nothing better to do at the moment. Sitting down on the bare-bones cot on the other side of the cell, he took a deep breath before speaking.

“You stole very sensitive computer code, obviously with the intention of selling it to the highest bidder. I have to figure that plan fell through, since you’re here in Florida, trying to make another score. Also, the programming has never surfaced since.”

He paused before continuing. “You slept with me and almost convinced me that we had something. Enough of something that I didn’t watch you as closely as I should have. You took advantage of that and of me. You set me up, and you set up Marcus Yates, who killed himself after I accused him of being the thief. So, we’re both guilty, Nic. You and I both caused someone else to take his own life. But you were the one who orchestrated it all, and you don’t get to walk away from that.”

The words came out calmly, smoothly, and she listened, transfixed.

“That’s awful, but I never did any of those things. I’ve been a teacher here for eight years. I’ve never even met you let alone slept with you, and—”

He put a hand up. “Please. I really don’t want to hear it. You played me once, shame on you. If I let you play me again, well, you know how that goes.”

Luke was suddenly tired. He closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t want to play the game anymore. He wanted this to be done.

She didn’t say anything else, and he started to drift off into a mental fog when a noise had him bolting upright. The detective was unlocking his cell.

“Mr. Berringer, you’re free to go.”

“What? Are you kidding me? He’s probably the one who tried to blow up my house!” Nicky exclaimed.

“No evidence of that, Ms. Grant. In fact, Mr. Berringer is a bona fide bodyguard—professional security—and he did save you. We’re just waiting on a few confirmations concerning your statement and then we’ll let you out, too.”

“But—”

Luke smiled, suddenly reenergized as he headed out of the station. Nicky was still looking at him as if she couldn’t believe it.

He waved smartly to her before he left and grinned at the outraged look she gave him. She was gripping the bars so tightly he could see her white knuckles from a distance.

Tough.

He had no doubt that the police would find that none of her story was true, and she wouldn’t be out anytime soon. Luke would be happy to testify at her trial.

Finally. Justice.

His phone rang as he proceeded down the long hall to the exit. It was his cousin, Garrett, calling to check in. Luke made his way out into the parking lot in front of Tampa Police Headquarters, filling his cousin in on what had happened.

People passing by slid wary looks in his direction, and he couldn’t blame them. He was dirty, scraped up and reeked of smoke and sweat. None of that was important.

“Garrett.”

“Luke. So, they spring you yet?”

“Yeah. Thanks for the speedy response.”

“Sure. Though Jonas thought we should let you simmer in there for a day or two, for kicks.”

“Funny. Did you find anything?”

Luke had his cousins do the background research on Vanessa Grant. It was likely that she had developed a sturdy fake background, maybe even one that the police couldn’t break through. Garrett would dig deeper.

“Sorry, Luke. You’re not going to want to hear this, but Vanessa Grant looks legit—work history, fingerprints, adoption certificate, all match her picture. She was in the foster system for seven years, then adopted, graduated high school, went on to college. It’s all here. I’ll give you that she does look a lot like Nicole Brooks, but she was a new teacher back when you were with Nicky. They have school year photos that show her in them at the time. It’s not her.”

Luke paused and closed his eyes. Could it be possible? Was this some kind of mix-up? No. He’d seen her. Close up. He knew.

“Gar, how many elementary teachers do you know who are targeted with several bricks of explosives? Obviously, someone other than me is after her, and there has to be a reason for that.”

“Well, you have a point there. Still, if this is a cover, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. She’s living out in plain sight, not trying to hide anything, and it has been the case for over a decade.”

“That does sound airtight,” Luke said, trying to figure out how Nicole could have made this happen. There was no way even she could be in two places at the same time. An accomplice? Had she reeled in another innocent to help her accomplish her plans?

That was possible. It was possible that Vanessa Grant was being used by Nicole all this time and never knew it. Perhaps now, Nicky was done with her, or considered her a threat. A loose end.

It would explain why someone wanted to blow her up. That meant she was still in danger. He ran the theories by Garrett.

“That’s possible. So what are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure. Wait. Follow her. See what happens. If she’s Nicole, she’ll slip up. If she’s not, the people who are after her will make another play, I imagine. Then I can find out who they are and maybe find Nicky in the process.”

“Be careful, Luke.... This job is hard enough when we know where the threats are coming from.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be in touch,” he said, ending the call.

Luke knew his cousins still had some doubts about if he was over his past troubles yet. He was. Mostly.

He’d once ruled the tech world, owned a massively successful software company and had more money than he’d ever need—until everything had fallen apart, thanks to Nicky. He didn’t miss the work or the wealth. It had taken Luke a long time to get his head on straight, but he’d done it. He liked his life now, and he enjoyed working with his cousins.

But he needed to do this one, final thing to really be able to move on with his future.

He needed to bring Nicky to justice—and that was even more the case if she had put yet another innocent in the line of fire. Whether Vanessa Grant was really innocent or not, he still had to find out for sure.

* * *

VANESSA STARED AT the dingy cell wall. Every bone in her body ached, and she was dirty and tired. They kept saying she could leave soon, but she’d been here all day. Probably because of Luke Berringer, who was now free as a bird while she was still locked up like a criminal. It made no sense.

It was all very unreal and dreamlike, except for the scrapes and bruises she received from being pushed out of the way of the explosion by Berringer. He was clearly deranged, pursuing some imaginary woman who had ruined his life. Yet the police had let him out the door. A bodyguard? She couldn’t believe it.

But then again, she’d read an article once about people with “hero complexes” who would stage a disaster so that they could save someone and get attention. However, this man didn’t want her thanks; he was trying to get her arrested. He said they’d been intimate.