Page 8 of Sniper

“You promise?”

“Yeah, I promise. I don’t go back on promises except to my enemies and you’re not my enemy, no matter how hard you try.” He punched his pillow and turned away, giving me an uninterrupted view of his wide, sculpted back and the words that ran down his spine that were too fuzzy to read from this distance. “Besides, I prefer my women willing. They get a lot wetter when they want it too.”

Thank goodness his back was to me so that he couldn’t see the shocked expression on my face as I weighed my options. That rickety-ass couch or the bed with temptation himself. I can’t want Sniper. I won’t. No, fuck that, Idon’twant him. He’s just nice to look at.

Within seconds he was asleep, the deep even breaths and the rise and fall of his shoulder was a dead giveaway. It was too bad my peaceful sleep had decided to abandon me, because I was forced to regulate my breathing using his in search of that elusive dreamland. The one good thing that came from being awake was that it gave me a break from the nightmares, and that was a godsend.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel as if I’d traded one prison for another.

Chapter Six

Sniper

Istood behind Slate trying to make sense of all the shit he had up on his screens. Even though it was daytime, the place looked like a fucking dungeon. “Why is it so fucking dark in here?”

Slate snorted. “It’s not dark,” he insisted. “All five screens provide light. Just look.” He motioned over his shoulder with his thumb to the office, bathed in a pale blue glow.

“It’s dark. You find anything on Ethan?” I knew it hadn’t been long, but the sooner we got this asshole dead and buried the sooner I could get rid of the tempting pain in the ass wife I’d acquired recently.

“Yeah, but not really,” he answered, clearly distracted.

“That’s as clear as mud,” I grumbled.

Slate offered a laugh. “Last spotted at the diner wherewifeyused to work. Went there after terrorizing her landlady, and acted a fool when they wouldn’t tell him where she’d gone. The staff tossed him out on his ass. He pulled a gun and then fucked off. I haven’t been able to find him since which means he’s gone to ground.”

“Fuck!” I watched the footage from the camera in the diner parking lot, anger swirled in my gut until I thought I might explode.

“The good news is, she was halfway to Vegas by then, according to Sergeant Blake. Far enough from his grasp that he needs to stop and regroup.”

Slate was right, but that didn’t help me right now. Having Katey close was problematic. When she wasn’t pissing me off, she was turning me on. “He must have help,” I said. I was just thinking out loud, but it was the only thing that made sense. How the fuck could an out bad biker without a club, stay off grid so easily. “Are we sure he’s no longer part of the Crimson Cobras?”

Slate nodded slowly and turned back to the screens, pointing at the upper left one. “Positive. He was expelled for erratic behavior. They no longer claim him.” His brow furrowed as he considered the implications. “But yeah, I agree that he must have help.”

“Thanks brother. Let me know if you find anything else.” I knew finding him wouldn’t be easy but if he had outside help, we had to figure out who was helping him and why. And then we needed to neutralize him.

“Will do,” he called. “Hey Sniper?”

“Yeah?” I turned back to face the Tech Captain.

“Go easy on your wife, she’s going through a lot, and this can’t be easy for her.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. It wasn’t easy on me, but this wasn’t about me. My job was to protect her, not hold her fucking hand. Still I left Slate in the office and went in search of Katey, not that it was much of a search because she was where she’d been the whole week of our so-called marriage—holed up in our bedroom.

I paused outside the green door and exhaled, preparing myself for yet another tense encounter. Turning the knob, I stepped inside, and she didn’t even flinch. Under any other circumstances I might consider that a victory that she didn’t jump like a scared little mouse every time the door opened or closed, but right now she was just plain ignoring me. “Come on,” I said instead of something stupid like ‘what are you reading’ or ‘how are you holding up?’.

Katey looked up from her book in confusion. She watched me, her expression guarded yet vulnerable. “Where are we going?”

“Out,” I answered easily. And vaguely.

“Outwhere?” She was annoyed and that was good. It was better than being sad.

“Let’s go and find out.”

She stared at me.

I stared back.

We stayed like that for a few minutes until Katey gave in with a dramatic eyeroll and an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, let’s go out. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

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