Page 59 of Westin
The toilet flushed and she opened the door, bowing as she gestured for him to come inside. “It’s all yours, sire.”
“All ours,” he said, pulling her into the room with him.
They showered, taking much longer than they probably should have with Clint waiting. He couldn’t get enough of her. His hands just seemed to wander to places they didn’t belong, slipping over curves and along straight lines, exploring every inch, memorizing the shape of her. She did the same, touching him, her fingertips exploring old scars and a simple tattoo on his bicep. She never asked, and he never offered, but the look in her eye told him she understood. A person didn’t have to be a friend of Bill W. to understand what it meant to follow the Twelve Steps. Maybe she’d ask him about it later, but for now, she just let her fingers dance. And he loved her for it.
They dressed, her in borrowed clothes taken from what Melanie had left in the closet, him in the clothes he’d carefully chosen the night before. Clint was in the kitchen, sipping coffee, a ghost hanging over him as he stared out the window. Westin cleared his throat and Clint turned, brushing the ghost away.
“Landry will be here in a few minutes,” Clint said. “I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”
“I want to go with you.”
Westin and Clint were both caught by surprise. Westin started to shake his head, but Clint was a little more reasonable. “We don’t want to advertise your whereabouts.”
“I need access to a computer. I assume Miss Dulcie has computers in her house. She must use them to help run the business.”
“She does, but—”
“I need a computer.” Lee produced the silver necklace she’d taken off for their shower but had replaced the moment they were out. “I need to see what I have here.”
Clint’s jaw clenched. Westin, however, couldn’t see what the harm would be, and the idea of keeping Lee close was more satisfying than the idea of leaving her alone.
“It couldn’t hurt anything, Clint,” Westin argued. “She’ll be with us. And no one’s going to see her who doesn’t already know she’s on the ranch.”
Clint frowned. “What if I brought a laptop here?”
“Do you have one?”
Clint nodded. “There’s a laptop in the security room up at the barn. I could bring that to you.”
“It’s ancient,” Westin argued. “It wouldn’t have a slot for the memory card.” He glanced at Lee. “It’s older than the hills.”
“I do need one with a memory-card slot.”
Clint frowned. “Then what about the computers in the security room? The desktops are top-of-the-line. Miss Dulcie bought them just a few months ago.”
“The house would be safer. You and I will be there to make sure no one sees her.” Westin slipped his hand into Lee’s. “I think she should be with one or the other of us until we figure out how much danger she’s really in.”
Clint continued to resist, the muscles in his jaw popping as he studied the two of them. But then he sighed and lowered his head. “All right. But she stays in the office and doesn’t talk to anyone. Understand?”
“You know, I am a federal agent. I’m trained to take care of myself in dangerous situations.”
“Yes, well, you asked for our help. This is what you get.” Clint dropped a wink before he turned to rinse his coffee cup in the sink. “Let’s get out of here. Miss Dulcie’s waiting.”
***
Westin’s arms had allowed Lee to sleep as though on a cloud, but she was crashing back down to earth now, reality worming its way back into her peace of mind. She held the sunflower between her fingers, her mind running over the things Clint had pointed out to her the day before. Why had Will sent her up to this part of Colorado? Why hadn’t he had her go to the DEA office in Denver? Why hadn’t she thought of it? Was she so blindly trusting of her partner that she never questioned his orders? Or was it something else? Something she didn’t want to admit to even herself?
How long had she suspected that Will was going rogue?
Federal agents going bad and working for the very bad guys they were sworn to take down was not uncommon. It happened so often that it was a joke at the offices in Seattle. It wasn’t the idea of Will going rogue that messed with her equilibrium. It was the idea that he would turn on her that pushed her off balance.
Undercover work was a blurred line. It wasn’t as black and white as crime shows on television depicted. Sometimes a cop had to break the law in order to convince those around him that he was one of them, that he was willing to do whatever it took to survive. And, sometimes, those acts blurred the line even more, making it almost impossible to know what was right and what was wrong. So what if an undercover cop took a little money in exchange for a little information if that meant he could get closer to the really bad guy, the one he was there to uncover? How was that different from selling narcotics, taking drugs, sleeping with some lieutenant just to get to his boss? All lines could be crossed to get what was needed.
But turning on a partner? A friend? That was one line Lee wouldn’t cross. She couldn’t. That was the one thing that kept her grounded, that reminded her why she was surrounding herself with all this darkness. And she knew that Will felt the same way.
At least, she thought she knew.
She held on to Westin’s arm as they drove to the main house, wishing she could just go back to that bedroom and lose herself in him. She didn’t want to know what she was afraid she already did know. She didn’t want to see Will’s name on the memory card she’d protected with her life. She didn’t want to know that he’d turned on her.