Changing the Rules (Richter Book 1)(66)

“Okay . . .”

Claire waited for the words Have a nice weekend.

“Jax, enjoy your weekend.”

“Oh, no.” All Claire wanted right now was a stiff drink, a bathtub, and a good night’s sleep.

“Claire, Cooper, there is a five a.m. charter flight at LAX with your names on it.”

Suddenly sleep didn’t sound so needed. “The Bahamas?” Claire asked.

Neil was silent when he was annoyed.

Claire filled that silence with images of a beach and sand . . . and Cooper finding second base.

“Seattle. Marie Nickerson showed back up.”

The Bahamas dream would have to wait. Claire sat forward. “Is she in jail?”

“She’s in a hospital. In protective custody. They have her under the name Hope Boyer to throw off anyone looking for her. Claire, I need you to interview her as a PI, so bring your identification. Cooper, I need you to keep Claire safe. You both know the players we’ve identified. If any of them are seen, your identities need to change, so bring backup ID and any disguise you need to go with them. All other travel details will be on the plane.”

“Hey, Boss?” Cooper started.

“Yeah.”

“This protective custody, is this Warren’s doing?”

“Yes. He’s working with the commander in the precinct Marie was found. A detective in homicide will meet you at the hospital.”

“Did she kill someone?” Claire asked.

“No, but someone nearly killed her after taking two other young lives. The commander is giving us and Warren a shot before he takes this to the feds.”

“Has anyone interviewed her yet?”

“She’s not talking. I’m hoping you can change that, Claire.”

“Copy that.”

“Be safe. No unnecessary risks.” Neil disconnected the call.





CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT


Cooper pulled into Claire’s driveway long before the sun even thought of coming up.

Dim lights were on inside the house, and Claire’s silhouette filtered through the closed drapes. Much as he didn’t like the thought of working, or the danger level of that work, he couldn’t be happier to be at her side.

He cut the engine and walked through the misty morning to her front door and knocked.

“Almost ready,” she said in a low voice after letting him in. Claire walked back toward the kitchen.

He followed her into the quiet house, mindful that Jax was probably as dead tired as they were.

Claire buzzed around the kitchen, pulled down two travel mugs, and proceeded to fill them with coffee. “I’m going to need a gallon of this today,” she pointed out.

Cooper simply watched her with unabashed joy.

She wore tan linen pants with a cream silk blouse. She had heels on her feet, but not the sky-high ones she wore when going to a club. Her hair was down, but styled more like Claire the PI and not Claire the high school senior. And her perfume . . . He’d forgotten the scent but remembered it now. She hadn’t worn it in his presence since before the assignment started. It wasn’t floral, or some essential-oil type thing. It smelled like the dark woods on a moonlit night with just a hint of jasmine musk.

“Boy, I’m tired.” She turned around and stopped with his stare.

Cooper stepped forward, took both mugs from her hands, and set them on the counter before pulling her into his arms. He pressed his lips to hers and savored the softness of them. So much strength in every inch of her body, but here, like this, she wilted and let him hold her.

He enjoyed her kiss for as long as he could without turning a morning greeting into more.

When he pulled away, her eyes fluttered open, and that frantic woman who was busy working her way out of the house was replaced with dreamy eyes and a giant sigh. “Good morning,” she whispered.

“I wish we were going to the Bahamas.”

“Me too.”

He handed her back one of the filled mugs and took the other for himself.

Claire set the house alarm and locked the door behind them.

After she was safely tucked into the passenger seat, Cooper pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the airport.

She sipped her coffee and slowly started to wake up. “Did you get any sleep?” she asked him.

“Yeah, but not enough.”

“What are the chances of Neil giving us a charter with a bedroom?”

Cooper laughed. “Slim to none.”

She reached over and placed her hand on his arm as if she’d done so a thousand times. He wondered if she knew just what that did to him. She started to laugh softly.

“What?”

“I remember the first time Neil put me on a private plane. We were headed back from London. I remember the plane being huge. Bedroom in the back, big reclining seats in the main cabin with a giant TV, and a sofa equipped with seatbelts. It was impressive. Sasha and AJ were this bundle of sexual frustration. When they went in the bedroom, I put my headphones on in case they were loud.” She laughed at the memory. “They didn’t do anything. Or if they did . . . AJ was much too quick for Sasha to have stayed with the man.”

Cooper didn’t really want to think of any of his friends going at it, but Sasha accepting a quickie sounded out of character. “Neil was on that flight?”