Free Taken and Tamed by Kallista Dane Page B

“Talk.”
    “You’re right. We planned the escape. The security guard was a plant. He was the only one in on it. Nobody else, not Marshal Jacobs or Agent Smith—none of them.”
    He started pacing back and forth in front of her as he laid out the story.
    “There’s someone dirty working for the witness protection program. Four prospective witnesses have either vanished or been found murdered in the last year. All of them connected to organized crime. So far, we’ve been able to keep their connection to the program out of the news while we conducted our investigation. It seems Big Tony has somebody inside the U.S. Marshals service on his payroll, leaking their locations and new identities.
    “I’m with the FBI. The head of the marshals asked us to step in because he didn’t know who he could trust in his own organization. None of the marshals knew I was there undercover. They all believed I’d been one of Tony’s enforcers.”
    He stopped and looked into Cass’s eyes for the first time. “The interview with you? That was my boss’s idea. He wanted to get a buzz going inside the Atlanta office, make sure everyone knew one of Tony’s trusted men had turned on him. Zander Coleman is an alias. Tony doesn’t have anyone by that name working for him. So he wouldn’t know which of his men had broken ranks and was about to sell him out.
    “We figured if I tried to escape, whoever was on Tony’s payroll inside the marshal’s service would grab the opportunity. They could take me out, even do it right in front of other marshals, since I’m now a criminal on the loose. So I had on a bulletproof vest under my tailored suit.”
    “But then I walked back in.”
    He nodded. “Yeah. You screwed up our plan. I couldn’t risk a shootout with you there, so I improvised. Believe me, I planned to drop you off as soon as possible. But there didn’t seem to be a good time. And after all the effort we put into this plan, I hated to throw it all away by having you go straight to the nearest cop and get me busted once you were free.”
    “Why the hell didn’t you tell me the truth once we got here?”
    He shook his head. “That could have been even more dangerous—for you. If the rogue marshal managed to track us here and you acted like we were on a friendly basis, he or she might kill you too. If the whole operation went south, as long as you believed I was the bad guy, you’d welcome whoever shot me as your rescuer. They’d never expect me to confide in a hostage. You’d be no threat to them.”
    “So I’m supposed to believe that you tied me up and spanked me for my own good?”
    He made an x across his heart. “Scout’s honor.”
    “I just have one problem with that. I don’t think Boy Scouts fuck the little old ladies after they help them across the street.”
    “They’d probably wish they could if little old ladies were as hot as you are.” He saw the spark of fury in her eyes and hurried on. “Look, I’m sorry I was harsh with you. But I had to make it believable. As for the… the fucking, well, that wasn’t part of the plan.”
    He shot her a smoldering look. “You got turned on and when I realized it I got really turned on by that and things just got out of hand. But I said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m not sorry it happened.”
    She blushed then and clutched the quilt tighter around her. “So now what? I heard you arranging for someone to pick me up tomorrow and lock me away somewhere.”
    “Rod Carter. He’s a Fed too. I’ve known him for years and I’d trust him with my life. Your life. He’ll take you somewhere safe till this is all over.”
    “I heard you mention Katherine Jacobs too.”
    He sighed. “Yeah, I hate to think it, but the field has narrowed down to her. The head of this operation has gone to everyone else on our short list privately, given them false information about where I’ve supposedly been tracked to. All the locations have been monitored. But so far, no