Page 28 of Fighting for Mallory

“These people don’t mess around,” he muttered.

“No, they don’t. When I was trapped under a collapsed hospital in Haiti and almost drowned, the guys Maverick works with didn’t hesitate to help him rescue me.” Lacey paid the bill, and they left the diner.

In the parking lot, Maverick handed Luca the laptop case. “It’s protected by the best cyber techs in the world. Nobody will be able to track you except Tex.”

“Thanks, Maverick. We appreciate your help.”

He flashed a grin. “No problem. Seems like you Laguna Beach boys are always getting yourselves into one kind of trouble or another.”

“Yeah, we’d love some peace and quiet for a change.”

The couples said good night, and Luca drove to the Walmart in Sevierville. As they shopped for clothes and other necessities, they kept their baseball caps low on their foreheads and avoided eye contact while acting casual. They filled a cart and paid cash at one of the self-checkout stations.

When they returned to the cabin, they sorted and put away their new clothes and groceries. Mallory changed into a pair of cotton sleep shorts and a white tank top and joined Luca at the kitchen table. He’d already started a pot of coffee and booted up the laptop. She looked so sexy he couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms for a hard kiss and sliding his hands over her perfect breasts with her erect nipples tempting him through the flimsy material of the tank top. Luca lifted the garment and drew those rosy buds into his mouth. He grazed them with his teeth, eliciting a gasp of pleasure from Mallory. She held his head in place as he feasted on her.

Unable to control his passion, Luca pushed the laptop aside and laid Mallory on the kitchen table. His mouth traced a fiery path down her bare torso to the waistband of her sleep shorts. Without haste, he lowered them. Luca claimed her with his mouth, using his tongue to mimic what he would do to her with his swollen shaft. Her soft moans and the expression on her face as she climaxed nearly undid him. Luca unfastened his jeans and yanked them down along with his boxers before he plunged into Mallory’s slick opening. He draped her legs over his shoulders to allow him to move even deeper inside her.

“Luca,” she groaned. “Oh, God, please…”

He knew what she craved and increased his tempo to bring them both to the precipice of release as if they were poised at the top of a roller coaster before free-falling down the other side. Luca’s stomach clenched from the rush of his orgasm. Mallory’s name exploded from his mouth, and he collapsed on top of her.

After his heart stopped pounding, Luca helped Mallory off the table and held her close to his sweaty body. He kissed her tenderly and murmured, “Did I hurt you going that deep?”

“No. I felt complete. Whole. As if our souls were touching.”

“Now who’s the poet?”

His gentle teasing elicited a rare smile from her. In the past that smile had lit her eyes with a warm glow and showcased her natural beauty. Luca had carried that smile with him during his darkest days and blackest nights when soul-destroying loneliness threatened to suffocate him. Now it emphasized the dullness of her eyes and her lack of vivacity.

“You’re sweet.” Mallory patted his cheek and turned toward the coffee pot. She poured two cups and handed one to him. “Let’s see if we can find out anything about Nehebkau.”

* * *

California’s Attorney General, Winston Caldi, stormed unannounced into Judd’s office at the courthouse. Judd’s secretary followed him, declaring in her defense, “I’m sorry, sir. He wouldn’t allow me to forewarn you.”

Judd waved her away. “It’s all right.”

A.G. Caldi waited until the door shut behind the secretary before he took the full weight of his aggravation out on Judd. “You have quite the shitshow on your hands, Morgan. What’s the current body count? Thirteen? Fifteen? Mallory and Detective Martinelli have gone off the grid, and no one seems to be able to find them. White hat or black hat hackers, at this point it’s hard to determine, are covering their tracks, so there’s no telling where they are. Now, I’ve heard a disturbing rumor that former U.S. Marshal Maverick Stone may be in the picture. I’m being pressured for answers, Morgan, and I have no problem directing that pressure onto you.”

“Believe me, sir, I feel the same pressure. I don’t know where Hayes and Martinelli are, and I don’t have any pertinent information to share with you at this time. All I can say is that Hayes is innocent of murdering her husband, and I’m working with the LBPD and Faith Stoker to figure out who framed her. Her life is in danger, that much is clear, so until we solve this case, I doubt we’ll find her.”

A.G. Caldi scowled. “You’d better be right, Morgan, because both of our asses are on the line. The governor wants this resolved. He didn’t think Bentley Hayes was of the right moral character for governor, but he certainly didn’t wish him any harm. The governor’s detractors are flooding social media with theories that he eliminated an opponent ahead of him in the polls. We need to uncover the truth before this gets worse.”

“Understood, sir. I’m doing my best to put this puzzle together.”

“I want updates.”

“As soon as I learn anything new or vital, I’ll pass it along.”

“Do.”

When Judd was alone again, he pondered the strange story Hutch had told them two days ago. It had set his teeth on edge until he’d pulled the medical examiner’s report on Captain Valentin and Bentley Hayes and read for himself the bizarre fact he’d overlooked. Their hearts were missing. The only aspect of this case that didn’t fit was the execution of Hayes’ chauffeur and his family. All their vital organs were intact. Why the overkill? If the motive was to take the chauffeur’s place, why did the entire family have to die?

“I don’t get it,” he muttered. Frustrated, he shoved a stack of papers off his desk and swiveled in his high-back leather chair to stare out the window of his office.

He’d worked hard to sit in this chair, to have better than a tiny office no bigger than an average walk-in closet. Judd began his career as one of many underpaid, overworked public defenders before he caught the attention of a huge, well-known law firm in LA that needed someone like him to join its criminal defense team.

With plenty of resources and money at his disposal, Judd won more often than he lost in court. He won big murder trials that garnered national attention. In an ironic twist of fate, when a prosecutor bungled a case against one of Judd’s most notorious clients, which led to an acquittal and subsequent crimes committed by the client, he decided to play ball on the other team. His expert knowledge of defense tactics served him well as a prosecutor, and he rose through the ranks from Assistant District Attorney to District Attorney, then U.S. Attorney.

---