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  After that she dialed her sister’s work number.

  “Hello.”

  “Michelle, it’s Sienna.”

  “Oh, hi.”

  “You still mad?”

  “I’m working myself down to disgruntled.”

  Sienna smiled. “You never could stay mad at me for very long.”

  “No, I couldn’t. Did you make another appointment?”

  “Did it a minute ago.”

  “And you’re still going to make the rehearsal dinner on Friday?”

  “It’s on my calendar in red ink.”

  “Good. I guess I can forgive you, then. When is your appointment?”

  “One-thirty tomorrow.”

  “I’ll meet you there. We can have a quick cup of coffee.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Sienna hung up the phone with a sense of satisfaction. There, she could do it. Not only did she reschedule her appointment, but she talked to her sister and smoothed things over.

  A.J. came back into the apartment and Sienna looked around the doorway of the kitchen so that she could talk to him. “There are towels in the closet next to the bathroom door.”

  “Thanks. Sienna…” He walked toward her and stopped a few feet from her.

  “How do you like your eggs?” she asked, desperate to change the subject to get away from her uncharacteristic comment about him leaving. She didn’t know where that had come from.

  “Scrambled,” he replied with an exasperated voice.

  She turned away and went into the kitchen, but he followed her.

  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what you said yesterday. I don’t know where we’re going to go, but just for the record, I like you a hell of a lot, Sienna.”

  She exhaled unevenly, trying desperately to keep her emotions tightly concealed and failing. “I like you, too,” she said, a lump forming in her throat. “But we have to be realistic. There are so many reasons that it would be difficult for us. We both have demanding jobs. I don’t think I’d do well with a man who’s gone most of the time. A relationship worth having is one that you can build on. How can we do that if you’re absent?” She raised her face and forced a smile. “It’s getting late. Go take your shower, so that we can get going.”

  “You seem to have a lot of reasons, but I don’t want to stop seeing you.” He released a heavy sigh and gave her shoulder an acknowledging squeeze. He backed off and she breathed a little easier.

  Entering the kitchen, she walked to the coffeemaker and switched on the machine.

  She went to the refrigerator and opened the door and just stood there. Maybe it was her brush with death yesterday, but she was feeling decidedly fragile today.

  A swell of emotion blindsided her. It was typical of Lynne to do this. Sienna should be accustomed to it by now, but she felt tears gathering at the back of her eyes. She loved her parents, so why did she find it so difficult to show it?

  “Are you expecting something to jump out at you?”

  The deep sound of his voice jerked her out of her emotional state. She avoided his gaze as she gathered her composure. Keeping her voice light, she replied, “No, it’s just so full of food.”

  A quick glance at his face showed her the wicked grin she knew was there. He folded his arms and leaned into the doorjamb. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s the purpose of that particular appliance.”

  “Ha. Ha,” she said as her voice cracked. She squeezed her eyes shut, releasing the tightness in her chest, letting it wash away a familiar and routine response.

  A.J. sobered. “Are you all right?”

  Sienna juggled the eggs and the package of bacon and turned to face him, a witty comeback on her tongue. That was when she got the full view of him and the eggs slid out of her hands, dropping to the floor unnoticed.

  A.J. stood in the doorway dressed in just a white towel, one that barely covered all the important parts—the taut curve of his buttocks and rangy, powerful muscles of one thigh. Every line of his body flowed into the next, every delineation of muscle seemed the perfect balance of power and leanness, every flat plane solid and strong. The black silken thickness of his hair clung to the strong column of his neck as rivulets of water traveled enticingly over his taut bronzed skin.

  “Does dropping eggs on the floor run in the family?” he asked. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a paper towel and bent down to sop up the egg mess. The towel around his lean waist split even wider as his whipcord thigh muscles bunched.

  “Why aren’t you dressed?” she asked. It was so much easier for her to focus on his physique than to think about the turbulent emotions she was desperately trying to keep at bay.

  “I couldn’t find a razor. I must have left mine at home.”

  She set the bacon on the counter, leaned down and took the soiled paper towel out of his hand. She threw it in the trash and grabbed his hand. Leading him back to the bathroom, she pulled open the vanity door and rummaged around inside.

  She emerged with the razor and very gently pushed on his shoulders until he sat on the commode, propped up by the wall behind him. Boldly, she straddled his lap, wringing a groan out of him at the suddenness of her groin pressed to the heat of his.

  From out of the brown case sitting on the lip of the sink, she grabbed a can of shaving cream. She put a large dollop in her hands, rubbed it between her palms and applied the creamy lotion to his cheeks and neck. She rinsed her hands, picked up the razor and pressed the blade against his cheek. With a slow slide of the blade, she whisked off a swath of dark stubble.

  A.J.’s hands came up to her shoulders and pushed her robe off, revealing the lacy teddy beneath. She shrugged out of the sleeves and let it fall to the floor. Using her finger, she tipped his chin up, placing the blade along the thick column of his throat, fascinated at the wildly beating pulse there. A smooth flick of her wrist and the whiskers were gone. She turned to rinse the razor in the sink, her lace-clad breasts sliding over the expanse of his chest.

  He closed his eyes and groaned. His cock jumped and swelled beneath her.

  He reached up and slipped the straps of the teddy off her shoulders. Deliberately she leaned in, the tight points of her aching nipples pressed against the hard wall of muscled torture. She leaned one way, sliding her flesh against his, getting a band of stubble just under his ear. Sliding to the other side, she repeated the action with the razor.

  She reached up to grab at the washcloth on the rack above his head and he took the opportunity to strip her of the teddy. His big hands slid down over the indentation of her waist, lingering on her hips, and cupping the firm globes of her buttocks.

  She leaned over the sink and wet the washcloth. Turning, she sank down on top of him, his finger sliding into her. She shuddered around his hand, gasping softly as she pressed the hot cloth to his skin and wiped off the residual shaving cream from his face.

  With his free hand on her lower back, he arched her back and very slowly closed his mouth over the aching tip of her breast. She bowed into him, crying out at the hot, moist feel of his tongue.

  He stood, setting her down, a slow, silky slide of his hard naked skin against her own. She gasped at the delicious feel of him, as he echoed the sound.

  She trembled while the delicious weakness flooded through her. He pulled her against him.

  Sienna closed her eyes, breathing in his scent, thinking there wasn’t a more wonderful smell on earth. She opened her eyes and looked at him; her pulse turned thick and heavy. What she saw there was purely male, arousing and needful. He stared at her and that tender weakening stole over her bit by debilitating bit.

  When he spoke, his voice came out low and strained. “You make me crazy.”

  She wasn’t going to delude herself. She realized that something had changed. He hadn’t made any promises or said anything about permanence, and she certainly wasn’t going to make a fool out of herself.

  With the release of tension came a flood of raw emotion that swelled in he
r chest. This she could do. Without taking her eyes from his, she put her own vulnerability on the line.

  She reached down and skimmed his hard hip, moving her hand to gently cup his hardness. With a soft groan, he pushed himself against her hand, hardening with each stroke she gave him.

  The passion in his eyes was stark and humbling, and she had to look away. She looked down at his heavy arousal and felt the heat intensify in her. Her eyes moved back to his face, and she reached up and cupped his smooth cheeks in her hands. “Let’s see if I can drive you wild,” she said as she watched him swallow hard and close his eyes.

  She kissed each side of his mouth, tracing his lips with her tongue.

  She slid her hands off his cheeks along his jaw into the strands of his dark hair, rubbing the silky mass against her fingers.

  With her hands cupped around the back of his neck, she pulled him closer and sank her face into his hair.

  He gasped, a quick pleasure-filled intake of breath, as her teeth sank into his skin. He groaned when her tongue came out to glide along the flesh she’d just abused.

  She kissed her way along the curve of his neck and shoulder, moving down his sleek chest. When she reached the hard point of his male nipple, she laved her tongue over the tightness. He groaned, his hands rubbing up and down her back.

  Her need to pleasure this man was an all-consuming ache. His hands came up, leading her mouth to his in a searing, paralyzing kiss that made her knees weak. Her hands tested the hard ropey muscles of his back, sliding over the raised scars, falling to the taut skin of his buttocks.

  She opened her mouth wide against his, drinking in the unique male taste of him. Leaning heavily into him, she slid down his body until she was on her knees in front of him.

  Her hands traveled down over the thick muscles of his thighs to behind his knees. He made a low, guttural sound and grasped her head, his fingers snagging in her hair, holding her when her lips grazed his hip.

  She could hear the wind pick up outside. Hear the rain begin to drum against the window with a heavy force. A loud clap of thunder boomed once, then twice.

  When she took him into her mouth, he jerked, staggering back until he was against the bathroom wall.

  Moments, only moments later he pulled her away, his eyes gone glassy with desire. His chest heaved and they stared at each other, dark green into cobalt blue.

  She pressed herself violently against him, her arms coming tight around his neck, her breathing harsh and out of control. “Take me to bed,” she demanded huskily.

  He picked her up and moved toward the bedroom, throwing her down on the mattress, his voice low and raw in her ear. “I need you, Sienna.”

  He fumbled with the packet and then his hot body was over her, and his burning flesh was inside her. Sienna could only cry out with him and sink down into their mutual hunger, igniting fires burning out of control.

  AT THE DIVISION, Sienna dumped her purse in her locker and snapped the lock closed. A.J. was seated beside her desk looking over the inventory of the guns discovered at Rojas’s along with the serial numbers. A note from Kate was attached to the paperwork that said, “Surprises abound. The FBI came through.”

  “So does Rojas’s arrest help us at all?” A.J. asked, indicating the paperwork.

  “No, all the guns recovered from Rojas had been part of the hijacking in Colorado. Although we have a nice solid case against Rojas for the crime, it’s not going to lead us any closer to your brother.”

  She looked through the material on her desk. “It’s not here?”

  “What?”

  “The FBI still hasn’t run the serial number from the automatic weapon we took off Tyrone. Not to mention, I don’t have a report on the fingerprints Kate got off the truck.”

  Sienna sat down and dialed Kate, who told her that was all she’d gotten so far.

  Sienna then dialed the FBI field office. Again she was referred to the lab and again they put her on hold.

  Finally someone came back on the line. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Detective. Yes, your serial number went to the home office yesterday.”

  “How is it I still don’t have a report regarding that serial number, yet you processed a rush request for me?”

  “I’m sorry, but that’s all I have on my log. Perhaps you could call the home office?”

  He gave her the number and she jotted it down. “Now what about my fingerprints?”

  “Please hold again.”

  Sienna looked at A.J. and rolled her eyes.

  The man came back on the line. “Detective, that request was erroneously filed and hasn’t gone to the home office yet. We’ll send it out right away.”

  “This is the second request from an ongoing case that has been botched. Can you give me an explanation for that?”

  “No, ma’am, only we process so much information that sometimes things fall through the cracks. Sorry.”

  Sienna hung up the phone. She turned to A.J. while she dialed the FBI home office in DC. “Remember when I told you that I don’t believe in coincidences?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I find it strange that they could do a rush job on hundreds of guns, yet one little serial number is overlooked.”

  Sienna asked for the appropriate department. She was connected to another lab with another apologetic employee.

  “No, ma’am, we don’t have the request. There’s no record the field office in San Diego sent it.”

  She hung up and dialed the number and when she got the lab it was the same story. Although the guy was contrite and promised to look into it, Sienna’s senses were tingling.

  “What is that agile brain working on?”

  “I feel like I’m getting the runaround and it makes me wonder why.”

  “Someone doesn’t want us to know where the M-16 came from or want us to confirm that David drove the truck.”

  “Right, but why?”

  “That’s what we have to find out.”

  “We could track the truck plate through DMV, which would be a place to start. Right now, I’m fresh out of ideas.”

  “Let’s go with that. We’ll at least see where the truck came from.”

  After requesting the information, they found out that the truck was registered to the naval base on Coronado.

  “Interesting.” Sienna said, “Not really surprising since David worked on that base.”

  “True. Let’s go there. I can call ahead and have someone meet us to answer our questions.”

  THEY PULLED UP to the gate of the naval base after crossing the long, blue bridge to the island of Coronado. The guard saluted A.J. smartly. After A.J. flashed his ID and Sienna showed him her badge, the guard waved them through. A.J. drove toward the building that housed security.

  They parked and got out. A.J. could smell the ocean along with diesel fuel used to run the big ships that transported the very weapons in question along with items for the exchange where navy personnel bought their groceries and sundries.

  Inside the building, they walked to the front desk. Sienna showed her badge. “We’re here to ask some questions regarding Corporal Buckner.”

  After waiting for fifteen minutes, a tall man dressed in civilian clothes approached them. “Lieutenant Camacho, Detective Parker, I’m Rob Norton, agent with the NIS—Naval Intelligence Service. Could you come with me?” He led them to a room that looked very similar to the interrogation rooms at the division. He sat down in the spare chair in the spartan room.

  “What can I do for you?”

  A.J. spoke. “We’ve got reason to believe that one of your trucks was involved in gunrunning.”

  “What is the basis for this assumption?”

  “Detective Parker has in custody an M-16 that was confiscated from a civilian who says he tried to buy a whole shipment of arms from Corporal David Buckner.”

  “While it’s true that the corporal has been listed as UL, we don’t have any reason to suspect that he was involved in any other crimes. At least,
at this time.”

  “The perp identified David’s picture.”

  “As you know, Detective, perpetrators of such crimes lie to the police all the time.”

  “Are you actively searching for Corporal Buckner?”

  “We’ve got a couple more pressing cases at this time.”

  “Are you involved in tracking him down?”

  “No. He’s not one of my cases. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

  “We’d like to question Corporal Buckner’s supervisor and partner.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Rob got up and left the room.

  A.J. turned to Sienna. “What do you think?”

  “I think he’s lying through his teeth.”

  “Yeah, I caught that.”

  After thirty minutes Rob returned. “David’s supervisor can see you.”

  Sienna got up from her chair. “I don’t appreciate being jerked around.”

  “Beg your pardon?”

  “You know what I’m talking about. You might be an NIS agent, but there’s still something called obstruction of justice. I can arrest you for that and throw your ass in jail.”

  He gave her a smug look. “You’d have to prove that I was in some way obstructing your case.”

  “The navy sent me a liaison. That means they are willing to cooperate with me. Why aren’t you?”

  His eyebrows rose as if he was surprised that she made such an allegation. “I’m sorry that you feel that I’m being uncooperative. I assure you that your accusations are unfounded.”

  She brushed past him and out the door. “In a pig’s eye.”

  “I hope you find your brother, Lieutenant.”

  Sienna stopped and A.J. bumped into her. She turned to the man and faced off with him. “If you don’t have any connection to Buckner’s case, how do you know that A.J. is his brother?”

  “Must have picked it up when I was being briefed. Have a nice day.”