The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [64]
"Drake? Where the hell are you, man?"
"I can't give you a lot of specifics right now, but I wanted you and Ashton to know what's going down. I reached Tori just in time. There was a car chase. Someone was after her and I managed to intercede. The car crashed and the driver was killed, but was later identified as a DEA agent."
Trevor gave a long whistle. "DEA? Damn."
"Yeah, my sentiments exactly. And the kicker is that there's a possibility that he's connected to Solomon Cross." He heard Trevor swear. The words were fiery enough to even burn his ears. "Yes, Cross." Trevor and Ashton had been on mat mission with him five years ago in Haiti and knew who Solomon Cross was. They also knew the pain and heartache the man had caused him with Sandy's death.
"Cross is after Tori Green?" Trevor asked, putting two and two together.
"Yeah, it seems that way-and mainly because of her connection to me-but I plan to make sure that neither he nor his men lay a finger on her."
"How is the woman doing?"
Drake smiled. "She's fine, a real damn trouper and it shows. You know what they say, once a marine, always a marine." His face then turned serious. "I need you and Ash-ton to do me a favor. I'm in Phoenix and will be leaving out first thing in the morning. I know it might be a stretch, but I want to reach Houston by nightfall. I need a place for me and Tori to hole up, at least a day or two, to get our bearings and plan further strategies. Can we borrow that cabin you own not far from Jake Madaris's ranch?"
"Hell, yeah, you can use it and Ash and I will make sure? it's stocked when you get here. If you can think of anything else you might need, let me know."
"I could use more ammo," Drake said. He wanted to make sure he had plenty on hand.
"That's no problem. Call us when you reach die place, We want to come see you."
Drake sighed deeply. "You and Ashton may not want to get involved, Trev."
He heard Trevor laugh in the background. "Like hell we won't. If you're involved then we're involved."
"Thanks. I'll talk with you again later."
"Was that Hawk?"
Drake whirled around. He hadn't heard the bathroom door open. A stirring of desire flooded his body and the dark hairs on his arms tingled as his gaze moved over her body. A rush of body heat settled right below his belt. He was glad that he was standing behind the desk, otherwise there was no way Tori would not be able to see the huge erection he had that was pushing against the zipper of his jeans. His breath felt tight in his throat and his mouth suddenly felt dry.
She was wearing a large T-shirt that actually covered a little more of her thighs than the shorts she'd been wearing had. But it was the overall picture of her, looking utterly seductive after a recent shower that had him swallowing hard. She looked fresh, revived, and luscious. He felt the palms of his hands get warm, wet, and remembered how warm and wet she had gotten for him once and how he would love to get her that way again.
"Drake?"
When she said his name he realized that he hadn't answered her. "No, that wasn't Hawk. That was a friend of mine, Trevor Grant. He and another good friend, Ashton Sinclair, live in Houston and are two men I trust explicitly. I wanted them to know what was going down and make arrangements to stay at Trevor's cabin tomorrow night."
Tori nodded as she walked over to her luggage to pull out a small plastic bag and placed the clothes she had taken off in it. Of course, Trevor and Ashton. They had been close friends of hers like they had been friends of Drake and were two men that she had trusted as well. They were known to other marines as the "Fearless Four." They had gone through basic training together and had done a number of missions together before that fateful day in Haiti. She had been surprised