Riding Hard Read online

  ONE

  REX

  I've been following her for a month now. She's 35, average height and curvy in all the places a man like me drools for. As a private detective, you're not supposed to fall for your targets. But damn it to hell - I've fallen like a rock in the ocean for Lila Suns.

  In the cold, January afternoon, I sit in the driver's seat of a beaten, green Oldsmobile across the street from the rundown motel called Sunset Inn. Out the windows, there's the crowded streets of southern Washington Heights. In this part of New York, everything seems weathered and worn - the dead-eyed people, the cracked buildings, and every single rundown, cheap car parked along the curb. It's the type of neighborhood people live in because they have to, where there's pick-pockets on every corner and hustlers along every crumbling city block.

  Again I wonder to myself, what's a woman like Lila doing coming to this crummy old motel every other week? Lila Suns – she’s from North Manhattan, from a high-rise apartment with her millionaire husband Mr. Mark Suns, so what is she doing slumming it here every other week?

  And then, I see her. She's the ray of sunlight along this broken, gray strip. Lila Suns, a beauty covered in a gray winter coat and a black sun hat. It'd be easy not to recognize her. She hides behind her thick coat and dark sunglasses, but I know those calves well.

  Huh, I think. She has those heels on again. Black pumps, probably the cheapest pair a woman like her owns. And I recognize those dirty blonde locks curling out from under her hat and falling upon her shoulders and back. That's Lila Suns alright, walking up the block towards the Sunset Inn, and just watching her makes my jaw drop every damn time. I stare at her legs, imagine what she looks like in a shorter dress, imagine what she looks like without the dress on, imagine what her voice sounds like... My manhood starts to pitch a fight against my jeans.

  Damn it. Down boy! I shift in my seat and look away for a moment. It's been too long since I've felt a woman's touch. There's enough testosterone in my body to fill a tank, and Lila is the kind of woman that makes it boil under my tense muscles.

  I look back across the street. Lila stops just before entering the Sunset Inn. She makes a subtle look left, and then right. She looks behind her. Can she feel me watching her? She looks my way.

  I duck quick and look forward. "Shit!" I turn back, and I catch her walking into the motel.

  My jaw clenches. I get out of the car. This is it. Time to catch her. After all this time, I have to find out what she's doing in this place. Who she meets or what's she hiding.

  My breath fogs in the afternoon cold. I smell the rotten smell of the city, carbon monoxide and garbage, as I cross the street. Determined, I go into the Sunset Inn and follow this woman.

  Lila walks coolly past the front desk. Straight forward. She doesn't turn her head one way or the other. She walks straight to the other end of this rundown dump of a lobby and turns right for the little stairway. Her calves flex when she takes the first few steps, and then she's out of sight.

  I hold back a minute, give her space so she doesn't see me. This motel is old and empty. The little man behind the front desk doesn't look up from the porn magazine he flips through. Ten seconds, and then I head for the stairway.

  A prostitute in a short red dress and fishnet stockings comes down the stairway as I approach it. She eyes me and gives me a wink. "Hey buddy. Watcha doing here?"

  "Not today, miss," I say in a low tone.

  On the stairway, I climb slow and silent. The steps are metal so they won't creak. Two flights up, I catch Lila as she makes a turn onto the third floor. I take two steps at a time to catch up.

  At the third floor, I hide behind the corner of the stairway. I peek out and see her go to the end of the hall.

  Lila stops before the last door on the right. She turns my way.

  I duck behind the corner fast. I wait. Three seconds, I hear a door open and shut. Lila is gone. She's in that last room on the right.

  Silent, I rush to the end of the hall. I wait and listen. There's no sound on the other side. I try to turn the doorknob, slowly... locked. I kneel before it and pull out my keys. Attached to the key ring are two lock picks. Luckily, old doorknobs like this are easy to get past. I pick the lock, open the door enough to slip in, and I enter.

  I'm silent. My years of marine training taught me how to enter a space undetected. And inside the room, I find it untouched. It's a crummy old room that smells like cheap fabric softener and dust. There's a single bed on one side, an old TV across from it, and beside the bed, there's Lila Suns.

  I freeze.

  Lila Suns, the wife of a millionaire I've been paid to follow, has a black Colt handgun aimed right at me.

  LILA

  My hands are trembling, palms are clammy, and I can hardly breathe. I've never aimed my gun at any man before, and now I've got one in my line of fire. I'm so shocked I can't even speak.

  His eyes meet mine. They're fierce. Dark and fierce, relentless in their gaze. Eyebrows low, jaw clenched, this man holds still as he stares back at me. He makes a move.

  I jolt. "Stop!" My finger threatens to squeeze the trigger and end him.

  "I'm just raising my hands," he reassures me. "That's all." He raises his palms in the air.

  My body shakes. He moves slowly, but he's a threat. A man his size could take me down with no effort, so I keep my gun on him. "Get in and close the door," I demand.

  He shuts the door behind him.

  "Keep your hands raised!"

  He raises his hands.

  I point the gun to the bed. "There. Sit down."

  He sits down on the edge of the bed. "Lila you don't have to do this."

  I flinch. "How do you know my name? Who are you? Who are you with?" I study him.

  He's a big man. Dark eyes and dark, wavy hair. They match the color of the heavy scruff along his strong jaw. He wears a thick leather jacket, torn jeans and a black wrist watch. From his build, I know he isn't some average guy off the street. No, this man is meant for physical work, work like catching criminals like me.

  "Lila, please put the gun down." His voice is deep. His stare stays on me, right into my eyes. He makes my knees want to buckle. "Lila?"

  "Who are you?" I ask again. My hands shake. I keep my distance. "I won't ask a third time."

  He waits. He doesn't seem nervous like me. But he's cautious. He slowly stands up from the bed. At his height, he towers over me. He takes a step closer.

  "I'll shoot you," I stammer. "I swear I will."

  "My name is Rex," he says. "Rex Copper."

  Liar, I think. Don't trust anything he says!

  He takes another step closer. "Lila, I'll tell you everything you want to know, just put the gun down."

  My stomach drops. I tighten my finger around the trigger. He's so close, and I might miss the shot with these trembling hands.

  "Lila?" He waits one more second, then pounces! He grabs my wrist and twists it fast. He slings me forward, wraps my arm around my back, slips my gun from my hand and keeps me pinned against his body in a vice grip of muscle.

  I open my mouth to scream, but I stop. Don't scream, I think. That'll just bring the cops here.

  This animal holds me tight. "I don't want to hurt you," he pants into my ear. "I'm not here to hurt you, Lila. I swear."

  "Then let me go!"

  He squeezes me. His jacket is rough. His jeans rub against my leg, and his hands are firm and keeping me under his immense power. "If I let you go," he says, "I want you to sit on the bed and don't move or scream. Got it?"

  My heart pounds. I catch of whiff of him, animal musk mixed with scents of the city. His breath is hot on my ear and he makes the hair on my skin stick up.

  "Lila?"

  Sit on the bed? Listen to this stranger?
I'd almost rather get shot. But he's got the upper hand. Fists clenched, rage boiling, I nod my head. And he lets me go.

  I back away from him carefully. His fierce gaze stays on me, gripping my very soul. My eyes dart downward and catch sight of my handgun that's now under his control. He has the power now.

  "Lila," he says, "I'm here because your husband hired me."

  I freeze. It seems like the whole world stops. My husband? He hired this man? I gulp. "To kill me?"

  "No, to follow you. To watch you. He, I shouldn't be telling you this... He suspects you're having an affair."

  I can't breathe. I can hardly move. My lips are tight when I speak to him, voice shaking. "Rex, was it?"

  He nods.

  There's a knock at the door. We're silent. Our heads turn to face it. Then, I look back at him.

  "You don't even know half the trouble you fell into..." I look back at the door, and I brace myself because I know what's coming.

  The door bursts open and wooden pieces of the doorway fly through the air.

  Rex gets in between me and the door in a protective stance.

  At the door is the man I almost fear as much as my husband, Leo Shark. He's average height for a man, shorter than rex, with a stocky build and raised shoulders under his heavy black jacket. There's a scowl on his face and a gun in his hand. When he sees Rex, he raises his gun instantly and threatens to fire. "Who da hell are you?"

  Rex raises my gun. He stays in between me and Leo. "I could ask you the same question, pal," he growls.

  This is it, I think. This is how I die. Unless I think fast enough to get out of this...

  REX

  What the hell have I gotten into? Who's the dirt bag at the door? What exactly is Lila hiding? My muscles are tense. Grip tight on the handgun, I'm ready to put a bullet through this man. It wouldn't be my first kill. And I'll be damned if anything happens to the woman behind me.

  Just as us men squeeze our triggers, Lila speaks up. "Leo, wait!"

  "Leo?" I ask.

  "Leo, this is Rex," Lila says fast. She takes a step forward. "He's with me."

  I get in her way to protect her.

  Leo keeps his gun up. "What da hell is he doin’ wichu, Lila? This man a rat?"

  "No," she says fast. "No! He's, he's uh..."

  I think fast. I gotta talk. I gotta talk and get Lila out of this conversation. "She hired me," I tell him.

  "For what?" Leo asks.

  "The run," Lila says fast. "I hired him for the run tonight. I wanted protection."

  I can see Leo sweating and trembling. He's not a killer. That's easy to see. A run? A night run? It suddenly makes sense. Lila is a mule, and this man, he probably has what she's delivering.

  "You got the stuff?" I ask Leo.

  Leo's lips curl into a nervous, angry snarl. "Lila? Is this man cool?"

  Lila steps aside, out of the range of fire. I catch her eye. She looks at me, hazel brown eyes on fire with fear and the rush for survival. "Yes," she answers. "Leo, you can put your gun down. He's fine."

  Leo holds his aim moments longer, and then he lowers his weapon and sighs. He wipes nervous sweat from his forehead. "Alright. If you try anything, buddy, I'll put a bullet in ya." He digs into his jacket and retrieves a pound-heavy bag of white cocaine. He tosses it onto the bed. He speaks to Lila. "Boss wants it there by midnight, Lila. Better not waste time." He glares at me. "Don't screw this up, buddy." He backs out of the room, and then his footsteps echo down the hall as he makes his getaway.

  In silence, I turn and face Lila. "So, this is what you've gotten yourself into, drug dealing."

  Lila's eyes are ablaze. "There's no time for explanations." She snatches up the bag of coke and tries to stuff it into her coat. "You heard that scum bag. I've got till midnight to get these drugs to the drop off point."

  I grab the bag away from her. "I'm going with you."

  "No, you're not." She pulls away from me.

  I grab her arm and pull her to me. I catch the scent of her perfume. It's intoxicating. Her lips quiver, and every instinct in me to protect is ignited all for her. "I'm going with you, Lila Suns. Whatever kind of trouble you've gotten into, you need help. And I refuse to let you do this alone."

  She hesitates. She's terrified. She seems like she might crumble into my arms any second. She takes a deep breath, and she looks me in the eyes. "Alright. Let's go."

  TWO

  LILA

  This beast of a man, Rex, keeps my gun as he leads me out of the crummy, cracked walls of the Sunset Inn. Past the hookers, past the other dealers, Rex protects me all the way across the street where he opens the passenger door to an Oldsmobile and tells me in his deep voice, "Get in."

  I don't have a choice. Everything is moving so fast. I get into his car. My mind races. My hands tremble. I watch him get into the driver's seat. He takes out the bag of coke he hid in his jacket. He puts it under his seat and starts the car. "Where's your drop off point?"

  I can hardly think straight.

  "Lila?" He puts the Oldsmobile in drive and floors it on. We race onto the street in front of honking cars and screaming pedestrians. "Where's the drop off point?"

  My eyes dart left and right. My head feels foggy. "Up, upstate. An old warehouse in Croatian."

  "Croatian," he says. His brows lower. He turns left and speeds away from the neighborhood, heading for a garage at the end of 47th street. "That's a drive. You're right. There's no time to waste."

  "Where are we going?" I ask.

  "You'll see."

  Who is this man, I think. I look him over. He's strong. He's serious. But I don't know if I can really trust him. He has my gun, though, and I don't have a choice.

  Rex drives us into the parking garage. He swerves left and right, two levels down until we reach a half empty parking level where he drives to the very back. He parks. He walks to a covered car against the concrete wall and yanks off the blue cover. Underneath is a sleek, black Thunderbird made for scorching pavement.

  "Get out," Rex says to me.

  I follow him to the Thunderbird, but I'm afraid. "Who are you?"

  He throws the cocaine into the trunk of the Thunderbird. He comes back to me, gun in his hand. "Lila, I told you. Rex Copper."

  "Why are you doing this?" I keep my distance from him. "You can get away. Right now and leave me on my own. So, why are you helping me?"

  His eyes meet mine. His gaze makes me want to crumble. "It's hard to explain," he answers. He hands me the gun. "You can have this, if it'll help you to trust me, Lila."

  I hesitate, but I take the gun from him. My hand trembles.

  "Lila, I know you're afraid. Your husband hired me to follow you. But now, I'm gonna protect you. I'll do anything to keep you safe. Now, we're already burning time. Are you with me or not?" He extends his hand, palm up.

  Terrified, something tells me he's the only man I can trust right now. I take his hand. "Okay."

  In the Thunderbird, the tires screech as we peel out of the garage and race onto the city streets. There's five hours now until midnight. And if we don't get to the drop off point, there's no telling what will happen to me.

  A million questions race through my head. "Are you a detective?" I ask Rex.

  "Yeah." His hands are tight on the steering wheel. His focus is relentless.

  "A detective who can afford a Thunderbird, interesting." I keep the gun in my hand. I take darting glances at Rex, noticing how handsome he is behind his intimidating presence. "What do you know about me, Rex Copper?"

  He looks my way. He grips the steering wheel a little tighter. "What do you mean?"

  "You know what I mean. You've obviously been following me a while. What all do you think you know about me?"

  His nostrils flare. He's intense. "You're Lila Suns. Wife of Mark Suns, a millionaire who made his money off stocks and screwing other people out of their money."

  "Nothing the papers and tabloids don't already report." I lean towards him. "Tell me something no
one else knows."

  He meets my gaze. He shifts in his seat and tugs at his shirt like he's getting hotter. "Every Tuesday you visit a little coffee shop in Manhattan and order a latte. You sit in the back, where no one can watch you write in a journal."

  My lips tighten. He really does know things about me.

  Rex continues. "Some nights, you jog around the city, five blocks from your apartment building. And you always stop at the top of this block where you can see the Hudson River. And you look out at it like..."

  I gulp, nervous about asking. "Like what?"

  "Like you wanna escape to it." He glances at me. "You grew up in Manhattan. You're an only child. Your parents, they died ten years ago and left you with all their bankruptcy debt. And that's where Mark Suns came in. You married richer than you ever imagined, but it never took that look out of your eyes."

  I tense up. Sure, Rex Copper is intriguing and handsome, but suddenly I feel invaded. "What look..."

  His jaw clenches. He looks me in the eyes, and he doesn't say a word.

  "Rex," I say as I lean a little closer. "What look?"

  "Emptiness," he answers. "You're empty. And you're unhappy. I know that feeling. Because..." He looks at me again. He takes a right turn and floors the pedal as we head into south Manhattan. "Because I feel it, too."

  Something about him strikes a nerve within me. He's too personal. Too straight forward. "You don't know a damn thing about me, Rex Copper!" I lean away from him. I throw my hand up. "Not one damn-"

  "Hey!" He reaches across me and lays his arm over my body. It's heavy and strong and pins me to the seat. "You can't move so fast and careless like that if you're gonna hold that gun."

  "Get your arm off me!"

  "Not until you put the safety on that gun!"

  My skin feels hot with rage. "How?"

  His lips curl into an infuriating grin. "You don't know how to put the safety on your own gun?"

  "Are you going to tell me or not, you ass?"

  He laughs under his breath. “That switch right there near the back of the handle, lock it.”