Too Far Gone by Debra Webb, Regan Black

on her background. Did she say anything helpful?”
    Lauren repeated the conversation and Mike chimed in with his observations. Claudia continued to grumble as Mike pulled off the road, parking in a small public lot. He rolled down the windows and they listened to the waves crash into the sand below.
    Lauren reviewed the message, while Mike read it over her shoulder. Lauren spotted the problem. “It’s not a street address or zip code,” she said. “It’s written as an acreage address. Search that in Malibu.”
    “Malibu?” Claudia didn’t sound convinced. “Why?”
    “Because no one uses Malibu rum as a hangover cure and I remember Desmond talking about using an area in Malibu as an investment property a few years ago.”
    As Claudia worked on the other end of the line, they listened to the waves and wind. The sounds were like a balm. She could stay right here all night.
    “She’s right,” Claudia said at last. “I’m sending the actual address to you now and will research the property sale, building codes and the rest so you can go in prepared.”
    Mike thanked her and disconnected the call. “There’s something else?” he said, studying Lauren.
    She nodded. “I don’t think this last line is for cover.” Lauren tapped the screen.
    “Serves five?” he said, repeating the words on the screen.
    She nodded. “I think Vanya is telling us there are five women at this address—possibly the school Desmond spoke of—right now.” Tears burned in her eyes and she blinked them away, her gaze drifting out over the darkness of the ocean. “I can’t believe I was such a fool.”
    Mike reached out and she let him take her hand, chafing it between his. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
    She clamped her lips together and hung onto his words.
     
    Mike was stunned that Vanya had possibly given them the address to the school Trinity had mentioned in passing to Lauren. Apparently, the sick bastard had gone through with his plan to create a place to ready prospective clients. Mike could just imagine what he really did there. Beside him, Lauren practically vibrated with what appeared to be an odd mix of despair and excitement. She wanted to end this as badly as he did and he didn’t think it was all about reclaiming her career and lifestyle.
    As much as he wanted to go in there right now, it was past time to call it a night and return to the hotel Claudia had booked for them as part of tonight’s cover. They both needed rest. “We’ll come back tomorrow.”
    “We’re close.” Lauren’s eyes were clear and calm when she met his gaze. “We should do this now.”
    “It’s the middle of the night.”
    “Isn’t that the best time to launch a surprise attack?”
    “First we have to recon. It’s better to recon in the daylight.” He could point out that it wouldn’t be as simple as knocking on the door, pretending they needed help with a mechanical issue. Deep down she had to know that. Unless his instincts were way off, she was spoiling for a fight and he couldn’t blame her.
    Anything to burn off the tension. Well, almost anything. The solution a certain part of his anatomy was begging for—getting Lauren naked for a full evaluation of that amazing starlet body—wasn’t a valid option.
    “We’ll take some gear and pretend we’re recreational naturalists or something—in the morning.”
    “If that’s your final decision.” She exhaled a frustrated breath.
    “That’s the right decision,” he said, his voice gruff. The woman kept him in a constant state of sexual turmoil and staying in a room with more bed than floor space wasn’t a good idea.
    Unfortunately, it was the only option. He didn’t see a tail, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t back there. With Lauren still missing as far as the world knew, Kozlov would keep the entire syndicate on high alert and anyone who’d spoken with Vanya would be vetted.
     
    Lauren didn’t appreciate being cut off, even if he was right. It felt