Chapter Ten
They’d gone back to New Orleans. It was strange to return to the city, especially since she’d been taken from this place days before.
“Full circle,” Tina said softly as the plane landed.
Drew glanced over at her, his jaw set, his eyes grim.
She wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t know how. She was doing the only thing that she could do.
Offer herself up in the deadly game.
When she left the plane, two agents were waiting to meet her. Tina instantly recognized Gunner Ortez and Logan Quinn. Gunner was married to Tina’s close friend, Sydney. Normally, Gunner hung back from Tina—from most people, actually. He was the tall, dark and deadly quiet kind of guy. But when he saw Tina leave that tarmac, he pulled her into his arms.
“Nothing will happen to you,” he promised against her ear. “If you come out of this mission with so much as a bruise, Syd will have my hide.”
A choked laugh escaped her. Tears stung her eyes. “Thank you, Gunner.”
His words had been so low that only she could hear them.
“I’ll have a lock on you,” he told her, pulling back a bit so he could study her with his steady and determined gaze, “every step of the way.”
That was good. She blinked away the tears. Then Tina quickly followed the agents into the hanger. She was wired, hooked up and given a bulletproof vest in mere moments.
She’d worn a bulletproof vest before, during the few times she’d gone into the field. The weight should have reassured her. It didn’t.
A knife was slipped into the sheath that had been attached to her ankle. Now she matched Drew. The agents even gave her a gun. Finally.
“They’ll probably take the weapons from you as soon as you go inside,” Logan Quinn told her. So much for the gun. “But they won’t be aware of everything that you and Drew have.”
Because Drew had being loaded down with weapons. Multiple guns. Knives.
She was given backup weapons, too. Now if only she’d had the training to go with them, then she’d be a serious threat.
“Just point and shoot,” Logan told her, staring her dead in the eyes. Logan Quinn—Alpha One. He was the team leader of a group of EOD operatives known as the Shadow Agents. In combat, he was lethal. “If they’re coming at you, they’re coming to kill. You don’t hesitate.”
Tina nodded. She wished she could have a few minutes alone with Drew.
Time to tell him goodbye.
His shoulders were straight. His spine up. Fear had to be twisting through him, but he showed no emotion on his face or in his voice.
He was barking orders. Checking equipment.
How could he be so calm?
“If you don’t compartmentalize,” Gunner said from her side, “then you’re no good in the field. You have to be able to turn the emotions off.”
That was exactly what Drew was doing.
She couldn’t do the same. She looked at Drew and she hurt.
She didn’t want this for him.
She wanted his family whole. Wanted him happy.
Because I love him.
Too fast? Too sudden? She’d known him for several years. Fantasized about him for nearly that whole time. Then when they’d been thrown into close quarters, the reality of the man had far exceeded any of her expectations.
She’d never forget dancing with him in that little room above the Texas bar. He’d let her slide past his guard in those precious moments; she knew that he had.
Logan’s phone rang. He stepped aside.
Gunner turned away.
Tina reached for Drew. “I— Can we talk?”
His gaze collided with hers. “I flew you out of this city just nights ago.”
She nodded. “I was terrified then.”
In that emotionless voice he said, “I was furious. I wanted to destroy those men because they’d hurt you.” He paused. “I did destroy them.”
There was such a dark, dangerous intensity clinging to him. Drew was dressed all in black, and he seemed to be a part of the shadows.
“When I saw you on the rooftop,” Tina told him, “I knew that I’d be okay.”
His lips thinned. “Stop having so much faith in me.”
“I can’t.” This was the part he needed to understand. “And I need you to have the same faith in me. I won’t let you down, Drew. I can do this.”
His eyelids flickered. “What if you have another attack? What if they grab you and put a gun to your head? Are you going to be able to ‘do this’ when they’re ready to shoot a bullet into your brain?”
Tina swallowed. Not such a nice visual. “I’ll do anything necessary.”
“Now you sound like Mercer.” But his hand had lifted. Curled around her shoulder. “I don’t want you doing anything necessary. I want you saving lives. I want you safe.” He shook his head. “I should have known, though. It seems like everything I touch gets destroyed.”
“You don’t destroy me.” He made her stronger. He made her—
“We’ve confirmed the location,” Logan said as he strode toward them.
Drew’s hand tightened.
“We’ll make sure there are no civilians nearby,” Gunner assured them. “We’ll clear the area, damn quietly.”
Because if the building exploded, they didn’t want civilians getting hurt.
“Time to roll,” Logan said.
Tina nodded.
Logan added, “Dylan Foxx is going to meet us on scene. We’ll surround the building and make sure we’re ready to advance on your command, Drew.”
Drew stepped back. He wasn’t looking at Logan. His focus seemed to be just for Tina. “You’re getting out of this alive, Doc.”
Tina grabbed his hands. “So are you.”
But he didn’t answer her, and a chill encased Tina’s heart.
* * *
THE TWO-STORY BRICK building waited at the end of the street. A tall, chain-link fence, topped with barbed wire, circled the property.
Four cars were parked outside the building. Two SUVs. Two vans.
One man stood at the main door. Even from a distance, Drew had no trouble seeing the bulge of his weapon.
“Got a man at the back door,” Gunner said into Drew’s earpiece. “And one canvassing the east side.”
“And the west,” came Logan’s voice. They were all linked, but the transmitter in Drew’s ear was so small the enemy shouldn’t be able see it, not until it was too late.
Drew climbed from the rental car. He walked around the vehicle and opened Tina’s door. When she stepped out, the sunlight glinted off her glasses. Her dark hair brushed over her cheek. She was pale, but her eyes were determined.
She was risking everything for his family.
“Doc, you are the most incredible woman I’ve ever met.”
She blinked and looked a little lost as a furrow appeared between her eyes.
He leaned in close. Put his mouth to her ear. “And I will damn well die before I let them hurt you.”
They needed to be clear on that.
His life, not hers.
Never her.
Their hands locked. Together, they approached the building.
The man at the door tensed. He lifted his weapon and aimed it right at Drew.
“I’m Agent Lancaster, and I think you were waiting on me.” He paused. “On us. For a trade.”
Gunner would have his sites locked on that guy right then. If the fellow moved to fire, all bets were off. Gunner would take him out, and the agents lying in wait around the property would swarm.
But the man didn’t fire. Instead, he approached the gate. He fumbled and undid the padlock and let Drew and Tina inside. Then they headed for the door. The wood groaned as it opened. The building was dark and quiet inside.
And Drew could smell blood.
Paige.
He didn’t rush forward, though. Because his gaze had slid to the left. He saw the bomb that was planted there, just a few feet from the entrance.
“Well, well, well...” a familiar voice called out. “If it isn’t...Stone...coming back into the family once more.”
Hell. Drew focused to the right. The man walking from the shadows had bright blond hair. Angry brown eyes. And a knife in his hand.
Carl Monroe.
He’d been hiding just behind one of the bigger parade floats that filled the large warehouse.
“Figured I’d be seeing you again,” Carl said. His gaze slid eagerly toward Tina. “I was sure hopin’ that I’d be seeing you both again.”
* * *
“THEY’RE IN THE building,” Mercer said as he glared at Anton. He shoved his phone across the table. He’d uncuffed Anton’s right wrist. “Now make the call. Get your men on the line. Tell them to release Agent Lancaster’s sisters. If those women aren’t out in the next sixty seconds...”
Anton laughed and reached for the phone. “I don’t care about his sisters. I never did. They were just the means to an end.” His eyes narrowed on Mercer. “Your end.”
Mercer held his gaze. “Make. The. Call.”
Anton punched in numbers. He smirked. The phone was answered on the second ring. “Carl?” Anton said. “Are Lancaster and the girl standing right in front of you?”
Mercer leaned toward Anton.
“Good. Good. Now listen carefully. Let the agent’s sisters go....”
* * *
TWO MEN HAD come up behind Drew and Tina and taken their weapons. Most of them. Drew figured he still had about three blades left on him. They should have done a better job of searching them.
Carl’s phone rang. The man answered it, then called out, “Bring the women.”
Drew stopped breathing. From the back of the building, he heard the sound of footsteps. Shuffling. Slow. He craned to see, but the floats were in his way. One was a massive green dragon with flames coming from its mouth. Another was a mermaid, her tail crashing into faded blue waves.
But then...then they appeared.
He saw Paige first. Blood trickled down her cheek. So did tears. Helpless to stop himself, he took a step toward her.
And Drew found his own gun shoved at his temple. “That’s not the way this works,” Carl snapped. One of Carl’s hands still held the phone. The other held the gun.
“Tell your sisters that you love them, Stone, and then they can walk away.”
Kim and Heather were behind Paige. They looked scared, but unharmed.
“Drew?” Paige whispered as more tears slid down her cheeks. “What’s happening?” Pretty little Paige. She looked just like their mother. That long, blond hair. The big, blue eyes.
Drew looked like their father. A constant reminder of the man who’d left them. Who’d let them all down.
“You’re going to be safe.” His voice was cold and flat. The rage was buried as deep inside as it could go. “Just walk out through the front door, go past that fence and you’ll be fine.”
But Paige shook her head. “You’re coming, too?”
No. He wasn’t leaving. Not yet.
“The agent doesn’t go, honey,” Carl cut in. “Not yet.”
“I’m not leaving you—” Paige began.
“Then you can die.” Carl motioned toward one of his men. The man lifted his gun.
“No!” Tina screamed. “That wasn’t the deal. You can’t kill them!” She’d rushed toward Drew’s sisters. And she put herself right in front of the gun. “Let them go. Let them walk out of here.”
Her chest was heaving. Her voice trembling. Fear brightened her eyes and flushed her cheeks.
She was the most beautiful thing Drew had ever seen.
Carl smiled. “Right. You’re the one we want...” He waved toward the door. “Go,” he said to Paige and the others. “Before you’re dead on the floor.”
Kim and Heather dragged Paige toward the door. When they crossed the threshold, when they were clear outside, Drew exhaled slowly.
Alive.
He knew that Dylan, Gunner and Logan would make sure they stayed that way.
The door closed behind them.
“Now it’s your turn,” Carl said. He took a step back from Drew. What? The better to aim?
Drew kept his muscles loose. His legs were braced apart, his hands at his sides. He’d attack as soon as the moment was right.
Carl backed up. One step. Another. Then he had his gun at Tina’s head.
“All right, boss,” Carl said into the phone. “Are you ready for me to pull the trigger?”
* * *
ANTON STARED INTO Mercer’s eyes. How long had he waited for this moment? And it was everything that he’d hoped it would be.
“Tell your man to stand down,” Mercer ordered him.
As if Mercer had the power to give him orders.
“Is the agent still there?” Anton asked softly. “Can he see Tina Jamison very clearly?” Because the agent would need a good, up-close view of what was coming.
“Yes,” Carl replied.
Carl. Such a useful man. They both shared a love of pain. This would be a wonderful moment. “Don’t pull the trigger, Carl.”
He saw Mercer’s shoulders relax. Some of the tension slipped from Mercer’s face. “I knew you could do the right thing,” Mercer said. “I knew—”
You knew nothing. “Use your knife on her instead,” Anton told him quickly. “Make her hurt, make it last, make her suf—”
“No!” The door to the interrogation room flew open.
Mercer whirled around.
A beautiful blonde stood in the doorway. Her eyes were bright, angry; they were—Marguerite’s eyes.
“Get out!” Mercer barked at her. A tall, dark-haired man stood just behind the woman. His face was granite-hard. “Agent, I’m giving you an order.” Mercer tried to push her away.
The man—the agent—pushed Mercer right back. “She wants to be here. I wasn’t going to keep the truth from her.”
“Damn it,” Mercer swore, his voice a growl. “I told you—”
“I had the wrong woman.” Anton barely breathed the words. He couldn’t take his gaze off the blonde. He could see Marguerite in her.
The sight was almost painful.
Mercer stormed toward Anton. “You’re dying. You think I don’t know about the cancer eating you up again? How much time do you have left? Weeks? Days?” He shoved the phone at Anton. “You tell your man to stand down. Tell him not to hurt a hair on Tina Jamison’s head.”
“She wasn’t your daughter.” He had to give Mercer credit. He’d outsmarted him damn well. Led him down the wrong trail all along.
The blonde came fully into the interrogation room. Her guard—the agent had to be her bodyguard—shut the door behind her.
“I’m Mercer’s daughter. The woman you’re trying to kill just got caught in the cross fire.” Her gaze was steady, direct. “She’s not of any use to you now. Let her go.”
“Boss? Boss?” Carl demanded, his voice cracking from the phone.
“I won’t be able to kill you,” Anton said as he realized the truth. There just wasn’t enough time left. “But it’s okay. I wanted him to suffer, as I suffered...” He forced his gaze off Marguerite.
No, she’s not Marguerite.
He didn’t know her name. Right then, he didn’t want to know.
“You will suffer, Mercer, because that woman down in New Orleans might not be your blood, but I heard the emotion in your voice when you talked to her. Sometimes, it’s not just blood that makes a family, is it?” He didn’t even feel the pain in his chest anymore. The pain that had eaten at him for so long. This was his moment. “Go ahead, Carl,” he ordered as he raised his voice so the man would hear him. “Kill her.”
“No!” the blonde screamed.
She was too late.
There was no going back now.
* * *
CARL SMILED. He tossed aside his phone. “I’ve got my orders. She’s gonna die. I’ll cut her, again and again, and she’s gonna scream for me.”
Tina wasn’t making a sound right then.
“The hell she is,” Drew snarled at the bastard.
Footsteps shuffled behind him. He tensed. Two men, armed. Were they coming to kill him? Let’s see you try.
“They can take you outside,” Carl said, surprising him, “or you can die right here with her.”
Why were they trying to make him leave? That didn’t make sense. Anton Devast was a sadistic freak. He would want to take out everyone in his path.
So why free my sisters? Why try to let me go?
This scene wasn’t adding up to Drew.
Rough hands grabbed his arms and hauled him back.
Tina still wasn’t speaking. She was just watching him with those wide, resolute eyes of hers.
That knife was so close to her throat. If he fought the two men right then, in front of Carl, the SOB could slit her throat while he watched.
No, he couldn’t risk it. He had to pick a better moment to attack. Hold on, Tina. I’ll get you out of here.
That was what he tried to tell her with his stare, but what he said was, “Goodbye, Doc.”
She blinked back tears.
They pulled him away. Shoved him toward the door.
When he tried to turn back, the taller man put a gun to Drew’s head. “Now walk away, hero. Don’t look back. Just go.”
Was Carl already using his blade on Tina? He didn’t hear a sound coming from her.
“There’s going to be no escape for you two,” Drew said, deliberately using the code word because he wanted the EOD agents to swarm. “You won’t be able to just walk out of here. You have to know that’s not going to happen.”
But the men just smirked at him. “Who said anything about walking?”
Drew was directly in front of the main entrance. A few more steps and he’d be out of the building.
Only, he didn’t plan to leave.
“Why just follow orders?” he demanded even as he palmed the small blade he’d tucked beneath his belt. You missed that one on your weapons search. “Why let Devast use you? He’s going to make sure you all die, too. Don’t you realize that?”
But the men started laughing. Drew’s hold on his weapon tightened.
“You don’t really think we’re letting you all go, do you?” the taller guy demanded.
“Ten, nine, eight...” his sidekick began.
Drew tensed. “What the—?”
“Your sisters were wired, Agent Lancaster. Hell, I don’t think they even knew those collars we snapped around their necks were set to blow—”
Drew spun for the door. He rushed outside.
“The EOD agents got them, right? Those guys who are surrounding us? Guess they’ll all go boom soon enough.”
“Three...two...”
An explosion erupted, shaking the ground and sending Drew flying.
* * *
TINA SCREAMED WHEN she heard the explosion.
The knife sliced the side of her neck.
“That will keep those agents busy.” Carl smiled at her. “I’m supposed to take my time with you, so let’s go, honey. Let’s go enjoy ourselves.”
More men rushed inside. They all headed to the back of the building. Carl was trying to haul her that way, too.
More explosions erupted, only this time they were in the building. The detonations seemed to come one right after the other. Devast’s men were destroying everything—and making it impossible for anyone to follow them as they fled through the float graveyard.
Chunks of the old floats flew into the air. A dragon’s papier-maché head ignited a few feet from her.
“You think Devast didn’t plan this end?” Carl jerked her head back with a painful grip on her hair. “He made sure we could escape—and that we’d take you with us. Mercer will be getting pieces of you sent to him for weeks.”
They were sick. “I’m not...going...” The smoke was rising. Filling her lungs.
Breathe.
They’d taken her inhaler. When they’d searched her at the door, they’d taken her weapons and her medicine.
The smoke made her eyes burn. The flames heated her skin.
The men kicked open the back door. Fresh air blew inside and she tried to take deep, greedy gulps.
But then gunfire erupted. The rat-a-tat sent the men scrambling back inside the building. Tina tried to duck for cover, but Carl wasn’t letting her go.
The back door swung open. A man raced inside. His blond hair gleamed in the faint light. He wore black, and she could see the bulky outline of his bulletproof vest. He had a gun in each hand, and his bullets hit with deadly accuracy, slamming into the men who’d thought they’d had an easy escape.
With the EOD, nothing was ever easy. Devast had underestimated his opponents.
“Stop!” Carl yelled. Tina was in front of him. His human shield. “Throw down your weapons and get back or she dies!”
But the man shook his head. He lifted his guns. Seemed to be aiming—
At me? Yes, he was.
“You aren’t getting away. The EOD doesn’t negotiate with terrorists.” She didn’t recognize the agent’s unaccented voice, but she sure recognized Mercer’s familiar line.
He’s going to shoot me. To take out Carl, she realized the agent would need to get rid of Carl’s protection. Tina braced for the pain.
Before another gunshot erupted, someone slammed into them. She and Carl both hit the ground with an impact hard enough to crack bones. Tina was pretty sure she did hear one of Carl’s bones break, and that savage sound made her heart race faster. The knife had sliced over her collarbone when she fell, and more blood soaked her shirt as Tina rolled away from her attacker.
She pushed up to her knees and saw—
Drew.
He’d come back. She’d known that he would. Happiness and hope fought inside her.
But...his expression was brutal. Wild. He was driving his fist into Carl’s face again and again.
Carl’s head slammed into the concrete, and he stopped moving.
“Come on!” It was the EOD agent. The one she didn’t know. He was grabbing her arms and pulling her up to her feet. “My orders are to get you out of here!”
The flames were spreading. Would more bombs be detonating soon?
“The whole place is going to blow—it’s their distraction. They thought they’d get away while the whole block burned.”
His hold on her wrist was unbreakable.
Drew rose to his feet.
Tina tried to reach for him. “Drew! Come on!”
He looked up at her.
Her heart stopped.
Something was...wrong. Drew’s eyes looked dead. His face was a mask of fury and rage—but his eyes were dead.
“Drew?”
Another detonation shook the building. Cracks ran across the remaining walls and chunks of the ceiling fell, narrowly missing them.
“They were timed to start right after Lancaster went out the door,” the agent shouted. “Come on, we have to move.”
Wait, Drew had gone out and then come back through that hell? He’d walked back into the flames?
Her breath heaved out as she fought to break the mysterious agent’s hold and get back to Drew.
But the agent wasn’t letting her go.
“Drew!” He seemed frozen. He needed to move.
Because Carl was moving again. Carl had just grabbed the knife from the floor. He wasn’t unconscious; he’d just been waiting for his moment to attack. He lunged up and went straight for Drew’s back.
“Behind you!” Tina screamed. The fire was crackling so loudly she wasn’t sure he even heard her. “Drew!”
At the last moment he spun around. He grabbed Carl’s hand, stopping that knife before it could shove into his body.
Drew twisted Carl’s hand. Carl howled—she could hear the stark cry of pain rising over the flames—then Drew plunged the knife into Carl’s chest.
This time, when he hit the ground, Carl wasn’t pretending to be unconscious. He was dead.
“Have to do this...” the agent muttered as Tina kept struggling against him. She needed to get to Drew. “Orders...”
Forget orders.
Drew looked up then, staring at her with the eyes that weren’t his.
He shook his head, as if waking up, then he ran toward her. Tina stopped fighting the other agent. She ran with him—and Drew.
The smoke was choking her, her lungs were burning, but she wasn’t about to let the attack stop her. Not now, not when they were home free.
The fresh air was just steps away.
Steps—
“Bomb!” Drew yelled. “Above the back door. The timer’s counting down—”
She could see it. The seconds were showing in a digital red flash. They only had four seconds. Four.
They raced outside. She couldn’t pull in any breath. Her legs just kept going. Escape. That had been their code word. She just needed to—
When the last bomb detonated, the force tossed Tina as if she were a rag doll.