Declan (Undercover Billionaire Book 4)

by Melody Anne

  “What happened next?” Ava asked.

  It was all coming back to Angela with a vengeance and she wanted to hide, but she couldn’t do that. She had to get through this. She held on to Max and hoped she didn’t get sick as she described the most horrific moment of her life.

  “The woman told me I didn’t look good and offered to help me to the bathroom,” Angela told her.

  “Did you take her help?”

  “Yes. I was so confused, and it’s still blurry now, but I remember holding on to her arm as we walked. I couldn’t see clearly. I looked at the ground as we walked. The woman said something about there being a line, and then she took me outside to a dark alley behind the bar.”

  “Were you concerned at this point?” Ava asked.

  “No, I just wanted to throw up. My stomach was really hurting. I bent over and threw up for what seemed like forever. My head was pounding and my stomach was on fire.”

  “Was the woman still with you?” Ava asked.

  “I can’t remember her being there anymore,” Angela said. “But then I remember voices, so many voices. I couldn’t lock onto any of them. I slid down the wall I was leaning against and tried to look around. There were people, but they were blurry.”

  “What were they saying to you?” Ava asked.

  Angela tried to recall their words. “I don’t know. But I remember hearing my father’s name. I don’t know if that’s real or not. My dad was a drug dealer. He was a bad man.”

  “You heard his name?” Ava asked.

  “Yes, I think I did.” She went quiet for several moments. “And then all I felt was pain.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she remembered the searing pain. Her stomach had hurt before, but it was nothing compared to how much it had hurt in the next moments. She kept petting Max who seemed to sense how much she needed him. A small whimper escaped him and she concentrated on soothing the animal. It helped her not feel so much anxiety for herself.

  “What happened next?” Ava asked.

  “There was shouting, so much shouting . . .” She could practically see that blurry alley right then in her mind. “And then there was shooting pain in my head and the world went dark.”

  Ava was quiet for a moment as Angela sat there and wept. It was her worst nightmare, and she didn’t want to remember it. She wanted it to just go away.

  “Do you want to add anything else?” Ava asked.

  “I don’t think I have anything else,” she said as she opened her eyes and looked into the compassionate gaze of the counselor.

  “You did very well today, Angela. Very well.”

  “But I can’t describe the people who hurt me.”

  “No, but you described what they were doing and how they did it. It’s the same as other victims. We think it’s the same gang. That’s very good to know because we know how long it’s been happening.”

  “So this helped?” Angela said.

  “Yes, very much. I’m just sorry it caused you more pain.”

  “I actually feel better,” she said. Max leaned back and looked at her as if to say he was glad. She really loved the dog.

  Declan came to her side and reached out a hand.

  “You did amazing,” he told her.

  She took his hand and let him help her stand. She didn’t feel like talking anymore though, so she nodded and let him lead her from the room, his hand in hers, with Max on her other side.

  This was the way she wanted it for the rest of her life.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Declan walked Angela from the hospital without saying anything. Sitting silently while she spoke had been incredibly difficult. He’d felt her pain, and everything in him wanted to walk over there and pull her into his arms and tell her she didn’t have to keep talking. He hated that she had to relive that moment, hated that fear in her voice.

  He admired her strength and bravery after all she’d been through. When a person joined the military they knew what they were signing on for, knew they could be in dangerous situations. But a single mother trying to live her life doesn’t.

  None of it was right or okay, but what he hated most about criminals was how they victimized people. They not only took whatever it was they were after, but they also stole a person’s innocence and their sense of safety. Sometimes the victim was never the same again.

  There was no doubt Angela had changed after her attack. He hoped he could give her peace of mind for the future and take some of that fear away. She had so much life left to live, and he didn’t want her to have to do it halfway.

  Declan had never had a desire to be anyone’s knight in shining armor. But he found he wanted to be exactly that for her. Sitting back and watching as she suffered was the exact opposite of what he needed to do.

  “We will get this guy and anyone who is still helping him,” Declan told her after he couldn’t take the silence anymore.

  “I know you will,” she said. She squeezed his fingers. He hadn’t meant to hold her hand as they walked, but he was unable to let her go. It felt right.

  They reached the parking lot and she stopped before getting in the car door he was holding open. She still hadn’t let go of his hand and was still holding onto the dog. Maybe he and the dog were a cocoon that was keeping her feeling safe. He’d give her whatever she wanted.

  “I’m glad Max was with me. That really helped. Do you think your brother will notice if we don’t give him back?” she asked with the semblance of a smile.

  “He might notice,” Declan said. He wished he could give her the dog. Max might not be available, but he could find her one. He wanted to tell her so, but he wasn’t sure what was in the future, and a dog was a long-term commitment.

  “I can’t believe how much stuff I’d blocked out,” she said.

  Declan didn’t like standing out in the open like they were. There were too many potential threats around them. But she felt safe for now, and he wasn’t going to rush her.

  “Our minds are a powerful thing. When we can’t take anymore, a button seems to flip to keep us protected. It’s the same with the body. When we have a life-threatening injury our pain receptors will stop working. If you’ve been shot or bombed and you stop feeling the pain, you should worry. Pain might not feel like it, but it is our friend. It lets us know we’re still alive and that we need to do something to make it stop.”

  “I’ve never looked at it like that, but it makes a lot of sense,” she said.

  “Everything in life happens for a reason. Even if that reason is senseless. You shouldn’t have been attacked and you shouldn’t have been shot at a week ago, but everything that has happened has made you stronger and more capable. I’m very impressed with the woman you are.”

  Tears sprung in her eyes. “I don’t feel strong. I feel like I should’ve been more aware. I knew my drink had been drugged. I read the report. But I should’ve known better than to take my eyes off my drink in a public place. And then to follow a stranger was foolish when I was so sick. I just didn’t think.”

  “Hey, don’t do that,” he said as he reached up and cupped her cheek. “You were sitting at a bar where you felt comfortable, having a drink. The person who did that to you works for a gang and has been trained on exactly how to distract her victims and how to do it with no one paying attention. I’m sure there was a diversion somewhere else in the bar to make sure no one saw her put the powder in your glass. That plan has been done many times before and we will stop it.”

  “I was targeted because of my father. I don’t understand if he was the one who sent me to this town. I would’ve thought he’d send me away from it all before he died if he cared.”

  “I think he cared as much as he was capable. And I think you were sent here because whoever they were knew the Forbes family would help you.”

  She smiled, this time a real smile. “Are you talking about yourself in the first person?” she asked with a raise of her brow.

  He gave her a crooked grin. “I wasn’t referr
ing to myself. I was talking about my entire family. Anyone who paid attention would’ve been well aware that we like to help those who need it the most.”

  “You really do that, which is fantastic. I can’t imagine what this would be like without you. I’d like to think my dad did a good thing before he left this world. Maybe that helped in his final judgment.”

  “I like to believe we don’t make that final judgment. That’s difficult for me to say when I see the kind of evil that’s out there. But we don’t have all the answers. If there is this higher being, then He will know. I can’t always sit back and hope someone else is doing the judging, but I can try to be a better person when I’m not furious.”

  “That’s more than most people can say, so you aren’t doing too badly,” she said.

  “I want to do so much more.”

  “We need people like you in the world so the rest of us can sleep soundly at night. I wish I could be a hero, but I’m okay with being a normal person too.”

  “You are a hero to me,” he told her. “And to your son. Being a hero to one or two people is so much more rewarding than pleasing the masses, in my humble opinion.”

  That made her laugh, and he felt as if he’d won a gold medal. “I don’t think there’s anything humble about you,” she said. She finally allowed him to help her into the SUV. He put Max in the back and jogged around to his side.

  “Humble might not have been the best word choice,” he agreed.

  And just like that he watched her mood lighten. He loved seeing her more carefree and smiling. Her pain was always on the edge of the darkness that tried creeping up on her. But time really did know how to heal all wounds. Each day that passed brought her a little more peace.

  He’d have to work on getting rid of all her demons. He wanted to be her hero. He didn’t think he’d make a very good one, but he’d do all he could to prove himself worthy.

  Maybe they did need to have that heart to heart. He wanted and needed her back in his arms again . . . sooner rather than later.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Declan gazed out into the still sky, every sense on high alert. Usually the blackness of night calmed him, but tonight was different. He felt the walls closing in and knew it was only a matter of time before things came to a head. Sighing, he closed his eyes.

  Declan sensed, before he felt, the cool tip of the rifle against his head. Surprise registered, and his thoughts raced over the last few minutes as he examined each second to see what he’d missed. How in the hell had someone managed to sneak up on him out here on his land? Outwardly he remained cool and calm, thankful for his years of training.

  Focusing on the pressure and pitch of the gun barrel, Declan calculated the height of the man holding the rifle and the distance between them. Slowing his breathing, he began to plan an attack.

  “Slowly open your eyes. Do not move or make a sound,” a low, menacing voice whispered.

  Relief washed over Declan. He’d know that voice anywhere. It had been a few years, but you never forgot your childhood best friend. Opening his eyes, he looked up into the dark gaze of Harrison Laurent. At six-foot-four, the former SEAL brought terror to his enemies, but to his friends and family he was as gentle as a teddy bear and loved with a fierce passion.

  Grown men had been known to shake with fear in Harrison’s presence, which made dating hard for his little sister, Kate. Declan had held a brief crush on Kate in their younger years, but that had quickly changed to a sisterly love.

  If Harrison was there, then the third member of their childhood gang, Kaleb Stone, wasn’t too far behind. Or maybe not. Kaleb had disappeared a few years ago, immediately after his wife’s funeral.

  Declan winced inwardly as he remembered the last time he’d seen his two friends. Kaleb’s wife, Amy, had been kidnapped by insurgents while Kaleb was away on a mission. Her torture and death had sent shockwaves around the world.

  Kaleb and Harrison still bore the physical and emotional scars of the failed rescue.

  Completely broken, Kaleb had walked out of Amy’s wake and hadn’t been seen since. Harrison had retreated to a cabin in the snowy mountains of Austria but still visited his family’s island occasionally and would go to various charity events run by the same family.

  After making billions founding Telco Company, the biggest telecommunication company in the world, and being hounded by the paparazzi, the Laurent family bought an island where they could escape the glaring public eye. Over the years The Isle of Laure had evolved into a private oasis, catering to the desires of the world’s elite.

  It was so exclusive it wasn’t found on any public map. Rumors swirled that there was a secret wing of the hotel. Declan could only guess what happened behind those doors.

  Forcing his mind back to the present, Declan stood and embraced his old friend. How in the world did they know where to find him? Not even his nosy brothers and their nosier wives, or the queen of nosy herself, his sister Dakota, knew where he was in this spot on his land. His brothers had probably reached out to their brother-in-law Ace, who tracked down Harrison and Kaleb through his military contacts. Harrison had always been able to find the unfindable.

  “What are you doing here?" he asked.

  “The Big K and I heard you might be in trouble and came to see if you needed backup,” Harrison said. With that, Kaleb stepped forward and the three men looked at each other, their childhood bond unbreakable even as grown men who’d witnessed unspeakable horrors.

  Declan felt his steely heart crack as he looked from Kaleb’s ice blue eyes to his cheek with the scarred reminder of his past. With sun-bleached blond hair and permanently furrowed brows, Kaleb was the shortest of the three but made up for it with his startlingly broad shoulders and steely gaze that could make the toughest men cower.

  “Suck it up, princess,” whispered Kaleb gruffly, using the phrase he’d used a thousand times when Declan would fall and scrape his knees playing army in the forest behind the Forbes estate. “No time for tears, it’s too dangerous to lose focus now. Bringing down a drug cartel? Are you crazy?”

  “No crazier than you two,” Declan chuckled. How strange it felt to smile. Declan focused on the two men, becoming serious again. They didn’t have much time before the drug ring scouts did their regular sweep and found them. Then they’d all be dead and no closer to cracking the drug ring for good.

  “I have to,” he said, squaring his shoulders. Harrison and Kaleb gazed at him with understanding. They’d all faced dangerous situations where making it out alive seemed impossible. Declan saw Kaleb give Harrison an almost imperceptible nod.

  “Do you remember the combination code to our tree house?” Harrison asked.

  “Of course,” replied Declan. “You two made sure those numbers were forever burned in my brain.”

  “Call that number anytime from any phone, pager, radio, computer, or anything with a signal, from anywhere in the world, and we’ll trace the signal and come get you out. Only the three of us know of its existence, and we’d like to keep it that way.”

  Declan was dumfounded at the gift his friends had given him. Not even the FBI had access to technology like this. Owning Telco Company and having one of your brothers as the most sought after tech whiz in the world certainly had its perks.

  “We’ve got your back,” Kaleb said, gripping Declan’s shoulder tightly. Declan didn’t trust anyone but his family. However, at that moment he felt his small circle of trust grow to include his old friends.

  “We also hear there might be a wedding,” Harrison said as he sat.

  “How in the world are you getting that information? We haven’t talked in forever.”

  “You should know we are never far away,” Kaleb said. “Even when we aren’t physically here. I went off the deep end for a while, but that wouldn’t have been what my wife would want. They won’t win by destroying me.”

  “You already destroyed them,” Declan pointed out.

  “There’s thousands more where the
y came from. I want them all,” Kaleb said with a deadly resolve in his voice.

  “I have no doubt you’ll get them.”

  “Are you ready to leave the FBI yet? We have a project in the works,” Harrison told him.

  “What project?” Declan asked.

  “When you’re ready to leave, tell us, and we’ll let you know.”

  Declan smiled. “I’m intrigued.”

  “Then don’t take too long,” Harrison said.

  “Let me finish this case, then we can talk.”

  They nodded. The three men sat for a couple more hours catching up on the past two years. Then his two friends disappeared as quietly as they’d come.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Angela had finally talked Declan into letting her out of the house on her own. She was sure he’d find a way to have her followed, but she wasn’t going to worry about that. Part of her liked his overprotectiveness because she didn’t have to constantly look over her shoulder. It was a very good feeling.

  All she wanted was a normal day. She’d been cooking a lot, which she loved to do, and wanted to go buy her own groceries. Timothy was safe with Kian and Roxie, having another play day with their kids, and she wanted to have a few hours of alone time. She was grateful to Declan’s family for that summer. She was sure Timothy would’ve gone stir-crazy locked away by himself with only his mother. Boys needed to play and laugh with other kids.

  She pulled up to the store and stepped out of her beautiful SUV. She knew she couldn’t keep it, but she wasn’t going to argue with Declan about driving it for now. This was the first time she’d driven anywhere since they’d gotten back, and man, was it going to be difficult to walk away from such an amazing car. Part of her wanted to go on a nice long drive and just enjoy herself.