Ultimate Risk (R.I.S.C. Book 6)

by Anna Blakely

  From him and from R.I.S.C.

  His dark brows turned inward with suspicion. “Okay, fine.” He threw his arms out to his sides before letting them slap against his strong thighs.

  A breeze passed by, blowing some hair into Mac’s face. She brushed it from her eyes, her heart mourning the loss she knew was imminent. “What do you want to know?”

  Coop stared back at her. “How ’bout we start with something easy. What’s your real name?”

  “You already know—”

  “I want to hear you say it.”

  Swallowing the knot of regret filling the base of her throat, Mac opened her mouth to utter the name she hadn’t spoken in years when a loud crack echoed through the air.

  Rough bark splintered as the bullet hit the tree beside them. Mac reached for Coop, ready to pull them both behind the tree for cover.

  “Get down!” His body slammed into hers, sending them both flying to the ground.

  The impact knocked the air from her lungs. Coop was on top of her, putting himself at risk while trying to protect her. She wanted to yell at him to get off and take cover, but she couldn’t catch her breath long enough to speak.

  Another bullet hit the ground next to them.

  “Fuck!” Coop growled.

  He grabbed her shoulders and rolled, moving them so the large trunk’s protective barrier could shield them from the shooter. Pulling his gun from his waistband he lifted his head and looked toward the direction in which the two shots had originated.

  “It’s coming from the north.”

  She pushed against Coop’s chest, and thankfully he relented. Sitting with his back against the tree, he reached for her hand and pulled her up next to him. Wasting no time, Mac lifted the hem of her shin-length dress in order to access the weapon secured against her thigh.

  “Can you see the shooter?” she asked, cautiously glancing around the tree’s edge. Its rough bark bit into her back.

  “There was a black SUV on the hill over there that just took off in a real fucking hurry.” Coop’s phone began to ring. “It’s Trevor.” He answered the call with a quick, “We’re okay. You on him?”

  There was a long pause, and Mac wished like crazy she could hear what Trevor was saying.

  “Stay on them,” Coop told their teammate. “We’ll try to catch up.” Another pause and then, “You sure? All right, man. Holler if you need help.” Coop ended the call.

  With adrenaline rushing through their veins, they both took a few seconds to calm their breathing.

  “What’s the plan?” Mac looked at her partner anxiously.

  “Trev’s staying on them. He wants us to meet him back at your hotel.” His gaze lowered to her exposed thigh holster. One corner of his lip curved upward. “I’m guessing now’s probably not the time to mention how hot that is, huh?”

  “You think?” Mac sent him an incredulous look, though she secretly welcomed the teasing.

  He always pulled crap like that when they were on an op. He’d joke and she’d reprimand him for it. It was kind of their thing.

  That he was doing it now gave her a tiny spec of hope.

  Maybe he doesn’t hate you for lying after all.

  But then the half-smile that made her heart do all sorts of funny things fell, all traces of humor on his handsome face vanishing.

  Or maybe he does.

  “We should go before they come back.” His voice sounded flat. Very un-Coop like.

  She hated the sound of it. Hated herself even more for being the cause.

  Mac stood, keeping her eyes peeled on their surroundings. “Trevor will keep them running. At least for a little while.” She took a deep breath. “Probably a good thing we’re going to my room, anyway.”

  “Why is that?” Coop pushed himself to his feet.

  “There are things there you need to see.”

  With his head on a swivel, he nodded. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Keeping their guns in hand, the two covered the remaining distance to their respective cars. The entire time Mac drove, she checked all three mirrors, keeping an eye out for a black SUV.

  At one point on the drive, traffic started to get thick, and for not even a full second, Mac thought about trying to lose Coop. Then she remembered what he’d said about finding her again and knew, without a doubt, he would.

  A loud growl of frustration filled the car’s interior as she squeezed the steering wheel to the point she thought it might bend. Less than five minutes of him being here and he’d already nearly died.

  Because of me.

  She’d warned him. Told him it was dangerous, but had the infuriating man listened? Of course not. Why the hell hadn’t he stayed home?

  Did you really expect him to?

  Mac wanted to say yes, but part of her had always known he’d come after her. She’d hoped he wouldn’t. Prayed he’d stay away, for his sake. She should’ve known better.

  He was here, and she had no choice but to come clean.

  Filled with dread, Coop waited while Mac opened the door to her hotel room. After all the wondering and worrying, he was finally going to learn what kind of clusterfuck she’d gotten herself into.

  Letting the door shut behind him, he stood between it and Mac. Tried to convince himself it was to keep her safe, not prevent her from trying to run.

  Jesus, he hated thinking like that.

  Mac was the most loyal woman he’d ever known. Or so he’d always thought. Now, after learning what she’d been keeping from him, Coop didn’t know what to think.

  She was the woman who’d lay down her own life for any one of her teammates. Yet she was also the woman who’d lied to him the entire time he’d known her. About everything.

  Sick to his soul, Coop crossed his arms at his chest and stood feet shoulder-width apart. His eyes zeroed in on hers.

  “Start talking.”

  Mac opened her mouth—to lie or tell the truth, he didn’t know. And wasn’t that a fucking kick to the balls? Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to find out because in the same moment, someone started pounding on her door.

  He drew his weapon as he spun around, putting a hand up to keep Mac behind him and signaling for her to be silent. At the same time, she bent at the waist, reaching under that damn dress for her own gun.

  The knocking came again, followed by Trevor’s frustrated voice. “It’s me. Open up.”

  Coop exhaled a breath of relief and shoved his gun back into his waistband. He opened the door.

  “Did you get the shooter?” Mac asked as Trevor rushed into the room.

  Regret filled the man’s dark eyes. “Lost him. Got a partial, but the plate was covered in dirt.”

  “Intentional, I’m sure,” Coop mumbled as he shut the door.

  Trevor looked at them both. “You guys okay?”

  “We’re fine,” Mac assured him.

  Trevor glanced her way. “We’ll find him, Mac. Don’t worry.” The two shared a look that made Coop want to punch his friend’s face in.

  What the hell?

  He knew the guy was here to protect her. Plus, Trevor was very happily married. So why the sudden jealousy?

  Because he knows more than you.

  More than ready to rectify that situation, Coop growled, “Will one of you please tell me what the fuck is going on?”

  The other two shared another look before Mac spoke up. “I’ve got this, Trev.”

  “You sure?”

  “He deserves to know.”

  With an almost satisfied nod, Trevor held her gaze for another second before slapping Coop on the shoulder. “I’ll be across the hall if you need me.”

  Coop waited for the door to close behind his friend before turning his infuriated gaze to Mac’s.

  “You’d better start talking right this fucking second, or so help me…”

  Her shoulders seemed to fall. “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything.”

  Looking more vulnerable than he
could ever remember seeing her, Mac turned and sat down on the foot of the far bed. With her hands twisting in her lap, she refused to look at him as she began.

  “I was born Abigail McKenna Moretti.”

  He’d already known, yet when she spoke the words aloud, the tiny strand of hope he’d been holding onto that this was all some sort of mistake broke. He’d tried to come up with a plausible explanation for why the woman he loved would lie to him the way she had.

  At one point on the drive here, he’d all but convinced himself Abigail Moretti was a cover for a job. Something other than the deception he felt to his bones.

  Coop shoved his hands to his pockets. “And Tony Moretti?”

  “Like you said.” Her weary eyes found his. “He was my uncle. I was sent to live with him after my parents died.”

  At least the part about her parents dying had been true.

  The second the thought hit, Coop felt ashamed. He pictured her as that young girl in the photo being forced to live with a guy like Moretti. His heart ached for that girl.

  “And the stories about Moretti being a mob boss?”

  “All true.”

  “So why come back? And I want the truth, Mac.” He refused to call her Abigail. “The whole truth.”

  “And nothing but?”

  “Goddamnit!” His voice bounced off the thin walls. “Someone just took a shot at you. This isn’t a fucking joke!”

  “You think I don’t know that?” she yelled back. “You think I wanted this to be my life?” Shooting up from the mattress, Mac squared herself off to him. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way, Sean. My parents weren’t supposed to drive off a fucking cliff when I was only fifteen. I wasn’t supposed to have to move to a new city with a different school and an uncle who spent his days breaking the law and deciding who lived and who died.”

  Despite her betrayal, Coop found himself wanting to go to her. To comfort her and take away every ounce of her pain. So he dug his heels into the cheap carpet and let Mac purge her hidden truths.

  Her voice became softer, filling with an almost a wistful tone. “My parents…they weren’t perfect, but they loved me.” She smiled. “My mom used to take me on walks in Central Park. On the way home we’d stop for ice cream and talk. God, I miss our talks. And my dad…”

  Her voice cracked, but Coop remained silent, giving her the time she needed to regroup.

  I wonder if she even knows she’s crying.

  “My dad was my whole world. And the way he looked at my mom, his love for her was so obvious.” Mac’s sad smile grew a little wider. “You’re a lot like him, actually. He was this fierce protector but also one of the sweetest men I’ve ever known.” Her chin quivered, a set of blue, watery eyes lifting to meet his again. “I was devastated when I lost them. It only got worse after I went to live with Tony.”

  “What happened?” he asked quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

  “I learned what Tony really did for a living.” Mac swiped angrily at her tears. “I also found out the truth about my dad.” She hugged herself.

  “Your dad?”

  Her smile turned bitter. “Turns out, Uncle Tony wasn’t the only criminal in the family. My dad was in the business, too.”

  Ah, hell.

  “Why did you run away at sixteen and join the Army?”

  Licking her dry lips, Mac began to share her story. “The night before my sixteenth birthday, Tony left with Luca. They were always doing that, running off at odd hours. My uncle’s excuse was always the same. Work.”

  “You didn’t believe him?”

  “I wanted to. But, no. I didn’t. So I followed them.”

  Coop’s brows formed two high arches. “You did what?”

  “It wasn’t hard. I knew the keys to the other cars were in Tony’s desk, so I picked the lock and took a set. It was dark, and I stayed back so they wouldn’t spot me.”

  She was acting like an operative, even back then.

  “I followed them into a neighborhood. He was in real estate, and I thought maybe I was wrong. Maybe it really was work. So I got out and peeked through the window of the house they’d gone into.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Luca was holding a gun on a man inside his own living room. He was about to shoot him on my uncle’s order. I couldn’t let that man die, so I hit the emergency button on the car’s fob to spook them.”

  Jesus. “And?”

  “It worked. They left the man alone in his house and took off. The second they rounded the corner, I sprinted back to the car and got the hell out of there. I knew a shortcut, so I was able to get back to my uncle’s house before Tony and Luca. I put the keys back, locked the office, and went to bed. I was confident they had no idea what I’d done.”

  “But they knew.”

  Mac nodded. “Yeah. They knew.”

  Terrified of the answer, Coop had to ask. “What happened on your birthday, Mac?”

  She turned and walked to the other end of the room. With her back to him, she stared out the window at the city below.

  “That next morning my uncle surprised me by saying he was letting me skip school to go car shopping. When we got to the dealership, Luca was waiting for us.” Mac swallowed. “He wasn’t alone.”

  “The man from the house?”

  “His name was Michael Shaeffer. He was on his knees, hands and ankles bound together. Duct tape covered his mouth, and he was crying.” Hugging herself, Mac turned to face him once more. “Luca had installed a tracking device on my phone without my knowledge. That’s how they knew it was me who’d set off the car alarm. Tony said since I was so interested in what he did for a living he’d show me. Up close and personal.”

  “What happened?”

  “I was crying and screaming. Begging him not to do it. That’s when he told me about my dad, and his dad. Said the business was in my blood. When I told him I wanted nothing to do with it, Tony put a gun to my head and made me get down on my knees in front of Shaeffer. I thought…I thought he was going to kill me, too.” Her voice cracked but she cleared her throat and kept going. “Rather than shoot me, he made me look into Shaeffer’s eyes while Luca put a bullet through the man’s brain.”

  “Jesus, Mac.” Coop ran a hand over his jaw. “How’d you manage to get away?”

  “I started planning. I’d heard from some kids at school about a guy who’d make legit-looking fake I.D.’s., birth certificates…whatever a person needed to recreate themselves. Uncle Tony gave me a monthly allowance, so I saved and used that to buy what I needed.” Mac chuckled humorlessly. “The other kids used their fakes to get into bars. I used mine to enlist.”

  Moving with hesitant steps, Mac gauged his reaction. Almost as if she thought he would retreat if she got too close.

  “At first the lies were all solely about survival. After what I’d witnessed, I knew if Tony ever found out where I was, he’d have me killed. The military seemed like a pretty safe place to hide out.”

  “And later?”

  “Later, I realized I’d become a part of something bigger. Seeing first-hand what the Army did for our country and other parts of the world…I couldn’t risk losing that by confessing who I really was. I thought maybe if I saved enough lives by fighting for what was right, I could make up for the one I caused my uncle and Luca to take.”

  “What happened to that man wasn’t your fault, Mac.”

  Ignoring him, she continued on. “When I became a part of Alpha Team, it was like I finally had a family again. I was so afraid for any of you to find out where I really came from, that the blood running through my veins was tainted…” She blinked, causing a tear to fall. “I never wanted anyone to know. Especially you.”

  He didn’t bother arguing the fact that she was nothing like her uncle. “Why especially me?”

  “Because you’re my best friend.” She drew in a deep breath. “And I’d always hoped that someday you might become more.” Another tear fell.

  “I hoped fo
r that, too,” he admitted quietly. “But you should’ve told me.”

  “I remember how it was after my parents died. How the kids at that school looked at me when they realized I was not only related to Anthony Moretti, I also lived with him. And the teachers were even worse. They’d look at me with a mixture of pity and disgust, and I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing that same look in your eyes.”

  That last part was merely a whisper.

  “We’re partners, Mac. No, we’re more than that. We’re…you’re…” Coop rubbed his jaw again because, fuck. He couldn’t find the words he needed to say. So he settled for, “You should’ve trusted me enough to know that would never happen. Not with me.”

  “You’re right.” She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

  After several tension-filled seconds, Coop said, “Okay, fine. I get why you felt the need to lie about who you really are, but it still doesn’t explain why you’re here. Or why someone tried to take your head off less than an hour ago.”

  “They weren’t aiming at me.” Mac looked him dead in the eyes. “They were trying to shoot you.”

  What? “That makes no sense, whatsoever. Before today, I’ve never even been to Jersey. Why the fuck would someone here come after me?”

  Rather than answer the question, she walked over to the room’s tiny safe and entered the code on the keypad. With a beep, the lock disengaged and Mac opened the door. She pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to him.

  “I started getting those a few weeks ago.”

  Coop opened the clasp and pulled out a portion of the envelope’s contents. There were half a dozen pictures of Mac, and it was obvious she had no idea she’d been photographed.

  What the fuck “Someone’s been following you?”

  Ignoring the question—because the answer was pretty fucking clear—Mac motioned toward the envelope. “Not just me. Us.”

  Coop pulled out a second set of photos and studied each one carefully. There was one of him and Mac walking into R.I.S.C.’s building. One of them walking out. Someone had taken a picture of them talking and laughing by her Jeep in the parking garage.

  And most recently, someone had taken a picture of him watching her as she drove away.

  “Those came a few days ago, along with a note.” She handed it to him.