Harlequin Intrigue March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2

by Nichole Severn

  It didn’t make sense.

  There were still pieces missing from this puzzle, and something deep inside warned Madison it’d be too late before she understood the big picture. She combed her hair back away from her face. Her boot heels sank deep into soft earth as she headed toward the front door. “This is all just a game for her. Rosalind Eyler’s not giving up the laboratory’s location out of the goodness of her heart. She knows she’s looking at spending the rest of her life behind bars, and she wants to cause as much chaos as possible before we shove her in a dark corner and forget her name.”

  “Makes me wonder what kind of deal she struck with the bomber, and how the hell he was supposed to hold up his end with his partner behind bars. She gives him the list of components of her devices in exchange for what?” Jonah maneuvered around the front of the SUV and jogged to catch up with her. He slipped his hand between her rib cage and arm to keep her from slipping. “Keeping the Rip City Bomber’s name alive and horrifying?”

  Madison slowed before they reached the front door, her hand still wound around his arm. Interesting theory. “Rosalind never claimed she was innocent. Not from the moment she was arrested to when she was scheduled to appear at the hearing. What if making deal after deal gives her a way to relive the bombings, to see how many people she’s hurt? You heard her in there. The Rip City Bomber is the kind of woman to feed off other peoples’ pain. We’re closing in on her partner, and maybe that’s not acceptable to her. She wants to make the game last as long as possible. She wants to be recognized as the opponent she is, even if she has to do it from behind bars.”

  “You think her offer to lead us to the bomber’s laboratory is another way to make the game last?” Soft puffs of air crystallized in front of Jonah’s mouth in the high elevation, but the memory of how his mouth had taken hers in a flood of release stronger than she’d ever experienced before countered the chill.

  “I think she’ll do anything to hold on to the spotlight this trial has cast on her. No matter who she hurts in the process.” Madison reached up, skimming her fingers along his jaw. His perfectly maintained beard bristled against her skin and shot a charge of desire through her. Ice blue turned into molten waves in his eyes before he caught her hand in his. Tingling sensations spread from where his thumb rubbed small circles into the back of her hand. “I just don’t want you to be one of the people Rosalind hurts.”

  “I’m not going to let that happen.” Keeping her hand in his, Jonah inserted the key into the front door and twisted. Warm air replaced the coolness prickling her skin as he pulled her inside. He tossed his keys onto the side table to their left, closed the door behind them and set the alarm panel in less than two breaths before tugging her into his chest. He slipped his hands to her hips, pressing her baby bump into his lower abdominals, and stared down at her. “I’ve already lost everything I cared about once and barely survived, Maddi. I’m going to fight like hell to make sure it never happens again.”

  She believed him. The grounding sensation of safety spiked through her as she lifted onto her toes and pressed her mouth to his. No matter how many times she’d pushed him away over these past five months, he’d never turned his back on her. Never gave up on her, on them. The tightness of his grip on her hips said he wouldn’t start now. Electricity singed across her nerve endings with every stroke of his mouth against her, building a knot of frenzy inside.

  She’d tried. She’d tried to keep herself from depending on someone else, but Jonah had made it so easy. He’d saved her life, put her needs above his own. He’d sacrificed his own desires to give her what she thought she wanted when it came to raising this baby on her own, and she’d fallen deeper into the trap. She’d started relying on him.

  A rush of fear surfaced and vacuumed the air from her lungs. Everyone she’d ever relied on had disappeared. Her father, her mother when she’d died. Her friends, family. No one had stepped forward to fight for her. Rosalind Eyler and she did have one thing in common. In the end, Madison had to realize nobody would ever be coming to save her when she’d been a kid. She’d had to save herself, but the emptiness she’d tried to use as her greatest strength couldn’t support her anymore. Not when Jonah had given her an anchor to hold on to, and every cell in her body revolted at the thought of losing him, too. She tangled her fingers in his hair and broke the kiss, out of breath. She needed to know, needed to hear the words. “Jonah, promise. Promise me you won’t stop fighting for me. No matter what happens, don’t give up on us.”

  Us. The concept of being tied to another person had scared her her entire life after what she’d witnessed her mother go through. Only now, that fear had transformed into something else entirely. Hope.

  “I’ll never stop fighting for you, Maddi. Never.” He crouched, lowering his mouth to her throat, and hiked her legs around his waist. He headed toward the grand staircase leading to the bedrooms on the second level. Pale wood and neutral furnishings passed in a blur before he laid her across the end of the king-size bed of the master. Slower than she could stand, he slipped his fingers beneath her calves and unzipped her boots from top to bottom. They landed with a thud beside the bed, and he straightened, every inch the marshal she’d admired since the moment they’d met. Standing above her, Jonah ran his palms over her belly through the fabric of her dress. Small kicks from their son registered on one side. “You are so damn perfect. Why the hell would I ever stop fighting for you?”

  She couldn’t help but smile, setting her palms over his. “Because you know I’m out of your league.”

  “You got that right.” His laugh charged through her, straight into her core, and her insides melted. Leveraging his hands on either side of her head, he brushed his mouth against hers. “Don’t move a muscle.”

  How could she? He’d rendered her helpless in the best way imaginable. Madison sank into the mattress as the rush of water filled her ears. Steam tendrilled from the open doorway leading into the bathroom after a few minutes before cutting off abruptly, and she pressed into her elbows to sit up. “Jonah?”

  Sleeves rolled up to expose strong forearms, he left the confines of the bathroom and reached for her. He took both of her hands in his and pulled her off the bed into the length of his body. “Turn around.”

  She narrowed her gaze on him. She didn’t understand this game, but the deepest part of her—the one she’d ignored far too long—trusted him. Trusted he wouldn’t hurt her. She turned in his arms, giving him her back. Heightened awareness overwhelmed her senses as he trailed a path of kisses along her neck from behind. He wrapped one hand around her front, cradling their son, while he tugged the zipper to her dress lower. Heated desire shot down her spine at the brush of his shirt against her bare skin. Cocking her head to one side, she gave him access to the most vulnerable parts of her. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Jonah Watson, the reserved, quiet, loyal marshal who’d put himself between her and the bomb at the courthouse, lit parts of her she’d cut herself off from feeling all these years, and the constriction in her chest loosened.

  “You’ve held yourself together for so long, Maddi. You’ve spent your entire career taking care of everyone else. It’s time you let someone take care of you for once.” His whispers tickled the oversensitized skin of her neck and shoulders as he slipped her dress down her arms. Cool air rushed to replace the heat he’d generated beneath her skin as her dress fell in a pool at her feet. Leaving her in nothing but her bra and underwear—exposed—Jonah entwined his hand with hers and led her into the bathroom.

  She followed ghostlike wisps of steam to the source, the large soaker tub he’d filled with full pink-tipped lotus flowers floating across the surface. Gravity worked to bring her to her knees as she took in the beauty of the added candles and colorful crystals positioned around the edge of the tub. Self-consciousness drained the longer she fought to speak. “When did you...” Her gaze cut to his as thick emotion stuck in her throat. No one had ever dr
awn her a bath before. No one had gone out of their way or seemed to care about her the way he did. “You did this for me?”

  “You’ve spent nearly your entire life feeling unloved and forgotten, Maddi, but I never forgot you. No matter how many times you pushed, I couldn’t walk away. You gave me something I didn’t think I’d ever feel again after I lost Noah. You gave me hope for the future.” He framed her face between calloused palms, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. Blue eyes studied her from forehead to chin. “And I’ll spend every day of the rest of my life proving I’m the one person who will never stop choosing you.”

  She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Her lips parted as he pressed his mouth to hers in another adrenaline-inducing dizziness of desire. She fisted his shirt in her hands and pulled him toward the bathtub.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Everything he’d ever wanted rested on the other side of the bed. Madison’s long dark hair fell in silken waves over her pillow and framed the mesmerizing brush of pink in her cheeks. Night had fallen, only punctures of moonlight coming through the wall-to-wall windows stretching across the room. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been lying there since he’d brought her back to bed. Didn’t care about anything outside of these four walls, but reality wouldn’t stop fighting for long.

  As much as Jonah wanted to believe the bomber who’d thrown himself off that bridge hadn’t survived the fall, his gut warned otherwise. The bombs at the courthouse, the thermite explosive at Harvey Braddock’s house... Something he couldn’t explain said the dive off the Benson Bridge had been part of the plan, and it was only a matter of time before the killer came for Madison again.

  His phone vibrated from the dresser on the other side of the room. Careful not to wake Madison, he slid from the bed, leaving her exactly where she was supposed to be. He silenced the device as soon as he reached the dresser and stepped out into the hallway before answering. “Either you’re up late, or you haven’t gone to sleep either.”

  “Who needs sleep?” Remington Barton sounded as exhausted and wound up as Jonah did. The entire division had been called in to hunt for the bomber responsible for nine deaths in the past three days, and if he was a betting man, Jonah would say Remi hadn’t wanted to let anyone else take point. “Did you get a chance to read through the bomb squad’s report from the thermite fire at Harvey Braddock’s home?”

  “Give me a minute.” He made his way downstairs and collapsed onto the couch. He pulled his tablet onto his lap. His vision battled with the sudden brightness from the screen before he opened the attached file in his email. His stomach rolled. “The body recovered from the garage was confirmed to be Harvey Braddock.”

  “You reported when you spoke to Rosalind Eyler, she’d revealed her exact components for the bombs she detonated over the past year to the bomber we’re hunting, but the prison logs say she hasn’t had any visitors aside from her attorney. No mail. No phone calls,” Remi said. “I think we discovered how she was able to communicate to the outside.”

  “Her lawyer.” Damn. He’d been afraid of that. Jonah leaned back into the couch. “Rosalind used Harvey Braddock as a go-between, then had her partner kill him and lure me away from Madison all in the same swing.”

  “She’s not just intelligent, Jonah. She was the lead chemist working for the biggest pharmaceutical company in the country.” Remi’s voice faltered. “Putting her behind bars hasn’t stopped her from finishing what she started, and for some reason she’s deviated from her MO of working alone and put Madison Gray in her sights. I need you to watch your back.”

  “I will.” The only other option was losing everything he’d fought for since starting the adoption process with Noah, and he couldn’t go back to that life. Couldn’t survive the isolation, the emptiness. Not after what he and Madison had been through. “I still don’t understand how our perp was able to get onto that scene at Harvey Braddock’s house. Local PD had the perimeter sealed off and were ID’ing everyone who crossed that line.” Tension twisted his insides. “Unless...”

  “Our bomber had the clearance to cross that line.” Remi sighed. “I’ll have Cove reinterview the officers assigned perimeter duty. See if he can pull anything out of the ordinary from their statements. If our suspect is in law enforcement, they’ll have access to everything concerning the investigation.”

  “That’s how he’s staying ahead of us.” As much as Jonah hated to admit it, their new pool of suspects made sense. It explained how the bomber was able to get in and out of the courthouse during construction to plant the first device in the HVAC unit. It explained how he was able to step into and leave the second scene. It explained how the bastard had learned of Jonah’s experience with thermite and his background in explosives. The pieces were beginning to fit. All that was left was to fill in the silhouette shadow at the back of his head with a face. Couldn’t be any of the marshals from his team. Even with his desire to deck Dylan Cove again, Remi had vouched for the former private investigator on more than one occasion. Jonah trusted her, and he trusted her vetting process for bringing in new marshals. Both Finnick Reed and Beckett Foster had been at his side for the past decade. While the past six months had changed their lives drastically with Beckett’s daughter on the way and a new wife on his arm, and Finnick head over heels with a new crime scene photographer who’d once been his witness, that left the PPB officers assigned to perimeter security. And one other person. “How well do you know the special agent who was at the Braddock scene?”

  “I don’t.” Surprise notched Remi’s voice up an octave. “All I know is the Bureau assigned Special Agent Jackson to support the local bomb squad with the investigation. I figured you knew him considering you both worked for the FBI’s hazardous devices unit a good chunk of your life, and the scene just hadn’t been a great place to catch up. It’s not exactly a social situation.”

  “No. I’ve never met him before.” He’d worked with an entire team of agents—dozens from all over the country and outside of it—but Jonah was positive he’d never met Special Agent Collin Jackson in his life. Didn’t mean the agent wasn’t in Portland on a valid assignment or that he’d lied about his reasons for being on the scene, but Madison’s life was worth finding out for sure. “I know most of the agents still working in that unit. Where is he now?”

  “Here, at the Second Avenue station running through the same report I sent you.” The low hum of voices and ringing phones filled the line. “He confirmed the thermite found at the house and the amount stolen from the warehouse two nights ago are a match, and that Harvey Braddock is the victim firefighters pulled from the garage. Agent Jackson is trying to put the pieces of the device from the garage back together. Hopefully we’ll be able to pull prints from one of the components to get a lead on Rosalind Eyler’s partner.”

  “Keep him there while I check into his background, Chief.” Footsteps padded down the grand staircase behind him. Hell, he hadn’t meant to wake her. “I’ll check in with you in the morning.”

  “Jonah, wait,” Remi said before he was able to hit End. “There’s something else.”

  His heart beat steadily in his throat as he raised the phone back to his ear. “What is it?”

  “Search and Rescue recovered a stash of clothing and a ski mask a few feet from a set of tracks leading up from the bank of the river.” Silence grew heavy around him as Jonah waited for the fist around his lungs to ease. “I’m having forensics comb through the evidence, but preliminary tests have me convinced Madison’s abductor survived that fall after all.”

  The nightmare wasn’t over.

  “Thanks for letting me know.” He ended the call and craned his neck up to watch Madison stop at the bottom of the stairs. “Sorry. I didn’t think I was talking loud enough to wake you.”

  “You weren’t, but the bed got cold without you in it.” She closed the distance between them, sliding onto his lap with one arm snaking behind his neck. H
e couldn’t help but wrap her in his arms as she rested her head against his shoulder. Turning the tablet to face her, Madison scanned through the document. “The medical examiner identified the body recovered at the scene. Harvey Braddock was involved.”

  Shock wove between her words, and his stomach revolted. According to her, Madison and Harvey hadn’t exactly been friends on opposites sides of the courtroom, but neither of them had had any real ill will toward the other. Not until now. “USMS believes he was acting as Rosalind Eyler’s messenger between his client and the bomber, and when they didn’t need him anymore...”

  “They killed him.” Her shoulders rose on a strong inhale, and before he had a chance to tighten his hold on her, she slipped from the circle of his arms. The tablet screen highlighted and shadowed the angles of her expression as she swiped through to the next page of the document, lost in the investigation. How many times had he watched her like this? Her with her focus drawn to the case in front of her, him waiting for her to come back to the present and remember he was there.

  It’d been in quiet moments like this in the middle of the night in her office where she’d let him get to know the real her. Not the deputy district attorney trying to win the latest case thrown at her by the DA, but Madison. The woman who bit her bottom lip while analyzing the next pattern, who stayed up late and woke up early to fight for the innocent, who found little value in small talk and other social rituals and strangely remained calm in any situation. The woman who’d somehow broken through the numbness he’d carried all these years and made him feel again. Not just the good parts of life but the ugly, too. In less than three days, she’d untangled years of grief and rage tearing him apart from the inside and expected nothing in return. Hell, that was why he’d fallen in love with her.

  His breath hitched. Love.

  In an instant, Madison pegged him with caramel-brown eyes as though she’d sensed the realization that ripped the air from his lungs. She lowered the iPad to her side. “You told your chief to keep someone at the station while you look into his background before I came downstairs. You have a new suspect?”