In the Shadow of Malice Book 3

by Nancy C. Weeks

  Jared yanked out his phone. “I’ll call for backup.”

  “I’m not waiting. Do what you have to do,” Adam said, grabbing the collar of his brother’s shirt. “And I mean everything, Jared. Got it? Calista’s safety is the priority.”

  “I understand. Go!”

  After racing out the patio doors, he leaped over the retaining wall. Once his feet hit the gravel, he ran full out down the hill, until he came to the path leading into the woods. He took a moment to scan the area. Rage rippled through him. Closing his eyes, he did something he never had bothered doing before. “What way, Anna? Tell me what way to go.”

  A calmer, melodic voice answered. “He’s running up.”

  As soon as the pain from Anna’s words eased, he charged across the path that ran parallel to the shore for about a mile, until it dead-ended at a small cliff, where it split. One path led to the beach while the other narrower path climbed into the dense forest. Adam didn’t waste an instant checking the beach but took his daughter’s words to heart and began to climb.

  Once he entered the dense woods, he stopped, grew very still, and listened to the sounds of the night—the wind shifting through the new leaves, the chirps and movements of the insects rustling in the undergrowth. He calmed his breathing so he could focus on noises that didn’t belong.

  It didn’t take long to extract the mumbled voices due north of him. Adam sprinted down the trail, jumping over decaying logs in his path, while trying to duck under low hanging branches. Missing several in the darkness, he felt them slap against his forehead, cheeks, and forearm.

  As the path climbed higher into the woodlands, Adam slammed down the panic building in his gut. The only clear thought that kept him from going over the edge was that Ludis took Calista because she was the perfect shield.

  A high-pitched scream of pain pierced the night. Before Adam could react, the blast of gunfire echoed off the dense forest wall. Shoving the emotion deep, he concentrated on the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

  He leaped over the shorter bushes that outlined a small grassy area and stopped suddenly. Steadying his stance, he took aim at Ludis’s back.

  Ludis stretched his gun out in front of him, his shoulders shaking with fury. Calista stood only a few feet away from Ludis, clutching a branch like a baseball bat.

  “Drop the stick, Calista,” Ludis roared, his fury edging on madness.

  Great. A stick against a fucking gun. Adam swallowed the bile in his throat.

  “It’s over.” Adam took an angry step forward. Calista’s breathing came in short, raspy breaths. She was scared, but he was damn proud of her for holding her ground.

  “Calista, are you all right?”

  “Peachy,” she hissed, never taking her eyes off Ludis.

  He took another step, but stopped when Ludis fired off a shot, clipping a chunk from the top of the branch.

  “You bastard! You could have hit her.”

  “I said drop the fucking stick. The next one will be between your eyes, Calista.”

  The branch hit the ground. Ludis pivoted and glared at Adam. “Your turn, dear nephew,” he growled, and then yanked Calista by her bandaged elbow hard against his chest.

  “Adam, don’t…”

  Ludis slammed his arm around Calista’s throat and squeezed. He dragged her farther away from Adam. She tripped on something in the dark and almost fell, but he hauled her back up by the throat.

  “Damn it. Let her go! You’re choking her.”

  “I said drop the gun or I’ll snap her pretty little neck.”

  Pure, undiluted hatred made his head spin. “You win,” Adam said, lowering his gun to the ground. “Let her go.”

  “Remove the clip and toss it into the bushes.”

  Adam weighed his options. He still had a knife and a small caliber gun in an ankle holster. Chances of reaching either in time were slim to none.

  He quickly removed the clip and hurled both pieces into the night. He had only one card left to play, and it was going to be a hell of a play. Somehow, he had to reason with a cold-hearted killer.

  “It’s over, Ludis. Just let her go.” He took a couple steps toward them.

  “Give me the fucking disk first.”

  “I never even knew the disk existed until two days ago, and I don’t have it now. Don’t make it worse. Just let Calista go and disappear. It’s your only chance to live past the night.” With his hands in the air, he took another step closer. “All I want is Calista.”

  Ludis’s body trembled, his features distorted with sheer hatred. “And allow you to have everything? Fuck that.”

  As if in slow motion, Ludis’s finger closed in on the trigger. At the same time, Calista jabbed an elbow hard into Ludis’s bandaged shoulder. He let out an animalistic howl and stumbled backward.

  Adam yanked his second gun free. By the time he aimed it, Calista had the limb back in her hands. With the skill of a seasoned baseball player, she swung it at Ludis’s head, connecting wood to skin above his right eye. An instant later, Ludis dropped to the ground, out cold.

  “Calista,” Adam stumbled to his feet as she rushed into his arms, clutching his neck in a death hold. With his arm around her waist, he leaned down and pressed two fingers against the pulse at Ludis’s neck.

  “Is he dead?”

  “No. The bastard is still breathing.” He released her, pulled off his belt and secured Ludis’s arms behind his back. Then he took Calista back into his arms. “It’s over, sweetheart. I got you.”

  His heart drummed between his ears and he clung to Calista with everything he had. Then his lips found hers, and for the first time in years, he allowed the world to slip into oblivion.

  Desire slammed into him along with something new and wild. He took everything she offered, as the overwhelming fear and desperation he carried with him drained from his body.

  Adam broke the kiss and ran his hands down her arms. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

  “My head hit a branch. It hurts a little but it’s just a bump.”

  Twisting her so he could see the back of her head, he ran a gentle hand down her hair until he felt a large lump below her left ear. It was too dark to see the damage, but the bleeding seemed to have stopped.

  “Did you lose consciousness?”

  “Yes, but not from the tree that got in the way of my head. Whatever was on the cloth he held over my mouth knocked me out for a couple minutes. I came to on the trail by the cliff. I’m a little nauseous and have the worst headache ever, but I’m fine.”

  “I heard a scream.”

  Calista covered his mouth with hers, silencing him. The tenderness of the kiss knocked him off balance. She broke away and met his gaze.

  “That was Ludis. What a damn wimp.”

  Adam drew her back into his arms, holding her so tightly, there wasn’t an inch separating them. “I thought… God, Calista.”

  A sob burned in the back of his throat and he couldn’t find the words. Instead, he cradled her head against his chest as tears blurred his vision.

  “I can’t lose you. You understand?” He reached for her hand and placed it against his heart. “You feel the beats?”

  She nodded.

  “One beat is for Anna, the other one is all you.” He wrapped his fingers through her hair. Resting his head on hers, he choked out, “I’m nothing without you.”

  Several male voices and the glaring beams of flashlights erupted from the trees. Before he could get another word out, law enforcement officers surrounded them. Adam tucked his arm around her waist, stepped over the still-unconscious Ludis, and headed across the small clearing.

  One of the men wearing an FBI vest approached him. “Adam Blake?”

  “Yes.”

  “You need to come with us.”

  Adam shoved past him and approached the trail. The man followed, grabbing Adam’s arm.

  “First, I take care of her. Got it?”

  This time the man let him go.

&
nbsp; Calista placed a hand on his cheek. “Seriously, I’m fine, Adam.”

  He slowed his pace. “I’m not letting you out of my sight until a doctor checks out the lump on your head, the cut at your side, the burns, damn it, every inch of you.”

  “But why did that agent treat you like…”

  “Again, you get to be first this time. I’ll explain later.”

  How he was going to do that he hadn’t a clue. Instead, he focused what little energy he had left working his way back down the trail. Noah and Jared met him on the patio

  Jared cleared his throat. “You said call everyone. If there were any other way…”

  “It’s okay. You did the right thing.” He broke eye contact with his brother and wrapped an arm around Calista. “She was the priority.”

  She stepped away from him. “Adam, what’s going on?”

  He pulled her back and held her in his arms, his mind racing to find the right words. No matter how he said it, it will hurt her.

  “The agents are not here just to take Ludis into custody.”

  “I don’t understand. You said it was over. We found the tape and Ludis can’t hurt you anymore. What else is there?” With each sentence, the panic in her voice grew.

  “I haven’t had a chance to view what’s on the disk, but Ludis went to extremes to get his hands on it.” When she tried to interrupt, he held up his hand. “It has to be something of great value. Even before he showed up here, I had planned to turn everything over to my brother, Mac, who works with the FBI.”

  “But that doesn’t have anything to do…”

  “You do understand what it means for me to turn the disk over, right?” He stepped back, keeping his hands on her waist.

  Calista slowly shook her head as everything became clear. Adam tugged her closer and tried to calm his voice. “I was a federal agent who five years ago faked my own death.”

  She inhaled a shaky breath as her eyes darted to the men standing near Jared and Noah. “No, Adam, damn it, we can just leave. Now!”

  “I pretended I was kidnapped by insurgents. The military sent men into the area to rescue me.”

  Calista dropped her arms and stepped back. “But you were protecting Rina and Anna. You didn’t profit from pretending to be dead, right?”

  “It’s still a federal offense. I have a lot to answer for.”

  “Did your brothers turn you in?”

  “This is all on me. There is no way around it, at least not something I can live with.”

  “And what happens to you?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve pissed off a lot of people.”

  “People don’t serve time for pissing someone off.”

  “Yeah, in this case, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

  Tears swam in her eyes and spilled over on her cheeks. “But you’re a father. Anna needs you… I need you.”

  Adam took a deep breath and looked away. “Jared and Jennie will have custody of Anna. I hope you will still be part of her life.”

  A hard fist hit him in the chest, then another and another. Adam captured her hands, eased her back into his arms, and held her while she sobbed.

  Twenty-Three

  Pete’s Diner, Saturday morning.

  * * *

  The small bell over the door of the diner dinged, and Mary and Thomas McNeil strolled through the door. Calista dropped the pen on top of the paper on the counter and planted a smile on her face. As much as she had come to love the McNeils, sometimes it hurt to be with them. A glance into Thomas’s cobalt eyes could bring her to tears because she saw so much of Adam in Thomas.

  Before she could get out a hello, Adam’s father wrapped her in a bear hug. “How are two of my favorite ladies doing?” he asked, releasing her and picking up Anna.

  Anna hugged her grandfather’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. “We’re going to the zoo. I’m all ready.”

  “I thought you invited us to breakfast,” Thomas said, setting Anna back on her feet. He reached inside his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of construction paper. “The zoo invitation mentioned breakfast.”

  Anna hugged Mary, then pointed to the round table in the corner. “That is your table. Eat fast. The animals are out in the morning. If we don’t hurry, they may all be taking a nap.”

  Pete’s rough voice bellowed from the kitchen. “Keep your socks on, young lady,” he said, opening the kitchen door. He balanced four plates in his hands. He set two plates down next to Calista, then carried the others over to the table. He waited until Anna hugged Mary before lifting her onto the stool next to Calista. He handed her a fork. “Eat.”

  Calista took a moment to study Adam’s family. Anna took two bites of her breakfast, bounced off the stool, and helped Pete hand out glasses of orange juice around the table. She had been in high gear ever since she woke up. For a four-year-old, a trip to the zoo was a big deal.

  It had been more than four months since the night she watched Adam arrested by the FBI. Calista didn’t drop a tear, but stood strong, Jared and Noah flanking her side. She couldn’t cry, tears were just messy, burned the back of her throat, and didn’t do a damn bit of good.

  She found solace with Anna. While Anna accepted the changes in her life with the exuberance of a child, she still had moments when the loss of her parents was too much. Calista could only hold her close, encouraging her to share her stories about both Rina and Adam.

  Annija still stayed close, too. Anna didn’t talk about her, but Calista walked into her room when she was speaking to her grandmother, asking her to keep her father safe. If Anna wasn’t going to talk to her about her relationship with Annija, Calista didn’t pry.

  It took time, but Jared, Jennie, and Calista established a routine that seemed to work well for Anna. During the week, Anna lived with Jennie and Jared. Calista would pick her up from daycare on Friday and keep her until Sunday.

  While Anna’s life seemed to have settled into a nice routine, Calista’s day-to-day was at a standstill. She couldn’t get out of her own way, and it was Adam’s fault. He was everywhere―the diner, the grocery store, in her home. Calista couldn’t turn around without sensing him. He lived in her dreams, haunting her night with exotic images of their time together, driving her body crazy with need, until she feared even falling asleep.

  Her heart felt empty, a relentless ache beyond anything she ever felt before. How was she supposed to move on? It seemed impossible.

  But her time for dragging her feet was over. She had a decision to make. An opportunity of a lifetime fell in her lap, and there were only a few hours left before she lost that, too.

  Several months ago, she had sent in an audition tape and an application to teach at a small college outside of Chicago. The position would give her access to amazing performance opportunities, as well as be a great teaching experience. Soon after that offer came in, one of the local high schools lost their orchestra director. The position had to be filled and Calista could begin immediately.

  The local position was perfect because she wouldn’t have to leave Anna. The job in Chicago could give her a breath of fresh air, a new perspective, and the simplest solution for the rut she was in.

  Whichever position she chose, the decision had to be made today. If she didn’t notify the selection committee of the county school board by nine o’clock tomorrow morning, they would offer the position to someone else.

  Anna touched Calista’s knee, pulling her out of her haze. Again, she forced a smile on her face.

  “Please come to the zoo with me, Calista.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “It won’t be fun without you there.”

  “You have six adults at your beck and call. You’re going to have a blast. I’ll be here when you get back.”

  Anna climbed up onto the stool and studied Calista. Her eyes narrowed before she said, “You’re using your fake smile again. If you come with us, you won’t be so sad.” She reached for the sheet of paper in front of Calista and pointed to the name at
the top of one of the two columns.

  “This is my name, Anna.”

  Calista nodded and tried to ease the paper from the child’s hands. Anna held on tight. “And that is Grandpa Pete’s name and Grandpa Thomas, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  Anna looked at Calista. “It’s a list.”

  “I have a problem to solve and it helps me figure out the answer by making a list.” The last thing she wanted was for Anna to worry about her leaving until Calista made the decision.

  “And that’s Daddy’s name on the other side,” Anna said, using her finger to outline Adam’s name. “Why is he all by himself?”

  The question stumped Calista. How in the heck was she supposed to answer?

  The thought brought tears to Calista’s eyes. She turned toward the window and wiped her cheeks with the palm of her hand. Jared and Jennie’s car had just pulled into the parking space. Taking in a cleansing breath, she pulled herself together.

  “Your aunt and uncle just drove up. Don’t you think you should finish Grandpa Pete’s elephant pancake? The zoo is a big place and you’re going to need the energy for all that walking.”

  Anna took a small bite and stared at her while she chewed. After swallowing, she lifted the paper and again pointed to her father’s name. “Why is daddy’s name way over here by himself?”

  “This list is all the wonderful family who live close by.”

  Anna studied the sheet of paper for a long time before she spoke. “So these are all the people you love.”

  Calista smiled. “That’s right.”

  “Does that mean you don’t love my daddy because he’s not here anymore?”

  “Anna…”

  “I would like to know the answer to that question, too,” a deep voice murmured from behind her.

  As Calista’s heart plummeted, Anna shot off her stool into her father’s arms.

  “I knew you were coming home, I just knew it,” Anna cried into Adam’s shoulder.

  Calista didn’t turn around. In fact, she couldn’t move. It was as if every muscle in her body stopped working. But she didn’t have to turn to know that Adam wrapped his arms around his daughter’s small body and held her as tightly as Anna held onto him.