by Maya Banks
reached every one of those dark places and brought light and life to them all.
And afterward, he’d held her while she cried, this time overwhelmed by the realization that she was finally home. She finally belonged. She was finally loved and wholly accepted without conditions, reservations or judgment.
Then he’d made love to her again. And again, until they’d fallen into a light sleep, content to rest in each other’s arms and soak up every minute of the start of something new and special, the first day of their future together and the promise of many tomorrows.
Eliza had awakened first and lay quiet and unmoving as she studied Wade’s handsome features at rest. His face lost the natural harshness that was such a part of his personality and he looked younger, more relaxed and at peace. She could spend hours simply watching him, smug in the knowledge that this beautiful man was hers.
She was loose and limber, completely sated and content. Her eyelids were slowly closing as she surrendered once again to the lure of sleep when the peel of Wade’s cell phone startled her, making her flinch.
Wade came instantly awake, rotating to his other side to reach down and snag his phone.
“Sterling,” he said shortly.
There was a pause as Wade listened to whatever the other person was saying and then Wade’s next words froze her to the bone.
“No. He’s mine. Sit on him. Do not let him out of your sight, and make sure he goes nowhere until I get there. My men will remain here to protect Eliza. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and then swiveled, turning to look at Eliza. She saw the inevitable in his eyes. She’d only heard his side of the conversation, but it was clear what was about to happen. She pushed herself up to her knees, staring at him pleadingly, her heart in her throat.
“Please don’t go, Wade. Don’t do this. Not for me. Let’s just leave. He can’t control me anymore. He is no threat to me. Let’s just go. I’ll go anywhere you want, do anything you ask. I don’t want to lose you,” she said brokenly.
“Come here,” he said quietly.
She scrambled over the bed, launching herself into his arms, clinging desperately to his neck, biting into her lip to staunch the scream that echoed over and over in her heart. He pulled her into his lap and then turned so he was perched on the edge of the mattress, his feet planted on the floor.
He cupped her face and kissed her hard. Fierce. His tongue tangling wildly with hers until his chest heaved from lack of oxygen. Then he pulled away, cradling her face in his hands as he stared intently into her eyes.
“Baby, I can’t let it go,” he said gently. “I’ll never breathe easy if he’s alive and out there. I’ll never allow a threat to you to exist. He damaged you. He hurt you. He made you doubt yourself. For that alone he dies. He took something from you and I’ll be damned if he ever takes you from me. I have to do this, Eliza. I need you to understand that. You know who I am, the kind of man I am. You’ve accepted that part of me that I hope to God never touches you. And after this, nothing ever will. You did what you had to do. I didn’t like it but I understood. It was important to you. Baby, this is everything to me and this is something I have to do. Don’t make me choose between loving and protecting you with my every breath or losing you anyway because you can’t forgive what I have to do.”
She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his, emitting a sigh she knew he would recognize as her acquiescence.
“I love you,” she whispered. “Promise me you’ll come back to me. Swear it, Wade. I can’t lose you. Not when I’ve finally found myself and a man who knows every ugly secret I have and loves me anyway. How can I not do the same for you? Swear to me this doesn’t touch you, doesn’t lead back to you or implicate you in any way because I will not let you take the fall for me,” she said fiercely. “I swear to you, Wade, if this falls back on you I will make a full confession and I will plead guilty and swear under oath that I was the one who killed him.”
Wade’s eyes went soft with so much love that she felt shattered. He stroked her cheek and kissed her lovingly.
“Baby, I don’t say this to freak you out, and after this, I will never talk about anything like this with you again because you’re going to live free and you’re going to live in the light, never in the shadows and I’ll break my back to make you happy and to make sure you live free and in the sun. But I am good at what I do. Not saying I’m proud and I’m not bragging. It just is. I’ve done a lot of shit in my life, shit I will never share with you and I hope that doesn’t hurt you but this is me protecting you and busting my ass to make you happy every day. I will never be implicated, suspected or even considered in the matter of Thomas Harrington’s death. I need you to trust me and I need you to have faith in what I’m telling you. I would never do anything that made it so I’m not with you or that I’m not the man making you smile and laugh and live free. So when I tell you that I’ll be back and that neither me or you will have any suspicions cast our way, I need you to tell me you believe in that.”
There was no way she would ever send the man she loved off on a mission that could get him killed, hurt or jailed worried that she would never be able to accept him for who and what he was. He’d done that for her with no hesitation, no reservations and she could do no less for him.
“I believe in you, Wade,” she said, her voice serious and grave. “I’ll always believe in you. Just be safe and hurry back to me. I’ll be waiting.”
He rose, lifting her from his lap and then setting her back down onto the bed. Then he leaned down and kissed her one last time.
“Love you, baby. This will be over soon and you’ll be free and you’ll never have to worry about him again. I want you looking ahead. Focus on the future. Our future. Let me take care of the present.”
TWENTY-THREE
WADE had only been gone half an hour and Eliza had settled in for a long night. She was tense and anxiety consumed her. She was sick at heart, sick to the depths of her soul over Wade doing what amounted to her dirty work. It was her fault he was on his way to kill a man. For her. She was the one who’d begun the quest for justice. Vengeance. Wade wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t taken it upon herself to play God and dispense justice as she demanded it.
He hadn’t even known what she was planning to do. He’d tracked her down because he was worried, knew she was in trouble and was determined not only to protect her but to shield her from any repercussions of a choice made solely by her.
He was stepping in to clean up her mess. To prevent her from suffering the consequences of her decision. A decision she’d made when she’d been in no state of mind to be making such a drastic resolution. And now Wade would pay the ultimate price. Not her.
Even if he did escape implication, suspicion or God . . . arrest and conviction, he’d still have to live with the knowledge that he’d killed a man in a premeditated act of murder for the rest of his life. And he’d forever have Thomas Harrington’s blood on his hands. Would he eventually come to hate her? Would he later be consumed with regret and guilt. Would he blame her and eventually resent her for putting him in this position to begin with?
She didn’t even make the attempt to go back to sleep though she’d nearly been just that when Wade had gotten the phone call. She was wired for sound and so rigid and tense with fear that her muscles already ached from the strain.
With a resigned sigh, knowing she was facing a long night, she shuffled into the kitchen after pulling on one of Wade’s shirts. It was warm like he was and his scent was all over it. It wasn’t even close to having the real thing, but wearing his shirt, feeling his warmth and smelling him on her gave her a small measure of comfort.
Knowing the last thing she needed was caffeine when she was already so worked up, she opted for a glass of juice and rummaged in the fridge for something to eat, more out of the need to have something to do than any real hunger. After dumping several of the items she’d pulled from
the fridge onto the counter, she reached back to shut the fridge just as her cell phone rang.
She stared at the phone laying next to the sink, a sense of dread settling into the pit of her stomach. Wade had now been gone thirty-five minutes. It was too soon to be hearing from him or any of her guys on surveillance. What if something had gone terribly wrong?
Then realizing she was standing there staring while the phone continued to ring, she lunged for it, not even checking to see who the incoming call was from.
“Hello?” she said, her voice trembling.
“Hello my darling. It’s been far too long since I last heard your voice. I’ve missed it.”
Eliza felt the blood drain rapidly from her face and she felt blindly for one of the barstools behind her, sinking down before her knees buckled and gave out.
“Thomas,” she whispered.
Something wasn’t right. Something was very, very wrong. Dane had called Wade because they’d tagged Thomas and had the residence he was staying in or at least using surrounded and were only waiting for Wade’s arrival before they went in to take Thomas out.
If all of that was so, then how on earth was he on the phone with her and how had he gotten her number?
Or maybe he was calling her from the house Dane and his team were watching. If Wade hadn’t yet arrived or if they simply hadn’t swarmed in and apprehended Thomas then all she had to do was keep him talking, distracted, so it would make Wade’s and Dane’s jobs that much easier.
“I was very disappointed that you didn’t stay to see me after the press conference ended,” Thomas said, annoyance vibrating his voice.
“They hate me,” Eliza said, tempering her voice so she sounded more like the meek, obedient teenager he once knew and nothing like a highly trained security specialist who kicked people’s asses for a living. Trying to sound embarrassed and even sad, she said, “I had to leave while they were absorbed in your wonderful speech. It was risky for me to even go. They’ve made no secret of their hatred and disdain for me since I returned. But I had to see you, Thomas. I had to be there to see you when you were released. I wanted to reassure myself that you were well.”
“I’ve already chosen my next victim,” he said as casually as if they were discussing the weather and completely ignoring or dismissing her response.
She went completely still, her heart thudding painfully against the wall of her chest. She gripped the phone so tightly that her fingertips were as bloodless as her face.
“She’s here with me now,” he continued in a cheerful voice. “You can save her, you know.”
“H-How?”
Eliza began to fervently pray that Thomas was where Dane thought him to be and that at any moment, they would bust in, take Thomas down and save the woman from certain death.
“I’ll trade her for you,” Thomas said, his tone suddenly going completely serious. “All you have to do is come to me and I’ll let her go. I give you my word.”
She wanted to scream at him, to unleash her fury and hatred and wish him to hell. But she couldn’t do anything to risk his ire. If he killed yet another woman because of Eliza, she would well and truly lose her sanity.
“Where?” Eliza choked out. “Tell me where and I’ll come immediately. And, Thomas, if you hurt that woman, I’ll never forgive you.” She injected hurt into her voice, hopefully masking the rage and hatred that boiled and burned like acid in her veins. “I had hoped you had changed during your time in prison,” she added quietly. “That’s why I came. Because I wanted my Thomas back. I can forgive you the past if you swear you’ll never hurt another woman.
“I’m yours, Thomas. I’ve always been yours. But you betrayed me and you hurt me. I need to know I can love you and trust you again. So promise me.”
Thomas was silent but she’d heard his sudden intake of breath, as if she’d completely surprised him and he hadn’t expected her to say any of what she’d said to him.
“I’m sorry, my darling girl,” Thomas said, his tone becoming loving and even contrite. “Please say you’ll come. I’ve changed. I swear to you I have and I’ll make it up to you. I never meant to hurt you. You were the one person I would have never hurt, Melissa. Come to me and I’ll let the woman go. I promise. She means nothing to me but you are my world. You and I will leave this place and go somewhere far away where we can start over. We’ll have a new beginning and be together forever as we were meant to be.”
Eliza shivered because his statement though earnestly voiced sounded ominous and threatening.
“Where?” she asked again, because trepidation had firmly set in along with a sense of impending doom. It had been too long and wherever Dane and Wade were, Thomas was not, which meant Thomas had likely made one of the DSS agents.
“I’ll text you the address,” he said smoothly. “Get here soon, Melissa. I don’t like to be kept waiting.”
“I need a few minutes before I leave,” she said softly. “I want to look nice for you, Thomas. I’m in my nightshirt.”
“You have half an hour.”
The call went dead as he abruptly ended it. Panic and despair hit her like a tidal wave. She stumbled to her feet, barely able to make it into the bedroom. Oh God, she had so little time and she had no idea what she was walking into.
She grabbed clothing from one of the drawers and then selected what weapons she could. Only a few were small enough to be undetectable with what she’d chosen to wear. She slipped them into place and raced back to the kitchen. She couldn’t just take off without leaving Wade a way to find her. Thomas knew more than he was letting on. He’d purposely not given her the address over the phone and had set a time limit that gave her next to no time to do anything but make the drive and she had to figure out how to get past Wade’s men without them knowing.
Helplessness gripped her. She couldn’t call Wade and tell him the situation because if she did, he’d have his men lock her down so fast she wouldn’t know what hit her and then an innocent woman would die. There was no guessing or ifs, ands or buts about it. Thomas had proven many times over that killing was second nature to him. He got off on it, thrived on it.
All she could do was write notes to Wade. And to Dane, just in case she didn’t make it out alive. And then she had to get the hell over to wherever Thomas was holding his victim and pray that Wade would find her in time.
TWENTY-FOUR
WADE slid through the night to where Dane was waiting, anticipation and a keen sense of vengeance racing through his veins. Finally, the bastard would be taken down and Eliza would never have to worry about him again or torture herself over the knowledge that now free, he would resume his sadistic practices.
Most importantly, he would pay for hurting Eliza and putting her through hell for so long.
“Sterling?”
The whisper came from the dark and then Dane appeared, his face set in stone, his stance one of anticipation, mirroring Wade’s own.
“Has he moved?” Wade demanded shortly.
“No. As soon as we followed him here, I set a perimeter around the house and called you. Every man I have is on this. He won’t get past us. What’s your plan?”
“Go in. Take him out. Permanently,” Wade clipped out.
Dane didn’t react to the fact that Wade was going in to kill a man.
“Is Eliza safe?” he asked.
“Yes. My men are guarding her. She’s in a safe house, and like you, I set a tight perimeter around it so no one gets close to her.”
Relief flared in Dane’s eyes. “You ready to get this over with? Your call. We’ll cover. You do what you need to do.”
There was no judgment or condemnation in Dane’s eyes. In fact, he looked disappointed that he would have no part in taking Harrington out, but he didn’t argue and Wade respected him for that.
“Appreciate that,” Wade said quietly. “Let’s roll. Have your men converge and when we have all potential exit points covered, I’m going in. I’d like you to go in with me and have my back.�
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Dane nodded. “Done. No question.”
They moved stealthily toward the house. The lights were on in seemingly every room. Arrogant bastard. But it would make Wade’s job easier and the sooner he took care of the problem, the sooner he could get back to Eliza and take her home.
They paused at one of the side entrances that opened into the kitchen until Dane received confirmation that all his men were in place.
“Go time,” Dane said grimly. “Let’s do this.”
Wade tried the knob and to his surprise the door was unlocked. He and Dane slipped inside, weapons up as they scanned the interior and listened for any betraying noise that would give away Harrington’s location.
The distant sound of a television was the only discernible noise. Wade motioned for Dane to take one side while Wade took the other as they slowly moved through the house. The kitchen was empty and they checked the small laundry room off the kitchen before moving quietly into the dining room.
The house wasn’t huge and Dane’s recon had reported two bedrooms, a living room, dining room and kitchen so the only places Harrington could be were the living room or one of the bedrooms.
They paused just outside the living room, pressed to the wall next to the open doorway. Carefully, Wade eased around, taking in every inch of space in the living room where the television was on.
There was a couch and two chairs but otherwise unfurnished. It was an open space with no areas someone could hide, which meant he had to be in one of the bedrooms. Wade’s pulse accelerated as he closed in on his prey.
I’ve got you, you bastard. You will pay for all the hurt and damage done to Eliza.
The first bedroom was obviously a guest room as it was small and like the living room unfurnished. There wasn’t even a closet or a bathroom someone could hide in. There was only one remaining place, the master bedroom, and he had to temper his urge to burst in and make Harrington suffer like he’d made Eliza suffer and those women he’d brutally murdered. Never again. His reign of terror ended tonight.
The master bedroom was closed so he and Dane stood on either side of the door and Wade held up his fingers to count to three. When he reached three, Dane kicked the door open, shattering the wood, while Wade dropped low so all bases would be covered. They swarmed into the room doing a sweep with their guns only to find the room . . . empty.
Wade stormed into the bathroom but as with the rest of the house, no one was there. His stomach clenched and sweat formed on his forehead. Something wasn’t right about this entire situation.
“Radio your men. Have them report in. They had to have seen something. He couldn’t have vanished into thin air.”
Dane barked orders and demands into his mouthpiece, his expression growing darker and darker with every passing second. Fury blazed in his eyes but worse, Wade saw abject fear reflected in the other man’s gaze.
“Tell me,” Wade barked.
“Goddamn it!” Dane roared. “Nothing! We have nothing. We followed him here, watched him go inside. His vehicle is still here but that’s the last anyone has seen of him. Not a single one of my men detected movement, saw him leave, and, Sterling, regardless of what you may think, my men are the best. They don’t fuck up. Especially when it comes to safeguarding one of our own. He had to have had an escape route and he had to have planned this well in advance because he did not just walk out of here or we would have known it.”
“Shit,” Wade hissed. “Shit, shit, shit!”
Then he went rigid, terror seizing his heart.
“It was a fucking setup. It was a goddamn fucking setup. Somehow he tagged one of us or maybe he’s just a paranoid, cautious motherfucker. But he planned this well in advance and took into account every possibility and then made certain he had a solution.”
He yanked his phone from his pocket and dialed Eliza’s number.
Please be there, baby. Please answer. Please be okay.
But it went straight to voicemail, which meant she either didn’t have service, it was powered down or had been destroyed.
His hands shaking so badly that he could barely manage to operate his phone, he hit the contact button for his team leader. Jones answered on the first ring.
“Where’s Eliza?” Wade demanded.
“She’s still in the house, sir. We have every angle covered and every possible vantage point. We’d know if she left.”
Yeah, yeah. He’d heard that just minutes ago when Dane had made the same assurances.
“I want a visible confirmation,” Wade said in an icy tone. “Get the hell in the house now. I want you to be looking at her when you tell me she’s still in the house.”
“On it,” Jones said shortly.
Wade held the phone to his ear, each second an eternity as he waited for his man to tell him Eliza was safe and accounted for. He heard the door open, heard Jones’s footsteps. Then they stopped. Then they began again. What the fuck was taking so long? The house wasn’t that big.
“Fuck!” Jones said explosively.
Wade’s heart bottomed out and he closed his eyes, dreading what Jones would say next.
“Tell me,” Wade said lifelessly, dread encompassing his soul.
“She’s not here, man,” Jones said, worry and anger edging his voice. “I have no idea how the fuck she got by us. She left two sealed envelopes on the counter. One with your name and one with Dane’s name.”
“You have got to be shitting me!” Wade exploded. “How the fuck could you let this happen?”
“We had the entire house cased,” Jones said grimly. “But your girl is good. You know that. She’s trained.”
“Get the goddamn letters and meet us in town. Now!” Wade barked.
“Tell me where and we’ll be there double time.”