by Vella Day
Then an idea surfaced. Sarah dropped to the ground again and kicked the broken slat hard. It splintered. Yes!
As she lifted her legs to kick again, a stream of fire slid under the cart a few feet from the wall. Hurry!
Smoke billowed around the edges and her throat clogged. With the gag in her mouth, she was losing strength fast.
Keep kicking the wall.
Sarah’s vision blurred and her head swam, but she pictured her two men, and a trickle of strength returned. She jammed her feet against the weak board again, and the slat broke free. Just as she flipped over to assess the size of the hole, more wood cracked and her heart sputtered. The growls and cries from the fight going on behind her would hopefully cover the ripping of the boards.
Suddenly, Riley’s face peered in at her through the broken wall, and tears of joy streamed down her face. The large gash at his throat had her sobering. As much as she wanted him to seek some first aid, knowing him, Riley wouldn’t until she was free. Her love bloomed.
A second set of hands belonging to Jay tore off another board. They were both there. This was too good to be true.
Riley held up a finger to his lips as if to tell her not to make any noise. She nodded as he half-lifted, half-dragged her through the hole in the wall. Seconds later the gag disappeared as did all of the restraints. She wanted to hug both of them and kiss them everywhere, but they’d insist they needed to get out of there. Smoke poured from the hole and flames licked their way a few feet away.
“Can you walk?” Jay whispered.
“I’ll try.” The men helped her up. She’d taken no more than two steps when the scrambling and growls disappeared from around front. “What happened?”
Riley wrapped an arm around her waist. “I think Statler’s men lost.”
She hoped that was true.
“I’ll check around front to be sure,” Jay said. He then took off.
Sarah faced Riley. “Statler shot the General in the heart, but he continued to fight. How was that possible?” The drugs must have made her see things.
“I don’t know. Maybe he wore a vest.”
She’d seen blood—or had it come from a packet? Now wasn’t the time to discuss theatrics. Riley led her farther away from the building.
Just as they rounded the corner, Jay returned. “It’s safe. Our men are heading into the barn.”
She grabbed his hand. “I know how much taking down Statler means to you. Do you want to go in and help?”
He smiled. “You are an amazing women, but you’re more important to me than a grudge. If the General needs help, I’m sure Ford and Tyson will lend a hand.”
Her knees buckled and she sagged against Riley. A second later, he swooped her up in his arms. “Let’s get you home.”
* * *
Statler was a better fighter than Armand had expected, but he wasn’t good enough to win this fight. The shot to the chest had taken its toll and had given Statler the advantage, but only until Armand had time to recover. It didn’t help that he was worried about Sarah. The flames were licking their way up the cart and the air was making it hard to breathe. When he’d heard the boards crack, he glanced over. That moment of distraction allowed Statler to gouge out a huge chunk from his leg.
Fuck. Armand growled and circled his foe. Taking the time to rest was not an option. No matter if he bit the man’s face or side, it wouldn’t be enough to take him down for good. It was rip out his throat or die.
Statler charged. Armand’s military training kicked in and he blocked out the pain in his chest. Armand leapt in the air and Statler followed suit. They met head to head and then landed with a thud. Paws swiping and teeth gnashing, blood spurted everywhere. With a twist of his head, Armand managed to grab hold of the side of Statler’s neck.
Before his teeth dug in far enough to kill, Statler’s incisor’s grabbed a chunk of skin on Armand’s neck. This was it. He had seconds. Armand opened his mouth wide and clamped down hard.
Statler faltered and twisted to the side, but Armand wouldn’t let go. His foe’s nails dug into his wounded leg, and the pain almost blinded him, but his hatred ran too deep.
The more Statler fought, the weaker he became. When the man’s front legs gave out, Armand twisted his head hard, taking Statler’s throat with him. The man who’d plagued him for so long, collapsed. He was dead.
Armand let go of the chunk of meat in his mouth and dropped. Feet surrounded him and hands helped him.
“You did it, sir. You fucking did it.”
Armand closed his eyes. He was sure he had a smile on his face.
* * *
After a long shower last night, Jay and Riley had patched up her wrists and ankles and put her to bed where Sarah enjoyed being cocooned between them. Even though she’d wanted to make love with them to take away the horror of the day, the men insisted she needed to rest. As much as she liked a noble man, they sure picked a crappy time to be moral.
In the morning, she awoke to fresh coffee and some rolls. When she sat up, her purse was on the table next to her food. Connolly must have returned it to her men. She looked around and was disappointed that neither Jay nor Riley was there.
Hmm. She slipped out of bed and found the note they’d left for her on the table. It stated that the General had asked for a debriefing meeting at some safe house. They would have invited her, but not only did they not want to wake her, it was a business meeting, and she wasn’t a member of the Pack. With Statler and most of his men dead, they said she’d be safe, but to keep the door locked until they returned.
Well darn. It was after eleven and she was starving despite having munched the rolls and lukewarm coffee. At noon, her cell rang and she answered quickly, thinking it was Riley or Jay. “Hello?”
“Sarah, it’s Bill.” She hadn’t heard from her boss in weeks. They had both agreed that any kind of contact might jeopardize the case.
She sank back against the chair. “Hi. It’s good to hear your voice.” Not really, but he liked his ego stroked.
“I heard congratulations are in order. The General contacted me and told me Paul Statler was dead and all of the women were now safe.”
“I’m still not believing it’s over.”
“When will you be able to get back to Washington? We’ll need to debrief you.”
With the traumatic events of yesterday, returning home had been pushed to the back of her mind. “As soon as I can get to Toronto and catch a flight.”
“Great. Looking forward to seeing you.”
Sarah hung up and should have been excited about returning to the hustle and bustle of Washington, only she wasn’t. Not that she didn’t like visiting the wonderful museums and taking advantage of all the great restaurants, but it meant she’d be leaving Jay and Riley. Even if she wanted to see if the three of them had a chance of a life together, her job required her to be on assignment much of the time.
Once at the office, Bill Hampton would ask her a ton of questions then have her fill out an insane number of forms. After she spilled her guts about all that had gone down, he’d assign her another job where she might have to do things she wouldn’t be proud of.
I should just quit.
She’d been tempted to do so many times during this last job, but these women had needed her. With her help—along with a lot of other dedicated men—she’d provided valuable intel that resulted in their freedom. Could she give that up? Her father would be devastated if she did, but her heart might break if she didn’t.
She dropped back on the bed and closed her eyes. Dragging a hand over her face, she pictured asking the men if she could move to Gulfside, Florida where she’d…do what? Work as a waitress? Her degree in philosophy wouldn’t have employers knocking on her door, and while she had taken many courses in health care so that she could pull off this latest undercover job, she didn’t have a degree in nursing.
Sarah sat up and swung her legs over the side. Her wrists and ankles were sore from the ropes, but those wounds w
ould fade. Her heart, however, was another matter. Yes, Jay and Riley claimed they wanted her, but once they left for another assignment, they’d probably forget about her. As fantastic as her experience with them had been, they’d only known each other a short period of time, and it took more than a harrowing experience to form a solid relationship.
Perhaps with some distance, she’d figure out what to do. Right now, she needed to pack. After purchasing her airline tickets, she’d hug them goodbye and leave. Or would it be better to just go now? She checked outside the room and spotted her car. Her dear sweet men had retrieved it from the clinic. God, this was so damn hard.
* * *
“If we ask Sarah to stay, what do you think she’ll say?” Riley asked as he and Jay slid into their rental truck and headed back to the motel.
Ever since they’d left this morning, Riley hadn’t been able to keep his mind off the whole idea that Sarah would be heading back to Washington without him. The General had asked him to be a member of the Pack and he’d agreed. To make it official, all he needed to do was call his office and resign.
“She’ll say she has to debrief in Washington. You know that.”
“Yes, but what about afterward?”
Jay shrugged. “That’s a tough call. I’ve told her how I feel, but you’ve been distant—especially last night.”
Riley glanced out the window. After they’d brought her back after the kidnapping, he’d withdrawn. Turning down her request to make love had been the hardest thing in the world, but touching her intimately one more time before losing her, would have devastated him. “I didn’t say anything because I was scared.” He glanced at Jay. “There. I admitted it. Happy?”
His shoulders slumped. “We’re all scared of being hurt, but get over it. The question is whether you love her enough to chance the pain of rejection.”
“I do. At least I think I do.”
Jay gripped the wheel tighter. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Acid burned a hole in his gut. “It means I don’t know what love feels like. I might be in love if it means I can’t stop thinking about her, my dick throbs at night when I’m not sticking it in her, and I want to spend the rest of my life protecting her.”
Jay laughed. “Well, except for your crude description of making love with Sarah, I’d say you nailed the definition of love.”
“If I tell her I love her, do you think she’ll stay?”
Jay glanced over at him. “How about we give her a few days to mull it over? We need to come up with a way for her to move to Florida. We can easily afford to support her, but Sarah’s not the type to sit around and knit.”
“No. Sarah is like us. She needs to be useful.”
Jay nodded. “You know what really sucks?”
A lot of things did. “What?”
“We never asked her what she’d do if she no longer worked for the Bureau.”
“I suggested she work for the General and she laughed, pointing out she wasn’t one of us.”
“That might be to her advantage.”
“I told her that.” Riley dropped his head back. “We are a real pair. Perhaps Sarah would be better off without us—or rather me.” Jay slammed on his brakes, propelling Riley forward, and he had to brace himself from flying into the dashboard. “What the fuck did you do that for?” He hadn’t seen an animal dart in front of the truck.
Jay faced him. He didn’t seem to care that anyone could round the corner and slam into them. “If you don’t stop your pity party and start acting like a man who wants Sarah, then I don’t want to be around you. Just so you know, I plan to pursue her. Can I be sure I’ll win her heart? Fuck no, but I’m going to try. Why? Because I’m her mate and I’m worthy of her love. If you can’t see further than your childhood circumstances then good riddance.”
Riley was unable to respond, mostly because he was pissed—pissed what Jay said was true, and pissed that he had sunk to a new low. “Fine.”
“What does fine mean?” Jay’s lips were pinched and his brows furrowed.
“For my future happiness, I will permanently ban all pity from my life.”
Jay glanced at the ceiling and pressed the gas pedal. “You better, but we have to let her go back to Washington, first.”
“I realize that, but we can’t give her too much time. We don’t want her to take on another assignment.”
“Trust me, she won’t.”
Jay knew something. “Tell me.”
“I put a bug in the General’s ear about hiring her.”
All of a sudden, the sky looked brighter. “What did he say?”
“He said he’d think about it.”
“That’s all we can ask. At least it gives us options,” Riley said, more upbeat than he had been in hours. Jay pulled into the motel parking lot, but Sarah’s car wasn’t where he’d parked it. The anxiety he’d just pushed aside surfaced. “Where do you think Sarah went?”
Jay’s hand clutched the wheel tight as he pulled to a stop in front of the room. “Let’s check.”
They rushed into the room where her scent was so strong, it was as if she’d only left recently, and the animal in him wanted to claw at something.
Jay strode over to the table. “It’s a note from Sarah.” His voice trailed off.
Riley stepped up next to him and read it. “She left? Just like that? Maybe we should try to catch up with her. If she’s heading for Toronto, how far could she have gotten?”
Jay faced him. “We have to let her go.”
“I’m not sure I can.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
By the time Sarah actually made it to the Toronto airport, her gut had been tied in knots even a Boy Scout couldn’t undo. She hadn’t been in a hurry to rush back to Washington, so she’d taken two days to drive across Ontario. Already a mess when she climbed on the plane, by the time she landed at National Airport, claustrophobia and melancholy had settled in.
I’m a professional. Suck it up.
After that quick pep talk, she caught a cab to her apartment, expecting some relief and joy to wash over her when she stepped into her familiar surroundings, but it didn’t. She couldn’t push aside that sinking feeling that she’d messed things up by not saying goodbye properly to the men. The problem was that if she’d made love with them one more time, she might never have left, or leaving would have been exponentially more painful.
Right now, Sarah was so confused she didn’t know what to do. Her logical side convinced her the short time the three of them had been together, coupled with the adrenaline rush and hot sex, was playing a mind game on her. She couldn’t possibly love these men. Hell, she barely knew them. It had to have been all their talk of her being their mate—that they’d do everything in their power to protect her—that had her believing she wanted a forever after with them.
When they’d saved her not only from a burning building but also from Statler, she believed she might have misconstrued her appreciation for love. She pressed her palms against her temples to stop the pain, but her head throbbed too much to think clearly about whether they rescued her out of duty or because she was the most important person in the world to them.
Regardless of her future plans, she needed to shower and head into work. The next few days would be hell, but perhaps it would give her time to figure things out.
* * *
Jay had worked hard these last few days to calm Riley down. His roommate had wanted to fly up to Washington and kidnap Sarah, but Jay convinced him she needed her space.
He and Riley were back in Gulfside when the General called them into his office. Jay sat across from Armand’s desk while Riley paced in front of the window.
“After some consideration, I’ve decided Sarah would make a great addition to the team,” General Armand announced. He glanced over at Riley. “When Jay mentioned I hire her, I started to think of all the things she could accomplish that none of my men could.”
Riley spun around, tension consuming his features. �
��That’s great. Have you called and offered her the job?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Jay groaned. Riley should know better than to question his new boss. “Because,” Jay interrupted, “I asked him not to.”
Riley growled and looked as if he might attack. “Why the fuck not?”
“If Sarah moved down here, we’d never know if it was because of the job or because she wanted to be with us.” Of late, Riley hadn’t been open to this type of logic.
He narrowed his eyes. “How do we convince her she wants to be with us, oh wise one?”
Jay didn’t miss the sarcasm. “We’ve given her five days to come to her senses. She hasn’t called, which either means she doesn’t think we really want her, or she can’t afford to quit her job.” It might not be prudent to air their issues in front of the General, but given what they’d all been through, having him there as a sounding board might help.
Riley scrubbed a hand down his chin. “We can’t wait too long or she might be sent out on another assignment.”
The General cleared his throat. “Actually, out of courtesy, I called Bill Hampton to let him know I was interested in her. While he wasn’t happy, he said if that was what Sarah wanted, he’d give her his blessing to come here. Bill told me he’d give me ten days to offer her the job. It’s been five already, so you two need to do your magic and convince her to move here.”
For the first time in a long time, Riley smiled. He then saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Jay stood. “Okay then. Let’s go home and pack.” He faced the General. “Do you happen to have her home address?”
“Thought you’d never ask.” He handed him a piece of paper from his desk with not only flight information but how to find their mate.
Riley nabbed the paper and studied it. “We can catch the four o’clock flight, no problem.”
Jay chuckled. “Assuming there are seats available.”
“I’ll pay someone to give up his seat if need be.”