Facing Fire

by HelenKay Dimon

  He broke records ripping his pants off. He shoved the jeans down. Stood up only long enough to step out of his boxer briefs and grab a condom. Kicked the material to the side. The mattress dipped under his knee as he fit his body between her legs again. He crawled up, not stopping for foreplay. This was about getting lost in her body. In her.

  Then he was on her. Their bodies slid over each other and the friction had him gasping. When she lifted those knees and skimmed her hands down his back to cup his ass, his brain turned to mush. He went wild. His hands toured all over her. Everywhere his fingers touched, his mouth followed. He couldn’t get close enough or taste enough.

  “I need to be inside of you.” All thoughts of touching and lingering over the moment fell away. Need drove him. With a burst of force, he ripped the packet open and almost sent the condom flying. He let her roll it on while he traced a finger over her and sent a silent thank-you that she was as hot and ready to go as he was.

  He lowered his body, and his chest rubbed over hers. With his hands hooked under her knees, he lifted her legs. Angled her body with his. And when he entered her he nearly sighed in relief. Every muscle grabbed on to him and her body tightened around his.

  He wanted to sink in and stay there but his lower half had other ideas. He started to move. Felt the bite of her fingernails against his back.

  God, he wanted this. Needed her.

  She licked the outline of his ear. He felt her shiver even as his insides thumped. Whatever smoothness he usually had failed him. He pressed in deep, then retreated. Increased his speed as his body begged for more. When she tightened against him, he lost it. He pumped into her, desperate to merge with her in some way.

  The bed frame shook. He heard a scrape against the floor when the thrusts moved the bed’s legs. He ignored it all and concentrated on the warmth of her body and comforting hold of her arms.

  Her mouth moved under his. The kiss consumed him. Her body pulsed. When she pressed her head back into the pillow, he let go of the last of his control. He came on a groan with his face tucked in her shoulder. It took another minute for the shaking to stop and his breathing to settle into a normal beat. Even after, his muscles wouldn’t stop trembling.

  That could only be described as a frenzied taking. Not his finest performance, but satisfaction hummed through him. He knew he should get up, or at least shift his weight off her. He had work to do and a hunt for Benton to conduct. All those tasks waited right there and all he wanted to do was hold her tighter and close his eyes.

  “You okay?” She kissed his cheek.

  He was starting to think he’d never be okay again. And without her . . . he couldn’t even imagine that right now. “I will be. I have to be.”

  “Not with me.”

  He lifted his head and looked down at her. “You amaze me.”

  “Right now I just want to hold you.”

  “Sounds good.” And for the first time in his life, it did.

  24

  SUTTON’S BODY still hummed hours later. She leaned back against the breakfast bar in the kitchen and watched them all work. The usual buzz and back-and-forth were gone. No one moved. No one talked. It was as if they made a silent agreement not to mention Harlan or Benton or the constant emotional and physical battering of the last twenty-four hours. Just thinking about those frenetic moments reminded her of how fragile their lives were right now.

  Tasha walked in the back door from checking on Frederick. Her medical friends, and Sutton still wasn’t sure who they were, had saved Frederick. They didn’t discuss his condition. Only said he was alive and would be ready for questioning soon.

  In the meantime, he stayed strapped down and locked down in a makeshift hospital room in what used to be the barn. Even if he managed to slide off the bed, motion sensors and the video Ellery had set up to watch him would cover his attempted escape.

  “There was a bomb in the terminal. More than one actually.” Tasha spoke as if she read from a report. “They would have taken down the airport and killed thousands. The claim about the one in the van was a lie.”

  “To draw you out,” Mike said.

  “Right. Ellery?” Those were all the details Tasha offered before moving the conversation on.

  “From what I can put together the auction stopped before anyone won or the Alliance information could be disbursed.”

  Tasha frowned. “I’d prefer a more definite answer.”

  “Truth is, Benton has the intel and can sell at any time.” Mike had set up next to Ellery. They talked and passed papers back and forth. Now he leaned back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head.

  Josiah stopped typing. “And he’ll do it soon unless his customers are placated by the use of the vest and what they saw on the video.”

  Sutton’s gaze roamed over him. Their earlier frantic lovemaking likely scared him but it gave her hope. Felt life-affirming in a way. Under the gun and the bluster lay the beating heart of a man. A man who’d seen horrible things and made a terrible choice. The right one, but one that would plague him. It would haunt her, but she feared it might destroy him.

  “Sutton’s information tied everything together.” Ellery turned around one of the laptops in front of her for the rest of the people at the table to see. Photos and articles filled the screen. “Here is everything we have on Ronald Kirn, the man who started it all.”

  Sutton moved closer and tried to see whatever Ellery saw. Without her glasses the print looked tiny but she noticed the dark hair. An objectively attractive but not really handsome man. Normal. Like men she saw in office buildings in Baltimore all the time. But he had turned out to be the one guy you didn’t cross. Police or not, messing with him had cost her mother her life. Her mind raced on but Sutton tried to shut it down.

  “And here is Rick.” Ellery kept typing. “Now add some pounds, a lot of scarring, and probably a bit of surgery, and you get Benton.”

  Sutton filled in the rest. “International terrorist and the most wanted man on the planet.”

  “Rick was a guy who blended in.” Ellery tapped a few more keys and the photos changed. Benton, a younger nonscarred version, filled the screen. “A financial genius who worked behind the scenes and never took credit. He went on a hike and fell to his death. There were witnesses and the case was closed.”

  Tasha sighed. “And Benton was born. I’d guess he left the country with a new identity. With material, money, contacts, business savvy, and a head full of revenge.”

  Mike nodded. “Apparently.”

  Sutton wanted to sit down, walk around . . . throw Benton off a cliff. All these deaths, all the destruction, tied back to a greedy businessman who took over his brother’s terrorism trade. It seemed so simple, yet she could see how it worked so perfectly. No one would suspect. He didn’t stick out.

  Her case merged with theirs. One man. So much death.

  “There’s more.” Ellery glanced at Mike and he nodded before she started speaking again. “Two of the FBI agents involved in Ronald’s death also are dead, along with their families.”

  A winding started deep in Sutton’s stomach. “I tried to connect those dots and no one at the FBI would listen.”

  Benton wrecked lives. He got angry and took it out on everyone. Went after what you loved. A chair scraped against the floor. She heard mumbling but the room blurred. She was thrown back into those days. Her mom’s boss coming to get her. All the questions, and the coworkers who talked about how great her mom was. All that pain and the draining sense of loss. It backed up on her now.

  “You okay?” Josiah whispered the question against her cheek.

  “Would you be?” Reality hit her. He did know this kind of pain and shock. She rushed to explain. “Sorry, I just . . .”

  “It’s okay.” He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

  The sweetness of the moment mixed with the news she thought she’d never hear—that someone believed her. That there was a way to solve it all. The knowing felt good
but part of her wanted to plunge her body into a scalding shower and wash it all away.

  “Benton has had a lot of years to reinvent himself.” Tasha put her thigh on the edge of the table and leaned in. “To stoke his rage.”

  Mike nodded. “It’s been said before but he’s pure fucking evil.”

  “Agreed.” A firm resolve had moved back into Josiah’s voice. Confidence flooded him and filled the rom. “And Harlan . . .”

  “We are doing this for him. The rest of this.” Tasha swept her hand across the room. “For Sutton’s mother and Harlan and for every other person trapped by Benton. Harlan died so that we could solve this and we will.”

  Sutton’s heart thundered in her chest. Part of her still didn’t believe Harlan was gone. She waited for him to walk in. “Did he have family?”

  Tasha nodded. “He did, and we will honor him with a service later. Right now we need to do this for him.”

  “We can’t get sidetracked.” Mike looked at Josiah as he talked.

  “Revenge first. Mourn later.” It sounded as if the words were ripped out of him.

  Sutton felt a new wave of sadness. It threatened to drag her under, but Tasha was right. Now was the time for strength.

  “Go question Frederick.” Tasha folded her hands together. Looked calm while her voice rang with fierceness. “Wake him up and do whatever you need to do. I want to know exactly where we find this piece of garbage and we’re going to dispose of him once and for all.”

  “Ooh-rah.”

  Josiah looked at Mike. “You weren’t a marine.”

  He shrugged. “If the chant fits.”

  The room buzzed with a renewed energy. The costs of this operation had been so high. An hour ago they seemed demoralized, as if they had to push themselves to keep going. Now an adrenaline shot replaced the pounding tension.

  Josiah stepped in front of her, shoulders back and that determined expression on his face. “I know this is a shock.”

  “Get him.” Yeah, that was the right answer. It rolled through her, and her belief grew with every second. They needed to end this. “Leave nothing behind.”

  He stared at her with wide eyes filled with appreciation. “What?”

  “Honestly, put a bullet in his head and stop the world’s misery.” She tried to swallow. Fought back the tears. “For Harlan.”

  He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Mike, you’re with me.”

  “I like her,” Ellery said.

  Mike laughed as he got up to follow. “So does he.”

  Sutton heard the banter and it comforted her. They worked best when they pushed each other. And she needed them at their best.

  “Josiah?” Tasha called out right before Josiah stepped outside. “No loose ends.”

  He nodded. “None.”

  Frederick woke with a start. A shot of adrenaline did that to a guy.

  He moved his arms and metal clanked against metal. He shifted and winced. Probably pulled stitches, or so Josiah hoped. He watched Frederick glance down his body then jerk. Josiah bit back a smile at the reaction. He thought the bomb vest was a nice touch. Whatever it took.

  “Hello.” Mike put a hand on Frederick’s pillow. “Yeah, unfortunately for you, you’re not dead.”

  “But you are wearing our version of the bomb vest.” This one didn’t contain any explosives or hook to his heartbeat but it sure as hell looked real. Josiah had to give Mike credit for fake bomb building.

  Frederick shook his head. “You won’t.”

  “He underestimates us.” Mike looked at Josiah.

  “Apparently.”

  Frederick tried to move his arms. When they didn’t go anywhere a second time, he flopped back on the bed. “You need me.”

  They did but Josiah didn’t care if they never heard a word from this guy. The ending would be the same either way. “For what?”

  “To get to Benton.”

  Mike shrugged. “We found him before, we’ll find him again.”

  The guy did disinterested better than anyone Josiah knew. He had that laidback country boy act that he dragged out now and then. It worked here. A touch of farmer with an edge that said he’d shoot without thinking twice.

  “He is going to sell your private information.” Frederick looked back and forth between him. His voice stayed calm but a frantic energy thrummed off him.

  “Which is the only reason we brought you back to life.” And that was the truth. Josiah didn’t care if the guy lived two seconds, but he would live those two seconds so that he could be questioned. Since he looked like hell he might actually only have two seconds, so Josiah got to the point. “You have two options.”

  “No.” Frederick smiled. He clearly thought he had the advantage.

  Mike leaned on Frederick’s shoulder until the man’s mouth dropped open and he whimpered. “Now, just listen.”

  “You are either going to tell me where Benton is or I’m going to flip this switch.” Josiah slipped the fake trigger to the fake bomb out of his pocket and held it.

  “You won’t do it.” Frederick’s confidence grew with each word. “You’re the good guys.”

  Josiah had always found the line between good and bad to be a little fuzzy, especially right now. “Really?”

  “I prefer this game.” Mike took the gun from behind his back and checked the clip. Before Frederick could say anything, Mike fired and Frederick jumped at the click. “You won round one.”

  He tried to shift on the bed and move farther away from Mike and the weapon pointed at his head. “You’re insane.”

  “Are you starting to see the problem here?” Josiah asked.

  “Me dead gets you nothing.”

  He must have pulled something because a splotch of red spread on the sheet right below the edge of the bomb vest. Josiah had no intention of calling the medics back in. None. “Satisfaction.”

  “A shitload of that.” Mike fired again and another click sounded in the room.

  “Are you the one who beat up our friend Harlan?” Josiah leaned in close enough to see the guy sweat. To see those dead eyes dart around in panic. So much for all that training. “Nothing to say, Frederick?”

  Mike aimed the gun again and fired. With each shot, Frederick grew jumpier. The blood wet the sheet now and all the thrashing around caused scrape marks on his wrists.

  Time to bring this to a close. “You’ve had training. We appreciate that.”

  Mike nodded. “Yep.”

  “But you also know when you’ve lost. Did they teach you that in your scary German intelligence classes?” Never mind that this guy failed to make the grade. That he was so fucking scary the black-ops guys didn’t want him.

  “Maybe not.” Mike sat on the edge of the bed, causing Frederick to shift, which made him hiss as the color drained from his face.

  “I’m going to take a play from Benton’s book. Give you a one-time offer. You tell me where he is right now and we let you go. We’ll give you twenty-four hours to scramble away. You can go back and be Benton’s lapdog.”

  Mike snorted. “But the guy did leave you to die. Have some pride.”

  “Good point.” Josiah pressed on the mattress and Frederick rolled closer. “Where? There’s no reason to have any loyalty to him. We take him out, and if you figure out how to survive this you can claim his kingdom.”

  Frederick stilled. He went from looking haunted and on the verge of screaming to listening.

  Mike must have sensed it, too, because he picked up the thread. “You’re the one dealing with the customers anyway. Why not be in charge?”

  Frederick shook his head. “You’ll hunt me down.”

  “Oh sure.” Mike actually petted his gun.

  “That’s our job. But Benton evaded everyone for years. You’ll have your chance.” Josiah thought that sounded reasonable. “If you’re smarter than he is, you’ll be fine. If you stay out of our way and off our radar, you’re good.”

  “We’re giving you an option that doesn’t include a bullet in
your brain or your body being ripped into tiny pieces,” Mike pointed out.

  Josiah saw the blood and watched the heart rate monitor. This guy needed serious medical attention or this was it. “You have two seconds.”

  “Look.” Mike aimed the gun again. “You know I’ll do it, right? And there is a bullet in here. I promise you that.”

  Frederick closed his eyes. For a second, Josiah thought they’d lost him. That they’d pushed the sick guy too far.

  Then he whispered. “Ronda.”

  That didn’t sound right. “Spain?”

  “That’s a bit cheery for Benton, isn’t it?” Mike asked.

  Frederick reeled off what sounded like an address. He could hear Ellery typing through the comm. They’d been listening in and now they’d go to work. He needed minutes only. He was about to play with Frederick some more when Ellery came back on the line and said she’d confirmed the address and was checking footage. Josiah didn’t know what that meant but the speed impressed him.

  Now to finish this.

  “We’re good.” He glanced at Mike, then back to Frederick. “Sounds like we have a deal.”

  Frederick settled back into the mattress. “When will you let me go?”

  “If we untie you now you’ll pass out.” Mike took out the clip and slammed it back in again.

  Frederick was too busy looking at the sheet covering him. “I need a doctor.”

  “Yeah, you do.” Mike held the gun at his side.

  Josiah would let Mike have this one. He’d had unloaded his weapon one time too many in the last few hours. The last time took out a good man who deserved better and he wouldn’t follow Harlan’s sacrifice with a bullet for this piece of garbage. “I’ll leave you to recuperate.”

  “Wait.” Frederick frowned as his back came off the bed.

  “Right.” Josiah held on to the door handle as he glanced over his shoulder at Frederick. “Just one thing. We can’t give you twenty-four hours to run. You have more like two seconds. Mike?”