Angel in the Shadows

by Amy Deason

  She finally took his hand and he jerked her up, ignoring the pain shooting across her face. Shrugging off his jacket, he pulled it around her roughly, not even bothering with gentleness. He yanked her along, leading her deeper into the alley to the car he had waiting. It was a very good thing she didn’t try to fight him or else he might not have been able to contain his anger. That would be a mistake and he’d already made far too many since she’d come into the picture. Mistakes that could have been avoided if he’d just followed Charlie’s orders. Well, he’d put himself in this situation, he’d just have to get himself out.

  This was becoming a nightmare. And for what? A stupid woman? Robert Sutton had been gunned down in the street and now his killer lay lifeless in the alleyway. Seth hadn’t minded killing Andre. He deserved it, the sick son of a bitch. But Vance was expecting his return with Madison. When Andre didn’t show up with her, there was going to be hell to pay. But he would deal with that later. Right now, he had to get Madison out of this fucking alley.

  Madison remained quiet through the deserted alley, allowing him to lead her without any objections. While he was thankful for that, her silence worried him. He had gotten used to her smart-ass mouth and the sudden change was odd and more than a little disturbing. The last thing he needed right now was for her to go into shock.

  Madison stopped short, pulling her hand from his. “Wait! Robert, he’s hurt. We have to help him,” she said, her voice trembling.

  Seth read the building panic in her eyes but he didn’t have the time or patience to baby her. “It’s too late,” he replied simply.

  “What?” Her brown eyes grew wide and took on a wild look. Thinking she might bolt back to the street, he stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

  “It’s too late. He’s dead,” Seth growled. She had to hear him, had to understand the enormity of the situation. They could not stand around having a full-blown conversation. They were in a lot of danger here. She couldn’t keep running from him. He couldn’t afford to keep chasing her down. Besides, it was becoming a real pain in the ass.

  “No. No, he’s hurt but he’ll be fine. We need to call an ambulance or something . . .” She trailed off, her eyes losing focus.

  The truth was sinking in. She had seen Robert fall, had seen the blood. Seeing your friend gunned down in the street was a tough thing to witness and accept. The agony on her face was beginning to wrench some long ago emotion from him. He could feel it in his chest. But he couldn’t let that happen. Not now, not ever.

  He tightened his grip on her arm until she winced, the pain clearing her eyes long enough for him to get through to her. “No. He’s dead,” he repeated firmly, staring directly into her eyes so that she understood. “Now get in the car.”

  He thought she was going to fight him but instead she climbed in the car carefully, favoring her ankle. It’s a wonder she hadn’t broken the damn thing. It would have served her right, taking off like that. Dropping down from the broken fire escape couldn’t have helped either. Quickly skirting the nose of the car, his eyes never left her face, pale and stained with blood. Sliding behind the wheel of the car, he reached over and turned on the heat, blasting hot air into the Porsche’s compact interior. Gunning the engine, he pulled away rapidly, leaving the streets of Manhattan behind.

  Ignoring her for the moment, Seth withdrew out a slim PDA from his shirt pocket and typed out a couple of quick messages. Charlie was not going to be happy but what the hell, neither was he. Only after he snapped the device closed did he turn to look at Madison. Glancing over at his passenger, he saw she was relatively intact. Her lip was bleeding but God knows what Andre had done to her before he got there. He could only guess as he looked at her torn clothing. That bastard had his hands on her, he thought again. The anger and disgust filled him so quickly that he was unprepared for the magnitude of it and he took a turn on the street too fast, nearly losing control of the car. Damn it, he needed to stop thinking of her as a woman, as his woman, and put her back to where she belonged. A job. She was only a job. Straightening the car out, he handed her a handkerchief. “Here, clean yourself up.”

  She took it from him with a cold, trembling hand and wiped at her face absently, smearing the blood around rather than removing it. Her other hand lay loosely in her lap and her breathing was slow and even. He was mildly surprised by how silent she was, expecting anything from tears to flat out hysterics but she hadn’t made a sound since getting in the car. As if she felt him staring, she turned to look at him for a moment, her eyes glassy and bleak, empty.

  “Thank you.” Her voice was eerily calm, almost detached. And that was all wrong. She should be falling apart right now, not sitting her like a fucking robot. If she shut down, she would become unpredictable, capable of anything. There wasn’t much he could do at the insane speeds he was driving and he couldn’t afford to stop. But he was losing her.

  “Stop it!” he yelled, making her jump in her seat. She gaped at him, her brown eyes wide, afraid, and clear. He didn’t like her looking at him like that but it was a hell of a lot better than the empty, glasslike stares. The last thing he needed to do was offer Madison any type of comfort but he found himself saying, “It’s not your fault. You and your friend were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So snap out of it. I can’t afford to have you freaking out on me.”

  “I am not freaking out,” she said slowly. Her voice wasn’t quite normal but at least it sounded more human, more there.

  “Well, whatever you call it, stop.”

  Turning away, Madison faced the passenger-side window. “How did you find me?” she asked brokenly.

  Watching the road, he remained silent for a moment as he considered what to say. “It doesn’t matter. Just be glad I did or you’d be dead just like your friend.”

  “I don’t understand, I used a pay phone. There was no way anyone could have found me.”

  Astounded, Seth flicked his eyes toward her. “Are you serious?” There was no reason to ask. He could see that she was. Good Lord, how could she be so naïve? “You don’t understand. The people that are after you have no limits to what they can do. The least of which involves tracing calls from pay phones.”

  Madison jerked her eyes from the window, uttering a quick sob. “Oh my God. I called Robert and . . . I didn’t realize . . .”

  “No you didn’t,” Seth said sharply, wanting her to get the full effect of the situation. He stared at her, allowing her to clearly see all the anger and violence he was capable of. This wasn’t a game and the sooner she realized that, the better off she’d be. Steeling himself against emotions he had long ago abandoned, he added, “You got caught up in something and you couldn’t have known what was going to happen. People die, life goes on,” he said brusquely.

  She stared at him, disgust burning in her brown eyes. “You bastard. How can you be so cold?”

  Seth shrugged easily, “I have to be.”

  Madison narrowed her gaze and he realized he had just said too much.

  “Why? Who are you?”

  Focusing on the road, he replied, “You don’t need to know. It would only put you in more danger.”

  Forcing a laugh, Madison said, “Oh, right. Like I’m not in danger now,” she said derisively.

  Seth glanced at her. “Consider yourself lucky.”

  Glaring at him, the anger leapt into those brown depths, turning them almost black. “Lucky? You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, the familiar scorn back in her voice. Then remarkably, she changed emotions like the flick of a light switch. “Wait, earlier you said I was caught up in something. Caught up in what? Who was that guy and what did he want with me?” she asked, firing questions in rapid succession, her voice becoming more alert by the second.

  Seth silently cursed himself for saying anything to raise her curiosity, making her ask questions. She was alrea
dy in too deep and if he answered them, there would be no way she could walk away unscarred. If she could even walk away at this point. That was something he was still trying desperately to figure out.

  “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just say it’s better if you don’t ask,” he replied, gritting his teeth. If he could just get her somewhere safe, he could . . . what? Kill her? He almost laughed. She was never going to be safe as long as she was with him. But she wouldn’t be safe without him either.

  “Better?” she retorted, her voice escalating in the small interior of the car. “Better than what? In the last twelve hours, I’ve nearly been raped and killed. I’ve been drugged and kidnapped by you. Twice. And now my best friend is dead. How could anything possibly be better than that?” she asked, her voice thick with sarcasm. “And stop telling me it doesn’t matter because it does. Maybe not to you but it does to me,” Madison finished lamely.

  Seth knew her emotions were raw and very near the surface. He was going to have to be careful how he handled her. If he refused to give at all, she would take off the first chance she got. And he’d have to chase her ass down again. But if he revealed too much, things would be even more fucked up than they were now. As if that were even a possibility.

  Just like Seth, the Porsche was dark, mysterious, and masculine. Things were not improving. Madison refused to think about Robert, his body crumpling onto the sidewalk, alone and lifeless. Likewise, she shied away from thinking about that monster in the alleyway, the one that had his hands on her, touching her. She couldn’t think of that now because she would come apart completely. So she focused on Seth instead and used the anger that had been building up for the last several hours. God, she really needed to get away from him. He was starting to affect her in ways she hadn’t felt in a long time. But first she needed to understand what she was up against. And that was nearly impossible since Seth was refusing to tell her anything. The sneaky bastard! She would just have to figure out a way to make him talk.

  Making her voice as strong and determined as she could, she looked at him and said, “I have a right to know what is going on.”

  He didn’t even glance in her direction. “Your rights end when and where I say they do. Don’t push me too far, Miss Sinclair. You won’t like the result.”

  This guy was really beginning to piss her off. “Damn you! Tell me what the hell is going on!”

  A ghost of a smile crossed his soft lips, drawing her attention to them. She remembered how they felt on hers. How she had felt the thread of emotion in him no matter how much he tried to hide it. She shoved that away before the annoying feelings could distract her from her plan of action.

  “Damn me? Sorry to ruin your little tirade but I’ve been damned for a very long time. Nothing you can say or do can make it worse.” Seth’s voice was low and quiet, reflective.

  Startled, she could only look at him. She knew she hadn’t imagined the emotion in his voice. He was human after all. But real or not, it cooled some of her anger, making her wonder again just who the hell this guy was. Where had he come from? Why was he trying so hard to be so cold? And what made him feel that he had to be that way? She didn’t know but one thing was for sure. He was definitely not the self-effacing personal assistant she had taken him for just yesterday.

  But as intriguing as those questions may be, she had no intentions to stick around and find out the answer. There was the saying about curiosity killing the cat and as curious as she was, learning that particular bit information was not something she was willing to die for. Maybe if she could open the door and jump out. But he was going so fast. He didn’t slow down much as he took the corners but maybe that small change in speed would make the difference between getting injured and being killed. At this point, she didn’t think she had much to lose by trying. Furtively, she reached over and gripped the door handle, waiting for the next turn.

  “Don’t think you can try jumping out when I slow down. You really don’t want to make me angrier than I am now.” Seth’s voice was calm and soft, no longer betraying the emotion she had heard only moments before.

  Releasing the door handle, she crossed her arms over her chest, her hands balled into tight fists. Man, she wanted to just sock him!

  Beside her, Seth shrugged indifferently. “Then again, maybe you should jump out. Though it would probably be suicide. I’m not sure how you feel about dying but at least I wouldn’t have to save you again.”

  “I never asked you to save me. You did that on your own,” Madison replied heatedly.

  “My mistake. Next time, I’ll just let them have you.”

  “Next time? Who says there’s going to be a next time?”

  Another uncaring shrug of his strong shoulders. “Just call it an educated guess.”

  Scowling, she asked, “Why even take the time to save me? You’re just going to kill me.”

  “I never said I was going to kill you.”

  “No, but you didn’t say you weren’t either.”

  “Touché.” He turned to her with a small, tight-lipped smile.

  “Why don’t you just tell me what is going on?”

  He sighed, exasperated. “If I tell you anything, you’re as good as dead.”

  His threat was ominous but she sensed he was telling her the truth this time. Considering the circumstances, that fact wasn’t exactly encouraging. But maybe his honesty would continue for a while longer.

  “I’m probably a dead woman anyway so there’s really no harm in satisfying my curiosity is there? Consider it a last request.” Madison tried to sound brave and add some humor to her situation. As long as she could remain lighthearted, she would be able to keep her wits about her so maybe she could get out of this thing alive.

  “I applaud you for your attempt at levity. But believe it or not, this situation is not funny in the least and it’s not my intention to see you dead, Miss Sinclair.”

  She twisted in the seat, facing him, one eyebrow raised questioningly. “No? Then just what are your intentions Mr. Reynolds?”

  “I really can’t tell you. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You know,” he replied lightly, “if you would have trusted me in the first place, your friend would still be alive.”

  Lowering her eyes, she blinked back the sudden rush of tears. And it only made things worse knowing that he was probably right. If she had just stayed put back at the apartment, the only one in danger would have been her. Recovering from that vicious barb, she snorted loudly. “You can’t honestly expect me to trust you. I don’t even know who the fuck you are.”

  “Well, I did save you again. Doesn’t that count for anything?” Seth asked mockingly.

  “No.” The truth was, it did count for something but she wasn’t about to admit that to him. Not to be distracted, she asked her next question. “So, he would have killed me after . . . after he was done?”

  “No, he would have roughed you up a little but he wouldn’t have killed you.”

  The certainty in his voice was absolute. “Why not?”

  “He has orders.”

  “Vance?” It only made sense that he was one of Vance’s henchmen. After all, she knew about Stacy. That kind of information was something he would want to keep secret.

  “Yes. But that’s just the kind of information you need to forget about.”

  “So then, Vance doesn’t want me dead?”

  Seth’s strong jaw tightened before he spoke. “Oh, he does. Eventually.”

  “What do you mean, ‘eventually?’” What else could he possibly want from her except her blood?

  “Don’t be so naïve, Miss Sinclair. I told you people are not always what they appear.”

  I am beginning to believe that, she thought, as she continued to stare at him quietly. Aft
er another exaggerated sigh, he continued.

  “Let’s just say that Vance likes to cause pain. It excites him. By the time he got done with you, you would wish you were dead.”

  Digesting that information, her stomach suddenly grew heavy as if she’d swallowed a brick. This was insane. It made no sense. Seth had to be lying. She was done trying to play detective with this man. There was no way to win against him.

  “Well, since I’m obviously such a burden to you, why don’t you just drop me off at my house? I can give you the address,” she volunteered, tired of this stupid game.

  “I don’t need your address, I know where you live. But I’m not ‘dropping’ you anywhere.”

  Madison regarded Seth anxiously. “How do you know where I live?”

  “The same way I know everything else about you,” Seth replied dismissively.

  How dare he? “You don’t know anything about me.”

  “Do you want to make a bet?” Seth asked, one perfectly groomed eyebrow raised questioningly.

  Stubbornly, Madison replied, “You can’t possibly know as much about me as you think you do.”

  “Really?” His voice was laced with doubt.

  “Really,” she said, accepting his challenge. There was no way she was going to lose to him again.