“You could bring Lyon down on us both,” he’d said, his expression grave.
She might be desperate to hear her child’s voice, but she wasn’t stupid. Dex had gotten a message from his people that Molly and the kids were fine, so at least she didn’t have to worry. What she really wanted, however, was for this to be over and everything to be normal again.
Whatever normal was these days.
She and Dex hadn’t spoken about Eric or the marriage again. The truth hadn’t changed anything for him. He was still angry that she’d left without an explanation.
But what if she’d told him the truth five years ago? What would have happened then? Would he have kicked Eric’s ass? Probably, and she couldn’t see how that would have been good for anyone.
Dex’s phone rang. “Yeah? … Okay, copy that. … Another hour then. … Yeah, delta delta over and out.”
“What now?” she asked, mostly because she was tired of the long drive with no sound. Dex hadn’t turned on the radio. What did he think about during those long stretches of silence?
“I’m taking you to a safe house instead of HQ. My team’s meeting us there and we’ll try to crack the computer.”
Whatever. She had no idea how any of this stuff worked. They did, which was all that mattered. “What’s delta delta?”
“Me. It’s the military phonetic alphabet. D equals delta.”
“Doesn’t that get confusing? What if someone else has the same initials?”
“It’s radio speak. Mostly we have call signs we use.”
“What’s yours?”
“Double Dee.”
She cocked her head. “Really? That’s not too original, is it?”
He snorted. “It could have been worse. Someone wanted to call me Dee Dee early on.”
She wanted to laugh. “Oh dear.”
“Yeah, well, military call signs aren’t always meant to be flattering. Thankfully I wound up with something not too bad in the end.”
“So what are some of the names you’ve heard? Any funny ones?”
“We have a Flash Gordon. Oh, and one of our SEALs is named Cash, so he’s Cash Money.” He shrugged. “Not original, but that’s kind of the point. If people got to pick their own name, they’d all be Tiger or Dragon or Eagle or some such bullshit.”
“No stallions?” she asked with a grin.
“Yeah, probably some of them too.”
Annabelle memorized his profile. He was as handsome as ever, but he was harder in a way too. She couldn’t imagine all the things he’d been through in the military, but they’d marked him. What had changed Dex? Besides her, because surely she wasn’t responsible for all the changes in the past five years.
“I guess you must like the military.”
He glanced at her. “It’s a job.”
“It’s more than a job, Dex. You could get a job in Briar City. But this… Well, it’s you, isn’t it?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“I was so scared when you wanted to join up. I was afraid of losing you—and I did lose you, but not the way I thought I would. Still, if I had to lose you, I’m glad it was this way and not the way I was worried about.”
He scrubbed a hand over his forehead, his jaw tensing. “Can we stop talking about the past? There’s nothing we can do to change it.”
She folded her arms and settled into her seat to stare at the passing countryside. “Sure, if that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
It wasn’t what she wanted, but what good would it do to keep talking? Now that she’d told him about Eric and her parents, she wanted to keep talking, wanted to see if it brought any kind of healing. And maybe, just maybe, it was starting to settle in that Eric was out of her life and she could do what she wanted. No more living a lie because he wouldn’t let her go. No more pretending they were a happy couple to the world when it was far from the truth.
A sigh slid from her. Maybe Dex was right and it was time to look to the future. Maybe talking about the past wasn’t necessary anymore. But what was the future? She didn’t know. Especially with Mr. Lyon in the mix. If she didn’t find this mystery money and hand it over, what then?
What if she never found it? What if the money was gone? What if Eric had spent it? Or hidden it so well it was as good as gone?
A shiver skated from the nape of her neck to her toes. She hunched down in the seat as if doing so could hide her from the world. Dex and his people might not find the money—but they had to find Mr. Lyon before he found her.
*
The house Dex took her to was in a town, a small town on the outskirts of DC. She wouldn’t have thought there was such a thing, but this place was as quaint and cute as an old town could be. There was a main street with old storefronts and a diner, and historic homes near the town square where the courthouse perched like a benign guardian.
Dex turned onto a side street and drove away from the town center, finally pulling into the driveway of a small ranch house on a street full of ranch houses. The houses were a little shabby, but the neighborhood looked clean and well cared for.
She hauled her own stuff inside, then collapsed on the couch and turned on the television, grateful to have sound in her life again. She could have asked Dex to turn on the radio, sure, but instead she’d tried to start various conversations with him. None had been all that successful.
Now she heard him on his phone, presumably letting his people know they’d arrived. It was still early since they’d left West Virginia at the butt crack of dawn, but it felt later. She hadn’t been on a long car trip in years—and she certainly hadn’t been on one with a silent hulk of a man whose dislike of her hung in the air like a black cloud for the entire ride.
She got up and went to the kitchen to explore the refrigerator and pantry. Thankfully, there was peanut butter, jelly, and bread. As she made a sandwich, she couldn’t help but think of Charlotte and wonder what her little girl was doing right that second. Charlotte loved peanut butter and jelly. Annabelle’s heart twisted and tears pressed against her eyelids. She knew Charlotte was probably happy as a clam with Molly and Becca, but Annabelle missed her.
And she was worried too. Charlotte had just lost her father a month ago. Now her mother was gone. Would she be anxious that her mother might never come back either? She was a smart kid and the thought was bound to occur to her.
“You okay?”
She looked up to find Dex watching her. He slipped his phone into his pocket and hooked his thumbs through his belt like a cowboy wearing six shooters. The movement popped the muscles in his chest and arms. She swallowed.
“I was thinking about Charlotte.”
“She’ll be fine, Annabelle.”
She clenched the butter knife in her hand and gave her head a shake. “I know—but my being gone like this, well, it’s like when Eric left. He never came back. She took it well enough, though she still asks about him. She’s at that age where telling her someone went to heaven is a good explanation. But I worry that the longer I’m gone and out of touch, the more she might think about her father and wonder if I went to heaven too.”
He frowned. And then he pulled his phone out and handed it to her after unlocking it. “Here. Call your friend. Talk to your daughter.”
Her heart swelled with hot emotion. “Thank you.”
“Never mind that. Call.”
Dex went over to the couch, sinking down on it and propping his feet on the coffee table before picking up the remote. Annabelle called up the keypad and punched in the number, her heart starting to hammer as the phone rang.
“Hello?” It was Molly’s voice and relief flooded Annabelle.
“Mol, how are you?”
“Annabelle—”
Her voice choked off and another, colder voice came on the line. A voice she recognized.
“Hello, Mrs. Archer. Where is my money?”
12
Dex rocketed off the couch. He was at Annabelle’s s
ide in half a second. Her face was the color of milk. She crumpled to the floor in slow motion. He went down with her, cupping her face and forcing her to look at him. The devastation in her expression rocked him. She looked as if someone had taken the one thing that meant the most to her in the world.
Ice floated through his veins. He snatched the phone from her limp fingers and hit redial. It rang incessantly, but no one answered.
“What happened, Belle?” He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently when she just blinked at him. “Tell me what happened.”
“Mr. Lyon,” she breathed. “He has them.”
Dex shot to his feet and dialed his team leader.
“Hey, man. We’re en route. Be there in another twenty-five minutes or so,” Richie said by way of greeting.
“We’ve got a problem,” Dex replied. “The safe house with Annabelle’s daughter has been compromised.”
“Fuck,” Richie said. “I’ll make some calls. Stay put. We’re coming.”
“Copy.”
Dex turned around after he’d finished the call. Annabelle was still on the floor, her back against the kitchen cabinets. She was breathing hard, and he knew she was about to lose it. He went over and sat beside her, hauling her into his arms. She was small and seemed so fragile as he pulled her against him.
She splayed an arm over his torso and pressed her cheek to his chest. His heart throbbed. Other parts wanted to throb as well, but he refused to let them. That’s not what this was about. He put a hand on her head, stroked her soft hair.
“We’ll get them back, Annabelle. I promise.”
“You promised they’d be safe,” she said on a whisper.
Her tone wasn’t accusatory, but he flinched anyway. He had said that. He’d believed it. How the fuck had Lyon gotten past their security? How had he even known where to look? And who the hell was Lyon anyway?
“I know I did, honey.”
“Then how can you promise…?”
He squeezed her a little tighter. “Because I can. He’s not going to hurt them, not yet. They’re his leverage to get what he wants. If he hurts them, you won’t give him the money.”
“I don’t have the money!”
She was starting to sound a little hysterical. He understood it, but he couldn’t let her lose her cool yet. He tipped her chin up and forced her to look at him. His heart lurched the way it used to do whenever he looked at Annabelle. Jesus.
He didn’t want to feel any tenderness toward this woman—yet how could he stay unmoved?
“We’ll find the money. You’ve got help. You don’t have to do this alone.”
Her fingers curled into his shirt. “You can’t leave me now. Please don’t leave me—I don’t know these other people.”
“I won’t leave you. I’m in this until we get your daughter back.”
The tension in her body loosened. “Thank you.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. He wanted to kiss her, and he wanted to push her away. He didn’t have to make a decision though, because she dropped her cheek to his chest and dragged in a breath.
He wasn’t surprised when the first sob escaped her. He expected many more to follow, but she clenched his shirt and breathed hard, her entire body trembling. She didn’t sob again, and his heart ached for her. He’d thought for so long that he hated her, but he didn’t. She’d married Eric, but she’d done it for her parents.
Assholes.
Yeah, he was pissed she hadn’t told him the truth back then. He could have helped her if she had. Could have helped them both. He closed his eyes and held her, his cheek on her golden head, his arms wrapped around her sweet body. He’d never thought he’d do this again. He hadn’t wanted to.
But that was a lie. He did want to hold her. He would probably always want to hold her. She’d been his first love. His only love, though he didn’t love her anymore.
His team arrived within minutes. Dex helped Annabelle up and set her down on the couch before answering the door. Richie Rich and Billy the Kid filed in with equipment and grim expressions.
Richie shook his head and Dex glanced at Annabelle. She was looking at them with the mile-long stare of someone who wasn’t really seeing anything. He introduced the guys and she nodded, but he didn’t know if she really processed it.
Dex handed over the laptop to Billy, who was setting up a command center on the dinette table in the kitchen.
“What happened?” Dex asked them in a low voice.
Richie blew out a breath. “We’re still getting intel. He killed an FBI agent though.”
“How did he know where to find them? Who fucked up?”
“Molly Carter took a phone call about fifteen minutes before he arrived. We’ve got the phone records, but the number is a burner.”
“No!” Annabelle was on her feet, her face red, and he knew she’d heard. She stalked toward them, eyes flashing. “Molly isn’t behind this! No way, and don’t you dare say—”
“Annabelle,” Dex said, wrapping an arm around her and tugging her into his side. “Nobody said that. But it’s a possible connection, and we have to trace it.”
Her body shook like an earthquake, her chest rising and falling too fast. He steered her down onto one of the chairs at the dinette and made her put her head between her legs.
“Breathe, Belle. It won’t do your daughter any good if you fall apart.”
She sucked in air and he rubbed her back. Richie lifted an eyebrow. Kid didn’t say anything because he was too busy plugging things in and firing up his laptop.
“Charlotte,” she said, her voice muffled. “Her name is Charlotte. Lottie sometimes.”
“Charlotte,” he repeated. “You have to stay strong for her. And Molly. What’s Molly’s daughter’s name?”
“Becca.”
“Right. Charlotte and Molly and Becca. So tell me about Molly, Belle. How long have you known her, where’s she from—that kind of thing.”
Richie nodded his approval. His arms folded over his middle. His expression was intense. His wife was pregnant. Maybe that alone let him know how desperate Annabelle must feel. Not that Dex didn’t, but he didn’t know what it was like to have a child or how vulnerable that could make someone. He’d once heard it described like wearing your heart outside your body.
Annabelle took a deep breath and leaned back. Her face was still red and her eyes glistened. “I met Molly in college—we were both pregnant seniors trying to make it through to graduation.” She snorted. “Not that Eric wanted me to graduate. I fought him over that one. Still don’t know how I won…”
Dex squeezed her shoulder. “So you’ve known her for five years or so?”
“Yes.” She swallowed. “She’s from California, but she took a job in Lexington after graduation. A couple of years ago, she started freelancing and works from home. She lives in Briar City.”
“Where’s the father of her child?”
“He was never in the picture. She’s raising Becca alone.” Annabelle frowned. “She recently started seeing a guy though…”
The hair on Dex’s arms prickled the way it did when something was off. He’d learned to trust that reaction over the years. It was probably nothing, and yet he couldn’t shake the feeling.
“Tell me about him.”
“I… I don’t know. I haven’t met him yet.” Annabelle’s eyes widened. “You don’t think he had something to do with this, do you?”
“Not necessarily,” he said. “But we have to consider it. What did Molly say about him?”
Annabelle frowned. “He’s a lawyer, from Europe originally. It’s only been about three weeks since she started going out with him, so I don’t really know anything else. She called him…” Her skin lost what little color it had. She got to her feet, grasping the table for support. “Leo,” she whispered. “She called him Leo. It’s the same guy, isn’t it?”
Shit.
“It could be,” Dex replied. There was no hard evidence linking them, but Leo was simply an
other name for lion. If it was the same man, he liked to play games. Not a good sign.
Tears slipped down Annabelle’s cheeks freely then. Anger spun into a tornado inside him. He wanted to make this go away, but he was helpless. For what seemed like the millionth time in the past few minutes, he wrapped his arms around her. She clung to him while he tried not to think about how good she felt there.
“It’s okay, Belle. It’ll be okay. We’ll find this bastard, and we’ll get them back.”
Because there was nothing else he could say. He met Richie’s gaze over the top of Annabelle’s head. His team leader looked grim.
Billy Blake fired up the laptop and connected a cable. He looked up then and gave Dex a hard smile. “I’ll get inside this piece of shit,” he said in a low voice. “And then we’ll find that money.”
*
Numbness wrapped around Annabelle. She’d thought that losing Dex had been devastating—and it had been—but losing Charlotte was a million times worse. Because Charlotte was a child. Because Charlotte depended on Annabelle to keep her safe—and Annabelle had failed. How could she have let this happen?
Blindly, she pushed herself out of Dex’s arms, in spite of how warm and safe she felt being there, and groped for her purse on the table. When she had it, she started toward the door.
“Hey, hey. Where do you think you’re going?”
Dex was like a massive freight train blocking the way. He put his hands on her shoulders and kept her from taking another step.
“Let me go, Dexter Davidson,” she growled. “I have to help my baby.”
He didn’t let go, but his voice was gentle. “How are you going to do that, Belle? This man wants the money, and he’s not going to take it well if you don’t hand it over. He won’t give you back your daughter, or your friend and her daughter, until you give him what he wants.”
She closed her eyes and concentrated on pulling in one breath after another, filling her lungs. If she could just concentrate, she could calm herself. Except she felt like she was holding on by a thread and any minute she would dissolve into a pool of atoms that would never be made whole again. They’d just float away into nothingness, and she’d be stuck in this limbo forever.
HOT Addiction: A Hostile Operations Team Novel - Book 10 Page 8