by LENA DIAZ,
Kade shook his head in disgust. “I know that you’re behind the murders of the men and women who once worked as Enforcers at EXIT Inc., doing the government’s dirty work. I know that you set up Faegan as your go-between to murder the Enforcers, and that you set me up as your main fall guy, making me think I was saving people while you and Faegan were actually murdering them.”
Gannon wiped his bleeding lip again. “Why are you wasting my time talking about all that crap? You’re like a dog who’s been kicked one too many times, begging for table scraps or a pat on the head. Fine. You need me to say it? I guess you’ve earned it. Everything you said is true. I’m behind everything, and set you up to take the fall. Feel better?” He gestured toward Kade’s left leg. “You know about the lab, and the mind-control experiments we ran on you. But you don’t know the full story, do you?” He laughed harshly. “You don’t know the best part. Who do you think put that bullet in your damn leg in the first place?”
Gannon’s laughter turned to a hiss when Kade slammed into him. They both fell to the floor, punching and kicking at each other. Having learned from his earlier fights with Bailey, Kade focused on keeping his bad leg out of Gannon’s range. One good kick or punch to his thigh and he’d be out of commission. But trying to fight while protecting his leg was nearly impossible. And Gannon, as if sensing his struggle, began punching and kicking even harder—everything aimed toward Kade’s bad thigh.
Kade managed to slam his own fist against Gannon’s hurt knee. Gannon’s answering shout of pain was music to Kade’s ears. He shoved free of Gannon’s arms and rolled away, then used the stairs to pull himself up. Grabbing one of the ruined decorative table’s legs like a baseball bat, he hefted it and raised it to slam down on top of Gannon’s shoulders.
“Do it and I’ll drop you where you stand.”
It was the voice, more than the words, that made Kade freeze. His gaze flew to the doorway between the main room and the kitchen, and he slowly lowered his arms. A woman stood there, pointing a pistol at him—the same woman who’d haunted his nightmares for months.
“Abby?” The word barely made it through his tight throat, and he felt foolish as soon as he said it. But even though his mind knew she wasn’t his wife, had never been his wife, he’d lived with the falsehood for so long that he was having difficulty getting past the shock of seeing her again. Part of him wanted to drag her to him, to protect her, even though she was the one with the gun.
“Abby, huh? Is that what you told him my name was, darling?” She spoke to Gannon but kept her gaze firmly fixed on Kade.
“I thought it had a nice ring to it.” Gannon brushed bits of wood from his legs and stood with his back to the wall beside the doorway. “Just shoot him already. I’ll tell Kendall that Quinn was behind everything just like I’d originally planned. And I’ll tell the cops there was an intruder, which there was.”
The woman let out a sharp cry of pain and fell to the floor, the gun wrenched from her hand. Gannon whirled around, but froze when he came face-to-face with both Abby’s gun, and the Sig Sauer nine-millimeter the other woman—the one who’d snuck up behind her and slammed her to the floor—had always favored.
“Give me a reason,” Bailey snarled. “Trust me, it won’t take much.”
Gannon slowly raised his hands in the air and backed away from her.
“Bailey, what are you doing here?” Kade demanded.
“Saving your ass. You can thank me later.”
He shook his head. “Damn it, woman. I didn’t need saving. And all you’ve done is make this more complicated.” He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.
Bailey blinked. “Kade, what are you doing?”
He looked down at the fake Abby, lying in a fetal position on the floor, not looking nearly so tough without her gun. Then he looked at Gannon, who was still backing up, keeping both Bailey and Kade in sight. After unbuttoning two more buttons, he decided to hell with the shirt and ripped it open. Buttons went flying and pinged off the wall.
Bailey started laughing when she saw the wires taped to his chest.
Gannon’s eyes widened with horror.
“Did you get all of that, Kendall?” Kade spoke into the wire that some Homeland Security agents had strapped on him right before he’d driven to Gannon’s house.
A man in a business suit stepped into the room, having come in through the same door that Kade had used a few minutes ago. Several others converged into the room holding assault rifles and wearing flak jackets with the words POLICE, DHS on the front and, POLICE, HOMELAND SECURITY printed across the backs.
Gannon went as white as a sheet.
“Every word, Special Agent Quinn.” The agent stared at Gannon in disgust, then motioned toward some of his men. Two of them cuffed fake Abby and hauled her out of the room, while two others cuffed Gannon.
“You’re making a mistake,” Gannon yelled. “You misunderstood. I was just agreeing with Quinn to get him not to kill me.” He struggled against the hold the agents had on him, but they easily managed him. “For God’s sake, Kendall, at least let me get my pants on.” His curses followed him outside as the agents dragged him from the room.
In his boxer shorts.
Kendall waved another agent over to take the listening device off Kade. When that was done, Bailey practically knocked the agent over in her zeal to reach Kade’s side.
“I can’t believe you partnered with the Feds to get Gannon,” she said, as she pulled the edges of his shirt together. But she gave up trying to make it stay closed without any buttons.
“I’m a Fed, too,” he reminded her. “Or, I was.”
“Yeah, well. Everyone has to have a flaw. I suppose that’s yours.”
He laughed and kissed her.
“Special Agent Quinn?” Kendall said.
He tucked Bailey against his side, before answering. “Yes?”
Kendall nodded at Bailey, and shook Kade’s hand. “Thank you for contacting me tonight and clueing me in on what was going on. I’ll need a full statement, probably several days’ worth to figure out all the details and wrap this thing up nice and tight. But, personally, I’d like to get some sleep tonight. So how about you call me up in the morning and start then?”
“You got it. Thank you, sir.”
He smiled. “It’s good to see you again. Sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances.”
“No problem, sir.”
Kendall gestured toward a nearby agent. “Has that call come through yet?”
“Just did, sir.” The agent handed the phone to Kendall, who handed it to Kade.
“You might want to step into the kitchen to take that,” Kendall advised. “You’ll want to be able to hear everything without all this noise out here.” He waved toward the increasingly chaotic scene as the agents began searching every drawer, every cabinet in Gannon’s office and the main room. Some of them were even heading up the stairs.
Kade took the cell phone and stepped back out of the way, pulling Bailey with him. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to let her go again. It had practically killed him when she was in danger during the fight with the mercenaries. And then, seeing her standing in the doorway earlier, worried she might get hurt, that had nearly killed him all over again. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, and then held the phone up to his ear.
“This is Special Agent Quinn.”
When the caller announced who they were, Kade straightened and stared at Bailey. “Yes, Mr. President. It’s an honor to speak to you.”
Bailey’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
It was a short call, and very much to the point. “Thank you, sir. Understood.” He stepped into the other room and returned the phone to Kendall.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Kade said.
“Just doing my job. I didn’t see any cars out front when I got here. I take it you both took cabs?”
They nodded.
“I figured. I took the liberty of ordering a car bro
ught around for you. I’ll send someone over to pick it back up after you call me tomorrow.” Kendall handed Kade his card. “Let me know if you need anything else, anything at all.”
He held Bailey’s gun out to her as if he were handing her her purse. “Ma’am.”
“Um, thanks.” She shoved it into the holster at her waist.
He handed Kade his pistol, too, then gave them both a jaunty salute before joining some of the other agents in Gannon’s office, which seemed to be the main focus of the search.
“Let’s get out of here,” Kade said, taking pity on Bailey, who looked like she was waffling between asking him about the phone call and jumping out of her skin every time one of the agents looked at her. She definitely didn’t like being around Feds, not that he could blame her. Her sole experience with them hadn’t given her any reason to trust them as a whole. He was still amazed that she trusted him.
“Thought you’d never ask.” She led the way through the front door.
Kade followed her to the car that Kendall had waiting for them, which turned out to be a black Mustang GT. He grinned as the agent guarding the car handed him the keys.
“Thanks.”
“Yes, sir.” The agent hurried across the lawn toward the house, to be part of the action. Thankfully, the real action was over.
Or so Kade hoped.
Chapter Twenty-six
Friday, 10:45 p.m.
“You’re frowning,” Bailey said, as they got into the Mustang and buckled up. “Gannon’s been arrested. Kendall seems like an up-and-up guy and is going to ensure none of this comes back on you. You apparently got a call from the President, which has to be a good thing or we wouldn’t have been allowed to leave. So, why exactly are you upset? That was who the call was from, right? The President, you know, of our country?”
He gave her a lopsided grin as he revved the engine and pulled away from the curb. “One and the same. Hopefully he doesn’t know that I didn’t vote for him.”
She laughed, and the sound was like a balm to his soul.
“What did he say? How did you get Homeland Security to believe you and set up a wire so fast? What happened? Spill.” She lightly punched his shoulder. “And don’t ever lie to me again and take off the way you did. You scared me.”
He kissed her hand and began answering her questions. He drove through the neighborhood and down a two-lane road out of the city. On autopilot, not really thinking about where he was driving, he explained how he’d left Jace’s party after realizing Gannon had to be behind everything. And that he knew the only way to stop this once and for all was to call someone he’d admired in the past, who was high enough up in the food chain to help. Thankfully, Kendall was just as trustworthy, and quick to action, as Kade had remembered. He’d pulled agents off a nearby task force, already geared up and ready to go, and arranged to have them back Kade up at Gannon’s house. The wire had been put on Kade several blocks from the house. Kade had also arranged for Kendall to call Gannon to rile him up and make sure he was awake. The timing was perfect, with Gannon stepping out of his office right after Kade had gotten inside.
“How did the President get involved?” Bailey asked.
“I assume Kendall went up the chain after I called, all the way to the top. As soon as Gannon was in custody, the agent who helped us at the house reported in, and the President was notified. He didn’t say much, other than to tell me he’d been briefed on the Enforcer situation and he personally guaranteed that EXIT Inc.’s legacy was destroyed, once and for all. He said he’s launching an internal investigation to ensure that the Enforcers and their families are compensated for the losses that they’ve suffered. And he’s going to ensure that anyone else who helped Cyprian, Faegan, or Gannon is held accountable.”
“Held accountable. It’s not like they’ll want this in the courts or in the press.”
Kade shrugged. “I didn’t ask for details. I don’t want any. I just want to know that this is all over. I’m going to have to put my faith in the President that he’ll keep his word. He certainly could have silenced us if he had any intention of playing the bad guy.”
A bright orange light lit up the sky over the ridge ahead of them, and suddenly he realized where he’d driven. The EXIT Inc. Boulder headquarters was just over the top of the next hill.
Bailey had noticed the glow, too. And both of them heard the approaching sirens not far behind them. She peered intently through the windshield as he topped the rise.
“No way,” she said.
He pulled the car off the road to allow the emergency vehicles to pass, and drove through a gap in the trees a good fifty yards off the road before stopping the car behind some bushes. They both sat in stunned silence as they watched the hungry flames consuming every floor of the EXIT Inc. office building below them. There wasn’t a single window that wasn’t either blown out from the heat or that didn’t have thick black smoke roiling out of it. In the parking lot, three fire trucks raced toward the building, stopping a good distance away beside some enormous fire hydrants that Cyprian had no doubt insisted upon to protect his precious headquarters. But no amount of water was going to save his legacy now. The best the firemen could hope for was to contain the fire so it didn’t spread to the woods. And judging by their lack of urgency as they surveyed the situation, they knew the building was beyond hope as well.
“I guess someone decided to move forward with my original plan to raze the building,” Kade said.
“The timing sure seems suspect, doesn’t it?”
“Sure does. If I had to guess, I think the President is keeping his word. He’s destroying EXIT Inc., once and for all.”
She ran her hands up and down her arms as she watched the flames. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was . . . afraid.
“It’s over, Bailey. You’re free to do whatever you want to do now. You don’t have to look over your shoulder ever again.”
“I know that.”
“Then what are you afraid of?”
“Who says that I’m afraid of anything?”
The outrage in her voice had him smiling. “Maybe ‘afraid’ is too strong. But something is worrying you.”
“Why didn’t you kill Gannon?”
Her question surprised him. “Are you worried he won’t be held accountable?”
“I worry that he didn’t get what he deserved . . . after what he did to you, and to others. He shouldn’t be alive when so many others are dead. Kade, if I’d known that he was behind all of this, that he was the man who’d ultimately pulled the strings to kill my friends, to kill Hawke.” She closed her eyes briefly. “To kill Sebastian and Amber as we confirmed just a few days ago. He hurt so many people, including you. I’d have killed him. Once I realized that you had no intention of killing Gannon, I was prepared to take care of it. If that agent hadn’t come through the door when he had, Gannon would be dead right now.”
He gently pushed her hair out of her eyes. “I know.”
She shoved his hand away from her. “And?”
“And what?”
“You can’t just say you know, and act like everything’s okay.” She thumped her chest with the flat of her hand. “I’m a killer, don’t you get it?”
“Bailey, I’ve killed, too. Even before the fight with the mercenaries, I’ve killed. And you’re one of the few people who really knows what happened to Faegan.”
“That’s different.” She turned back toward the fire just as the roof of EXIT Inc. imploded, consumed by the flames from the top floor.
“It isn’t.” When she ignored him, he put his hand beneath her chin and gently forced her to turn her head. “You can stop this martyrdom mentality. I’m not going to let you get away with it. We’ve both done things we’re not proud of, but we did them with the best of intentions. Neither of us is some evil bad guy wanting to run around hurting people. Everything we’ve done was to save and protect others. We’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”
Her jaw tightened and s
he didn’t look at him.
“Did you enjoy killing people?”
Her brows drew down. “Of course not.”
“Did you ever kill someone for fun, when you didn’t have an order to go after them?”
“That’s just sick.”
“Then I pronounce you a normal person. You’re not some psychopath intent on killing innocent people. And Gannon was far from innocent. I can understand you wanting to take him out. It’s part of your training, to take out the bad guys. But you didn’t.”
“I couldn’t. The Homeland Security guys—”
“Came into the room after you trained your guns on Abby and Gannon, but not that exact second. If you really wanted to kill him, you had time. And you didn’t do it.”
Confusion clouded her eyes, as if she were considering what he’d said.
“You’re a good person, Bailey Stark.”
She shook her head no.
“You’re a good person,” he repeated.
A single tear traced down her cheek. “Not good enough,” she whispered.
“Good enough for what?”
“You.”
That one word, sounding so desolate, nearly broke his heart. But it also gave him hope. He smiled, and the fact that she frowned in response had him smiling even more.
“What’s so funny?” she demanded.
“Are you always going to be prickly?” he asked.
“It’s worked for me so far.”
He chuckled and pulled her close. Then he kissed her. She stiffened, so he pulled her closer and worshipped her mouth with his until she groaned and sagged against him. The kiss turned hotter, and by the time they broke apart they were both out of breath.
“Ask me,” he said.
She stared at him a long moment, and then whispered, “Do you love me?”
“More than life itself. Now it’s your turn. I’ve waited an eternity to hear the words from you. Do you love me?”