More heavy silence filled the room until Ryder said, “But that is not where he was rescued from the mine.”
“I’m not saying it makes sense.” Rowan finally turned around, his expression hard and steady. “But I’d bet my life he’s got them there.”
Ryder glanced at Alex for her input.
She didn’t even have to think about it. “I trust his instincts 100 percent.”
“Then that’s where we’ll look,” Ryder said, turning away to grab his cell phone off the desk.
Before he could make the call, Alex interjected, “Do we call Taylor and tell him they might be at the wrong end of the mine?”
Ryder glanced at Rowan for his answer, and Rowan shook his head. “What if I’m wrong? Let them send their teams to the main entrance of the mine. We’ll go to this spot and take a look for ourselves.” He reached for his cell then obviously texted Taylor his plan.
“You’ve got the coordinates?” Ryder asked, sidling up to her.
Alex quickly wrote them on a note then handed it to him. Ryder was on the phone in an instant, turning away and coordinating with Jeff in their silent way.
A gentle finger suddenly tucked under her chin. She met Rowan’s intense regard. “You’ve always been sexy, but never quite as much as when you trust me so completely.” He slid a hand down her back, brought her in close, and brushed his mouth against hers. “Let’s go find those women, McCoy.”
“Roger that, Hawke.”
CHAPTER 12
Seven hours later, and late into the night, Rowan felt on the edge of his seat when they pulled onto the side of the dirt road in Woodbury, New York. Taylor had reported back an hour into the flight from San Francisco giving the go-ahead for Ryder’s team to join the search in the new location Rowan suggested. Not that Rowan expected otherwise. With the missing women so close to being found, and many of Taylor’s CIA agents, plus the FBI hunting Lewis, Taylor needed the extra manpower. The far end of the mine, with a cave entrance, was a twenty-minute hike into the forest to the west. Most of Ryder’s team had slept on the flight over. Ryder and Jeff included, as well as Rowan, but he noticed when he woke up that Alex didn’t look like she slept at all for the entire flight back to New York City. He got why. A lot rested on what happened the next few hours, exactly why Rowan forced himself to sleep. He needed to stay sharp. For her. And for those women.
When Alex got out of the passenger seat after Ryder drove them to the location, Rowan moved to meet Ryder at the hood of the command center on wheels that belonged to the New York City team. Rowan studied Alex as she spoke with Jeff and two of Ryder’s other guys, along with Luke. Addressing the question that had been sitting on his tongue when he saw Luke get onto the plane, Rowan asked Ryder, “Is Luke not still assigned to Mia?”
Ryder scanned over Luke, who was currently arming himself to the teeth. “He got wind of this and wanted to come on board. I sent another one of my guys, Andreas, to keep an eye on Mia until he’s back.”
A frown tugged on Rowan’s mouth. “Is that usual for him to bail on an assignment he’s given?”
“Not usual, no.” Ryder paused then shrugged. “It’s what Luke wanted, and I try to honor what my team wants when I can.” Then he strode away, leaving Rowan wondering if Luke was an adrenaline junkie that needed the high of the hunt, and if Ryder, as a good leader, respected and fulfilled that need.
Rowan only cared that Mia was safe, and Ryder had proven already to have Mia’s best interest in mind. With that thought settled, Rowan moved to the back of the van, reaching for the weapons that Ryder had loaned to him. He strapped a gun to his thigh and slid the knife into the sheath.
“You good with that knife?” Luke asked.
Rowan smiled. “Guns, they always expect. No one ever expects you to get close. It surprises them every time.” Even as the words left his mouth, his stomach tightened against how many had died under his blade, but it was a truth that remained. He’d learned how to fight from one of the best in the CIA. Those skills kept him safe, many times.
Luke gave Rowan a good long regard then finally said, “Good to have you on the team.”
Rowan nodded and then stared after him as Luke headed toward Ryder. Rowan’s kills were on his hands. He took the blame alone. There was something about having men there over his shoulder that gave a sense of security that Rowan hadn’t known he missed. But soon a sudden tug for him to glance right overwhelmed him. Rowan was unsurprised when he caught Alex watching him with heat in her eyes. Drawn to her in ways he could not put a name on, he closed the distance between them. “The gear does it for you, huh?” he asked when he reached her.
She gave him a thorough once-over then grinned. “Yup.” Her lips were parted, ready for his kiss, when awareness returned to her gaze that they were surrounded by her coworkers. “Pure trouble, you are, Hawke.”
He winked, clamping down on the intensity threatening to rush over him. “I’d wager a bet you like that about me, McCoy.”
She laughed softly then turned and proceeded to walk straight into Jeff.
“Dude!” he snapped, grabbing her arms, steadying her. “I am a person, not a wall for you to knock down.”
She flushed from her face all the way down to her chest and took a step back. “Sorry.”
Rowan grinned all for himself, liking seeing her a little disarmed. It gave him hope that when they finally talked about what was going to happen after the case was done, he might get the answers he wanted.
He followed Alex, loving the extra little wiggle she put into her ass, until they reached Ryder.
“We’re going to make this clean,” Ryder said, as Rowan moved in next to Alex. “We’ve all got our plans,” he said to Alex. To his team, he added, “We get in, search quickly and efficiently, and get out. We stay safe. Clear?”
“Hooyah,” the team responded in unison.
A light breeze rustled the trees behind Ryder as he turned to Alex and Jeff. “Keep communication open. I suspect we’ll have some traps to get through. I can’t imagine Lewis not putting security on the mine.”
Alex said, “Give me a few to get into whatever systems he’s got going on in there.” Taylor had reported to Rowan that the drones the CIA had sent over the mine revealed Wi-Fi signals coming from the location. Problem was, it wasn’t in one location. It spanned miles of the mine.
Ryder acknowledged her request with a nod. “We’ll move into position now and wait for your order.” He hesitated, then looked at Alex firmly. “Be steady.”
She nodded. “Always am.”
With a final hard look at her, Ryder strode off toward his team.
Rowan felt the weight of worry settle deep into his chest and tugged Alex into his arms before she could refuse. Much like Ryder, who probably wanted her safe at home, he didn’t want her there. He kissed the top of her forehead. “I thought you were the hacker who didn’t like getting into the thick of things, and here you are right in the action?”
She dropped a kiss on his neck then felt her smile against his flesh. “I thought you were the guy who didn’t get emotional, who had a job to do, and never broke out of line, and here you are getting emotional?”
Two could play that game. He leaned away, staring into those fiery eyes of hers. “What if I’m not that guy anymore? What if I’m the guy that wants to keep you close and safe where nothing or no one can hurt you?” He spotted the widening of her eyes even through the dark night as he went on. “What if I’m the guy not looking to run but looking to stick?”
Her mouth parted, and Rowan became aware of the wave of warmth washing over him as everything about her softened. He waited to hear the words he’d longed for. To hear that she wanted him just as much.
But that’s not what happened. She took a step back, her emotions locking up tight. “Later,” she breathed.
Rowan stared after her. Later. It was always later. And Rowan needed now.
She took another step back. “Later, I promise. Get in and get out. Safe. Righ
t?”
Rowan nodded, fighting against himself to step forward and pull her in close, refusing to let go. But they both had a job to do. His gave him meaning, he’d never strip her of that same purpose, though he couldn’t stop what he said next. “Soon, Alex, you won’t be able to run anymore.” He liked the shell-shocked look she gave him. That looked better on her than the uneasy one she’d given him a moment ago when he got too close.
He took off toward the team, and soon, they were heading deep into the woods, the tactical light on their firearms leading their way. By the time they made it into the woods, Rowan’s body was slicked in sweat and his breath was ragged from the exertion. He scanned over the rocky cliff. The entrance had been boarded up, and Rowan wasn’t exactly sure how Lewis got in, but assumed he had another entrance, probably found as a child, and later had become an obsession. Rowan wouldn’t pretend to understand what happened to Lewis’s brain after living with an abusive mother, or what would have happened to a child’s mind when left in a mine for three days alone, but those things didn’t matter to Rowan. Alex mattered. The women mattered. That was it.
“We’re ready,” Alex said through the earpiece, as Rowan finally caught his breath. “I’ve locked onto a wireless router coming from the mine. It’s definitely Lewis. We’re seeing the video feed here, and a security system to alert him to movement within locations of the mine.” A pause. “Okay, that’s disabled now. I’m not seeing anything else that should be a problem.”
“Roger,” Ryder said. “Rowan—”
An explosion followed by a piercing wail had Rowan yanking the earpiece from his ear. He caught the others doing the same. Until he realized what that sound meant. He didn’t pause. He ran to Alex in the same direction they’d come, shoving the earpiece in his ear. “Alex. Answer me. Alex. Alex?”
Ryder barked out orders behind him, “Get the victims out. Luke, with me and Rowan.”
Right as Rowan passed back into the thick brush, Jeff said, his voice sounding far away from there, “Jesus Christ, Lewis blew up the fucking door.”
“Alex,” Rowan roared. “Where is Alex?”
A pause. “She’s gone.”
CHAPTER 13
Sounds began trickling in. First a clanging noise. Then deep breathing. Alex groaned against the darkness. She moved and wiggled, only to realize she couldn’t sit up. Her wrists burned, something heavy weighing down on her arms. She dropped her head back, fighting against the darkness wanting to swallow her up. Until she felt the cool metal of a knife brushing down her chest.
She snapped her eyes open, realizing she wasn’t alone.
Lewis grinned at her, all teeth. “You’re finally awake.”
She quickly took note of her situation. She was bound with her arms above her head, her legs attached to a steel bar that kept her spread wide. She moved from side to side, the coarse rope burning against her wrists. “You sick son of a bitch,” she growled.
Lewis gave a throaty chuckle and dragged the knife over her lips and down her chin, causing her heart to skip a full beat when he said, “You couldn’t just leave well enough alone, could you?” His icy eyes locked onto hers, so dark they held no warmth. “I warned you to stay away from this. You were not who I wanted.”
She controlled her breathing, not wanting him to witness any hint of weakness, regardless that all her internal alarms were blaring. “Of course, I couldn’t leave it alone. You killed innocent women.”
“Were they so innocent?” Lewis purred, watching the knife trail down the center of her chest. “Or did they like the games we played?” He dragged the knife across her breast then he moved the blade to her arm. His breathing changed then, becoming rough, and his eyes glistened with delight as he pressed the blade and dragged it down her arm.
Alex screamed against the bite of the blade. When the blinding pain vanished, replaced by a throbbing ache, she glanced over to find he’d cut deep, blood pouring down her arm, leaving a wide gaping wound.
But all that pain vanished when Lewis lifted the bloody blade to his mouth and licked off the blood, shutting his eyes as he savored the taste.
When he opened his eyes, he grinned darkly at her. “You might think you wouldn’t like my talents, but you would. They did. All of them.”
Her stomach roiled, but she knew she had to keep him talking. If he talked, he couldn’t kill her. Rowan and Ryder would get there. I’ll always find you, Rowan had said, and she believed him. “You made mistakes,” she told Lewis. “You shouldn’t have killed them.”
“Yes, well,” he said, and stepped way, tapping the knife against the palm of his hand. “It was never part of the plan. Until the first one died.”
“Because of what you did to her,” Alex growled, her fingers tingling, her heart pounding in her ears.
“She was weak.”
Alex quickly scanned the area, realizing she was in his dungeon. Everything that some people used for kinky play to give pleasure, Lewis used to cause pain. “Is this place for your sick games?” she asked, turning back to him.
His eyes burned like he enjoyed her fear. Got off on that fear. “Sick to some. Beautiful to me.” He took a step closer, and everything inside screamed at Alex to get away. He grabbed her chin. “But you are not weak, are you? You might be the strongest one yet. The one who will not die.”
And that’s when Alex knew why he put them on display. He hadn’t meant to kill them. His twisted sadistic desires killed them, and he presented them in a way they were beautiful again. Her stomach roiled, and she swallowed back the bile in her throat as a shadow appeared just off to Lewis’s right shoulder.
Everything that was wrong was suddenly right. Warmth began to replace the cold and she slowly smiled. “You’re right, I am strong, but there’s a problem with that which I’m sure you didn’t count on.”
Lewis paused, lifting his eyebrows. “Do enlighten me.”
She put all of her hatred into her expression and grinned, showing teeth back. “I’m also smarter than you.”
His brows slowly drew together, his breathing faltered.
“You were an arrogant fool once,” she told him. “I knew you’d bite again. But I can’t take all the credit for this one. I only found your location and offered myself up as bait.” Which had earned her a full twenty minutes of being told no by both Rowan and Ryder, until they finally got over themselves and saw that she was onto something. Lewis was pure ego, as he’d already shown when he brought her in for questioning before, and when he came to visit Mia in the hospital. She knew that same ego would show itself again if they set him up. To the right of Lewis was another shadow, slowly closing in. Alex kept her eyes trained on Lewis.
The shadow behind Lewis suddenly struck with lethal precision. Rowan took Lewis down to his knees, his knife at his throat. “I provided the tracker that’s currently sitting in her belly that you could never trace.”
Ryder stepped out of the shadows. His gun aimed at Lewis. “I provided the logistics.”
Alex watched the color drain out of Lewis’s face. The dark arousal that had been swirling in his eyes was gone, replaced by the knowledge that whatever plan he thought he’d do tonight, whether that be to make Alex his final kill before taking himself out, or whatever sick thing his mind came up with was over as Ryder moved in and cuffed Lewis.
“Kill me,” Lewis said as Rowan slowly pulled the knife back. “You know that’s what you want. For Mia.”
Rowan’s expression flashed with uncontrolled rage. The knife bobbed on Lewis’s Adam’s apple. “I’ve considered it,” Rowan eventually said, “but in the end, I think it’s too easy. I want you to watch your ego crash around you.” He left a little nick on his neck where a line of blood trickled down.
Alex got the feeling that wasn’t by accident.
When Lewis was finally restrained, Rowan hastily moved to Alex, cutting her down. She gasped in relief as her wrists and ankles were free of the pain, but her relief was cut short by a near deafening blast of gunfire tha
t had Rowan dropping to the ground over Alex. She glanced up, watching the blood pour down Lewis’s face from the gunshot to the middle of his forehead. Then she looked to her right and found Luke, slowly lowering his gun.
Luke’s firm stare flicked from Lewis dead on the ground to Rowan. “He would’ve dragged this out in court for years. The victims—your sister—would have had to relive this hell for the rest of their lives. This was right. Now it’s done. They can start to rebuild their lives again.” He looked at Ryder. “Do whatever you have to do.” Then he dropped the gun onto the floor and walked out the way he’d obviously come in.
“I think Mia has found herself a friend,” Alex said after a long moment, breaking the heavy silence, now understanding why Luke had asked to come along.
“She’s got that effect on people.” Rowan looked at Alex then. He frowned at the cut on her arm, then used his knife to cut some of his T-shirt free and then wrapped her arm tight. “That is the first, and last time, you are ever to be used as bait.”
“You won’t get any objections from me.”
“I’m glad we’re all in agreement about that,” said Ryder, just as someone called his name. He vanished out the same way Luke had left and returned a moment later. “CIA and FBI are on the way. They heard the explosion.” To Rowan, he asked, “How do you want to handle this?”
The loaded question lingered in the air. Rowan glanced between Alex and Lewis and the scene. He helped Alex to her feet. “Go and get stitched up.” He nudged her along until Ryder had her in his arms.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, digging in a little as Ryder attempted to guide her away.
He dropped to his knees and wiped the gun with his shirt before he held it, clearing away Luke’s prints, and putting his on it instead.
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