“Do you want us to end this?” I snapped. “Sorry to burst your bubble on reality, but if you ever want to live a normal life again, this shit has to happen. And don’t give me any more shit about how I dragged you into this. You didn’t exactly push me away when I climbed into your bed.”
I could see her turn beat red in the mirror and decided I had sufficiently embarrassed her enough that she would keep her mouth shut. I hated that I did that to her, but I had to concentrate. There was no room for fucking this up.
We pulled up to Marks’ home a half hour later and parked on the street. Kate climbed into the driver’s seat as Pappy and I made our way inside. It was easy enough to break in. Apparently Marks thought he was untouchable because he had hardly any security. After clearing the rest of the house, we made our way up to his room. Pappy pulled out his syringe and covered Marks’ mouth as he pushed the needle into his neck. Marks’ eyes went wide as he realized what was happening and there was a moment that I thought he recognized me, but then his eyes rolled back in his head and he was out like a light.
“Grab him and let’s go,” Pappy said.
I tried to lift him, but the man had put on weight from what his profile said. “Damn, this fucker’s heavy.”
“Let’s go, Hud. We don’t have all night.”
I grunted as I tried to lift his dead weight, but it was useless. The man must have put on a hundred pounds. I flung his arm over my shoulder and lifted in a fireman’s carry and my back about gave out. “Holy shit,” I grunted. I could feel my face going beat red from the strain.
“Stop fucking around and let’s move,” Pappy jeered.
“You stop fucking around. Do you want to carry him?”
“I did my part. You’re supposed to be the muscle.”
“We didn’t plan for a three hundred fifty pound gorilla.”
“You told me you could handle this alone,” he mocked. “You said that you did this shit all the time and it would be no problem.”
“Shut the fuck up and help me before we get caught.”
“Fine, give me his feet.”
We shifted until we could carry the man down the stairs. Pappy went down first and Marks’ body bumped along the stairs because his body bowed in the center. I didn’t give a shit. The man wouldn’t be living past tonight. A cat screeched and Pappy jumped, losing his footing and tumbling down the stairs. When he dropped Marks, I tried to keep myself upright, but I was tumbling down the stairs right after him. I landed on top of Marks and then rolled off so I laid on my back.
“That fucking hurt,” Pappy groaned. “You didn’t say anything about a fucking cat.”
“There was nothing in his file about a cat.”
“I thought you were doing recon? You didn’t see a cat wandering around?”
“Fuck, stop busting my balls. I didn’t know about the damn cat.”
“You’re never gonna live this down.”
“If you ever mention this again, I’ll slit your throat.”
The front door creaked open and I immediately pulled my gun, ready to shoot whoever was stupid enough to enter. When Kate’s head popped up, I lowered my gun and blew out a harsh breath.
“What the hell are you doing? You were supposed to stay in the truck.”
She looked at us, a heap of limbs intertwined on the floor and raised an eyebrow. “I thought this was a quick in and out?”
“Cat,” Hunter grumbled. Kate gave a funny expression and her lips scrunched up in question.
“I have to admit, this isn’t what I was expecting. I somehow thought you would be more professional than this.”
I rolled my eyes and got to my feet, holding out a hand for Hunter. He stood and pressed a hand against his back and groaned.
“I think I tweaked my back.”
“Can we get on with this? I didn’t want to be here in the first place,” Kate said with a huff.
“Kate, back the truck into the driveway. We’ll bring him around back.”
Kate exited quickly and Hunter and I picked up Marks’ body and dragged him out the back door. I went back in and quickly wiped away any evidence that we had been there and locked up behind me. When we got Marks loaded in the back of the truck, we all got in and headed back to the safe house.
✯✯✯✯✯
“We’ll take him downstairs. There’s a room that we can use. Has a drain and everything,” Hunter said flippantly.
“A drain? What are you planning to do to him?” Kate asked.
“Whatever we have to in order to get the answers we need,” I said, staring her down and watching her eyes widen in horror.
“You can’t just kill him. He’s a person.”
“He’s trying to kill us,” I barked back. “You need to ask yourself whose life you value more, yours or his.”
She looked over at Marks, who was still passed out from the drug and then back at me with tears in her eyes. “Isn’t there anything left of Hudson inside you?”
That took me back. I thought she knew that Hudson didn’t exist any more. Now I could see how much it really affected her to see who I really was. But that was the whole point wasn’t it? Cole had asked me to walk away and I had, but this would ensure that she saw the man I had become and want nothing to do with me after this was over.
“Hudson died when I pulled the trigger on those three men.”
She turned from me and took the stairs up to her room. Turning to Hunter, he shook his head at me. “You’re fucking it up with her.”
“She doesn’t want me. She wants the version of me that doesn’t exist any more.”
“She didn’t fall for the guy you were. She never even knew him, which means there must be something about you that she likes. You’re just too stupid to see that.”
“Someone’s out there trying to kill us. Do you want to find out who it is or do you want to play Dr. Phil?”
“You’re a grumpy bastard, you know that?”
“I’m about to be real fucking happy. Let’s get this asshole downstairs.”
We hauled Marks downstairs and strapped his ass to a chair. It was going to be a while before he was awake and I was finding it difficult to hold out for much longer. I had a lot of anger to take out on this man, but I also needed to hold it together so I could find out what the hell was going on. I was a killer and I enjoyed fucking with their minds before I killed them, but I didn’t enjoy causing pain the way some killers did. It was some sick enjoyment that I got out of torture. I liked to instill fear in my targets, let them know that they would suffer the way their victims suffered.
As I waited for Marks to wake up, I ran over in my mind what had happened at Kate’s house. How close she had come to taking a bullet or getting stabbed by that knife. I thought of her anger at having taken someone’s life and I let it wash over me. This asshole deserved everything I had to give him. Kate didn’t deserve to live in fear or have her world torn apart. She shouldn’t have had to take a life when it’s something she hates so vehemently. I was pissed at myself for that, but I directed my rage at the man who was starting to rouse in front of me. Normally, I would go for torture right away when trying to get information, but I had a strong desire to take out my anger on him with my fists.
When his eyes focused around the room and he saw me sitting at a table, the fear in his eyes almost made me laugh. He knew who I was and he was fucking scared. He should be. By the time I was through with him, he would rue the day he ever fucked with me or anyone close to me.
“McGuire.” His voice shook as he took in my enraged state.
“Marks. Are you still collecting on soldier’s deaths?” I asked as I pulled a knife and started sharpening it against a stone I had on the table next to me. My body language was relaxed, but he wasn’t dumb enough to assume he would be getting out of this.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you? Your accounts say otherwise. Only now that your friends are out of the picture, you’re collecting
their shares, or most of them anyway. You want to tell me where the rest of the money is going or do I have to make you tell me?”
He looked at the knife and visibly swallowed. “I’m not telling you jack shit. You’re not going to let me go no matter what I say.”
“That’s true, but how you go is up to you. I can make it very painful or I can make it..not quite as painful. I’m not going to lie. Either way, I’m going to fuck you up, but how long it lasts is up to you.”
“You’re a murderer. I wouldn’t trust a fucking word out of your mouth.”
I chuckled and got up, pulling on a pair of latex gloves and strolled over to him. “See that’s where we differ. I’m a murderer, but I stand by what I did. Your men were fucking filth and they disgraced the uniform they wore so proudly. You profit from the deaths of the men you command.” I leaned in close to him and whispered in his ear. “You have no honor and no right to wear that uniform and I’m going to make sure that there’s no way you can be buried in it.”
I stood back and smirked at him. “Who’s collecting the rest of the money, Marks?”
He shook his head slightly, his pale face showing a slight sheen of sweat. “You won’t stop him. He’ll do anything to get your attention. He wants revenge and he won’t stop until he gets it.”
I slid the knife along his face, slicing a thin line from his temple, down through his cheek, and into his lip. To his credit, he didn’t make a noise, but his body shook with fear. “I want a name.”
“You can’t outrun him. He’s been planning this for too long.”
“I’m not going to outrun him. I’m going to end him. The name,” I demanded, but he still wouldn’t give it. I quickly grabbed his head, wrapping my arm around his head, locking him in place. I thrust the knife into his eye as he screamed in pain, twisting until I dug it out of his eye socket. Blood oozed down his face and his heavy pants filled the air as he gasped for control. I wiped the blood from my knife onto his shirt and stepped around him to look into his one eye.
“The name.”
His whole body shook as adrenaline coursed through his body. I knew I didn’t have long before he passed out from the pain, but that didn’t matter. I could do this all night until he told me what I needed to know.
“Jensen,” he croaked out.
I shook my head in disbelief. “No. I killed him.”
His head started to lull to the side and I smacked his face to bring him back to the conversation.
“They just wanted you to think he died. He almost didn’t make it, but he survived,” his words slurred. “He’s been in rehab for years, plotting to kill you. He’s known who you are for years and has been tracking you.”
“Why now? Why not any other time over the past few years? If he’s really been tracking me, he could have had me taken out at any time.”
He lifted his head to look at me as best he could. “Because of the girl. He finally found something that would break you. He wants you to suffer and your lady friend is the perfect target.”
Chills raced down my spine at his words. This was so much worse than I had imagined because my actions over ten years ago were coming back to haunt me in ways that I could never have seen coming. I had purposely kept my distance from everyone to avoid situations like this, but it hadn’t mattered. The moment I started stalking Kate was the moment I sealed her fate.
In my anger, I flipped the knife so I gripped it tightly by the hilt in my fist and rammed it straight into his throat as I yelled in frustration. His eyes went wide as the blade pierced him and he made a gurgling sound before his eyes dimmed and his head flopped backward. There was nothing more I wanted in this moment than to find Jensen and put him in the ground, but if what Marks was saying was true, he would have contingency plans in place. I needed to find out who was working with him and make sure that I wiped out anyone who could possibly go after Kate.
I woodenly made my way back up to where Pappy was waiting in the kitchen. He was working on his laptop, but slammed it closed when I entered the room. He took in the blood on my clothes and shook his head. “Tell me you at least got something out of him.”
“It’s Jensen.”
“Jensen?” He said in shock. “You killed that fucker.”
“Apparently, he didn’t die.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I could have sworn he was dead. A shot like that should have killed him.”
“Where’s he been all this time?”
“Rehab. Plotting revenge.” I walked over to the window and stared out at the dark night. “He’s after Kate. All this time, I thought someone was just going after her to get to me. Jensen wants to hurt me. He doesn’t want to just draw me out, he wants to make me suffer for screwing everything up for him. Kate’s not just collateral damage. She’s the fucking target.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kate
MY HEART STUTTERED in my chest. Did I just hear Garrick right? I was the target? I didn’t understand how that was possible. I was no one. I didn’t have anything to do with Garrick before a few months ago.
“Fuck,” I heard Hunter muttered as I stood back where they couldn’t see me. “We need to call Sebastian. We can’t take the chance that anything happens to her.”
“I know. Fuck, I should have never followed her. I should have kept away from her the moment she ran from me at the safe house.”
“You couldn’t know this would happen, man.”
“I damn well knew this could happen. I’ve made a lot of enemies after I became Knight, but the fucked up part is that not one of them is coming after me. This all has to do with my past and it’s gonna get Kate killed.”
“We won’t let that happen. We just need to make a plan and get ahead of this. Kate will be safe with you.”
“I’m the last fucking person she needs in her life.”
“You’re exactly who she needs in her life. You think I don’t see the way you look at her? This isn’t just some obsession. You’re fucking in love with her. I knew it the day you asked me to install cameras at her house. You want to protect her and there’s not a single person you’ve given a shit about in years.”
“That doesn’t mean that I should be in her life.”
Wait. Did that mean that he loved me? That wasn’t exactly a confession, but I had the feeling it might be the closest I would get.
“That’s exactly what it means. Who better to protect the woman you love than you? I know you won’t let anything happen to her because it would kill you. I’m not saying you can do it on your own, because we have no fucking clue how much reach this guy has now, but when it comes to her, there’s no one better for her than you. Besides, it’ll be easier to keep an eye on both of you if you’re together.”
I watched as Garrick walked over to a chair and took a seat, hanging his head as he rested his elbows on his knees. “She doesn’t want me around,” he said quietly. “I’m fucking tainted in her eyes. I’m a killer and nothing I do will ever make that better, but I will keep her safe. I swear to God, there’s not a chance in hell I’ll ever let anything I’ve done touch her again. She deserves so much better than that.”
“Then let’s get this shit done. We call Sebastian and find out where the fuck Jensen is and who his contacts are. Then we take if from there.”
I snuck away as they continued talking about what they were planning and went back to my room. The doors for the rooms had old key locks, but Hunter hadn’t given me a key when we arrived. I assumed that when they converted the building, they just didn’t lock the doors to the rooms. I went into the bathroom and decided to take a shower. After what I just heard, I felt like I needed to scrub the filth from my body.
It all swirled in my mind as I stood under the hot spray. Me being the target because of something that happened in Garrick’s past. Garrick almost admitting that he loved me. His vow to protect me no matter what. There was one thing that resounded through all of this and that was that no matter what terrible things Garrick had done, I couldn’t help
but admit that I was in love with him too. I saw the man that he once was and knew that deep down, Hudson was still a part of Garrick. Hudson was a man of honor and Garrick was an avenger of the defenseless. Together, they made the man that I loved and wanted to spend my life with, if he would allow it. I wanted him and all the reasons I gave him for wanting him out of my life no longer mattered when I heard that I was the target.
Suddenly, I just wanted one more night with him, to feel his arms around me and feel cherished by him. That was what he did for me and it was something I had never felt before. I had dated other men and slept with other men, but I never had a connection with anyone else before. Every date was pleasant and the sex was satisfying, but I realized that if I gave up Garrick, that’s all I would ever have. I didn’t want to settle for pleasant and satisfying. I wanted earth shattering, mind blowing, electrical charges to my body. When this was over, if Garrick could only give me small pieces of himself, I would accept that because I would rather have that much of him than nothing at all.
I turned to get out of the shower and hunt him down to tell him exactly what I thought, but he was already here. Leaning against the counter, like that first morning after he came to stay with me, Garrick watched me as I opened the door. Only this time, I didn’t shut off the water. I opened the door wider and held my hand out to him. His eyes darkened as they trailed over my body and when I widened my stance, I knew I had him. He pulled his t-shirt over his head and shucked his pants in a few swift moves. His muscles flexed as he walked toward me and pushed me up against the shower wall. He had smears of red across his skin, blood from his interrogation of Marks.
I grabbed the washcloth from the bar and soaped it up. I didn’t want him to have this blood on him. I wanted him to be clean, the way I knew he once was. I ran the cloth over his body, taking extra care to clean every drop of blood from his skin. His eyes burned into me as he watched my every move.
“You heard us,” his low voice rumbled.
I nodded. “I did.” I looked up into his eyes as my hand stilled on his chest. “Was Hunter right? Do you love me?”
Knight: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 4) Page 16