by Marie Harte
Hunter hung up, not as reassured as he should have been. Omaney’s late arrival still bothered him, as did his reasons for wanting a powwow. J.D., up to speed on everything, had no idea what had delayed Omaney’s arrival to the island. He swore Buchanan’s team worked hand-in-hand with them on everything, so he didn’t think Max, Cole, or Thorne had interfered.
A glance at Rebecca showed her breathing deep and even. Hunter didn’t want to leave her alone, but an urgency gnawed at him to find Alex. Change in plan.
Hunter injected Rebecca with the serum. “Come on, dammit. Wake up.”
After a few moments, her eyelids fluttered. It took several minutes before she showed an awareness of her surroundings. She screamed.
Thank God for soundproofing. “I don’t have time for this.” The need to protect Alex grew. “Enough,” Hunter growled and leaned close.
Rebecca shut up on a squeak. Surprisingly, she looked little worse for wear.
“Keep your mouth shut and listen. I’m here on behalf of your parents. We’re going to bust you and the others out of here in...” he paused to look at his watch, “...another twenty-five minutes. I have to find my partner. Until then, you’re going to be alone. But I don’t want you unprotected.”
Hunter slipped a gun out from the back of his trousers. He showed her the safety, ejected the clip, and showed her the bullets before shoving it back and loading the weapon. “Locked and loaded. All you have to do is point and shoot.” He started to hand it to her, then stopped. “Don’t shoot me. This isn’t a game. We can’t alert security to any of this yet. As far as anyone outside this room knows, I’m screwing your brains out.” He grimaced.
Tears fells down her cheeks. In the dim light, she looked like Alex, and his heart turned over. “Dammit, don’t cry. Come on, honey. You have to be strong, just a little while longer.” At his words, she sniffled and dried her eyes. “I know you can shoot. Your father used to take you to the Foreman Firing range when you were just a kid. He used to call you Dead-Eye.” Harlan had given them details to assure Rebecca of their identity in the event they found her.
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God! My father did send you!”
“Yeah, now remember, this thing is loaded.” He handed her the pistol and stepped toward the door. “Lie back in that bed after I’m gone and pretend you’re traumatized. Not that much of a leap, eh? Keep the gun close by, but don’t leave this room. There are still guards outside, and they’re armed. The team coming to collect you will be looking for you in this spot.”
“Okay, okay. I’m good. I’ll wait.” She spoke too quickly, and Hunter could see her struggling to remain calm.
“I’m going to find Alex and bring that damned woman back here. If I’m not back by the time they come to get you, something’s wrong. Let them know.”
“I will. They’re coming though, right?”
Hunter grinned. “Yes, they are. And trust me when I say Omaney and the rest of these assholes are gonna feel it when we’re through.”
HUNTER DIDN’T LIKE the emptiness in the halls of the mansion. A cool breeze swept the scent of flowers and sea salt through the causeways. Not one guard stepped out to meet him. None of the other guests lurked about, no doubt too busy making deals with Ray.
The need for vengeance rode him hard. He hurried back to his suite, only to find the door broken and blood on the floor. Not enough to indicate a terminal loss, but smudges of dark red stained the floor in spots, amping his adrenaline. If anything happened to Alex, he’d kill whoever had touched her.
Several footsteps echoed in the hallway, drawing nearer to his room. His fingers itched for a gun. Unfortunately, he’d given the only weapon he’d had to Rebecca. At least it would keep her safe. He glanced at his watch.
Fifteen more minutes until backup.
Yasef entered with half a dozen guards surrounding him. None of them appeared armed. “Ray would like to see you in his study.”
“In a minute.” As he looked at Yasef, he could only picture the deviant abusing Victoria. Between her legs, over her slim, helpless body...
Rage consumed him. Adrenaline increased his alertness, and his speed took the others by surprise. In seconds, he’d knocked one of the guards unconscious and disabled another by breaking his jaw
The remaining four guards closed in on him while Yasef watched with a grim smile. Needing to remain in control and unhampered, Hunter swiftly broke one guard’s knee and kicked another in the face. He didn’t stop until the men around him lay on the ground, unmoving. Once done with them, he turned on Yasef. The bastard held a pistol, but Hunter was already moving. With his keener than average eyesight, he watched Yasef’s finger tighten on the trigger and shifted out of the way. He felt a burn across his shoulder and kept moving. He knocked into Yasef, taking the man off his feet.
In short order, he wrapped a hand around Yasef’s neck and grabbed the gun. Hunter stood and yanked Yasef to his feet by his hair. Forcing the smaller man to walk ahead of him, he said, “I’m ready. Let’s go find your boss.”
After several twists and turns, Yasef led Hunter to a door inside Ray’s personal quarters. The gunmetal gray door stood out in the room because it had no handle, and its cold exterior looked incongruous with the tropical-themed suite. Coral, green, and ivory decorated everything from the bedspread to the curtains to the chair cushions. The room might as well have been for a guest, because nothing personal indicated the room was even in use. No speck of dust or wrinkle marred the room’s perfection.
“Only Ray can unlock it,” Yasef said in a low voice.
At his words, the door snicked and opened. Hunter looked at Yasef, the urge to kill strong. But Victoria hadn’t had it so easy. Neither would Yasef. A quick death wouldn’t hurt nearly as much as a lifetime behind bars. Shoving the man ahead of him through a dark corridor, he followed and entered a large, windowless room.
One half of the room looked like a miniature art exhibit. Several paintings lined a blood-red wall, each lit by a warm light. Angels and demons seemed a common motif. A couch faced away from him toward the paintings, presumably to allow Ray to absorb his intimidating art. Several glass-encased sculptures and a large water fountain covering the side wall from ceiling to floor dominated the rest of the space. The sounds of trickling water should have been soothing. Yet the serenity of this room seemed somehow forced.
Ray sat across from Peter Omaney, an expansive mahogany desk between them. Peter had been worked over, no doubt about it. Before this, his bruises had been concealed, but now blood trickled from his mouth, and he sported a black eye. The way Ray rubbed his hand made Hunter wonder if he’d had anything to do with Peter’s new injuries.
“We have a few things to discuss,” Ray said in a calm voice.
“Yeah, we do.” Hunter shoved Yasef to his knees and aimed the gun at his head. “This asshole and a few of his friends tried to kill me.”
“Tsk tsk.” Ray frowned at his man. “Your orders were to bring him here. Not to harm him.”
“But, Ray, he’s one of them. Like her,” Yasef protested.
Hunter strove to remain outwardly calm. One of them? He had a bad feeling his and Alex’s covers had been blown.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled at Yasef, who slowly rose to his feet. “Ray and I have business to discuss. Breaking into my room? Trying to strong-arm me? What the fuck did you think you were doing?” He didn’t have to pretend his rage. Turning to Ray, he snarled, “Where’s Alex? She wasn’t where I left her.” His heart raced. Please, God. She’s not dead. She can’t be.
“Didn’t you see her? She’s right over there.” Ray pointed to the couch.
Hunter left Yasef and hurried to the couch. Hidden by the high back, she lay peacefully on the cushions. To his relief, she didn’t appear harmed. Wearing that racy negligee, she looked an awful lot like the woman in the painting centered on the wall in front of her. Without meaning to, he glanced from it to her. Corruption of the Saint. The damned thing gave him the creeps.
“Yes, incredible likeness, isn’t it?” Ray smiled, but Peter frowned.
A thought struck him. Rebecca had been wearing a similar white slip, and she looked a lot like Alex. “Shit. They’re all like the woman in the painting, aren’t they? Every damned one of your women looks like her.”
“Exactly. I’ve been searching for her for a long, long time. And you’ve brought her to me.”
“She’s a Fed,” Omaney spat. “You can’t keep her, Ray. You have to kill her. She’s a liability.”
“What do you think, Jed?” Ray asked softly.
Shit. “If this is your way of trying to take her for free, forget it. We trade. You want her, I’ll give her to you. For a price.” He walked around the couch, keeping himself between Alex and the others. “This Fed bullshit isn’t flying.”
“It’s not bullshit. I have a source at Westlake,” Peter insisted.
Dammit. That hit at the docks and his source have to be tied. “And what the hell is Westlake?”
“A private contractor for the government. They work hand in hand with the Feds on everything. A friend of mine told me Alex wasn’t who she said she was. Turns out, she works for another firm, also in bed with the Bureau.”
Hunter shook his head in denial.
Ray spoke before Peter could. “Funny. The great Jed Black taken in by a government agent. Then again, we don’t really know you very well, do we, Jed? You surface every few years and do a good bit of business. Interesting you’ve never had any run-ins with the law.” Ray toyed with a silver letter opener that resembled a miniature blade.
“Why are we asking twenty questions? Let’s kill this scum and get back to business,” Yasef seethed. He took a step toward Hunter, and Hunter raised his gun, silently praying for the deviant to attack.
Two shots rang out, and Yasef fell to the floor, dead. In one hand, Ray held his letter opener, in the other a nine-millimeter Beretta.
“I loved that man.” Ray shook his head. “But he really would have come to a bad end if I hadn’t saved him from himself. I’m so sorry, Peter, but he killed Sarah last night. Without my authority, I might add. I fear Yasef’s demons were too much, even for a saint to fix.” Ray glanced at the couch.
To Hunter’s horror, Alex moaned and stirred behind him.
“She’s coming around,” Peter said, his voice oddly somber. “I’d like to see Sarah, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course. I cleaned her up and left her in her room for you.” Ray’s voice gentled. “I’m sorry, Peter. I know you were fond of her.” He buzzed his friend out the door, and they waited in silence while Omaney left.
“Poor man. He was taken with Sarah. They really did make a pretty pair.” Ray sighed, then raised his gun at Hunter. “And now it’s just you and me. Tell me, Mr. Greye, just what you hoped to accomplish by all this?”
Hunter didn’t bat an eye. I have a source at Westlake, Omaney had said. Dammit all. His cover compromised and Alex’s safety at risk, Hunter had no other choice but to take Ray out the hard way. “When did you know?”
Ray grimaced. “Not soon enough. I would never have invited you here were I in full faculty of the truth. Peter told me the minute I returned from our short tour. I’d wondered which woman you were sent for, and when you asked for Rebecca, I knew.” He shifted his gun from Hunter to where Alex had risen from the couch to blink warily at both men. “I won’t miss. Don’t make me hurt her, Mr. Greye. Toss the gun.”
Hunter didn’t hesitate. He put the safety on and threw the gun toward Ray.
“Good.”
Hunter blocked Alex by taking a step in front of her. He advanced in Ray’s direction to cut down on Ray’s line of sight, but he stopped when Ray aimed at his head.
“Not too close, my lethal friend. I applaud you for using Black as a cover. Ingenious. Tell me, does Jed Black really exist?”
“Yeah, and he’s going to be plenty pissed when he hears he’s been played. But if this works the way it’s supposed to, not only will we have the infamous Wraith in custody, but a lead on Jed Black as well. Two for the price of one.” At least he could keep Jed Black’s identity secret.
“Very clever indeed.” Ray walked around his desk, keeping a healthy distance between himself and Hunter. “You know you’re not going to escape alive.”
“I knew the risks when I volunteered for this. But you’re not getting away either.”
“Oh, but I am. I have redemption within my grasp for the first time in my life. That painting behind you? It’s called Corruption of the Saint. The artist is unknown, but the painting dates back to 1435. My father gave it to me when I was just a young man. You see, he knew what he’d made when he impregnated my mother. Tainted by sin, he expelled his evil deeds into his only son. But that same evil lived on in me. The only way to purge myself is to accept what I am.”
“And what’s that? A murderer? A kidnapper and rapist?”
“All that, and more. But I can be saved. I just needed the right woman to give me respite. Alex can do that. She’s the real thing. I saw what she can do. She’s my ethereal angel, come to save me.”
The crazed glow in Ray’s light blue eyes scared the hell out of him. The bastard actually believed all this crap about sin and redemption. Hunter had to keep this killer as far from Alex as possible.
“She kept Peter away from her with no more than a wave of her hand,” Ray continued, his voice whisper-soft. “Her wings are there. We just can’t see them. With her by my side, I can finally break free from what he made me.” His eyes glittered with fanaticism and a hint of sadness.
Ray tightened his grip on his gun. “But you’re going to have to go. I’m only sorry you touched her first. She was never yours to begin with. Alex, my dear, get down.”
“Hunter,” Alex screamed as Hunter rushed Ray to knock the gun aside.
The shot hit him hard, like a punch in his shoulder. Before Ray could fire again, a raging alarm sounded.
In the split second Ray’s attention wavered, Hunter scrambled for the gun. Before he tore it away, another shot went off. Ray, despite his size, was deceptively strong. It took more effort than Hunter would have thought to wrench away the firearm.
“Why is my alarm blaring? What did you do?” Ray shrieked as Hunter threw him up against the wall, pinning him there by his shoulders.
“I’m crushing your world, you freak. You’re done, Ray. Now the big, bad Wraith is nothing more than what he’s always been—a pathetic little sinner with a daddy complex.”
Unadulterated rage turned Ray’s face into a demonic mask of hate. He landed a kick at Hunter’s thigh that brought Hunter to his knees. The accompanying dizziness forced Hunter to acknowledge he’d been hit with that second shot and that Ray knew it. Ray took advantage, digging his fingers into Hunter’s shoulder as well, as if to rip Hunter’s flesh apart. The pain shocked him in its intensity, but the spots in his vision worried him. If he passed out, he’d leave Alex at this fuck’s mercy.
“Stop it, Ray,” Alex’s voice pierced the alarm.
They both turned to see her stumble around the couch.
“Stay back,” Hunter warned.
“Come to me, my angel,” Ray crooned. “Save me from my sins.”
“Oh, I will,” Alex promised. She held her head in one hand. In the other, she motioned to one of the guns and it flew through the air to her.
“A miracle,” Ray breathed and squeezed Hunter’s wound hard enough to bring tears to his eyes.
Hunter blinked to clear his vision, but what happened next took a minute to register. He heard a noise, saw Alex’s face crumple with worry. Then she was shoving Ray off him and to the floor.
“He’s gone. Hunter, stay with me.”
“Not...going...anywhere...”
“You’re mine, remember that.”
Hers, always. He closed his eyes with a smile on his face.
Epilogue
“You know, it’s been three months and we still haven’t had our talk,
” Alex said and kissed Hunter. They sat in her office, she in his lap, and he in her desk chair. He still hadn’t said those three little words she wanted so badly to hear.
“I’m not sure this thing is going to hold us,” Hunter muttered, looking down at the creaking monstrosity that would be coming with her.
“It’s great. Just think how terrific it’s going to look in our new office.” Alex grinned.
“As long as you’re behind the desk, I’ll agree to anything.” Hunter still reminded her, at least once a day, that he’d found her in Ray’s clutches. He’d saved her, before she’d saved him—which she wouldn’t let him forget.
“Well, I’ll admit the need to prove myself is gone. I saved the day, if you think about it.” She toyed with his hair, liking it longer. Her hero, so dark and dangerous. Until he smiled. He smiled a lot since they’d let him out of the hospital. And he had a grin on his face every night when they climbed into bed together, and after...
He shifted under her, and the feel of his hard body caging hers made her flush. He pulled her more firmly over him and laughed. Nuzzling her throat, he teased, “What’s wrong, angel? Never done it in your office before?”
“Please tell me I’m having a nightmare and let me wake up,” Cole grumbled from her doorway. He scrubbed his eyes before glaring at them. “Can’t you two play somewhere else?”
Alex scrambled off Hunter’s lap, her face on fire. “Geez. How about a little privacy?” she snapped.
“How about you close your damned door?” he snapped back.
Hunter laughed. “As entertaining as you two are, I need to see Max for a quick minute. I don’t think he understands we’re serious about our plans.” He stood and kissed Alex, then slapped her brother on the back as he passed him. “Later, Cole.”
Cole watched him leave, then turned back to her. He helped her pack a few things in boxes—what she’d been doing before Hunter had pulled her into his lap and distracted her. They discussed the kidnapped women, who’d been returned safely to their families. Rebecca had come through with a few emotional scars, but her family and therapist had every assurance of helping her through the hard times.