The Billionaire's Secret Life (Rosesson Brothers Book 4)

by Lisa Ladew

  Another fifty yards and Talon slowed, creeping silently forward. His eyes had long ago adjusted to the deepening dark, and he thought he could just make out a looming rectangle far ahead of them. That was where the shouting was coming from.

  He motioned to Kate to stay low and quiet, then began moving forward. Talon was well aware of Bailey’s dossier. If he was involved, there could be booby traps, explosives, surveillance, all manner of fuckery waiting to trip them up as they made their approach. No way was he going to play fast and loose with his life, or Kate’s.

  The closer they got, the more distinct the shouting became. Just one voice, it sounded like to Talon. And it wasn’t a steady shouting. It was intermittent, more like a conversation where the other person was too quiet to be heard.

  When they were twenty yards from the cabin, Talon could see it had windows, but they were all covered. One tiny sliver of light broke through a window on this side, though. If they could sneak up there, they might be able to see inside. He turned to Kate.

  “We’re going to go in stages from here, okay? Me first, then you at my signal. You follow my path exactly, you got that?

  “If anything happens, you run like hell back the way we came.” He pointed in the right direction just to be sure. “And you call for help, okay? Do not come any closer.”

  He watched Kate swallow and nod, her eyes wide as saucers. All things considered, she was handling this great, but he didn’t want her getting herself killed trying to be a hero if he went down.

  Kate followed his instructions to the letter, staying low and following as closely in his footsteps as she could in the dark. At the last tree before they reached the cabin, Talon leaned over and whispered in her ear.

  “We’ll leave the med kits here. I’m going to that window to peek inside. I’ll signal if it’s safe to come over.”

  He turned and listened for a moment, making sure he hadn’t missed anything. The shouting inside had continued on their approach. Now he could hear quieter speech as well, and the occasional impact. Talon didn’t think he was going to like what he found when he got to that window.

  One last glance at the clearing between him and the cabin, and Talon made his move. He crouched low, wincing at a twinge of pain in his bad leg, and crept to the wall just below the window. Slowly, he raised himself to the side of the glass and took a closer look.

  The windows had been covered with black spray paint, he could see now, but a sloppy job had left one small stripe of glass bare except for a few speckles. Talon edged closer, focusing on the scene inside the cabin.

  Empty shelves and a workbench came into view over a concrete floor. An open door with a light behind it showed a cheap cabinet sink and vanity mirror in what must be a bathroom. A small kitchenette occupied the opposite corner, and between them was a back door with a small window set inside.

  Changing his angle, Talon saw two hands tied behind a slat-backed chair. Another inch revealed the person in the chair to be Dax, bruised and bloody, but conscious. In front of him stood a man who, judging from the pictures Talon had seen in Knox’s files at Alpha Security, must be Dick Bailey. His gray hair was wild and his face was stubbled, but Talon was sure it was the same guy.

  “You don’t fuckin’ learn, do ya?” Bailey sneered at Dax and backhanded him across the face. Dax’s head snapped to the side and stayed there for a moment as he worked his jaw. “How’d you find me?”

  Slowly, Dax turned back to face Bailey, his reply too quiet for Talon to hear. In response, Bailey’s face turned blotchy and purple, his mouth writhing in fury. “The hell you don’t!”

  The punch he delivered to Dax’s chin hurt Talon just to watch. He looked around him once more, then motioned for Kate to get her ass over to the window. He motioned to her to look inside, putting a finger to his lips to remind her to be silent.

  Just enough light shone on her face for Talon to see her reaction. Kate’s eyes were squinted as she got her bearings, flying wide when she saw Dax and Bailey. As Talon watched, the fear was replaced by a fierce anger and determination he appreciated more than he could say. She wasn’t going to fall apart; she was ready to get in there and kick some ass.

  Talon reached into his boot and pulled out the revolver he kept there. According to Oregon state law, he wasn’t supposed to have a loaded weapon in a national forest, but, technically, he hadn’t gotten it out until now, on private property. He hoped that rationale would hold up if he needed it to.

  With only five shots, he couldn’t start a shoot-out and expect to come out on the winning end. His other weapons were back at the gas station in his saddlebags. But against Bailey alone, it might be enough. Talon raised his head up to the window once more to scope out the whole room.

  Bailey was still working Dax over, landing punches to his ribs and belly, but as far as Talon could see, there was nobody else there. He didn’t want to run any unnecessary risks, but he wasn’t sure how much more of a beating Dax could take. They’d have to go in with what they had and hope it was enough to take Bailey down.

  The bastard in question was prowling around the back of Dax’s chair now, muttering loudly as he passed him. “Always knew one of you Rosesson shits would come sniffing around again.”

  To punctuate his statement, he pistoned his elbow into the side of Dax’s head so hard the chair came off two of its feet before righting itself again. Dax gave a shout of pain and shook his head, groaning.

  “Rosesson?” His voice was weak, confused, but Talon heard him clearly. Bailey walked around the chair holding his prisoner and stuck his scruffy, unkempt face right up next to Dax’s.

  “You’re Dick Bailey.” At those words, Bailey smiled, an unpleasant sight considering his teeth were yellow and not all present and accounted for.

  “Oh, so now you remember me? I knew you just needed a little convincing.” Bailey straightened and backhanded Dax once more. “That’s for making me work so hard.”

  Talon ducked down. They had to get in there before Bailey decided to kill Dax and be done with it.

  He whispered his plan to Kate as quickly as he could, waiting for her nod before he continued. They crept together to the front of the cabin. Talon could see the front door was nothing special, no lock on the knob, and a quick glance showed the deadbolt was not engaged.

  There was still the possibility of them tripping a booby trap, but it wasn’t as much of a risk as leaving Dax here to wait for backup. He and Kate were going in. Talon raised three fingers, her signal to get ready to open the door.

  As his last finger dropped, Kate swung the door wide and Talon had a glimpse of Bailey spinning towards them. “Hands up, Bailey!”

  But Bailey didn’t stop for a second. He completed his spin and made a break for the back door. Talon fired a shot into the ceiling, hoping to scare him into stopping, unable to shoot him in the back. Bailey wrenched the door open and kept going.

  Talon chased after Bailey, knowing Kate would take care of Dax. He was just passing his half-brother when he heard a small thump and the back wall was obscured in a puff of smoke. Bailey had set off some kind of goddamn charge!

  Talon turned away from the back wall, covering his mouth and coughing. Kate was already crouching in front of Dax, touching his face and talking to him. Talon stopped long enough to snatch a knife out of his pocket and cut Dax’s bonds, then grabbed him under the shoulder and hauled him toward the front door, Kate following behind them.

  As soon as they got through the front door, Talon heard the roar of an engine. He ran to the back of the cabin, gun drawn, just in time to see Dick Bailey tearing away on an all-terrain vehicle. The headlights bounced over the rough terrain, the wheels kicking up a storm of dirt and debris. Talon took aim and squeezed off one hopeful shot, but Bailey was too far away.

  Talon jogged back to the front of the cabin. He didn’t put it past Bailey to have other charges set to blow. Deadly ones. They needed to get as far away as they could, as fast as they could.

  Relief fil
led his chest, though, when he came around the corner and found Dax on his knees and staying upright. Kate knelt in front of him, tackle boxes beside her and a tiny flashlight in her mouth aimed at her patient, her hands pressing gauze to his cheek. In the light of the cabin, Talon could see concern etched deeply on her face. It was the same look Crystal wore when she was worried about him.

  “We need to get out of here. Can you walk, Dax?” Talon’s half-brother looked up at him then. His eyes were blackened and swollen, his lip bleeding from a pair of small cuts. It looked like his nose might be broken, too.

  “Yeah, I think so.” Talon and Kate each took a med kit and one of Dax’s arms, and they gingerly followed their path back the way they’d come.

  Chapter 19

  They made it two hundred yards from the cabin before Dax slumped against a tree, too worn out and beaten up to walk anymore. As Talon helped him to the ground, Kate put together the light aluminum and nylon stretcher she’d brought along. Against Dax’s protests, they got him strapped in and began the arduous process of hauling him through the forest.

  Kate didn’t mind at all, actually. The exertion distracted her from how terrified she was that she was never going to see Dan - dammit! Dax - again. And after the way her heart had clenched when she saw him being beaten by that fucking asshole Bailey, Kate wasn’t sure how she was going to get through it if he left. She was surer than ever that she wanted him for keeps.

  “I feel kinda shitty, making you guys carry me.” Dax’s voice was quiet but strong. Kate could tell he was sore by the way he held his breath and grunted when they tilted him too much, but the fact that he was conscious and talking was encouraging.

  Kate chuckled. “Guy takes a bullet and he walks out of the woods under his own steam. A few clocks to the head, he gets his memory back and to ride around like the king of Siam. What’s wrong with this picture?”

  Talon and Dax laughed along, but Kate had already sobered. “So, do you remember everything now?”

  Dax stared straight up into the starry sky. Kate wanted to put the stretcher down, lie beside him, and just breathe together for a minute. But time stopped for no one.

  “I guess so. I remember who I am, where I live and work, my family. I remember what I was doing at the cabin when I came here the first time. The rest of that ruined video showed Bailey boasting about taking the explosives he had down to California, across state lines.”

  “Video? What video?” Talon, holding the front of the stretcher, tossed his questions over his shoulder.

  Kate answered for her patient, her heart still trip-hammering in her chest. She’d been so close to losing him, but getting him out of there in one piece didn’t mean she wasn’t going to lose him still. “Dax had a video on his phone, the one I told you was mostly ruined, from outside that same window you and I were at. Four or five guys all loading up crates and jugs. Bad news.”

  “God, I can’t believe I was dumb enough to go in there alone. Twice.” Dax groaned and closed his eyes, but Kate was confident it was more in humiliation than pain.

  Talon’s voice took on an encouraging note. “Don’t sweat it, man. We’ll get you fixed up, back to your old life, everything will get back to normal.”

  Tears sprang to Kate’s eyes, unbidden, as Talon spoke. Dax’s old life; that’s where he was headed. Back to being a billionaire bachelor in San Francisco. A life that definitely did not include her, much less her family and their restaurant and all the ways he’d blended in so beautifully.

  One tear spilled over, burning a path down her cheek, then another. Kate could do nothing to wipe them off; both hands were occupied with the stretcher. So she let them fall and studiously avoided looking at Dax’s face, on the off chance she’d find him looking back.

  When they got to the ambulance, Talon and Kate let Dax get off the stretcher and climb into the rig. Kate handed Talon the keys. “You drive. I’ll show you where the lights are.”

  As they made their way back into the city, Kate examined Dax in the back of the ambulance. He winced as she palpated his torso, feeling for rigidity that could indicate internal bleeding. For the most part, he just seemed beat up, and would probably have a concussion.

  “Kate, what’s your ambulance doing out here? Aren’t you still on duty? Where’s Joseph?” Dax’s forehead creased with worry as he looked at her. Kate didn’t know what to say.

  “Talon showed up and told me who you were. And I’m not going to say, ‘I told you so’, just so you know.” She looked pointedly at Dax, who smirked back and rolled his eyes. “You were in trouble, and he didn’t know how to find you. It was the fastest way to get to you.”

  Kate could live happily for the rest of her life without ever feeling again the way she had when she thought Dax was in danger and they wouldn’t be able to get to him fast enough. Helpless didn’t even begin to cover it. She had felt like she would never draw a full breath again.

  Dax’s hand gripped hers. “Thank you for coming.”

  His eyes implored her to stay with him, to share this tender moment, but Kate was too scared of the separation she was sure was coming. She gave him her best, most optimistic paramedic’s smile and squeezed back. “You bet.”

  Whether from exhaustion or disappointment, she wasn’t sure, but Dax released her hand and laid his head back on the gurney. Not two seconds later his eyes flew wide. “Estacada. I need to call him.”

  Kate handed Dax her phone and started clearing up bandage wrappers and gauze pads. Once they got to the hospital, the staff there would x-ray Dax’s ribs and take care of anything else he needed. She wasn’t even on an official call.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you. See you soon.” Dax hung up the phone and gave it back to Kate. “He’s going to meet us at the emergency room entrance.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Well, he was none too pleased about me going out to the cabin alone. I told him, under the circumstances I was willing to admit I behaved like an ass.”

  The look on his face was deeply contrite. “I’m sorry, Kate. I should have listened to you. This could have all been avoided.”

  Kate was horrified that he would have even a moment’s guilt. “Dax, no! You were just trying to find out your identity. I should have done the legwork on that article as soon as I saw it, I just never thought it could be you.”

  His forehead creased in confusion. “Why not?”

  Kate felt a blush steal across her cheeks. “They made you sound like such a playboy, a different woman on your arm all the time. I guess, in a way, I didn’t want it to be you.”

  Dax laughed, then winced and grabbed his ribs. “Oh, don’t make me laugh. No, Kate, that stuff isn’t true. I’m no playboy. I don’t even date. I just have a long list of female acquaintances who don’t mind seeing their picture in the paper when I need a plus-one for an event.”

  Now it was Kate’s turn to be puzzled. “What do you mean, you don’t date?”

  Dax shrugged his shoulders, then met her eye. “Women are usually more interested in the money and prestige than they are in me. It’s hard to trust.”

  Not me, Kate wanted to scream. She’d fallen in love with him when he didn’t even have a name, much less a billion dollars. But saying it now felt too much like trying to convince him. Better not to say a word. She turned away from him and peeked through the front windshield. They were just a couple blocks from the hospital. “I’ll get Aiden to pack up your stuff from the house if you want? I know he’ll want to see you before you go home.”

  She glanced at Dax for an answer and caught him staring at her, a longing look in his eyes. Or at least, that’s what she told herself it was.

  “Kate, c’mere.” Dax held her hand and tugged her, just like he’d done that night in her car before they’d gone home and made love. And just like before, she went willingly.

  “We’re not done yet, you and me. I just need some time.” Kate nodded, swallowing back tears. What else could he say? But she knew the truth. Now that he had his
life back, the chances he’d remain a part of hers were slim to none.

  One more gentle tug and their lips touched. Kate sighed at the warmth, the tenderness she was going to miss so much. Dax plied her lips, her teeth, her mouth with his tongue. He took down every defense she’d erected against him, saying goodbye more sweetly than she’d known it could be said.

  By the time he pulled his lips away from hers, the ambulance had stopped and Kate was on the verge of tears. How was she going to manage without him? She was sure her whole life would feel hollow. Goodness knew, her heart already did, and he hadn’t even officially dumped her yet.

  “Don’t forget about me, Kate.”

  Never. It was on the tip of Kate’s tongue to say it, but what came out was an eyeroll and her typical bluster. “Pshht. I’m not the one with amnesia.”

  Dax smiled sadly into her eyes, as if he knew what she was covering up, what she’d been about to reveal. Then the back of the ambulance flew open and they were greeted by Talon’s grin and the somber expression of a distinguished-looking man she could only assume to be Detective Estacada.

  Kate handed her notes to the hospital staff as they came out to retrieve Dax and wheel him into the hospital. Detective Estacada put his hand on her arm as she made to follow. “You better come with me, Miss Bandon.”

  Her shoulders heavy with the weight of a thousand worries, Kate took one last look at Dax’s brown hair disappearing through the automatic doors, Talon striding close behind him. He was in good hands now, she assured herself, even if they weren’t hers.

  When Kate finally got home, it was just after midnight. Her car was still at Malheur National Forest where they’d left it, so she’d had to call a cab to bring her home. She stumbled in the back door, more tired than she thought she’d ever been before in her life, and found her father at the kitchen table in his robe, a small glass of whiskey on the table before him.

  “Hi, Da. How was your day?” What she really wanted to do, Kate thought, was lay right down on the floor and go to sleep. But her father looked her up and down, his eyebrows high on his forehead, and she knew she’d have no such opportunity.