Tough Justice Series Box Set, Parts 1-8

by Carla Cassidy

  “And now he’s behind bars.”

  “An unfortunate situation. For now. “ Arrogance dripped from his voice.

  “Forever. And eventually you’ll be put back where you belong.”

  “Let me guess, now is the time when you try to convince me that it’s in my best interest to just give myself up.” He grinned, his straight, white teeth flashing in the moonlight. “Thanks, but I’ll take my chances on the outside.”

  He took two steps closer to her, his eyes filled with a gleeful malice. “Maybe before I tell you a final goodbye we should have one last romp together. Ever had sex on the beach, Lara?”

  All of her blood iced, and her mouth went achingly dry. If he touched her in any way, she knew that she would truly go mad. Nick once again began to curse.

  She waved one of her hands to silence him. “Raping me is the only way you’ll ever touch me again,” she replied.

  “I’m hard just thinking about having you one last time.”

  “I’d rather die than let you put your hands on me.”

  His laughter once again rose above the sound of the ocean waves. His amusement lasted only a moment, and then his eyes took on the sharp, hard glaze of the monster in her nightmares. “Trust me, my dear Eve, that’s definitely part of the plan.”

  “My name is FBI Special Agent Lara Grant,” she retorted.

  “But, you will always be Eve in my mind. You were my Eve, the great temptress and the ultimate betrayer.”

  As he took another step toward her, Lara knew she was out of options. Help wasn’t coming, at least not fast enough, and she knew with a weary resignation that this was the end of the line. She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to take a potentially deadly risk.

  I’m sorry, Nick. I’m sorry that you’re going to die on this beach because of the mistakes I made when I was undercover. I’m so sorry that it ends here and now for both of us.

  Shooting a desperate prayer upward, she went for her gun. In a split second she saw Andrew’s eyes open wide with surprise, and then the gun was in her hand and blindly she fired.

  He grabbed his shoulder and howled in pain...in rage, but he didn’t go down. Instead he lowered his head and rushed her. Before she could take another shot he slammed into her with enough force to throw her to her back in the sand.

  The unexpected fall dislodged her gun from her hand. A primal scream came from Nick as she scrambled up from the sand, and Andrew charged her again.

  She threw a high kick that connected with the side of his skull.

  He reeled sideways, but quickly recovered enough to throw a fist that caught her on her jaw. Pain exploded and stars half blinded her, but she fought past, knowing that this was a fight she couldn’t lose.

  With a roar of her own rage, she ran toward him. One way or another, this ended now. His eyes glittered, and then the two of them were face-to-face, and his hands wrapped around her neck.

  “Die, bitch,” he seethed and squeezed.

  Instead of reaching up to attempt to dislodge his hands, she thrust a fist into the dark stain of blood at his shoulder. Dots danced in front of her eyes as she lost oxygen.

  He can’t win. For God’s sake, Lara, don’t let him win. She drove her fist in deeper and twisted her hand. He screamed, and his hold on her throat loosened. She chopped at his arms, and they fell to his side as he continued to bellow in agony.

  She used her blood-soaked hand and swung it up to smash into his jaw. He crashed back down to the sand. She raced over to where she’d dropped her gun and picked it up once again.

  She whirled around to see Nick grappling with the henchman over his gun. Clouds filtered over the moon, turning the two figures into dark silhouettes and making it impossible for her to fire a shot.

  She spun around again to see Andrew fumbling with a gun he must have had in his pocket. She raced over to him and kicked it out of his hand. The gun flew out into the darkness of the night.

  “I’m good,” Nick cried. “Are you okay?”

  A quick glance over her shoulder showed the thug face down on the ground and Nick standing over him with his gun aimed at the man’s head.

  “You bitch!” Andrew screamed. “You stupid, low-life bitch.”

  Lara pulled plastic cuffs from her pocket. “Shut up before I shoot you again.” She cuffed not only his wrists behind his back, but also his ankles and then crouched down and got into his face. Her heart drummed a new frantic rhythm despite this particular success.

  “Where’s my daughter?” she asked.

  He gasped in obvious pain but gave her a confident smile. “You’ll never have her, Lara. She’s gone. She’s gone forever. I killed her five minutes after I made that call to you this morning.”

  Lara shot up and reeled away from him, a swift, killing agony blinding her...deafening her. She closed her eyes against the excruciating pain that stabbed through her.

  No. No! It couldn’t end this way. It was too much to take. The sound of the surf began to rush in her ears, and she opened her eyes to stare at the moonlit waves that pounded the sandy beach.

  Emily. Emily! She stumbled two steps forward, knowing only the need to escape the mind-numbing horror, the incredible pain that swept everything else away.

  “Lara... Lara!” Strong hands grabbed her by the shoulders. The sound of the surf faded, and Nick’s face in front of her came into focus.

  “He’s lying,” Nick said, his eyes intense and glittering in the moonlight. “Do you hear me, Lara? He’s lying. He wouldn’t have killed her, Lara. Emily is a part of him. He’s way too arrogant to want to destroy any part of himself.”

  Lara searched his features, his words slowly seeping in to light a little bit of the darkness of her mind. Lying? Was it possible? As the fog she’d fallen into continued to lift, once again she became aware of Andrew’s deep voice alternating between cursing and moaning.

  “Where is she?” The question fell from her lips even though Nick wouldn’t have the answer.

  “I don’t know, but we’ll find her, Lara. Somehow, someway we’ll find her.”

  Was Nick right? God, she was so afraid to hope...so afraid to believe in the possibility. She stepped away from Nick and stared at the man who had always been such an accomplished liar.

  Had he lied about killing Emily, or was this one of the few times in his miserable life that he’d told the truth? Oh, God, she couldn’t breathe.

  Her gaze shifted to the Lexus. Was it possible? Tears blurred her vision. She’d heard nothing to indicate that a baby was inside.

  Was it possible?

  She took several tentative steps and then broke out into a run as hope and fear battled a war in her heart.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The sand felt deep and endless as she raced toward the car with tears that once again half blinded her. You’re a fool to entertain any hope at all, a little voice whispered in her head.

  You’re a screwup, Lara. You’ve made so many bad choices in your life that you don’t deserve happiness. The voice now thundered in her head.

  Her tears came faster as she slid to one knee, and the sand threatened to swallow her. She struggled forward, her single focus on the Lexus.

  With one last backward glance at Nick, she forged forward through the thick sand. No real hope beat in her heart, only the grim determination to search and be done.

  She wanted to rush forward and fling open the back door. Only her training kept her from doing so. She had no idea who might be inside and if they might be armed.

  Nerves shot to hell, she slowly approached.

  It was only when she heard the faint cry of a baby that she threw all caution to the wind. She threw open the door, and at the same time whoever had been inside disappeared out the other door. She only caught a glimpse of a dark-haired masculine shadow running at full speed away from the Lexus. Another henchman?

  Any idea of giving chase vanished as she saw Emily in a bouncy seat on the floor. Besides, if the person had been armed and wanted a confr
ontation, he wouldn’t have run out.

  Lara fell to her knees next to her daughter and holstered her gun. Emily gazed at her, and her little lips began to tremble and turned downward.

  “It’s okay, baby girl. Don’t cry. Everything is going to be okay.” Joy bubbled up, making her fingers tremble as she sought to release the belt that held Emily in place. She pulled her daughter out of the car seat and into her arms.

  Everything that had ever happened in Lara’s entire life faded away as she held Emily against her heart and tried to swallow any tears that might frighten her child.

  Her baby. Her daughter. It had been a little over seven long months since Lara had held her, had breathed in the sweet fragrance of innocence and a particular scent that marked Emily as hers and hers alone.

  “Lara!” Nick shouted. “You have her?”

  “Yes, and she’s okay.” And I never, ever want to let her go. “Somebody was with her...a man, but he ran out the other side with no intentions of sticking around.”

  “I called Victoria and gave her our location. She should be here in about ten minutes or so with backup. Stay with Emily. I have these two covered.”

  Lara nodded and turned toward her daughter as Emily began to babble in baby speak.

  “This isn’t the end, Lara,” Andrew shouted. “It’s not over yet. You bitch, do you hear me? Do you hear me, Lara?”

  Lara ignored him and got into the car and closed the door, effectively silencing his voice and any empty threats he might utter.

  She sat Emily on her lap and touched her nose. “Hi, baby. Hello, sweet baby girl.”

  Emily laughed, and the musical sound wove its way around Lara’s heart. The little girl scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her fists and leaned forward to rest against Lara’s chest.

  Lara stroked her back as she fidgeted and then snuggled closer against her. Total trust, that’s what Emily gave her as she went completely limp against Lara.

  Lara gazed over at the car’s steering wheel. You could just get Nick’s car. You could get behind the wheel and drive away. You and Emily could disappear into the night and never be found again.

  She closed her eyes and imagined spending all of the days of the rest of her life with her daughter. She’d see Emily’s first steps and share her birthday celebrations. She’d cry on her daughter’s first day of school and laugh at her own sentimentality. It would be so wonderful.

  Tears burned as she opened her eyes and gazed out the window to see that the clouds had finally disappeared and brightly sparkling stars were now apparent in the night sky.

  As much as she hungered to love and raise Emily, it wasn’t going to happen. Even with Moretti back behind bars, Lara knew she would always be a target for somebody. She would never know when real and present danger would find her.

  The only way to assure Emily a normal, healthy life was to tell her goodbye. The tears that had burned at her eyes now trailed hot down Lara’s cheeks.

  She tightened her grip around her baby girl and began to softly sing to her daughter the song she’d sang when she’d been pregnant. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray...”

  Painful sobs racked through her, and she desperately fought against them. The last thing she wanted was for her choking cries to awaken Emily. The very last thing she wanted was for her baby girl to hear her devastating anguish.

  Time had no meaning as she continued to sing and rub Emily’s back. Her sleeping baby breath warmed the underside of Lara’s jaw. She knew these minutes with Emily were a gift, a final sight, smell and touch of the baby she might never see again.

  She released a deep sigh as the headlights of several cars cut across the darkness of the beach. In the glare of the headlights Nick turned from the two captives and pointed his gun at the approaching vehicles.

  The cars pulled closer and finally came to a stop. Victoria got out of the lead car’s passenger door, and Ty and Xander got out of the backseat. The cavalry had finally arrived.

  Victoria spoke to Nick and then cast a quick glance toward Lara. The occupants of a second car appeared next to Victoria. Once again Lara tightened her arms around her daughter as her heart cried out in a new burst of anguish at the sight of David and Faye Minnow.

  It was time...time to say a final goodbye to the one person on earth who filled her heart with the purest of love that could ever exist.

  Faye and David both turned to gaze at the car in which Lara sat. At the same time Ty and Xander got Andrew’s henchman to his feet. The sound of sirens filled the air, indicating the approach of an ambulance and more manpower.

  It was time. The words repeated themselves in Lara’s brain. Still she hesitated, wanting one last second to revel in her daughter’s warmth, one more moment to stroke her little back and breathe in her scent.

  Faye took a step toward the car, but Victoria held her back. The siren stopped blaring as the red swirling lights of an ambulance painted the area.

  Lara realized that she didn’t want to do a handoff of Emily as long as Moretti was still on the beach. He tainted the fine sand with his evil. His mere presence poisoned the refreshing salty air.

  She remained in the car until Andrew had been taken by stretcher to the awaiting ambulance, flanked by half a dozen armed policemen. Others officers had disappeared in the direction of the running henchman.

  When the ambulance pulled away and the siren once again filled the air, it was as if the piercing wail mirrored the howl in Lara’s heart.

  It was time. She couldn’t put it off any longer. It was time for the final goodbye. With a deep breath that fluttered in her soul, she opened the car door and carefully stepped out with Emily in her arms.

  She’d only taken two steps when Faye and David raced forward to meet her. Faye’s face was wet with tears as she reached Lara first and held out her arms.

  Lara gave her daughter a kiss on her cheek and then relinquished her to the mother who would raise her. David wrapped an arm around Faye’s shoulder, his eyes filled with tears of joy, as well.

  “Thank God,” Faye cried as she held Emily close to her heart. “Thank you, thank you so much for saving her,” she said to Lara.

  The huge lump in Lara’s throat made it impossible for her to speak. She nodded and then turned and got into Nick’s car. Despite the aching emptiness of her arms, in spite of the pain that ripped through her, she couldn’t cry anymore.

  This was the way it was supposed to be. Faye and David would change their identities and hopefully disappear for good. They would fill Emily’s life with love and with stability and the safety that Lara could never do.

  Maybe someday when Emily was an adult she would seek out the woman who had given her life, the woman who had loved her enough to give her up to a better future than she could ever provide.

  Lara clung to the thought of a future reunion. It was a sweet possibility that would get her through whatever her own future might hold.

  She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat. She didn’t want to see the moment when Faye and David drove away.

  Now that it was all over, a deep bone-weariness filled her. The mistakes of her past once again haunted her as she thought of what her future might be.

  She didn’t know how long she remained alone in the car when Nick finally joined her. She opened her eyes as he slid in behind the steering wheel.

  The beach was now empty. The evil was gone, as was the precious innocence. “Victoria said that she’d talk to you sometime tomorrow,” Nick said as he started the car. “They checked the area but didn’t find anyone. Whoever was with Emily must have run like hell. Are you doing okay?” His concern for her was obvious.

  “I don’t know how I am,” she replied truthfully. “I’m not sure where I go from here.”

  He shot her a quick glance, his sexy features bathed in the moonlight. “What do you mean? You go back to your life. You go back to work.”

  Lara remained silent until they hit
the highway that would take them back to the office in Manhattan. She felt too beat up, too fragile, too mentally and emotionally weak to even think about work.

  You aren’t good enough. You aren’t smart enough to be a federal agent. She flinched against the familiar internal voice that mocked her.

  “We did it, Lara. Despite the odds against us, we came out on top. Moretti will be locked up so tight now he’ll never be able to escape again, and your daughter will be safe,” Nick said, his voice filled with a triumph Lara didn’t feel.

  When she didn’t immediately respond, he continued, “I can’t believe I let that thug get the drop on me. I never saw him coming until he was on top of me. I thought for sure we were both goners, but I obviously underestimated my partner.”

  His words only made the critical voice in her head whisper louder. She stared out of the passenger window into the dark of the night.

  “I’ve made so many mistakes,” she finally said aloud when they were within fifteen minutes of headquarters. “I slept with the enemy. I trusted in a woman who held such bitterness and rage toward me and I didn’t even realize it.”

  “You’re only human, Lara. You were alone and undercover, and Moretti was so good at finding weaknesses and exploiting them. Besides, if you hadn’t slept with him, then there wouldn’t be an Emily.”

  Emily. She was the grand prize in all of this. Nick was right. Lara couldn’t regret the act that had resulted in her daughter.

  Once again they fell silent until he pulled into the parking garage at 26 Federal Plaza. When he killed the engine she reached for the door handle, but Nick stopped her by touching her on the shoulder. She slumped back in the seat and looked at him.

  “Lara...we were all fooled by Cass, but when it mattered the most, your instincts about her were good. You trusted that she might be telling the truth about the Dunehalla clue, and you pursued that lead. Your instincts about people are solid. The bottom line is that in all of this you’ve trusted those instincts, you’ve believed in your ability to do your job and do it right. Moretti didn’t take that from you.”