Brent leans against the wall as Michael walks away. Pressing the back of his head against the hard sheetrock, he closes his eyes, willing the tsunami of emotions to pass, knowing they won’t any time soon. Michael’s words penetrate his opinion of Kas, thoroughly pissing him off. He saw that mountain, it was a seriously foolish move to take a dive like that. He hates to admit that there’s another man out there that would happily play the fool for Raina, without thinking twice.
Joining the rest of the extended team, Brent listens as Erik gives the step-by-step process of Raina’s plan, informing them that when Prizrak accesses the online obituary, they’ll finally have him.
“What if he doesn’t read it?” Jake asks, not wanting to bring up the possibility but needing to address it.
“He will,” Chase assures him, “he won’t be able not to.”
“Once he accesses the bogus file, we’ll have complete access to all of his files,” Erik grins.
“We’ll make it live this evening,” Kas informs them, immediately grabbing his phone and calling Dexter, letting him know that he’s going to need him to pave the way for a mass effort of interagency, intercontinental cooperation.
Kas calls Judge next, letting him know the time of the obituary and giving him an update on Raina, knowing it’s killing him not being here with her. “Henry, you’re doing what she wants you to do,” he reassures the judge, “your clout will pull the strings needed to get the judges to sign off on the warrants in the other states when we get the information.”
“I know, but it doesn’t make me feel any less like an ass for leaving her.”
“If it makes you feel any better, when I told her you agreed to go, she was ecstatic.”
“Just promise me that you will get them?” Judge asks, his voice weary and raw.
“I give you my word, Henry,” Kas swears.
The hours pass quickly until it’s time to release the bait. Reading the official looking notice of his wife’s fake death guts Kas. Erik made it perfect, not overly enticing which could tip off Parker. The cooperation of the newspaper made it easier to set-up without having to fabricate the entire news site. It’s simple, respectful, beautiful, and heartbreaking. When Kas reads about Raina’s pending visitation and service, he has to walk away, struggling to rein in his emotions. They don’t have to wait long to begin trapping the IP addresses accessing the obituary.
Sadness overwhelms him when Kas thinks of how he didn’t have many people to contact to let them know Raina’s really alive. After less than two hours of the bait going live, they are finally able to exorcise the Ghost. Over half the human trafficking unit is crammed inside Wade’s home. Despite its spacious 2500 square feet, agents have overtaken every room. Raina’s gift with languages is missed tremendously as they scramble for translators to assist with the calls to the numerous countries the large ring has infiltrated.
On the home base, nearly every state has been tainted by Parker and his handlers. The next several hours are spent carefully planning the largest sting ever attempted. Timing is paramount. If the news about taking the ring down gets out, all subgroups will disappear, only to reform later. Kas refuses to allow that to happen.
Leaning over the table, Kas studies the plans meticulously, making sure he’s gone over every possible inch of the plan thoroughly. The kitchen is littered with empty pizza boxes and dirty glasses. Raking his hand roughly down his unshaven face, he shrugs off his fatigue. He can hear Frank talking on the phone, his words are heated, stressed, and completely unlike him. “Give me the phone,” Kas commands.
Handing it over, Frank leans against the wall wearily while he listens to his boss let out a string of strong expletives, threatening to have the job and backside of every last person in the legal department if they don’t get the paperwork pushed through on the warrants for every person on the list he had e-mailed them hours earlier.
Chase raises his head from the files he’s been immersed in, watching Kas deliver his scourging wrath until he gets what he needs, almost crushing the phone when he closes it.
“When will they be ready?” Chase asks, unbuttoning his sleeves and rolling them up to his elbows.
“They’re waking up the judge now,” Kas replies, his voice monotone as he returns to the blueprints. Checking his watch, he glances at his extended team. It’s well past 3:00 a.m. “Take a break, get some sleep, we’ll start again in the morning,” he tells them.
“Only if you do, boss,” Frank insists, knowing Kas won’t rest until his body refuses to cooperate any longer.
Looking around the room, the determined eyes staring back at him fills him with humbling gratitude. “You’ve been working nonstop for too long. Thank you for everything you’ve done,” he begins, his gaze catching Brent’s. Swallowing his pride, he continues, “All of you. Sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
The living room becomes a makeshift bunker as the agents sprawl out on the couches and floor, and Wade hands out blankets and pillows until they run out. Chase sees the guilt permeating Kas’ eyes, “Go to bed with Raina, she’ll need you if she wakes up.”
Michael nods towards the room, “Pierce, go stay with your girl.”
Feeling torn, Kas relents, walking down the dark hall towards Raina. He’s just outside the door when he hears her whimper. Rushing inside the room, his worry heightens when he sees her damp hair and skin. Dammit! It’s only been forty-five minutes since he checked on her last. Touching her forehead, he finds it alarmingly hot. She flinches under his hand, and he can’t tell if she’s sweating from the spike in her temperature or her nightmare. Severely chastising himself for not being with her, he takes blame for her nightmare, knowing she never has them when he’s beside her.
Rubbing his thumb gently across her cheek, he whispers, “It’s okay, sweetheart, you’re safe, I’m here.” Grabbing his phone, he decides another man is getting awakened in the middle of the night. He relays Raina’s condition to Dr. Reed as his worried gaze never leaves Raina.
“Wake her up, give her two of the pills from the bottle I left in the drawer next to the bed. If her fever doesn’t come down in thirty minutes, call me and I’ll come over.”
Kas thanks the doctor before hanging up and opening the bottle, shaking two of the tiny white pills into his large hand. “Rain, wake up, sweetheart,” he encourages. Lightly shaking her to bring her out of her drugged slumber, his heart shatters at her frightened reaction when she jerks away from him while still asleep. “Raina, wake up,” he calls a little louder, not touching her this time.
Raina stirs, hurting like hell and feeling utterly disoriented when she opens her eyes to darkness. Sensing the presence of someone close to her, her heart pounds as she quickly raises and backs away until her back hits something hard, causing her to wince from the shot of additional pain. Kas reaches for her but is met with his wife’s unleashing fury. The strength behind her punch surprises him. Before he has time to say anything, she administers a second blow against his jaw, then shoots off the bed. Kas grabs her, pulling her backwards as she thrashes against him, punching, elbowing, and kicking while he tries to calm her.
“Let go of me!” she screams.
Kas lets out a pained groan when her teeth sink into his arm. “It’s me, Raina, I’m not going to hurt you, darlin’,” he assures her, his strength easily overpowering hers as he pins her gently against the bed.
Chase runs to the room when he hears Raina’s cry, and Kas calls to him to turn on the lights. When the room is flooded with florescence, Kas eases his grip on her arms, “See, it’s me, baby, no one is going to hurt you anymore,” he promises, the stout truth in his words relieving the last of her residual discombobulated fears.
A strangled cry escapes her quivering lips, and Kas hauls her into his arms, holding her for several minutes and blinking back tears of his own from the overwhelming emotions attacking him as he holds the woman he loves more than life itself. Her body is trembling and her knuckles are white from the unrelen
ting grip of Kas’ shirt tightly fisted in her hands as she hangs onto him.
“Let it out, baby,” Kas whispers, his heart breaking at how she’s trying so hard not to cry, to not to let him know just how terrifying her ordeal really was.
Her cries are quiet, her slight body softly shaking as he holds her protectively in his arms. “I won’t let him hurt you ever again,” he adamantly swears. Parker’s blood will be on his hands but not on his conscious if the plan doesn’t send the trafficker away for life. Reluctantly, Kas gently pulls away, needing to get the medicine in her.
“You’re bleeding,” Raina whispers, “I’m sorry.”
Kas wipes the blood away from his busted nose. “It’s okay, Rain, I scared you. Besides, now I know what to expect if I really piss you off,” he teases, trying to remove the worry from her beautiful eyes. “Take these, darlin’,” he tells her, handing her the pills and a glass of water. “How do you feel?”
“Not too bad,” she lies.
He lets the fabrication go. “You have a fever, I need to see how high it is. Do you think you can hold the thermometer in your mouth?” he asks, his anger quickly flaming again when he gently inspects her badly bruised jaw.
She nods.
Chase hands Kas the thermometer and winces when he sees the flash of pain in Raina’s eyes as she closes her mouth around it.
Kas gently strokes her cheek with his thumb while they wait, noticing how her body is shivering despite how hot her skin is. Michael knocks on the frame of the door before entering. “Hey, Rain, how you holding up?” he asks when Kas removes the thermometer.
Raina doesn’t have time to respond. Kas places his hand on her forehead again, panic darkening his entire face. “Call Dr. Reed,” he commands Chase.
Michael takes the thermometer from Kas, “Damn,” he spits out, his eyes shooting to Raina, while he feels her forehead himself.
“Tell him she’s burning up, Chase. Her fever’s 105.”
Chase relays the information and Kas sees him nodding before hanging up. “He’s on his way. He said it could take a little time before the pills reduce the fever, and he mentioned to keep most of the covers off her.”
Kas hangs his head, his jaw clenching, knowing she’s cold, in pain, and sick. He squeezes Raina’s hand, “I’m so sorry, baby girl.”
Brent steps into the room, being sure to keep a respectable distance this time, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Let the doctor in when he gets here, then get some sleep. Make sure everyone gets some sleep, I need you guys to be at the top of your game later.”
Kas asks Michael to get him some cold washcloths.
“Kas, please get some sleep,” Raina tells him when he cradles her in his arms, “you’ve been up for almost two days.”
“There’s no way I’m letting you feel like this without me right here, holding you.”
Raina’s too tired to argue and is asleep again within minutes. Kas lowers her covers but continues to hold her tightly while she sleeps. Kissing the top of her head, he closes his eyes as a tear rolls down his cheek. “I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you,” he whispers, pure agony blazing in his eyes when he opens them again.
The sight of Raina’s beaten, shaking body wrapped protectively in Kas’ arms is a needed torture for Brent. Brent hears the raw pain in Kas’ voice, sees his tear filled gaze fixated on his wife and the heartbreaking love in them is astounding. Brent can see how agonizing it is for Kas to watch Raina’s painful discomfort. Any doubts left in Brent about who Raina should be with die. This moment is all the proof he needs to know that Pierce will always take care of her. “Dr. Reed is here,” he states quietly, stepping aside so the doctor can enter.
Michael places a comforting hand on Brent’s shoulder. Not meeting his gaze, Brent walks outside, needing time alone. The winter air is punishing and Brent bitterly muses at the appropriateness of that as he takes a walk, trying to clear his head.
Cliff checks on his son and Raina again before leaving them with the doctor. Leaning against the door, his weary gaze finds Chase’s, “Thank you for being here for them when I should’ve been.”
“You couldn’t have known any of this would have happened. Your job requires you to travel. Besides, you’ve always been there for Kas, even when you were countries away, Kas has always known that. He respects you,” Chase reassures him, “he loves you.” Laughing, Chase shakes his head, “You’re the only man who can get through that thick, stubborn head of his. That in itself should show you how much you mean to him.”
“Don’t let my son’s wise cracks against psychology fool you, he listens to you and that ’psychobabble’ a hell of a lot more than you realize,” Cliff returns, patting Chase on the shoulder before joining the rest of the extended team for some much needed sleep.
Dr. Reed leaves when Raina’s fever begins to drop, telling Kas to call him if needed again. Thanking the doctor, Kas walks him to the door, then immediately goes to the kitchen, scouring each cabinet until the finds what he’s looking for. A few minutes later, he carries the tray of soup and crackers into the bedroom where Raina is sitting up, leaning against the headboard.
A grateful smile and sentimental emotions meet Kas as he places the cream of chicken soup in front of Raina. “Thank you,” she manages, overwhelmed with him remembering that she told him her mother made this for her when she was sick. She wishes her mother could’ve met Kas. There’s no doubt in her mind that she would wholeheartedly approve.
When the soup’s gone, Kas removes the tray from the bed and slides underneath the covers next to Raina, “Sleep, darlin’.”
Snuggling close to him, she searches his dark eyes, “Make love to me.”
Kas knows her statement is actually a plea. The truth she can’t hide in her eyes shows what she will never say; she needs him to erase her real nightmare. He does just that. Locking the bedroom door, he takes his time making love to her sweetly, gently, pouring every ounce of his love into her, desperate to give Raina all that is good in him. Afterwards, he holds her as she drifts into peaceful sleep. Gazing down at his wife, he smiles at how she believes his touch healed her when the truth is, it’s her touch that has saved him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Four short hours later, Kas is making the last of the calls, finalizing the plan. He throws himself into scrutinizing his strategy, making sure it’s as flawless as possible. Stripping his borrowed flannel shirt off, his tired muscles bulge as he leans against the table. Austin gives him a questioning look, nodding at the mark on his arm.
A proud smile spreads across his face, “Raina bit me.”
Unable to suppress his laughter, Austin jests, “I didn’t know you two were into the kinky stuff. I’ve always heard that it’s the quiet, good girls you have to watch out for.”
Laughing feels cathartically good after the suffocating tension. “Get your head out of the gutter and back to your job,” Kas cracks, returning to his own tedious work.
Raina stirs when a soft knock on the door awakens her, “Come in.”
Brent opens the door, hesitating only a second before walking straight towards her. The look in her eyes kills him. The uncertainty and sorrow burns brightly as she slowly slides away from him as he takes a seat on the bed next to her.
Looking at her, Brent’s slow smile is heart-wrenching, “I wish I was seeing you under different circumstances. I’m sorry you were hurt again.”
“I’ll be fine,” Raina whispers, not sure of what to say or do. Glancing at the door, part of her wants to tell him to leave, but there’s another part of her that misses his friendship, and the way it ended has left too much unresolved, “I’m sorry I hit you.”
His smile widens but is still as heartbreaking as before, “I had it coming. I’m sorry I kissed you. Well, no, actually I’m not, but I am sorry if it caused you any problems.”
Memories of the day Kas left her ripples through her entire being, the overwhelming pain returning briefly, and Raina loo
ks away. She wishes she could turn back time and erase what happened with Brent, but she can’t. It’s too late, pieces can’t be glued back together from something like this. The friendship is gone, nothing can change that now. As much as Brent’s friendship means to her, Kas means so much more. Looking back at Brent, she knows this is their final good-bye. He takes her hand, and she pulls away, softly shaking her head. His pained expression causes her to have to blink back tears.
“I’m not trying anything with you, Rain. I would never do anything to hurt you, I just needed to feel you one last time.”
Any feelings she ever had for Brent were strictly platonic. Her voice is low as she tells him, “If I ever led you to believe I felt something—”
Brent holds his hand up, stopping her, easing the uncertainty brimming her beautiful eyes, “Not once did you ever do anything to make me believe you wanted anyone other than Kas. You didn’t do anything wrong, I did. And for that, I am sorry.”
Her eyes are repenting, “You shouldn’t be in here.”
“I know. I’m leaving.” Dropping his head, Brent’s shoulders tense, and his blue eyes are a dark storm when he looks at her again, “Good-bye’s are never easy. They’re damn near impossible when it’s you I’m having to say good-bye to.”
Raina wants to comfort him but knows it will only hurt him more.
“You take care of yourself, Raina. I wish you all the happiness in the world, you deserve it,” he tells her, his voice thick with emotion as he stands.
“You deserve to be happy, too, Brent, and you will be.”
His gaze dims, but he smiles despite his disbelief. Taking one last look, Brent turns and walks out of the door, out of her life.
Raina leans her head against the headboard, staring at the ceiling. Too many emotions are swirling through her, too much has happened, and she’s having difficulty processing all of it. Getting the feeling that she isn’t alone, she glances towards the door to find Kas leaning against the door frame, his head down, his eyes tilted, searching hers. His hands are shoved into his jeans pockets as he makes no move towards her. Panic joins the emotional war inside of her. Opening her mouth to try to explain, she is suddenly speechless.
After the Rain Page 25