Noel frowned. He’d about had it today.
“Why don’t you shut the fuck—”
His phone buzzed in his pocket and cut him off. He glared at Conor as he answered the phone.
“Yeah.”
“Call just came in that the school is on fire,” Riley said into the phone. It wasn’t often that the hardened man sounded flustered, but when he did, it was never good.
“I’m on my way,” Noel said quickly.
“It’s him,” Riley said. “I didn’t know for sure, but I did a simple check on the people who worked there. There was a new hire just a few weeks ago.”
His heart hammered in his chest. That bastard had been near her all this time, and they hadn’t even fucking known. Here he was supposed to be protecting her, and he’d pretty much dropped her off into the lion den.
“You’re sure?” he said and pulled out his guns.
Conor frowned at the moment, but he ignored him.
“Yes,” he said. “I’ve been checking into a new lead. I’ll call when I know more.”
Noel nodded and ended the call.
“What’s going on?” Conor said, pulling out his own gun.
“He has her at the school,” he said and made his way from the house.
Conor followed closely behind him.
“I’m coming with you,” he said.
Noel climbed into his car and scowled. Taking the traitor with him wasn’t really much in the way of backup.
Conor climbed in.
“Look, I know what you think, but I care,” he said. “I’ve got your back.”
Noel looked him as he started the car and tossed it into drive.
“That’s good because if you don’t, I’ll have no problem putting a bullet in you.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Haley screamed and raced back into the room. She looked around for some way to barricade the door. She rushed over to the teacher’s desk and pushed it over to the door. It wouldn’t hold him for long, but it was better than nothing.
She thought about calling someone, but with the alarms going off, they were likely already on their way, and she didn’t have time to do anything but focus on escape.
Smoke creeped in from under the door and filled the room. She had to escape. Even if she was able to keep him out, the smoke would finish the job.
Haley ran to the window and turned the knob. Nothing. She tried the next one. Still wouldn’t open.
With her fingers, she traced along the seam of window. Her fingers hit the flat end of a nail, and she let out a small sob. Someone had nailed the windows shut. No. Not someone. Anton. She was going to die in this room at the hands of the man who wanted to kill her lover.
Anton banged against the door. It shook as he slammed against it.
Haley searched the room. There had to be something she could use for a weapon or maybe even a decent hiding spot. Her eyes landed on the cupboards at the back of the room. She wouldn’t be able to hide there forever, but maybe she’d be able to hold out just long enough for the firetrucks to get there.
She scrambled to the door and slipped inside just as the classroom door crashed open.
His footsteps came hard on the floor. She shivered inside the cramped space.
“I know you in here,” a voice said. The thick Russian accent only verified the man’s identity.
“Come out, little flower,” he said from across the room. “We have business.”
She could hear something cracking from deep in the walls. The building groaned loudly. The fire had spread. The whole place could come crashing down on them, and she’d be trapped.
Something buzzed in her pocket. She maneuvered in the small space to answer it.
“Haley,” Noel said over the line. “He works at the school. You’ve got to get away from the school.”
She opened her mouth to reply but could hear Anton moving closer and closer to her spot.
“Haley?”
His voice was panicked on the other end. She wanted to soothe his fears, but at that moment, he wasn’t the only one worried.
“I’m almost there,” he said on the line. “You hear me? I’m coming to get you.”
The door to the cabinet opened. She screamed as Anton reached for her and dropped her phone. Pain lanced through her head as he slammed the top of it into the hard wood.
He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her the rest of the way out.
She looked up at him from the floor. For the first time, she was seeing the janitor in his true form. Tattoos covered his arms. She could even see a few peeking over the top of his uniform.
He gave her a smile, and she struggled to stay focused. She blinked as something dripped into her eyes. She groaned and wiped it away.
When she wiped her hand on her pants, she could see the dark streaks of blood.
The world around her spun before going black.
* * *
“Haley!” Noel shouted into the line for about the hundredth time.
The sound of her scream still echoed in his ears.
They were only a few blocks away. He could hear the firetrucks fast approaching and knew that might be even worse. Anton could decide to finish things off or even take her with him. Once they left, he’d have little chance of getting her back.
Noel pressed even harder on the gas. They roared through stop signs and zipped along the quiet suburban streets.
He had to make it there in time.
The school came into sight, and he only pushed more, flying over the curb and up to the door. He screeched to a halt just outside the entrance to her hall.
“You take the back,” he shouted to Conor.
Conor nodded and took off around the corner.
Noel opened the door. A wall of smoke greeted him. He pulled off his shirt and held it over his face as he stepped inside. With each step in, he felt his lungs ache.
Noel raced through the hall, throwing doors open as he went. He stopped outside the one that had been nearly torn from its hinges.
Drawing both guns, Noel made his way inside.
She lay in the middle of the room, unconscious. At least, that’s what he hoped. The alternative would destroy him.
He stopped just before reaching at the sound of someone in the corner of the room.
Anton gave him a wide smile.
“So beautiful,” he said.
Noel shivered at the sight of him. He trained his guns on the other man who, in turn, pointed his gun at Haley.
“No sudden move,” he said. “You sudden move, I shoot. I die, but so do flower. Such a waste, no?”
Noel ground his teeth. This bastard wasn’t to be trusted, and he wasn’t leaving the room without a bullet in his head.
“She is nice,” he said and looked over to Haley.
“I will fucking kill you if you’ve hurt her,” Noel ground out.
Anton snorted. “She is fine.”
“Noel?” Haley called from the floor. He hated that he couldn’t rush to her side.
“I’m here.”
She looked up at him and gave a weak smile.
“Touching,” Anton said and gave a funny high-pitched laugh. “No, I make both pretty.”
Noel gripped the guns in his hand hard and stepped forward.
“No, no, no,” Anton said and fired off a shot near Haley.
She screamed and wrapped her arms around her head.
“You put down guns,” Anton said.
Noel looked down at her. There was no choice if he even wanted a chance at keeping her safe.
He slowly placed his guns on the floor.
“Kick them over,” Anton said.
Noel gave each gun a little kick. They slid across the floor and over to Anton. He gave a sickening smile that turned Noel’s stomach.
“Now—” Anton said.
He stopped mid-sentence as the walls shuddered around them. Something groaned loudly. Pieces of the ceiling fell crashed around them.
Noel looked to H
aley on the floor. Her body was limp. Without thinking, he tossed himself over her.
The roof overhead split, and the walls around them crumbled.
He turned when Anton let out a blood curdling scream. Flames had engulfed the man.
The ceiling collapsed between them. Fire raged all around. If they didn’t get out of there, the whole building would crash down around them.
Noel pulled Haley onto his shoulder and peered into the smoke once more. For a brief moment, there was a break in the smoke. He watched in horror as Anton broke through the glass on the window. His flesh was covered in charred burns.
He was getting away. The bastard may have been burned, but Noel’s revenge was slipping away.
The flames lapped around them, leaving Noel with no choice. If he didn’t move now, they’d burn with the building. He couldn’t chase Anton with an unconscious Haley.
He kicked debris out of the way, Haley still on his shoulder, and carried her through the building and back out the door he came in. Flaming pieces collapsed around him. He ignored the heat and the flames, other than to dodge to the side. He was focused on one task: getting Haley to safety.
He rushed away from the school, Haley in his arms, before collapsing on the ground a safe distance away. He coughed several times, his lungs burning.
Haley stirred slightly, letting out a quiet groan. She was safe.
Chapter Twenty-two
Haley sat in the back of the ambulance in silence. She’d answered all their questions and held things in as best she could, but she was not okay. She wasn’t sure if she ever would be.
Anton had gotten away.
She glanced over to Stan as they loaded him into the ambulance. Conor had saved him, and she was glad he had. It was luck that Conor went to the back of the building and that Stan had been able to crawl part-way through. She’d thought he was already dead after he’d been shot. Without Conor, Stan would have burned in that horrid fire.
Haley looked over to Noel, who sat in the grass in front of her, his eyes ever watchful as he scanned the area.
“You did well,” Finn said and leaned against the back of the ambulance next to her.
Haley gave a little smile. “Not bad for someone no one trusted.”
Finn laughed. “It was never about trust. No one wanted to see you hurt.”
She nodded. After the anger of the moment subsided, she knew that her friends hadn’t meant to hurt her.
Noel did his scan again and frowned at the sight of Finn next to her.
“He’s never going to give up,” she said quietly. “Especially now that Anton has escaped. He was so close.”
Finn crossed his arms over his chest.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “Anyway, we have to find him. A man like that can’t roam my streets… our streets. God knows who he’s going to hurt next.”
She nodded, although she didn’t think he’d be harming anyone for some time. Noel said he’d been burned pretty badly.
The sort of burns he’d received weren’t going to heal anytime soon, especially without good care, and half the city was looking for the school arsonist now.
“Now what do you say to a hug? Maybe we can get his moody ass off the lawn and over to his woman.”
Haley grinned at Finn. She could see why Alyssa loved him. Even in the serious moments, he knew what to say.
She wrapped her arms around him for a tight hug.
“Tell Alyssa I still love her,” she whispered and pulled back. “And that she has to name her first born after me now.”
Finn tossed back his head and gave a hearty laugh.
“I’ll do that,” he said with a grin.
Noel cleared his throat as he came up to Finn and Haley.
Finn turned and smiled at him before giving him a pat on the shoulder and walking away.
He moved forward and stared at the bandage that covered her pretty hair.
“They want me to get an MRI,” she said. “It could be a concussion.”
Noel nodded. His stomach twisted that she had been hurt like that. That he hadn’t been there to save her from the beginning.
He stared down at the ground, not even sure what to say to her. All these thoughts raced through his head, and none seemed to want to come out.
Her small hand slipped into his, and he gave it a squeeze.
“I’ll understand if you can’t be with me,” he said.
She blinked a few times as tears dripped from her eyes.
“I’m sorry he got away,” she whispered.
Noel shook his head violently, but she wasn’t looking at him. She stared down at their intertwined fingers.
“I just want you to be happy,” she said.
Noel stepped forward and pulled her hard against his body. He shook as he did so.
“Only with you,” he said into her ear. “I’m only happy with you.”
She tried to pull back, but he held on tightly. Saying these things to her face was too hard. He didn’t know how to do this stuff. Talking wasn’t something his parents did and in all the training he’d gotten from Finn’s dad, none of it had been about this. He was trained for one thing only. To get the job done.
“When I you screamed in the phone, I thought I’d lost you and at that moment, nothing mattered,” he mumbled. “I don’t want a life that doesn’t have you in it. For the first time, I feel like living. Not just doing the job but living. How can I even think of doing that without you?”
Feeling slightly brave, he pulled her head away from his chest, so he could look at her.
“What about Anton?” she asked, tears still dripping down her face.
“There will be another day.”
She turned her face down and sighed.
“And until then?” she whispered.
“Until then I spend every day showing you my heart.” Noel swallowed. It was as close as he’d ever come to saying those words that men were supposed to say.
Haley stared at him for a moment before leaning in to place a tender kiss on his lips.
“I love you, too,” she whispered.
He pulled her in and kissed her deeply. For the first time in his life, he had someone who understood him and loved him. He would stop at nothing to protect that love.
A Note from Madison
Thank you for reading Noel. If you enjoyed this book, please consider reviewing it. We authors live and die by reviews.
Please keep an eye out for the next in the series, Riley.
You can join my release mailing list at http://eepurl.com/OX9r5
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Author Bio
Madison currently lives with her husband and two children in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. After leaving the frozen tundra of the north, she was more surprised than anyone with how much she has enjoyed living in the desert. Seeing as she stated on more than one occasion before moving to Arizona how much she hated heat, it was an odd move, but it seems her hatred for sub-zero tem
peratures and ice has won out in the end.
When she’s not writing, she’s enjoying time with her family. Madison and her family frequent festivals in the area, as well as local cultural events, and spend time with family in the area. In the summer, she is most likely to be found in the pool with the family and in the winter by the fireplace. Since both her children are autistic, days can be a little chaotic, but with her husband beside her, there’s nothing she can’t handle.
Madison’s blog is located at http://madisonstevensauthor.com/
She can be contacted at [email protected]
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