In Search of Truth

by Sharon Wray

  Shouts started outside and Allison wondered if there was going be a fight. “Mercy did what she had to do to survive. That’s her truth.”

  Isabel raised an eyebrow. “Then how are we any different? I’ve been abused by men, betrayed by those I believed in, lost everyone I’ve ever loved. Yet when I act out, I’m the one imprisoned.”

  “Act out?” Now it was Allison’s turn to grab the bars. “Mercy embedded a cipher in her own witch’s examination, and then engraved the cipher’s key in her apotropaic marks, in a desperate attempt to save her life and protect her child. You’re a murderer.”

  “Says the woman who can’t love and hurts everyone around her.” Isabel sneered. “At least I’ve known great passion and fierce love. One of those men is outside ignoring me, while the other is dead. What about you? What are you willing to fight for? What’s your truth?”

  Her truth? She loved Zack with her whole heart. She’d just never recognized that feeling deep inside—the one that makes you hold your breath until your lover walks in the door, that makes you willing to sacrifice everything for his happiness—as love. “My truth is I will do anything to save Zack and his men. To save their future.”

  Isabel nodded to the key ring on the desk, then she reached into her back pocket. “Let me go and I will give you this.”

  She held a flash drive in her palm.

  “Don’t do it.” Alex strode into the room, took Allison’s shoulder, and drew her away from the cell. “She’s an evil bitch.”

  Isabel batted her eyes at Alex. “Here to save me, lover?”

  “I’m here to check on Allison. There’s been a complication. We only had two warriors to trade.”

  “Wait.” Allison went to the door to see Zack and his men talking in a circle. “The Fianna won’t give back Emilie?”

  “Not without another offering.”

  Isabel laughed, then coughed. “The Fianna can’t be trusted.”

  Allison ignored Isabel and faced Alex. “How do we fix this?”

  Alex sat on the corner of the desk. “Give the Fianna something they want.”

  “Isabel?”

  “No.” Isabel shook the bars. “I’d rather you kill me first.”

  Alex shrugged. “Just as well, since they said no.”

  “Isabel has information on Zack’s men that could save them.” Allison pointed to the flash drive Isabel slipped into her pocket. “Or…I have an idea.”

  Allison took Alex’s hand and dragged him outside.

  A loud car engine made everyone turn toward the road. Another black car stopped and a man emerged from the back seat. He had dark hair, wore a tailored suit, and moved with a confidence that propelled him forward.

  All of the men returned to their lines, Kells’s men on one side and the warriors on the other. Even Rafe bowed his head when this man entered the center area.

  Kells walked out to meet him.

  Allison dragged Alex back to where his men stood. “Who’s that?”

  “The Prince,” Alex said.

  Alex’s brother.

  Rafe and Kells and the Prince spoke in murmurs.

  “They’re negotiating,” Alex muttered. “Always negotiating.”

  Nate frowned. “Alex, how well do the Prince and Kells know each other?”

  Alex scoffed and walked toward the minivan. “Wake me when it’s over.”

  Zack and Nate shared a long look until Rafe waved Zack to meet him in the center.

  Allison had no idea what was happening. “Why are those men yelling at Zack?”

  Nate muttered a curse. “Once upon a time, Zack was engaged. It didn’t last long. She caused trouble and was a huge source of friction in the unit.”

  “What’s does that have to do with everyone being mad at Zack?”

  “Tarragon?” Nate pointed at the woman in the blue nightgown still clinging to Laertes on the other side of the field. “She was Zack’s fiancée. Her real name is Theresa.”

  Allison drew in a deep breath and ran toward Zack. No way would she let him face this alone. Besides, she had an idea that could end this nightmare.

  Chapter 49

  Zack tried not to sigh too loudly.

  In fact, he had to force himself to pay attention. Both Kells and the Prince were upset because his ex-fiancée was Remiel’s niece Tarragon. Although he’d known her as Theresa.

  Apparently, almost six years ago, Zack had walked into Remiel’s trap. Theresa buying him a drink at that sleazy bar. Their on-and-off relationship. Her call the night of the doomed mission, the same night he allowed his men to go into combat with another commander. All of it had been planned by Remiel.

  Now Kells and the Prince were talking to—no, yelling at—each other and ignoring him. All he wanted was to figure out a way to get his sister back. Then, when the women he loved were safe, he wanted to wrap Allison in his arms and go to sleep.

  And when he woke up, he’d take Allison and leave Savannah.

  Maybe Virginia was the better option.

  Yeah. Kells was now dropping the blame for the entire doomed mission onto Zack’s lap. While he was willing to take his share—enough that it felt like he was carrying an M1 tank on his back—he wasn’t the only one who’d screwed up.

  Kells leveled his fiercest gaze at the Prince. “Leave my men out of your fight with Remiel.”

  The Prince crossed his arms. “They’re in this fight whether they want to be or not. This situation with Tarragon proves what happened to you and your men was more thought-out, more planned than you could’ve imagined.”

  Kells took a step back when Allison ran up to them.

  She was out of breath. Her feet were bare and dirty. Her burned hair hung in singed strands over her shoulders, and she clutched a gray blanket around her. One would think she’d feel embarrassed, but she stood tall, her head high, and faced the Prince. “Is it true that we need to trade something for Emilie?”

  The Prince focused his brown gaze on Allison. “It is.”

  “Then I have something you want. Something that, as the descendent of Mercy Chastain and Henry Avery, belongs to me. Something I’m offering in exchange for Emilie’s freedom.”

  The Prince tilted his head. “You found Henry Avery’s treasure?”

  Allison pointed to the church.

  “It’s true, sir,” Rafe said. “It’s behind the altar.”

  The Prince walked toward the scorched church and stood in the entrance, shading his eyes because of the sun. It took a minute, but when he returned to them, his wide-open gaze told them he’d seen it as well.

  She straightened her shoulders and spoke to the Prince again. “No one except for the men here know about the treasure. I trust Zack’s men. Do you trust yours?”

  The Prince raised his hand and dropped it.

  An SUV door opened and Marcellus helped Emilie out of the car.

  “Are you sure,” the Prince asked, “that you’re aware of what you’re giving up?”

  She smiled at Zack. “I’ve found my treasure and my truth.”

  The Prince motioned to Kells. “I’ll have the altarpiece removed to a safe location today. I’ll also rebuild this church.”

  Kells nodded.

  The Prince moved aside so Emilie could rush into Zack’s arms.

  He picked her up in a giant bear hug until she hit his shoulder and said, “Put me down, brute. You don’t even have a shirt on.”

  Allison met the Prince’s gaze one last time. “Have I paid Stuart’s debt?”

  “Aye.” The Prince raised his hand again, and Marcellus escorted another person into the center. A man shuffled with hands bound and his head bowed. He had a bruise on his temple.

  “What’s this?” Kells asked.

  “One of Isabel’s guards,” Zack said. “Isabel killed the other one.”

&nbs
p; “Yes,” said the Prince. “We took care of him as well.”

  When the shuffling guard saw the Prince, he fell to his knees.

  Zack cleared his throat. “I hit this one and tied him up because I was looking for the women. I’m not apologizing.”

  “I’m not asking you to apologize.” The Prince nodded at Marcellus.

  Marcellus handed Zack his pistol, a bullet already in the chamber.

  “Years ago,” the Prince said, “my predecessor, who knew your grandfather, sent a messenger asking you to reconsider your decision to become a Special Forces officer.”

  “I remember.”

  Allison tugged his arm. “It was Laertes, the warrior with Tarragon.”

  Why was Zack not surprised?

  The Prince pointed to the weapon in Zack’s hand. “Today I’m offering you a chance to redeem your honor. To prove you’re not a coward.”

  “By killing an unarmed man?” Zack snarled at the Prince. “That doesn’t prove anything.”

  “This unarmed man had every intention of killing, and burning, the woman you love. He would’ve done the same to your sister and your ex-fiancée if ordered to. He was also in the POW camp. He tortured your men.” The Prince touched the guard’s head. “He admitted it.”

  Allison held her breath and watched Zack’s eyes darken and his nostrils flare. Slowly, he pointed the gun at the guard’s head, his finger on the trigger.

  She touched his arm and his muscles bunched. He gripped the weapon until his knuckles turned white. His body shook and sweat beaded his forehead as he stared down the gun’s barrel into the guard’s terrified eyes.

  She glanced back at Zack’s men, all of them focused on Zack. Emilie’s face lost color and she closed her eyes.

  The Prince moved closer. “What kind of man are you, Zack Tremaine? What will you do for those you love?”

  A fierce protectiveness swept through her body. No way would she let the Prince have the last word. Standing on her toes, she whispered in Zack’s ear, “Remember your truth.”

  Zack blinked, shook his head, and tossed the gun onto the ground. The guard fell forward and his shoulders shook with his sobs.

  “I’m done.” Zack’s voice sounded husky and strained. “Done with the secrets, the lies, and the violence. Done with having to prove to everyone around me how much I regret my past decisions and how much I love my men. Most of all, I’m done proving myself to you.”

  Allison wasn’t sure if Zack was speaking to Kells, the Prince, or to himself.

  Emilie took Zack’s hand and Allison pressed her head against his shoulder. She was so proud of her wild man.

  Marcellus retrieved the gun and dragged the guard away. Then the Prince nodded.

  Rafe cleared his throat and announced, “This night has been wondrous strange, yet ’tis time to remove ourselves in peace.”

  “Wait!” Luke raced into the center and said to Kells, “Isabel. She’s…gone.”

  * * *

  Isabel grabbed the tote bag, left Mercy’s fake tomb, and clawed her way through the woods behind the cemetery. She had no idea what had happened to the guard she’d killed and didn’t care. Her shoulder ached, but Rafe had given her painkillers while he’d stitched her arm. It’d been a field surgery and would hold for now.

  She stumbled over a grave and ended up on her knees. She had to hide before anyone found her. Before Remiel found her. She could still remember the fire’s heat and her throat felt like it’d been charred. Her cough sounded raspy and harsh.

  Her goal was to hide in a safe place and, eventually, sell the Pirate’s Grille and the witch’s examination’s appendix. No one would know the treasure had been found. And by the time they did, she’d be long gone with the money.

  “My beautiful Isabel.” Remiel’s voice came from behind. “What have you done?”

  Her stomach tightened and she used a palmetto branch to help her stand. He wore jeans and a white collared shirt, covered by a black leather jacket. His dark hair was styled and his blue eyes reminded her of the sapphires in the altarpiece. “I found the treasure.”

  He shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. “And set it on fire.”

  “No.” She coughed until they became dry heaves. “Clayborne. He set the fire to kill me and Allison.”

  “Clayborne told me you offered information to Allison.”

  “I only said that to learn more about the treasure.” Isabel’s voice came out husky and pleading, not her usual forceful, confident self.

  Remiel’s smile made her step back. His smile wasn’t like normal people’s. His lips tightened over his teeth and his eyes narrowed. It was the smile of a man who believed inflicting pain was the only way to control others. “Clayborne told me you were also planning on selling the Pirate’s Grille and the witch’s examination’s appendix.”

  “No.” She held out the tote bag. “I can make this right. We lost the treasure but the documents are still worth millions.”

  He circled her slowly, and she turned to keep his gaze. “You’ve been with me from the beginning. You know my past, my present, my secrets. You know everything about me.”

  “I would never—have never—betrayed you.”

  “I know you believe that.” Suddenly, he walked away.

  Was he giving her another chance?

  Should she let him?

  She tightened her grip on the tote bag and exhaled deeply. Did she have a choice but to follow him? If she didn’t, he’d just hunt her down like he’d done to so many others. And that hadn’t ended well for any of them. If she did, well, it seemed like he was offering her a way out. A way to redeem herself. After all, she’d been by his side since the beginning. Since the accident.

  She walked quickly to catch up to him. As she fell into step behind him, he held up branches so they wouldn’t strike her in the face. They hiked through the woods until they reached a clearing with his car. Remiel had always preferred to drive himself instead of having a driver.

  He opened the back door. “There’s a blanket and water bottles.”

  “Thank you.” She crawled in and collapsed on a blanket. He shut the door and the locks clicked. After drinking the water, despite a slight bitter aftertaste she attributed to smoke, she closed her eyes. There wasn’t a single part of her body that didn’t hurt. “Now what?”

  He slipped into the front seat. “I have something for you. It’s in the seat pocket.”

  She pulled out a cell phone. “What’s this?”

  “Turn it on.”

  She pressed the on button and a photo appeared. She sat up and her shaky hands almost dropped the phone. It was a photo of her getaway accounts she’d hidden from Remiel. “Where did you get this?”

  “Stuart. He never really loved you.”

  Remiel had known for months? It was hard to talk, hard to think. The water bottle rolled off the seat onto the floor and she remembered the bitter aftertaste. Oh. God. No.

  “Please. Remiel.” Her tongue felt thick and her head spun until everything appeared to be painted in shades of gray. “I can explain.”

  “I’m sure you can.” Remiel glanced at her in the rearview mirror while the window between the front and back seats went up. The last words she heard were: “Except I don’t care.”

  Her eyes felt heavy, her body tightened, and she knew the truth. Poison.

  Chapter 50

  Hours later, Alex pushed away from the table the men had set up in the back room of Iron Rack’s gym. They’d returned and ordered breakfast from the diner around the corner. None of them had cleaned up yet, other than washing their hands, and they were covered in varying amounts of soot, dirt, and blood. Yes, they were that hungry.

  Alex had no idea how they were paying for this meal, but that wasn’t his problem.

  Although it was still midmorning, it felt
later. Possibly because he was so exhausted. Or maybe because clouds had chased the sun away. Either way, he wanted to sleep for a million years. But now that he was back with the group, he didn’t want to leave.

  He didn’t want to be alone.

  “I knew Zack wouldn’t pull that trigger.” Nate poured an insane amount of syrup on his seven-stack of pancakes. “Zack is too smart to fall for the Prince’s bullshit.”

  Alex agreed. Although he also knew that sometimes the drive for revenge obliterated everything else in a man’s mind, hence the monster known as Remiel.

  “I can’t believe the treasure was in the altar,” Pete said with his mouth full of bacon. “Who thinks of these things?”

  “It’s craziness,” Cain stuffed his mouth with sausage biscuits. “And the woman with the scarred face was not only Remiel’s niece but Zack’s fiancée. That is messed up.”

  Alex finished his orange juice. “Everything having to do with Remiel is messed up.”

  The room went silent, probably because that truth meant Remiel wasn’t finished with the men of the Seventh Special Forces Group. While Nate picked at his eggs, Ty wiped his sooty face with a white napkin. Vane excused himself to use the bathroom. Luke moved asparagus around his plate like a three-year-old. Cain cleared his throat before drinking more water.

  Finally, Nate said, “I wonder what’s on that thumb drive Alex found.”

  Not found. Traded. For Isabel’s freedom.

  Yeah, Kells was going to hold this one over Alex’s head for a long time.

  “Probably shit,” Pete said as he ate more bacon. “No matter how close we get to finding intel, it always ends up as shit.”

  “Maybe not.” Vane returned to the table and took more pancakes. “Alex let Isabel go for that information. It has to be worth something.”

  Nate raised a glass with the fakest smile plastered on his grim face. “Let’s hope so.”

  The other men chimed in with weak optimism. Alex didn’t have that kind of hope, but he’d still do it again. Letting her go for that flash drive was a chance he’d had to take. He, in all sincerity, hoped she’d gotten away. From the Prince. Kells. And Remiel. She was a coldhearted bitch, but she’d earned that truth the old-fashioned way—through abuse, neglect, and betrayal.