Last Chance 05 - Second Chance

by Christy Reece

  “Bet you thought you’d never see me again.”

  She jerked her head around and stifled the scream in her throat. Yeah, she wouldn’t want anyone to know she had a night visitor. There’d be questions she’d never be able to answer.

  “How did you get in?”

  Wes snorted. “Your security system sucks.”

  She straightened and gave him that haughty stare he hated. “What are you doing here?”

  “Like you don’t know. You double-crossed me. You think I was just going to go my merry way and forget about what you owe me?”

  Her nose tilted up as if the stench of him was more than she could bear. Like she was a queen looking down on some lowly peasant.

  “You’re the one that double-crossed me. You didn’t take them where you were supposed to.”

  Wes shrugged. “You paid me to get rid of them. I fulfilled my end of the bargain … done my job.”

  She glared for several seconds as if there was something else she wanted to say, but then, with an aristocratic sniff, turned away. “Then consider it over with. Get out.”

  “Like hell.”

  “You got what you wanted. I got what I want. We’re even.”

  In a flash, Wes crossed the room and grabbed her arm, whipping her around. He heard the startled gasp and got harder. “We ain’t ever going to be even till I get everything I want. I want the woman … that’s what we agreed to.”

  Her eyes flashing contempt, she laughed in his face.

  A fiery mist covered his vision. His hand tightening into a fist, he popped her one in the stomach. As she bent over, gagging, Wes ripped the flimsy nightgown from her body and pushed her face-first onto the bed. He was mad now, and whether she liked it or not, his pound of flesh was about to get a little rougher than what even she liked.

  Unzipping his pants, he lifted her up and shoved inside before she caught her breath. He knew he was hurting her, but she muffled her cries of pain against the bedspread.

  Though she was as dry as an August creekbed, he worked back and forth till he could ram all the way inside her. His hands wrapped around her neck, he bent over as he plunged and retreated. “You screwed me over, seems only fair that I screw you. Don’t it?”

  When she didn’t immediately answer, he tightened his hands on her neck until she whispered hoarsely, “I won’t do it again.”

  “You got that right. You’re going to bring the woman to me or I’ll come back and show you just how rough it can really get.”

  Again, when she didn’t answer, his hand tightened just enough to cut off all air. When she started squirming and bucking under him, trying to knock him off, he finally got the ride he was looking for. Wes pumped deep and hard for a few seconds. He’d done it this way a few times before … though not with her. He knew how to time it just right … almost to the edge of unconsciousness. He didn’t want to kill the bitch … leastways not yet. He grunted and flooded inside her, finally letting go of her neck.

  She lay gasping beneath him, her lungs rasping for breath like a chain-smoker with emphysema.

  Wes pulled out and eased off the bed. “Find a way to get her to me, or I’ll be back.” He zipped up and swaggered out the door, more than a little pleased at how the night had gone down.

  Minutes passed before she could move. Finally and with great effort, she rolled over and blew out a long shaky breath. She supposed she was lucky he hadn’t killed her. It infuriated her that she hadn’t anticipated the attack. He’d told her he’d be back and she had ignored his warning.

  She should’ve been prepared and been able to do something to stop him. Not that she would’ve killed him in her own bedroom. She had her reputation to maintain. Having a sleaze like Wes anywhere near her, even if he’d broken in, wasn’t something she wanted known.

  Wincing, she pulled herself from the bed. Every muscle in her body ached as she padded painfully to the door and peeked out into the hallway. Holding her breath, she listened intently … no sound.

  The bastard’s threat was real. He would be back if she didn’t find a way to get Keeley alone so Wes could have her and get it out of his system. She wouldn’t let it get too rough … just painful enough for a much-needed lesson.

  Wes had a way with lessons; she’d learned her own tonight. He had become a liability she couldn’t afford. They’d known each other a long time and their relationship had been useful and mutually beneficial. Sex and money were Wes’s motivators; power and revenge were hers. Whenever someone angered her, Wes had always been a reliable weapon. He was very good at getting his point across and not getting caught.

  However, his usefulness had ended. The idiot apparently believed they had a partnership. Little did he know he was being manipulated right along with everyone else in town.

  A slow smile lifted her mouth as she considered exactly how she would manipulate Wesley one final time.

  seven

  From his vague memory of Honor Stone, she looked just the way Cole thought she would. With shoulder-length strawberry blond hair, a hundred freckles on her face, golden-green eyes, and a warm friendly smile that invited secrets. He barely remembered the case they’d worked on together, but remembered enough to know that she was both professional and compassionate. They were damn lucky to have her working this case.

  Cole held out his hand to her. “It’s good to see you again, Honor.”

  She shook his hand, a small frown furrowing her brow. Somehow he got the feeling she was uncomfortable with him. Her warm words seemed to deny that. “It’s wonderful to see you as well, Cole. When I heard you’d been killed, I couldn’t believe it. Thank God it wasn’t true.”

  Aware that Keeley was watching and listening to the exchange with great interest, he nodded his thanks and dropped into one of the chairs that had been set out for their meeting.

  This office was what Keeley had termed her “control station.” She had two monitors on a large desk, several maps on the walls, and numerous photographs of Hailey and Hannah throughout the room.

  The office looked like a mini-version of an LCR office. Eden had described how Keeley worked here for hours every day, doing everything she could to assist in finding her children. If determination and sheer will could accomplish her goal, Cole knew they’d be found.

  “Keeley,” Honor said, “I reviewed the emails you sent over yesterday.”

  He didn’t ask, but Keeley glanced over at him, apparently feeling the need to explain. “I get between fifty and a hundred emails a day,” she said. “Most of them are asking questions on how the case is going, offering condolences, things like that. I show all of them to Eden and Jordan and forward a copy over to Honor.”

  “I think you’re right … the email from our friendly sadist was different,” Honor said.

  Cole sat up. He’d read the other emails in the file Noah had given him. They’d been cruel and sick, some of them describing in detail what might have happened to her children. Others were just pointed and spiteful comments about how it was her fault that they’d been taken.

  “How was it different?” Cole asked.

  Honor pulled out a piece of paper from a file folder she held. “Take a look.”

  Cole scanned the email and had to agree. This one did seem less mean-spirited. He handed the page back to Honor. “Maybe the bastard’s getting bored with the harassment.”

  “We can only hope,” Eden said.

  “Still no news or tips on your end?” Keeley asked.

  “No, we still have no real suspects. All of our interviews have been conducted … without any real leads.” Honor leaned forward, her expression one of compassionate concern. “I’m being relocated, Keeley. I’ll still be working on your case, but I’ll be working it from Greenville.”

  Keeley’s dark eyes filled with tears and Cole could tell she was doing everything in her power not to lose control. He watched her throat move convulsively before she asked, “Does that mean that—”

  Honor dropped to her knees in front of
Keeley. “It only means I’ll be farther away but I will still be working on this case. I’m not giving up.” She looked over her shoulder and took in everyone’s gazes before turning back around to add, “None of us are giving up.”

  Cole’s opinion of Honor shot up a thousand percent.

  Keeley’s audible swallow echoed in the silent room. “Thank you.”

  Giving Keeley’s hand a small pat for comfort, Honor stood and turned to Eden, speaking to her in a low voice.

  The sorrow on Keeley’s face was almost more than Cole could take. Despite having known this woman only a couple of days, he had to grip the arms of his chair to keep from going to her and holding her.

  She was biting her lip, obviously doing her best not to break down. Even with Honor’s assurance that she would continue on the case, she had to know that having the FBI backing away even further meant that the odds of finding her children were becoming remote.

  Unable to watch her without offering some kind of support, Cole reached over and touched her hand that was digging into the arm of her chair. “Honor’s right. We’re never going to stop. Not until we find them. Okay?”

  Her eyes swimming with unshed tears, she stood and a gave him a brief “Thank you.” Barely glancing at the others, she whispered, “I’ve got some calls to make,” then turned and almost ran from the room.

  Honor sighed as she glanced at the door Keeley had just gone through. “I hated telling her, but I didn’t have a choice.”

  “I’ll go talk to her,” Eden said.

  Jordan stood, his eyes on Honor. “I’m assuming we’ll continue to meet once a week, just not in person?”

  “Yes. I’ll leave all the numbers for you before I leave.”

  Giving Cole an odd, searching look, Jordan said, “I’ll go check and see how Keeley’s doing.”

  Cole was getting the feeling that everyone other than he and Keeley knew a secret. Something that he should know.

  Glancing over at Honor, he was surprised to see her studying him so intently.

  “Is there something going on I need to know about?” he asked.

  Her head tilted slightly. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

  “I remember we worked on a case together.”

  “Have all of your memories come back?”

  “The significant things, I guess. Why?”

  When she flinched, he instantly wished he could withdraw the word significant. Dammit, had he had a relationship with this woman? Why the hell hadn’t anyone told him?

  He ignored the sudden throbbing in his temple. “Were we more than just friends, Honor?”

  Though she smiled, he saw the hurt in her eyes. “We had a small fling. Nothing major, really. Just two people comforting each other.”

  Cole muttered, “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not important, really it’s not.” She touched his arm lightly. “I’m just glad you’re okay. When they told me you’d been found alive, after almost a year of thinking you were dead …”

  He felt a gut punch when tears brightened her eyes and she smiled again. “That was a very good day.”

  Feeling like a slug for having to ask, he did anyway.

  “Did we date?”

  “Not exactly. We spent a weekend together after a job we worked was finished. It’s okay that you don’t remember.”

  “Was this something a lot of people knew?”

  “Not a lot. But LCR’s a small organization. It happened just a few months after you joined them. We rescued a missing kid.”

  “And celebrated together.”

  She giggled. “Like two drunken bunnies.” She touched his arm again. “We were on adrenaline overload. Working out a bit of steam, nothing more. Okay?”

  Hell no, it wasn’t okay. He wasn’t the type to sleep around. Going to bed with this woman should have meant more to him. And he sure as shit should be able to remember it.

  “Cole, really … I can tell you’re bothered by it and I don’t want you to be. I’d just come off of a bad breakup. One thing led to another.”

  Cole nodded, but the guilt was still there. She may have said it meant nothing; her eyes said something else.

  Not for the first time, Cole wished Donald Rosemount was alive so he could kill him again.

  “Keeley, we got another donation. That makes a thousand dollars just this week.”

  Her focus on what was happening outside her window, she twisted her head slightly to answer Jenna. “Any name on this one?”

  “No. Just like most of the others, they’re anonymous.”

  Keeley rubbed the back of her neck. While it was kind of people to want to help, it added a burden that she really didn’t have time for. She didn’t need the money. There were so many other people who could use it.

  “Just deposit it in the fund we set up. When this is over and the girls are home, we’ll find an organization to donate it to. I just can’t think of that right now.”

  She heard her friend come up behind her.

  “What are you looking at?”

  Keeley lifted her shoulder in an overexaggerated nonchalant shrug. She was about to be caught staring.

  “Oh my,” Jenna’s tone revealed wonder and awe.

  Keeley silently agreed. Cole Mathison stood in the middle of the front courtyard replacing a security light that had gone out last night. Dressed in running shorts and a navy blue T-shirt, he’d just finished his morning run. The shirt, damp with sweat, clung to every sinew and muscle as if it were a second skin.

  As someone who once had a daily regimen that might put some Olympic athletes to shame, Keeley recognized Cole Mathison’s physical fitness was at that level. She could quite honestly say that she had never seen a man in such top physical shape, nor one that was so incredibly appealing.

  “Who on earth is that?” Jenna asked.

  “Cole Mathison. He’s the LCR operative I told you about.”

  “Honey, you told me another man had come to help. I can barely look at Jordan Montgomery without getting all tingly inside, and now this. You could’ve at least warned me that a Greek god had arrived.”

  Her eyes never straying from Cole, she said, “He is nice-looking, isn’t he?”

  Jenna snorted. “Stephen was nice-looking. This man is a thousand times past nice-looking. Think he’s a bodybuilder?”

  “I don’t think so. His muscles don’t overbulge like most bodybuilders’. He’s just …”

  “Absolutely gorgeous,” Jenna finished for her.

  That Keeley couldn’t deny. Though Cole had been here over a week, other than the initial interview he had with her, she’d not talked to him other than to nod in passing or say good morning as he headed out the door. He went for a run each day, and somehow Keeley always found herself at the window at the exact time he left and came back. Funny how that worked.

  “Is he married?”

  Jenna’s question brought her back to reality. The last thing she had time for was lusting after a man she barely knew. Turning away from the window, she seated herself at her desk again. “I don’t know.”

  With another long sigh, Jenna stepped away from the window.

  Immersed in adding information to the website, she felt eyes on her and glanced up to see Jenna staring at her. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just realized that Cole Mathison is the first man you’ve shown any interest in since Stephen.”

  “I’m not interested … I’m just …” She paused to swallow. She didn’t have time to be interested, but something about Cole Mathison fascinated her. And it wasn’t just his incredible looks … though she couldn’t deny that every time she saw him, her heartbeat spiked toward a gallop.

  “You’re just …?”

  Unable to explain her feelings, she said, “So? What about you? After Frank died, you told me you were off men for good.”

  Another snort. “Frank Banks and Cole Mathison aren’t even in the same species. And just ’cause I’m off men doesn’t mean I’m blind. That man could
make any woman break her vow of celibacy.”

  Yet another comment Keeley couldn’t argue with. And she also agreed with her friend’s comment on Frank Banks. Even though Jenna’s husband had been dead for five years, it still astounded Keeley that her young, very attractive friend had married the owner of the town’s only funeral home. The man had not only been twice Jenna’s age, he’d been three times her size and wasn’t the least bit attractive. Frank Banks gave Keeley the creeps just thinking about him, and it had nothing to do with his occupation.

  She’d asked Jenna when they first announced their engagement what she saw in him, but her friend had been evasive. Keeley finally came up with the theory that Jenna had grown up without a father and was trying to find someone to replace him. It was the only one that made any sense to her.

  “Eden would know, wouldn’t she?” Jenna asked.

  “Know what?”

  “Whether Cole Mathison is married or not.”

  “I’m sure she would, but I’m not going to ask her.”

  “Mind if I do?”

  The stabbing pain in her chest was jealousy. Though she tried her best to ignore it, the emotion was there. She didn’t want her best friend interested in Cole Mathison. And just what kind of friend did that make her?

  Jenna’s soft little laugh brought Keeley’s head up. “What?”

  “Those dark brown eyes are turning green.”

  A smile tugged at Keeley’s mouth. “Okay, I’ll scratch your eyes out if you make a play for him. Better?”

  “Honest.” Jenna’s head tilted slightly. “Why don’t you have a little fling with him?”

  Keeley shrugged. “For one thing, I doubt that he’d be interested. Besides, I’m not a fling kind of girl. And—” Her gaze went back to the screen in front of her. The home page of the website had several pictures of Hailey and Hannah, together and separate. The girls were opposites in so many ways, but one thing they shared was their love for each other. As much as she missed them, besides praying with all her might that they were safe and healthy and that they would soon be home, she prayed that they were still together. They could comfort each other and maybe they wouldn’t be so scared.