by Janie Crouch
Violet let out a sigh of relief that Edward seemed to understand. She’d really been getting worried for a moment. “Good. So let’s just shelve this until Gabe gets here and we can talk about it more. I’m not comfortable moving forward without him. To be honest, I’m not sure I’m willing to move forward even if he wants me to. But I don’t think he will once we talk about the potential dangers again.”
Edward was still shaking his head, his shoulders drooping now. “No, I mean it’s unfortunate that you’re not willing to continue without talking to Gabe. I had truly hoped you would. It would’ve made things a lot less painful for all of us.”
“I don’t understand. Do you mean arguing with Gabe? I can handle him. Besides, he agrees with me. This is not something CT wants to be a part of. We don’t want to set this loose in the world. In the wrong hands, it would be devastating.”
She felt something hard and metal press up against the back of her head.
“No, it’s unfortunate that we have to do this the harder way,” Edward said. “The way that definitely doesn’t end happily for either of us.”
She spun around and found Learson pointing a gun at her.
She flipped back to Edward. “What the hell is going on?”
“As you no doubt suspected long before Learson pulled out his weapon, he’s not actually a lab tech. He’s here to ensure you continue to work even if I’m unable to convince you.”
She looked at the man she’d known nearly her entire life. “What have you done, Edward?”
“What do you want me to do with her, Mr. Stellman?” Learson asked.
Stellman?
Her blood turned to ice in her veins. She stared at Edward, shaking her head. “That’s not possible. Stellman was arrested after my kidnapping and was killed in prison last week.”
Edward shook his head kindly. “Stellman was never just one person, my dear. That’s how he remained undetected for so long. There were three of us who embodied the name. Jonathan Stellman, the man who was arrested and who law enforcement knows as Stellman, was the face. He was paid very well over the past decade to do nothing but enjoy being rich and powerful. But he always knew if he were ever caught, he would have to stay in prison.”
Violet just shook her head, hearing Edward’s words but unable to truly process them.
“When Jonathan decided to renege on his agreement and threatened to provide law enforcement with the information he had on the other two of us, he had to be eliminated altogether.”
Violet wrapped her arms around herself, voice shaking. “You had me kidnapped? You had them do all those terrible things to me?”
Edward shook his head. “Those other things were never my intent, I promise. You were meant to be kidnapped and held for a few days. You’d been getting off track, refusing to work on the micro fuel cell. The abduction was supposed to help refocus you on your research.”
“Kidnapping was supposed to refocus me?”
“Ever since Paris, you haven’t been concentrating the way you once were. I thought you were having an identity crisis of some kind. Turns out you were, just not the one I thought. Baking.” He spat the word. “Who would’ve figured that this would all come down to you wanting to cook?”
“Not focusing on the fuel cell project had nothing to do with that.” She shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. You have to see that, Edward. This could be used as a weapon to kill thousands of people without being detected.”
He held up a hand. “Anything can be used as a weapon. You know that. Don’t concentrate on the ethics of it. Focus on the science of it. That’s all you can control. It’s all you need to control. Now I need you to finish, Violet. I’ve gone to great lengths to get you back here, even setting fire to your precious bakery.”
“That was you? You almost killed us!” she shouted.
He sighed, weary. “Again, that wasn’t my intent. You should’ve been upstairs in your apartment, not down in the kitchen. The fire was meant to damage the empty kitchen area, not hurt you. The intent, once again, was to get you back to CT and focused on your research.”
He’d gone to such extreme lengths to get her back in the lab and on this project. But now he had exposed himself. She knew he was Stellman. Was this man, who she’d considered family her whole life, going to kill her?
She wasn’t going to ask, and she wasn’t going to wait and see.
“Finishing this project is of the highest priority,” Edward continued, voice tight. “Life-threatening priority, Violet. Both mine and yours. It was promised months ago and still hasn’t been delivered. The buyers have grown impatient, and they’re not the type who handle that well.”
Violet still couldn’t wrap her head around what was happening. But she could tell Learson was relaxing his stance just slightly as she and Edward continued to talk. He was big, but she could take him. At least enough to get his weapon away from him and get out.
“Fine, Edward. None of this is worth dying for.” She pretended to turn back toward the work table, distributing her balance equally on both feet the way Aiden had drilled into her for the past two months, then whirled back around to make her move against the hulking giant behind her.
Chapter 27
Aiden spent the entire morning after Violet had left working at Linear: first talking Gavin into taking the assignment for him in Greece, which admittedly hadn’t been terribly difficult, then teaching Gavin’s concealed carry permit class.
He’d be teaching all of Gavin’s classes for the foreseeable future, and probably doing the man’s laundry, but it would be worth it if it meant he didn’t have to leave Oak Creek. The class went by without a hitch, and later that afternoon Aiden was heading back into town. He wanted to be home in case Violet got there earlier than planned.
He stopped by the drug store to grab some more condoms—he wasn’t going to take a chance on running out since Violet was going to be living at his house for the foreseeable future—and froze as he walked down the aisle and saw Gabe standing there.
Buying condoms in front of Violet’s brother was so not what he wanted to do. He tried to back away without being seen, but no such luck. Shit. Aiden continued walking down the aisle. No way around it now.
“Gabe.”
“Teague.”
The look in Gabe’s eyes was wary, almost a little panicked. Then Aiden saw what section Gabe had been looking at.
Feminine products.
Now condoms didn’t seem so bad. Aiden wasn’t going to ask why Gabe was studying feminine products. He was not going to do it. Was. Not.
“Looking for something specific?” He did it.
Gabe actually shifted from foot to foot and combed his fingers through his hair. Aiden couldn’t help but chuckle at the man’s obvious discomfort. He’d seen this warrior face down death on the battlefield without faltering, and now it looked like some boxes of tampons were about to send him crying.
“It’s not fucking funny,” Gabe muttered.
Aiden both didn’t and really, really did want to know what Gabe was looking for. Hell, they had a box at tampons at the Linear gym for bloody noses, but no one actually ever volunteered to buy it.
He would just leave the man to his misery. He crossed behind Gabe to the condoms.
“Are you looking for something specific?” Gabe asked. Aiden glanced back at him. Now he no longer looked uncomfortable, he just looked pissed.
“I generally like ribbed for a woman’s pleasure.” He grabbed a pack, not the normal brand he would buy, just to egg Gabe on.
Gabe just raised an eyebrow, his tone dry. “If you need ribs on your condom for a woman’s pleasure, you’re doing it wrong.”
Aiden just laughed. “Touché.” He grabbed his normal brand. “I’ll leave you to your . . . feminine items.”
“Fuck off.”
Aiden laughed again. “Why are you even here? I thought you were working with Violet today in Idaho Falls.”
“What?” Surprise was clear in his tone.
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“Edward called this morning—again—begging her to come in. Said you two would be working together. This was the last time she was planning to work for Collingwood Technology, much to Edward’s dismay.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “Plans must have changed because I didn’t know anything about it. I’ll check in with Edward. But I don’t want my sister working for CT anymore. She’s happier here.” He grimaced. “With you and her bakery. And despite what you may think, I want Violet to be happy. But also safe.”
“I’m going to keep her safe. Linear is working with the sheriff to find out who threw that bottle bomb into Fancy Pants. It might not have been intended to hurt Violet, but I’m not going to let her be collateral damage in someone else’s asinine war.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “I’m looking into that situations for reasons of my own. It’s time for this to stop.”
Aiden didn’t think that decree had anything to do with Violet, but it would help nonetheless. “So it looks like we’re on the same side.”
Gabe studied him. “How about I don’t kick your ass about those condoms and save that beating for if you hurt my little sister.”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you finish picking out whatever tampons you need and save your speech. Your sister can kick my ass herself if I hurt her. She’s become more than capable. And fucking call her. I think she was looking forward to working with you today.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed once more. “I’ll get that worked out immediately.”
Aiden paid at the front before walking the few blocks back to his house. When the front door was unlocked, something inside his heart eased.
Violet was home.
“Hey,” he called out as he walked in and closed the door behind him. “I just ran into your brother at the drug store, and you’d never believe what he was buying.”
No answer.
“Vi?”
He walked into his living room and found a man pointing a Beretta 92 at him. A second man at his three o’clock caught his attention. That guy didn’t have a gun out, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a weapon on him.
“Violet isn’t here, but we’d like to take you to her,” Beretta said.
Aiden kept his hands in plain view—condom bag hanging off one finger—as he stepped into the room. They had the advantage in weaponry and numbers, but they obviously didn’t want him dead or they would’ve taken him out as soon as he walked through the door. “Violet’s working at her brother’s company. I don’t need you to take me to her.”
Beretta grinned in a way that made the bottom of Aiden’s stomach drop out. “Actually, there was a change of plans. Violet was directed somewhere else.”
Shit. Now the fact that Gabe hadn’t known anything about her working with him was starting to make more sense.
“Oh yeah, where is she?” Aiden took another slight step toward the man with the gun. Another couple of feet and he’d be able to make his move.
“Like I said, we’ll take you there.”
Another step. “Well, you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t really want to take your word for it. My mother always said something about not getting into cars with strangers.” He kept his voice calm and easy. “So why don’t you get Violet on the phone, and then I’ll go with you.”
The guy finished Aiden’s job for him by getting mad and a taking a step forward. “How about I have the gun and—”
Aiden didn’t wait for him to finish the sentence, just tossed the bag of condoms at the man. When he automatically went to catch it, Aiden jumped forward, popping the gun out of his hand with a hard swipe of his fist, then brought the palm of his hand upward, breaking the guy’s nose. Without stopping, he swung his leg around, hitting the second man in the jaw with a roundhouse kick that knocked him backward into the wall as he was reaching for his gun. Both men howled in pain.
Aiden immediately turned his focus back to Beretta to finish the job. He only got a step toward him before he heard a soft sound behind him. Before he could even turn, a burn in his shoulder sent him stumbling.
There’d been a third man in the house. As he turned, he recognized the guy. Dillon, one of Violet’s kidnappers.
And he’d just shot Aiden in the shoulder.
“I’m going to have to ask you to stop picking on my men, Teague.” Dillon lowered the gun with the silencer attached. “We need you alive, but not necessarily in one piece.”
Aiden brought his hand up to his shoulder, finding his fingers covered in blood almost immediately. Shit.
Before he could move, the guy whose nose Aiden had broken grabbed Aiden by the hair, putting a knife up to his jaw, voice hard. “This fucker broke my nose, Dillon.”
“He threw a box of condoms at you, Luke, and you dropped your guard. You deserve more than a punch in the nose. So put the damn knife down.”
Luke did but not before slicing it along Aiden’s cheek. “That’s to remember me by. For what little time you’ve got left.” He followed it up with multiple shots to Aiden’s gut with his fist, his other friend joining him.
Aiden did his best to protect himself from the blows that rained all over his body, but with his right arm basically useless, it was nearly impossible.
“Enough,” Dillon finally said when they’d beaten Aiden to the ground. “That should be enough to scare Violet into doing what we want.”
Aiden could barely hold himself upright. “What the hell are you talking about?” Blood splattered the ground as he spoke.
“As entertaining as it was to watch that idiot Randy drag Violet around and parade her to make a few extra dollars, that was never the real goal. She was needed for something else. And now, you’re going to help us get it from her.”
“Like hell I will.”
Dillon just smiled and shook his head. “When she sees you like this, I think she’ll be willing to do just about anything.”
Aiden dove for Dillon. He wouldn’t be used as a tool to hurt Violet. But he was slow, his reactions mushy. Dillon just stepped to the side. He nodded at one of the men behind Aiden.
Something crashed on the back of his skull, then darkness fell over everything.
Chapter 28
Violet spun around, knocking the gun out of Learson’s hand with a sudden knock to his arm, then she drove the heel of her other palm up into his nose, just like Aiden had taught her.
She was a little sickened but strangely satisfied at the crunch Learson’s breaking nose made under the pressure of her blow. And thankful that Aiden had explained what would happen when she did this to someone so she wouldn’t be thrown off guard.
Someone coming at you with the intent to hurt you is your enemy. To show them any mercy is more than they are going to show you.
So as Learson was crying out in pain, she spun her body around and finished him with a spinning roundhouse kick to the head.
Learson fell to the floor, unconscious.
Staying where she could see him out of the corner of her eye, she turned to Edward. She was completely satisfied and not at all sickened by the stunned look on his face.
“I suppose I have you to thank for my new strength and power of will,” she said, forcing a smile. “If you hadn’t had me kidnapped, I never would’ve become this person. What’s that saying? You never know how strong you are until strong is the only choice you have?”
He shook his head sadly. “Believe it or not, I never wanted it to be this way. I never wanted you to get hurt, never approved the death of Jean and Carson. They were my friends.”
She swallowed hard. “You killed Mom and Dad? But they died in a car accident.”
“Not me, but my partner. I always hated that you blamed yourself for their deaths, my dear. It had nothing to do with getting you those concert tickets you wanted. The next time they entered the car for any reason, the brakes were going to fail.”
Oh God. Her parents’ death hadn’t been an accident. Edward had been some sort of criminal mastermind for years. “You kille
d them.”
He shook his head. “No, I argued against it. But we needed control of Collingwood Technology. My partners and I didn’t dream Gabe would come back and raise you and become CEO of the company. So our plans here had to change, become more long-term, focus on other things until the time was right to get what we needed. That time is now. The micro fuel cell can’t wait. You’re going to finish it today.”
“Like hell I am.” She’d taken down his goon. If she could take him, she would have no problem getting away from Edward. He was older, untrained.
Edward just shook his head. “I’m afraid you’re not going to have any choice in the matter. Like I said, Stellman has always been made up of three people. The face, who is now dead. The brains—that would be me. And the brute force. He’s the one who killed your parents, and the one who allowed those horrible things to happen to you when you were kidnapped. I never would’ve had the stomach for that, Violet.”
She heard a voice from behind her near the doorway. “I think he’s referring to me.”
Dillon.
She spun around, gripping the table behind her. “Wh-what are you doing here?”
“C’mon, Violet, you’re quicker than that. I’m also part of Stellman—the brute force, as Edward calls me. He assured me he could get you to do what he wanted the easy way. But since he can’t, we’ll try it my way. The hard way.”
It was like facing down the devil from her nightmares. He just watched her from across the room, just like he’d done when she was kidnapped.
“You killed my parents?” The words were barely audible.
Dillon didn’t flinch. “I did. And I allowed Randy to do whatever he wanted when you were kidnapped. Then, of course, I had to make sure he didn’t talk to anyone, so he had to be eliminated when Edward let me know your brother and his band of soldiers were coming to your rescue.”
She pushed all this information to the side. It didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was getting out of here alive. Taking out Dillon would be harder than Learson, but she could do it.