Killer Secrets

by Lora Leigh

  "Listen to me." Kira turned to Tehya, grabbing her shoulder with her free hand and shaking it as Tehya tried to crawl from beneath the desk. "Every Sorrell soldier out there is looking for you, and they will take you. Stay here. Don't fucking move. It's the only way you'll be safe."

  "I'll only be safe if he's dead," Tehya snarled back, fury tearing at her voice. "He knew what he was doing here. He meant to kill all of you."

  "And he still might if you mess this up," Kira snapped back. "We suspected this. Stay in place. Don't move, Tehya. Swear it to me or I swear to God I'll knock you out myself."

  The darkness of the room was almost absolute, the sound of gunfire inside the house and outside a shock to the senses.

  Kira nodded shortly before crouching and making her way to the edge of the desk to peer around it.

  There was a body stretched out by the door. For a moment, Kira's heart leapt in her chest in fear before she realized it was an unfamiliar form, likely one of Sorrell's soldiers that had moved in close. Blood flowed from beneath him, puddling on the expensive marble of the foyer, and onto the hardwood just inside the office.

  A minute amount of moonlight came from the living room and solarium across the foyer as rapid bursts of gunfire continued outside.

  Kira glanced back at where Tehya sat, her wild green eyes gleaming with murderous rage. Controlling her wasn't going to be easy, and the danger had just intensified. Kira couldn't move into the fight and she couldn't afford to attempt to get Tehya to a more secure location.

  She ducked back behind the desk and scooted in beside the other girl. They both stared straight ahead, weapons held ready.

  "Are we pussies or what?" Tehya suddenly hissed.

  Kira glanced over at her. "Last time I looked I had one," she informed her, then cursed as bullets ripped through the window across the room and shattered through the wood of the desk.

  The heavy steel encasing three sides of the desk pinged and shuddered.

  "Fuck!" Tehya breathed roughly. "Do you really want to play the helpless female like this?"

  Kira grunted. If she moved, Ian was going to kill her, there was no doubt in her mind—if Sorrell or one of his men didn't do it for him.

  "Some fucking Homeland Security agent you are," Tehya griped.

  "Homeland isn't my boss." Contract agent, she told herself. There was a difference.

  "You're an agent of someone's," the other girl argued, ducking instinctively as more pings hit the steel around them. "We're dead here. Is that what we want?"

  Unfortunately, Tehya was right.

  "Ian's going to rip me a new one," Kira said.

  "Sucks to be you," Teyha agreed. "Do we go?"

  Bullets rained around them, and Kira swore one of those pings nearly ripped through the steel into her kidney.

  Kira bit her lip in indecision. Sitting here like a sacrificial lamb didn't seem like the best idea in the world, that was for damned sure.

  "Sorrell's going to try to move through the house and circle back here. He'll suspect we stayed in place." Kira flinched as more bullets ripped into the room. "We'll hit the foyer and make our way to the back of the house."

  Damn, she wished she had one of those handy receivers the rest of the teams were wearing. At least she would be able to contact Daniel. He would be looking for her exclusively, she knew that. All she had to do was find him. One thing was for damned sure, he would never expect her to stay put.

  More bullets pinged into the steel.

  "Fuck, let's go. Stay at my back and keep up, and for God's sake, if you see Sorrell, then we fucking run."

  Crouching, Kira eased from under the desk, staying low before checking the darkness for any movement. Tehya followed behind her. Kira's night vision was a little better now, giving her a measure of confidence as she looked back at Tehya and gave her a quick hand signal to hold in place until she secured the path to the door.

  Crouching by the side of the desk she waited, knowing that once she moved past it she would be undefended until she reached the foyer.

  She pulled her shoes off, slid the daggers free, gripped the small blocks that doubled as the bottom of the shoes' heels between her fingers, and moved forward.

  As she cleared the desk, something hit her in the side, the gun went flying from her hand, and the breath whoosed out of her lungs as she landed on the floor.

  A fist rammed into her side again before she could gather herself, before she could evade it, then hard hands circled her neck, cutting off her air.

  She caught the glitter of enraged eyes and Kenneth's shadowed expression before she rammed the daggers into his side and bucked against his hold.

  "Bitch!" he snarled, but his grip loosened, just enough, the pressure of his knees on her arms shifted as she bucked, and the next second a gunshot filled the air before he was kicked off her.

  Tehya gripped Kira's arm, jerking her from the floor and back to the desk as gunfire filled the room again.

  Kira shook her head, staring at Kenneth's fallen form in shock for long seconds.

  "Here." Teyha shoved the gun that had been knocked from her back into her hands. "Are you okay?"

  "Fuck! Didn't see that coming." Kira was still trying to breathe, to process the quickness of the attack and the death.

  "Let's get the hell out of here," Tehya hissed. "Those bastards out there know we're in here."

  She was right. They had to get out of here now.

  Staying low, Kira covered the short distance to the doorway first, weapon held ready, scanning the darkness quickly before sliding to the side of the wall and covering the other girl's route.

  As Tehya slid in beside her, bullets cut through the room, almost as though someone knew they were there, knew where to strike hardest.

  She could hear men screaming outside, shouted orders and foreign curses. The front door was still wide open, leaving them defenseless.

  Moving quickly, Kira pulled Tehya after her, dragging her beneath the staircase and peering out wearily toward the open door before motioning Tehya to the back hallway that led to the servants' stairs on one side and the kitchen on the other.

  Damn Ian. He had run off to play the hero and have all the fun by himself, again. Diego was nowhere to be found, and Ian's bodyguards were likely the buffoons yelling from upstairs.

  Sorrell was still in the house, she knew he was, she could feel it. Her and Tehya's best bet would be to get outside, sheltered by the heavy gardens, and find a nice place to lie low.

  Directing Tehya's gaze to the back hall, Kira motioned to the kitchen and out the back door with hand signals, watching the other girl's face as her eyes narrowed and she nodded in understanding.

  Holding up three fingers, Kira counted down the seconds.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  She ran quickly around the corner beneath the staircase and ducked into the hallway, weapon drawn and scanning the darkness, before throwing herself across the open doorway.

  She could see Tehya from where she stood now, watching her closely. No gunfire had ripped through the foyer, though there was plenty of it outside and the voices were coming closer.

  Holding up three fingers she counted again, watching Tehya's shadowed face. One. Two. Three.

  The other girl followed her movements exactly and within seconds they were both flattened against the wall, Kira covering the servants' stairs and Tehya watching the hallway that led to the kitchen and pantry.

  Touching Tehya on the shoulder, Kira indicated herself then pointed to the doorway. When Tehya nodded Kira pointed to her, then pointed two fingers toward her own eyes before holding up three fingers. Wait until Kira looked back through the door, then give three seconds and follow.

  Tehya nodded, holding her weapon in a two-handed grip to the side of her thigh as they both quickly checked back toward the stairs and then the pantry.

  Holding the Glock likewise, Kira eased to the kitchen doorway. The gunfire was much lighter outside now, t
he American voices yelling orders, assuring Kira that the SEAL teams were on top. Out back, the action was even lighter. With any luck she and Tehya could slip into the heavy foliage of the gardens at the side of the house and remain hidden to avoid stray bullets or overzealous soldiers.

  She paused at the side of the doorway, crouched nearly to her knees, and peeked in before diving into the room and rolling to the side of the wall.

  She swept the room with her eyes and her weapon, her heartbeat tripping in her chest at the flashes of light outside the shattered windows.

  Her back to the refrigerator, she turned, peeked around it quickly, and pulled back. Waiting a second, she peeked around again before sliding around to the front of it. If she remembered correctly there was a doorway leading to the pantry right beside it. She needed to check.

  She was going to check when a shadow flashed and agony snapped her wrist.

  IAN HAD SUSPECTED SORRELL WOULD pull something but he hadn't expected the extent of the chaos he could cause. Staying on Sorrell's ass after Kenneth fell and tracking him through the villa wasn't easy.

  He wouldn't leave the house, Ian thought as he made his way along the back hall that led to the servants' stairs. He would stay in place, wait for his forces to overtake the villa then collect his daughter. He hadn't expected the trained Navy SEALs that converged on his soldiers and he sure as hell wouldn't be expecting the fact that Macey's listening device had recorded every second of the meeting. The SEALs knew who they were looking for and what his capture would mean.

  "Ian report," Reno's voice snapped into the receiver at his ear.

  Ian paused on the upper landing, looking into the long hallway with narrowed eyes through the night-vision goggles he had grabbed from a drawer in his desk after the lights had gone out.

  "He's still in the house. I saw him hit the servants' stairs but I haven't found him yet," Ian reported.

  "Teams two and four have taken a few hits," Reno said. "We're still clearing out Fitzhugh's forces with your soldiers' help. We're making progress. What about the girl?"

  "Get me some help in here if you want her," Ian snapped. "Antoli was down last time I checked and he was her protection. Deke is at my back and the others are checking the house."

  He glanced back at Deke before giving him a signal to proceed.

  Ian ducked across the hallway, flattening himself in the doorway of the linen closet there as Deke crouched and aimed his weapon into the hallway.

  Nothing stirred.

  Sorrell was hiding, waiting.

  As Ian prepared to move again a shattered feminine cry drifted up the stairs. Kira's cry, rife with pain, fear. Ian knew that Sorrell had her.

  * * *

  Thirty-one

  HER WRIST WAS BROKEN, KIRA knew that the moment the gun dropped from her hand and Joseph Fitzhugh jerked her back into his barrel chest.

  "You fucking bitch," he snarled in her ear. "I should have killed you along with your parents. This is what I get for having mercy on you."

  "You were going to kidnap me." She knew that the moment his identity was revealed. "That's why Jase hid me all those years. Why he surrounded me with bodyguards."

  She fought to breathe through the pain.

  "Jason was an idiot. A very lucky idiot," he snarled at her ear. "He was supposed to be with them. Everyone but poor little Kira, who would have made me so much money."

  His hand tightened on her wrist, bringing a ragged cry from her throat as the pain threatened to steal her consciousness. Bastard. Son of a bitch. Did he think a broken wrist was going to disable her?

  "Poor little Kira is going to kick your ass," she hissed, then screamed again as he applied pressure to her wrist once more.

  "Where is my daughter?" His voice was low, evil, the smooth French accent almost natural, definitely worthy of an Academy Award.

  "We were separated." She breathed through the pain, fighting to keep her head clear. God, she was going to fucking kill him.

  "You're lying to me."

  She shook her head desperately, praying Tehya stayed hidden.

  "It was too dark. I couldn't find her. I was looking . . ."

  He twisted her wrist and she lost it. Her stomach roiled, pitching with the pain as darkness threatened her vision.

  Gagging, she leaned over, fighting to hold on to consciousness.

  "Don't you puke on me, you stupid whore." He jerked her back from him, using his hold on her wrist.

  Agony blazed through her mind, exploded in her head as she went to her knees. And it kept exploding.

  He jerked her again, nearly ripping her wrist off as he fell. Kira's free hand clawed at his, breaking his hold, only distantly aware of the explosions that didn't seem to stop as she pitched to the floor, rolled, and cradled her wrist to her chest while the pain continued to resound in her head.

  She heard someone screaming her name. Screaming hoarsely. Ian. That was Ian's voice. Ian's hands lifting her as she fought to hold on to consciousness through the agony resounding through her arm.

  Oh hell, she was a pussy, she thought, just as Tehya had accused.

  IAN HELD KIRA AS SHE passed out. Mercifully. He cradled her in his arms as Daniel rushed to her, his hands moving to the broken wrist, hurriedly splinting it as Ian stared at Sorrell, otherwise known as Joseph Fitzhugh.

  Lights had swept into the kitchen the minute Kira's screams had sounded. And Tehya had rushed in, firing every round the Glock held straight into her father's chest.

  She stood over him, staring down at his body, her face bloodless, her green eyes wilder than before as Antoli stood behind her, watching her like a man tormented, the gash in his head bleeding profusely.

  Deke, Trevor, Mendez, and Cristo were all in good shape, all armed and standing around Ian and the two women protectively as the gunfire outside finally leveled off.

  "Where's Diego?" He finally realized the other man hadn't been seen since the lights went off.

  Deke looked around the room then back at Ian in confusion.

  "Reno, Diego's missing, do you have a fix?" Ian snapped. He had attached a transmitter to Diego as well as the two women without their knowledge well before Sorrell had shown up.

  "Tracker shows he's with the women." Macey's voice came through the line.

  "He's not here."

  "His signal is right there beside the two women," Macey repeated patiently.

  Ian looked around. Kira was in his arms, Tehya beside her.

  "Deke, check me for the transmitter." Resignation filled his voice.

  Deke moved to him quickly, running his hands over the collar of Ian's shirt as Ian continued to hold Kira to his chest.

  "Here it is."

  Diego had slapped his shoulder before Sorrell had arrived. He had known about the tracker.

  "He's flown," Ian snapped into the link. "Find the bastard. Son of a bitch. He got away."

  DIEGO STARED AT THE LIGHTS blazing in the villa an hour later, surrounded by his personal team of soldiers and sailing for home.

  He gripped the rail of the borrowed yacht, grief lying tight in his chest, clenching his stomach. Tears would have fallen had he been alone.

  A boy should not be forced to kill his father, he thought to himself, continuing to stare at the receding lights of the estate Ian had moved them into. At his side, laughably enough, was his DHS handler. It was amazing really how his deal with DHS had worked out through the years. Such as now.

  "My dear Mr. McClane, how do you think Ian is going to feel once he learns how easily you managed to slip me from the island and also that you warned me of what may well happen?"

  McClane sighed at that. "It would be nice if he didn't find out, Fuentes. You know what they say about burning bridges. As your legal counsel in this matter, I can assure you, it could be a deal breaker with DHS."

  Diego chuckled, but the sound was rusty, bitter.

  He hadn't had his son long enough, hadn't had a chance to pull free those more calculating tendencies he knew I
an must surely possess. He hadn't had enough time to gain his loyalty, and he had known it. Just as he had known it was Ian's intention all along to kill him when this was finished.

  "A man shouldn't have to murder his own father," he whispered then, aware that the agent was listening.

  "If I didn't agree, I wouldn't have had the yacht waiting for you."

  Diego nodded and sighed again. Wearily.

  "Marika raised a fine man," he told Jason then.

  "Yes, she did, despite Carmelita's attempts to have him killed."

  He was always being reminded of this. As though there were a way he could go back in time to change the past. If only he could. He would have given his own soul to do just that.

  "Did you know about him when I made my deal with DHS?" Diego wondered aloud.

  "None of us knew about him until he and his stepfather approached the director," Jason assured him, his voice as cold and unemotional as ever.

  Yes, that sounded like Ian, and Marika. They wouldn't have wanted anyone to know the shameful secret of who Ian's father was.

  He couldn't find it in himself to blame the boy; as Jason said, Carmelita had made his life hell. She had helped mold the man Ian had become, and Diego cursed her to hell for it.

  "The estate is secured?" he asked then.

  "Secured. Ian will receive his orders tonight that you're protected by DHS. And in return you sign the papers I brought that you'll refrain from taking any U.S. government personnel hostage. Should you learn they are agents of the U.S. you will contact me and I'll take care of them."

  Diego nodded. Yes, it had been a mistake to allow Clay and Sorrell to hold Nathan Malone. The testing of the whore's dust on the SEAL had been amusing, and it had taught him something about the depth of a man's soul. Malone had never broken. He had always known that the women brought to him were not his wife.

  "Perhaps I will concentrate on some of the plans Ian placed into motion while he was with me," he mused. "Several of those business look very lucrative."

  "Going legit, Fuentes?" McClane's voice was mocking.