"Now I'm even more intrigued."
Vivienne returned to the kitchen, holding a cute toddler with a mop of curly brown hair, café au lait skin, and her mother's brilliant blue eyes.
"She's so big," Zach said as the sleepy little girl acted shy, tucking her face into her mother's neck. "Hi, Lilliana." The little girl kept her face turned away.
"She just got up. Ignore the shyness. She'll come around. And she is big. Just means you don't come around here enough," Vivienne said.
"Haven't had much time."
"Too busy chasing a beautiful woman, huh? I'll forgive you for that one."
"I haven't been chasing her."
"Is it serious?" Viv asked, shifting the toddler to her other arm.
"I don't know. I mean, I want it to be. But I'm so messed up. She deserves better." Zach pushed his hands through his hair. It seemed like he was doing that a lot lately.
"Don't you think that's her decision to make?"
Zach shrugged. "I don't think she understands how truly screwed up I am."
Viv smiled sadly. "She's beautiful."
"Inside and out," Zach said, nodding.
"Where'd you meet her?" Marcus asked, while Vivienne put the little girl into a booster seat at the table and placed a small bowl of round-shaped cereal in front of her.
"Vegas. There on an assignment. She was caught up with some bad people. A prisoner, really."
"She's experienced loss. And a lot of it. I saw it in her eyes when I mentioned I was pregnant," Viv said, walking back to where they stood.
Lilliana pounded on the table, singing a nonsensical song that Zach had never heard. Something about a baby shark.
"She doesn’t have any kids."
"Maybe not, but I would bet my last dollar that she's been pregnant and lost it. We've gone through three miscarriages. I'd recognize that look anywhere."
Zach stood there, stunned. Miscarriage. But how? And when?
Well, that was a stupid question. He knew how. But he wondered when it had happened, and what the circumstances had been.
"She's scared. And scarred. Sounds like you two need each other."
Zach put away the mystery for a moment and focused on Viv's words. "Yes. We do. I plan to keep her safe, get through this meeting tomorrow, and then figure out what is between us—and if there's a future there."
"Tell me more about the meeting tomorrow in Phoenix," Marcus said, apparently happy to leave the interrogation about Zach’s love life to his wife.
"Our security team stole some computer files from a very bad man. His boss found out and wants them back."
"Have you seen what's on the files?"
Zach nodded.
"Is it bad?"
"Yep. And complicated. There's information on there that implicates Ella for a crime she didn't commit. I haven't turned it over to Sully yet because of that. But I'm going to have to before tomorrow night."
"What's your plan?" Marcus asked, leaning forward with his elbows propped on the bar.
"That's what I want to know," Ella said from behind him. She'd scrubbed her face again, her skin glowing with that healthy pink glow. When she drew near, he could smell the toothpaste on her breath. Her hair shone like spun silk and tumbled around her shoulders. It was like looking at an angel from heaven. And when had he gotten so damn poetic?
Zach shook the errant thoughts from his mind and focused on the task that lay before them. It was going to be tricky. Tobias would have the place covered with his men. Not to mention, he'd most likely have a computer there to verify that the files were intact. Zach had been able to copy the files without leaving any imprint that they'd been tampered with. It was a skill not many could duplicate. Whoever had made the firewalls had been good. Really good. But Zach was better. Yet he couldn't hand over the original drive. They couldn't take that chance.
"Tobias will have the hotel surrounded. He'll also have guards at your mother's place. I have an email in to the partner we're working with that's watching her house. He's getting a team together to go in and rescue her tomorrow while we're doing the drop. I figure that's the best time to do it. Tobias will have the smallest number of men watching during that time."
"Shouldn't I warn her?" Ella asked.
"Yes, but not now. We'll determine the best way to notify her once we're on site."
"So how do you think you two are going to pass on this information without getting killed in the process?" Marcus asked.
"He's picked the location, but once we have Ella's mom secured, he’ll no longer have a bargaining chip. We'll move the drop to a place of our own choosing. Ella will stay behind with the team and her mom—"
"You have got to be kidding me," Ella said, her voice rising to a decibel that scared Lilliana. The little girl started to cry, and Ella covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry."
Vivienne waved her off. "Girl, no worries. She's fine."
Ella turned back to face Zach, her voice softer this time. "You are not going without me. Is that clear? I stole the files. I ran off with them. I'll fix this."
"I thought you said that your team stole the files," Marcus said, his brows crinkling in confusion.
"We did. But Ella was the one who had access to the office where they were stored. Then she disappeared with them," he said, his voice lowering to a growl.
"I thought I was keeping them safe. But in the end, they caught up with me, and Zach had to come to my rescue anyway," she said, her voice filled with shame.
"And I was damn lucky to find her in time."
"You're not going in without me," she said again, firmly this time.
"I agree with her," Marcus said. "As a matter of fact, neither of you should be going in alone. Where's the rest of your team?"
"Tobias has eyes on them. If they leave D.C., he'll kill her mother."
"Sounds like you need a new team." Marcus's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Oh, yeah? And where might I find one of those?"
"Give me a few hours," Marcus said, and dove into the pancakes sitting in front of him.
Chapter 21
After breakfast, Ella excused herself from the table and headed back to the guest room, where she found the luxurious bed as soft and comfortable as it looked. She slipped out of her sweatpants and sweatshirt, opting for only the sleep shorts and cami she'd had on underneath.
She was grateful that the room came with blackout curtains, and she tugged them closed and settled under the covers. Marcus and Zach were working on rounding up some of their old teammates into a makeshift team to meet them in Phoenix tomorrow night. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside that they would do this for her. She'd never be able to repay them.
Ella turned on her side, her back to the door, as fatigue overtook her, and she fell into sleep. It felt like seconds later when the other side of the bed dipped, and the covers lifted. Ella turned slightly to see Zach crawling into bed with her, clad only in his boxer shorts.
Her face warmed as she took in his shapely legs and flat abs. The man looked as if he were etched from stone. His torso and back bore the scars of his captivity, but those were the only signs of imperfection. And to her, those scars told of a strength that most humans didn't have.
Zach curled his body around hers and drew her back against him. The wanton girl inside her wanted to turn around and lavish him with kisses. But Ella had made a promise to herself. She would never give herself to another man that wasn't her husband. She wanted forever. As hard as it was to deny the physical attraction between them, she owed it to herself to hold this as something special and sacred.
Ella relaxed into Zach, a sigh escaping her lips.
"I thought you'd be asleep," he said softly in her ear.
"I was."
"I didn't mean to wake you."
"It's ok. I don't mind."
Zach squeezed her softly, then placed a chaste kiss on the top of her head. "Get some sleep," he said.
Ella smiled and closed her eyes, cocooned
in the warmth of Zach's arms.
* * * *
The sound of sobbing woke Ella from her sleep. Zach was thrashing in the bed next to her. The covers had all been kicked off, and his body was burning up.
Zach moaned, then murmured, "No! Not Jake. Please, God. No."
Tears pricked Ella's eyes as she got up and walked around to the other side of the bed, kneeling beside Zach. She touched his arm lightly. Sweat rolled off him as his sobbing continued, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Zach, honey," she said quietly.
Zach thrashed wildly. "No! Please don’t do that! Please don't hurt me anymore. Jake! Where are you, Jake?"
Ella tried shaking him a bit harder. "Zach. Zach, it's Ella. Wake up."
"I'm sorry, Jake. I'm sorry."
Ella's heart broke, and the tears fell. She ached for him. How she wished she could help him. Save him from his memories. The torment he continued to experience.
Zach shook from the crying, his body on fire as if he had a fever.
"Zach? Zach, baby, you're safe. It's Ella. You're safe," she said over and over again, smoothing his hair back and stroking his face.
Finally, Zach sat up straight, panic all over his face.
"Jake?" he called out.
"No. It's Ella."
Zach's fist came up as he whirled towards her. He didn't swing. But he was ready. Ella put her hands up in defense. "It's just me," she said quietly.
Zach's face relaxed, and he pulled her up next to him on the bed. She cradled him in her arms, stroking his hair as his tears soaked her shirt.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said repeatedly, and Ella wasn't sure if he was saying the words to her or to his dead friend.
"It's ok," she said soothingly. "You're safe."
Ella wasn't sure how long they sat there like that. Minutes. Hours. Finally, Zach broke the silence.
"Jake was my best friend. Our team was sent out to capture an insurgent. We knew he was in the town, but we didn't know what house or building. Jake and I split off. When we rounded the corner of the building, I saw a house up ahead and had that tingly feeling that told me that this was it. We'd found him."
Ella tried to crawl off his lap so she could see his face, but he held her tightly. She relaxed against him and listened.
"I convinced Jake to go in instead of waiting for the other guys. We’d told them our destination, but I saw the guards at the front of the building getting antsy. I knew they were getting ready to move him, and I wanted to take him down."
Zach paused before continuing. "This man, he was pure evil. He tortured and raped little girls. Took whatever he wanted. Had killed thousands. I didn't want him to escape. Who knew when we'd be offered another chance like this? Those were the words I said to Jake."
Ella could see the story unfold in her head. A young Zach, anxious to right the wrongs of the world.
"Jake was uneasy. He knew we could be walking into a trap, but I told him that there was no way they knew we were coming. I held rank, and I told him we were going in."
Zach took a shaky breath and blew it out. Ella glanced up at him and saw that he was staring straight ahead, as if he were there reliving it all, and not sitting in the bedroom of his friend's house with her.
"Jake was right. They'd known we were coming and were ready for us. They ambushed us both. Jake was hit in the thigh, and I crawled over to him. They put bags over our heads and rushed us out of there. Drugged us. When I came to, I wished I was dead."
"The napalm torture they used was brutal. They pulled our fingernails and toenails out one by one, just to watch us suffer. Jake lost a lot of blood from his wound, but they didn't clean it, just put a tourniquet around his leg. After a couple of days, it went numb. Then the wound began to fester. But that all paled in comparison to the napalm."
Ella shivered. The thought of someone torturing Zach was more than she could bear. She hated what he'd experienced—wished that she could turn back time and change the past.
"I remember Jake begging to die. He kept asking me to kill him. But I had no way to do it. I kept apologizing to him, but he wouldn't hear of it. He told me we were brothers. We'd both made the decision to go in. But he only said that to make me feel better."
"You did make that decision together, Zach. He could have put up more of a fight. And everything that you said before was true. That man could have escaped."
"He still escaped. Well, he had until a year ago. They found him holed up in another town and took him out. But still. He got away that day. But I lost Jake."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I can't even wrap my head around that kind of torture and suffering. I hate that you endured it. But Zach, I'm so glad you are alive."
Zach shook his head, but Ella grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.
"If you hadn't lived, I'd be dead. Don't look away from me. It's the truth. Whether in Vegas or when I was running for my life in New York City, you saved me."
Tears fell from Zach's eyes.
"You were meant to live so that you could save me. Not just from those who wish me harm, but to save me from the life I was living. A life that wasn't worth living. You rescued me, Zach. And I love you for it."
His head jerked up, his gaze finding hers.
Ella nodded. "I know it sounds absurd, but I do. I need you to know it. That I love you. I don't expect anything…"
Her words were halted by his lips landing on hers with a bruising force. Zach kissed her as if his very life, his next breath, depended on her. He held her face in his hands, and he gentled the kiss, his lips moving tenderly over hers.
Finally, Zach pulled away, his hands still cupping her face.
"I love you, too. I have nothing to offer you but a broken shell of a man, but I promise you, Ella—I will do whatever it takes to be the man you need."
"You are the man I need. And we'll heal together. We've both been to hell and back, but together, we can overcome anything."
She briefly thought about her interaction with The General. Would that keep Zach from wanting to be with her? When he found out, would he still love her?
Those morbid thoughts could wait. Ella wanted to savor the moment.
"I can't believe you love me," Zach whispered against her lips.
"I think I have since I opened my eyes on that floor in Las Vegas and gazed into your beautiful green eyes. I found peace in the midst of my pain. You held my hand all the way to the hospital, and I remember feeling as if everything would be ok because you were there. It's crazy, I know. I didn’t even know you. But something inside me told me that you were different. You were what I needed."
"I love you, Ella Flores."
"I love you, too."
* * * *
Zach and Ella ventured out of their room sometime after lunch. They both wore goofy grins, and Zach didn't even care. She loved him. He knew that meant he'd need to get help, but maybe with Ella by his side, it wouldn't seem so terrible.
Marcus and Vivienne were sitting in the living room.
"The baby's sleeping again. Afternoon naptime," Viv said with a grin. "But I've got some chicken soup on the stove. Sound good?"
"That sounds heavenly," Ella answered and walked out of the room behind her.
Zach sat down on the sofa, taking the seat Viv had vacated. "Any word from the guys?"
"Anthony and Scott are both on assignments. Manny has a friend he needs to stay with. He said you'd understand." Zach nodded. Right, Chloe. He was glad to hear his friend was still taking care of her. "Robert is still enlisted. Rico and Joseph are both free, and they live close enough to drive to Phoenix. Noah has a friend with a small aircraft, so he's going to meet us there as well. That's five of us."
"I'll take our five against their ten any day. Any ideas how we want to play this thing?"
Marcus nodded. "We take it rural. There's some desolate places around Phoenix. I say we meet out there. We can go ahead and get the lay of the land, get in place, and be ready to take action if th
ings get ugly. And I expect them to get ugly."
"Me too. And that's what I was thinking. I don't want to take the chance of innocent bystanders getting in our way. Let me ask Ella what she thinks."
"Ask me what?"
"We're looking for a deserted place to meet Tobias. Any ideas?"
"Yep, I know just the place. There's an abandoned mine in a valley just north of Phoenix."
"Like a cave?"
Ella laughed and shook her head. "There are those, but this one is different. It's located in a valley with tons of boulders. There's a seventy-five-foot vertical mine shaft there in the middle. But there would be plenty of places to hide. There's a fence around the property, but I’m sure we can figure out a way around it."
"Fences are no problem. It sounds perfect. Do you know how to get out there?"
"I do. So, I guess that means I'll be going with you."
"We don't have a choice but to have you with us. I'm afraid Tobias would bolt as soon as he saw you weren't there," Zach said reluctantly.
"I agree," said Marcus. "The key is keeping you safe."
"But what do we do once we're out there?" Ella asked.
Zach and Marcus exchanged glances. Zach sighed and took her hands in his.
"We will attempt to take them into custody ourselves and turn them over to our contact in Las Vegas."
"And what if that doesn't work?" Ella asked.
"Tobias isn't going to let this go. You'll never be safe. It has to end. Tomorrow night."
"You mean you'll kill him?"
"I imagine we'll be using self-defense, but yes. Ella, I can't see another way out of this. We can't involve the police since I can't trust them not to blow the whole thing or even go along with the plan. I have no contacts there except the security firm Castle cooperates with."
Ella's face held a world of worry in it.
"I don't know how else to solve the problem," he said, trying to make her understand.
"No, you're right," Ella said, but she didn't look convinced.
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 94
