Running Strong

by Christy Reece

Lifting Giselle into his arms, Raphael spared a single glance toward Rawlings. He lay on his back, and blood covered his face and neck. His nose was askew, and his eye looked as though someone had taken a hammer to the socket. Giselle had done that. She had been strong and brave enough to not only take the bastard down, but to also save herself.

  Turning his back on the bastard, Raphael carried Giselle into the living room. The lights had been turned on all over the house. He strode to a couch in the middle of the room and lay her gently on the cushions. He wasn’t sure which one of them was holding on the tightest. He couldn’t seem to let her go, and she kept her arms around his neck even after he’d put her on the sofa.

  “Okay, you two.” Thorne’s amused voice broke into Raphael’s numbed mind. “I know you’re still on your honeymoon, but I really need to check Giselle out.”

  Pulling himself together, Raphael gently took Giselle’s arms from around his neck, whispering in her ear, “I’m right here, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”

  She nodded and released a sigh. “Okay.”

  Standing back, he got the full effect of just how bad she looked. Her white shirt and bra were hanging at her waist, and her entire torso was covered in blood. Beneath the paleness of her face and the dried blood, bruises were already forming.

  “Hey, Sanchez, why don’t you make yourself useful and find something for your wife to wear?”

  Unbuckling his Kevlar vest, he dropped it on the floor and unbuttoned his shirt. He was wearing an undershirt, too, which was fine. No way in hell was he putting anything on her that belonged to that bastard.

  Finally recognizing that he wasn’t going to get Raphael out of the room, Aidan turned to Giselle and began his examination. Raphael stood close-by. He wasn’t leaving her again. Ever.

  Chapter Forty-three

  LCR Headquarters Underground Bunker

  The sound of her son giggling woke her. Had there ever been a more beautiful sound? When she heard his father’s laughter in response, she amended that thought.

  They were together. Father and son were together at last. The journey had been long and arduous, but to hear those sounds vanquished all the fear and pain. She hadn’t been sure that would ever happen.

  She lay in bed, luxuriating in the quiet simplicity of an early Saturday morning. There was nothing more on her agenda today than spending time with her guys. So much had happened over the past week, it was hard to believe that only five days ago a sadistic maniac had held her captive. She hadn’t known if she would ever see Raphael or Gio again.

  Daniel and Clarissa were in jail. The judge, deeming them both flight risks, had refused to set bail. With the number of people that the Fletchers had threatened or bribed over the years, securing an unbiased jury of their peers would likely be impossible. Giselle couldn’t bring herself to care. They were where they belonged. She was through with that family forever.

  Hugh Rawlings was still in the hospital. This time, he was the one bound to a bed. The beautiful irony of that wasn’t lost on her. Rawlings had been charged not only with some of the same things the Fletchers had, but also with her kidnapping and assault. He had also been charged with murder. Knowing he had killed a woman the year before reminded her how very fortunate she was to have survived.

  The Fletchers’ main henchman, Cato Cavendar, had spilled every ounce of information he had. From what she could surmise, he was still spilling. Giselle wasn’t sure who had questioned him, or what they’d done to get him to talk—she didn’t want to know. However, the man had decades of information to share. He had given up so much that she had been told that she might not even need to testify.

  She had decided to table her decision about that. Having the Fletchers and Rawlings in jail, facing charges they’d never get out of, was a good start. She had given the authorities her account of everything that had happened to her and Gio, as well as what she had overheard regarding the murder of the family in New Jersey. She had also told them what she had overheard about Danny’s death.

  To know that Daniel Fletcher was responsible for his own son’s murder didn’t shock her as much as sadden her. Danny hadn’t been a good husband, or an especially honorable man, but he hadn’t deserved to be murdered, most especially at his father’s orders. She wasn’t one who normally placed the blame on parents if their adult children turned out badly. In this case, there was no doubt in her mind that they were at least partially at fault. If Danny had been born to different people, he might have been an entirely different man.

  She pushed aside those sad thoughts. Those were things of yesterday. Today she had exactly what she’d always dreamed.

  She rolled over, and her heart almost stopped. Raphael stood in the doorway. Tall, ruggedly handsome, he wore a light blue T-shirt, faded jeans, and no shoes. That, combined with the beard stubble on his face and upward curve of his sensuous mouth, sent a zing of delight to every erogenous zone she possessed. But that wasn’t what melted her heart into a puddle of goo. He held his son on his shoulders, his big hands holding him steady to keep him from falling.

  These two had formed an immediate bond. If she lived a thousand years, this image would remain in her heart as her favorite one of all time.

  “Hey, did we wake you?”

  “Yes, but I’m glad you did. It was the perfect beginning to my day.”

  “Feeling better?”

  Yes, she was. Even though she had been pronounced physically fine, the first couple of days after her ordeal, she had wanted only to sleep. Seeing Gio and Raphael together, knowing they were both safe, she hadn’t been able to deny her body’s need for rest. After living with so much fear and grief the past few months, she had been both mentally and physically exhausted. She had been under strict doctor’s orders to rest and sleep. And that’s exactly what she had done.

  But today, for the first time since this had all begun, she felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. It was a new day, a new beginning.

  Where she and Raphael stood, she couldn’t say. He had been so tender and protective, pampering her and seeing to her every need. Did that constitute a forever commitment? They were married, but that had been out of necessity. Now that Gio was back with them, safe and sound, where did they go from here?

  Had he forgiven her? Could he learn to love her again?

  She knew what she wanted. Spending her life with Raphael, raising their son together, having more children, that was her dream. She loved him, had never stopped.

  But what did Raphael want?

  The pink hue of her cheeks, the curve of her lips, and the gleam in her eyes told Raphael all he needed to know. She really was going to be okay. Even though the doctors had assured him she was physically fine and just needed to rest, he hadn’t been entirely sure. Other than to share a few hugs with Gio and eating her meals, she had done nothing but sleep. It made sense that her body was depleted, but still, he hadn’t been sure he’d ever see the shadows disappear from her eyes. Today they were completely gone.

  Except for a few words here and there, they hadn’t had the chance for a real conversation. He had been with her when she’d shared her ordeal with the prosecutor’s office. Hearing everything she had gone through had ripped at his guts. She had once told him she didn’t think she was particularly strong. He honestly didn’t think he’d ever known a stronger person. She had endured so much, fought with all her might, and survived evil, and she didn’t look at it as anything extraordinary.

  “We were thinking of going out to breakfast.”

  She sat up in bed, delight curving her mouth. “Really?”

  “Papa said I could get waffles and pancakes, too, ’cause I’m a growing boy.”

  “Is that right?” Her eyes twinkling, she added, “And who’s going to get you down when you’re climbing the walls from all that sugar?”

  “My papa,” Gio sweetly replied. “’Cause he’s the tallest.”

  Raphael burst out laughing. “Sounds like a plan to me.” />
  Pulling him from his shoulders, he gave him a quick hug and set him down. He did exactly what Raphael expected him to do. He ran to his mother and threw himself into her arms.

  “Feel like going to breakfast with us?”

  Still hugging Gio, she smiled at Raphael. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”

  ***

  Franco scratched his beard. He needed a bath and a shave. Since Cavendar had disappeared, he and Clive had been holed up in an old hunting lodge without running water. He was tired of this shit and ready to get out of Dodge. Just one more thing to do before they left.

  “They’re not worried anymore,” Clive said. “Think the danger’s all gone. That they’re safe.”

  “We’ll show them they’re wrong.”

  “Didn’t know they had a kid.”

  Franco glanced at his partner. “So? What’s the difference? We’re not going to kill the kid. We were paid to do a job, and it’s not done yet. They’ve escaped twice. Third time’s the charm.”

  Sitting in a truck across the street from the restaurant, the two men watched their targets. “Be an easy kill from here,” Clive said.

  “Yeah,” Franco agreed. “Wait till they walk out the door. Pop ’em before they even know what’s what. We’ll be long gone before anyone figures out where the bullets came from.”

  “Something feels off.”

  “Know what you mean. I’m out of sorts, too.”

  They had worked for Cato Cavendar for almost ten years. When they weren’t stalking their prey or carrying out contracts, they often got into trouble. Cavendar had kept them busy, and they’d been working for him on an exclusive basis for the last five years.

  All that was in the past. They were still trying to get their heads wrapped around what happened. Cavendar had been caught and had given up his employers, told every damn thing about them. The high-and-mighty Fletchers and that sidekick of theirs, Hugh Rawlings, were in jail, shit-deep in trouble.

  What Cavendar hadn’t done was give up his own employees. From what they knew, nobody was looking for them. That said something about a man.

  There was protocol for this kind of thing. They’d learned those rules the first day of hire. If any person on the team was caught, the entire group was to disband, scatter around the world. All contracts were canceled, all business finished.

  Other than the promise to never rat out another team member, there were no real loyalties. The other members had skedaddled right after Cavendar had sent up the signal. By now, they were probably spread all the way from Timbuktu to Saskatchewan. That’s what the two of them should’ve done, too. Problem was, both of them hated loose ends.

  Franco looked back at the happy couple—the loose ends. They had a kid. It was obvious they were his parents—he looked just like both of them.

  “Okay, how ’bout we do this?” Franco said. “If the kid gets pancakes, we do the guy. He gets waffles, we do the girl. That way, he’s still got one parent. That’s more than either one of us had. That’s something.”

  “Yeah…yeah…okay,” Clive said eagerly and then frowned. “What if he gets toast?”

  “We do ’em both.” Franco shrugged. “Kid’s fault, not ours.”

  “Works for me.”

  They waited, watched the couple order. Watched the laughter, the happy smiles, the tender touches. Nice picture they made. Still, they had a job to do.

  It took longer than either of them thought it would, but finally the waitress came back with a tray loaded with food. When she placed two platters in front of the kid, they looked at each other, laughed, and then shrugged.

  The kid would never know that he had saved both his parents’ lives.

  Starting the car up, the two killers drove away.

  Chapter Forty-four

  LCR Headquarters

  Raphael sat with the other members of the team. For the first time ever, he didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be with his family. The early morning breakfast had felt like a new beginning. He wanted more of those days.

  He and Giselle had yet to talk about the future. He needed to know where she was in her head, and he sure as hell needed to tell her some things. Things he had held on to far too long.

  But this was a debriefing—one he didn’t want to miss.

  Noah stood at the front of the conference room. Even though he was still banged up, the darkness was gone from his face. He had his family back with him. Raphael understood that feeling even more than ever.

  “Thanks to everyone’s efforts, both Daniel Fletcher and Hugh Rawlings will be going away for a long time.”

  “Raphael,” Noah said as he looked at him, “as we discussed, unless Giselle specifically wants to, it looks like Cavendar gave enough evidence that she likely won’t have to testify.”

  He nodded his thanks. “She seemed relieved when I told her she might not have to, but I’ll ask her again to make sure.”

  Giselle, above anyone, deserved her day in court. But she had been through so much already. She’d already told her story to the prosecutor. Would going through it more publicly help or hurt?

  “What about Clarissa Fletcher?” Riley said. “Wasn’t she involved up to her ears, too? What are her charges?”

  Noah’s face tightened as he shook his head. “Unfortunately, Clarissa chose not to face the charges against her. She was found dead last night. She hanged herself in her cell.”

  Raphael couldn’t find it within himself to be sad about that. She had made her choice. He was sorry, though, that she wouldn’t serve time in prison. For what she had done to Giselle and Gio, she’d deserved to be locked up for several years.

  “And Cavendar?” Thorne asked. “He may have been a big help, but he was up to his eyeballs, too.”

  Rage flickered on Noah’s face. “Nothing…legally. He made a deal with the prosecutor’s office. He won’t serve any time.”

  “What the hell?” Indignant, Raphael glared at Noah. “He might not have been the decision-maker, but he sure as hell is guilty of setting everything in place. He instigated the hits on us. How the hell can he get away with that?”

  “I’m not happy about it either. Samara identified Cavendar as one of the men who held my family on the boat. Said he was definitely the one in charge. There’s nothing I’d like better than to see him go away for life.”

  “But instead, he just walks away, free as a bird?”

  “Not exactly.” Noah’s eyes darted to Olivia. “Gates, you want to elaborate on that?”

  Her eyes went wide, and her face flushed. The normally unflappable Olivia Gates looked both uncomfortable and flustered. How was she involved in this?

  “I can’t really say a lot, other than Cavendar won’t be completely free to do as he pleases. He will be working for an organization that gathers intel for various...entities. He’ll be carefully monitored.”

  “Gathers intel for who? What kind of intel? Is this a government agency?” Sinclair asked.

  Squirming again, she sent a pleading look to Noah, who shrugged and said, “Not a sanctioned one.”

  “Black ops?” Sabrina asked.

  “Close, but deeper than that,” Olivia said. “They hire out their services to lots of different people.”

  “What kind of services?” Raphael asked.

  “Whatever is needed to resolve an issue.” Olivia shook her head. “I can’t really say more than that.”

  “Then let’s cut to the chase,” Thorne drawled. “Good guys or bad guys?”

  “Neither.” When everyone just continued to stare at her, she sighed. “Seriously. I can’t go into detail. Suffice to say that Cavendar will be using his talents to help save lives.”

  “And if he refuses or wants to quit?” Raphael asked.

  “Let’s just say it won’t end well for him.”

  Raphael told himself he needed to be satisfied with that. Fletcher and Rawlings were locked up, most likely for life. Not a perfect ending, but he would take it as a win.

/>   “What about the people who worked with Cavendar?” Sabrina asked. “No way the man didn’t have a cadre of employees.”

  “They’re in the wind. Cavendar admitted that the instant he was caught, he sent out a signal to his people. Their protocol was to disband with no more communications. We’ll likely never know who they were.”

  While it was a relief that no one was gunning for them, it riled Raphael that there were still people out there who had gotten away without consequence.

  “And Mavis Tenpenny,” Riley said. “What about her trying to get Gio into her car? Are we sure she wasn’t in on all of this?”

  Raphael took the question for Noah. “Both McCall and I talked to her extensively. She said she was forced to leave the flash drive recording of my meeting with Daniel. He threatened to fire her if she didn’t comply. She said she feared for Gio’s safety if she left him alone. When you guys caught her, she said she planned to take Gio to safety and had no intention of abducting him.

  “McCall and I both believe she’s telling the truth. She was afraid for both herself and for my son. Without her, I’m not sure Gio would be as well adjusted as he seems to be. Mavis kept reassuring Gio that his mother would return for him someday. She gave him hope, and I owe her a debt of gratitude for that.”

  Noah waited for several quiet seconds and then said, “Any more questions before we close this case?”

  No one spoke. Raphael had several more questions, but he’d wait until he was alone with Noah before he asked, as they weren’t pertinent to anyone but him. These were personal issues.

  When there were no questions, Noah said, “Then let’s consider this officially closed. Sinclair and Gates, since you’re on assignment in France, hook up with Jordan and Eden. They have some new intel for you.”

  “Will do,” Brennan said.

  “Delvecchio has asked for in-office duty until further notice. Since she’s one of our most gifted researchers, that’s a no-brainer. Since Thorne is taking some time off until after his and Anna’s baby is born, Mallory will team up with Fox. I’ve sent some preliminary notes on an abduction in Arizona. Read over it and let’s meet tomorrow morning at eight.”