by Maya Banks
“I see that,” he observed dryly. “Go to sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.”
“I’m afraid to close my eyes,” she whispered.
“Why is that?” he queried.
“What if I wake up and you’re not here and this was all just a dream?”
Again he nudged her chin upward and then fused his mouth to hers in a deep kiss. For several long moments, he did nothing but kiss her. It wasn’t overtly sexual and that was what he liked about it. It was just a sweet and innocent kiss, one shared by two lovers who were both in need of comforting.
“Does that feel like it’s all just a dream?” he whispered against her mouth.
“If it is then I never want to wake up.”
“Me either, baby. Me either.”
He held her in silence, simply stroking his hand up and down her slender spine. She made a deep sound of contentment and went limp against him. He continued his slow caressing until he was certain she slept.
Long after she had fallen into deep and dreamless sleep, Caleb lay there, awake, her in his arms, her soft body molded to his.
“Keep the people I love safe,” he whispered. “It’s all I’ll ever ask for.”
THIRTY-ONE
THE explosion rocked the entire house, yanking Caleb from deep slumber. He jackknifed up from bed, his pulse hammering in his neck and wrists.
“What the ever-loving fuck?”
He shook the fog of sleep from his mind, positive that he’d been having his own nightmare about losing Ramie in the explosion. But no. It was too loud. Too real.
Panic slithered up his spine and he reached desperately for Ramie, trying to rouse her from her drug-induced sleep.
His bedroom door flew open and Beau burst in.
“Get up!” Beau yelled. “You have to get out. The house is on fire.”
Caleb scrambled up, dragging Ramie’s limp body with him.
“Come on, baby. I need you to wake up. Come on, Ramie. Wake up!”
“Where are Quinn and Tori?” Caleb demanded. “What the fuck is going on, Beau!”
“We don’t have time for questions,” Beau yelled. “We have to get out now! Quinn’s getting Tori.”
Caleb threw Ramie over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and surged into the hallway to see Quinn herding Tori toward the stairs. Quinn quickly recoiled, thrusting Tori behind him and then shoving her in the direction of Caleb’s bedroom, which was at the very end of the hall.
“Stairs and the safe room are out!” Quinn hollered. “We’ll have to go out a window.”
“We’re on the second fucking story,” Beau bit out.
Caleb didn’t waste time going over the logistics. Already he could see flames licking up the stairway. To his horror the ceiling collapsed at the other end of the hall where Quinn’s and Tori’s bedrooms were, and smoke came billowing up through the opening.
“Son of a bitch,” Caleb swore. “Everyone in my room. Now!”
Beau herded his younger brother and sister into Caleb’s room. Tori was obviously shell-shocked, her eyes wide and haunted.
“Get the window, Quinn,” Beau ordered. “Caleb’s got his arms full. We’ll have to do the best we can and hope we don’t break our damn necks getting out.”
“Let me go first,” Quinn said quietly. “I can try to break Tori and Ramie’s fall.”
“No, wait,” Caleb said. “Slow down and let’s think about this before we do get ourselves killed. We can get on the roof outside my window dormer and then make it down to the garage roof. It’s only one story there and much less distance to fall.”
“Let’s go then,” Beau barked. “We don’t have much time before the whole place goes up.”
Quinn slid the window open and then climbed out, hanging on to the eaves as he inched out onto the roof.
Beau helped Tori through the window and Quinn held his hand out for her to grab so she didn’t fall.
“You go,” Caleb directed Beau. “I’ll have to hand Ramie to you. She’s out cold.”
Beau ducked out after Tori and after making sure she was in a secure place on the roof, Beau reached back and carefully hooked his arms underneath Ramie’s shoulders. Caleb eased her legs out so that Beau was dragging her along the rooftop in the direction of the garage.
Already Caleb could feel the heat of the fire. Below them might already be consumed and it was only a matter of time before the roof they were standing on fell in as well.
“Quinn, you get Tori,” Caleb said. “Beau and I will have to manage with Ramie.”
They inched along the roofline as fast as they dared. Caleb’s forehead was beaded with sweat. Fear for his family gripped him in a vicious hold. Just an hour ago he’d prayed for his family to be safe and they were anything but right now.
And then another fear utterly paralyzed him.
“Nobody move,” Caleb ordered.
“What the fuck, Caleb?” Quinn demanded.
“We don’t know if that son of a bitch is on the grounds or how the hell he managed to plant a bomb. For all we know he’s waiting to kill us as soon as we get off the roof.”
Tori let out a whimper but Caleb couldn’t afford to spare her fears. Not when he could possibly be stating an absolute truth.
“I’ve got to go back and get the gun out of my nightstand,” Caleb said. “Nobody move until I get back.”
“Hurry!” Beau urged.
“Just in case something happens to me,” Caleb said in a steady, serious tone, “you and Quinn get Tori and Ramie to safety and do not look back for me.”
“Shut up and move!” Quinn hissed.
Caleb slid on his ass down the roof incline as fast as he dared and then swung himself around and into the window, holding on to the overhang. Smoke was already filling his room and surely it would not be long before fire consumed the entire house, including everyone on the roof.
He yanked open his nightstand drawer, grabbed his pistol and an already loaded clip, shoved it in and jacked a shell into the chamber. Then he climbed back onto the roof and crawled back to the others.
Together they inched their way to where the roof dropped off to the garage. Quinn went first and then Beau helped Tori over the edge, holding her hands while her feet dangled toward Quinn.
“Let go,” Quinn called up. “I’ve got her.”
Tori squeezed her eyes shut and then dropped down to where Quinn had landed.
“Give me one of her arms,” Beau said. “I’ll help you lower her down to Quinn.”
Positioning Ramie between them, they each held her wrists and guided her down to Quinn’s waiting grasp. Beau and then Caleb slid over the edge, holding on to the overhang and dropping the few feet onto the garage roof.
Caleb surveyed their options and decided going down the left side was their only route. The concrete garage apron in front and the sidewalk to the right prevented them from being able to drop the distance from the roof to the ground.
Again, Quinn went first. Caleb eased Ramie down, praying she didn’t wake and panic and slide off while he helped Beau lower Tori over the edge.
Once Tori was safely down, Caleb and Beau took Ramie’s hands and then carefully slid her legs over the edge and inched her forward very carefully so her weight didn’t suddenly plummet.
And she picked then, when she was dangling several feet above Quinn’s head, to open her eyes.
She screamed and began to struggle, her legs thrashing and rotating wildly in the air.
“Ramie! Ramie!” Caleb yelled. “Stop! You’ve got to stop. I’ve got you. You’re safe. But you have to stop fighting us.”
She went still, a low whimper working its way past trembling lips. “Caleb?” she choked out. “This is a dream, right? Tell me this is a dream.”
“It’s just a dream, honey,” he soothed. “A nightmare. Close your eyes and it’ll all be over.”
She went limp and relaxed and as soon as she did, he and Beau let her go and she dropped into Quinn’s arms, sendi
ng them both crashing to the ground.
Once Beau was down, Caleb tossed the gun to his brother. Then he swung his legs over and lowered himself to hang from the eave and then dropped the remaining distance, rolling the moment he landed to absorb some of the impact. The breath was momentarily knocked from him and he sucked in steadying breaths.
Immediately he crawled over to where Ramie and Quinn lay in a tangle of arms and legs.
“Quinn, are you all right?” Caleb asked.
“Yeah, just got the breath knocked out of me is all. What about her?”
“Can I open my eyes now?” Ramie asked in a small voice.
“Yes, baby. Open your eyes. We have to get moving.”
“What’s happening, Caleb?”
The tremor in her voice clutched at Caleb’s heart. The last thing he wanted was to tell her what had happened.
“The house is on fire. We had to get out through my window,” Caleb said gently.
“What about the others?” she demanded, scrambling to her feet. She shook her head several times as if clearing the drug-induced cobwebs from her mind.
“Tori, Beau and Quinn are here. Everyone is fine.”
“Eliza and Dane?” she asked anxiously.
“They aren’t here tonight. The team was coming back in the morning to discuss our next step. It’s just us and we need to get the hell out of here.”
“Is he here?” Ramie whispered.
Caleb knew exactly who he referred to.
“We don’t know,” Beau cut in. “But we aren’t going to take any chances. We have to get you and Tori someplace safe.”
“And you as well,” Ramie said pointedly.
“Yes, us too,” Caleb agreed.
“We can’t take any of the vehicles,” Beau said. “We can’t be sure they aren’t wired too.”
“How the fuck did he get a bomb into this house?” Caleb bit out.
“We don’t know that he did,” Quinn said in a low voice. “We don’t know what the fuck happened here. For all we know he shot an RPG at us. All I do know is that there was an explosion and now the house is on fire. His proximity to us is completely unknown so I vote we get the fuck out of here as quickly as possible.”
“That gets my vote,” Beau said.
Caleb’s gaze followed Ramie as she walked over to where Tori stood, shaking like a leaf from head to toe. Ramie gently took Tori’s hand in hers and squeezed. To Caleb’s surprise, Tori sent her a look of gratitude and kept her hand in Ramie’s as they set out quickly through the woods surrounding the house.
THIRTY-TWO
“THIS has gone on long enough,” Caleb said coldly. “I want the son of a bitch taken out and I don’t care how it’s done, legally or illegally.”
Dane stood in Eliza’s kitchen, pouring cups of coffee for the ten men assembled in Eliza’s home. Aside from Caleb, his brothers, Eliza and Dane there was also one of the two six-man teams that Caleb and his brothers employed. They only hired the best and it was time for them to do what they did best. Take down a killer.
Before anyone could respond to Caleb’s decree, Eliza walked into the kitchen and Caleb immediately turned his attention to her.
“How are they?” he asked in a low voice.
It had been a hell of a night and morning for Ramie and Tori. They’d trekked through the woods in the dead of night, and Ramie had been terrified that they were being followed. Hunted. Every noise had set them on edge. Their nerves had been wound so tight that by the time they’d made it to a place where Caleb could call Dane to come get them, they’d been utterly exhausted.
Caleb had felt no guilt whatsoever in giving Ramie medication to ward off an imminent panic attack. She’d been hyperventilating by the time Dane had arrived. Tori was every bit as distressed and had hovered anxiously over Ramie, evidently worried about the other woman.
“Ramie finally agreed to lie down and try to get some rest,” Eliza said grimly. “And she only agreed because Tori didn’t want to be alone and asked her not to leave the room.”
Caleb blew out his breath in rage. When would people he loved stop suffering? When would they be safe, or would they ever truly be safe? He ran a hand raggedly through his hair.
“Thanks, Eliza.”
“No need to thank me. Now, do we have a plan of action yet?” she asked pointedly.
“I’m setting up a safe house for them to stay in tonight,” Dane said. “It’ll take me until this afternoon to get surveillance and all security measures in place. Until then I think they should stay here and out of sight.”
Eliza nodded.
“We’ll split the team into threes and twelve-hour shifts,” Dane continued. “First shift gets seven P.M. tonight until seven A.M. tomorrow morning. Second shift will pick up seven A to seven P.”
Caleb couldn’t stomach the thought of sitting back, allowing his security team to babysit him and his brothers while he himself did nothing. He was pissed off and ready to take the bastard apart with his bare hands. If the murderous rage in his brothers’ eyes was anything to go by, they were every bit as frustrated as he was.
Fuck the rules and fuck the law. If Caleb ever got his hands on him he was a dead man.
“I’ll consult with the police and set up times for you to give statements,” Dane said to Caleb. “For now I don’t even want the police to know where you are.”
“It does you no good to hide if Ramie’s stalker still has an established link to her,” Eliza pointed out. “Won’t he know exactly where you are at all times?”
“Maybe you should keep her drugged until we take this bastard down,” Beau said in a serious tone.
“For God’s sake. I’m not going to keep her doped up so she doesn’t disclose our location,” Caleb said in disgust.
“No,” Eliza said thoughtfully. “But you could make it so even she doesn’t know where you are.”
Dane pointed a finger at Eliza. “That’s perfect. I don’t know why the hell I didn’t think of it before.”
“Because women are smarter?” Eliza smirked.
“Smarter assed,” Dane muttered.
“What are you suggesting?” Caleb asked impatiently.
“You blindfold her,” Eliza said simply. “Make sure no one talks in front of her. Keep her quiet and in the dark and you do the same to him. Ramie can hardly broadcast what she doesn’t know.”
“True,” Caleb said slowly. “The speed in which he’s escalated leads me to believe that we shouldn’t stay here any longer than absolutely necessary. He’s displayed an ability to act fast. If we keep Ramie in the dark then there’s no reason we can’t move to the safe house while you’re still installing security measures, right?”
“Right,” Dane confirmed.
“Then right now is better because she’s already out,” Caleb said. “If we move her now, he’ll never see anything but the inside of whatever room we stash her in at the safe house.”
“If we’re moving now then tomorrow’s seven A to seven P team needs to cover the safe house until seven P tonight,” Eliza said.
“We’re on it,” Eric Beckett, part of the security team present, replied.
“Let me get something for you to wrap around Ramie’s eyes,” Eliza said. “Make sure and explain to her when she wakes that she needs to keep her mind as blank as possible. The less this asshole knows, the safer you all are.”
“I’ll keep her occupied,” Caleb said.
Eliza stifled her smile—almost. Caleb groaned when he realized what he’d said.
“Dirty-minded woman,” he grumbled.
Ramie frowned her displeasure over being jostled around like a sack of potatoes being tossed in the air. Then she realized that despite the fact she’d opened her eyes, she still couldn’t see a single thing.
Her fingers dug into solid flesh and then the jostling stopped abruptly.
“Ramie, I need you to trust me.”
Caleb’s voice instantly relieved her, soothing her fears.
“What�
�s going on, Caleb?” she whispered.
“Trust me, baby, okay? I need you to just lie still and keep your mind as blank as possible. Can you do that for me?”
Her brows knitted together in confusion. What on earth was he doing? Despite his reassurances, she couldn’t help but tense up in his arms. He was carrying her. Where she had no idea. He’d blindfolded her. Again, why she had no idea.
In light of the insane happenings over the last several days, this suddenly didn’t seem so crazy.
Deciding to go with it, she rested her cheek on his shoulders and allowed some of the tension to flow out of her. And then she marveled that she actually trusted another human being.
But in order to love someone you had to trust them, right?
And to think she’d once thought she would never be able to forget what Caleb Devereaux had done to her. It was funny how life turned out sometimes. If someone had told her six months ago that she’d be involved with someone much less fall in love with him she would have laughed her ass off.
“Almost there, baby,” Caleb murmured against the top of her head.
The sound of a door opening and then closing alerted her senses. Then Caleb eased her down onto a bed. A moment later, he tugged the blindfold from her eyes and her gaze met with his.
He looked tired. She slid her hand over his cheek and brushed the pad of her thumb over the dark shadow underneath his eye.
“Going to tell me what’s going on now?” she prompted.
He smiled. “The way we figured it, if you don’t know where you’re at and haven’t seen where you’re at then our bomber can’t very well tap into your mind, which means that he won’t know where you are either.”
She blinked in astonishment. “I never thought about that. It’s . . . genius!”
“As much as I’d like to take credit, Eliza is the one who came up with this one.”
“She’s a smart cookie,” Ramie said with a smile. But then she rapidly sobered as the prior night’s events came crashing back around her. “Caleb, what about your house?”
He sat on the bed next to her and laced their fingers together between their thighs.
“It’s just a house,” he said. “Houses can always be rebuilt. But people can’t be replaced. I’m just thankful that we all got out alive. This entire situation has escalated out of control. He’s got to be taken down soon or there’s no telling what he’ll do next. He’s getting bolder, and that’s the last thing you want from a savvy, extremely intelligent, cunning serial killer.”
“I didn’t like your house,” she said honestly.
He chuckled. “By all means don’t spare my feelings.”
“It was so cold and austere,” she said, pursing her lips. After a moment she
