Everything had gone precisely according to plan. Liam, Jess and Mack had gotten to the house before the sun had risen. Mack had taken Anne and the kids to Barrie and made it back in time for the pretend wedding.
Now Liam stood behind the altar dressed in a suit to officiate the fake wedding, while Seth sat back at the farmhouse on the computer, looking for any sight of the Imposters online.
Noah brushed his hand against the microphone button in the pocket of his suit. “Any sign of trouble, Seth?”
“Nope,” he answered. Noah heard tapping through the microphone. “All systems go, unfortunately. The auction countdown clock reads just a little over two hours. Lots of eager purchasers showing up in the online waiting room, ready to bid, and opening their secure lines to the auction. We got local criminals, international terrorists, organized crime and human traffickers. A virtual smorgasbord of evil.”
All looking to get revenge and exploit victims’ lives.
“How many are we talking?” Noah asked.
“Dozens,” Seth said. “Over a hundred already. Looks like they’re planning on rolling people’s lives out one at a time.”
An unsettled feeling brushed up Noah’s spine. Why would people be online that early if the auction wasn’t going to start for two hours?
“The countdown clock still says noon, right?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Seth said. “No change there. Also, apparently bidding for each file starts at ten thousand dollars.”
Noah’s stomach turned. So that’s how much they thought a human life was worth.
“You do realize there are hundreds of better-trained, better-equipped police officers and detectives spread out across the country right now, maybe even around the world, trying to stop this auction and take them down,” Seth added. “It’s kind of silly, when you think of it. They’ve got all that brain power and firepower, and here we think we’re going to stop these guys with four regenerate detectives, a hacker, a whistle-blower and a fake wedding.”
Yeah, it was, when he put it that way. After all, thanks to Jess’s contacts and Drew’s drawing abilities, the RCMP now had a pretty good sketch of the Ghoul based on Noah’s and Holly’s descriptions. Plus whatever security footage investigators had pulled from Bertie’s party, not to mention the general’s testimony. This little charade they were doing might be for nothing.
“Well, I for one am cheering for them,” Noah said. “I don’t need this win. They can have it. I hope they take the Imposters down any second now.”
He wasn’t sure why his heart was beating so loudly at the moment. He just knew he didn’t like it.
“And the bride has arrived!” Mack’s voice crackled in his earpiece. “We’re just pulling in now. No cars in the parking lot. Not another person in sight.”
“You sure the Imposters are coming?” Liam asked.
“Hey, I just created the online bread crumb trail,” Seth said. “I can’t promise they’re going to follow it. I mean, I wouldn’t if I was this close to launching the auction.”
Thanks for that.
“Well, hopefully, the fact that both Holly and I can identify the Ghoul is enough of an incentive,” Noah said. “Don’t drop your guard.”
Showtime. Liam pushed a button on a stereo behind the podium and organ music started playing. The door swung open. Mack and Jess stepped through, both dressed in sleek blue suits. But Noah’s eyes locked on the woman standing between them. Dazzling white fabric cascaded down over Holly’s form. Her hair was twisted and styled like an old movie star. Drew had done an incredible job. But she could’ve been wearing blue jeans and a baggy sweater for all he cared. She was beautiful. She was fierce. Her head was held high. But not like a bride on her wedding day. More like a royal figure heading to her execution.
And as she walked up the aisle toward him, he found his heart beating so hard in his chest he couldn’t breathe. She reached his side without quite looking at him, and everything inside him wanted her to just turn and meet his eye.
Liam started talking, going through the official words of a wedding service he’d downloaded off the internet. Words about love, words about dedication, loyalty, fidelity and two people standing by each other through thick and thin. Noah’s head was spinning. This wasn’t working. There was no fire alarm going off or Imposters showing up dressed as firefighters. There were no surprise cops bursting through the door, trying to arrest one of them for an imaginary crime or to report a gas leak.
There was just him, standing beside the very first woman his heart had ever started to fall in love with, pretending they had a relationship they didn’t.
He willed Holly to meet his eyes, take his hand and let him know he wasn’t alone in this.
“Do you, John Smith, take Hildegard Asher to be your lawful wedded wife?” Liam asked.
“No,” Noah said, the single word falling from his lips with a force that shocked him. “Stop the wedding. Or at least give me a minute.”
A gasp slipped from Holly’s lips, and for the first time since he’d refused to answer her question back at the house she turned and looked him straight in the eye. Irritation flashed in hers. “What are you doing?”
“Can I talk to you privately for a second?”
“Right now?”
“Yes, right now,” he said. He glanced at the others. “Please, give us a moment. Just act normal in case we’re being watched. The groom’s got cold feet.”
Questions floated in Holly’s eyes. He wished he knew how to answer them and hoped he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life. All he knew was he couldn’t stand there and do this and pretend to get married—not to Holly—and he didn’t know why.
“What’s going on?” Seth’s panicked voice came through the headset.
“Sorry, guys,” Noah said. “I just need to talk to my bride for a moment.” He stretched his hand toward Holly. “Let’s talk, alone, for just a moment, please.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Holly slid her hand into his. They walked out of the main room into a small side room that had once served as the teacher’s office.
He closed the door behind them.
“What’s going on?” Holly asked. “I know it looks like the sting operation didn’t work. But we’ve only just started. They could still show up before we leave, or be planning something after the ceremony.”
“I know,” he said, “and we can go back in there and continue fake getting married in a second, and the Imposters might not even realize we took a time-out. But...”
He swallowed hard. Why was this so hard to say?
“But what?” Holly asked, and the simple question seemed to reach inside him and yank at strings he didn’t even know he had.
“But this is a wedding,” he said. “Which means I’m probably going to kiss you again in a moment. And I need you to know that when I kissed you before it was because I like you. I really, really like you, Holly. I more than like you. Marrying you for pretend, when the idea of marrying a woman like you for real is way beyond even my wildest dreams for my life, just feels really wrong, in a way I can’t put into words.”
She gasped. Holly stepped forward. Her hand touched his cheek and for a moment Noah actually thought he was about to blurt out that he suspected he was falling in love with her.
“Police!” Liam’s voice barked loudly from the other room. “Get down!”
“Down!” Mack snapped at the same time, the two cops’ voices bleeding into one. “On the ground! Now!”
“Stay here!” Noah said. He pulled back and placed his hand on Holly’s shoulder. “Please! Don’t come out until it’s over.”
He turned away and reached for the door, just as Jess ran in.
“A very belligerent man dressed as a trucker burst through the door,” Jess said.
Not what they’d expected, but not surprising.
“Jess, stay here, lock the door and guard Holly,” Noah said. Then he turned to her. “Stay with Jess. Lie low and wait for the all clear. Worst case scenario, break out through the window. This room has no door to the outside, but I don’t want you to take any unnecessary risks.”
Holly’s eyes met his, burning with fire and determination. “We should stick together.”
“You can’t fight in a wedding dress,” he said. And he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. “Just stay here. I’ll be back in a second.”
He turned away and burst through the door, hearing Jess lock it behind him. Then he raised his weapon and turned toward the chaos.
Liam was trying to restrain a large and belligerent man, as he bellowed and struggled on the schoolhouse floor. Mack was standing over them, gun at the ready. The front door lay open behind them, sending cold, snowy air blowing through. An unsettled feeling brushed Noah’s spine. Even at a distance he could tell it wasn’t the Ghoul, let alone the Wraith.
“Noah! What’s going on? Tell your guys to let me up.”
Noah froze. It was Caleb.
“Guys! Let him up!” Noah ran forward. “It’s all over. This is my foster brother.”
Liam hesitated for a fraction of a second, just long enough to check Noah’s face. Then he let go and stepped back. Mack took a step back, too, but kept his weapon at the ready.
Caleb stumbled to his feet and something in Noah’s heart lurched. He’d gained a lot of weight and looked like he hadn’t shaved in days. “What kind of greeting is this?”
“I’m sorry.” Noah holstered his gun and raised his hands, palms up. He glanced back at the room where Holly was with Jess, thankful, maybe selfishly, that she wasn’t witnessing this. “Caleb, I’m sorry. This is not how I wanted our first conversation since the fight to go down. Trust me, this is just a big misunderstanding. There’s something big going on, and you just got caught up in it.”
“Yeah, there’s something going on!” Caleb spluttered. “I hear from Lizzy that you and your fiancée are spending Christmas with Anne and my kids? I hear from Anne we have the opportunity to sell the gym and you won’t take it? I hear from the utilities company you got the power and water switched back on at the gym? Then I find out you’re getting married and didn’t tell me?”
“Because it’s not a real wedding, and she’s not my real fiancée!” Noah said. “I’m undercover.”
And now the operation was beyond destroyed. He’d never imagined Caleb would believe he was really getting married let alone come to town and somehow figure out where the wedding was being held.
Caleb snorted.
“You really going to stand there and lie to my face?” he demanded. “You think Anne didn’t tell me you’re not on active duty?”
Oh, Lord, help me. I don’t even know what to say!
For so long he’d been praying about Caleb, while avoiding the problem and not confronting it. And now it was right here in his face.
“Uh, guys?” Seth’s voice crackled in his ear. “There’s something weird going on with the online auction timer. It has started speeding up.”
“What do you mean, speeding up?” Mack asked.
“Exactly what I said,” Seth replied. “It just started going faster.”
“Caleb, I’m sorry,” Noah said. “Just give me some time and I’ll fix this.”
“I’m tired of you fixing things!” Caleb shouted. “Don’t you get that by now? I don’t want you fixing anything! Not my family, not my business, not me! All my life people have been treating me like I’m too useless to do anything. Anne is the only person who’s ever believed in me!”
Noah let out a breath. He’d have to let Liam and Mack talk to Seth. He turned to Caleb. It was the worst possible time and the worst possible place, but it looked like they were doing this now.
“I’ve always believed in you,” Noah said.
“No!” Caleb said. “You always tried to be the golden boy. You always tried to save me. You used your poor, pathetic foster brother who needed saving as an excuse for not doing anything with your own existence. You used the fact that I needed you to make me feel bad about myself. You reveled in the fact that my life was a mess, instead of moving on and having a wife, or kids of your own. Because I guess it’s easier to save someone else than live your own life! You wouldn’t let me run the gym without you looking over my shoulder, telling me what I was doing wrong. You know how I got good at lifting weights back at the gym? Because I actually tried to lift them myself instead of always having you rush in and lift them for me!”
“Well, then I’m really sorry!” Noah said. And as he said the words, he realized he was. “I never meant to make you feel like that. I never meant it to be that way at all. I promise, we’ll sit down and talk this all out later. Just not now.”
“Guys!” Seth yelped in his ear. “Something’s wrong!”
“Don’t you try to pull that on me!” Caleb’s voice rose. “I know what you’re doing! You and your new wife are bringing in new financial partners. You’re cutting me out and reopening the gym.”
“No,” Noah said. “No, that’s not what’s happening at all! Where did you even get that idea?”
“Guys!” Seth shouted.
Noah turned back toward Liam and Mack. “We have to shut this down. Now!”
“Don’t you dare turn your back on me!” Caleb’s voice rose. “I saw the emails with the new investors. They contacted me! I know you’re going to sue me to cut me out of the deal. I know you told them you’d have me arrested if I even stepped foot inside the place where you were getting married!”
The blood froze in Noah’s chest.
“What emails? What investors?” But even as the words crossed his lips, he knew.
Caleb was a distraction. The Imposters knew who Noah really was. The Imposters had emailed his foster brother, gotten him upset and set him up to interrupt the wedding.
“Holly!” Noah spun on his heels and ran for the office. The door handle wouldn’t budge. His fists rapped the door. “Holly? Jess? Unlock the door! Open up!”
No answer came from behind it. He tapped his earpiece.
“Seth? It’s Noah! What’s going on? What did you say about the auction being sped up?” Static crackled through the device. “Liam, find Seth. Mack, take Caleb somewhere safe and debrief him. Tell him whatever you think he needs to know. My cover’s been blown and we’ve been set up!”
He spun back to the door. It was still closed. There was no sound, no motion, nothing but the faintest whiff of something thick and sweet. “Stand back! I’m coming in!”
He kicked the door so hard it flew back on its hinges. The smell of gas filled his nostrils. He wrapped his suit jacket around his mouth and nose. Jess was lying on the floor unconscious. The wide antique floor vent lay open behind her.
Holly was gone.
THIRTEEN
The first sensation that hit Holly as she slowly floated back to consciousness was the realization that the sickly sweet gas that had overwhelmed her senses and dragged her under had now been replaced by stale cold air. Fresh pain was pounding through her head and radiating through her body. She was kneeling, still in the wedding attire, with her head slumped forward and her hands and feet tied behind her, hobbled with her sash, to some kind of rope fencing that gave a little as she moved. She raised her head and looked up.
She was kneeling in the boxing ring in the middle of Bros Gym. Faint winter light filtered through the window. The fluorescent block numbers of the clock on the wall read quarter to eleven. Barely an hour until the auction now.
She opened her mouth to shout, but her voice choked in her throat, probably a side effect of whatever she’d been drugged with. Fear and prayers battled in her heart, as she breathed deeply and waited for her voice to return. She prayed that the auction would be stopped and not a single vu
lnerable witness would be hurt. She prayed that the Imposters and Snitch5751 would be caught and that General Bertie’s crimes would be exposed to the light. She asked God to take care of her parents, her friends, and Anne, Lizzy and Drew. Finally, she prayed for Noah and that God would give him an amazing, incredible life and future with a woman who respected and loved him as much as she did. Then she took a deep breath and pushed her voice past the breaking point and shouted into the gloom.
“Hello!” Her voice echoed in the empty space. “Hello! Is anybody out there?”
“Holly?” The voice was distant, terrified and most definitely Seth’s. “Is that you?”
“Seth!” She scanned the room, desperately looking for any sign of the hacker. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“As all right as a guy can be when there’s a bomb strapped to him.” His voice quaked. “The Wraith says he’ll press the detonator button and blow this whole building if anyone tries to stop him. They launched the auction early. The first name is already on the auction block. Bidding has started.”
Dread washed over her aching form. “How do you know?”
Just then a light snapped on above her and she looked up as an eerie sight filled her vision. Seth was tied in a chair, wearing what looked like a bomb vest and sitting at a desk in the open-platform exercise room above. A small screen sat on the table in front of him. Beyond it stood a camera on a tripod, and a production light. A thin figure in a brown delivery uniform sat at another table typing into a computer. It was the Wraith. For a second, she stared at the scene, wondering why they were letting Seth shout at her and see the auction on a screen. Why hadn’t he been gagged? Why would they let a hacker watch their crimes? Then Seth’s pale and pained face looked down at her almost apologetically and she realized the answer with sickening clarity.
The Imposters had chosen him to be their on-camera victim.
Christmas Witness Protection Page 16
