“No.” She backed away from him. She swallowed hard, trying to force the lump from her throat. “There is nothing between us, damn you. Nothing but lies.” She couldn’t deal with this right now. It was just…too much.
A sob broke loose as she turned on her heel and raced out the front door.
Away from Craig and all his lies.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“It’s confirmed. Viper got away. So did Cougar and Scorpion and a couple others. They fled into the woods. The SWAT team searched the area, but were unable to find them.”
Craig groaned. “I was afraid of that. We almost had that son-of-a-bitch.”
“Don’t give up,” Nick said. “We’ll get him eventually.”
They were sitting at a table in the compound, going over the information they’d gathered and discussing what had gone down. The FBI had arrived, along with local law enforcement, to help in the clean-up and the investigation of the Cobras. Craig had already debriefed the other law enforcement agencies about what he’d been doing there and explained everything that had gone down from the moment he’d walked inside the compound. He’d witnessed some despicable things here.
Craig clenched his fist on the tabletop. “I’ve spent years trying to take this bastard down. I was so close.”
“I know.” Nick eyed him across the table. “You sacrificed a lot to go undercover, giving up your life for a couple of months to try to take him down. You broke up his organization. And you helped rescue ten teenage girls who were destined for a life as sex slaves to sick perverts like Viper and his men. That should make you feel good.”
They’d not only apprehended the Cobras, but several of the Inked Intimidators as well. The FBI had intercepted a van fleeing the compound with the teenage girls. The driver and his passenger had been arrested. The girls were now on their way home to their families.
The wounded look in Karen’s eyes before she’d stormed out kept coming back to him. It haunted him now. She’d been so hurt. God. He’d wanted her to understand. Prayed she would forgive him. But she hadn’t. Why would she? He’d lied to her. He’d hurt her. His heart twisted in agony. He couldn’t bear the thought of her in such misery. If only they could have met under different circumstances. If only he hadn’t had to lie to her…
“She’ll be all right.”
Craig jerked his gaze back to Nick’s. He drew in a deep breath, exhaled. “You think? I hurt her.”
“April forgave me,” Nick reminded gently, “when I went undercover and had to deceive her. Karen will forgive you too. Just give her time.”
Craig wasn’t so sure. “Yeah, but you didn’t allow your wife to be abused. You didn’t let her be treated like shit. I’m no better than them.”
“You were undercover. You had to play the part. You said yourself that when Viper ordered you to kill her, you didn’t. You killed one of the bikers instead. You saved her. That was pretty brave.”
Craig snorted. “I stood back and let Viper slap her. Twice.” He groaned, rubbed a hand over his face. “And in the dungeon I almost let them rape her.” He made a sound of disgust. “How can she forgive me for that? How can I ever forgive myself?”
Nick sighed. “Karen is a lot like April. She hasn’t had an easy life, as I’m sure you know. Give her a couple of days or a couple of weeks to calm down, then go see her. Explain everything to her. Make her listen. When I betrayed April and she told me to leave, I just left. If I’d stayed and tried to make her see reason, we might not have lost those six years that we were apart. If you love her, don’t let her go. Don’t let her push you away.”
Craig cleared his throat. Personal conversations between him and Nick were rare. Most of the time, those conversations were about Nick. Craig rarely talked about himself. Karen probably knew more about him than Nick did.
He needed to tell her that, needed to let her know she was the first person he’d let in. He needed to tell her everything. He especially needed to tell her how much he cared about her. Hell, cared? He loved her. She needed to know that. But would she even listen to him after how much he’d hurt her?
“I think Viper might come after her.” Craig voiced his fears aloud. “In an attempt to get at me. We need to get her into protective custody.”
Nick nodded. “I’ll talk to her about it. But she probably won’t agree. She’s too independent. Likes to do things on her own.”
“She’s more apt to listen to you than to me.” Craig had let her walk out of here and one of the cops had driven her home. He’d asked the guy to stay with her until he could make arrangements for someone else to guard her. He had a bad feeling Viper wasn’t far away and he hadn’t seen the last of the guy. Craig needed to be ready to take the bastard down when he showed up.
Because when Viper returned, he’d be dead set on vengeance.
“So what was the hood’s significance?” Nick asked. “Karen mentioned you all were wearing black snakeskin hoods when she first saw you in the forest.”
Craig shrugged. “All I know is that they wear the hoods whenever they leave the compound to commit a crime. I think it’s so that if anyone witnesses them committing a crime, the witnesses won’t see their faces. Like robbing a bank.”
Nick scribbled something on the paper. He was always taking notes. The kid was the best of Craig’s team. Craig admired and respected him. “So it’s not a white supremacist thing?”
“I think that’s where Viper got the idea, but no, I don’t think it’s directly related to any racist group. He apparently used to be a member of the Skinheads, but that was years ago, when he was younger. I think the hoods are just a way to hide their identities.”
Nick wrote something else on the paper. He glanced up at Craig. “Anything else you can think of?”
“That autistic child, Runt. Did they find him yet?”
Nick shook his head. “There were no children except the baby.”
Craig nodded. Runt was probably still around here somewhere, hiding out. He’d have to search for the kid himself. The boy would be terrified of the cops. It had been a slaughter when Rebel had turned the dogs loose. If Runt had witnessed that, it may have traumatized the kid. The dogs that were still alive when the cops had shown up had all been euthanized.
“I need to find Runt. I’m worried about him.”
“I’ll help you.”
They got up from the table and searched for Runt, calling his name as they went from room to room.
They found Scar in Rebel’s room several minutes later, cowering underneath the bed. Rebel would be worried about the dog. Craig had to at least see that the animal was taken care of until Rebel’s fate was decided.
“Here boy.” He patted his thigh. “Come on Scar. Come on, boy.”
The dog’s tail wagged once, twice. Then Scar slowly inched across the floor to Craig.
“Good boy.” Craig scratched the dog behind the ears, then rubbed his belly. Scar rolled over on his back, sighing contentedly as Craig continued to rub his belly.
Nick raised a brow.
“One of Viper’s fighting dogs?”
“No. One of his bait dogs. Rebel rescued him and nursed him back to health.”
Nick made a face. “Poor thing. So what’s the deal with Rebel? Are they going to let him off?”
Craig shrugged. “Depends on the final deal the prosecutor and the judge decide on. The deal he made with me was that if he went undercover with me and helped me take Viper down, I would do what I could to get his sentence reduced. The prosecutor and the judge both agreed to the deal. They just have to decide how much of a reduction they will give him and how much time he will have to serve behind bars for the multiple drug charges he’s facing.”
Nick nodded. “He seemed like a decent guy.”
“He is. Just a little mixed up. I’ll do my best to convince the prosecutor to go easy on him. I owe him big time.”
Craig rose from the floor. He grabbed the dog’s collar so the animal couldn’t slink away. “I think I’
ll take Scar home with me until Rebel gets out.”
Nick chuckled. “You? Have you ever had a dog before?”
“No. But it can’t be too hard.”
Nick chuckled. “You can put him in the car while we go find the kid.” One of the agents had brought Nick his vehicle. April had been notified Nick was okay and Nick had spent several minutes on the phone with her, reassuring her that he was fine. Craig had been envious. What he wouldn’t give to have a woman—Karen—love him like that.
Once Scar was safely in Nick’s SUV, they went back in the compound and continued the search. There was no sign of Runt anywhere in the building.
Next they headed out back where the dogs had been kept. Craig spied the kid almost instantly. The boy was kneeling on the ground, rocking back and forth. Next to him was the body of a large white dog.
Killer.
Shit.
He and Nick exchanged glances. Craig approached, calling the kid’s name. “Hey Runt. What you doing out here by yourself?”
The boy lifted his tear-streaked face to Craig’s. He glanced back down at the dog. He made a mewling sound and patted the dog’s stiff body.
“I know,” Craig said gently, kneeling before the boy. “I’m sorry. But I found Scar. He’s okay. Want to see him?”
Runt lifted his gaze to Craig’s. He nodded slowly. Craig held his hand out to the boy. “Come on.” Runt took his hand. Obediently he followed Craig back through the compound and out to Nick’s SUV.
On the way home, Runt sat in the back with Scar, hugging the dog to him and humming softly.
Nick glanced askance at Craig. “What are you going to do with the boy?”
Craig sighed. “I’ll have to take him home with me for now. If I separate him from the dog, he’ll probably freak out.”
Nick dropped Craig off at his house out on the lake. He told Craig to call if he needed anything.
“Get some sleep, boss. I’ll see you later.”
Craig nodded. He entered the house with the boy and the dog.
What the hell was he going to do with them?
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
It had been nearly a month since the night the cops had stormed the compound. Because Viper and a few others had gotten away, Nick had suggested Karen go into protective custody for her own safety. Karen had refused, so the FBI had stationed a man at her house to watch over her. Nick said Craig feared Viper might come after her and try to use her as bait to get to Craig.
But Karen wasn’t afraid of Viper. Not anymore. As creepy and evil as the man was, his world had been stripped away from him. He now had only the few bikers who’d escaped with him. She imagined he’d been weakened by what had happened. He would want to regroup, try to find more followers, build up an army first before he came after Craig.
If he ever came after Craig.
Viper was probably long gone by now.
The FBI had paid to have a new lab set up in her greenhouse. Karen had instructed the workers how to set it all up, and soon she was back to micropropagating for the Forest Service and large commercial nurseries.
Karen had told Nick over and over that she didn’t need a man watching out for her. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Nick had said Craig insisted, so she would have to deal with it.
She imagined it was guilt that forced Craig to keep a man there. But she didn’t want his guilt. She wanted his unconditional love. She wanted him to be real. To tell her the entire truth. But she was too stubborn and too proud to beg. If he wanted her, he knew where she lived.
She’d come to the conclusion he was either a coward or he truly didn’t care about her.
Both ideas hurt. The man she’d known had been far from a coward. True, he’d been cold and unfeeling sometimes, a hard ass, and he had stood back and let Viper hit her that day when they’d torn down her lab.
She didn’t blame him for that. If he’d intervened, Viper would have killed him. And she’d be dead right now. She had no doubt of that. When Craig had been ordered to kill her that day, he’d killed Grizzly instead. Thinking back on that now, Craig was lucky Viper hadn’t killed him for disobeying orders.
He had saved her life. Even if he’d had to lie to her. He’d fooled her completely. She had no idea who the real Craig was, if he’d been pretending the entire time, or if the man he’d portrayed was the real Craig.
Yet she forgave him.
It had taken her awhile to admit that.
Once she’d gotten over the hurt and the anger, she admitted she forgave him.
But mostly, she missed him. She missed his crude sense of humor, his smart ass remarks. His direct way of looking at her, those breathtaking hazel eyes that pierced her soul and made her heart pound with anticipation every time they got into a debate. She missed his toned, muscular, sexy-as-sin body, his strong arms...
She sighed. She missed everything about him. But she’d be damned if she would beg him to explain. If he was any kind of man, he would come to her and apologize. But he hadn’t. He’d just…disappeared.
It had been a long time since she’d been hurt by a man. If she were honest with herself, no one had ever hurt her the way Craig had. She cared about the man way too much. She feared “cared” was too gentle of a term to describe the way she felt about him. Craig was a very strong-willed, Type A personality guy. Very much an alpha male. In the past, she’d always dated men who worshipped her and let her control the relationship. She liked being in control and in the past she’d controlled men callously, used them to get her way. But she didn’t want to control Craig. She wasn’t that shallow, self-absorbed woman anymore. Karen had no doubt Craig would be in control of every aspect of his life, including a romantic relationship. He would only let the relationship go as far—or as long—as he wanted it to.
A thought struck her, pinching her heart. What if he had a girlfriend or—God forbid!—a wife he’d had to leave behind when he’d gone undercover? Was that why he hadn’t come to her? Because he had a woman at home who’d been waiting for him?
The thought made her chest ache. Dammit, why couldn’t she stop thinking about him? He was so unlike any man she’d ever met before.
Her cell phone rang.
Karen removed her backpack and pulled the phone from the side pouch.
Nick.
Her son-in-law was checking up on her. Nick was a good man. She was so happy her daughter had him.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Nick replied. “I’m guessing you’re out in the woods somewhere collecting plants.”
She chuckled. “Oh, you know me so well. How’s my family this morning?”
“We’re all doing great. April has some guests at the ranch, so I’m trying to stay out of the way. I was just calling to let you know Craig agreed to release the guy whose been watching over you. He thinks the danger has passed.”
Karen had tried to tell Nick that from the beginning, but the stubborn man wouldn’t listen.
“I wondered why I didn’t hear George following me around through the trees this morning. Usually he stomps about and scares the wildlife.”
Nick chuckled. “City boys…I know. I used to be one of them.”
“So…” Karen hesitated. “How is Craig?”
Nick cleared his throat. “He’s in Seattle. He had to go to the field office to take care of all the things he had to leave behind when he went undercover. It was a long assignment. He’s spent years tracking this Viper guy. Craig’s one of the special-agents-in-charge, so he’s a supervisor over his department—my boss, as you know—and he said he had a lot of catching up to do. But he’ll be back when he can. I expect him to return any time now.”
“So he lives in Seattle?” Karen wanted to know so much about him.
“Some of the time. He has a condo there for when he’s working at the field office. He also owns a house out on Lake Pend Oreille that he bought last year.”
He had a house out on the lake? Her heart pounded. That had to
mean he’d be back eventually. Right?
But she didn’t want to wait weeks to see him again.
“Well, thanks for the heads up. Now that I know George is gone, I can enjoy the forest without him scaring all the animals away. You and April have a good day. Tell her to call me later this evening once the guests have settled down for the night.”
“I will. Take care.”
Karen stuffed the phone back in the side pouch of her backpack. She stood there for a moment, contemplating.
Then it all became clear to her.
That day when the cops had stormed the compound, Craig had tried to apologize to her, but she hadn’t wanted to hear. She’d been too hurt and angry to listen, so she’d walked away.
The knowledge that she’d pushed him away was like a slap in the face. Why had she been so stubborn and blind? Why hadn’t she realized it was her own actions that had made him leave?
It was her fault he was gone. She should have let him explain.
Her heart pinched.
She’d run off the only man she’d ever truly cared about. She had no idea how he felt about her, because she hadn’t allowed him the chance to explain.
Karen yanked the backpack on.
Determination settled into her chest.
She needed to go to him.
Find out where he was.
Tell him how she felt.
She’d never been more certain of anything in her life.
She would call Nick back when she got home. Ask him for Craig’s number.
Then she would call Craig.
She made an about-face and headed back toward her house. She could collect samples tomorrow. This was more important.
Karen had traveled only a few feet when the forest animals went silent. She paused. The hair stood up on her arms. Someone—or something—had frightened the forest creatures.
She broke into a jog, her eyes wide, her ears attuned to sounds of danger. Normally the forest didn’t scare her, but since that day the Cobras had kidnapped her, she was more alert than usual. Now anything could be danger.
Stoned (Unlikely Heroes Book 4) Page 28
