“I asked her why she was here. She didn’t tell me anything. I threatened her, said I would call Kane. That seemed to get her attention, but she laughed it off. Like she always does. I should have—”
“Stop,” Kane said. He turned to Sean. “I should have told you everything from the beginning. But it’s a long story, and it goes back to before our parents died.”
“Wait. I need to see this.” Sean wanted to hear the truth, but he couldn’t focus on the past when his entire future was missing.
He fast-forwarded the feed until Noah left twenty minutes later. Just after noon, Liam approached.
“Eden let Liam into the house,” Sean said. “They disabled part of my security, but the external cameras are on a different system. Either they thought they disabled them or they didn’t know.”
The security system had gone on and off multiple times, and once around two Lucy had remotely disabled it. It was clear there was a pattern.
“Eden intentionally set off the alarm,” Sean said.
“She wanted Lucy to come home,” Kane said. “She didn’t know if Noah followed through on his threat and called me, how much time they had. They wanted those bonds.”
“Liam and Eden know about safes. But they couldn’t have known Lucy’s handprint would unlock it.”
“Why not?” Noah asked. “She lives here, you’re getting married.”
“It was still a gamble.”
“And it worked,” Kane said. “Why does Lucy have full access?”
“Because we have no secrets,” Sean said. He stared at his brother. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“I deserve that,” Kane said. “But it could have backfired on them.”
“They would have found another way,” Sean said.
He fast-forwarded the security feeds and saw Lucy drive into the garage just before three. Siobhan was in the passenger seat.
Forty minutes later, Lucy’s car left. Liam was driving. Eden was in the passenger seat. Neither Lucy nor Siobhan was visible. They could have been forced to lie down on the backseat, though it would have been cramped. Or in the trunk.
Lucy’s car.
Sean started typing rapidly on the computer.
“You saw something,” Kane said.
“Lucy’s car has GPS. I disabled it so no one could track her, but I can reset it remotely with my own code. I can find her. Three minutes.”
“They left at three-thirty,” Noah said. “I got here just before four, Nate was right behind me. We barely missed them.”
“You’ve been here for five hours and have no fucking leads on where they are?”
“I’m working my contacts, JT is working his angle, Rick is in the loop and has made all FBI resources available to us. But, Sean,” Kane said, “we have to be careful who we inform of this situation. There are a lot of people out there who would love to get back at us right now, and that puts Lucy in danger.”
“I cannot believe that someone at RCK betrayed us,” Sean said.
“JT is—”
“Working on it!” Sean snapped. “I know! Everyone is working on it, but we still don’t know where Lucy is.”
The GPS program finished running and Sean zoomed in.
“Lucy’s car is at Southfield. It’s a private, unmanned airfield with no security to speak of. Dammit, where did they take her?”
Noah said, “I’ll work on getting all flight records—”
“They’re not going to file a fucking flight plan,” Sean said.
“But they could have been picked up on radar, or by other planes. Don’t forget I’m also a pilot and I still have friends in the Air Force.”
Kane said, “Thanks, Armstrong.”
Sean walked out. He didn’t care if anyone followed him, but both Kane and Nate did. Sean pulled out of the driveway almost before Nate had his door closed.
“You’ve got to pull yourself together,” Kane said. “They may not have taken her anywhere. It could be they left her car there to distract us—or that’s where they had another car waiting.”
Sean knew that. But he was so angry—with Kane, with Liam, with Eden, with everyone who had kept him in the dark.
“You should have told me the truth.”
Kane didn’t say anything for a long minute as Sean sped through the streets toward the airport on the outskirts of northern San Antonio.
“When JT and I started Rogan-Caruso, Liam and Eden were in college in England. I knew Liam wanted to be part of the business, but I told him no, we were only hiring former military. But after Mom and Dad were killed, I guess I thought we should make it a family business. JT was practically family. When I was hired for a hostage rescue in the former Soviet Union, I contacted them. They’d just graduated, and Eden is fluent in Russian. Liam had contacts. I used them for the job, discovered they had some admirable skill sets, and sent them for private security training. With Eden’s grasp of languages coupled with Liam’s planning ability, they were a huge benefit to Rogan-Caruso. But they both grew bored with what they called babysitting assignments. I knew but didn’t care.
“A few years later—you were at MIT—they took an off-book job to retrieve a stolen painting. Stealing from thieves, Liam said. It paid extremely well, and JT opened the finances to me. My jobs—my causes, as JT calls them—don’t pay as well, and Rogan-Caruso would have gone under if we didn’t take some of these high-end corporate jobs. It worked well for a while. Liam and Eden kept Rogan-Caruso afloat, until Duke was able to grow the computer security end of the business. I don’t think about the money—that’s JT’s job, and he’s good at it. I didn’t realize how dangerous some of Eden and Liam’s assignments were, or who they were working for. They were in Europe—I worked mostly Mexico and Central America. But when they came into my territory … and I saw who they were working for … I had to put a stop to it.”
“You should have told me,” Sean said through clenched teeth.
“I was being nostalgic.”
Sean shook his head. That was the last thing he expected Kane to say.
“Rogans have never done family well. Duke rode you hard, demanded perfection in all things. I disappeared for months at a time. Liam and Eden never wanted to come home, and when they did they treated you like a prince. You loved them … rightly or wrongly, and I didn’t want to take away those memories.”
“I can separate the past from the present.”
“I didn’t think they would ever do something like this.”
“But you stole the bonds out from under their noses.”
“If I didn’t, the money would have gone to human traffickers.”
“And you just let it sit.”
“JT and I discussed it at great length, and we didn’t know the origin of the bonds. We believe they were stolen from the Brazilian government by a cartel more than a decade ago—but they were never used. Why? Because it would alert authorities? We needed more information, and then out of sight, out of mind. We had other matters to attend to. The bonds became our emergency fund. Last month, we needed it.”
Sean’s head was spinning, but there was something about these bonds that either Kane wasn’t telling him … or Kane didn’t know. Six million dollars was a lot of money … but Liam and Eden were thieves. If they needed $6 million they could get it in other ways. What was it about these bonds that was important?
If they were desperate for money, Sean could come up with it in a few days. He’d have to liquidate most of his stocks in the gaming company he’d helped start years ago, but he’d do it if his family was in trouble.
But they had taken Lucy. How could they be family if they stole from Sean the only thing he truly valued in the world?
“Sean—”
“I’m thinking.”
“Liam wants you to doubt me. Divide and conquer.”
“We’ll talk about it later. After we find Lucy and Siobhan.”
Three minutes later, they were at the airfield. Sean had considered housing his plane here whe
n he first moved to San Antonio but didn’t like the lack of security. The owner was absent and didn’t seem to care much about who used his property—Sean had wondered if he let drug runners use the place. Sean wanted nothing to do with someone he couldn’t trust.
The field was essentially a short runway that was marginally maintained, a small hangar that had seen better days, and an outbuilding. Lucy’s car was parked between the hangar and the outbuilding. There didn’t appear to be anyone here, and the sun had set thirty minutes ago. The light was fading fast.
Kane immediately took over, and though Sean was angry at him for keeping him in the dark for so long, he let him. Because this was Kane’s world.
Kane motioned for Nate to stand guard, and then he and Sean first approached the hangar. The door was unlocked. They went in cautiously, guns drawn.
Empty. There were no planes or people inside, no places to hide. But the smell told Sean that a plane had been here recently.
They next approached Lucy’s vehicle. If Lucy had been locked inside all afternoon in the San Antonio heat, she’d be dehydrated and sick. Or dead.
Stop, Sean.
Sean had an extra set of keys and remotely popped Lucy’s trunk. Kane shined a light inside.
All of Lucy’s equipment that she was required to keep with her—her Kevlar vest, her extra ammunition, her riot gear—was shoved to the back of the trunk. Someone had been in the trunk, but they weren’t here now.
“Hey! Is anyone out there?” Someone was pounding on the door of the outbuilding. “I’m locked in here! Let me out!”
Kane said, “Siobhan?”
“Kane? Oh, thank God you’re here!”
There was a padlock on the door. Kane was going to shoot at it and Sean pushed him aside. He picked the lock in less than ten seconds and opened the door.
Siobhan stumbled out and into Kane’s arms. Sean rushed inside, expecting to find Lucy.
The single room was empty. A gallon of water was in the corner, but nothing else.
He spun around. “Where’s Lucy?” His voice vibrated with panic.
Siobhan had tears in her eyes. “They took her with them. In the plane.”
Lucy was gone. Sean kicked the door and walked away.
Kane let him go. His brother needed to refocus, and sometimes the only way to do that was a moment of solitude.
Besides, he needed to make sure Siobhan was really okay. He inspected her closely. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Really.”
“Are you positive?” He looked in her eyes, searching for pain or lies.
“Yes.” She hugged him, tightly. “I’m so sorry.” She was shaking. Siobhan didn’t scare easily. She wasn’t a soldier or a cop, but she had always been brave. “I didn’t know if anyone would find me. Liam said he’d call tomorrow and tell Sean where I was, but I didn’t know if he was telling the truth.”
“Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head against his chest.
Kane pushed her back, looked at her again closely. There was a bruise on her forehead. Her wrists were chafed. “He restrained you?”
“Handcuffs. He didn’t hurt me.”
Kane touched the bruise.
“I hit my head on the trunk of the car trying to get away.”
Kane kissed the bruise, then kissed Siobhan’s lips. He remembered the hospital, when she’d come to him, told him she loved him, kissed him. Kissed him with an intensity he still dreamed about.
He didn’t want to stop with one kiss, but he did. Looked at her. The surprise in her eyes nearly undid him. “Kane,” she whispered.
He pulled her back to him, kissed her again. Hard. Possessive. His head spun, but he knew for certain if he didn’t figure it out he would explode. If figuring it out meant taking Siobhan to bed, he’d do it.
Once wouldn’t be enough.
But the thought of never seeing her again—by his choice or someone else’s—made him angry. She was the only good thing to come into his life in a long, long time. He wanted more.
“Later,” he said.
She smiled, blinked back her tears. “Promise?”
He held her face and nodded. He kissed her again, then pulled himself away.
Kane’s voice was rough around the edges when he spoke. “Lucy.”
Her smile fell away. She looked around, worried. “Where’s Sean? Is he okay?”
“He will be when we find her.” He whistled. Sean and Nate approached from opposite directions.
“She’s not here,” Nate said.
“Where is she, Siobhan?” Sean was panicked, and that wasn’t going to do any of them any good. That’s why personal relationships rarely worked in their business. It’s why Kane stayed away from women he could fall for.
He glanced at Siobhan.
Damn.
“Why are you here and not Lucy?” Sean continued. “Why’d they take her and not you?”
“I—”
“This makes no sense!”
“Sean!” Kane snapped. He turned to Siobhan. Calmly—because that’s what this situation called for—he said, “Tell us exactly what happened. From the beginning.”
She glanced at Sean, but Kane turned her to focus on him. Sean’s fear and anger were just going to make Siobhan jumpy.
She said, “I was on the ride-along with Lucy, to Austin, with Agent Quiroz. Lucy felt guilty letting Eden stay at the house without Sean there, but she’d just shown up this morning. And then Eden kept setting off the alarm and calling Lucy to fix it. We hadn’t had lunch, and Lucy wanted to check on Eden. It was late—after two thirty—and I told her I’d stay at the house with Eden so she could get back to work. She had a lead on the Morrisons—they have one of the babies we’re looking for, Lucy and Ryan are pretty certain about it.”
“The house, Siobhan,” Kane redirected her attention to what was important.
“Sorry … I…” She cleared her throat. “It was nearly three I think by the time we got there. We went in through the garage, and I had to use the bathroom. I went down the back hall, to the guest room off the laundry—while Lucy went to find Eden. When I came out, I heard Lucy…” She hesitated.
“What?” Sean pushed.
Kane was close to benching Sean. If he could. He could, but it would hurt. Both of them.
“She said, ‘Run!’ I looked down the hall and saw a man. I didn’t know who he was at first but then realized it was Liam. He, um, looks so much like you and Sean. Lucy collapsed. I think she was unconscious. He came down the hall, really fast—I tried to fight back. He apologized, promised he wasn’t going to hurt me or Lucy.”
“Why did he take her?” Sean demanded. “They have the fucking bonds!”
“They didn’t talk much around me, but, um … from what I gathered, Lucy overheard something they don’t want either of you to know. They promised they’d call tomorrow morning and tell you where we were.”
“So you don’t know anything? Any idea where they took her? Was she hurt?”
“Sean,” Kane warned.
“Don’t, Kane, just don’t.”
Tears rolled down Siobhan’s cheeks and Kane wanted to deck Sean for making her cry. “I’m so sorry, Sean. I don’t think she’s hurt, they—they had a, um, mist or something. Liam tried to spray it in my face, but I ducked. He said something … like ‘she’ll wake up in a couple of hours.’”
“I will kill him,” Sean said through clenched teeth.
“We have to find him first,” Kane said. “Sean, get in the car.”
“This is your fault, Kane. You keep every fucking thing to yourself. You should have told me those bonds were dangerous. You should have warned me Liam might come after them. If anything—anything—happens to Lucy, I will never forgive you.” He tossed Kane a set of keys. He caught them with one hand. Then Sean walked over to Lucy’s car and got into the driver’s seat. Nate glanced at Kane and he nodded. Nate ran over and jumped into the passenger seat before Sean peeled off the ai
rfield.
“He doesn’t mean that,” Siobhan said.
Yes, Sean meant every word. Worse, Kane agreed with him.
“Don’t do this to yourself, Kane. You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have.” He hesitated. “Siobhan—”
“You kissed me this time.”
He couldn’t talk. She stepped closer to him.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him. He kissed her hard. He was a hard man. He was violent and brutal with his enemies. He put everyone he cared about at risk, simply for being part of his world.
But he’d dreamed about Siobhan for years. And after he was injured in June, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He’d pushed her away, over and over, because of this. This lust, this almost desperate need for her. She was the light, the lightest of lights, a beacon shining for him. A reward he didn’t deserve. A beauty he would destroy.
But still, he wanted.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her hands pressed against his chest and he still took her mouth with a firm intensity. His hands found her hair and he grabbed, held on, keeping her pressed against him.
He’d feared the worst. He didn’t believe that Liam and Eden would hurt anyone, but he didn’t know who they were working for or what the plan was or if they had changed. If the last six years of being out of RCK had turned them into something else.
And it would be his fault.
His fault, and still he wanted Siobhan. He didn’t deserve her, or anyone.
But he was desperate for her light.
“Kane,” she whispered. She turned her mouth from his, but he wanted more. He grabbed her mouth and turned it back to him, kissed her again. She was so soft. So strong. So … everything.
He walked her backward, toward the car, wanting to take her now, show her that he wasn’t the man for her. Show this siren that he wasn’t a good person. Her back hit the side of the car and she yelped.
He jumped back. He wasn’t thinking. Hell, what the fuck was he doing?
“Kane—”
“Get in the car.”
“Don’t order me around.”
“I’m not doing this.”
“I know exactly what you’re doing.” She stepped toward him. It took all his willpower not to run away from her.
Make Them Pay Page 13
