by Lexi Blake
“The police are going to have a field day with this one.” Ariel held a semiautomatic in her hands, the same one he’d seen Robert pack during their flight from the cabin.
“Owen?” Becca walked in, her face pale. “Owen, are you okay?”
He was now. He strode to her, and despite the pain in his shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m fine, but we have to move out and quickly.”
“I’m parked behind the house. Rob is waiting for us. Well, he’s passed out in the back, but he’ll live. A couple of university students were renting a cabin not far from the accident site. They got us to hospital. After they patched Rob up, I hotwired a car and we left before we could be questioned.”
“How did you find us?” He refused to let Becca go, taking her hand in his and following after Ariel.
“It was a hunch. Becca had said Levi must be working with Huisman. He couldn’t take you to a hotel. Rob told me MSS was coming. They wouldn’t make a move until they knew they had you, so that bought us some time. It was a good bet he would bring you here.” Ariel moved to the rear of the house. “I parked in the back and snuck up.”
“You’re hurt.” Becca hustled to keep up.
There was blood on his shirt. A lot of it. “I think the bullet’s still in there.”
“It’s not a fatal wound. We’ll deal with it after we get away.” Ariel held open the door to what looked to be the garage. “Don’t mind the body. I had to deal with the MSS agent.”
Owen gaped at the woman on the ground. That was a lot of blood. It looked like Ari knew how to use a knife, too. He stared at her, wondering where his peace-loving shrink had gone.
Ari merely shrugged. “I wasn’t always a therapist.”
He took Becca’s hand and walked out of the house to join his friend. He was in excruciating pain, but they had one more stop to make.
Ariel rushed to the car, a minivan. It was still running in the long drive that led back around the house and out to the street where Levi Green was likely trying to get the upper hand back by bringing in the police. “Take Owen to the back of the van with Robert and do what you can for them. I’ll get us out of here.”
She could hear the wail of sirens on their way. Her heart ached for Paul’s son, but they had to go.
Becca opened the door and stepped inside. Owen followed as Ariel took off.
Sure enough, Robert was laid out on the bench seat. His eyes opened briefly. “Sorry, man. They wouldn’t pull out the bullet without anesthesia. How did we get you back?”
“Ari is lethal, mate. You need to watch yourself with her.” He sat back with a groan of pain. “And she’s a terrible driver.”
“Hush.” Becca wasn’t in her seat. She knelt down. “I’m going to have to pull the bullet out of you when we get somewhere safe. Try not to move it.”
“Ariel saved you?” Robert still sounded out of it.
Ariel was a superhero. “Yep, and she took out the bad guys while she was doing it. She’s a keeper, mate.”
Robert’s smile was slightly goofy. “I bet she’s hot when she’s assassinating people. Holy shit. Baby, tell me you murdered Levi Green. We could celebrate by having our first date. You want to go out with me, right?”
“It has to wait,” Ari said. “Green’s alive, and we have to get out of here. We’re going back to London to lick our wounds.”
Robert sighed. “That’s not what I want to lick.”
Before he could laugh, Becca was kneeling next to him. “Owen, are you all right? You went pale.”
The world was going pale. Ariel took a corner and his shoulder hit the door. Pain exploded through his system and he felt himself falling down a deep hole.
He tried to hold on to her, sure that he would lose her this time.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Are you sure this is safe?” Owen asked, staring up at the building where he’d briefly found something akin to peace. Oh, it hadn’t always been peaceful. Sometimes it had been crazy and emotional and chaotic and absolutely the best time of his brief life.
“I want to face him.” Becca sat in the back of the van that would eventually take them to the small airport where he would board a plane to London.
He would board. There was no reason for her to go now. In the three days since he’d passed out from the bullet wound in his shoulder, McKay-Taggart had worked miracles. Phoebe Murdoch had managed to find the proof that was needed to exonerate Rebecca Walsh, and the Huisman Foundation was standing behind her. The story was Paul Huisman had been involved in a plot to help a Chinese agent steal medical research. Jean Claude Huisman had come out in the press vowing to better protect the foundation and denouncing his son, not bothering to mention that he’d been the one having the affair with an MSS agent. Owen rather thought the Agency was working some magic since in all the reports on the news, no one had mentioned the dead CIA employee or the MSS agent’s corpse in the garage. According to the media, Paul Huisman had likely been murdered by one of his criminal cohorts.
“Are we worried this guy is dangerous?” Ezra sat in the driver’s seat, Theo Taggart beside him.
Becca snorted. “Only if you’re something that got mailed to me. The asshole picked up my mail from time to time. It’s one of the reasons he had a key. Apparently he liked to look through it. Jerk.”
Ezra sighed and put the car in park. “I’m sorry we didn’t send someone out earlier, but until yesterday I worried it was too risky. According to my source at the Agency, they’re backing off for now. It’s why we can take the team back to London for a while.”
Where they would have to figure out who the mole was. It was all too clear now that they had a traitor in their midst. Levi Green had been fucking with his head, yes, but he’d also been telling the truth. He had someone on the inside, and they would have to deal with it. One way or another.
And he would have to deal with the fact that she was going to stay here. There was no reason for her to leave her home now. She was high profile after all the press, and that would give her some cover. A bodyguard would keep her safe. It was all about who she wanted to watch over her.
It wouldn’t be him.
“We’re sure he has it?” Theo asked, turning slightly in his seat. His wife had gone home the day before, but not until she’d stopped by the small clinic that had been willing to give Owen and Robert a place to recuperate. Becca had stabilized him in the field, but they’d been separated when they’d driven hours out of Toronto and found a tiny backwater clinic that was willing to take a large donation in exchange for losing all record of their two patients suffering from gunshot wounds.
“Oh, I’m sure,” Becca replied. “He’s waiting to use it against me. I’m surprised he hasn’t gone to the press with it.”
“I think he’s waiting until he can talk to you,” Ezra said. “He’s probably planning on using it as leverage. He’s been leaving voice mails.”
“Someone has my phone?” Becca asked.
“We tossed it out, but that doesn’t mean Jax can’t get into your account and see who’s calling. Carter has been trying to talk to you for days,” Ezra explained.
“That asshole is going to try to blackmail me,” she said.
“He won’t after I’m done with him.” Owen wasn’t giving up. He couldn’t. This would be the first time he’d been alone with her since that day at Huisman’s. He’d woken up laid out in a bed next to Robert’s, and they’d proceeded to spend the next two days complaining about the food and missing their women. At least Ari had come to see Rob. They’d talked about having their first date.
It had made Owen cranky.
“Let’s get this over with if you’re going to do it.” Ezra unlocked the doors. “Theo and I will stay out here in case we need a quick getaway, but remember we just managed to get off the police’s radar. Try not to kill him.”
“I’ll try, but it’s going to be hard.” Becca got out of the van.
“I think he was talking to me.” Owen followed h
er.
“Well, I’m the one who’s pissed. That weasel.” She strode into the building. “As for you, don’t fight with him. You’ll tear your stitches and then you’ll be late for the plane.” She stopped and looked around. “Wow, it’s weird to be back here. I know it’s only been a few days, but it seems like a lifetime.”
“Becca, I want to talk. I can’t leave for London without us talking.” He wasn’t sure he could leave for London at all.
“There will be plenty of time for that later.” She sniffled a little and turned back to the hallway, moving to the lift. She passed the modern one, toward the one she’d sworn she would never use again. “I’m sure we’ll need to talk about a lot of things. How long will you be in London?”
He hated this polite talk when all he wanted to do was to force her to look him in the eye. “I don’t know that I’ll be going to London at all.”
The lift door opened and she walked inside. “You’re going on the new mission? I heard Ezra talking about exploring what happened at Kronberg with Tucker. I’m going to put him in touch with a woman who worked there. I should have known you would go with your brothers.”
How was he supposed to answer that? He would go if he had to. He owed those men. But he wanted to be with her. “I missed you. I wanted to see you the last couple of days.”
That seemed to fluster her. “I wasn’t avoiding you. There was a lot of stuff that had to be done. I made sure you were stable. The doctors at the clinic seemed knowledgeable. You weren’t in any danger and neither was Robert.”
How kind of her. “The doctors at the clinic were bribable.”
The door opened and she strode out. She didn’t seem to care that they’d been in the very lift where they’d first made love. Oh, she might have been having a good time, but now he knew that he’d been making love.
“Well, they wouldn’t let me take you to a regular hospital.” She stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Shouldn’t we talk about how we’re going to handle this thing? Am I going to distract him while you search for the package? Maybe you should distract him and I’ll look for it.”
Anger and frustration thrummed through his system, and he wanted to get this over with so they could have the fight they’d needed to have since the moment he’d screwed up. He’d been an arsehole, but he loved her. He’d told her he loved her. Now she thought she could pretend it never happened?
“Let me show you how this is going to go.” He turned and strode down the hall toward the apartment Carter Adams occupied. He could feel Becca behind him, racing to keep up.
“Remember what I said about your stitches,” she was saying.
He didn’t give a damn about his stitches. All that mattered was getting rid of the last piece of this mission that existed between them. When he had that damn package in his hands, they could be done with all the stupid things that had come between them and maybe he could finally gain her forgiveness.
He slammed his fist against the door.
“Owen, maybe we should talk,” she said, more tentative than she’d sounded before.
Before he could reply, the door opened and he was staring at Carter, who glared at him before turning his attention to Becca.
“Ah, Dr. Walsh,” he said with a frown. “I knew you would be here after your brush with the law. You’ll have to tell me how you managed to get out of that. You didn’t have to bring your meathead boyfriend with you. I think we should discuss this situation alone, don’t you?”
That was not happening. He needed to make a few things plain. If Carter thought he was some kind of a thug, he could play that role. He pulled back his right hand and smashed it into the fucker’s face. Carter’s head snapped back and he heard Becca gasp.
“Owen, someone could call the police,” she said.
He was sick of that argument. “Who? Carter’s not going to be able to in a few moments, and the rest of the bloody floor is currently preparing to flee the country.” He followed Carter inside and was satisfied when Becca closed the door behind them.
Carter was on the ground, desperately backing away while trying to ensure his nose stayed on his face. He looked like a three-legged crab, except far less coordinated. “Get out.”
Not until he had what he’d come for. “Where is it?”
Becca seemed to have found something that interested her on his bar. “This is my mail. And my hair clips. Why do you have my hair clips?”
Owen could answer that one. “He’s a pathetic pervert who can’t understand why no one wants to sleep with him. But it’s all right. I’m going to make it easy for him. I’m going to cut that prick right off you, Carter. Then you won’t have to worry about it again.”
Carter’s eyes went wide. “It’s in my desk. It’s a letter that asks Becca to keep this for her. For old times’ sake. It’s a thumb drive. It’s got a bunch of medical research and files on it. Tabula Rasa. I think it’s illegal. She was testing on humans, and I think she was doing it against their will. Becca was involved. She was in on it.”
“She had no idea and if you decide to tell anyone, the next time you see me will be right before I slit your throat,” Owen promised. “Do I make myself clear? If you have other copies, tell me now because I won’t take it kindly.”
He shook his head. “None. That’s the only one. I bribed the postal worker to let me take them to her. I looked through her mail so I would know her better. I was trying to find things we had in common.”
“You have nothing in common.” Owen found the desk and opened the top drawer. There was a box with Becca’s name on it. It was posted from Malaysia. Dr. McDonald had reportedly held several of the men, including Tucker, there. Owen picked it up and made sure the thumb drive was there. The desk had nothing else of interest in it, though the man needed to lay off the mints. “If you come anywhere near her again, I’ll kill you. If you talk about her, I’ll kill you. Do you know what I’ll do if I even find out you whisper her name again?”
“You’ll kill me?” The question came out on a squeak.
“It’s good that we understand each other.” He turned to the door. “Let’s go.”
He was done here. It was time to deal with the real problem.
“I would take back my hair clips, but I don’t know what you’ve done to them,” Becca said. “And while I took a vow to do no harm, that doesn’t mean I can’t let him do you harm. Asshole.”
Owen stalked down the hall to the lift. It was a fitting place to have this particular conversation.
“I can’t believe he did that to me. I can’t believe I didn’t realize he was such a pervert. Cathy told me she didn’t like him, but I was trying to be tolerant,” she said as she hustled into the lift.
She hit the button for one and the doors closed, but he knew how to handle the lift.
He pressed the emergency stop button and turned on her, holding the package out. “This is yours.”
She took it but stared at it like she wasn’t sure what to do. “Ezra wants it.”
“Then give it to him if you like, but if you don’t then you keep it. You do what you need to with it whether or not that means giving it to my team. I’ll fight to make sure it’s your right.” That was out of the way and he could get to his point. “If you think I’m letting you go without a fight, you don’t know me at all. Maybe I don’t know myself, but I do know this, I’m not quitting. I love you and I’m not going to stop saying it.”
She frowned up at him. “I know you think you do, but I’m not going to hold you to it. It’s guilt. I turned out to not be the crazy person you thought I might be, so now you feel bad about using me.”
Was she daft? “I love you. I’ve never said that to anyone before.”
“That you can remember.”
“Don’t you hold that against me. I know what love feels like. And I never thought you were crazy. I had a moment of weakness. Please don’t let that ruin us.”
“Ruin us?” She crossed her arms over her chest. She was in a deep red
cardigan today that let him know she’d done some shopping while he’d been waiting for her. “What are you talking about? Owen, I think we should wait to talk about this.”
“Wait? You think if you put me off this will go away?”
She leaned back against the lift wall. A soft smile curled up her lips. “Where would it go? Owen, I think your brothers are mean. Did they tell you I quit Huisman?”
No. No one had told him shite. When he’d asked, they’d all simply said he should talk to her. This was his first chance to do it. “Why would you quit?”
“Because I have a new job and it pays horribly and my lab apparently is going to consist of a couple of rooms in this club thing,” she said. “I didn’t stay away from you because I don’t care. When Phoebe managed to get the charges dropped, I flew home for a day and a half to talk to my dad. I needed to explain things to him, and he agreed that I have to do this. I have to fix this. I’m going to London to work on reversing Dr. McDonald’s work. I’m going to get Robert’s memory back. And yours. But you might not want me when you remember. That’s what I’ve been thinking about for days. Memory is a funny thing. It’s a part of our personalities. It’s the sum of the forces that shape us. You could wake up one morning and not want me anymore.”
Not want her? “Never. I’ll never not want you. I don’t care what memories come back to me, you’ll be the first thing I think of every morning and the only woman in my dreams at night. Becca, I love you. I think I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you. Oh, my love, if I get my memories back, the old ones can’t erase the new ones. They can’t erase what I feel for you.”
“And I love you, but we have a lot to work out. Ariel thinks we should go into couples therapy. That’s what I meant by having time, but if you’re going on the new mission…”
He wasn’t wasting another second. He’d almost lost her, almost lost everything. He moved into her space, shoving her back against the lift wall. “Ariel needs to stick to assassinations. She’s damn good at them and I don’t find it annoying. As for you, I’m never leaving you, love. If you’re in London, that’s my home. I might have to travel occasionally, and I definitely have to help my brothers, but you should know that I’ll always come home to you.”
