“What have you done? You monster. Fiona did nothing to you. Let her go, Tom, right now. If you’ve hurt her in any way—”
“You’ll what? Snivel and cry. That’s about the only thing you’re any good at. I’m tired of the childish games you’ve been playing. They have gone on long enough. I need that file back and I mean to get it. You get your ass back here within the next twenty-four hours or Ms. Radcliffe here will have to pay the price for your tardiness.”
“That would be a very grave mistake on your part, Sheridan. The police don’t look too kindly at kidnapping.” Nick squeezed her thigh in reassurance, and she almost forgave him. Almost.
“Ah, Nick Kelley, is that you, my old friend? I’d heard you were out. It’s been a while. Return her to me and you will be well compensated. I always knew I could count on you.”
Shit, shit, shit, Nick knew as soon as Tom uttered the words, how Sara would construe them. He felt her stiffen within his arms, the shudder that ran through her body, and then she pushed away, regarding him through hurt-filled eyes, as if he were ten times worse than her prick of a husband.
“You win, Tom; it seems you hold all the cards.” Sara spoke in an eerily empty voice, her expression as she stared at Nick, frozen with betrayal. “Your lackey here can call you back with the travel plans. Don’t hurt Fiona; I swear to God, I will make you pay if you do.”
“I don’t believe you are in a position to swear anything my dear. Well played, Nick, well played. I will see you soon, wife. We have a lot of catching up to do.” She could hear his sickening chuckle as he closed the line, and then there was nothing but the loud ringtone reverberating through the room.
Nick stared at her with entreating eyes, as if begging her to understand. “Honey, I know that sounded bad, but it’s not what you’re thinking.”
“Really Nick, because I’m thinking that sounded like my ex-husband just hired you to bring us back. It sounds like you came here and introduced yourself under false pretenses.” Her voice rose with each sentence, shaking with hurt and anger. “And then you insinuated yourself into our lives, made us care about you. All for what? How much did he offer you Nick? How much did he God-damn offer you?”
***
Before he had a chance to explain the misunderstanding, Sara jumped to her feet and dashed down the hall to her room, slamming the door as she entered. Nick could barely grasp how this had gone from being the best day of his life to the foulest, all in the space of twenty-four hours.
He didn’t regret speaking up, but he was sorrier than he could ever say that he hadn’t explained the situation to Sara sooner. Though to be fair, how could he have known fate would play such a huge cosmic joke? Nick wanted to follow her, make her listen, but he had a feeling that she would discount anything he had to say right now. Better to give her some time to calm down. He hoped she would realize if he’d been here to turn them in, he could have done that weeks ago.
Avoiding the sympathy in the eyes of his friends, he went back to the kitchen and the still open file. “Have a look at this. You’re not going to believe who Sara’s ex is, I can hardly believe it myself.”
Jared shook his head as he read the top pages. “Well, looky here. Tommy’s joined the big leagues. You were right man, this is some heavy shit. There are names in here that are going to stir things up but good.”
“Seems so,” Frank replied. “This explains a lot. Look how far back this goes, six years at least. A man has to wonder how many assholes he’s helped keep out of jail in all that time. He’s been courting the system as he climbed the ladder on the backs of every cop out there trying to do his job. This kind of bullshit is exactly what is wrong with almost every country out there. Power and corruption, it’s an ugly fact of life.”
“Way to be positive, big guy. Always looking at the bright side. You should tone that down some.” Jared said drolly, ducking when Frank’s big fist came at his nose. “You’re slowing down, old man. Better quit lazing around on the back of your horse and hit the gym once in a while.”
Nick had to snicker; there wasn’t an ounce of spare flesh anywhere on that huge frame. Both men had hearts the size of Frank’s home state. It felt amazing to see them again. He’d forgotten how well they clicked together, like pieces of an oversized puzzle. Well except for Sheridan, he was the piece they wished they’d lost.
Right from the first day when he’d shown up in the mess tent and made clear he was there under special orders from General Baker, an old family friend. When he’d demanded his own quarters the chief informed him as long as he remained under the protection of SEAL team five he would stay where he was told to stay, and the animosity between the two men grew. Frank, for the most part, remained his stoical self. In a couple of memorable instances, Sheridan went his own way, ended up with a sharp reprimand and landed himself KP duties. He lodged a complaint and the higher ups informed him that the Chief was, well, the Chief, and he needed to follow all direct orders or find himself on a long flight home, general or no general.
Tom began spending more and more down time with the locals. Which worked well for them, as none of them, especially Adam, who’d drawn the short straw and shared his tent, liked the guy. Guess he was the smart one, and if he were here in this room, right now, they all would have bowed before his brilliance. He would have liked that, the bugger.
Right from deployment he and Adam were inseparable. Adam’s golden movie star looks had the women flocking, and his rakish smile charmed them out of their panties. Nick had always done okay for himself in the women department also, but Adam had that special thing, catnip for the female species. He missed the asshole.
“We need to find out exactly how far up the ladder Sheridan has gone and then we need a way to bring all the players together. There are a number of familiar names on that list. People we had under surveillance while on ops. I’m not sure how far this goes but we have to assume, going by the fact that Guerra is involved in this, the Sinaloa Cartel has a stake in getting this file back. It could cause them a serious headache if the DEA gets a hold of it.”
“This explains why they held you until I arrived; they were on a fishing expedition.” Frank said, and then for Nick’s benefit, “a member of the DEA grilled me when I arrived in Vegas to pay numb-nut’s bail. She fed me some cockamamie story about one of my men supposedly trafficking everything from drugs to humans back in Iraq. I thought she was pointing a finger at Jare and pretty much told her to kiss my ass but now it’s making a whole lot more sense.” Frank’s voice roughened with anger. “I can’t believe Sheridan played us right under our noses, and we never picked up on anything other than what an asshole he was.”
“Wait, this could work in our favor. If the DEA’s already looking into this, why don’t we turn the whole thing over to them and let them chase after Sheridan and company?”
“Yeah, we could do that. Except once they get involved they’re going to tear into every aspect of all our lives, including Sheridan’s, do you want that, Jared? What about what they will do to Sara and Jessica? I don’t want their lives dissected by the feds just as they’re getting back on their feet.”
“Fair enough, buddy, I don’t blame you for wanting to protect your family, but then we need to come up with a way to round them up ourselves. Anyone have any ideas? Woohoo good times, you sure know how to liven things up, Nick, my man.” Jared chortled.
“Don’t get too excited, this isn’t going to be a walk in the park. These guys are big league. We’re going to have to strategize for every contingent because there is no way in hell that I want Sara or Jessica anywhere near that asshole again.” Frustrated, he combed rough fingers through his hair.
“I agree with Nick. We need a strong plan in place. But I think that it would be better for us if we did a little, you show yours, I’ll show mine, with the DEA. We could keep it controlled. Tell them we’ll only deal with the agent and her partner I talked to in Vegas, and it has to stay under wraps, or no deal. The more I think it over, t
he more I believe we’re going to need all the help we can land, especially if we end up with the Cartel up our asses.”
“Are you sure you don’t just want to get the uber-hot Ms. Holt back in your orbit where you can woo her with your staidness?” Jared teased, ducking another hard fist.
“I’m going to go check on Sara while you two lovebirds twitter away. Be back in a few. If we put our collective brains together, we should be able to come up with one good idea. I hope.” Nick said as he came to his feet. Jake startled awake, jumped up also, his nails scrabbling on the faded green linoleum. “Maybe between us and the DEA, we can drop a net over their ugly asses and be done with this shit. I want Sheridan behind bars for a very long time gentlemen. Now how are we going to accomplish that?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A tornado of emotions whipped through Sara. She’d opened her arms and her heart to Nick, trusted him with the safety and wellbeing of herself and her child, and look where it landed her. Betrayal was a living, breathing entity in her chest. She wanted, needed, to avenge it.
Swiping angry tears from her face, she spun away from the sight of her bed with its recently messed covers, locked her door with a satisfying snap, and flung open her closet doors. Dropping to her knees her shaking fingers peeled back the thick old wallpaper to reveal the loosened wallboard. Sara pulled out the stash of money she’d hidden there, along with their fake ID’s and passports.
She grabbed the go bag from the floor filled with their essentials and stuffed everything inside before stopping to make sure Nick wasn’t on his way down the hall. Déjà vu, a bad habit, listening at doors. Nick’s deep tones mixed with the low rumble of voices coming from the kitchen.
He’s not coming.
Her breath stalled in her chest. Fine.
I don’t want him to anyway.
She pushed away, crossed to the window, and lifted, glad she’d kept the frame well oiled. Sliding the fire escape rope ladder from beneath the bed, she threw it out the opening, making sure it landed noiselessly against the side of the house. With a last, sad look around the room she’d grown to love, Sara breeched the windowsill and began the short climb down, pulling the go bag along with her.
She hit the ground in a low crouch and prayed Jake would stay sleeping inside with the men, then raced through evening shadows to jump the white rail fence to Tess’s house. She ran to the backdoor, knocked, turned the latch, and slipped inside.
The rich yeasty smell of bread welcomed her as she entered the kitchen from the little mudroom. “Tess, I need help.” Tess stood at the counter kneading dough and jumped at her voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Listen, I have to leave for a few days and have a big favor to ask.”
“Anything honey, you know that. What’s wrong, baby girl? Is Jessica okay?” The worried look on Tess’s face as she turned, rubbing her fingers together to rid them of flour, made Sara realize she’d better calm herself down before she picked up Jessica or she’d have her scared.
“Jess is fine. It’s a family thing, that’s all.” The stress of the past couple years, and then Nick’s betrayal caught up to her. Overwhelmed, Sara crumpled. Tears flooded her face, her shoulders shook and big gulping sobs forced their way out of her mouth.
“Oh, sweetie. Come here, come on now. Let me hold you, Sara. That’s right, honey, let it out, I’ve got you.” They stood together that way for quite a while, Tess humming a soothing little melody until Sara’s sobs became hiccups and she pulled away to grab a tissue from the table.
“I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired of lying to everyone I care about.” She sank onto one of Tess’s colorfully quilted cushions gracing the old wooden chairs. “I have something I have to tell you. I can’t hold it to myself anymore.”
“I think I can guess some of it. You were in an abusive relationship, weren’t you?” Tess came over and joined her, reaching out to link hands with Sara’s frozen ones.
“How did you know? I thought I hid it pretty well. Obviously, I’ve been fooling myself all along.”
“You did fine, angel. I just knew. I never told you this before but I had a daughter also. She grew up beautiful and vivacious. All the young men used to chase after her, but she only had eyes for one. He worked at the bar downtown, was a little rough around the edges. I think the bad boy image attracted Vivian the most. They ended up living together, and things seemed good for a couple of years.
“Then he got restless, started staying down at the bar even on days off. When she asked him about it he laughed and pushed her around a little. I never heard until later or I would have brought her home with me then. I wish to God I’d known.” The heartbreak in her friend’s voice broke Sara’s heart. No mother should ever lose a child.
“She followed him down there one night. I guess she wanted to see what the big attraction was. Well, she found out. He was in the back with some hussy pinned up to the wall. Vivian told him to pack his bags and get out and then she left, crying. He chased her out to the parking lot and beat the crap out of her. It was late, and at that time there were no lights in the lot, which has since changed, thankfully. My little girl pulled herself into her car and tried to drive herself to the hospital, but crashed into a tree and died. A rib had punctured her lung.”
“Oh, Tess. I’m so sorry.” More tears rushed to her eyes, thinking of what her friend had been through.
“None of that now.” Leaning forward, Tess tightened her grip on Sara’s hands. “It happened a long time ago and I’ve made my peace with it. That’s not the reason I told you. I just wanted you to know I’m here now, and I’m listening this time. So talk to me, okay? We’ll figure it out. I don’t want to see what happened to Vivian ever happen to you.”
“I had no idea. I’m so sorry.” No wonder Tess seemed so pensive at times. Fate had brought them together. They both loved the grandmotherly woman and it was obvious that Tess cared deeply for them as well. They were good for each other. Locking onto their linked fingers like a talisman, Sara let it all out like a purging.
“I have a husband. Well, an ex-husband, Tom Sheridan. We were married for nine years. Half that time seemed like a never-ending nightmare. He didn’t trust me and held me under constant surveillance. He’s a U.S. attorney in Massachusetts with ties to some very bad men. It was always about the power with him, he has to have complete control over everything. It took a long time, but finally things fell into place. I had a chance to escape with Jessica and grabbed it.” She took a moment to gather her thoughts, relieved to talk about it with someone, even if that someone couldn’t be Nick. The betrayal rose up again, a giant fist smacking her heart.
“But now he’s tracked me down. He called a little while ago to tell me he’s kidnapped my best friend and is holding her as a ransom to get me to go home.” Sara gazed at Tess through anguish filled eyes. “Don’t you see, I know what he’s capable of, I have to go. Fiona helped through everything, even our escape. I can’t just abandon her. I’m going after him. It’s my responsibility, he needs stopped before anyone else gets hurt. Will you keep Jessica for me if anything happens? It’s essential to me she’s safe, and I know she will be with you.”
Tess shook her head so fiercely her silvery topknot started a slow slide south, giving her an elfin appearance. “You can’t go after someone like that by yourself, you’ll be killed. We should go to the police. One of my nephews, Ty’s older cousin, is the chief of police here, he’ll help us. And what about Nick? It’s as obvious as the nose on my face that boy is in love with you.”
“Oh, he knows. Tom hired the inestimable Mr. Kelley to drag me home. He’s been playing some sick game with me all this time, getting his money’s worth, I guess. Nick must be laughing at what a dumbass I was. I trusted him, cared about him. Now all I feel is played, first Tom, then Nick. I am sick and tired of being used by men; I want control of my own life, so I’m going to go see that a-hole husband of mine, give him what he’s after, get my friend back, and then find a solution to world
peace. Should be easy, right?” Sara grinned, half-heartedly.
“I think it might be easier to solve the world’s problems than to corner your ex. What you’re considering is too dangerous to do alone. You’re going to need some help, whether you want to admit it or not. If anything happens to you, that sweet little girl of yours is going to be sent home to her daddy. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”
A crushing wash of despair threatened to drag her under. Of course she wouldn’t risk Jessica that way. Blinded by her righteous anger, she’d once again overlooked the big picture, which could have had tragic results for both of them. How stupid could she get? She couldn’t go off half-cocked without a real plan in place. Tom was exceptionally smart. He’d see through any trick in half a second. How did she think she could go up against him and win?
Sara thought they had a real chance when Nick told her he was there for her and called in his military friends for back up. Obviously, she’d taken a tour to Fantasy Island, and should have known better. Life wasn’t some kid’s fairy-tale.
Wasn’t she the pessimist these days?
She had to protect Jessica at all costs, and that meant stopping Tom. Those files needed to go to someone who could see him put behind bars. It was the only way any of them would be safe.
Tess was right, she did need help. This meant going back to Nick and his friends. Now she’d had time to calm down some—the sweet tea had worked its magic—she could see if Nick had been in it for the cash he would have turned her in long ago. So maybe he had developed feelings for her after all. And maybe she could use that to barter for their freedom, because for her, that was the endgame.
As far as she was concerned anything they had was over. She refused to be with anyone she couldn’t trust, been there, done that, had the scars to prove it. When she went back home, she’d let Nick know it was only for business, anything else was off the table.
Tidal Falls (Wounded Hearts Book 1) Page 12
