She should have known better.
With Jackson involved, nothing was simple.
CHAPTER FORTY
Wednesday, October 1, 5:00 p.m.
LILY FELT TRAPPED. Again. She’d put in a call to Director Kennedy, only to be told that he was in an urgent, classified meeting and couldn’t be disturbed. So she’d pulled out the tattered card and punched in his private number.
It went straight to voice mail.
She threw herself into the large recliner and crossed her legs. Derek lay sprawled out on the sofa next to her, softly snoring. He held his arm to his chest. Even in sleep, his face pinched in pain with each rise and fall of his torso. Ben tinkered in his garage, his way of blowing off steam, and Marcus and Evelyn had taken over the table. They pored through their files, hoping to find something, anything, that would help them figure out what the hell had gone wrong and shed some light on the identity of their mystery sniper.
Lily didn’t have much hope that the files would relinquish anything new.
She glanced into the kitchen, at the clock hanging above the stove.
The forty-eight-hour deadline had passed.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Her team was still safe. Everyone she loved was safe. Take that, you little bastard. Suddenly her blood turned to ice. George. Lily snatched up her phone, dialed his cell. It went straight to voice mail. She hung up, punched in the concierge’s number. It rang. And rang. And rang. Her hand trembled as she hit the end button.
Lily jumped up and grabbed her keys. “I need to check something on my computer.”
Marcus peered up at her over the top of the file in his hand. “Your computer, as in at your place?”
Evelyn tipped her head to the side and quietly studied Lily. She resisted the urge to fidget. Did she dare tell them why she really needed to go to her place? That she feared for George? If she voiced that, if she voiced her concern for George’s safety, they wouldn’t let her leave. And she needed to go.
Right. This. Second.
She glanced at Derek. He was still asleep. Good. Let’s keep it that way. She didn’t have a moment to waste. She needed to go now. So she smiled softly, shrugged. “It’s important.”
“It’s important?” Marcus’s brows bunched together suspiciously.
Lily glanced away, not wanting him to use his psychological voodoo to read her.
Evelyn pushed back from the table and rose. She kissed the top of Marcus’s head. “I’ll go with her.”
“That’s okay.” Lily waved her hand in the air, playing down the urgency that ripped through every cell in her body. “I’ll be back shortly. No big deal.”
Evelyn grabbed her jacket and pushed an arm through. “I wasn’t asking for permission.”
“Fine.” Lily reached for the door and pulled it open. It creaked slightly. She grimaced, stopped midstep and peered over her shoulder at Derek.
He had bolted upright and his gaze landed on Lily. Great. Shoving himself up, he moved toward the door. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Lily held up a hand. “I don’t need a babysitter, Derek. And you need to get more rest.”
“I don’t need more rest.”
Look who’d woken up as a caveman?
Evelyn stepped in between Lily and Derek and put a hand on his cheek. “She’s fine, Derek. I’m going with her. You stay and rest.”
* * *
THEY WALKED THREE blocks in silence. Lily hadn’t wanted company, but at least she wasn’t under Derek’s thumb.
“So why are we really going to your place, Lil?”
Lily shoved her hands into her jacket pocket. “How’d you know?”
“We’re more similar than you might think.” Evelyn stopped, turning to face Lily. “So why are we really going back?”
“George.”
“You’re worried about your former black-ops doorman?” Evelyn asked.
“I know it sounds absurd, but I can’t shake this feeling that something is wrong. I just need to check in, see him.”
“And a call wouldn’t suffice?”
“He didn’t answer any of my calls. He’s probably in the bathroom, or something ridiculously lame.” Lily scrunched her nose. “But I need to see him face-to-face, make sure he’s okay.”
Evelyn studied Lily’s face, then shrugged. “Fair enough.”
Lily chewed on her lip. “Thanks for rescuing me back there.”
“I admit, sometimes the barbarian persona can get a bit annoying, even though it’s done with the best of intentions.”
A small laugh bubbled out of Lily’s throat before she could swallow it. Annoying wasn’t the word she would have chosen for Derek’s behavior. It definitely wasn’t strong enough. Derek’s caveman stunt was ridiculous.
“Lil, believe me when I tell you he’s only trying to keep you safe.”
“Not sure why he cares,” Lily groused and hunched her shoulders against the wind.
They turned the corner. Lily’s building was across the street. Urgency breathed down her neck, pressing her forward. The lobby’s light shone brightly against the inky evening sky.
A frown scrunched Evelyn’s beautiful features. “Are you that bl—”
Lily grabbed Evelyn’s arm. “Stop.”
She pulled up, went quiet. Scanned the street.
Lily’s eyes were trained on her building. George wasn’t at the door. No one was in the lobby. She squinted.
No one was in the lobby.
She fought to breathe. Every muscle in her body coiled. Her sixth sense screamed at her. To go. To get to George. Now.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Lily took off, sprinted across the street. Car horns screamed at her as vehicles skidded to a halt. She dodged, jumped and slid over the hood of one car. Her feet hit the ground and she pushed her body harder.
Be okay, George. Please be okay.
She burst into the lobby and slammed to a stop.
Three large red words were scrawled across the white marble wall behind the concierge desk...George’s desk.
YOU WERE WARNED
Lily clasped her hand over her mouth to keep the scream from bouncing off the walls. Her legs threatened to give out.
Please, God, don’t let this be happening.
She launched herself over the desk. Tears flooded her eyes. George—the man she’d always looked up to, her protector, her friend—lay in a dark puddle, his eyes open, his body riddled with crimson slashes.
Lily dropped to her knees and cradled her head in her hands, rocking back and forth. George. She swatted the tears away and reached for him. “George, please...”
Evelyn threw her arm out. “Don’t touch him. Lily, don’t touch him.”
Lily’s hand dropped to her side. She knew better. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—contaminate the scene. Not that the authorities would find anything. He was too perfect. He wouldn’t leave anything pointing back to him.
She knew.
He’d trained her.
A sob broke through her lips. Why hadn’t she thought about George earlier? Where had her mind been? How could she have forgotten about him? He was more than just the man who’d pledged his life to protect hers.
He was family.
A crushing pressure slammed into her chest. Lily couldn’t breathe. Her vision blurred. How the hell could she have forgotten about him?
The sirens wailing in the distance grew louder. Evelyn’s head snapped up. She pulled Lily to her feet.
Lily stumbled, grabbed the desk. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Swallow it,” Evelyn snapped, tugging at Lily’s arm. “We don’t have time to get caught up in the red tape. You can give a statement later. We have to go. Now.”
Lil
y looked over her shoulder. The image of George lying in a pool of his own blood seared itself into her mind. Her throat burned with raw emotion.
How could she leave him? Just walk away?
Evelyn pushed her out the door. “There’s nothing we can do for George now, except nail the bastard who took him.”
Lily blinked back hot tears. She stumbled out of the lobby and staggered away from George, her building, the life she’d known there. One block away, she broke into a run. Anger pushed at her. With each pounding footstep, the fire in her bones grew.
Evelyn raced after her. “Lil, listen to me.”
Ignoring her, Lily picked up her pace. Dark emotions raged within her. Grief suffocated her. Black vengeance pulled at her, demanding to be answered. She knew who had taken George from her. To what? Spite her? To prove that he was stronger, that he was right?
Right or wrong, she was going to kill Jackson.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Wednesday, October 1, 5:15 p.m.
LILY RUSHED THROUGH Ben’s front door and, without a word, stalked past the men and headed for the back bedroom. Yanking the closet door open, she stood on her tiptoes and reached for the top shelf. Her fingers located their target. She jerked hard, and the large black bag thumped heavily onto the floor.
She unzipped it, grabbed two Glocks and tucked them into her waistband, then grabbed the M4.
“You have a go bag?” Derek’s calm voice jarred her from the dark, murderous thoughts rolling around her mind. “Here?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
He walked into the bedroom and shut the door. Silence blanketed them. “Depends on what you’re planning to do with it.”
She dug through the bag. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.
“George is gone.” She gulped back a sob. “He killed George.”
She’d failed him.
“Evelyn just filled us in. I’m so sorry, Lil.” Derek reached his hand out. Lily jerked back. Sighing, he dropped his arm to his side. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” She tried to step around him. He blocked her exit and she glared up at him. “Move.”
“No.”
“Derek.”
“It looks like you’re arming yourself for World War III.” He leaned closer, crowding her. “You can’t go after him. That isn’t how we do things.”
“This is different.”
“How?” Derek touched her shoulder. This time, she didn’t shrink back, just stood there as if she’d turned to stone. “You and I both know he probably went dark.”
The warmth of his hand seeped through her jacket. Lily knew what he was doing. Trying to tether her, center her...bring her back from her homicidal intentions. They’d all been taught this move.
The makeshift wall she’d thrown up around her emotions cracked. She jerked away, couldn’t afford to feel. “Don’t touch me.”
Derek leaned on his heels and raised his good hand in surrender. The softness in his face tore into Lily.
The crack widened.
She turned her back to him. If he wouldn’t give her personal space, so be it, but she wasn’t going to allow him to get inside her head.
Not this time.
“Lil.” He moved so close she could feel his body heat. “Talk to me.”
Lily spun around. “You want me to talk? Fine. I’m going to track Jackson down and make him suffer. And I’m going to do it in such a way that it’s going to make him scream for death. But I’m not going to give it to him. I’m going to let the life seep out of him, just like he drained the life out of George. Is that what you want to hear?”
“Stop and listen to yourself for a moment. You’re talking like a crazy person.”
She stepped back, the words slamming into her as though he’d slapped her. Clearly, Derek had never lost someone at the hands of a lunatic. He’d never had someone ripped from his life just to be taught a lesson. If he had, he wouldn’t have been arguing with her.
He wouldn’t have said she was crazy for wanting justice.
She took a deep breath to pacify the fire in her blood, reminding herself that Derek wasn’t the enemy, and spoke slowly, deliberately. “I am not talking crazy. I’m going to kill the bastard for taking someone I love.”
Grabbing her by the shoulders, Derek twirled her to face the mirror. “Look at yourself.”
Black mascara streaked down her cheeks. Wild, fierce eyes gazed back at her. Lily blinked. She didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror.
“You’re melting down, Lily. Start thinking like an agent, not some emotional woman.”
She shook off his hands and glared up at him. “I am emotional, damn it. Any sane person would feel like their heart had just been torn out of their chest and slashed to pieces after finding a family member, someone they loved, hacked to shreds.”
Derek threw up one arm. “You’re right. A sane person would be emotional right now. But they wouldn’t be strapping an M4 to their back in order to go on a fucking manhunt. They’d probably be curled up in a ball somewhere, bawling their eyes out. And rightfully so.”
“I’m not that person. I’m not some weak woman—”
“Exactly my point. You’re not just any woman, Lily Andrews. You’re a 67 operative. The code we live by is different from the average person.” He pointed at her chest. “You don’t get to lose it.”
Her lips trembled. She bit down hard. She would not cry in front of this man. Lily crossed her arms around her waist and hugged herself.
“I know what code I live by—”
“Do you? The code you swore to uphold and protect doesn’t allow for this emotional bullshit.” He stepped closer and pushed his face into hers. “You don’t get to break down. You don’t get to become an emotional basket case.”
She didn’t know what tipped her over the edge. Maybe his warm breath on her face? Or because he was so close she could see dark specks of violet floating in his aqua eyes? Maybe because he’d peeled back her stark mask of rage to the woman struggling to hold it together. Maybe because he hadn’t dropped her like a hot coal.
Whatever it was, she couldn’t hold her tears back any longer, and they flowed freely down her cheeks.
“Everything inside me hurts.” She wiped away the moisture racing down her face.
“I know, babycakes. But you’ve got to bottle it up, lock it away. Don’t tarnish everything George loved and gave his life for by going crazy on us.” He tipped her chin up. Compassion swam in his eyes. “Be the agent he gave his life for. Be the agent he loved.”
The raging fire snuffed out. Her heart broke all over again. But not you. She backed away, widened the space between them.
A bone-crushing sadness quickly filled the void the fire left.
But not you.
The one man she wanted to love her was the one man who no longer seemed to care, despite his confession from the other night. Her heart splintered. Life could be so cruel. Lily squeezed her eyes together. She channeled the sadness, funneled the emotion back to its rightful place, to the man who’d started this whole train wreck: Jackson.
“Jackson has to answer for what he’s done.” She clenched her hands into tight fists. “I need to track him down and bring him in.”
“And we will. But we do it right. And somehow, I don’t think parading down Main Street with an M4 strapped to your back classifies as by the book.” He tipped his head to the side, pointed to the gun in her hand. “Do you?”
Lily set the gun down and shook her head. Had she really just armed herself for World War freaking III?
He gently laid his hand on her shoulder and searched her face. “Can you focus? No one will blame you if you need to sit this one out.”
“I’m not sitting this one out, Derek.�
�
“Fair enough. I’m just giving you an out, if you need it.”
“I don’t.”
He grinned down at her, the dimple in his cheek deepening. “Okay, then. How about we go strategize our next move? The more minds on this, the better.”
Lily and Derek walked into the kitchen and all talking ceased. Between her Spanish heritage and his Irish, there was nothing quiet about their heated conversation. She cringed, scrunching her nose. “Sorry about all that.”
Evelyn got up, wrapped her arms around Lily and squeezed. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing to apologize for. You’re spot-on in your assessment. Jackson needs to be brought in. He needs to pay. But...we do it right.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Wednesday, October 1, 11:00 p.m.
DEREK’S HEAD HURT. They’d strategized, planned and tweaked for hours. A lump lodged into his throat, refusing to move. He swallowed hard, then scrubbed his hand over his face. They could have all the contingency plans in the world, but it would do them no good if they didn’t know who they were fighting against.
Rowland. Jackson. They were known players. But this mysterious sniper threw them all into another world of chaos.
Derek hated being one step behind. This morning’s fiasco had put them all on their heels. Edgy tension smothered them like a heavy blanket.
A half-dozen calls in to Director Kennedy resulted in nothing. Nada. The man who’d sent them into this shit storm was still unavailable. Yeah, fucking right. The director had washed his hands of them. Derek knew it. He recognized the signs, he’d just never been on this side of the coin before.
Ben pushed to his feet and stretched. “It’s time to call it a night.”
“I agree with that one.” Marcus tossed his pen onto the table and leaned back in his chair. “Not sure about everyone else, but I feel like a dead man walking.”
“Ditto that, brother.”
“Everyone stays here tonight.” Ben looked around the room. “No exceptions.”
Dead No More Page 24
