Secret Obsession

by Robin Perini

  THE BRADFORDS MADE everything difficult. Archimedes clutched the laptop, squeezing the frustration building from deep within. Hours had passed. All of the family homes were empty; completely deserted.

  Perhaps he could create a reason for Noah’s family to come home.

  He clicked on the image outside of Noah Bradford’s driveway entrance. He zoomed in. Security. And not just any security—security from Bradford’s Dreamcatcher company. It would be much easier to leave a message at one of the other houses, but Archimedes liked a challenge. He’d always thrived on a mental battle.

  He always won.

  All he had to do was jam the signal. He entered the coordinates of Noah Bradford’s house into his computer. Before he could execute the file, an image moved across his screen.

  He paused.

  A bright yellow Jeep pulled into Noah Bradford’s driveway. An arm reached out and keyed in a password. The light brown hair that stuck out reminded him of Lyssa. Quickly, he glanced at the tracker. The blinking dot in Dallas, Texas, quieted his pounding pulse. She was still at the airport.

  So who was this woman?

  He opened his file and studied the only woman in the group. Not as beautiful as Alessandra. Sierra Bradford. Her jaw too strong; her eyes too knowing. He didn’t like her.

  Still, she was a gift.

  The vehicle drove through the gate. He quickly typed in a few codes. Encrypted. He couldn’t commandeer the signal, but he was only fifteen minutes away.

  He made it in twelve. She hadn’t come out yet.

  Slipping on his latex gloves, Archimedes rounded his trunk. Digging into the back of his bag, he filled a dart with liquid and loaded the weapon. He got into the driver’s seat and waited.

  Five minutes passed, then ten. He could be patient. Eventually she would come out.

  Another eight minutes went by before the gate slid open.

  Archimedes shoved the gear into Drive, his hand patting the gun. He maneuvered the vehicle to the side so he’d have a clear view.

  She opened her window to close the gate.

  He shot the dart.

  Sierra Bradford slumped over the steering wheel.

  Archimedes smiled.

  Noah Bradford would be very sorry he’d ever tried to steal Alessandra.

  * * *

  WIND BUFFETED THE panes of the hotel room windows. Lyssa shivered at the cold seeping through the flimsy glass panes. She could tell the temperature had dropped at least another ten degrees since they’d holed up in the hotel.

  Noah stood in the corner, his cell phone to his ear. “Just get here as soon as you can.” He turned to Lyssa, a frown on his face. “The plane won’t make it here until morning.” He tossed the phone on the bed and opened the blinds. “On the positive side, if we can’t travel, neither can Archimedes.”

  Rafe stroked his beard. “Better not take any chances. We know he was here. Zane and I will stake out the hangar. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  Lyssa jumped up from the table. “Not alone.”

  Zane simply winked at her. “That’s what you’re paying us for, sweetheart.”

  Before she could think of an argument, the two men left. A knot lodged in Lyssa’s stomach. “What if Archimedes follows the signal? He won’t hesitate to kill them.”

  “Rafe and Zane know what they’re doing,” Noah said. “They’ve faced terrorists and guerrilla warriors. They’re smart, savvy and they know how to stay alive.”

  “Archimedes is smarter. And he doesn’t make mistakes,” she said flatly. She picked up her duffel. “I’m going with them.”

  Noah grabbed the strap and whirled her away from the door. “Like hell you are.”

  She righted herself and yanked her bag to her. “Don’t you see what’s happening, Noah? He’s playing us. He’ll win. It’s inevitable.” She kneaded the base of her neck. “Maybe it’s better if he does win. If he kills me, then it will be over.”

  Noah clasped her shoulders. “Don’t delude yourself. He’ll go on killing. He’s developed a taste for it. He’ll just turn his fixation onto someone else.”

  Oh, God. Lyssa’s fingers loosened and the bag fell between them. She bowed her head, her forehead hitting his chest. “You’re right. How can I be so selfish?”

  Warm arms surrounded her. “You’re exhausted. You have a serial killer after you. You’re entitled.”

  Noah pressed her closer against him. She didn’t resist. She’d made her choice. She didn’t know how long she’d survive, but she couldn’t resist the temptation any longer. She wrapped her arms around Noah’s waist, just wanting to be close, just wanting to forget that there was a madman who wanted her dead. He tilted her chin and looked down at her, his brown eyes intense. She squirmed under that knowing look.

  “Are you sure?” he asked quietly.

  She couldn’t look away. Her gaze drifted to the tension in his jaw. He swallowed and she focused on his eyes. They’d gone dark, the color of mahogany. He stood so close she could feel his heart beating. Her leg touched his; her chest rested against the hard planes of his body. She could anticipate each breath he took.

  He stroked her cheek. “I want to kiss you again.” His head lowered so slowly, the anticipation sent a tingle through her lips. “You can stop me with one word,” he whispered.

  She pulled his head down to hers, her mouth opening under his lips. “Make me forget, Noah. For just a little while.”

  A groan escaped from his throat. He tightened his hold, lifting her by the hips. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he backed toward the hotel bed.

  He tasted of spice and coffee and something indefinably Noah. She gripped his shoulders and held on, sinking to the bed. She straddled his hips and held his head between her hands.

  Her mouth pressed against his. She hadn’t been touched in so long; she’d been running, at Archimedes’s whim, for what seemed like forever.

  Well, he wasn’t here. Not now.

  Noah leaned back, taking her with him. She pressed his wrists back against the bed, stretching his arms above his head.

  He let her.

  She could tell he wanted her. He couldn’t hide his response. She ground her hips against his hardness. So tempting.

  “You’re close to the point of no return,” he gasped, his hips arching to her.

  She leaned over him and took his lips.

  A ring sounded from his pocket. She sagged against him, her breath short. He let out a harsh curse and she moved her hands from his wrists, shoving back the disappointment. She tried to climb off him. He held her waist, holding her in place with one hand.

  She could have moved but she didn’t.

  When he fished out his phone from his front pocket, he moaned a bit. “I’m going to kill whoever interrupted you. Don’t lose your place.”

  She wiggled against him and he surged beneath her.

  “Bradford. This better be good.”

  Noah’s brow narrowed, his expression grew fierce. Lyssa stiffened above him and leaned closer so she could hear the conversation on the other end. Noah looked as if he wanted to move away, keep her from listening. That was so not happening.

  She snuggled closer, and he bit back a groan.

  “All the forensic evidence collected for the Archimedes murders has been destroyed.” Elijah’s voice filtered through the earpiece. “From a legal standpoint, we’re starting from scratch.”

  Immediately Lyssa rolled off Noah. So, a trial wouldn’t be possible. It gave them only one choice, and part of her was relieved. Noah’s arm snaked around her and tugged her against him. She relaxed and let him anchor her close.

  “How did Archimedes get to it?” Noah asked.

  “Oh, he made it look like an accident—if you believe in oceanfront property in Arizona. A ker
osene lamp just above the Archimedes evidence section. A wire short circuit. A fire. A convenient computer virus. Panic is racing through the Justice Department.”

  “Find the leak, Elijah.” Noah’s gaze held her captive. “It doesn’t change what we have to do, but it may give us a lead on Archimedes’s identity.”

  Noah’s finger trailed a soft stroke down her arm. Her body shivered under his touch, but her mind pulled away. Every moment she was with Noah, the wall around her heart splintered a bit more. She was a fool.

  Noah ended the call with orders for Elijah to keep in contact. Lyssa placed her hands on Noah’s chest and pushed at him. “Let me go,” she said.

  He rolled her under him, holding his weight up on his forearm. “It’s a blow to the prosecution,” Noah admitted. “But it doesn’t change our plans. In some ways it’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

  As if he could read her mind.

  She couldn’t meet his gaze. “He would never have been convicted anyway. Reasonable doubt.”

  The warmth of his body didn’t budge, but she shifted in his arms, staring at the wall. “Promise me something,” she said softly. “Promise me he won’t go free. Promise me, if something happens and I can’t do it...promise me Archimedes won’t walk away. No court. No trial.”

  He stayed silent for what seemed like hours, but it may have been only a few seconds. “I promise,” he said finally.

  Lyssa pushed at his shoulders. He let her and eased off her body. She rose from the bed, then looked at him over her shoulder. “Thank you.”

  She paced the room. He sat up on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand, capturing hers. “I want a promise from you.” He drew her near. “Don’t take him on by yourself. Let me do this.”

  With a sharp yank, she pulled away, shaking her head. “I...I can’t, Noah. I vowed to Jack. It’s my battle.”

  Noah’s eyes bored into her. “Have you ever killed a man?” he asked.

  “I watched the man I love die. I saw a WitSec officer assigned to protect me carved up on my apartment floor. I watched an innocent woman stop breathing and a man I respected with his throat cut,” she said harshly. “I’m way too familiar with death.”

  “Taking a life changes you, Lyssa. It’s something you can’t ever take back.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Let me do this for you.”

  Lyssa tugged at the ring around her neck. She lifted her gaze to his. “I’d give up my soul to see Archimedes dead.”

  He kissed her palm. “Not by these hands. I promise you that.”

  * * *

  DARKNESS HAD FALLEN over the Rocky Mountains. Archimedes flicked the small but bright flashlight on in the abandoned building. He dragged Sierra Bradford into a small closet at the center of the structure and propped her up against the back wall. Outside, sirens wailed, but no one would find them here. He’d made certain.

  His chest wheezed with each breath through the stocking mask. He’d be glad to return to the coast. Bending down, he tested the climbing cords securing her hands and feet. The knots wouldn’t give; they were strong and nearly indestructible.

  Last, he pressed duct tape to her mouth, leaving her free to breathe through her nose.

  He wouldn’t kill her. Not yet. Partly because he wanted Bradford to believe there was a chance his sister could be saved.

  More importantly, he wanted his victim to know what was happening every hour she waited. He relished the fear, had come to savor those moments when eyes widened with terror, then resignation, then finally the flicker of life snuffing out.

  He had total, absolute control over all existence.

  So, he waited, and watched, until her eyelids fluttered a bit.

  He smiled, crouching down in front of her so he would be the first thing she’d see.

  Her eyelids snapped open.

  He could tell the moment she recognized her position. She twisted, but the tight fit of the closet stopped her.

  “Don’t bother trying to escape.”

  The flashlight swept down her body.

  Archimedes waited for the panic to settle in her eyes. Instead, her expression skewered him with hatred.

  His temple throbbed.

  Fool.

  “Do you know who I am?” he asked, his voice a singsong whisper.

  She simply glared. No response. Not even a shake of her head.

  His teeth ground. She couldn’t ignore him. He wouldn’t allow it.

  He lifted his knee and slammed the steel-toe boots against her ribs. She folded up, whimpering through the duct tape.

  “Do you know me?” he asked.

  No response.

  He kicked her again. “Do you know me? Answer me!”

  She shook her head, just barely.

  He grinned, hoping his distorted face through the stocking terrified her. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Archimedes.”

  This time her eyes did widen and he got what he wanted. A flash of fear.

  Satisfaction gave way to power. His grin widened. “I see you know me. You should.”

  He leaned forward, his hands moving closer. Her gaze followed them. He toyed with the buttons on her manly shirt. She shrank back, but she couldn’t escape. He liked playing with her. The woman who pretended she was so capable, so strong.

  She was nothing.

  He unbuttoned the top button, staring at the smooth, unblemished skin, then pulled out a knife. “Don’t worry. This won’t take long.”

  Suddenly the woman kicked out at him, her heel hitting just above his knee. He fell to the side, then sprang toward her, sitting on her legs.

  He pressed the knife against her throat. “Do that again, you’re dead.”

  Enough playing around. With a few quick slices, he cut through her shirt and bra, baring her chest.

  He dug the knife into her smooth skin, carving his symbol at the top of her breast.

  She winced, but didn’t cry out. Damn her.

  “Are you afraid?” He dragged the blade to her rib. “One shove in right here and you’d bleed to death on the inside.” He moved the blade to her abdomen. “Or here, it would take longer.”

  He gloried at the shiver that raced through her before finishing the design. “Or not.”

  Blood dripped down to her nipple. He gazed at his handiwork.

  Infinity. Forever.

  How long he’d loved Alessandra. How long they would be together.

  How much longer before she would be his?

  It had to be soon.

  He tapped his temple. “I should kill you, but I need you alive. For a while.” He rose, wiping his blade clean. “In thirty-six hours this building will be demolished. If your brother does what he’s told, I might let him know where you are before the explosions commence. Otherwise...”

  Archimedes exited the closet and fortified the door. She would die soon. And Noah Bradford would learn once and for all what it meant to challenge Archimedes.

  They all would learn.

  Chapter Nine

  Noah took the night watch from a spot on the wall with a view of both the suite door and the outside window. Rafe and Zane had done their share of staking out already in freezing temperatures. Archimedes hadn’t shown and they deserved the rest.

  Besides, Noah knew he wouldn’t sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes, Lyssa’s sweet voice seduced him. In the dreams, she started out wanting him, begging for his touch, and then ended by presenting him a bloody knife—to kill for her.

  He didn’t need a psychology degree to comprehend the meaning.

  Did she want him...or did she want the Falcon? Killing the ones who believed they could get away with it.

  Archimedes fit the category.

  So did most of the terrorist leaders he’d tracked
down and eliminated.

  The soft swish of Lyssa’s bedroom door took Noah out of his thoughts. He glanced at the red numbers of the radio clock on the end table in the sitting area. Four in the morning.

  Lyssa padded across the room and sank down beside him, tucking her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs.

  “You’re up early,” he said, his voice husky from a night without speaking to anyone, except in his mind.

  “I never went to sleep,” she said softly. “Still snowing?”

  “Light. We’ll be able to leave as soon as they clear the runways. I would think midmorning.”

  She rested her chin on her knees and looked over at him. “I’ve been thinking about you. About us.”

  Oh, boy. Noah wasn’t sure he wanted to hear this. “Your conclusion?” Did he even want to know?

  “You confuse me,” she said, chewing on her lip. “Jack couldn’t quite figure you out. He told me...”

  Noah waited for the teasing, the mocking. Jack had respected Noah’s ability, he knew that, but Jack hadn’t been able to resist a jibe or two about the human calculator.

  “Your smarts blew him away. He didn’t talk about work a lot, but he couldn’t help but mention a few crazy MacGyver stunts you’d pulled off. One with toothpicks, duct tape and some blasting caps.”

  “That mission was classified,” Noah said. He leaned back against the wall. “Jack was convinced I’d gone nuts for coming to boot camp, especially when he found out about Dreamcatcher.”

  She smiled, her expression bittersweet, and Noah couldn’t stop himself from being caught in the sad depths of her green eyes.

  “He couldn’t understand why someone with your brains and your money would be willing to fight so hard to be a marine. Mostly because Jack’s father had told him it was either the military or working in his dad’s auto-body shop.”

  “I’d forgotten that story,” Noah said with a slight grin. “The truth is, Jack was made for Intelligence. His charm got him information I could never have gathered. Plus he had guts. He was loyal, and he could sniff out the bad guys like he was a bloodhound. Great instincts.”

  “He said the same about you, but he said you did it with your brain and techie toys.” She tilted her head to the side. “Why did you join up? Why not just run your companies?”