Last Chance

by Christy Reece

  Why did he continue? Did he believe she was involved in his abduction? Was that the reason, or was there more? Noah had indicated that Kane wanted to thank her. Perhaps that was all. She hoped so. Silly, really, but she hated for Lucas Kane to think badly of her by believing she’d actually been in cahoots with Victor.

  She’d had plenty of time to relive those moments from his rescue. His rescue? How laughable. Other than taking out Victor, she’d done very little. Pretty damn bad when the victim becomes the rescuer. Of all the times to pass out. Any other time she’d been forced to kill someone, she would become nauseous. Not pleasant, but at least she was usually able to function to finish the rescue. Passing out was not only embarrassing, it was damn dangerous. They both could’ve been killed.

  When she woke, one man had been dead. Thankfully, she’d managed to distract the other one, but Lucas Kane had still been able to take care of him, even with a bullet hole in his shoulder.

  After the excitement had passed and she’d been far enough away from Kane to think straight, she acknowledged that if she had never shown up, Lucas Kane would have gotten out of the situation all by himself. Which made her fascination for him even larger. Something she definitely hadn’t needed.

  McKenna rushed around her little apartment, collecting the few things she wouldn’t leave without. She’d stayed here longer than she did most places; it was past time to leave, anyway. No use looking around and bemoaning the frilly little curtains she’d hand-stitched herself or the painting she had found at a flea market that reminded her of home. She’d hung it over the television and found herself looking at it more than at what was on TV.

  She would leave those things, of course. Taking the minimal belongings was the only way she traveled and the only way she’d survived this long.

  Being hunted wasn’t a new thing for her; she just had a new predator. No, she could never call Lucas Kane a predator. Noah’s words continued to whirl around in her head. “He wants to thank you…wants you to know if you ever need anything, you only have to ask.”

  McKenna snorted as she grabbed a handful of underwear. Maybe she should just go to Kane, tell him that for years she’d been hunted by a crazed maniac, and would he mind hiring an army to kill him? She could just see his handsome face as she gave him her request. He probably wanted to give her a box of chocolates or a basket full of bath salts as a thank-you, not a paid assassin.

  No, she would never ask someone to do something she would one day have to do herself. There would be a final confrontation. And she would be the one who would end his sorry life. If she had to lose hers in the process, that was only fair. At some point she would stop being such a chickenshit and do the deed.

  Standing on her rickety kitchen chair, she opened the cabinet above the refrigerator. Moving aside the bargain-sized jar of peanut butter, she pulled at the loose board behind it and opened the small area she’d created only hours after moving in. She took the nylon pouch, unzipped it, and checked its contents, though she knew nothing had been moved. Six passports, five driver’s licenses, twenty-eight thousand dollars, and a small black wallet with three photographs. She no longer looked at the pictures—they were carved into her mind, seared into her soul—but she would never go anywhere without them.

  She stepped down and returned the chair under the table. Zipping the pouch, she dumped it in with her clothes and toiletries. Placing her notebook computer on top of everything, McKenna closed the bag and straightened. With a long, silent sigh, she took one last glance at the landscape above the television, grabbed the duffel bag, and walked out the door.

  Lucas Kane needed to stop looking for her. There was only one way to ensure that he did.

  two

  “We believe we’ve found her.”

  The Paris traffic was almost deafening in its exuberance; Lucas held the phone closer to his ear. “Say again.”

  “We’ve found her.”

  Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, he ignored the creative curse of a bicyclist who almost rammed him. “How? Where?”

  “We spotted a woman matching her description two days ago. We followed her but lost her in the crowd. Then we spotted her again this morning, hailing a taxi.”

  “Where?”

  “Paris.”

  His heart thudded and that strange shiver he’d felt the first time she was near swept through him. “Does she know you’re following her?”

  “No. Her ride is about three cars ahead of us…wait, she’s stopping.”

  “What street?”

  “Rue de Morat.”

  Lucas looked up at the street sign above him: Rue de Morat.

  “She’s getting out.”

  An odd, surreal feeling washed over him as Lucas slowly turned. There, not ten feet away from him, stood his angel, his rescuer…his ghost.

  The cacophony of an overcrowded city became silent; the busy Paris sidewalk disappeared. Lucas had only one focal point as he began a slow walk toward her. If he moved too quickly, would she disappear like the ghost she claimed to be? He didn’t want to take the chance.

  She looked the same, yet different. Her hair was still short and bleached a platinum blond. Faded, ragged jeans covered her slender legs; the olive green T-shirt and black leather jacket she wore were probably supposed to make her look tough and boyish. Instead he thought they made her look sexy as hell.

  The real difference from the last time he saw her was her face. Her skin wasn’t coated with inches of heavy makeup, and her expression was a mixture of vulnerability, determination, and defiance.

  She didn’t move, just watched him with those lovely but oh so wary eyes. He knew people were passing by him, and if his former commander could see him now, he’d have blasted Lucas for having no concept of his surroundings. He didn’t care. This woman had haunted his dreams nightly. Damned if he’d let anything get in the way of seeing her, including watching his back.

  Within a foot of her he stopped and murmured, “And the ghost reappears.”

  A small, enigmatic smile tilted her lips. “I think we need to talk.”

  Lucas held out his hand. She stared at it for the longest time. Just when he was about to drop his hand, she brought hers up in an awkward, shy way and her fingertips touched his. At that touch, his heartbeat skyrocketed.

  “I’m staying here.” He shot a glance over his shoulder at the hotel behind him.

  “Yes. Room 2304.”

  He didn’t bother to question how she knew where he was staying or his room number. It didn’t matter. Pulling her with him, he turned and walked the few yards to the hotel entrance. She didn’t say a word, just went along with him, that mysterious smile still in place.

  Still holding hands, they went through the lobby and stepped into the elevator without talking. He felt her give him several glances out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t speak. More surprising than anything, she didn’t let go of his hand.

  Since he was in the penthouse, he used a special key to take them to the top. He knew her eyes watched him; heard her swallow hard a couple of times. He felt the tension in her body, the coldness of her hand…but still she didn’t let go of him. Something about the trust in that one small gesture did strange things to his heart.

  The elevator opened and they walked out together. Standing in front of the penthouse door, she pulled her hand from his and said, “Before we go in, I’d like to ask you something.”

  “What?”

  “Why am I here?”

  “You mean, am I going to expect something from you by coming into my hotel room?”

  Wariness. Vulnerability. Curiosity. They were all there in her expression. But her answer was one small nod.

  “I don’t expect anything from you,” he said.

  Her eyes searched his; she was looking for a trick, a lie. Lucas held his breath, feeling as though this was one of the most important moments of his life. Somehow he felt that if she gave him her trust, she would be giving him a gift of major proportions. H
e waited for her verdict. If she turned around and walked away, he wouldn’t try to stop her, but he knew there would always be an ache inside him that he could never fill.

  Finally she said, “Okay.”

  He opened the door before she could change her mind. She walked through; he followed behind her.

  As the door closed them into the luxurious penthouse, McKenna told herself this was probably the third dumbest decision she’d made in her life. The first one had gotten her entire family killed; the second one had landed her in jail. Both times it had been because she’d trusted the wrong people.

  Somehow, even knowing how stupid this was, she refused to regret it. Lucas Kane had been on her mind well before she met him. She’d seen him on a television interview once and hadn’t been able to resist Googling his name. And had become an instant admirer. Several of the causes he donated his wealth to were her favorite charities. Ones she supported as much as possible.

  Since meeting Lucas, the fascination had only grown. During his rescue he had handled himself like a pro. Lucas Kane was more than just a wealthy businessman from England.

  She couldn’t deny that another reason for her fascination was the incredibly odd connection she’d felt the instant their eyes met. As if he’d not only seen straight into her soul but had liked and approved of what he saw.

  She had to see where this would lead. Nothing permanent, of course. Permanency no longer existed for her. But she had to see what happened.

  “Would you like something to drink or eat?”

  She shook her head. Odd, since she was known to have a healthy appetite and had never turned down a meal. Nerves weren’t usually an issue for her, but if she put anything into her mouth right now, chances were it’d come right back up. Her stomach was filled with giant butterflies.

  “Have a seat.”

  Instead of sitting on the elegant sofa he indicated, she went to the giant floor-to-ceiling window and stared out at the sprawling city below. What was she doing here? She shouldn’t have come. In a city this size, there was no reason she couldn’t have disappeared, and he would never find her. In her heart she had known that. Telling herself she had come to him before he found her was a lie. And McKenna had long since stopped lying to herself. She had come to Lucas Kane because he intrigued her on so many levels. For one brief moment in time, she wanted to indulge that fascination. And then she would leave and never see him again.

  “I’ve been looking for you for so long, I hardly know what to say to you.”

  She turned to him and once more tried to pinpoint her fascination. Tall, maybe around six-two; muscular, but not overly so; thick, golden blond hair that held just a hint of a wave; clear silver-gray eyes; stubborn chin. Elegant with an underlying ruggedness. A ruggedness that caused all sorts of interesting shivers throughout her body.

  His khaki pants and navy shirt should have looked ordinary, even bland. Lucas’s physique and air of confidence made them appear stylish and classic.

  Was Lucas Kane a handsome man? Absolutely. Best-looking man she’d ever met? No. That title belonged to a monster. But this man had something that drew her to him. Moth to a flame. Magnet to steel. Every cliché ever created to describe an indescribable attraction.

  Direct as ever, she asked, “Why have you been looking for me?”

  “I wanted to thank you for saving my life.”

  She couldn’t prevent the smile. “Is that what I did?”

  “Yes.” He lifted a brow. “Why would you ask that?”

  “Because you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself. I may have taken out Victor, but the other two men were all your doing.”

  Lucas shrugged. “I was angry enough and they were a bit out of shape.”

  That was true. Victor’s MO had always been to hire his people locally, and he’d never worried whether they were trained. As long as they could halfway shoot a gun and had no conscience, they’d filled his qualifications. She had been one of the few people who had ever worked with him more than once.

  But still, an elegant Briton with billions in the bank and aristocracy stamped on his face should have had a bit more trouble than he’d had. He’d been shot and yet that hadn’t stopped him from taking out the shooter. McKenna had been shot before…hard as hell to think with a bullet hole burning into your skin.

  “You handled them quite well. Where did you train?”

  It was the first personal question either of them had asked. She chose to go first. He would have his own questions. She would answer what she could. And expected the same from him.

  “I took some private training.” He grimaced. “Getting pulled out of bed in the middle of the night was a bit of a surprise.”

  Heading to the sofa he’d pointed to earlier, she asked, “What happened?”

  He dropped into a chair across from her in an effortless, graceful way that was somehow all masculine. Her gazed zeroed in on the slight curve of his mouth. A man’s mouth had never even drawn her attention before, but she wanted to stare at his. It was masculine but also well shaped, almost beautiful. It had been years since she’d willingly kissed a man. How odd that she wanted to kiss him.

  She jerked back from her fantasy when he said, “I was in bed with food poisoning.”

  “I’m guessing that’s not a euphemism for a nasty-tasting woman?”

  Another twitch of that beautiful mouth. “No, the real gut-wrenching, vomit-inducing kind.”

  “What happened?”

  “Victor’s friends gave me food poisoning.”

  Stupid, really, but that was about the funniest thing she’d heard in months. She tried to disguise her amusement, but he must have seen it in her face because his eyes twinkled with laughter.

  “I’m sure waking up to Victor’s ugly face didn’t help.”

  “I hoped I was hallucinating.”

  She could see that his noble, masculine nose had been set to rights. “How’s your shoulder?”

  “Fine…just a twinge now and then. You did save my life.”

  McKenna shrugged. Gratitude wasn’t something she was comfortable with. One of the reasons she never stayed with a rescued victim. After she’d secured the rescue, someone else took over their care and she would disappear. That was how she preferred it. Last Chance Rescue and Noah gave her the opportunity to help without personal involvement. Having even a hint of interaction with the victim would be more than she could handle. Personal involvement had to be avoided at all cost.

  “You’re more than capable of taking care of yourself. I’m assuming you had a plan for escape?”

  He shrugged. “I had a plan…didn’t know if it would have worked. I managed to loosen one of the wooden posts on the bed. If you hadn’t come along, it would have become my weapon.”

  “He didn’t intend to kill you.” She grinned slightly and added, “Although your little comment about tongue might have changed his mind.”

  Humor glinted in his eyes, turning them to gleaming silver. “I’ve been known to be a bit of a wiseass at inconvenient times.” His expression went solemn. “He deserved to die.”

  McKenna slammed the door on the memory. Regretting Victor’s death would do no good. Lucas was right. Victor had deserved to die. Not only for what he had done to Lucas and Skylar, Gabe Maddox’s wife, but for what he’d done to countless others through the years. Just because he hadn’t intended to kill Lucas didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill. There had to be true evil in Victor. What he had done to her while she’d been pretending to be his employee was something she didn’t bother to regret. Rescuing the victims would always come before her own personal comforts. That decision had been made years ago.

  “I was disappointed that you disappeared,” Lucas said.

  She had been disappointed, too. Leaving Lucas lying on the sidewalk had been difficult. Though Dylan had been there and an ambulance was on its way, she’d wanted to linger. Had wanted to see him wake up, hear him talk to her. That had scared the hell out of her, so she’d run awa
y, faster than she’d run in years.

  So what the hell am I doing here now?

  McKenna shut down the voice, but it would be back. That was the damnedest and most irritating thing about a conscience. It could only be ignored for so long.

  “Can I ask you some questions?”

  She nodded but went on high alert. Questions were expected, but she couldn’t be distracted when she answered them. Having Lucas know her was one thing; having Lucas know about her was something altogether different.

  “Where do you live?”

  Odd question to start with, especially since she had no definitive answer. “Wherever the job takes me. I don’t have a permanent address.”

  “And what is your job?”

  She shrugged. Hell, she hated sounding evasive, but there was no real answer for that one, either. “Whatever happens to be available when I need the money.”

  “So were you working with Victor after all?”

  That was something she couldn’t lie about. For many reasons, she didn’t want him to know very much about her, but damned if she’d let him think she really was one of Victor’s employees. “No. I was working undercover.”

  “For whom?”

  “Victor had another woman, just a few miles from where he’d stashed you. He was holding her for ransom. I helped her escape and heard that you had been taken, too.” She shrugged. “Thought I’d see if I could assist you, too.”

  “How did you know about my abduction?”

  Now that was something she couldn’t talk about. Her underground contacts would shut off all communication if she revealed anything but the most basic information. “I heard some chatter.”

  He looked briefly frustrated, then changed tactics. “How old are you?”

  That she had expected. And one of the few questions she didn’t mind giving the full truth about. For some reason, people were always intrigued with her age. She knew she looked younger than she was, but even if she was the nineteen that they sometimes assumed, what was the big deal?