by M. Malone
Kay’s head snapped up and her eyes followed Mara’s. “Eli doesn’t do anything for no reason. Maybe there’s some kind of program on there that will tell us what to do.” She smiled tremulously and, for the first time, looked hopeful.
Mara could only hope the computer would help them because otherwise she had no idea what to do.
She sat down in front of the desk. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” As soon as she shook the mouse, the monitor on the left flickered to life and she was presented with a screen filled with icons.
“Oh crap. Where do I start?” She decided to just click on the first thing that caught her eye. The program loaded and she was faced with something that looked like a legal contract.
“Okay, that’s not any good.”
“This is going to take forever,” Kay said. She was walking around the room, bouncing the baby in her arms. Her eyes reflected her worry.
Mara quickly clicked on another icon and then another. She figured process of elimination should eventually bring her to something useful.
“Wait! What’s that?” Kay moved closer to peer over Mara’s shoulder.
The second monitor displayed an image of a house. The color wasn’t very good, so Mara wasn’t sure if she was looking at an older home or just a faded picture.
“I’m not sure, but it looks familiar.” Mara hit another key and the image changed to a street with several cars parked alongside the road. There was a white van on one side of the street. She hit another key and got an image of an SUV.
Kay gasped. “That’s our car!”
Mara wasn’t sure how she could tell because the image was so dark and grainy. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. It even has the little triangular-shaped air freshener Eli hung over the rearview mirror.”
“This must be the security system. The car is in the garage, right?”
“Yeah. Maybe if we keep going, we’ll see the guys and whether they’re safe. For all we know, they might have already caught the guy and we can come out now.”
Mara tapped the Enter key a few more times, scrolling through images of the back of the house and several empty rooms. She had a feeling that this situation wasn’t going to be resolved so easily.
FOR ELI, TIME fell away and it was seven years ago. He was young and hopeful. Things weren’t so complicated, and all he knew was the Circle. He was staring into the face of his best friend, his mentor, and his fellow soldier. He was staring into the face of his past.
“Justice.”
The other man’s head dipped in acknowledgement. “Knight.”
Eli grimaced. “I don’t go by that name anymore. It was a lie just like everything else.”
Justice moved closer and Eli raised his gun higher. “Stay where you are.” It horrified him that his hand shook. His arm felt only loosely connected to his body, like whatever held him together most of the time had gone liquid.
“Are you going to shoot me now? After everything we’ve been through together? After all I did for you?” The voice that came back to him was just the same as he remembered. Everything about Justice was the same as he remembered. It made him angry that time hadn’t stamped the evidence of his treachery on his face.
“You told me we were going to help people. That we were making a difference.”
Rage rose in Eli’s chest, an inferno that burned through his veins and made his trigger finger itch. It would be so easy to end this. To pull the trigger and take him out. But there was a small, traitorous part of him that couldn’t do it. Didn’t want to.
Because then he would never understand why.
“We did make a difference. All those people we saved appreciated the things we did for them. I didn’t see them complaining afterward.” Justice gave him a long-suffering look.
It was so familiar, so much like the looks he’d often given him back when they were training together. The sense of familiarity only enraged Eli further. He shouldn’t feel an affinity toward the man who’d been systematically tormenting him and the people around him for months.
“Sure, it was fine as long as we got some money and some drugs out of the deal, right? You never gave a shit about helping people. I just want to know if you’re here, then who the hell is the FBI holding?”
“They’re holding someone willing to pretend their name is Justice. I’d used that identity too long anyhow. It was time for it to die a valiant death.”
Eli wondered if the FBI knew they’d been wasting their time on a decoy. Although, considering the things he’d learned that day, it was time to start reexamining all the information he’d taken for granted as fact over the last few years.
“Why would someone do that? Take the fall for you?”
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice a few pawns to protect the king.” Justice watched him with knowing eyes. He waited patiently, his lips fixed into that infuriatingly smug smile.
Eli’s finger flexed against the trigger slightly. It was a frightening thing to feel your universe realigning around you. Even more so when you realized that so much of what you thought you knew was a lie.
Or if not a lie, at least not the whole story.
Agent Harris had seemed so sure that the leader of the Circle would be in contact with Eli. Maybe he’d known that the Justice they’d captured wasn’t who he’d claimed to be.
Maybe he’d known all along that Eli had been far more connected in the organization than even he had realized.
“You’re the leader. You’re Zeus.”
The other man’s eyes glittered in triumph. “To think, all that time you were at the right hand of the gods. I was going to bring you in—you would have been in the inner circle. Unfortunately, I had to leave the country for a while. Spent some time in Cambodia and Indonesia. Lovely places. More importantly, non-extradition countries. I figured I could hang out for a few years until the heat died down stateside.”
“So I was here taking the blame while you were vacationing,” Eli spat.
“I came back as soon as I could. I figured five or so years was enough time for memories to get fuzzy. When I came back to the States, I started rounding up as many of my old comrades as I could find. Imagine my surprise to find you in bed with the FBI. I would have thought it of anyone but you. You narced on us and got dozens of my best guys killed.”
“No, I didn’t. I was pulled in from the same sting and had no idea what was going on. But I’m glad it happened now. Otherwise, I would have never known the truth. I’d have wasted my life helping a drug kingpin build his empire on the backs of the very people I was trying to save.”
Justice bared his teeth. “Look at you. So righteous.”
“This is a game to you, but it’s my life,” Eli snarled. “You turned me into a criminal. Then you put everyone around me at risk. But why spend all this time playing with me? Hurting innocent people and dragging this out? You could have just come straight at me months ago. Ended it all.”
It would have been so much easier that way. Eli could have put them all out of their misery if he’d had a chance to take Justice out months ago.
“I had the misfortune of being picked up by the cops last summer on a minor drug charge. It was almost funny. The FBI has been looking for me so long and the local police in a podunk North Carolina town are the ones who managed to hem me up.”
“You were arrested? And they let you back out?” Eli almost laughed it was so ridiculous.
“I served eleven months and then got out. They never even suspected they had the head of one of the most notorious gangs in their midst.” He chuckled at his own joke. “So due to those unforeseen circumstances, you got a reprieve. Then once I got out and headed back up here, I had to start all over. You’re not the easiest guy to catch up with. Your schedule follows no discernible pattern, and you’ve got all those eyes on you.”
“Obviously not enough.”
He waved his gun crazily in Eli’s direction. “Enough that I couldn’t get close. I knew I’d taught you somet
hing all those years ago. So I had to find a way to get you away from those FBI agents. The only thing that worked was going after your clients. You’d fly out and they wouldn’t always follow you. But you never stayed long enough. Except for with her.”
“That’s why you focused on Kaylee.” Elliott’s chest tightened. All this time she’d been in danger. How many times had she been in the crosshairs when Justice was aiming for him? His stomach revolted and for a terrifying moment, he thought he’d vomit right then and there. All he’d ever wanted was to protect her, but his adoration of her had almost gotten her killed.
“She was the only one you consistently showed up for. Any hint of a threat on this girl and there you were, and you’d stay for days.” Justice’s eyes gleamed over the barrel of his gun. “Pretty thing, too. Innocent. You always did have a thing for saving the defenseless.”
Eli growled, his dominant instincts set into overdrive at just the thought of Justice anywhere near her.
“All I had to do was watch and wait. Those two things can give you an opportunity, even against someone as careful as you. The bomb was a mistake. I got frustrated. I realized then that if I killed you, I’d never know why you sold us out or how much you told the FBI. It was just that every time I thought of all those years on the run…”
His arm rose and Eli dove to the side, chunks of plaster exploding from the wall beside his head.
“I already told you it wasn’t me!”
Justice made a small sound of disagreement. “I don’t believe you. And now I’m done talking.”
Eli fired back and used the opportunity to double back and hide in the dining room. There were two ways into the room, but he would be able to hear Justice approaching from either side.
“You can’t hide.” The voice floated from his right. He must be in the front hallway.
Eli edged to the side slowly, then stopped, his instincts ringing when he didn’t hear the telltale squeak the wood floors made near the front door. He spun around, dropping low at the same time. He got off several shots before he fell backward, his arm suddenly numb.
Then he was engulfed in pain.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
AT THE SOUND of more gunshots, Kay and Mara both turned around. Hope let out a small whimper, and Kay wanted to cry along with her.
“We have to do something,” she moaned. She moved closer to the door.
“We can’t go out there. Matt told us to stay in here.” Mara crossed her arms.
“He’s going to get shot protecting us. I can’t just wait here.” Kay walked back to where Mara sat in front of the computer. She was clicking through each of the menus at the top of the program.
There had to be a better way to view the security cameras. Scrolling through all the images one by one was taking too long. Suddenly the screen split and they could see four images at once.
“Is that them?” Mara leaned closer. An image of two men circling each other was on the uppermost left.
“Yeah. That’s the living room, and look…” Kay pointed to the upper-right screen. “That’s the bedroom. Right outside the door.” She wished now that she’d insisted on knowing more about the security system. Eli had given her the password to disable the alarm and the separate passcode to the panic room, but he hadn’t shown her how to operate any of this stuff. If he had, she might be able to help him somehow. “I wish I knew how to work all this. If I did, we could set the alarm off or maybe cut out the lights. Something.”
“Just look around and start clicking. That’s what I did. It can’t be that difficult to figure out,” Mara suggested. She stood and held out her arms to take Hope.
Kay plopped down in the seat and scanned the main screen. It looked like the desktop of any computer, filled with icons and folders. She clicked on things at random until something popped up with images matching the ones on the other monitor.
“Found it. This must control the cameras.”
“Great. Maybe we can create a distraction of some kind. Like cutting the lights off so Eli has time to run away.”
“But what if we cut the lights and the other guy shoots?”
Mara’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah, or that could happen. What are we going to do? Matt said help is coming, but by the time it gets here, it might be too late.”
“I wish I had my cell phone. I could call Tank or one of the other guys. But I don’t know their numbers by heart.”
Kay started clicking through the different menus in the program. Camera feeds, windows, doors, fire alarm. She stopped. Fire alarm? “Maybe I can set off the alarm and the noise will give Eli enough time to get away.” She clicked the button next to the icon.
“I didn’t hear anything. Are you sure it worked?”
She squinted at the icon. “It says Test so maybe this isn’t how you’re supposed to set it off. Go stand near the door and listen. Maybe you’ll be able to hear it over there.”
Mara walked over to the door and pressed her ear right up against the wall. “Okay, hang on.”
Kay clicked the button and looked at Mara expectantly.
“Nothing. Try again.”
Kay minimized the screen she was looking at just in time to see Eli duck out of view.
“I lost him!” She clicked through the video feed images until she found Eli again. He was in the dining room, his back against the wall. She clicked through to another screen. The other man was walking down the hallway. Then he turned around and went the other way. Her skin chilled. He was going to enter the dining room from the kitchen.
“What’s he doing?”
Kay shook her head and pulled up the menu she’d found earlier again. “He’s trying to find Eli. I have to do something. Maybe I should cut on the sprinkler system or something.”
“Wait, look. Oh no.” Mara gasped.
Kay looked up to see the other man sneak up behind Eli with his arm raised. Eli turned, a look of shock on his face, then fell to the ground.
Her heart in her throat, she started clicking every icon she could.
A SCREECHING ALARM blared above their heads and they both covered their ears. Eli used the distraction to run out of the room and into the hallway. He collapsed against the wall and clutched his arm where the first bullet had grazed him. It was just a flesh wound. The thick leather of his coat had taken the worst of it. The alarm fell silent and then blared again.
“What the hell is that sound?” Justice screamed from the other room.
Eli was grateful for the erratic noise because it was the only way he’d known that Kay was safe. Unless someone had his password to get on his laptop, the only other way to control the system was through the computer in the panic room. He wasn’t sure exactly what Kay was doing, but her messing with the security system could give him an opportunity.
That’s my girl, he thought. It sounded like she was running a system test. Even if she didn’t know how to operate the security system properly, she could create enough distraction for him to have an advantage.
“Boss, I need you to get him closer to the back doors.” Tank’s voice startled him. Eli had forgotten he was wearing the earpiece. “I’ve got rounds that go through glass, but it’ll be easier if I have a clear shot.”
Eli ran into the kitchen and behind the island. If he was going to get Justice in position, he’d have to back himself into a section of the kitchen behind the counter and hope he followed.
It was a risk. It would leave him vulnerable because he’d have the oven at his back, so he’d have to take a leap of faith and trust that his guys would come through for him.
“You know, I was going to let her live,” Justice mused, his voice thoughtful. He sounded close. Eli peered around the island, taking note of the other man’s position at the entrance to the kitchen. He stood slowly, his weapon on Justice the entire time.
“Who?”
“Your girl. Kaylee. Such a pretty name. And that voice. Mmm, mmm.” Justice ran his tongue over his lips. “I’ve never been into thick girls like
you are, but I’m starting to see the error of my ways. I bet she tastes like heaven.”
Eli’s fingers tightened around his weapon. “You’re going to stay the hell away from her, that’s what you’re going to do.”
Justice laughed. “You’re not in the position to tell me what I’m going to do. That was always your problem, you know. You never knew when to accept that you’d been beaten. One of the most stubborn trainees I ever had. It’s what made you so tough, but it’s also what made you so easy to track. You never could let go of the things you couldn’t have.”
“I don’t like letting go, but we all have our faults. Yours was always your arrogance. That’s what led you here in the first place. This revenge you’ve spent the last year seeking, and it was all for nothing. I wasn’t the one who betrayed you. I was just a stupid kid who thought you were my friend.”
“It really wasn’t you?”
“No, it wasn’t me. But I’m sure as hell glad it happened because I’ve learned something over the past few years, too. I’ve learned about friendship and trust. You were always so sure you were smarter than everyone else, and you couldn’t trust anyone to have your back.”
“Trust is for fools.”
“It’s the one thing you can’t understand, and it’s the reason why I’ve won.”
“You haven’t won shit. I’m still holding a gun pointed directly at your heart.”
Eli shrugged.
Justice’s eyes narrowed, rage all over his face. “You think I won’t shoot you?”
“I know you will, but I’m not that worried about it. Because I know something you don’t know.”
Eli stopped moving and Justice did, too. He stood directly in front of the gaping hole in the sliding glass door.
“Oh and what’s that?”
“That the guys I employ are better shots than I am.”
A second later there was a soft thud, and Justice dropped to the ground. Eli dove to the side, covering his head with his hands as the cabinets where he’d been standing were plastered with bullets. There was a soft moan and then the sound of the front door being kicked in.
