The jerk actually smiled, taking years off his handsome face. “It would seem so.”
She didn’t even hesitate. Holding out her wrists, she smiled back. “Guess we’d better get moving, partner. We have a long, rough road ahead of us.”
* * *
Okay, that went well. Kat accepted his explanation at face value, at least so far. He needed her to believe his primary goals were to protect her nieces and to get back some of what he’d lost when she’d run out on him. He might still be harboring some feelings for her, but she didn’t need to know that. He’d never act on them anyway.
He put the transport back in gear and drove the last little distance to the hidden gate. He’d programmed the interruption in the circuit to start when he pinged the system from his onboard computer. After they shot through it, the gate would slam shut again with no one the wiser. Eventually Rafferty would figure it out, but hopefully not too soon.
It would only be another fifteen minutes of driving to reach the rendezvous spot. From there, Lucius would fly them to New Eire. He wondered what Kat would think of his old friend. For sure, Lucius wasn’t the kind of guy that most law-abiding chancellors who worked for the Coalition normally hung around with. More often than not, he was the kind of human criminal they hunted down.
But a few years ago, Conlan had done Lucius a good turn back when Conlan had been working a case involving a knife-wielding druggie. After tracking the low-life scum to a bar on the outskirts of New Eire, he found the bastard stoned out of his head and about to gut Lucius with a combat knife. He’d been too busy preparing to slice Lucius from stem to stern to notice they were no longer alone.
Conlan had called for backup as soon as he’d spotted the druggie but couldn’t wait for them to arrive. After a brief but vicious fight, he’d finally managed to knock the guy out with a stunner. As he’d offered
Lucius a hand up off the ground, the big man had shouted out a warning. The unconscious man’s wife was about to crack open the back of Conlan’s skull with a piece of rusty pipe. Although he deflected most of the force with his arm, Conlan had gone down hard. Lucius took the crazy bitch out just as reinforcements arrived.
Conlan and Lucius had ended up in adjoining beds at the hospital. After the docs had cleared them both for discharge, they’d stopped at a neighborhood bar for a couple of cold ones. Over drinks, they forged an unlikely friendship that had lasted even after Conlan’s disgrace. In fact, Lucius had been the only one of Conlan’s friends besides Joss to visit him during his two years behind bars.
He hated dragging the big man into this mess now, but at least his involvement would be minimal. Once he dropped Conlan and Kat off, that would be the end of it. Besides, Lucius was smart enough to cover his tracks well enough to avoid the best efforts of the chancellors on Ambrose’s payroll for this long.
Conlan hoped Lucius’s luck didn’t run out now.
He double-checked the coordinates Lucius had given him when Conlan had called him after leaving Finn at the gate. They were almost on top of the spot. Just as Lucius had promised, there was a cluster of trees that would provide good cover for the transport. Conlan had already disabled the GPS chip in the vehicle, so it should remain hidden unless someone happened to stumble over it.
Under the cover of the trees, it would be almost invisible from the air, too. Besides, Rafferty didn’t have the manpower to search every inch of the area, so they stood a good chance of making a clean getaway.
“We’re here. Grab all your stuff. It’s unlikely we’ll be coming back anytime soon.”
She climbed out of the transport and pulled her pack out of the backseat. “Are we walking from here?”
“Not exactly.”
He pointed toward a black speck in the sky. “Our ride’s on the way.”
She leaned against the back end of the transport with a tired sigh. Shading her eyes with her hand as she tracked the helo’s progress. “How do you know we can trust whoever is piloting that thing?”
Conlan laughed as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched his friend’s approach. “What can I say? Lucius might be a thief and a complete rogue, but he has a strict code of honor when it comes to his friends. My advice, though, is never get on his bad side, because he carries a mean grudge. Rumor has it that people stupid enough to cross him don’t usually live long enough to do it a second time, not that the law has ever been able to prove that.”
He waited to see what Kat’s reaction would be, but she actually managed to surprise him.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “Sounds like a good man to have on our side. I can’t wait to meet him.”
Both of them ducked back under the trees as the chopper swooped in for a landing, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and debris. Conlan grabbed his pack and weapons bag and took off running toward the helicopter, leaving Kat to follow behind him. Trust Lucius to know they couldn’t afford to waste time on introductions. He kept the rotors turning as they tossed their gear inside and climbed in.
As soon as Conlan tapped the big man on the shoulder, the helo shuddered a bit and then lifted off. Once in the air, Conlan settled into the copilot seat and put on the spare headset, leaving Kat alone in back where the noise would prevent her from overhearing their conversation. For the first couple of minutes, Lucius kept busy entering coordinates and scanning local transmissions.
Finally, he grinned at Conlan, his teeth gleaming whitely against his black beard. “So far, no noise about us on the official frequencies. With luck, we’ll make the return trip without anyone noticing.”
“That would be good.”
Lucius jerked his head in the direction of the passenger compartment. “You didn’t tell me you had a new woman in your life. She’s quite a looker. Glad to see you’re finally over that bitch who screwed you over three years ago.”
Conlan winced. Given Lucius’s strong opinions on loyalty and friendship, this could get interesting fast. On the other hand, he wasn’t about to lie to him about who Kat was, either. Better to go with the truth while the man was busy flying. Hopefully the trip would take long enough for Lucius’s temper to cool off if he took this the wrong way.
“Uh, buddy, I hate to tell you, but she is the one who screwed me over three years ago.”
When Lucius jerked around to glare in Kat’s direction, the chopper did a sudden drop and dip that left Conlan’s stomach hovering somewhere near the ceiling.
“Prison must have seriously messed up your sense of humor, lawman, if you think that’s funny.”
“Do you see me laughing?”
“Damn it, Conlan, she almost got you executed! How mad are you going to be when I drop her over that lake up ahead? It’s what she deserves.”
“Maybe she does, but here’s the thing—there’s some heavy hitters gunning for her.”
“Yeah, so?” Lucius clearly wasn’t impressed.
His friend was still heading straight for that lake. Conlan needed to make his case quick, so he played his trump card. “They were willing to go through her two little nieces to get at her. When the first attempt to kidnap all three of them failed, they tried again. I’m telling you, Lucius, I’ve never seen mercs this well outfitted before.”
“They actually threatened the kids?”
“They did more than threaten. Kat was bringing them to Rafferty’s place, hoping that if he’d adopt them into the clan, it would keep the girls safe. The mercs caught up with her half a mile outside the gate and laid down a barrage to keep them pinned down.” He took a deep breath. “Before I heard the shots and rushed over there, Kat did a hell of a good job holding them off single-handedly. She took a bullet to the shoulder warning me that they were strafing the area from a helicopter. The whole time, Rose and Maggie, the nieces, were kept pinned down and terrified under the transport.”
Underneath his rough exterior, Lucius hated bullies of all kinds. “Those bastards deserve to meet up with my Lady
Belle.”
Conlan nodded at the mention of his friend’s favorite shotgun. “I’ll even buy the ammunition. One more thing, Lucius.”
“What’s that?”
“Kat didn’t know I was living at Rafferty’s place. Bottom line, it was my decision to get involved. Hell, I’m not one for believing in fate, but I figure there’s some cosmic reason our paths crossed again. I’m getting another chance to complete what I started three years ago.”
Something else Lucius understood: once a man gave his word to do something, nothing short of death itself should get in the way. In this case, that might just happen, but Conlan still had to give it his best shot.
Lucius stared at Conlan briefly, his dark eyes weighing the strength of Conlan’s resolve. Just that quickly, the helo banked to the right and back on course to New Eire.
Chapter 8
They landed on a dirt road beside an old barn an hour outside of New Eire, the capital of the North American Coalition. Conlan hadn’t set foot in the city since the day he’d left prison. It held too many memories, both good and bad, for him to ever be comfortable there again.
Lucius wasn’t staying. He had interrupted a job of his own and needed to get back to it. Before he left, though, he gave Conlan the bear hug that was his usual greeting. It was a good thing they didn’t see each other often, because Conlan wasn’t sure his ribs could survive it.
“You watch your back, lawman. I ain’t got time to attend any funerals right now.”
Message received and appreciated. “I’ll do my best to not inconvenience you any more than I already have. You do the same.”
The big man laughed and clapped Conlan on the back hard enough to send him stumbling forward a couple of steps. “Not a problem on this run. I’m actually doing a little honest work for a change.”
Lucius tossed Conlan a set of keys. “There’s a transport parked inside the barn. The title and plates are clean, so no problems there. I left some cash in the console, you know, just in case. There’s also an apartment in back. Nothing fancy but it’s clean.”
He dropped his voice then. “Go check it out. I plan on having a talk with your lady friend before I leave.”
“Lucius—”
“Go on, Conlan. She’ll be along in a couple of minutes.”
Before he could protest again, Lucius got that stubborn set to his jaw that meant there’d be no talking him out of it. “It’s the price of my help. Now get moving. I’ve got places to be.”
Conlan glanced at Kat, who’d been hanging back, giving the two men a semblance of privacy. However, there was no way she hadn’t heard every word the two of them had said, not with his friend’s booming voice. Normally, Lucius only knew two volumes—loud and even louder.
“Fine, but remember, she’s been scared enough.”
Lucius’s expression clearly said he doubted that, but he was bound and determined to have his say. When Conlan started to walk away, Lucius called after him, “If I find out you needed me and didn’t call, I’ll kick your ass, even if you manage to get yourself killed.”
If Lucius’s warped sense of humor was making an appearance, Conlan knew Kat was safe. But what words of wisdom did Lucius feel duty bound to impart before he left to finish his honest day’s work?
When Conlan was about halfway to the barn, he glanced back to see Kat and Lucius standing toe-to-toe. Neither one looked mad, but they weren’t happy, either. Should he intervene? No, probably not. Kat seemed to be holding her own, and Lucius had already told him to take a hike. Maybe that’s just what he should do. If Kat could hold off a bevy of armed mercs with nothing but guts and a gun, she could handle one bearded giant.
* * *
Kat wasn’t surprised when Conlan walked away after catching the keys that his oversize friend had tossed him. She hadn’t been able to overhear everything the two men had said in the noisy helicopter, but she’d heard enough. Obviously Lucius knew exactly what had happened three years ago and what her actions had cost Conlan.
No one who counted himself among Conlan’s close friends was likely to forgive her for that debacle anytime soon. She’d hear Lucius out but offer no excuses, no apologies. Conlan might not believe her, but she’d made the only decision she could at the time. She didn’t expect him to forgive her. After all, she’d never forgiven herself.
Lucius glowered down at her, crowding her space. “So you’re the one.”
She stood her ground and glared right back at him. “Yes, I guess I am.”
He jerked his thumb in Conlan’s direction. “He tells me that whoever is hunting you threatened your nieces.”
The memory made her shudder. “Yes, they did, and then they showed up at the O’Day estate and demanded Rafferty turn the three of us over to them. Conlan ran the mercenaries off, but they’ll be back. The only reason Conlan’s helping me this time is to protect Rose and Maggie.”
Lucius snorted. “Lady, he might think that, and you might think that. But ask yourself this—if Conlan was so hot on protecting your nieces, why is he here with you and not back at Rafferty’s place standing guard over them?”
Where was Lucius going with this? Of course that was Conlan’s intent. He’d told her so.
When she didn’t immediately respond, Lucius shook his head and looked disgusted. “You’re as blind as he is. He could’ve brought the girls out with you or, better yet, instead of you. One call to Ambrose, and the big honcho of chancellors would’ve met him outside of Rafferty’s place instead of me. There are a lot of different ways Conlan could’ve handled the situation, but he chose this one.”
Then he leaned in close, finally forcing her to back up a step and then a second one. “There’s only one reason I didn’t shove you out of my helo over that lake we passed a ways back...and that’s because I’m seeing a spark of life in Conlan that’s been missing for a long time.”
He glanced back toward the barn. “So listen carefully, lady. Conlan is my friend, and I have damn few of them. Your shenanigans almost killed him three years ago. Screw with that man again, and I’ll be coming after you myself. Understood?”
She appreciated Lucius’s loyalty to his friend. For that reason, she didn’t tell him to back off. Instead, she executed a sloppy salute. “Understood, sir.”
Lucius finally smiled, his teeth gleaming whitely against his black beard. “Good. Maybe you’ll do after all.”
Then he stared past her to where Conlan stood waiting by the barn. “Now go get your life straightened out, so Conlan can do the same with his.”
Then the big man lumbered back over to his helo and took off. When he was gone, she started across the field toward Conlan, still trying to make sense of what Lucius had been trying to tell her. When she couldn’t, she decided she didn’t really need to know why Conlan was with her. It only mattered that he was.
* * *
Conlan breathed a sigh of relief when his friend finally left. There had been a minute there when he’d feared he was going to have to intercede, but then Lucius backed up a step and smiled at Kat. She must have said something that pleased the man.
He watched Kat carefully as she made her way across the field toward the barn. She paused for a few seconds to hold her face up to the sun, soaking up its warmth as the breeze toyed with her hair. He was hit with the impulse to join her, to hold her in his arms to ward off the chill of fear that gave her that haunted look.
He’d been debating whether they should venture into New Eire right away or if it would be better to grab a little rest while they had the chance. They couldn’t afford to waste any time, but Kat was less than forty-eight hours away from a near-fatal shooting.
So far, she hadn’t complained, but he didn’t want to push her too hard. Another day’s rest certainly wouldn’t hurt, and it would give those booster shots Seamus had given her more time to work their magic. Better to be cautious than have her suffer a setback.
When she’d almost reached him, he announced, “We’re going to camp out here for the
night and then get started on the hunt tomorrow.”
“Why wait?”
She wouldn’t appreciate being coddled, so he lied. “We’re going to spend tonight reviewing everything that’s happened from the very beginning. I still have a copy of your old case file, so we’ll start with that. I don’t want to be running blind.”
Kat fell into step beside him. “There’s not much you don’t already know about what happened three years ago. There’s nothing new to talk about.”
Okay, that was bullshit, and they both knew it.
“Humor me.” He let a little of his temper show, his fangs dropping down far enough to show he was as serious as death. “I suggest you start at the very beginning and end with where the hell you disappeared to after you left my bed that night.” Just that quickly, he was trapped in the past, flashing back to the living nightmare where he’d woken up alone and confused. He’d searched his apartment twice before it started sinking in that she’d taken off. Hell, even then he couldn’t believe that Kat had left of her own free will. But with no evidence of a break-in, he’d had no choice but to admit that he’d been had.
After a night sharing the best sex of his life, the last thing Conlan had expected to be doing was reporting to Ambrose that a prisoner had escaped. From that phone call, it had only been a matter of hours before Conlan was behind bars, a prisoner condemned to serve out Kat’s sentence. He should have been executed, but Ambrose had intervened to save his ass. Three long years of self-doubt and bitter regrets had left their mark on him. No doubt about that.
“Conlan?”
The hesitation in Kat’s voice caught his attention, although it cost him considerable effort to drag himself back to the present. “Let’s get started. The sooner we get this straightened out, the sooner—”
“Yeah, Conlan, I know. The sooner we get this straightened out, the sooner you can be rid of me, permanently this time. I’ve heard it all before. Let’s get this over with.”
Savage Redemption Page 9
