by Joni Hahn
Monroe Lab.
Opening the door a slit, he peeked inside. A wide hallway loomed ahead, one side lined with floor to ceiling windows that looked out into the compound yard.
He cursed mentally. God, what was he doing? Jaydan was right. He had no right to be there. He had no experience in this kind of thing. D.I.R.E. had men more qualified to save her. Was he risking her life by doing this himself?
Suck it up, Rose. She needs you. Don’t let her walk away like Jaydan.
Renewed determination surged through him. She may need him, but he needed her more.
Pulling a gun from his waist, he took a deep breath and opened the door. Stepping inside, voices assaulted him from two directions. Down the hall, a female voice spoke into a microphone, her words muffled by distance and sheetrock. To his left, he heard Belle’s raised voice, along with three, maybe four, others.
A rush of relief escaped his lungs. She was still alive. Thank God.
Trotting down the hall, he followed her voice - until everything quieted.
Talk to me, Belle.
“You’re too late.”
Austin whipped around. He’d never heard the blond man approach.
Pointing at a non-descript door just a few feet away, the man turned and walked away. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
Asshole. Then again, Austin should feel thankful he didn’t sound an alarm.
Why didn’t he?
Running toward the voices, Austin skidded to a stop when the door flew open. Belle rushed out, her narrow eyes fixated, unwavering. Spotting him, her eyes widened as her face paled.
“Austin,” she said, in a barely perceptible whisper. “What are you doing here?”
“Belle,” he said on a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I came to take you home.”
Four women ran up behind her and stopped short. A brunette with flour in her hair spoke first.
“Who are you?”
Panic flooded Belle’s red face as she ran straight for him. “Run.”
***
Belle struggled to breathe as she ran past Austin. No, he couldn’t be here. He wouldn’t risk his life this way. Not for her. It was suicide.
Heading down the lab hallway, she slid to a halt. The class had dismissed at the other end, a hundred or so people filing out of the auditorium. They had seconds before they were noticed.
Turning around, she headed back the way they came. Her sisters blocked the exit.
“Belle.” Austin grabbed her arm to get her attention. “Follow me.”
Releasing her, he took off like a shot, heading for the windows. Covering his head with his arm, he crashed through, glass shattering around him like a million diamonds. A siren blared as they raced across the yard, bullets zinging from the guard towers, narrowly missing them both. Ducking low, they zigzagged across the expanse, toward the barn.
Austin uttered a muffled oaf before he stumbled, his leg buckling beneath him.
“Get up…” Belle cried, as she slowed to help him to his feet.
One of the tower guards dropped to the ground beside her, dead, his body kicking up dust. She didn’t stop. She had to get Austin to safety. “Move it, Rose.”
Limping, he kept up with her as she raced for the barn. It would be a matter of seconds before her sisters retrieved their guns and found them. She had to get him out of the compound.
“Tinkerbelle, halt.”
The Madam’s voice echoed over the loudspeaker system as several male clones filed out from behind the barn, guns raised. A shot rang out, then another, before two of them fell. Austin brought help.
It wouldn’t be enough.
Defeat slowed Belle’s steps, Austin beside her. Robin ran up to them and held a gun to her head. “Your three minutes are up, sister.”
“Well done, Robin.” The Madam’s superior tone chafed Belle’s raw nerves.
“Belle, you’ve always been a disappointment,” she announced over the speaker system. “I knew you’d screw this up.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Austin straighten beside her. “That’s rich, coming from a bitch that won’t show her face to do her own dirty work.”
A gasp fell over the crowd as Belle stretched her arm in front of Austin. “Austin, no…” she said, in a stage whisper.
Another blast echoed in the silent square. Belle ducked. Austin fell to his back, but not before downing the clone that hit him. Everything inside her cried out to help him, but she couldn’t let the Madam know he meant something to her. At least now, he suffered only superficial wounds.
“Take note, people,” the Madam said over the loud speaker. “His insults are just another sign of weakness. He went down with two, easy bullets.”
Many in the group nodded in agreement, while others looked on with fear. Hatred coursed through Belle’s veins, her blood boiling. She wanted to kill the Madam for portraying him as a coward. Austin Rose was the bravest man she had ever known. He clutched his bleeding shoulder and rose to his feet.
“Belle, who is this man?”
“I don’t know, Madam. He must’ve followed me from San Diego.”
Robin gave her a smug half-grin before yelling aloud. “She lies, Madam. He’s her lover.”
Another gasp fell over the crowd.
God, no.
Her heart pumped wildly as she struggled not to look at Austin. “Robin’s the one that lies, Madam. She’s always wanted me out of the circle and is using your displeasure as a means to ruin me.” With a nonchalant shrug, she said, “He means nothing to me.”
His body stiffened as he held his gun pointed at the crowd.
I love you, Austin. Forgive me.
“Then you won’t mind if we kill him. Robin?”
With a glimpse of remorse in her eyes, Robin veered the gun toward Austin.
Nooo….
Belle threw herself on top of Austin as shots exploded in her ear.
She couldn’t have asked for a better way to die.
She didn’t mean it. She took a bullet for him.
Thoughts tumbled through Austin’s head as he turned and shot Robin in the forehead, before pointing the gun at the loudspeaker and firing. Men dropped like flies before him, as the ground was peppered with bullets.
Dropping on top of her, he sheltered Belle with his body as the pilot covered the lawn with gunfire. He whispered her name, over and over in her ear, while rage and fear battled inside him like the warrior she was.
Stillness fell over the farm like the sky after a summer storm. Her whispered words carried to him, filling him with hope.
“Love you…always.”
He kissed her hard on the mouth. “I love you, too.”
Her eyes closed before her head lulled sideways to the grass. His chest twisted in agony, denial chanting in his ears. “Don’t you dare give up on me, Belle.”
She didn’t move.
“Belle?”
Fury exploded from his mouth in a hoarse cry as he grabbed both pistols and pelted the windows lining the lab building. Glass shattered the tense stillness like a thousand wind chimes, before he turned the guns on her sisters.
The three women stood a few feet away, two with guns pointed in his direction. Two professional assassins didn’t intimidate him. If Belle was dead, he couldn’t live with himself, anyway.
“What? Torn between avenging one sister and helping me save the other?”
The blonde said, “Don’t tell me what to think. You’re just a weak, little man.”
He fought to remain standing, his leg and shoulder burning like wildfire. “I’m man enough for Belle. That’s all that matters.”
The one with short hair said, “You love her.”
“Until my last, dying breath.” His gaze slid to the other two. “Whenever that might be. But, I’ll be damned if today will be hers.” Firing, he shot the blonde’s hand, before spinning to shoot the brunette’s. Both guns fell to the ground amid cries of pain.
A green fog appeared out of nowhe
re before a bright flash of light blinded him. He squinted against it as he moved to stand over Belle. Now what?
Jaydan and Tristan Jacobs appeared beside him, hands combat ready. The women gasped, their eyes round before narrowing to threatening slits. Austin told himself not to think about what he just saw or how it happened. He just needed to get Belle out of there.
Lifting her into his arms, he stumbled as pain buckled his knees. “Take her.”
Tristan took her from his arms and held her against him, before disappearing in another flash of light and fog.
The three women rushed them. Despite the blinding pain, Austin held his own with the blonde while Jaydan quickly tossed the other two several yards away. Sending the blonde across the compound with the others, he grinned at Austin - before everything went black.
Epilogue
Belle pointed her gun at the man hunched beside the refrigerator, a bullet hole in his stomach. He taunted her between admonishments to his daughter, the little three-year-old showing more courage than her father by fighting Belle with her fists.
Bullets flew. Belle’s foot caught on a table chair. The little girl fell back against the torn linoleum, her father’s scream echoing off the walls of the filthy kitchen. Blood pooled beneath her blonde head, forming a crimson halo at her crown. A sacrificial angel, she lay still, lifeless as her father’s pained cries - bellows of sheer agony - resounded in Belle’s ears.
She knelt at the little girl’s side, head bent in grieving homage. Self-hatred slithered over her skin, striking at the serum with deadly tenacity. The smell of metal tickled Belle’s nose as she watched the color drain from the child’s face. So full of life just seconds before, the girl lay a talisman of Belle’s life, a piercing shock of her contribution to the world.
No peace could ever come in the presence of such evil.
Lifting the gun slowly, Belle held the barrel at her own temple, her finger tightening on the trigger.
A large, warm hand settled on her back, sending shivers down her spine. Glancing over her shoulder, she found Austin standing behind her, his smile an extension of his calming touch, his presence a light in the smothering darkness. Taking the gun from her hand, he helped her stand, his fingers wiping away the tears that cleansed her cheeks. She pointed at the girl, showing him what she’d done…
Lifting her into his arms, he held her against his chest, his lips brushing her temple. As he carried her out of the kitchen, she looked back over his shoulder.
They were gone.
Belle sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for breath. Pain doubled her over as she clutched her side, her shoulder throbbing in heavy beats.
“Hey, take it easy.” Austin’s large, warm hand settled on her back, sending shivers down her spine. Turning around, she looked up at him, his smile an extension of his calming touch. He wore a hospital gown, his legs bare, his eyes framed in dark circles.
He was alive.
It all rushed back to her, the confrontation with her sisters, the Madam…
Robin. She’d altered her shot on purpose.
“We need to get a few things straight here and now,” he said, as he brushed back the hair from her face. “Running off mad and angry doesn’t happen again. We talk before either one of us jumps to conclusions.” His dark eyes held a persistent gleam. “And, the only time you throw yourself on top of me is in bed.” He shook his finger in the air. “This jumping-on-top-of-me-to-protect-me crap isn’t going to fly. I haven’t heard the end of it from my brother.”
“Don’t let him fool you,” Hope Powers said, as she walked into the room with Jaydan. “I’ve saved Jaydan’s cute rear a time or two.”
Jaydan smiled down at her as they stopped by the bed. “You think I have a cute rear?”
Leaning up on her toes, she kissed him. “The cutest.”
Belle smiled at them. The two were so in love she felt it. The idea made her sad, knowing her remaining sisters would never know it.
Unless the Madam and the Mathesons were stopped once and for all.
“Monica Montgomery…”
She smiled up at Austin. It was time she used her real name and started living in the real world.
“I want you to meet my overbearing brother’s fiancée, Hope Powers.”
Smiling at Luke Powers’ daughter, Belle couldn’t believe how much she looked like her mother, Kimberly. Belle had seen Kimberly DePaul Powers a few times at Clay Matheson’s lab in the nineteen forties.
“Hope,” she said, “I could argue and say Austin had the cutest rear, but I wouldn’t want it to go to his head. It’s already expanded quite a bit since he made D.I.R.E.”
Austin’s smile disintegrated as his gaze shot to Jaydan. Guilt radiated off him like a space heater, his dark eyes guarded beneath lowered brows.
Jaydan crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes, Monica, I still can’t decide if your rescue was damned brave or the most reckless thing he could’ve done.”
Her voice carried in unison with Hope’s. “Reckless.”
Austin scowled, his shoulders stiff with resentment. “The three of you can go to hell.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it. “And for the record, I’d do it again, in a heartbeat.”
“You may have to,” she said, knowing they would hear from the Madam again – and soon.
He gave his head a firm shake. “I’m ready.”
Giving him a brief onceover, she studied his determined gaze. “You don’t look ready. You’re in a hospital gown, with bullet holes in your body and pain etched in your face. She’ll strike while you’re vulnerable.”
“He isn’t in this fight alone, Monica,” Jaydan said, giving his brother a round-eyed nod. “We’re a team – the best in the world.”
Monica’s hand fisted in Austin’s grip. How could she make them understand the strength of the Madam’s force? The potent antipathy she felt for the agency and the obsessive drive she had to retrieve Cyrus and see her plans come to light?
Not to mention the revenge she would seek against her and Austin.
“A team she knows is exposed this week. You’d better be prepared.”
“We’re always prepared.” Jaydan gave her a crooked grin. “This is our life. It’s what we do.” Turning to Austin, he shook his hand. “Do you two need anything? I’m going to be slammed over the next two days since I’m in charge of the bachelor party.” He nodded toward Hope and winked.
She cocked a well-manicured brow. “Keep talking, super agent. You know I’m helping Keegan with the bachelorette party.”
The teasing light vanished in Jaydan’s eyes.
Austin laughed and shook his head. “No, I think we’re good.”
Taking Hope’s hand, Jaydan headed for the door. “Okay, I’ll check in with you later. Right now, I need to go set this woman straight.”
“Set me straight?” Hope said, “I don’t think-“ The door swished shut behind them.
Still staring at the door, Monica said, “I thought I could trust you, Austin.”
Sitting beside her on the bed, he winced. “Sweetpea,” he said, taking her hand. “I came to San Diego to join the agency. You just happened to give me an opportunity to prove myself.” Kissing her wrist, he said, “I was under orders not to tell you anything.”
Any anger lingering inside her, disappeared. She understood following orders. She also understood the drive to make something happen. How could she fault him when he’d risked his life to save her?
He said, “A lot has happened in the last couple of days. I need to be in the best possible position to protect you, and D.I.R.E. is it.”
Protect her? No, he needed protection, not her.
Shaking her head, she threw back the covers. “We have to get you out of here…”
Clutching her uninjured shoulder, he sat her back against the pillows with gentle hands. “Hold up, Luke Skywalker. As soon as you and I are able, we’re moving to the D.I.R.E. medical facility at headquarters where I’m going to persuade you to join the agen
cy and help us bring her down.”
She clutched his forearm. “Nowhere is safe, Austin. And now that you’ve killed Robin, the Madam will have my sisters out for vengeance.”
His jaw locked, his chocolate gaze boring into hers. “So am I, Sweetpea. No one messes with a D.I.R.E. agent’s woman and lives to tell about it.”
Taken aback, she said, “Your woman?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Well, you are mine, Monica Montgomery.”
Her heart soared, elation rising inside her like the morning sun. Never, in a million years would she have expected to ever hear those words. Or, like them.
Running her fingers through the dark hair on his jaw, she stared at his gorgeous mouth. “And, you’re mine.”
Clutching the back of her head, he gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “You’re damned straight.” Softening his voice, he said, “It’s crazy but… I love you, Sweetpea.”
She took in his handsome face and beautiful smile before pouring her heart into another kiss. “I love you, too, Honey Dumpling.”
A knock sounded on the door. A blond man stuck his head around the corner. His round eyes took her in, before a smile creased his lined face.
“Austin, I just wanted to let you know I was here.”
“Come on in.” Rising from the bed, Austin shook the man’s hand before gingerly dropping into a wheelchair she hadn’t noticed before. “I can use the backup. I need a pain refill.” He grinned up at the man before taking her hand and kissing it. “I’ll be back.” He wheeled to the door.
Her gaze went to the man staring at her with… wonder in his eyes?
“Wait, you’re just going to leave me…” She glanced up at him again before looking back at Austin. “Alone?”
Turning around the wheelchair, he said, “Your daddy’s got you now. You’re in good hands.”
Gasping, she turned to the man beside her bed. He held himself in a tall, proud - almost arrogant – stance, though his tears proved otherwise. His dark, blond curls were cut short against his head, fine lines etched in the skin around his familiar, hazel eyes.
