by R. D. Brady
Gone too long.
I know. I’m so sorry.
Okay?
Yes, I’m okay.
Drake stood and dusted himself off. “Um, I take it you two know each other?”
Laney smiled. “Drake, I’d like you to meet Cleo.”
Cleo stalked slowly toward him, then prowled just as slowly around him.
“Uh, what’s she doing?” Drake asked.
“Just making sure you’re no threat.”
Cleo bumped him on the way back to Laney.
“Hey,” Drake yelled, stumbling.
Noriko laughed, and Laney grinned at her.
“What?” Drake demanded.
Cleo’s growl cut off Laney’s response. The cat was eyeing Gerard now, and the hair along her back was raised.
Noriko moved quickly in front of him. “No, Cleo. He’s on our side.”
Laney had a vision of Gerard jumping the fence and taking Max. Laney knew Noriko was seeing the same thing.
“I know,” Noriko said. “But he’s not that man—not anymore.”
“He’s not,” Laney said softly, letting images of Barnabus fill her mind.
Cleo sat looking into Laney’s eyes. Finally she nodded and went right back to nuzzling Laney.
“Um, does that mean she’s not going to try to eat me?” Gerard asked.
Laney shrugged. “Not today.”
“Hey, what about me?” Hakeem demanded.
Everyone turned to look at the Fallen, who was still frozen in place. Laney had completely forgotten he was there. From the look on everyone else’s face, they had as well.
Drake glanced over at Laney with a wolfish smile. “I’d be happy to take care of him for you.”
Laney shook her head. “No. I’ve got plans for him.”
CHAPTER 87
By the time Jen and Jake had reached the vans, the fight was all but over. A few Fallen were down, so Jen and Jake quickly injured them further so they wouldn’t spring up like some lethal Jack-in-the box.
Jen and Henry were now walking between the vans, calming the nannies. Almost all of the children were crying, and some of Jake’s operatives were attempting to calm them as well.
Jake stepped away and tapped his radio mike. “Report, Mustafa.”
“My men have run down four Fallen, but we’re not sure what to do with them. We don’t have any legal authority to arrest them.”
Jake had known that would be an issue. “Keep them incapacitated until we’re out of the park.”
“We’re leaving them?”
“Unless we want to straight up kill them in cold blood, or figure out away to convince the US government to safely incarcerate them.”
Mustafa’s sigh was audible over Jake’s earpiece. “This is insane, Jake. These men need to be locked up so they can’t hurt anyone else.”
“I agree, but until the United States government comes to the same conclusion, we can’t do anything about it. We need to let them go.”
“Fine. I’ll let the men know. Then I’m heading back to you.”
Henry walked over, and Jake nodded to the vans. “How many?”
“Thirty-four children, six nannies who don’t seem to speak English, and only minor scrapes.”
“It’s a miracle none of them were killed.” Jake looked over to the children. They were ringed by a group of Chandler operatives.
“No,” Henry said. “Someone was helping us. Someone turned on Samyaza.”
“Our texting friend,” Jake said.
Mustafa jogged over.
“We good?” Jake asked.
“My men are sedating them. They’ll follow us as soon as we’re out of the park.”
“Good. We’ll leave you an SUV.”
Mustafa gave him an abrupt nod and turned to go—but then turned back. “The lightning—that was Laney, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Henry said.
“Are we going after her?”
This time Jake answered him. “No.”
Henry turned to him. “What? Why not? She’s here.”
“Yeah, and there’s a reason she’s not coming to us. As hard as it is, we need to trust that—we need to trust her.”
“But Jake—” Mustafa began.
“No.” Jake’s voice was quiet but firm. “The children are our priority. That’s what Laney would want. And you both know it.”
Henry shook his head. “I know it, but I don’t like it.”
As Mustafa and Henry walked off, Jake thought, I don’t like it either.
CHAPTER 88
Laney watched Noriko head off with Gerard toward where the Chandler Group was gathering the children. Gerard had agreed to tell them everything he knew about Samyaza’s operation. If Laney and Drake were unable to get a location from Hakeem, hopefully Gerard and the Chandler resources could come up with something.
Cleo rubbed against Laney, and Laney reached down to run a hand through her pelt. She’d tried to get the cat to go with Noriko, but Cleo had refused. Apparently, now that Laney and Cleo were reunited, Cleo wasn’t going to let her out of her sight.
Safe.
You’re sure? Laney asked, watching Noriko disappear behind a rock.
Safe, Cleo repeated, and Laney felt a strong sense of protectiveness toward Noriko. But it wasn’t from Cleo—it was from Gerard. She frowned. What was that about?
She looked up at Drake. “You’re sure we can trust Gerard?”
“He has no allegiance to Samyaza, not after what she did to them.”
“What did she do?”
“She took his joy and stomped it under her heel.” Drake’s voice held a deep sadness.
Still, a small twinge of doubt rolled through Laney. Could she trust Gerard? She knew he wasn’t the Gerard she had fought months ago, but he wasn’t fully Barnabus either.
“So what’s the plan with this one?” Drake nodded toward Hakeem.
“He’s going to tell us where Samyaza took the other two children.”
“No, I’m not,” Hakeem said.
Drake ignored him. “So we’re taking him with us?”
“Unfortunately.” Laney contemplated how to get the man to stay with them. She’d found that she had to be very specific with her wording to make sure that her commands had the intended effect.
Drake reached over and broke Hakeem’s neck.
Laney gasped. “What did you do that for?”
Drake crouched down, pulled on Hakeem’s arms, and hoisted him over his shoulders. He grinned at her. “To make him easier to transport. Unless of course you’d prefer listening to him yammer on.”
“Come on. That man barely talks and you know it. But you’re right: we should go before the others see us.”
“You sure you don’t want to see them?”
Laney looked in the direction where she knew Henry, Jake, and Jen were. She shook her head and started to walk back to the SUV. “I do—more than anything. But I can’t take that chance. Someone may have reported the fight. Sound travels. And besides, even if it wasn’t the Chandler Group, showing up somewhere with dozens of missing children is going to be a media circus, and I’m still wanted in half a dozen countries.”
Drake wiggled his eyebrows at her. “A bad girl.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Drake laughed as he matched her pace, Hakeem’s weight seeming not to bother him at all. “Very well. So let’s take our booty and skedaddle.”
“Skedaddle? Careful, you’re showing your age.”
Drake narrowed his eyes. “Don’t make me take you over my knee, young lady.”
“Try it, old man.”
“Is that a dare?”
Laney looked up at him and saw the intensity in his gaze. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. “No, no dare. We should hurry up.” She started to jog.
Drake stayed by her side, but Laney was careful to keep her eyes forward and not on the man next to her. And she did an admirable job of convincing herself that the uptick in her heart rate was simply an af
tereffect of adrenaline.
CHAPTER 89
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Elisabeta smiled and waved at the media as she exited the gala.
“Ms. Roccorio, Ms. Roccorio!” a reporter yelled.
Elisabeta turned to him, her perfectly practiced smile in place. “Yes?”
“Are you nervous being out in public with Delaney McPhearson still at large?”
Her again. Annoyance crept through Elisabeta but she maintained her composure and shifted her expression to one of concern. “Of course that is always in the back of my mind. But I won’t let her keep me from living my life. That is what we do. We don’t let the bullies win.”
The reporter smiled at her as the flashbulbs went off.
Elisabeta’s date took her elbow and escorted her to the car. The chauffer had the door open already. Elisabeta slid into the car, and her date went around to the other side and sat next to the driver. As soon as the chauffer was behind the wheel, he took off, and Victoria initiated the privacy shield. She pulled out her phone and dialed Hakeem again. He still wasn’t answering. She called Gerard next. No answer from him either.
Something was wrong. She needed to get back.
She lowered the shield.
“Yes, ma’am?” the driver said.
“Take me to the 21 Club. The back entrance.”
The ride took only ten minutes, but Elisabeta’s nails had cut dark crescent moons into her palms by the time they arrived. Without waiting for the chauffer, she opened her door and strode inside.
Hilda appeared from a side room as soon as Elisabeta stepped into the foyer. “Everything ready?” Elisabeta asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She opened a door, and Elisabeta stepped through with Hilda right behind her. In the room beyond the door waited a woman dressed exactly like Elisabeta, with her same coloring and build. Unless someone knew Elisabeta extremely well, they would be hard-pressed to tell the two women apart. Still, Elisabeta inspected the woman thoroughly before nodding. “Very good. Go.”
The woman left the room. She would meet Elisabeta’s escort in the hall, and they would head upstairs, where they would have dinner before attending a late performance of the ballet. Tomorrow morning, the woman and her escort would have breakfast together extremely early, and then be seen shopping throughout Manhattan for the entire day.
Hilda held up a coat. “The car’s waiting outside.”
Elisabeta slipped on the coat and pulled up the hood “Let’s go.”
They retraced their steps and entered a Mercedes SUV. Forty-five minutes later, Elisabeta was in a private plane, taxiing down the runway at LaGuardia.
“Can I get you anything?” Hilda asked.
“An update.” They had tried to reach the team in Arizona on the car ride here, with no luck. “Track down Gerard and Hakeem. Call the others with them. Use a satellite if you need to, but find out what the hell is going on. And find out where the hell the Chandler Group is right now. But first, get me the recording from the flight.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Hilda scurried to the back of the plane and disappeared into the office.
A flight attendant placed a glass of champagne on the table in front of Elisabeta. “May I get you anything else?” he asked, his voice husky.
Elisabeta waved him away. “Privacy.”
Without a word he disappeared.
Hilda returned with a laptop. “I’ve queued it up for you.”
On the car ride over, Elisabeta had started to watch this recording—a feed from the plane that had carried the children to Arizona. She’d had cameras placed in the cabin to make sure she would know if there were any problems. So far, she had seen nothing. The children had been crying, the nannies taking care of them. Hakeem had somehow slept for most of the flight. The rest of the team had sat along the perimeter of the plane’s cabin.
But none of them were her concern. No—Gerard was her focus.
He had not been alone since Vermont. Elisabeta had made sure of that.
But he had done nothing suspicious. He slept a little. When he awoke, he jolted a little and stared straight ahead as if trying to figure something out. But besides that, he simply read a magazine and stared out the window. Nothing suspicious. And yet…
She rewound the recording to the beginning. There was something there. She knew there was. She just wasn’t seeing it.
She frowned as she watched everyone settle in for the long flight. Gerard had no doubt spied the cameras. The man missed nothing. She focused on the screen, then paused it.
What was that?
She rewound the recording and replayed it. Gerard stretched—and then he blurred for a spilt second. If she hadn’t been watching carefully, she would have missed it.
She went through the recording again, frame by frame. Even so, he moved too fast for her to catch exactly what he had done. But on the last frame, she saw his phone in his hand. He hadn’t had time to call anyone. Which meant—
He texted someone. She crushed the crystal glass in her hand as she glared at the screen. What have you done?
CHAPTER 90
CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT, ARIZONA
Noriko walked quietly next to Gerard. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“No. But Laney asked me to, so I guess I’m going to. Besides, she’s right. The Chandler Group needs to know all about Elisabeta’s holdings, her plans, her strategies. I can tell them that.”
Noriko was silent for a moment. “Laney, she—she seemed to recognize you. But not from now.” As the words left her mouth, she realized how ridiculous they sounded.
But Gerard apparently understood what she meant. “We are old friends, she and I.”
But not recently. She cast a sideways glance at him. And you and I are old friends as well, aren’t we? The question slipped into her mind, and she knew the answer was yes. But she didn’t think that bond was the same as the one between him and Laney. She wanted to ask if he felt the connection to her, but she couldn’t seem to make herself.
“You should be prepared,” Gerard said. “My appearance will not be greeted well.”
“I know. I’m ready.”
“Good. Because they’re straight ahead.”
Noriko could hear the voices now.
“We have all the children,” Jake was saying. “We need to move out.”
“I’ll get Noriko,” Jen said.
“No need.” Noriko stepped into view. “I’m here.”
All heads turned toward her—and in a flash, guns were aimed at her. Noriko realized Gerard had stepped up beside her, his hands raised.
“Noriko, get away from him,” Jake ordered.
“You should step away,” Gerard said quietly.
Noriko looked into his eyes and shook her head. “Trust me.” She stepped in front of him. “No,” she said to Jake. “He saved my life.”
“Noriko—you don’t know what he’s done,” Jen said. She stepped to the side to get a better angle on Gerard.
“I do. I know he worked for Elisabeta. But he’s the one who called out to me in my vision. And he’s the one who texted you.”
Jen and Henry continued to move closer.
They’re not listening, she thought. She didn’t like the looks on any of their faces. A few other Chandler operatives had pulled their weapons as well and were moving in. Oh, no.
Noriko took a step back until she could feel the heat of Gerard behind her. “It’s not just my word. Laney trusts him as well.”
Henry went still. “What did you say?”
“Laney—she was here. She saved me. Well, after Gerard saved me. And she trusts him. She asked me to tell you to trust him too.”
Henry and Jen exchanged a glance.
Jake walked closer. “Noriko, you must be mistaken. Laney would never—”
Noriko cut in. “She said he was an old friend.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew it was the wrong tack. They wouldn’t understand.
Gerard le
aned into her, his breath on her ear. “You need to get away from me now.”
“No,” she whispered.
She raised her voice so it would carry to the others. “Cleo went with her. You know she would never leave my side if I was in danger.” She looked at Jake. “She said you’d be the hardest to convince. She told me to tell you that your brother Tom visits his friend Seeley every other Sunday and takes him for a walk around the estate.”
Jake’s mouth fell open. “Did you see that in a vision?”
“No. Laney told me. Gerard can help us. And she wants you to let him.”
The standoff was tense. Noriko reached behind her and took Gerard’s hand, unsure who was most surprised by the action: her, Gerard, or the armed people staring at them.
Finally Jen broke the silence. “You’re sure?”
Noriko tried not to let her fear show. “Yes.”
Jen lowered her weapon. “Then let’s see what the man has to say.”
CHAPTER 91
Laney drove for an hour, following Drake’s directions, before pulling over at a cabin that was little more than a shed. But it was in the middle of nowhere, which was all they needed.
Drake hauled Hakeem out of the car while Laney opened the door to the cabin. Inside were a bed, an old wooden table, one chair, and a wood stove.
“Cozy,” Laney said as the others entered.
“Hunting cabin. The owner passed away fifty years ago and left it to me.” Drake shrugged Hakeem off his shoulders, and the man landed on the floor with a thud.
“Drake!”
He extended his hands. “What? He’ll heal.”
Laney shook her head and eyed the man on the floor. “How long until he comes around?”
“As short or as long you’d like, my dear.”
“Let’s get him on a chair.” She spied some rope on a nail over by the bed. She grabbed it and handed it to Drake. “We can tie him up with this.”
Drake positioned Hakeem in the chair and raised an eyebrow. “Are we in an old Western? Will we be tying him to the railroad tracks next?”
“We need him to stay where he is, and if he wakes up and lunges, this will give us enough time for me to command him to be still.”
