by Amy Gamet
Blood spurted from Thomas’s throat, the knife Austin had given her clenched tightly in her hand. He had already been incapacitated, but Cassidy decided Thomas needed to die. Her eyes met Julianne’s across the room. “He’ll never hurt you again.”
Julianne cried quietly. “Thank you.”
Austin looked outside. The car he’d seen from a great distance was now just moments away. “Come,” he barked. “We’ll take Thomas’s car and leave The Community.”
Cassidy moved to his side. “He’s too close.”
“I can get away from him. Get in the car.”
“We’ll never make it. I’m staying here.”
“What?”
“David won’t hurt me. You come back for me when you can. I’ll keep him from chasing you out of the compound.”
She still had that eerie demeanor, made worse now by the blood on her hands and shirt.
“You’re in shock. You don’t know what you’re saying. Get in the damn car, Cassidy.”
Julianne walked between them and got in the vehicle.
Cassidy backed away from Austin, her top now glowing in David’s approaching headlights. “I love you,” she said.
He took two steps toward her, pain shooting up his leg from the motion. “I’m not leaving you here.”
“Look at her,” she whispered. “She needs your help. You can drive fast with your night vision. You can get away. It’s me he wants, baby.” She moved to touch her face, but stopped herself. “I can make this okay.” She backed father away from him, the lights now even more intense.
“No!”
“Goodbye, Austin.” She turned toward the car, waving her arms.
Time stood still. She was out of his reach, refusing the shelter of his protection. He could grab her. Pick her up. Throw her in the car.
And David would follow.
He turned abruptly and got in the car, lowering his goggles and speeding off before David arrived. He stared at his rearview mirror, watching as her silhouette was absorbed into the light like a moth burning up in a flame.
19
Austin stretched his good leg out beside the fire while Noah stitched up the gashes on his hand. The newest member of HERO Force had sewn up Austin’s leg first, which was why he wasn’t moving it anywhere.
The fire felt good, first for the heat, second for what it symbolized. They were no longer hiding from David Kelleher. As far as Austin was concerned, they were hunters taking a break before going back for the kill, and the reversal of their roles had his blood pumping.
He was tense as hell knowing Cassidy was in there with that psychopath by herself while all the good guys with guns were on this side of the perimeter, and he wished again she’d come with him instead of sacrificing herself at the potato cellars.
Noah handed him a full canteen. “You might want to wash off some of the blood. I’m done with the stitches.”
“Thanks.” He poured some on his leg, rubbing at the dried blood that seemed to be everywhere. “You didn’t sign your initials. Not into showing off your handiwork?”
Noah chuckled. “Not this time. When you need a full appendectomy in the field, that’s when I get creative.”
The sound of a helicopter could be heard in the distance. HERO Force, come to pick up Julianne. The men exchanged a look. She’d been in bad shape, suffering from extreme dehydration and malnutrition in addition to the trauma from the rape.
“I’m worried she might lose the baby. I’m bringing in the bird,” Cowboy had said.
“The compound will be able to hear it,” said Noah.
“I don’t give a fuck. Think of it as war drums beating on the wind, letting them know what’s about to come roaring through their asshole.”
He was upset about Julianne. They all were. They could handle their own blood and guts being spilled on the floor and sewn up with a needle and thread, but seeing a young pregnant woman in that kind of condition had shaken them to the core.
Cowboy had found a clearing nearby for the helicopter to land, then carried her there when she’d barely been able to stand. Austin and Noah had been somber in their wake.
“I should turn around and go back in there right now,” said Austin. He was staring into the flames, his conscience blaming him for anything and everything that might be happening to Cassidy.
Noah dug in his pack, pulling out a pill bottle and shaking some out. “You lost a lot of blood. Stay here the night and get some sleep. We’ll kick some ass in the morning.” He held out his hand to Austin.
“No thanks.” He deserved to feel this pain. The last thing he wanted was something to take the edge off.
“Antibiotics.”
Austin took the pills and washed them down with water. The sound of the helicopter taking off could be heard through the trees.
“That was a pretty stupid thing you did, going into the compound by yourself,” said Noah.
“Wasn’t so smart of you two to get your chutes tangled at eight hundred feet.”
“That was Logan.”
“I figured as much. He okay?”
“Broke his femur. And his pride. Fucking lucky to be alive.”
Austin hissed. “Ouch.”
“Going to be at least six months until it’s healed.”
“I’m sure Charlotte will make sure he gets his exercise sitting down.” He took a long drink of water. “You did a good job with Logan.”
“What, falling from the sky?”
“I know you must have grabbed him or there’s no way he’d be alive right now.”
“Yeah, well, I dropped him when I hit the tree line.”
“That’s just so he learns for next time.” The men laughed. “Seriously man, I was there, and I thought he was going to bounce.”
“Yeah. I thought that for a minute myself, even after I grabbed hold of him.”
Noah gave the first MRE to Austin, then heated up a second. The food, the water, and the warmth were making him feel sated and sleepy—unless Noah was right and he really had lost that much blood. He stared at his tent already setup and waiting for him, remembering how he’d made love to Cassidy inside it.
She’d told him she loved him right before he left, and he hadn’t said a goddamn thing. She was dazed and in shock. The words didn’t mean anything when they were spoken like that, but the memory made his chest tighten regardless.
It was possible she really did love him, and he thought of those war drums on the air—this time foretelling of heartache and loss just like he’d experienced the first time he tried to love her. Nothing had changed since then. They’d only had time to know what they’d been missing and how good they’d been together. Shit, that just made it worse. Because there was no way in hell he and Cassidy Lane could ever be more than lovers.
Cowboy appeared through the trees. “She’s a fucking mess,” he said. “The medics were acting like she was about to code.” He held his hands over the fire, shaking his head. “I wanted to take a picture while they were hooking her up to the monitors and send it to Senator Lane, just so he’d have something to think about when he’s trying to sleep at night.”
Austin cocked his head. “What are you talking about?”
“He showed up at the office to see Jax. He wanted to remind us we were hired to save his daughter and his daughter only, that if there was a choice between the two women he would be highly disappointed if we chose Julianne.”
“That is fucked up,” said Austin. “I mean I get it, you want Cassidy to be all right. But that makes it sound like the other person was just expendable to him.”
“Exactly,” said Cowboy. “He even went on about collateral damage and how sometimes you’ve got to sacrifice one life to save another. You would think that son of a bitch wanted her to die in there, for how much concern he showed.”
Noah shook his head. “Somebody did want her to die in there. Telling David Kelleher she was a spy posing as a follower was akin to a death sentence. It’s a miracle she got out of there al
ive.”
Austin furrowed his brow. “The bloody press credentials and necklace… the ones Lane showed us as ‘proof’ Julianne was dead? Why would Kelleher send those to the Post?”
“A warning,” said Cowboy. “Reporters die here.”
“No. He’s an isolationist. He let a freaking road become overgrown with trees because he doesn’t like contact with the outside world. Sending that press pass was like waving a red flag in front of one of the biggest bulls in the media today.”
“He didn’t do it,” said Noah.
“Then who the fuck did?” asked Cowboy.
“Somebody who wanted it to look like Julianne was dead,” said Austin.
“Maybe so we don’t go looking for Julianne instead of Cassidy.” said Cowboy.
Austin’s mind raced. “But what’s so wrong about saving Julianne?”
“That’s the four-million-dollar question, right there,” said Noah.
“How many people knew she was in there, do you think?” asked Austin. “Her boss. Maybe her coworkers.”
“Friends, family,” said Cowboy.
“The father of her child,” said Noah.
“One of them had to have revealed Julianne’s identity to David Kelleher.”
“The baby’s father,” said Austin. He looked from Cowboy to Noah. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Cowboy and Noah answered at the same time. “Senator Lane.”
“Cassidy probably introduced them.” Austin shook his head. “It could have ruined his career—his marriage, if that got out.”
“No better way for an affair to be advertised than with a baby,” said Cowboy.
“Is this really possible?” asked Noah.
Cowboy pulled out his satellite phone. “I know how to find out. I’m going to ask him.”
20
Cassidy thought she might be losing her mind after killing a man yesterday. She stared at her reflection. She wore a long white dress, simple, plain and utterly terrifying. Her head looked disconnected from her body, as if she truly failed to recognize herself.
David was insisting she was ready to take her vow.
It’s not like he was giving her any choice in the matter, but she didn’t see the point in explaining to him how that negated any value in taking the vow at all. He was acting more strangely today than in the whole time she’d been here at Longwood Ranch, talking to himself and swatting at imaginary bees around his face.
Her eyes went to the clock. It was early—only six in the morning—and he was pushing her to hurry up. He paced behind her. “We need to complete your commitment ceremony before we leave for Seattle.”
“Why?”
He looked at her like she was the crazy one. “So you can be my bride.”
The last twelve hours were a blur. She’d stood in the shower for what seemed an eternity letting the water carry Thomas’s blood down the drain, wondering all the while how Austin had fared with his wounds from David’s throwing star and if Julianne and the baby would be all right.
She’d all but fallen into bed only to be awakened several hours later by a woman from The Community holding the white dress, claiming to be there for a fitting.
It was still dark outside at the time.
But it was the helicopter that really pushed David over the edge. He shouted to himself in barely intelligible ramblings about doomsday and God’s revenge against the sinners and nonbelievers.
He stopped just as suddenly as he’d begun, only to peer at her strangely. “You’re all that I have now.”
“You’ve been through a lot in the last two days, David. We don’t need to go to Seattle today. You should rest.”
He stormed across the room to her. “Do you think the wrath of a God scorned can wait?” He backhanded her across the face.
She held her aching cheek, still sore from when Lucas hit her the night before to stop her screaming.
“Come now. It’s time for your vow.” When she didn’t stand up immediately he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to a stand, holding her in front of his body. “You’re going to look so beautiful dangling from the Space Needle.”
Her mouth dropped open. Could he really mean what he’d just said? David was bizarre and he clearly had psychological problems, but she never thought he was quite this mad. She couldn’t even imagine he was sincere. “What are you talking about? Let me go.”
He held on tightly. “A spectacle of biblical proportions. The sacrificial virgin hanging close to death, only to be pulled back to safety by the suffering of sinners.”
The look in his eye could only be described as joyful. Terror unlike any she’d ever known flashed through her body like an electrical pulse. “You’re scaring me.”
“You should know God’s wrath. Then you will be afraid.”
“God is good. He’s loving and kind.”
“That’s what sinners tell themselves.” He let her go abruptly. Her hands were shaking.
He narrowed his eyes, as if searching for some flaw in her face. “Come to the porch. I have the font waiting.”
He really believes he’s talking to God. He’s really going to do this.
Was it possible? The Space Needle had to have tons of security. He couldn’t just take her out there and…
Her train of thought made her physically ill. She couldn’t finish.
She followed him begrudgingly through the house and onto the back porch. A marble birdbath filled with water sat in the center, a golden pitcher inside it.
The font. Like a baptism.
Except this guy’s a certifiable loony who wants to kill me, instead of a priest.
She felt the unfortunate need to giggle at the absurdity of the situation and she bit down hard on her tongue to keep from laughing.
There wasn’t anything funny about this.
In that moment she missed Austin so intensely she wouldn’t have been surprised if he could feel it across time and space. Her mouth pulled down hard at the corners. He was gone and he wasn’t coming back.
Not in time, anyway.
For a moment she allowed herself to feel self-pity, wishing she’d been the one to escape. But even as she had the thought she replayed her decision from last night in her mind and knew she’d make the same one a hundred times over again.
Julianne was safe. She was with Austin and he would protect her. Maybe he’d come back for her before David took her away.
He could be nearby right now, just waiting to make his move. Or had he taken Julianne down the mountain? The helicopter surely must have been from them and she prayed Austin hadn’t been on it, hadn’t left her so completely. She squeezed her eyes shut.
He said he’d come back for you.
David pointed at the deck beside the birdbath. “Kneel.”
She was sobbing openly now. Her knees hit the wood deck hard. Surely it would leave bruises. Everything was experiencing was bound to leave it’s mark on her forever, and she only hoped she would survive.
He put his hand on her head, his fingertips pressing too hard into her scalp, and she tied to pull away from him.
“Hold still!” he said.
Austin. Where are you?
David poured icy water over her head, drenching her clothes and face. David pet her head like a dog and she cried harder.
“Look at me,” he said, his breath foul and directly in front of her. She kept her face turned away. He yanked her hair harder. “Look at me!”
She met his eyes, the look in his like pure evil. “Do you Cassidy Lane vow to become one with The Community? To consider the needs of the group before your own, and to do God’s bidding, no matter how difficult?”
She crossed her fingers behind her back like a child telling a lie and said a silent prayer.
Please forgive me. I don’t know what else to do.
21
Austin swerved through traffic in downtown Seattle, Cowboy in the passenger seat and the radio playing in the background. The city was Armageddon. The fi
nal showdown between good and evil was well under way, people running along the sidewalks, cars swerving madly to escape.
It was chaos.
Four bombs had gone off in Seattle that day, all in heavily crowded public places. The first had been at the Pike Place Market with casualties numbering more than twenty, including young children.
He had to get to Cassidy before something happened to her. He’d once let her slip from his life as easily as sand through his fingers. Now he desperately needed to keep her in it.
He wouldn’t let himself imagine life without her. Not now. Not after he knew how much she meant to him. Not ever again.
“Another bomb has gone off, this one in the aquarium, sending millions of gallons of water through the crowded structure. At least five people are confirmed dead. That number’s expected to rise.”
“Son of a bitch,” Austin said. “Why hasn’t he made a statement? If he’s not going to tell the public why he’s doing this, what’s the fucking point?”
“Maybe he’s like the Son of Sam,” said Cowboy. “The voices are making him do it.”
Austin and the others went back to Longwood Ranch at dawn but David and Cassidy were already gone. Austin felt like his entire world was slipping off its axis, about to tumble through space. He looked for The Community’s helicopter.
It was gone.
He’d taken her.
David had taken Cassidy.
Austin shattered a window with a single kick, his emotions under pressure and needing to escape.
Where the hell had they gone?
As soon as he posed the question he knew the answer, his memory pulling up the map of Seattle from David’s office.
He could only remember a few of the places marked. The Space Needle. Pike Place Market. The Great Wheel.The Art Museum.
And the aquarium, apparently.
He wished he’d paid more attention or written them down, and he berated himself during the whole chopper ride to Seattle for failing to realize the map’s importance. It had been spread out before him and he’d damn near ignored it.
