by Rachel Grant
It was small and therefore an unlikely exit point, plus it faced the carport.
In the bathroom, he raised the window. The size meant Hazel would have no problem, but it would be a squeeze for him. He turned to her. “I’ll go through first, then I’ll pull you through. If the path is clear to the carport, we’ll go that way; otherwise, we’ll head into the trees.” If they had to hide in the forest, he had a satellite phone and could call Raptor. They’d make their way to a road for pickup. The compound was about forty minutes away.
He kissed her hard and fast, then climbed on top of the toilet seat. He wrenched the window open and dropped their bags. Then he launched himself through, diving as if he were stretching to catch a football. He rolled on the hard grass as he landed, a maneuver he practiced on a regular basis.
He sprang to his feet and turned back to the window after doing a quick scan to make sure they were covered. A storage shed protected one flank, the carport was behind him, and they were sheltered by the rear wall of the kitchen on his other flank. They were as protected from view as they could be.
Hazel had no such experience with diving out windows, so he reached up and pulled her through the opening. He set her on her feet, scooped up their bags, and they ran for the carport.
In seconds, they were inside the big SUV and he was backing out of the carport. No other vehicles or people were in sight, but the front of the cabin was fully engulfed in flames.
The sound that woke him was probably accelerant being poured on the wood structure. The flames had spread unnaturally fast.
He tossed Hazel his cell phone. “Call 9-1-1 and report the fire. They need to get this under control before the entire forest lights up.”
She made the call, asking Sean for the address. He gave her the information, and she relayed it to the operator. They asked her to stay on the phone until emergency services arrived, but he nixed that idea. By the time fire trucks got there, they’d be long gone. They’d sort it out with the arson investigators later. Right now, he needed to call Rav.
Hazel’s hands were shaking badly, and she dropped the phone in the process of trying to end the call. It slipped between the seat and the center console, and he could hear her heavy breathing as she dug it out from under her seat.
Finally, she placed it in the phone holder mounted to the dash, her hands still wildly shaking. They made it to the main highway with no tail in sight. He needed to call his boss, but right now, Hazel’s state of mind was more important. “You okay?”
“I don’t know. Freaked out, I guess. But I think it’s sort of normal to freak out about someone trying to burn us alive, so that’s good?” She pressed her hands to her knees and leaned forward a bit. He guessed she was trying to even out her breathing. “I close my eyes and all I see is calcined bone. Like the men in the lake who were burned. That could have been us.”
“But it wasn’t. We’re here, and the fire is behind us.”
She was silent for a long moment, then said in a quavering voice, “Talk to me. Whose cabin was that?”
“Chase Johnston’s.”
“Oh no!”
“Yeah.” He rubbed her back with one hand, his eyes on the road, scanning the mirrors for a tail. She wanted him to talk, so he did, his voice low and calm. “Chase purchased the cabin with a bonus he received after what happened in Alaska.”
She took a long, slow breath. “I can see Alec doing that. Especially given the bond between Chase and Isabel.”
Her voice no longer shook, a good sign.
“He said he comes here at least once a month for the solitude, a chance to quiet the noise in his head.”
“And now it’s gone.”
Yeah. He probably shouldn’t have mentioned the last part, when the goal was to calm her. Dumbass. He rubbed her back some more. “He’ll get through this. And so will you.”
“I feel guilty. Freaking out with my stupid panic attacks. Fainting in a lake because of bones. Chase and Isabel had to deal with so much worse. I’m such a crybaby.”
“Someone just set the cabin you were sleeping in on fire, Hazel. And even if they hadn’t, you have every right to all your emotions. You face some evil shit in your job. That it affects you means you’re an empathetic human being. Your empathy and sense of humanity are two of the reasons I love you.”
He felt the muscles of her back relax at his words. This was the right track.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“Thank you. For sticking around for years while I figured out my shit. For not giving up on me each time I pushed you away.”
She sat up slowly. “I kept trying to give up. But I was too crazy about you to ever quite let the idea of us go.”
He slipped his hand from behind her back and returned it to the wheel. “I need to call Rav now, and put him on speaker. You ready?”
She nodded.
His call was quick and to the point, informing Rav of the attack on the cabin and letting him know they were on their way and would arrive at the compound in thirty minutes. He wasn’t wasting time with taking a surveillance detection route as he’d done going to the cabin. Whoever lit that fire knew he’d go straight to the compound like it was a safe base in a game of tag. No point in trying to hide it when he needed to get Hazel safely within the compound walls.
He asked Rav to talk to the local fire department and police to explain why they’d fled the scene. He suggested arson investigators look for accelerant under the living room and bedroom windows, then added, “And tell Chase I’m sorry.”
“We’ll talk about that when you get here,” Rav responded cryptically. “Actually, we’ve got a lot to talk about.”
He probably hoped to continue keeping Hazel in the dark, but Sean was done with that shit. Twice, Hazel had been targeted. Rav would tell her everything. Even about Matt. And Rav would spell out why he was suspicious of Hazel’s brother-in-law.
No more damn secrets.
They drove through the security gate at the compound just as dawn was breaking over the night sky. Sean led Hazel to his rarely used suite to drop their bags. As the top operative in the company, he had a posh set of rooms. He punched in his security code, and the door swooshed open like the doors on the spaceships in Star Trek.
It amused him every time.
Inside the cozy living room, he used the same code to close and lock the door, then pulled her into his arms. This was the first time he’d held her since they’d fled the cabin. She melted against him, and he cupped the back of her head. “I will protect you,” he whispered.
She raised her head to meet his gaze. “I know you will. You already have.”
“I’ll do a better job of it. Hell. I thought we were safe there. I’m still trying to figure out how they knew where we were.”
“I know how.” The man’s voice came from the bedroom doorway.
Sean jolted, shoving Hazel behind him, blocking her from the line of fire, and turned to face Chase Johnston.
29
Hazel had nearly gone into cardiac arrest at the male voice. What was Chase doing in Sean’s quarters? His locked quarters?
“Yeah,” Sean said. “I thought it was you.”
He did?
All at once, Sean launched himself at Chase. He pinned the younger man to the ground and then rolled him over, pulling his arms behind his back. “Hazel, grab my cuffs from the cabinet by the door.”
She did as instructed, tossing them to Sean’s outstretched hand. He caught them and slapped the metal bands around both wrists in a practiced motion, then patted Chase down, removing a handgun and two knives.
Search complete, Sean stood and pulled Chase to his feet. The younger man hadn’t resisted, but now he started to twitch, almost like he was fighting a battle within himself. His gaze went from Sean’s to Hazel’s. His eyes were bleak. Lost. “Help me. Please,” he said in a low whisper. “I—I don’t know…w—what’s happening to me… Again.”
“Who did you tell about the cabin?” S
ean asked.
Chase opened his mouth to speak, but then his body convulsed. He passed out as if a light had turned off. Sean caught him before he hit the floor. He laid him out and checked his pulse. “Pulse is rapid, but he has one.”
“He’s still breathing too,” Hazel said, seeing his chest rise in a nonconvulsive way.
Sean lifted Chase from the floor, positioning the heavy man over his shoulders, using a fireman’s carry. “He needs a doctor, and we need to find Rav.”
She followed Sean down the winding corridor, wondering how many twists this day would take.
It was barely dawn.
The Virginia compound offered only a bare-bones medical clinic that wouldn’t be staffed this time of morning. As Sean carried Chase to the facility, he radioed for a medic and for Rav to meet him at the clinic.
“Why is he handcuffed?” the medic asked, his voice hostile when he entered the clinic to see Chase deposited on his side on an exam table.
Of course, the man knew Chase. They all did. He was the company puppy. Everyone looked out for the kid. Everyone wanted him to get better.
“That’s need-to-know,” Sean said. “Clear it with Rav.”
“You mean Hatcher.”
“No. Rav’s our boss on this.” Although it was probably time to call in Keith too.
A moment later, Rav arrived to back up Sean’s claim. The medic remained angry, but he examined Chase, whose vital signs had returned to normal. He was no longer handcuffed behind his back but to the hospital bed.
“We’ve been quietly searching the compound for him for the last hour,” Rav said. “Keep him here under guard. Let me know when he wakes.” He turned to leave. “Sean, you’re with me. Hazel, go to Sean’s quarters and lock yourself in.”
“No!” Sean and Hazel said at the same time as they followed him into the corridor.
“You don’t have the clearance for this, Hazel,” Rav said as he walked at a brisk pace.
“Bullshit! Twice someone has tried to kill me. You will tell me everything, or I will leave this compound and go straight to the press.”
Rav looked to Sean for help, but he shook his head. He wouldn’t take the boss’s side this time. “Everything, Rav. Even the stuff about Veselov.” He used Matt’s Russian last name so Hazel wouldn’t pick up on his meaning. They needed to tell her this story in order, or she’d never understand why everyone had lied to her for so long.
“No. This is not open to discussion.”
Anger spiked. “If you don’t tell her, I will.” He’d be fired, but so be it. There were other jobs, but there was only one Hazel MacLeod.
Rav came to a dead stop and stared Sean down. They’d disagreed a fair amount in the early days as Rav learned his job as CEO, but nothing like this. Never once had Sean considered walking away from Raptor. He’d never been this angry at the boss he respected and considered a friend.
“We’ll discuss this in a conference room in private.”
“Fine, but Hazel isn’t leaving my side.” He reached out an arm and pulled her to him, letting Rav see the change in their relationship. He’d said he didn’t have an issue with Sean dating his cousin. Time to live up to those words.
Rav’s gaze went from Sean to Hazel, and he must’ve noticed the way she leaned into him, all barriers gone. Finally, he gave a sharp nod and, without saying a word, turned and continued down the corridor.
Sean released her but took her hand in his as he followed Rav to the main conference room on the second floor. When Sean stepped into the room, he understood why Rav had wanted to speak alone first. Matthew Dimitri Clark sat at the table.
“Matt?” Hazel said. “What are you doing here?”
Matt’s gaze went from Rav to Sean to Hazel. When his gaze met Sean’s again, Sean gave a sharp nod. Tell her.
After a long pause, Matt rose to his feet. “I think it’s time for me to formally introduce myself.” Did Sean hear a trace of a Russian accent? Matt circled the table and approached Hazel. “My name is Dimitri Veselov.” Now his accent was thicker, more pronounced. “I first met your sister in Palau, when I needed her help to find stolen Russian spy equipment for my handlers in the GRU.” He offered Hazel his hand.
She stepped back, her face drained of all color, then she flushed a deep red. Shock, outrage, and horror were etched into her features. She looked at her cousin. “You knew about this?”
“Yes.”
She turned to Matt. “Does my sister know?”
“She knows everything,” he said in his usual American-accented English. “She’s known exactly who I am since the day after we met. Julian is my nephew. She agreed to raise him when his parents died.”
She turned to Sean. “You knew about this too?”
He nodded.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
He nodded again.
She glared at all three men in the room, but she saved the biggest look of hurt for Sean. Her eyes widened as new understanding dawned. “You knew in Grand Cayman.”
“Yes.”
“Your job… It was to distract me, wasn’t it? The night we…I… I thought maybe we could really happen because of the way you danced with me, the way you looked at me. I drank for courage to make my move, and you…you were just fulfilling…an assignment?”
He didn’t know how to answer that, because it was the lie he’d told himself at the time. But now he knew it wasn’t true. He’d been lying to himself as much as to her.
She stared at him with that stricken look and took another step backward. “Can’t. Breathe.” The words were pushed out of her, as if she could barely muster the air to make the sounds. She turned for the door.
“This isn’t the time for a tantrum, Hazel,” Rav said.
At those words, she bolted down the hallway.
“She’s having a panic attack, asshole,” Sean said, heading for the door to chase after her.
“Panic attack? Why? This has nothing to do with Croatia.”
He stopped short of the door. “For a smart man, you can be really stupid. Especially when it comes to your family. You, Ivy, and Laurel are the most important people in her world, and you lied to her, continually for months, and made sure I and all your friends lied to her too.”
“It was the only way—”
Sean didn’t have time for this. “Get Isabel and Ivy here. We need to talk. All of us.” Then he turned and ran after Hazel.
Hazel was suffocating. She ran blindly down corridors, searching for an exit. She needed air.
Outside, she would find oxygen.
She turned down another blind corridor, having no idea which way led to an exit.
“Hazel!” Sean shouted behind her.
She ran harder.
He’d said he loved her, but he’d lied. Repeatedly. If he really loved her, how could he have lied like that?
Her sister—her best friend—had lied to her. Duped her. How could Ivy have kept such a massive secret from her?
It had cut Hazel to lie to Ivy about Sean. To pretend a relationship that wasn’t real. But her sister had blithely lied about a life that wasn’t real.
Ivy had married a spy—the man who had abducted her, Hazel presumed—and she’d lied to Hazel about who he was. She’d pretended to meet him and have a whirlwind romance, a charade performed only for Hazel’s benefit, because Sean had known.
She rounded a corner and came to a dead end. She let out a low sob. She hated this stupid compound with all its twisting corridors. Alec had said it was Robert Beck—the previous owner—who’d insisted on the maze layout, and Hazel hadn’t visited enough to learn her way around.
She kicked the walls that seemed to be closing in. So much for finding air.
Arms wrapped around her, and she let out a guttural cry and shoved them away. She couldn’t see. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. The walls were closing in, and now she was cornered.
This was like her nightmares, but with fewer bones and more walls. She was stuck in a labyr
inth of death.
“Hazel. Sweetheart. Let me help you.” Warm hands gripped her shoulders. “You’re having a panic attack.”
She tried to break out of his hold. “No shit!”
“Breathe, Hazel.”
“I can’t!”
“Listen to my voice, then. Tell me three things you can hear.”
This was one of the techniques Dr. Parks had taught them. She tried to draw in a breath.
“Three things, Hazel.”
“Your voice,” she said. Then a moment later added, “The air conditioner. Me. Gasping for air.”
“Good. Okay. Now tell me three things you can see.”
She couldn’t see anything. The world was blurry and horrible.
“Breathe,” he said calmly. “Three things you can see.”
She tried to focus. Her eyes fixed on a small circle in front of her. “A button on your shirt.”
“What color is it?”
“White.”
“What else do you see?”
She followed the line of buttons upward. “You have stubble on your jaw.” She remembered how that stubble had felt against her skin last night when he’d kissed her. Gone down on her. Made her feel like she was the prize he’d been waiting for his whole life.
He stroked her cheek. “Tell me one more thing you see.”
She continued scanning up and finally met his gaze. His deep brown eyes held hers. She took another breath, and this time, she felt air enter her lungs. Fill them. She was no longer gasping. “Your eyes.”
“What color are they?”
“Brown, with flecks of yellow.” She’d never really noticed the yellow before, but she’d never stared quite so intently into his eyes. When they’d made love, she’d closed her eyes, lost in the feel of him.
He stroked her cheek again. “I love you, Hazel. Nothing changes that. I love you.”
She felt her eyes tear but refused to let them fall. “I love you too. That’s why this hurts so damn much.”
“I never wanted to lie to you. But I was hired to do a job.”
“That job being to lie to me. To romance me to distraction because you needed to sell the story of Ivy and Matt’s whirlwind romance to me.”
