Sanctuary Deceived WITSEC Town Series Book 4

by Lisa Phillips

  “It’s witness protection, I can’t tell you. There are rules.”

  “And I have tools to get around whatever will you possess that keeps you silent. I want answers, and you will give them to me.” He pulled his phone out and made a call. “I need the needle.”

  Nadia stayed frozen in her chair.

  “Just a little sodium pentothal to loosen those lips. Nothing to worry about.” He smiled. “I’m sure it won’t hurt. Too badly.” His face contorted into a grimace, and her breath caught in her throat.

  Where are you, Shadrach? If he wasn’t dead, then he had to be looking for her. These guys knew about the necklace, but Remy could still use it to find her. Right?

  The door opened. Dante was upstaged by a scary guy with long hair. The needle was stuck into the fleshy part of her upper arm.

  “Now for the truth.”

  Chapter 13

  Nadia’s foot hit the bottom step, and her brother emerged from the living room into the foyer of their tiny house. Silent, like always. His limbs were gangly like hers, but he’d dusted off that tendency she had to be uncoordinated. Thankfully she didn’t trip on her dress and these shoes.

  “You look beautiful, sis.”

  Nadia smiled. “Thank you, Shadrach.” She kissed his cheek and for once he didn’t make a face. Two days after their sixteenth birthday and she was going to homecoming! Todd Arnett had actually asked her, and she’d said yes (of course)! She’d filled half her diary in the past week.

  “He’s a doofus, but I know you like him.”

  “Shad—”

  “If he tries anything I will kill him.”

  Nadia laughed, but part of her wondered if he might be serious. She and Todd had plans for tonight, and she wasn’t going to let her brother ruin it. Shadrach had gotten most of the serious genes. The little that she’d gotten in the womb were about her art. The rest of her life should be fun. She was a teenager, after all. A teenager that art developer had said was, “Going places.” Whatever that meant. But he’d given her a check for a series of paintings she’d done the summer before.

  A big check she’d cashed. Some of which they were going to spend tonight on some stuff Todd said he could get.

  Nadia pushed against the fog of memory, trying to break free of it. She didn’t want to re-live the remainder of that night and what had happened. Todd’s family still blamed her. So did the parents of the other boy who had been in the car. Like she hadn’t broken her arm when they’d hit that tree. It wasn’t her fault she hadn’t died.

  Shadrach hadn’t spoken to her for two weeks. He’d sat with her every day, reading thick books and ignoring her, but by her side nonetheless.

  “Tell me about Bolton Farrera.”

  The moment she saw him, Nadia’s steps faltered. This wasn’t good for her. This new guy, whoever he was, he was not good for her. She’d become a Christian, and part of this new life involved not going after every good looking guy she saw. She was supposed to be new now, and Father Wilson had told her that involved changing her ways—doing her part to honor what God had done for her, even as He helped her do that.

  “What is she talking about?”

  “I have no idea.” His breath was warm on her face. “Where was Bolton?”

  Bolton and John were running toward them, sweating as they sprinted up the trail. John didn’t look good, his face covered in red marks and bruises.

  “Dad!”

  “Pat.” John hugged his son. “Where’s Elma?”

  Nadia said, “She’s in there. Hal’s with her. He needs help.”

  Bolton gave her a dark look and ran to the cabin.

  John crouched. “Stay with Nadia just one more minute.” He ran inside.

  Nadia tugged Pat to the side of the trail, and they waited. A minute later Bolton came out, hauling Elma by the arm. His grip on her made the muscles in his arm and shoulder flex. He shot her a look. “We’re gonna talk about what just happened.”

  Nadia felt her eyes bug out.

  Bolton strode down the path with the crazy teacher as if that one sentence didn’t make it sound like there was something between them. How could there be? Since when did Bolton see the need to share his opinion on anything with her? He barely knew her name.

  “Where did you live?”

  He didn’t know? Everyone knew about Sanctuary.

  “Where is it?”

  “My mountains.” She heard the word spoken from afar, underwater maybe. Which was weird, because she was dry.

  “Tell me more about this town.”

  Nadia Marie let Dauntless lead her to the medical center. She’d probably have to tie him up outside if she wanted to go in. Not that she should be looking for Bolton when he was supposed to be dead. Everyone in town likely expected her to be distraught, so if they were going to pull this off she should probably act her part.

  Still, she wasn’t about to leave Dauntless outside by himself.

  It no longer bothered her the town knew. Not the depth of her feelings for the mysterious rancher—they couldn’t know that. But it was expected for her to be grief-stricken at Bolton’s death. Even though by some silent agreement they’d barely spoken. Something was holding Bolton back from pursuing her. That was all she could figure. She wasn’t happy about it, but it wasn’t like they didn’t have forever ahead of them.

  The closer she got to the medical center the more Dauntless strained against his leash. At the front door he ducked his nose to the ground and turned right, making his way around the building to a side door that was a fire exit. He sat. Barked once.

  Nadia Marie looked at him. “Was that a question, or a statement?”

  Dauntless cocked his head to the side.

  “Fine.” She tried the door, and it swung out. No alarm sounded. Had someone disabled the bar on the door that triggered the warning noise whenever someone used it?

  Dauntless rushed in, nose to the floor.

  “Whoa.” Nadia Marie was dragged along behind him. “Dauntless, stop.” She tried to remember what she was supposed to say. “Uh… Fuss. Dauntless, fuss.” But the command to heel didn’t mean much when he was determined to find what he was looking for.

  He dragged her around the corner, and Bolton stepped into the hall at the far end.

  “Nadia. The sheriff said Wilson is at Maria’s house.” His eyes flicked to the dog, who had sped up. “What are you…”

  She and Dauntless got all the way to the door of the storage closet. Dauntless sat and barked once.

  “Oh, no.” Bolton ripped open the door to the closet.

  Before she even got the chance to look inside, he was pushing her. “There’s no time. Oh, God. All these people.”

  Nadia stumbled. Bolton grabbed her around the waist and lifted her, running and bearing her weight. She looked over his shoulder. “Dauntless! Hier!”

  The dog raced after them.

  They were almost to the end when all the air was sucked out of the hall, pulling Nadia’s hair across her face. The fire started at the closet, rushing out toward them like an action-movie bomb exploding in slow motion.

  They were going to die.

  A thick hand shook her shoulder. Nadia Marie moaned. She blinked and opened her eyes. That woman, she was dead.

  “Have you ever seen this woman before? Her name is Thea, and she has a child.”

  “She’s dead.” They couldn’t see that?

  Someone snorted. “Dead people don’t always stay that way. Not in this business.” He paused. “Does Thea live in Sanctuary?”

  “No?”

  A figure passed behind the man and left the room.

  Nadia shifted and tried to focus. Why were they asking questions? Her head swam, and she lost her hold on the man in the room.

  Bolton sat at the table, his wheelchair pulled up so that he could see the cards in front of him. How he played that game for hours and hours was beyond her. There was no skill involved, and she’d figured out there was a reason it was called “Patience.”r />
  “You need something?” He didn’t look up from his cards.

  Nadia Marie turned to the oven and checked on the lasagna he’d put together. “Nope.” She didn’t need anything. And if she did, he wasn’t going to stop playing his game to help her with it. These weeks of working all day, followed by nights with a surly man, too in pain to converse like a human being, were tearing her down. The longer this went on, the smaller Nadia Marie would become. She was going to diminish until there was nothing left.

  Behind her, Bolton sighed. So he knew something was wrong. He just didn’t want to—or couldn’t—do anything about it.

  Nadia set her hands on the counter and hung her head to whisper, “Jesus, help me. This is too hard. I’m supposed to be helping him, but I’m not doing anything.”

  Someone snorted. “Sounds like Bolton got himself one of those Jesus, bible people. Don’t tell me he got saved. That would piss me off, but I’ll still kill him. I’m already going to hell. Won’t make much difference.”

  The man came back in. “He said you know who to ask.”

  Dante nodded slowly. He pulled out a phone and made a call. “Yes. We’re done here. Give the woman to Earnest and get me Grant Mason.”

  **

  Shadrach tried to stand, but she leaned hard on his shoulder until he sat back down. “I can’t help her by sitting here, Remy.”

  She didn’t back down. “You also can’t help her without seeing a doctor.”

  Shadrach pushed down the urge to growl. He didn’t like it when Nadia was out in the world, and he had no way to help her. Because she always ended up in trouble. Even in Sanctuary she hadn’t been totally safe, despite it being a witness protection town.

  It was why he’d trained her. Why he’d encouraged her to go to the gym in town and keep up her skills. To know how to protect herself. Too bad her brain had overruled her reflexes, and she’d determined to fix this problem for everyone. He was going to have a serious word with her when they found her—after he hugged her.

  He looked at Bolton, stood beside Ben who was asking Will something. Four men in one room, plus one Remy. They should know where his sister was by now. Instead they were “conferring.” All because Bolton had entangled Nadia Marie in his business.

  Dauntless put his chin on Shadrach’s knee and whined.

  Shadrach scratched the back of his head. He wasn’t going to punch Bolton, as much as he might want to.

  Bolton studied the screen on the wall, known locations Dante and Tristan operated from. Places they might have taken Nadia.

  What bothered Shadrach was what they would do while they had her.

  Remy folded her arms. “If you’re not going to see a doctor, then you need to show me the damage the bullet did.”

  “It hit my vest. Bruised a rib.”

  “And if the bone is broken?”

  He lifted one eyebrow. “You want me to pull up my shirt and show you?”

  “I’m a doctor.”

  “That’s it?”

  Remy didn’t say anything, but she didn’t back down. “You think I can’t handle it.” She leaned down and spoke with her voice low, so only he could hear her. “You’re helping me, believe it or not. Wasn’t that the point?”

  Shadrach dearly wished they were having this conversation at any other time. “Rem—”

  “Forget it. You probably have internal bleeding, but if you won’t let me help you I guess we’ll just let you die.”

  Shadrach grabbed her hand. He strode from the room with her pattering steps behind him.

  “Okay, so you’re not dying.”

  He stopped and turned to her. “I know what broken ribs feel like. This isn’t that bad.” He lifted the side of his shirt, so she could see what was probably a nasty bruise on his right side at the bottom of his ribs.

  Remy stared. She reached out with her fingertips but didn’t touch the bruise. She traced the scar that ran down the left side of his abdomen. “That’s not from having your appendix out.”

  “I’m a Marine.” He’d lost a lot of brothers, but he’d never really known what the fight was for. Not until he stood with Remy in her kitchen in Sanctuary and discovered what the point of it all was. As much as he’d helped her feel safe the past few weeks, Remy didn’t even know how much she had helped him.

  “I’ll find Nadia Marie for you.”

  Shadrach touched the sides of Remy’s face and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Thank you.”

  **

  Remy’s laptop chimed.

  Bolton walked to see what the screen said. Search Complete. He called out, “Remy, your computer has done something!”

  She walked back in with Shadrach, who looked a whole lot more relaxed than he had five minutes before. Bolton didn’t even want to know what they’d been talking about in the hall. With Ben and his computer guy, Will, it was all about checking angles. Contacting sources. Garnering information on Dante that might give them a lead. It was painfully exhausting to watch and know there was nothing he could do.

  All of Bolton’s old contacts had either expired because it had been too long, or they were the unsavory kind who might request a meet for the sole purpose of shooting Bolton when he got there.

  There was only one possibility left. Could he go there?

  Remy sat, eyes on her screen. “Okay, I figured as much.”

  Shadrach stood behind her, his gaze over her shoulder. “Is that her location?”

  “It’s the last place the necklace transmitted from. I’m guessing Dante knew what it was and destroyed it so we wouldn’t be able to find her.”

  “Great,” Bolton didn’t bother to try and hide his sarcasm.

  Remy shot him a look. “That’s why I added a secondary tracer to the clasp. If they smashed the locket, it should still transmit.” She typed on her keyboard. “It’s intermittent, but I’m getting a signal.”

  “Let’s move.”

  Shadrach was out the door before Bolton could finish processing the fact they had a location where Dante was holding Nadia Marie. He took a step and pain shot from his back, down the back of his right leg. Halfway down he caught himself with a hand on the table and managed to not hit the floor.

  “Whoa.” Remy grabbed him under the arms. “You okay?”

  “I’m good.” The pain had already dissipated. Bolton got his feet back under him and straightened.

  “Let’s go.” Ben strode out without looking his way.

  Bolton lifted his chin to Remy and followed. Her sputtered words followed him, the beginnings of him needing to stay and rest, maybe sit this one out. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to hear it. Bolton just wanted to get on with his life, however long it would last. That’s how it had to be for a man who’d seen and done everything he had. Not always on the right side of the law, and not always on the wrong side of the law, there wasn’t much in this life he couldn’t lay claim to. But he’d never been responsible for the death of a woman. Not yet. And Bolton had no intention of allowing that to ever come to pass.

  He stepped into the elevator where Shadrach held the door open. Ben lifted his chin, and Bolton answered the question by doing the same. He was good to go. And even if he wasn’t, Bolton would not have let anything stop him from going with them to confront Dante and get Nadia Marie back.

  Shadrach didn’t need to tell him aloud that this was his fault. Bolton saw the accusation written on the former Marine’s face. Not a man he wanted to get on the bad side of. Especially not with that dog of his.

  Bolton wasn’t going to lie and say the dog didn’t freak him out at least a little.

  Ben drove, being the only one not currently injured. Bolton claimed the front seat so he didn’t end up with the dog beside him, just animal breath in his ear.

  When they pulled into the business complex there were few cars. A couple of loading bays, offices, industrial spaces, and the office of an oral surgeon.

  Bolton checked his gun while Ben parked. Then he pulled his ball cap from the dash
and set it on his head. “I’m good to go.” His wrist hurt about as much as his back, but this was Nadia. They’d get her back.

  “Me too,” Shadrach said from the back.

  Ben pulled out a phone, and Bolton gaped. “What about your precise global location?”

  “It’s a burner,” Ben said. “Will gives me one when I need to make a call. When we’re done, I dump the phone, and next time I need one Will gives me a new one.”

  Ben didn’t wait for Bolton to say anything else, he dialed on the phone and then inserted an earpiece in his ear. “Go ahead.”

  Bolton got out the car and clicked his own earpiece, so he could hear the call between Will and Ben the same way Shadrach would be able to.

  Will’s voice came through loud and clear. “Exits are clear. No one’s come in or out in the last twenty minutes.”

  So either they were still in there with Nadia, or Dante had cleared out before they located the building, and Bolton was too late.

  “I’ll take south,” Ben said. “Bolton take the north entrance. Shad, west side, there’s a fire door.”

  “Got it.”

  “Roger,” Shadrach trotted off around the corner.

  Bolton readied his weapon and made for his spot, a set of double doors that were the main entrance. There was no hiding, not while Dante was out. Not when Nadia Marie’s life was at stake. He might as well lead the way in the front door.

  Inside was quiet but for the swish of the door shutting behind him. No sounds of people inside, machines working, or phones ringing, nothing that might indicate a sign of life. Dante had chosen well when he picked this spot. No cameras in the parking lot. An older building with bad security and a layout that consisted of nothing but blind corners and loops that set him back where he’d been a minute before.

  Was Dante even here?

  Bolton was less and less sure this was where they’d held Nadia Marie with every door he opened down the hallway. Nothing but empty rooms and storage closets that had been cleaned out. He sighed. “No sign of them so far.”