She shot to her feet and swiped a hand across her face.
Linc tilted his head. “Wonder what made him change his mind.”
“Probably figured I’d just follow him if I learned about it.”
“True. You really want to do this?”
“I’ve lived for this moment for a very long time. I think once Nevsky’s either behind bars or dead, I can face the future with some hope.” She met his gaze. “And yes, I know where my hope comes from, but . . .” A shrug. “I have to do this, Linc.”
“I know. I’ll stay with Daria, but you’ve got to check in with me on a regular basis.”
“I will.”
With her mussed dark hair and red-rimmed eyes, he still found her the most beautiful woman on the planet. He swiped another one of her tears. “I’m crazy about you, Allie. Come back to me, okay?”
She swallowed but didn’t look away. “I don’t think you know what you’re asking for.”
“You. That’s all I’m asking for. Just you.” He kissed her lightly, ready to pull back if she offered any resistance. When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he deepened the kiss, reassuring himself he was okay with her leaving to be a part of this operation. She was trained for the kind of work she was about to go do, and he had full confidence in her abilities. And then she hugged him, holding on tight like she didn’t want to let go. He tightened his own hold.
“We’ll talk when I get back,” she said, her voice husky and raw with emotion. “You make me crazy, you know that, right?”
“Ditto.”
With a small laugh and roll of her eyes, she disappeared into her room. Seven minutes later, she emerged while he was downloading the video Brady had sent him with “Media footage” in the title.
“Be careful, Allie.”
“Always. And let me know what Daria tells you about that.”
“You’ll know as soon as I do.”
With a conflicted heart, he watched her go, then pressed play.
23
Allie slid into the passenger seat of Henry’s SUV. He was still in his undercover clothing. “Am I overdressed?” she asked.
“No, just didn’t have time to change before I got the message.”
She looked up at the room where she and Linc and Daria were staying. A faint glow came from it and she figured Linc was watching whatever Brady had sent. “We’re going to get him this time, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
“That’s always been the plan, but it’s never worked out.”
“Well, this time is going to be different, I can guarantee it.”
Allie shot him a frown. “There are no guarantees.” She paused and pressed a hand against her head. She was definitely running a fever and hoped the ibuprofen would kick in fast. “Henry, I think I’ve been played.”
He started. “What? Been played how?”
“I keep going over it and over it in my head and there are just too many inconsistencies.”
“Like?”
“Everything!” She sighed. “I’ll explain on the way. Let’s go.”
“We’ve got a few minutes. I want to hear this.”
She shrugged and winced at the ache in her upper back. She knew she needed to see a doctor, but when? Catching Nevsky and keeping Daria safe were the top priorities right now. “I just . . . I don’t know. Everything that’s happened has been so odd. I was just talking about this with Linc. And I just don’t know.”
“Well, something’s triggered that thought. Talk it out and let’s see if we can figure out what.”
“It’s a combination of things.”
“Like?”
“So, we’re after Nevsky. I work my way into his home and my cover is blown a full week before I know about it, and yet Nevsky continues on like nothing’s wrong. There are pictures of Linc and me and Linc’s family in an unlocked drawer that should have been locked due to his OCD personality. There’s no password on the computer—again, if he’s so OCD about his privacy like Daria says he is—and I would agree with that after being in his home for four weeks—then that doesn’t match up. Add that to the fact that there’s nothing on the hard drive, according to Annie and—” Her phone rang and she snapped it to her ear, glad for the interruption. She’d already been over all that with Linc and Daria. If they didn’t have any answers, Henry sure wouldn’t. “Hey, what is it?”
“It’s Henry.”
“What’s—”
“Henry’s the one who scared off Daria.”
“Oh. Okay. Well . . . there’s probably a good explanation for that.”
“Yeah, there is—he doctored the footage and edited himself out of it.”
“Because?”
“He’s working with Nevsky. And if Henry and Nevsky are working together, you’re in danger.”
She glanced at Henry and found him watching her with a glitter in his eyes she’d never noticed before. “I’d say that would be a correct assumption.”
“He suspects?”
“I think so.”
“Get away from him as soon as you can, but don’t head back to the roo—”
The explosion rocked the hotel. The window to the room where they’d been staying blew out and flames greedily sucked every particle of oxygen in their path.
Allie couldn’t even scream. She stared, her heart shattering. A sting in her left shoulder whipped her head around and she found Henry watching her, holding a syringe—and smiling. “For once, that went exactly as planned.”
Her vision blurred and darkness pressed in.
He’d drugged her. It was Henry all along.
Unlike the last time she’d felt the same sensation of being too tired to hold her eyes open, she didn’t bother to fight it.
This time Linc was really dead. And Daria too.
This time the darkness was welcome.
She sank into it with a sigh of heartbroken surrender.
The hotel shuddered with the second blast and Linc covered Daria’s body with his own until the dust stopped falling. “Are you okay?” He choked, pulling his shirt up over his face.
“Yes, but what just happened?” She trembled against him, her fear thick enough to touch.
He helped her hold her own shirt over her nose and mouth. “Confirmation. Just a few minutes too late.”
“What?”
“Henry, the guy you saw at the scene and in the security footage, is working with your father—and that bomb just proved it.” In the stairwell at the end of the hall, they’d made it down one floor before the explosion hit.
While Linc hadn’t known about the bomb, he’d gone with his screaming gut to get out ASAP. He’d grabbed Daria and they’d raced out of the room and into the stairwell, where he’d called Allie to warn her about Henry.
He pulled Daria with him to the bottom of the stairs and snagged his phone from the debris. When the explosion hit, it had knocked him to the steps and his phone out of his hand. A quick check showed the call had been disconnected.
His finger hovered over the redial button.
“What is it?” Daria asked.
He met her gaze. “We’re supposed to be dead.”
She coughed into her shirt.
The stairwell quickly filled with people fleeing the hotel, and Linc shifted, pulling Daria into the corner. The third floor had been empty, as he’d reserved all of the rooms and had guests transferred to other hotels, citing a gas problem. Hopefully, no one had been hurt in the blast.
Daria blinked and rubbed her eyes. “And if you call Allie back, Henry will know his plan failed and he’ll also know that he’s a wanted man. That will send him into hiding and it’ll be harder than ever to find Allie.”
Linc stared at the teen. “If you don’t become an agent, it will be a huge loss for the Bureau.”
She lowered her shirt and flashed him a weak grin. “Thanks.”
“All right, cover your face back up and let’s get out of here. We’re going to have to avoid the cameras, cops, ATF, E
MS, and everyone else that’s sure to be on scene when we walk out.”
“Where are we going to go?”
“To my truck.” Fortunately, he’d parked it behind the hotel when he brought Allie back from their showdown with Gregori.
“And then what?”
“If Henry and your father are working together, there may be something on that evidence that will tell us where Henry plans to meet your father and hand Allie over to him.”
“So, we need to go to my house and get the flash drive. Then what?”
“I’m not that far into the plan, but it’ll consist of doing whatever it takes to find your father, Henry, and Allie.”
Daria studied him through red-rimmed eyes. “You’re going to kill him—or them—aren’t you?”
He swallowed his knee-jerk response and sighed. “That’s not my goal, but if it comes down to a choice between them or Allie . . .”
“You’ll pick Allie, of course.”
“Every single time.”
Tears spilled over onto her cheeks. “I wish I had someone to care about me the way you care about her.”
Linc’s heart shattered. He reached over to pull her into a hug, then looked into her eyes. “You do, Daria.” She frowned. “Allie’s been searching half her life for the person who murdered her family when she was fourteen years old. When you disappeared, she put all that on hold and made sure we understood that you were the priority.”
Her jaw dropped, more tears spilled, and she waved to the stairs. “Let’s just go.”
Awareness came slowly. Allie blinked and stared at the smooth white ceiling, wondering where she was. Her eyes lowered to land on pale blue walls. Her hands shifted, feeling the soft bed beneath her, and she could hear the hum of the air conditioner.
Henry.
The explosion at the hotel.
“Linc!” The word came out on a whisper. “Daria.” She wanted to jump out of the bed and go looking for them but was afraid to move too fast as nausea curled through her. She licked her lips and glanced at the water pitcher on the dresser opposite the bed, wishing she had the energy to get up and get it.
Henry had done this.
Why?
She tried to figure out what she was feeling. Shock. Definitely that. And anger. So much anger.
Allie closed her eyes, fighting the fear and confusion—and the overwhelming grief. She wasn’t sure how long she lay there, letting the drug wear off, before she sensed the presence. The eyes watching her.
Blinking, she focused and Henry’s face came into view. Without taking her eyes from him, she sat up, swallowing against the waves of sickness running through her.
“It’ll pass in a bit. The bathroom is through there. You should find everything you need.”
His words registered, the meaning not so much. “I . . . what?”
He gave a huff of impatience. “After much planning and scheming, we’re finally where I’ve pictured us from the very beginning.”
Okay, that sounded very weird. Instead of admitting her confusion, she drew in several cleansing breaths. “You drugged me.”
“You were getting hysterical.”
That’s not how she remembered it. She closed her eyes. Saw the explosion happen again. Saw Henry with the syringe. And that smile—
She shuddered. “Linc and Daria didn’t get out.”
“Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t look that way.”
Unfortunately? For them?
She pulled in another breath, desperately trying to figure out how to play this. Linc! Daria. Oh, God, please . . . But what could she pray?
First things first. “Where am I? Where’s Nevsky? You’re going to hand me over to him, right?”
A smile curved his lips and his eyes softened. “Ah, Allie, no, I won’t be handing you over to Nevsky. And this is my home away from home.”
Which told her absolutely nothing. But, why take her if not to pass her on to the man who wanted her dead?
“I’ve been working on it for a while now. Built it myself and planted every tree on the property. One of the best features is that it’s completely off the grid. Except when I need to be on it.”
A low laugh tumbled from him, and Allie pressed palms to her eyes, praying for patience and wisdom. And trying to push aside visions of Linc and Daria being blown to bits. The need to scream and rant and wail left her shaking with the effort it took to hold it all in.
Finally, she was able to speak again. “What about Nevsky and the sting last night? You warned him, didn’t you?”
Henry shoved his hands into his pockets. “Warned him?” He laughed. “No, Nevsky’s out of the picture now. There was no sting.”
There was no sting. He’d deliberately gotten her out of the room because he knew it was going to blow. And he’d wanted Linc and Daria dead. Daria, because she’d seen Henry and recognized him as someone who’d visited her father’s home—and assumed they were working together somehow. But on what? “Henry, what’s going on? If you’re not handing me over to Nevsky, why drug me and bring me here? What are you doing?”
He sighed. “Well, let me put it this way. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt a connection with someone like I feel with you. I tried my best to get you to notice me, to tune in to my feelings, but Linc St. John was the only person on your radar.”
Allie stilled even while her heart picked up speed. What was he saying?
“So, I decided I needed to remove the competition, but I had to do it in a way that couldn’t be traced back to me.”
Hence the disguise. There’d been no informant. He’d worn that getup so no one would recognize him on the security footage when they investigated the explosion. Or in case Daria happened to come out of her room while he was there.
Allie didn’t move, still unsure of the best plan of action. “Can you explain that a little more?”
He gave a short laugh. “You’re going to make me just spell it out, aren’t you? I’m in love with you, Allie. I have been since I interviewed you for the position.”
“In love with me? In lo—” She gaped. How was it possible for her to be so blind? She’d never once had an inkling. No, that wasn’t true. There’d been a few times she’d noticed he gave her preferential treatment over someone else or seemed to treat her with a bit more deference. Or looked at her in a certain way. But it hadn’t been overt and she’d ignored it. Chalked it up to her imagination because the whole idea had made her uncomfortable.
And look where that had landed her.
“And so,” she said, “because I don’t return your affection—and am, in fact, in love with someone else, you feel that by eliminating said competition, I’ll forget about him and be swayed over to your side. Henry, do you hear what that sounds like?”
“Of course I do. It sounds crazy. It sounds like people we’ve arrested and put behind bars, but . . .”
How could he sound so rational? Because it was clear that he was insane. “But?”
“I can understand how those people think. I now understand the desperation that drives them.” At her stare, he sighed. “Until you experience it, it’s very hard to comprehend—or explain.”
Can I scream now, God? “You killed the man I love! Why do you think this will work out in whatever way you’ve envisioned?”
“Because I’ve covered every conceivable angle. The fact that everyone thinks you’re dead helps. And you’ll get over Linc eventually. Don’t worry, I’ll give you some time.”
No, he wasn’t insane. He knew exactly what he was doing and was making a choice to behave this way. Because he was completely confident that he could get away with it.
A coldness like she’d never experienced before encased her, freezing her, momentarily disrupting her thought processes. “You can’t do this to me, Henry.” She hated the shakiness in her voice. “I have a life!”
“What life? One bent on revenge? You were so focused on finding Nevsky and your brother that you all but isolated yourself.”
“I have friends at the Bureau. I had Linc.” She ended on a whisper. “I had Linc.”
“And even then, you couldn’t bring yourself to fully let go and love. This arrangement will allow you to do that. So, while you’ll still have a life, the course of it has just changed. It’ll be a bit different than the one you planned—but better, I feel sure.”
“You feel sure it’ll be—” Allie finally understood what he was telling her. She was his prisoner in every sense of the word. “You killed Linc and Daria! Two people I loved!” She pinned him with a laser glare. “You planted a bomb in the room when you went in to take that call and blew them up! I’ll never forgive you. Ever.”
He smiled again. A smile she would have said conveyed sympathy and compassion—if she hadn’t known better—curved his lips. “You’ll be fine, Allie.” His eyes hardened, emptied. “Just don’t cross me.”
“Cross you? Don’t cross you? Do you even know me at all?”
“I do. That’s why I’ve arranged a small incentive for you to do as I ask.”
She stilled. “What kind of incentive?”
He picked up the remote control from the dresser and aimed it at the television, turned it on, then tapped something on his phone. “She was one of the few people who knew you were alive, so I decided instead of killing her, I’d let her be useful.”
The screen blinked, then lit up.
A woman lay curled on a twin bed in a room that looked almost identical to the one Allie was in, except there was no carpet, just concrete. Henry panned the camera to the right and she saw the bars on the windows. He tapped the screen on his phone and music blared into the room. The woman jerked to her feet screaming, hands over her ears.
Allie flinched and sucked in a harsh breath. “Henry, stop!”
He did. Immediately. Sobbing, the woman dropped to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees.
Allie curled her fingers into fists, the desire to smash Henry’s face nearly overwhelming. But that wouldn’t help the woman in the room and it wouldn’t help her. “You were the one who kidnapped Catherine Hayworth? The nurse from the rehab center?”
“That was me.”
A picture flashed into the left-hand corner of the screen. Two little girls beamed at Allie. Catherine’s daughters. “They miss their mother, poor kids.”
Vow of Justice Page 21
