After the Rain (14 page)
“I love you, too, darlin’.”
Her expression signets the depth of her feelings. Giving Kas one last look filled with a powerful mix of staggering emotions, Raina brushes her fingers against his hand before lowering to her knees next to Austin. She gingerly wipes blood from his forehead while the medics prepare to put him on a stretcher. Her eyes dart to Kas, and she bites back a sob; his obvious worry of the unknown rips through her.
“Maya’s on her way, Jake,” she whispers, grasping his hand as he and Austin are carried to an ambulance.
She feels his squeeze, and she squeezes back. Still holding onto Jake’s hand, she takes a moment to look at the devastation around her and, for the first time, she feels hatred.
The predicted two hour surgery is now four hours in, and there’s been no new news on Austin. The hospital waiting room is filled with agents and the injured agent’s families. Scott’s death is felt significantly by all of them but, thankfully, no other lives have been lost. Kas prays it remains that way.
Dexter has all but launched war, sending Derrick’s team to bring in the pimp and his every known associate, including the girls he forces to work the streets, and every john known to partake of their services.
Mandy is doing her best to hold herself together, but Kas can tell by how her lip trembles any time footsteps are heard coming down the hall that her restraint won’t hold out much longer. Raina is offering all the support she can to her and Austin’s mom. His father has already broken down a few times, nearly taking Kas with him.
The agents who have been treated and released are defying doctor’s orders and staying put, refusing to go home until the results of the rest are released. Chase has been spread thin, comforting, counseling the families, and he is currently with Scott’s family while they make arrangements. Kas calls his dad, leaving him a message assuring him that he is fine and giving him what little updates he has on the rest. He doesn’t want his dad worried further when he hears about the explosion on the news, hoping he doesn’t have access to this news in Singapore. He wishes his father was already finished with training the security team, needing to have his presence near.
Maya’s with Jake and his brother, James, in room 422, staying with Jake while he’s being held for observation with a severe concussion. The lacerations on his chest and side left him needing two bags of blood. Kas and Raina take turns checking on him, relieved to know he’s in good hands right now.
Mandy’s lip quivers as the surgeon enters the room. Kas wraps his arm around Raina’s shoulder as she grabs Mandy’s hand, squeezing tightly. The tears streaming down Mandy’s face finally break Austin’s mom, and she begins to quietly weep, terrified of the next words to be spoken.
Kas lets out a slow breath of relief, and Raina realizes that Austin has made it before the surgeon delivers the news. For once, she’s exceptionally happy that Kas is freakishly adept at reading emotions. She wraps herself into his warm, comforting cocoon as the surgeon explains that Austin should have a full recovery.
Waiting until Austin is in a room to where they can see him before they leave, they pass the time checking on Russo, who’s with Angie, and Kas notes the mixture of sorrow and happiness in her eyes as Russo holds her hand. Russo smiles at Kas’ approving nod when his boss takes Raina’s hand and slips out the door, leaving them alone. Lawson is leaving Steven’s room a few doors ahead, and he walks with them down the hall on their way out.
“I’m glad to hear Garrett came out of surgery well. Is Steven still holding his own?” Kas asks, studying Lawson’s rigid frame.
Even Raina can see the depth of Lawson’s exhaustion in his nod when he responds, “He’ll be released tomorrow.”
Kas calls Dexter, giving him a full update as Raina takes the keys from his hands, silently telling him that he’s riding in the passenger seat on the way home. He doesn’t argue. Leaning his head against the seat, he closes his eyes as she drives. Flaming images rapidly flash like scenes from a horror film, so he opens his eyes again.
Not bothering with the laundry basket, Kas throws his irreparable clothing straight into the trash before taking a long, hot shower. Raina is waiting for him on the bed when he gets out, and she visibly winces at the contusions on the parts of Kas’ body she couldn’t see earlier.
“There’s nothing that won’t heal, darlin’.”
She sinks into his arms as he joins her. He’s asleep seconds after his head touches the pillow, but she is wide-awake, the new feelings inside disturbing her much needed rest. Despite everything she has been through, she has never experienced the sour taste of contempt before. She’s not at all liking the bitterness of her new found ability to loathe.
Mozart’s Requiem in D minor is playing loudly in the large study of the mansion on the hill sitting arrogantly in front of the magnificent pine trees. Evan leans back in his chair, staring at the dark, oak wood walls lined with bookcases filled with everything from original classical novels to ancient Kama Sutra and modern books on doctorates, psychology, and philosophy. Shakespeare’s complete masterpieces is lying open on the imposing solid cherry desk near the back wall of ceiling to floor windows that rarely bless the room with the light of day, hidden behind thick lined red velvet curtains securely covering the beauty outside.
The slightest smile curves his lips as he conjures up the image of Raina. Closing his eyes, his smile vanishes as he thinks of the years of terrorizing boredom that savaged him until he thought he might actually go mad. His smile returns at the sweet reprieve his adversary has granted him from the putrid apathy that slowly bled the life out of him more each day.
Returning his attention to the impressive file on the life of the woman who has completely beguiled him, who has breathed life back into his dark soul, he stares at her picture.
What
are
you
afraid
of?
His green eyes soften at the photos depicting her own tortured past. Pain fascinates him, makes him feel alive, other people’s pain anyway. The new emotion of sadness, from the sight of her pain, intrigues him. Flipping through the papers of Raina’s life, his eyes brighten from her transcripts. Carefully studying her scores, he presses his fingers tightly against his lips at the fact that she isn’t a genius. That impresses him even more.
Letting out a small chuckle at the curse of being a genius himself, he admires the dedication and drive that led Raina to where she is now. Admiration fills him at how her high intelligence is nurtured by her own means, not by a fortunate breed of DNA. His eyes darken when he picks up the photo of Kas and Raina that his lead enforcer, Max, took of them.
What
makes
you
love
so
much?
He is bewildered by that thought, unable to understand how either of them can feel the intensity of the emotion that has eluded him his entire life. Their love is shining as bright as a beacon in their eyes as they look at each other in the picture taken of them leaving a restaurant a few days ago.
Laughing out loud, he is genuinely amused by the way she has skewered his usually detached humanity. The thought of killing Pierce, along with as many pesky, interfering agents as possible, entertained him this afternoon after Joel called, but now, he is relieved Pierce is alive. The depth of the unknown in Raina’s eyes would disappear if her husband was gone, and he’s not ready to stop pondering about the mysteries that lie hidden inside those beautiful eyes just yet.
Although he is pleased with the outcome of the previously perceived failure, he cannot allow the maker of the bomb to go unpunished, even if the job was thrust upon him in haste. His smile widens at the recollection that the man has two daughters. Closing the file on Raina, he places it in the middle drawer and locks it before calling Max, informing him to take the girls to Jefferson once he is finished with their father.
The morning is bathed in bright sunshine, giving the illusion that their world wasn’t blown all to hell yesterday. Raina ignores the dark circles under her eyes when she looks in the mirror while she brushes her teeth. Thoughts of Parker dominated her night into the morning, leaving her with very little sleep. Her mind continues to flash images of every piece of equipment she’s worked on that’s linked to the Ghost. The slideshow of screenshots in her head gives her nothing new.
It is supposed to be their day off, but Raina is aware that they won’t have a day off any time soon. Writing Kas a note, she leaves him sleeping until the alarm is due to sound in another hour, and she grabs every piece of intelligent machinery she owns, calling Erik on her way out the door.
“I’m already on my way,” Erik assures her, his usually upbeat voice gone.
The sunshine does nothing to warm the cold November air. Grateful for her heated seats that Kas insisted on in his list of needed extras when she bought her car, she settles into the comforting warmth on her drive to work. Erik is pulling up the file they have on Prizrak when she arrives.
“For a file so lengthy, we should have him by now,” she spits out venomously.
“Whoa there, girl, get some caffeine into that rockin’ body of yours before you kill someone,” he teases, handing her his coffee cup.
Grabbing the cup, she pours in the miracle drug and takes a sip.
“Drinking it black, that can’t be good.”
She manages a small smile before it quickly vanishes, “I have to finish with the rest of the equipment.”
“Rain, it will take days to finish with the rest of the equipment. We spent hours on it yesterday and barely made a dent.”
Raina places the coffee cup on the table and presses her forehead against her fingers. “We can’t let him do any more damage,” she whispers as the tears she held back yesterday are dangerously close to spilling now.
Erik places his hand on Raina’s back, rubbing small, comforting circles with his palm, “We will get him.”
The next several hours are spent meticulously studying any new information decoded on each machine. Re-reading the information about Claudia, Brooke, Jaio, and all the other girls, Raina tries to find any other common link. None of the girls brought into the ring are connected. None are from the same town, and none were brought in the same way. There seems to be no preference for any certain ethnicity. The only restrictions appear to be that the ones chosen must be appealing, and they must be female. Raina knows that this kind of slavery isn’t completely exclusive to the female gender, but Parker seems to have kept strictly to girls so far in his ring.
Kas looks as exhausted as Raina feels when he leaves his office and heads upstairs to get her later in the evening. He can tell by her tight lips and set jaw that she’s not any closer to finding anything more than he or anyone else is. “Leave it for now, sweetheart.”
“There’s still a lot left to search.”
“It will be here tomorrow.”
“Go ahead without me, I’ll stay a little longer then come home.”
“I know your idea of a little longer, Rain. Leave it,” he states firmly. Witnessing her pained hesitation makes him change tactics, “Austin would love to see you, and I’m sure Mandy could use a break.”
“We’re going to see Austin?”
“I have specific orders to sneak in contraband.”
Erik smirks, “Even with being in the hospital after a near death experience, he still scoffs at the rules.”
“Just give me five minutes to get this downloaded on a couple of more computers, and then we’ll go. I can come back in and check if anything decoded.”
Kas nods, agreeing, to the first part anyway. He glances at his watch, wanting to get Raina away from the agency, away from everything dealing with the Ghost.
Mandy
is
sitting
on the bed next to Austin when they arrive, the light back in her hazel eyes. Austin nods at the bag in Kas’ hand, “Oh, man, I’m starving, hand that over.”
Mandy looks at Raina and rolls her eyes playfully, “I’d managed to convince him that the vending machines were broken.”
Raina laughs, shrugging, both fully aware that their men have issues following the rules they don’t like, “How are you feeling?”