Dangerous Games (Aegis Group, #3) (24 page)

The lighting and thunder.

The rain.

A creepy house.

An injured, panicked woman. Her.

And the killer who could walk and still catch his sprinting victim.

She veered to her left.

It was a straight shot up the drive to the street—but he’d also be able to see her. And earlier, he’d had a gun. She wanted to get away, far, far away.

Andrea swerved around and through the trees circling the house. A low hanging branch caught her hair. She threw her weight forward, pushing the pain in her scalp out of mind. Little twigs reached for her, getting caught in her shirt. They snapped, the sound far too loud amid all the thunder and groaning limbs.

She made a big arc around some bushes and glanced over her shoulder. All of the shadows seemed to be moving. Each one hiding her kidnapper.

Her foot slipped over an exposed root. She scrambled to get her other foot under her, but the slick leaves and gravity worked against her. Andrea went down, landing hard on her knees, bracing on one hand. She felt the jarring fall all the way up into her shoulder. The cuts on her arm burned and her teeth chattered. The skies opened up, dumping rain on her, obscuring anything more than five feet away.

There was no way to know where he was. If he was right behind her. Or if, like her, he was lost.

Adrenaline and fear gave her flight.

She shoved to her feet and struck off in the general direction she remembered the road being. At least, in the direction the road had been in when she could see.

Andrea pressed her back up against a tree and wiped water out of her eyes. She sucked down a breath as the wind beat at her.

The road was out there. Somewhere. She just had to find it. But what if she was wandering in circles? What then? Any more of this, and it would kill her.

She had to keep going.

Zain would find her. He’d come looking. She just had to stay breathing and alive.

Andrea peered into the rain, listening for anything. Some sound or flicker of light that would tell her where the road was.

But the night was just a roaring wall of water pressing in on all sides.

When she’d run from the house, the road had been on her right.

She pushed off the tree, her knee screaming in pain—and walked straight into him.

Her kidnapper.

Kevin grabbed Andrea.

The stupid bitch had walked straight to him. He fisted the material of her shirt.

She stared up at him, eyes so wide they caught what little light there was.

“Now, if you—oof!”

Andrea’s knee connected with the soft tissue of his groin, squishing his cock and balls into a pancake. Pain speared up his spine, all the air was forced from his lungs, his knees went weak, and for a moment, all he saw were white bursts behind his eyelids. He went to a knee, gasping for breath as his dick throbbed, the pain of it ramming up into his ribs.

Footsteps slapped against the wet leaves. He could hear the labored pants of her breathing getting softer the farther she ran away from him.

“Andrea!” He bellowed. “You’re going to pay for that.”

He wiped his hand over his face, sluicing off the water, and pushed to his feet.

When he caught her, he wouldn’t even use the knife. Or a gun. Those were too fast for the likes of her. No, he’d use his hands. Crush her throat and watch the life drain out of her eyes. He would be the last thing she saw.

Kevin tilted his head to the side and listened for the slip of a foot, her panting breath.

A peal of thunder shook the trees.

He narrowed his gaze a moment before the lightning flashed. He ducked to his right.

There.

A shadow.

He crouched as he jogged, keeping low, shoving the pain aside, ignoring the deep ache in his balls. They were going to be tender for days.

But tonight would be the last time Andrea breathed.

Lights pierced the darkness. White. Red. Blue.

He turned, peering through the haze of rain toward the house. Two cop cars pulled into the circle drive in front of the cabin, lights still on.

Fuck!

Kevin lurched forward, his legs not quite working the way they should.

He had to find Andrea before she could squeal and ruin everything.

Zain pushed the passenger door to the SUV open before it came to a complete stop. The rain was puttering out, just a few drops here and there.

“Where is she?” he asked the first uniform he saw.

“House is empty,” the officer said, brows drawn down, no doubt wondering who the hell he was.

“Detective Bowman.” Max was right behind Zain, flashing his badge. “Did you search the house?”

“Yeah, bottom to top.” The officer hooked his thumbs in his belt. “No one’s inside. Front door was open when we got here. There’s a car in the garage. We’re starting to sweep the property now. There’s five acres to cover.”

Zain turned, peering into the trees.

Either she was out there somewhere, or she was already gone.

Zain went to the stairs and peered at the ground. The flagstone path leading to the front door wouldn’t tell him any secrets. He picked his way out, searching what he could see of the ground for some sign, but the hard rain had washed any traces of her passing away.

A sharp, short scream pierced the drum of rain.

Zain moved first, sprinting into the trees, honing in on the sound. The officers and Bowman were a second behind him. A second Andrea couldn’t afford.

The sound cut off.

“Andrea?” Bowman called out. “Kevin Lee?”

Zain wanted to order them to silence, but that would take time. Instead, he pressed forward. The officers fanned out, covering more lateral ground.

He swung his head left and right, searching for movement, a sound—something.

All he could hear was the drip, plop and splatter of more rain.

A tiny, strangled sound stabbed him right in the heart.

To his left, just ahead.

Zain ran in a crouch, around a stand of bushes.

Lighting crackled across the sky, throwing long shadows across the ground, and perfectly illuminating the form of a man crouched over a woman, his hands around her neck.

Rage pumped through Zain’s body. He sprinted forward, drew back his right leg and kicked Kevin in the head, knocking the man aside.

Andrea gasped, scrambling backward against a tree trunk, one hand at her throat.

Kevin rolled and rose in a smooth motion, facing Zain.

“Zain,” Andrea choked out.

“Kevin Lee, it’s over,” Zain said. He had no weapon—it’d been Bowman’s one stipulation in allowing him the ride-a-long—but he didn’t need a gun to kill Kevin.

Kevin ran forward, his face twisted into a mask of rage. Zain braced a foot, dropped his shoulder, and let the smaller man run straight into him. He wrapped an arm around Kevin’s waist and took both of them to the ground.

Zain tried to grapple with both hands, but the 3D prosthetic wasn’t responding.

The rain.

The fucking rain was screwing with the sensors.

He hauled back and punched Kevin. They rolled through the mud and muck until Zain landed on top of Kevin, using his greater bulk to hold the man in place.

“There! There he is!” An officer sprinted toward them, a flashlight up and gun at the ready.

Kevin Lee was still breathing.

One officer and then another closed in.

Kevin gave up, lying there grinning up at him.

Zain hauled back and decked the guy right in the jaw with everything he had. Kevin’s head snapped back and pain radiated up Zain’s hand into his shoulder.

“Hey, hey, hey!” An officer pulled Zain off Kevin, hauling him to his feet.

Zain stepped back, hands up, and turned.

Where was Andrea?

“Zain!” She was there, soaking wet, shivering—and alive.

He clutched her to his chest with his good arm and breathed his first easy breath in hours.

They’d found her. It wasn’t too late.

K
evin shifted in the chair.

Everything hurt. That one-armed asshole had landed way more blows than Kevin thought possible. His jaw was swollen, he was pretty sure he’d bit a chunk out of his tongue, and then there were his ribs. They still hurt from their bathroom brawl. But Kevin couldn’t complain too much. Yeah, things weren’t going how he wanted them to, but they were still on track. He could spin this to go Speckles’ way.

And the bonus?

No manslaughter charges. Yet.

Speckles would have to pull his weight and find out where the files were and get rid of them or they were both fucked.

Kevin, on the other hand, could deal with pretty much any other sentence with good behavior.

Two officers entered the room, neither speaking to him. Detective Bowman had spoken to Kevin at the cabin, but there were no cameras. Nothing to document his confession, so he’d held his tongue until now.

Saving it for the audience.

Bowman sank into the chair across from Kevin, a thick folder in front of him, while the other officer remained standing. Kevin was pretty sure he could recite pretty much everything in that file, plus some things the cops had never pinned on him. He’d been here so many times before, he was still shocked the cops set themselves up like this.

Typical interrogation strategy.

Pathetic.

Kevin was going to have to walk them through this confession.

So be it.

By the time he was done, they’d be salivating to get their hands on Cliff Barnes.

All according to plan.

The last place Zain wanted to be was the police station. He needed to be near Andrea. This was the most dangerous period for her. Whoever was behind Kevin’s actions still wanted something from her. The EMTs hadn’t wanted him in the ambulance, and he could understand their reasoning. He’d been covered in mud and blood, but it didn’t change the fact that his place was next to her.

His phone chimed right on time. Crystal had met the ambulance at the hospital and sent him an update every fifteen minutes.

She’s fine. Gave statement. Headed home. ETA 35 min. U coming?

He hesitated.

“Zain,” Bowman’s voice resonated off the tile floor and bare walls.

“Yeah?” Zain’s voice was rough, the lack of sleep taking its toll on him. “He’s not cooperating?”

“He’s singing, and guess who he’s pinning it all on? Cliff.” Bowman thumbed over his shoulder toward interrogation. Zain followed Bowman through a door and down the hall to the monitor showing Kevin and Max’s partner chatting. “You know, I was convinced you were looking for a spook? Now...I’m not so sure. I’ve never had a suspect be this forthcoming. He’s giving us stuff we didn’t even ask for. It’s not right.”

Zain hadn’t wanted to be right. Kevin was playing them. It was a trap. All of it. This whole scenario was a setup to lay blame on Cliff.

“Was your guy able to get a name for that number?” Max crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Kevin’s form on the screen.

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“The phone Kevin keeps calling is registered to Cliff. It’s an unlisted number. My guy had it flagged to talk about it later with me, we just never got there.”

“We got a couple more numbers off Kevin’s phone despite the water damage. Think it’s too late for your guy to run those, too?” Max darted a glance his way.

“What am I? Your bitch boy now?” Zain snorted.

“Nah, you just...you get faster results.” Max shook his head.

“Give it to me. I’ll sent them to Gavin and see if he’s still awake, or else when I get back to Crystal’s I’ll run them myself.” Zain had stuck around for as long as he was going to. Figuring Kevin out was Max’s job. Not Zain’s. Andrea needed him, now more than ever. There was just one problem.

Tomorrow, when Admiral Crawford checked in, the cops would have to tell him what they knew. That one Kevin Lee had been hired by Andrea’s boss, Cliff, to harass and eliminate her due to the negative impact on their bottom line. It made sense. He’d seen the same thing happen at least a dozen times in other situations. And yet...it felt wrong. Even Max agreed that Kevin came clean way too easily. But the evidence was there.

Zain would be heading home soon. In theory, he was still on vacation, but he was willing to bet Crawford yanked him back after this stunt.

For once in his life, he was dreading work.

It was a new state of being. And he didn’t like it.

Going back to work meant leaving Andrea behind. Illinois was a long way from Seattle.

Maybe he could visit.

But that would only prologue what was bound to happen.

They might get some weekends in, a whole seven days here and there, but it wouldn’t be enough. Their lives were separate. Their jobs bound to where they were. Eventually they’d drift apart, and while it would be a natural progression, one day he’d wake up and...she wouldn’t be there. She wouldn’t think of him. She’d move on.

It would be better to savor what they had now, and end it on their terms. Not that it was much, but he liked Andrea. He liked being with her, talking to her. But that was him. She had promise. A bright, upwardly mobile career. And he’d always be that guy behind the scenes. There was nowhere else for him. At least not where he’d use all of his skills and contacts.

Zain’s phone chimed again with an early message from Crystal. Who should be driving and not texting.

Hey. It’s A. Come over?

For a moment, his lungs froze and he couldn’t move.

Magnetic strings pulled at his limbs, urging him to go. Right now. To be near her.

“Something wrong?” Max asked.

“No, nothing. Andrea’s headed home. They released her. Numbers?” He swiped the message off the screen. There was no way to respond without giving away just how much of his heart Andrea had claimed. He was hers to command, and for a man used to taking orders, that shouldn’t terrify him this much. But it did.

“I feel like crap.” Andrea didn’t dare move. Crystal’s sofa cradled her body and she was weighted down by at least three cats, all purring in unison.

“You don’t look like crap anymore.” Crystal plopped down on a beanbag chair next to her, a tablet in hand, sucking on a lollipop. It was late, they were all exhausted, and yet the last thing anyone wanted to do was sleep.