Authors: Maya Banks
Tony gestured toward the computers. “The senator is up to his neck. I hacked into his secure files and found a list of all the hits he’s personally ordered over the last twenty years. Including Jules’s parents.”
Pain stabbed him in the gut. “You mean Mom and Pop?”
“No, her real parents. Apparently Jules was to have been included in the hit. What I don’t know is if the Pinsons somehow dropped Jules off in order to keep her safe or if Jules survived the hit and someone else dropped her in Tennessee where the Trehans lived.”
“Who killed Mom and Pop?” Manuel asked. “Was it Sanderson?”
Tony nodded.
“Son of a bitch.”
“The senator decided it would be more beneficial to him if he shut the NFR down. He planned to launch a sting operation against his own creation and take down the network and Sanderson with it. He had greater ambitions than just being the Director of Homeland Security. He planned to use the position as a launch pad for a presidential bid. His platform? Tough on terrorism. He would have been a shoe-in with the removal of the NFR as a threat.”
“I take it Sanderson didn’t like the idea.”
Tony shook his head. “He wanted to use Jules to kill the senator. There were several reasons. One, with the senator gone, Sanderson would take over the NFR and continue operations as usual. As twisted as it sounds, Sanderson considered himself a solid patriot and the NFR, in his opinion, upheld the ideals and interests of the U.S.”
Manuel clenched his fist. Patriot, his ass. The bastard had played him and Jules from the very beginning. Worse, he’d taken advantage of an innocent girl and turned her into a cold-blooded killer.
“Two,” Tony continued, “after killing the Trehans, Sanderson knew he’d have leverage to make Jules do just about anything. That leverage was you. Here was a girl who only had one person left in the world who meant anything to her.
“And three, Sanderson realized some of the other operatives might balk at killing a U.S. senator. Sanderson counted on Jules’s hatred of what the senator had done to her to make her carry out her mission.”
Manuel’s jaw tightened in rage. “He raped her.”
Tony nodded, his expression grim. “The bastard kept a detailed journal in his safe. Recruiting Jules was personal. Payback for her parents deserting the cause. He also wanted to keep very close tabs on her. He was afraid of what she might know, what her parents might have somehow passed down to her. Apparently the Pinsons planned to blow the NFR wide open, taking the senator with it.
“Jules disappeared from the NFR for a time. Just before she surfaced in Colorado. I think that scared the senator. He ordered her killed. Only Sanderson was interested in keeping her alive so she could complete her mission. Basically she was caught in the middle of a huge power struggle. The senator wanted her dead, and Sanderson wanted her back in. Sanderson killed the Trehans to force her hand.”
“Using me as bait,” Manuel said, his voice shaking.
Tony nodded.
Manuel pounded his fist on the chair. “How far does this go up, Tony? How far is the CIA into this? Is our whole agency up to their necks in it?”
Tony handed him a piece of paper. “Names of those involved in the NFR’s operations, either having knowledge of the group or having direct participation in the operations. The FBI is out making arrests now.”
Manuel scanned the list, his stomach knotting as he passed over familiar names. His entire career at the CIA had been a facade. His only purpose was to be a puppet to dangle in front of Jules. Any good he’d thought he’d done evaporated under what his presence had accomplished for Jules. And the Trehans.
He didn’t think he could become any more disillusioned than when he’d discovered Jules had lied to him. He was wrong.
“Why don’t you get some rest, Manuel.”
Manuel looked up to see his partner staring at him, his expression one of regret.
“Yeah, I think I will,” he muttered, standing up from his chair.
“I’ve got some more hacking to do. The FBI wants a solid case against the senator before they march down to the hospital and arrest him.”
Manuel nodded and trudged toward the spare bedroom. He didn’t care what happened to the senator or the CIA. Not anymore. The only thing he cared about was lying in a hospital bed ten miles away fighting for her life.
Chapter Thirty
Jules floated in a sea of pain. She could hear voices, hushed tones, but they seemed miles away. She tried to open her eyes, but it felt as though someone had taped her eyelids shut.
What had happened to her? There wasn’t a part of her that didn’t hurt. Her throat felt sore and swollen, and her chest burned like the fires of hell.
She concentrated on the fuzzy images burning through her brain. The senator. He’d shot her. Manny’s voice. She’d aimed at the senator. Had she fired? She didn’t remember. Was she even alive?
Again she tried to open her eyes then whimpered in pain as a shard of light pierced her skull.
“Jules! Jules! Can you hear me?”
Was that Manny? Why couldn’t she see anything? She blinked a few times, trying to draw focus.
“Squeeze my hand, baby. Squeeze it if you can hear me.”
She didn’t know where her hand was. For that matter, where were her feet? All she could feel was her chest. Pain consumed her.
A hand, Manny’s hand, brushed across her palm. She latched onto it with all the strength she possessed, but only felt a flickering of movement in response.
“That’s it, baby.”
She could hear the excitement in his voice. Shouldn’t he hate her? Why was he here? And where was here? But hearing his voice was such sweet relief. He was alive. But what of the senator? And Northstar. He was out there.
A few more blinks and she managed to make out Manny’s large form standing over her. The room came into focus. She was in the hospital. Again.
“Jules?”
There was such relief on his face. She could make out the barest rim of moisture pooling in his eyes.
Tears stung her own eyes. He was here. He hadn’t left her.
“Oh baby, don’t cry. Do you hurt?”
She felt him leave the bed for a moment, then he returned with a woman. The nurse?
“Ms. Trehan, can you hear me?”
The nurse’s voice was quiet and soothing. Jules tried to nod and pain lanced down her spine.
“You’re in the hospital.” The nurse smoothed a hand across Jules’s brow. “You’ve been in ICU for two days now. Do you remember any of it?”
Two days? Hadn’t it been a few minutes ago? She wasn’t sure she remembered anything. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“Don’t try to talk,” the nurse said. “You were on a respirator until a few hours ago. Your throat will be sore.”
The nurse’s cool hand rested on Jules’s. “I’ll get you something for pain, would you like that?”
Jules squeezed.
“I’ll be right back.”
The nurse spoke to Manny, and the two of them conversed in low tones. Soon the nurse was back. A few minutes later, Jules gave herself over to the medication. She felt Manny’s hand wrap around hers, and she gripped it tight, not wanting him to leave.
He must have sensed her fear. “I’m right here, Jules. I’m not going anywhere.”
She relaxed and floated off, allowing herself to drift painlessly into oblivion.
Manuel stepped off the elevator, his hands clenched at his sides. He looked down the long hallway, his gaze flitting over the two agents posted outside the senator’s hospital room.
With no hesitation, he strode forward until he was a few feet from the doorway. The agents came to attention.
“Sorry, Ramirez, we can’t let you in there. You know that.”
Manuel eyed the agent, saw the regret in his eyes. “I just want to have a
word
with the senator.”
The agent stared at him for a long moment then stepped aside. “He better not have a mark on him when you’re done. I’ll give you five minutes. Then you’re out of here.”
Manuel nodded and shoved through the door. The senator lay propped up in his bed, a bandage around his right shoulder. He looked up warily when Manuel closed the door behind him.
Manuel didn’t say anything. He pinned the senator with his stare until the older man shifted uncomfortably in the bed.
“What do you want?” he demanded.
“You better hope they lock you up in the deepest, darkest hole they can find,” Manuel said, his voice deadly quiet. “Because if you ever see the light of day again, I’ll hunt you down like the animal you are.”
The senator paled then began to bluster. “You can’t threaten me! I’m a United States senator.”
“You’ll be a
dead
U.S. senator if I ever find you,” Manuel vowed. “I know what you did to Jules, and so help me if there weren’t two federal agents standing outside your door, I’d kill you with my bare hands, right here, right now.”
The senator’s eyes shone with fear. “Get out,” he said hoarsely. He yanked a finger toward the door. “Get out!”
“Rot in hell.” Manuel turned and walked out the door, banging it behind him.
He strode back to the elevator, rode it to Jules’s floor and settled into the chair beside her bed. He wasn’t moving until she woke up.
For three days after Jules first regained consciousness, Manuel watched her drift in and out. Each time she stayed awake a little longer, but she hadn’t spoken. She was in a lot of pain, and the medical personnel kept her heavily medicated. Manuel didn’t leave her side. The hospital staff had long since stopped trying to make him leave.
On the fourth day, he’d fallen asleep in his chair when he heard the sweetest sound from Jules’s bed. She spoke.
“Manny?”
It was the faintest whisper, shaky, a thread of pain woven in, but she said his name.
He jumped forward, scrambling out of his chair.
“I’m here.”
“Can I have something to drink?” she rasped.
“I’ll ask the nurse,” he said as he pushed the call button.
A few seconds later, a nurse bustled in.
“So our patient’s awake and talking? That’s terrific.”
“She wants something to drink,” Manuel said.
The nurse poked and prodded for a few moments, listened to Jules’s heartbeat and checked her bandages. “No reason she can’t have a few sips of water. I’ll notify the doctor of her condition.”
As the nurse left the room, Manuel poured water into a cup then walked to Jules’s bedside and put an arm behind her head. Gently, he eased her forward and put the drink to her lips.
She swallowed the liquid then slumped back in the bed. He set the cup by the sink and turned his attention back to her.
“How are you feeling?”
She turned blue eyes full of emotion on him. “I’m sorry, Manny. I know you hate me.”
He felt like someone punched him in the stomach. “No, baby. No, I don’t hate you.”
He cupped her face in his palm, ran his fingers over her jaw.
“I lied to you,” she whispered. “How can you not hate me, when I hate myself?”
A knot swelled in his throat. “I know everything, Jules. I know what the NFR is, what Northstar and the senator did to you. I know they used me to control you for the last three years, and I know you did what you did to protect me.”
A tear trickled down her cheek. “The senator? Is he dead?”
“No, baby. He’s not. But Northstar is.”
She gasped in surprise. “Northstar’s dead? But how? I mean, how do you know who he is?”
“He was my superior.”
She grimaced but didn’t look surprised by his announcement.
“I’ll explain everything when you’re feeling better. The important thing is that you’re safe, Jules. No one can hurt you now. It’s over.”
She stared at him, suspicion clouding her expression. “Over?”
He nodded. “The senator was arrested. There’s enough evidence to put him behind bars for the rest of his life.”
More tears spilled down her cheeks. He smudged them with his thumb, caressed her face with his hand.
“I love you, Jules. I’m never letting you go again. We’re free to have a life together. We can start over.”
Jules drew in her breath and hiccupped as it caught in her throat. Manny didn’t hate her. He wanted to be with her after all she’d done. It was more than she could have ever hoped for.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“Get better, baby. You and I have a lot of time to make up for, and I plan to make the most of every minute.”
An enormous weight lifted off her chest. Her heart took flight, lifted and soared. She was free. For the first time in three years, she was free.
Manny gathered her gently in his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Go to sleep, baby. Nothing can hurt you anymore.”
She pillowed her head on his chest, felt her tears soak into his shirt. Happy tears. For once, she didn’t loathe her show of weakness. The man who held her made her strong.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Today’s the day,” Manny said as he rolled a wheelchair into her room.
Jules looked up from the bed, nervous excitement surging through her veins. It had been three weeks since she’d lain at death’s door. Three weeks of lying in a hospital bed while Manny fussed endlessly over her. She was ready to be out.
He helped her into the wheelchair then checked the bandages over her chest. Other than a bit of soreness, the wound had healed marvelously.
“All set?” he asked.
At her nod, he pushed the wheelchair into the hallway.
“We’ll stop by the nurses’ station so they can give you your discharge instructions, then we’ll be on our way.”
She smiled. He sounded so cheerful. The worry that had been so firmly etched on his face for so long had disappeared. She could almost see the old Manny, the one she’d fallen in love with as a teenager.
“You know, I can walk just fine,” she said as he pushed her toward the elevator.
“Hush. You’ll have plenty of time for walking. For now, you’ll take it easy.”
She shook her head. He was enjoying this far too much.
They rode down on the elevator, then he pushed her toward the front entrance. She could see an SUV parked in the semicircular patient drop-off area through the automatic glass doors to the hospital.