COLE (Dragon Security Book 1) (49 page)

Brian

Brianna was still sleeping when we left the room the second time. Ian thought he knew where Cassidy was. We headed over there, a forty-minute drive, watching carefully for any unwanted company. We knew by now that we were being watched, but it seemed to be sporadically, not all the time.

I stared out the window, thinking about the choice I would have to make if we were wrong, if this warehouse wasn’t the one where they were holding Cassidy. I couldn’t make it. I couldn’t not choose Cassidy, but I couldn’t put my child in danger, either. I’d called Killian and he assured me that he had Stacy under control. He was nearly in New York, and he’d be watching over her by the time we arrived at the warehouse. But that was less than reassuring.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Killian. It was that I understood this madman we were up against was incredibly intelligent.

I closed my eyes and told myself it would work out somehow. We’d find Cassidy. We’d get out of this mess, and everyone would be okay.

But I couldn’t really convince myself.

We pulled up to the warehouse, and Ian slipped out of the van, walking slowly toward the door. It was deserted, not a soul in the area. There were no cars, either.

Were we too late?

I moved up behind him, my gun in my hand, my finger on the trigger. Ian gestured to a set of windows by the door he’d just looked through. I moved close, staring through the dust and grime on the glass. There was a camera still sitting on a tripod, focused on a chair that stood before a huge, cinderblock wall and on the wall was the logo of the food manufacturing company.

This was it. This was the place.

“Where is everyone?”

Ian shook his head. He didn’t know any more than I did.

He pulled open the doors, and we stepped inside, both of us cautious of what might jump out at us. We moved slowly, paying attention to as much detail as we possibly could. Ian followed footsteps on the floor almost perfectly, like a tracker following a group of criminals. I was no longer sure who the criminals and who the bad guys were anymore, but I followed close behind my son, waiting for someone—anyone—to jump out at us.

But there was nothing.

“We’re too late.”

Ian holstered his gun and went to the camera. “Maybe they left some sort of clue.”

“Like what? They’re too careful to leave fingerprints.”

“No, but maybe they forgot to wipe the memory card.”

I moved around him, walking the perimeter of the room. There were so many footprints in the dust it was hard to tell how many there had been. But I would guess more than just a few.

“He has others working with him.”

“He does.”

“At least two. Maybe three.”

“I’d say four.”

“Why?”

Ian gestured to the camera. I walked over and was surprised to see video playing out on the small screen at the back of the camera. Sure enough, there were four men moving in and out of the camera’s sights, men wearing simple black masks that hid their eyes and half of their faces. Opera masks. And then there was Cassidy, being brought in by a young man who seemed a little gentler with her than his companions. There was an exchange between Cassidy and the unseen man behind the camera after they freed her from her bonds. He seemed surprised when she complied.

“He’s disguising his voice,” Ian said.

“Why would he do that?”

“The only reason I can think of is that he thought she would recognize it. Or he left this here on purpose, and he thought you would recognize it.”

“Then it’s someone I know.”

“Possibly.”

We heard a noise at the back of the warehouse. Ian quickly removed the camera from the tripod and slipped it under his jacket. Then we both turned and raised our guns.

“Who’s there?” I called, moving toward the back of the dark room, back to where I heard the sound.

“Brian?”

Cassidy suddenly came out from behind a thin door, a large switchblade in her hand. She dropped it when she saw me and rushed into my arms. I pulled her close, my gun still in my hand, and kissed her from her forehead down to her lips.

“Are you okay?”

“Is Brianna really free? Is she safe?”

“She’s safe, my love. I can take you to her now.”

“How did you get free?” Ian demanded.

Cassidy gestured to the knife she’d dropped. “I took it from one of the guys and ran. They found him and decided to leave me behind. I heard them say they didn’t need me anymore, anyway.” She looked up at me. “I’m sorry. Stacy…”

I shook my head. “She’s fine, love. No one’s going to hurt my kids.”

And then I kissed her again, drinking in everything about her. She was here. She was safe. And I didn’t need to make a choice.

Cassidy

We drove in silence to the hotel. Brian held me in his arms in the backseat of the SUV the entire way while Ian insisted that I tell him everything that happened over and over again. Brian finally put a stop to it just moments before we pulled up to the hotel. I wanted to run up the stairs, but I had no idea where I was going. I followed Brian, clinging to his hand as the adrenaline wore off and I began to realize what I’d just done.

I stabbed a man.

We rode the elevator to the seventh floor, going to a lovely suite that overlooked the city. Brian let my hand go and gestured to the bedroom.

She was lying in the center of the bed, propped up on pillows. She was asleep, soft sounds coming from between her full lips. I sat carefully beside her on the bed, pushing a piece of soft, curly red hair away from her face.

“Momma?”

“It’s me, baby.”

Brianna sat up and threw her arms around me. I tugged her close, holding her tighter than I ever had when she was little. She was my baby. I couldn’t let her go.

She began to cry, and I whispered in her ear like I used to do when she was little and she had nightmares. I told her it would be okay. I told her I would never let anything bad happen to her ever again. It was as if she’d been taken back in time, reverted to childhood, instead of being the beautiful, confident lawyer she was.

“I’m sorry.”

She pulled back, wiping tears and snot from her face with the back of her hand, then sliding it onto the bed sheet. “It’s not your fault.”

“It is. If I’d told you sooner about Brian, if I’d been more diligent….”

“He saved me.”

I nodded. I didn’t know what had happened, but I wasn’t surprised. “Good.”

“He’s my father?”

“He is.”

Her eyes were bright with questions, but she didn’t ask.

“We’ll talk about it soon.”

I kissed her forehead, reluctant to leave her. She lay back down, and I held her hand and watched as she slowly settled back into sleep. Her wrists were bandaged. There were no visible bruises, but she was pale. She’d been through an ordeal. If I’d been able to prevent it…

But I couldn’t.

I stretched out beside her and watched her for a long time. I couldn’t bear to go. But then Brian came into the room and he looked so tired, so grateful to see us together. I went to him and kissed him gently.

And, suddenly, I desperately wanted a shower.

***

I was shivering, but I stayed under the spray of the water. It was cold. I’d turned the knob on purpose. I needed to shock myself out of the clutches of my memories. I’d kissed another man. I’d done it for a good reason, but that didn’t change that I’d kissed him. And it didn’t chase away the creepy feeling that ran down my spine each time I thought about it.

I felt dirty. No amount of scrubbing would make it go away, but I kept trying.

“You’re going to turn into one huge prune.” Brian opened the shower door and held up a towel. “You need to rest, babe.”

I reluctantly turned off the water and moved into the towel which, in turn, led me into Brian’s arms. He wrapped the towel around me and patted my skin dry before leading me to the bed.

He’d arranged for another room on the same floor as the one Brianna still slept in. He’d left Ian with her, stretched out on the couch, trying to catch a few moments of sleep himself. It was late, nearly dawn, but my eyes weren’t anywhere near ready to close for a few hours. I wanted to go back to Brianna, wanted to watch her sleep a while longer. But Brian talked me into resting and I was here…

He pushed me down onto the bed and grabbed a bottle of lotion from the complimentary supplies provided by the hotel. He crossed to me again and knelt in front of me, dumping a lump of lotion onto his hand and smearing it between his hands before rubbing it onto me. I lay back and enjoyed the feel of his hands on my calves, my thighs. He moved steadily up my body, taking his time rubbing the lovely scented lotion into my breasts. Then he rolled me over, massaging my back as he continued to rub the lotion into my skin.

I closed my eyes and surprised myself with the sense of exhaustion that suddenly came over me. But his hands felt so good…until, of course, the memory of Ricky’s touch came back

I sat up and pulled away.

“What’s the matter?”

I shook my head, but understanding suddenly brightened his eyes.

“What did they do to you?” he asked, his voice gentle despite the hard edge to it.

I shook my head again. “It’s as much what I did.”

“You were fighting for your life.”

“I was fighting for so many things I can’t even begin to number them all.”

He climbed further onto the bed and moved up beside me, pulling me against his chest.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I don’t care what you had to do. It was the situation, not you.”

“He kissed me.”

I felt him tense.

“He kissed me and I let him so that I could get the knife. And then I…”

“I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered. “If not for me, you would never have been in that situation.”

“They know everything about us. They know about you. I don’t understand.”

“It’s my life, Cassidy. I’m not a good man.”

“But you are. You’ve done bad things, but you are a good man. You came for me.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. But I don’t know if I could choose you over my child.”

“That’s the way it should be.”

I shook my head, but his hands were moving over me, and he began to kiss me, his lips sliding over my temples, my ears, my throat. I turned into him and it felt so perfect to be in his arms. The darkness of the day began to recede. I closed my eyes and let Brian’s touch, his scent, his being roll over me and take away the reality of what’d happened.

I was alive, and he was making me feel even more so.

He pushed me down against the mattress and ran his lips over my throat, my breasts. I moaned, running my fingers through his hair. There was something so perfect about the way he felt. Ricky had wanted so badly to convince me he could provide me with pleasure, but what he didn’t understand was that this was about more than the physical pleasure we could offer each other. This was about love. This about comfort. This was about being with the man who lit up my soul and made me feel like I was capable of anything.

“I love you,” he whispered again and again, but even that was just words. It was his touch that made me feel whole, that made me realize that what I’d done was justified.

This was where I belonged. This was where I always wanted to be.

Brian

We flew back to Boston. Brianna hadn’t wanted to go at first, but the idea of leaving her mother had convinced her. We stopped by her place the next morning, but she couldn’t make herself go inside. There were too many memories of her ordeal in this place. Cassidy went inside with Ian, and I stayed with Brianna.

“She loves you.”

I glanced at her. “What?”

“My mom. I’ve never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you.”

“I love her, too.”

“Why didn’t it work out before?”

I shrugged. “I was married.”

“Did she know?”

“Not at first.”

She nodded, her eyes shifting from me uneasily, looking everywhere but at the façade of the buildings around us. “She wouldn’t have been with you had she known.”

“I know.”

“And then I wouldn’t be here. So thanks for lying to her.”

That caught me by surprise. I chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

“If you break her heart again, you’ll have to deal with me.”

“Fair enough.”

“Seriously. I can give quite the cold shoulder.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Cassidy and Ian returned then, shoving a duffle bag filled with clothes into the back before taking their seats. We met the private plane at the airstrip and tried to relax during the long flight. I called Killian halfway through, and he reassured me that Stacy was fine. He was watching her from a safe distance to keep from frightening her, but watching close enough to keep her safe. So far he hadn’t recognized any threats.

I couldn’t stop thinking about what the kidnapper had said though. That she wouldn’t be safe, even with Killian there.

Why was this happening? What did they want from me?

And then I heard Brianna’s soft laughter, saw the smile on Ian’s face—a sight that was so incredibly rare—and the light dancing in Cassidy’s eyes. I didn’t want to care about this bullshit right now. I just wanted to enjoy my family.

“Stay with us,” I said to Brianna. “The house is big and empty. Only Cassidy and I in a house that could sleep up to a dozen people comfortably.”

“For a while.”

“Stay as long as you want.”

She glanced at her mother. “We talked about that. I could find a job with a law firm there.”

“You could. I’m sure they’d all be more than happy to have you.” I reached over and touched her knee. “I’d be happy to have you. I want to get to know you.”

Her eyes dropped. “I guess we all have a lot to figure out.”

I caught her shoot a look at her mother. Cassidy was staring at her hands, not saying anything, even though it was clear she was following the conversation. There was something about the look on her face that frightened me a little.

That night when we were alone in our bedroom, I lounged on the bed and watched her slowly undress.

“Is there something we need to discuss?”

She looked a little surprised when she looked back at me. “What do you mean?”

“You do know that I want you to stay here. Permanently. Right?”

She shrugged her slender shoulders.

I got up and went to her, sliding my arms around her. “I thought we’d discussed this. I love you. I don’t want you to go away.”

“Well, you happened to catch me between residences. I can’t live in that condo, not after what happened, and I severed most of my ties to Austin, though I’m sure my brother would let me camp out on his couch.”

“You’re staying here.”

She turned in my arms and kissed me gently. “And then?”

I lifted her chin. “Do you want me to get down on my knees?”

“I want you to tell me what happens now.”

“We get married. We live happily ever after with our daughter living down the hall until she’s old and gray and sick of taking care of us.”

She laughed, but there were tears in her eyes.

“Cassidy, surely you understood that this was a forever sort of thing. I didn’t think I had to make it official. I just thought…we could fly to Vegas next week…”

She kissed me with more fire than I’d ever known from her. I liked it.

I lifted her and carried her to the bed, digging at my clothes because I couldn’t be inside of her any faster. As I rocked against her, enjoying the feel of her, she kissed me with that depth, with that enthusiasm that took my breath away.

I couldn’t imagine my life without her. I couldn’t imagine ever waking up again and not finding her next to me. I couldn’t imagine facing even a second without knowing where she was, how she was, when she was going to be at my side again.

This was my life. Let that madman try to hurt me. As long as Cassidy was here, I was whole. I didn’t need anything else.