Eternal Nights (36 page)

Kendall reached it first and the thief tried to grab her. Before he could touch her, though, Wyatt had him, and with a violent twist, he broke the bastard’s neck.

As Wyatt dropped the man he’d just killed to the ground, Kendall looked for the guy Wyatt had been fighting. She found him motionless on the plaza.

With all their attackers accounted for, she went and retrieved the pistol. Her legs were shaking, but her hands were steady enough as she returned the weapon to Wyatt. “Thanks, darlin’,” he said as he holstered it.

“Someone had to save that gorgeous ass of yours.” Kendall’s eyes widened when she realized what had come out of her mouth, and, embarrassed, she hurried away.

“You like my backside?” Wyatt teased as he caught up with her. “That wasn’t what you kept reaching for in bed, you know.”

Kendall’s cheeks went so hot, she figured they must be scarlet. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that. My brain is all jumbled up or something.”

“It’s okay,” he told her, his arm going around her waist. “It’s the adrenaline. Try not to crash on me, though, because we are a long way from safe, and I need you alert.”

She took a deep breath. “I’ll give it a shot.”

“Good. Now let’s get out of here and find Sullivan. I want this over ASAP. Then, Bug, you and I can have a talk.”

Wyatt took his arm from around her, and snagged her hand instead. Kendall looked at him, but the expression on his face was resolute. That hadn’t been a threat, but a promise.

*** *** ***

Alex sat unmoving on his front porch, the shadows hiding him from view. It was after midnight, and he’d been camped here for hours, out of touch for the first time since Hunter’s body had been discovered. He needed the time alone.

Never before in his life had he been as furious at another human being as he’d been at Stacey. It had taken all his self-command to remain silent in the mess hall. He knew anything he said would be inflammatory. Besides, he refused to air their problems in front of an audience. God knew, the gossip mongers on the post would have a field day if he did.

Shit, part of him still couldn’t believe it. The woman he’d lived with for three years, the woman who’d claimed to love him, had been prepared to walk out without telling him about the baby.

Maybe she was getting even with him. After all, it was his fault she was pregnant since he’d promised to take over the responsibility for birth control. She’d even reminded him, but before he could get to the infirmary, that bout of food poisoning had laid low more than half his personnel, and he’d had forty-eight hellish hours trying to find ways to cover the security responsibilities of J Nine. Even after some of his people started coming back, they’d been weakened, and his juggling act had continued for another ten days. By the time the crisis was over, he’d forgotten about his promise.

Honesty forced Alex to discard the idea that this was some kind of revenge for his lapse. Stace was too straightforward for that kind of shit, and she’d be more likely to rip his head off than anything else. Why the hell then had she kept this secret?

His stomach clenched. Maybe she’d decided he’d make a lousy father and she didn’t want him messing up their kid.

Alex couldn’t blame her for that. He’d never had a really good role model when it came to parenting. His mother had been a selfish bitch who’d considered him nothing more than a pawn in some bizarre war with his father. And God knew while his dad had tried, he hadn’t been the best parent either. First and foremost, he’d been a soldier. Sure, when he was home, he tried to make up for his absences, but he’d been gone more than he was present. Besides, Alex hadn’t seen his dad from age five to fifteen, and a lot of damage had been done by then.

He sighed silently. No doubt about it, he was a bad bet to raise a child, but Stacey should have told him about the baby anyway. Then, after he knew, she could have let him know she didn’t want him near their son or daughter. It would have hurt, but not half as much as her concealing the information had.

They needed to talk, but Alex didn’t think he was capable of having a conversation yet—at least not a constructive one. He was still too pissed.

When he spoke to her, he’d have to be cool. Maybe Stacey didn’t want him to help raise their child, but for damn sure he was getting some visitation. He would never walk away from his kid; Alex knew what it was like to grow up thinking his father didn’t care, and no child of his was going to experience that pain. His child would know a father’s love—even if Alex only visited on holidays and the occasional weekend.

When he realized he was strangling the arms of his chair, Alex forced himself to release his grip. He had to get a hold on his temper, so he could discuss this with her before she left on the transport tomorrow. Unease filled him, and he pushed it aside. He’d been in tough situations before, and he’d do whatever he needed to do. No way was he letting his kid down.

Maybe Stacey’s pride had prevented her from telling him about the baby. She was aware that he’d ask her to marry him the instant he knew, and she wouldn’t want him to feel obligated. But even before she’d walked out on him, he’d planned to spend the rest of his life with her. The baby just would have sped up his proposal. He’d have gotten around to it on his own—eventually.

The sound of running jerked him out of his thoughts. Alex watched as two people turned onto his sidewalk and hurried up the steps to his front entrance. A woman pounded on the door. “For heaven’s sake, Bug, softer. The colonel will hear you without half the danged neighborhood being alerted too.”

As if suddenly sensing Alex’s presence, Montgomery stiffened and glanced around. His captain’s razor-sharp instincts brought Alex an odd pride. As their eyes met and the kid ID’d him, his body relaxed.

He captured the woman’s fist before she could knock again, and said, “Come on, darlin’.”

Alex recognized Kendall Thomas, as he returned his captains’ salutes. Both looked exhausted and had obviously lost weight, but they were healthy enough, thank God.

“At ease,” Alex said softly. “I’m assuming you’re not here to turn yourselves in for being AWOL.”

Montgomery remained impassive, but the girl looked like she wanted to go for his throat. For the first time in a long while, Alex felt like smiling.

“No, sir,” Montgomery said. “We’re here to report a smuggling ring on Jarved Nine.”

“I know about it.” That shocked them. “Captain Thomas, have you considered a career in investigation? I have MPs who aren’t half as good as you are at following trails. The level of detail in your notes was impressive and very helpful.”

“Thank you, sir.” She sounded distracted, barely pausing before asking, “Has the transport left yet?”

The non sequitur had him stiffening. “It’s scheduled to take off in about ten hours or so.”

The girl turned to Montgomery. “We might still have time! ”

“Start talking, Thomas,” Alex ordered. He wanted answers now.

“Sir—” Montgomery started.

“Is your name Thomas?” He didn’t have to say another word to shut the kid up. Alex turned to the girl, and she immediately launched into a condensed, need-to-know report.

“The smugglers are planning to steal the obelisks from your sister’s house—the ones in her bedroom. They’re supposed to be on this transport because they have a really important buyer waiting, which means they’ll have to break in and take them tonight. Sir, their orders are to get those crystals no matter what they have to do or who they have to hurt!”

She said it all without drawing a breath, so it took a second for the words to make sense. When they did, his blood turned to ice, and his heart spasmed. Not only was his family at risk, but Stacey too. Alex jerked to his feet, struggling for composure. “Montgomery, are you capable of acting as my backup?”

“Yes, sir,” he said.

“Thomas, I want you to go to security headquarters and send reinforcements to the royal residence.”

“With all due respect, Colonel,” Montgomery said, “there’s no way in hell I’m letting Captain Thomas out of my sight. Every member of that smuggling ring is looking for her, and if they spot her, she’s dead.”

Alex started to point out that the silver oak leaf he wore beat a couple of bars, but he swallowed the words. If he dragged Montgomery with him, and all he did was worry about Thomas, the kid would be worse than useless. A distracted man in a life-or-death situation was a danger to himself and others.

He dismissed the idea of letting Thomas come with them. She didn’t have the training or experience to be any help, and Montgomery would be so busy watching out for her that he could jeopardize Stacey or Ravyn or Cam. Alex thought about suggesting Thomas seal herself inside his house, but guessed the kid would still have his attention divided. That left only one option.

“Okay, let’s try this then. You stick with her and you both find me some backup—send them to the royal residence ASAP. Tell them I’ll be inside when they arrive. I’m not waiting.”

The kid nodded. “Major Brody will be able to help you out until the troops get there, sir.”

“McNamara assigned him to night duty a few days ago. That makes it critical that you don’t waste time, understood?” Alex all but growled the words, but his impatience level was rising.

“Understood, Colonel.”

Before Alex could reach the stairs, his unease became full-out terror. Ravyn. Since she’d been five years old, he’d known when his sister was in trouble. He recognized the feeling instantly. Something was seriously wrong.

“Move it!” he ordered. And Alex started running.

*** *** ***

Stacey couldn’t sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t rid her mind of the expression on Alex’s face when he’d found out about the baby. It had only been there for an instant, then rage had replaced it, but she hadn’t needed more time in order to recognize it. Pain. A pain so deep, there weren’t words to quantify it. Her keeping this secret had hurt him badly.

She hadn’t expected such a strong reaction.

Turning from her side to her back, Stacey draped an arm across her eyes. He hadn’t said more than a handful of words to her after Tami had dropped the bombshell, but she knew better than to believe that would last. Either he was formulating a strategy or trying to calm down enough to talk to her without losing his self-command. Sullivan hated being out of control.

A soft moan escaped as she realized Alex probably considered her secrecy to be on par with the manipulative tricks his mother had used against his father. His parents, both of them, had left Alex with a lot of baggage. Too much. The only thing that had saved him was his mother sending him to his dad when he was fifteen. And even then, Stacey thought Ravyn was the one that had given him a ray of light, not Gil or Marie, his stepmother.

Ravyn had helped Alex open his heart again. She’d needed someone to watch out for her, and her new stepbrother had taken on the role of guardian without hesitation. This was partly why he’d had such trouble standing aside for Damon. Sullivan needed to be needed, and with Ravyn married, he’d lost the one thing that made him feel worthwhile.

With a groan of frustration, Stacey pushed aside the blankets and got up. She wasn’t going to sleep, not before the transport left Jarved Nine. The clothes she’d worn earlier were on a nearby chair, and she pulled them on. Maybe she’d talk to Alex, have it out with him. Meet the enemy on your terms, wasn’t that what he always said? It was time to put his advice to work.

But as she strode into the darkened gathering chamber, her uneasiness surged into outright terror. She was trying to figure out why when she heard Cam call, “Mommy!” He must have had a nightmare; he sounded frightened.

“No! Mommy!”

Stacey hesitated. Where was Ravyn?

“Mommy!” Cam sounded mad, and Stacey almost laughed. She’d better see what had him up in the middle of the night.

She was past the first door to Ravyn and Damon’s suite when she heard a sob from the sitting room. Reversing her steps, she walked inside, and stopped short.

A man dressed in dark clothing held a struggling, almost-hysterical Cam. The boy was alternating between trying to fight the thug and trying to get away from him. Cam saw her then, and went still. “Mommy!” he shrieked, pointing.

For the first time, Stacey saw the body. Ravyn was lying on her stomach.
Please, God, don’t let her be dead!

She had to do something. She had to rescue Cam.

Stacey rushed the guy restraining the little boy, but she was grabbed from behind before she took more than a few steps.

Fighting with all her strength, Stacey tried to get free, tried to put into practice the different defensive moves Alex had taught her, but she was no match for the jerk. Then Cam’s crying stopped with a suddenness that made her freeze.

“Here’s the deal, lady. You behave, the kid remains healthy. You kick up a fuss, and he gets hurt. Simple enough?” the guy pinning her arms behind her back asked.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Good. You stay quiet and cooperative, and everything will be fine. We’ll do what we came here for, then get out.”

“Uncover his face,” Stacey said, nodding toward the man who had one big hand blocking Cam’s nose and mouth. “I’ll cooperate if you stop smothering him.”

“He’s making too much noise,” the thug holding the boy said.

“Cam, sweetie, you need to stay quiet, okay?” The word he said was muffled, but Stacey understood. “We’ll check on your mommy soon, but can you be quiet for me?”

He nodded the best he was able.

“Now take your hand off his face,” she told the guy.

The man lowered his arm slowly, ready to cover Cam’s mouth again in an instant if he cried. The boy, though, kept his promise. With her godson able to breathe again, Stacey moved on to her next worry—getting them out of here alive. She didn’t care what these men said; she and Cam had seen their faces, and there was no way on earth they were letting them live. Where could the thieves hide? J Nine had only a small contingent of people, and everyone was confined within the walls of the city. Once she identified them, they’d be arrested immediately.