Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (18 page)

The night’s silence was rent by the sound of a small boy’s cries, and Dahlia stiffened and prepared to spring to her feet. Jericho grabbed her arm and squeezed. It was a small movement, but it brought her back to earth.

“Listen,” he hissed at her. “Those aren’t cries of pain.”

Dahlia forced herself to breathe in slowly through her nose and actually listened to her son cry. Jericho was right. Gabriel was scared, but those weren’t the anguished cries of pain.

“Anything I should know about on the first floor before we go in?” he asked in a whisper.

Dahlia shook her head. “Nothing. It’s a wide open room.”

Jericho grunted. “No cover.”

She watched as he thought for a few seconds.

“Put up your weapon,” Jericho softly ordered, and Dahlia realized that she’d palmed her gun. When had that happened? She silently returned it to the back of her pants. “You stay behind me, you got it?” he told her, and then before she could make sense of his words, he stood up calmly and walked toward the gaping threshold.

Dahlia scrambled to her feet and moved after him, making sure to stay behind him like he’d ordered. She didn’t want him distracted by trying to keep her safe if she forced the issue and strode in next to him.

Jericho entered the building. He reached behind him and snagged Dahlia at the waist and jerked her into his back as he walked. She bumped into him, and her feet tangled with his, but he didn’t slow down. “Stay close,” he whispered.

Gabriel’s cries were overshadowed by three adult male voices. Dahlia’s eyes adjusted to the dark, and she peered around Jericho’s body as they walked. She could make out the shadows surrounding the trashcan in the far corner of the room. Gabriel was huddled on the floor between two tall men, and the form of her husband was kneeling before Gabriel. He was speaking to the boy in a low voice that Dahlia couldn’t make out, and then she saw him reach forward to touch her son’s shoulder, and Dahlia lost it.

She shoved Jericho aside, reaching for her gun at the same time. She kicked something that rattled and all three men turned as one and drew their weapons. Dahlia didn’t care, she just continued to charge forward, aiming directly for Luis. “Don’t touch my son,” she growled.

Gabriel heard her voice. His little head jerked up and then he scrambled to his feet. “
Mamá!
” he screamed as he surged forward.

Luis snatched him by the back of his shirt and dragged him back against his body, and Dahlia froze.

“
Your
son?” Luis asked in a deadly calm. Dahlia knew what was coming next. That was always the tone of voice he used right before he hit her. Her gun hand wavered. Luis cocked his head like a dog and stared her down cruelly. “
Your son?
” he bellowed.

Dahlia whimpered. “Luis, please,” she breathed, just as she had so many times.

“This is
my
son, bitch. You tried to keep him from me, and now you’ll never see him again.” He laughed and chills ran down Dahlia’s back. “Tried to keep the existence of my own son from me.”

Suddenly, Jericho’s warmth met her back. One of his hands came to rest on her shoulder, and she was reminded that she wasn’t alone. Her gun hand stopped shaking.

“We’ve called the police,” Jericho said the lie softly, smoothly. “They’ll be here any minute. You can’t win. Why don’t you just send the boy over here?”

The gun that had been at Luis’s side jerked up. He waved it around wildly. “Who the
fuck
is this?” he screamed.

Dahlia winced. He was so angry. He had his arm around her son. She started to shake again.

“Easy,” Jericho said, raising both his hands up in a non-threatening manner and stepping around Dahlia, putting himself between her and Luis’s gun. “I’m nobody, okay? We just want Gabriel back.”

“You fucking my wife?” Luis asked. Then he snorted. “Good riddance. She was a lousy lay anyway.”

Jericho growled and took a step forward. “Talk about her that way again, and I’ll tear your throat out.”

• • •

Jericho took two steps forward to do just that. No one did this to his family. The sound of a gun being cocked rent the night air, and Jericho froze in front of Dahlia. Luis had placed the barrel of his gun against Gabriel’s head. Dahlia groaned and grabbed onto Jericho’s arms to keep from slipping to the floor. Gabriel started crying again.

“If the police are coming, then what do I have to lose?” Luis asked, desperation coloring his voice. “If I can’t have him, no one can.”

Jericho immediately realized he’d underestimated the evil this man was capable of. If Jericho didn’t do something, he was going to watch Gabriel die. The thought scared him worse than anything he’d experienced in years.

“Drop the gun,” Jericho ordered. His hands itched for his own weapon.

Luis laughed. “Fuck no.” He nodded to the two men on either side of him. “I’ll kill the boy, and then we’ll kill — ”

Jericho didn’t even have time to think, to ponder that his next step was going to single-handedly ensure that Dahlia didn’t need him for protection ever again. He had no time to think about all he was about to lose. He simply breathed, jerked, and had a gun in each hand. Two shots sounded and Luis and the man to his right went down. The remaining man fumbled to cock his gun and before Luis even hit the ground, Jericho had taken him out, too.

Gabriel was left standing among three bodies.

Dahlia surged forward and reached her son in seconds, scooping him up and pressing his face into her neck where he sobbed his heart out, his little body wracked with shakes. “Don’t look, baby,” she whispered to him as she didn’t follow her own advice. Her eyes were plastered to Luis’s body and the perfect hole in the center of his forehead. Without looking at the others, Jericho knew that they were all perfect shots. Shots that had saved Gabriel’s life and freed Dahlia from Luis’s reign of terror forever.

Jericho’s arms came around them both. “Shh,” he whispered. “It’s over.”

Dahlia’s knees gave out. Jericho caught her, and swung her up into his arms, even though she still held Gabriel. He held both of them securely, shifting Dahlia’s body until Gabriel was safely nestled against her stomach, and then Jericho turned and began the walk back to the truck.

Dahlia clutched her son as close as she could and turned her head to sob into Jericho’s chest.

Jericho’s heart still pounded through his chest. His instinct was screaming at him to get his family out of this situation as fast as possible, and so he nearly tripped over his feet as he walked as fast as he could without alarming the already distraught bundle of people in his arms.

He’d almost lost Gabriel. Forever. The boy was vulnerable and unchanged. A bullet from that gun would have ended his life.

And watching that fucking lunatic point a gun at his woman — rational thought had left him. He still wasn’t entirely aware of everything that had gone down in that factory. He just knew that he’d handled the situation. The three men who had set out to hurt what was his were dead, and now Jericho was taking the two most important people in his life to safety.

End of story.

Dahlia and Gabriel would not be coming home with him; they wouldn’t need to. Jericho had just changed his life forever, had lost the love of his life for the second time, and it was all worth it. He’d do it again in a heartbeat. His suffering meant nothing next to the potential for theirs.

He arrived at the truck and gently settled Dahlia and Gabriel into the passenger side. He shut the door, and then he sprinted around the front of the truck, uncomfortable being away from them for even the short amount of time it took him to reach the driver’s side. A thought that brought to quick relief what he would be facing as soon as he left them. He wrenched open the door, slid into the seat, and immediately reached for them both, pulling them into his side. He took a brief moment to press them to his chest in an embrace, and then pulled back, keeping one arm around Dahlia’s shoulders, so he could start the truck and get them the hell out of here before someone called the police for real.

He pulled onto the road at the same time that Dahlia curled into him further, burying her face in his chest and smashing the small boy against his ribs. Jericho could feel Gabriel squirm, and joy shot through his chest again that the boy was alive and well. He gave Dahlia a firm squeeze and just let her rely on him for warmth and security.

The trip back to the house took much longer than Jericho had patience for. He wanted to return them to their home, tuck them safely in bed, and watch over them as they slept. He wanted them to wake up together the next morning as a family. Do normal things like walk Gabriel to school, cook dinner, have family game night. He wanted that with them so bad.

He could never have it.

Jericho drove slowly down the street to the house. All of the neighbors had returned to the indoors. The neighborhood looked like a ghost town compared to what it’d been when they’d left earlier.

Jericho breathed a sigh of relief that he almost had them home. He followed the track of the headlights as he turned into the driveway, and then slammed on the brakes as the beams illuminated someone leaning against a strange, official-looking car.

Eli Johnson was waiting for him in the driveway.

“Shit,” Jericho whispered before he could stop himself.

Dahlia stiffened against him and raised her head. As soon as she saw Eli, she jerked and pulled Gabriel into the shield of her body even further. “No,” she moaned. “This isn’t happening.” Frantic eyes found Jericho. “I can’t lose my son,” she whispered to him.

Jericho closed his eyes against the raw pain he saw in Dahlia’s features. This was all his fault. He’d dragged his feet in his mission, and now his mission had come to him. Of course, they were able to find him. He was a moron. He’d been using his cellphone like some kind of freaking green idiot.

Eli was here for Dahlia. Since Jericho had failed to bring her back into headquarters, Eli would.

Jericho couldn’t let that happen. “You won’t lose him,” he said, opening his eyes and solemnly promising Dahlia. “I’ll handle this. Take Gabriel and go inside.”

Jericho opened the driver’s side door and hopped to the pavement. He helped Dahlia slide over and lifted her and the boy to the ground. He then pivoted, placing himself between one of his dearest friends and the woman he loved, and helped escort them to the walkway. Once they reached Eli, Jericho let them go into the house alone and turned to face his friend.

Eli looked like he’d been slapped in the head with a beam. “Was that a …
child
?”

Jericho stopped right before him and ignored the question. “You’re not taking her back.”

A grim frown marred Eli’s face. “Jericho — ” he began.

Jericho stepped forward, into Eli’s personal space, purposefully straightening to his full height, which was several inches above Eli’s. “You’re
not taking her
,” he said in almost a whisper.

Eli flinched. “What the fuck’s happened to you? She’s a murderer! She goes back to the base or she goes to prison.”

Jericho surprised himself when he snarled. His hand came up to fist Eli’s shirt, and he snatched his friend close until their noses were almost brushing. “She’s a mother. And my mate. That matters more. You threaten her happiness one more time, and I will kill you. As many times as I need to until you come to grips with it.”

Some unidentifiable emotion snapped in Eli’s eyes. His features relaxed, though his expression turned sad. “You’re in love with her.”

It wasn’t a question, but Jericho gave a jerky nod nonetheless.

“Shit,” Eli breathed. He then looked down to where Jericho’s hand was fisted in his shirt. “You wanna let go of me so we can talk?” he asked.

Jericho frowned. Not what he expected. He released Eli, who sank back down on his heels and took a step back, rolling his shoulders. “I’m not your enemy,” Eli whispered shortly, and Jericho felt shame again, but quickly pushed it aside. If he was planning on taking Dahlia away from Gabriel, then he was the enemy. He just didn’t realize it.

“You can’t take her away from her son, Eli. He needs her.”

Eli looked behind him at the dilapidated house where Dahlia and her son lived. “She was hiding a son.” He shook his head. “I would have never guessed it.”

“She was protecting him against the boy’s father,” Jericho said. “That’s no longer an issue, but Gabriel still needs Dahlia around. And she needs him. He’s her life.”

Eli’s eyes snapped back to Jericho. “No longer an issue?” he asked. “Jericho, what’s going on here?”

Jericho shrugged apologetically.

“Christ, you didn’t kill a civilian, did you?”

Jericho crossed his arms over his chest.

“No, he didn’t kill a civilian,” Dahlia said from right beside him, causing Jericho to jump. He had no idea how long she’d been out here. “He killed an ex-con with a gun to a child’s head.”

Jericho turned to her, again placing himself between her and Eli. “You don’t have to say anything. I’ll handle it.”

“You’re not doing a very good job,” she said candidly. “He’s freaking out that you’ve gone crazy.” She dodged around Jericho. “Am I right?” she asked Eli.

Eli nodded. “Well, yeah,” he said as though it were obvious.

Dahlia took a big breath. “I took the job with Major Taylor because he promised to help me keep my son’s existence from his father, Luis. I got word that Luis found out about Gabriel, and so I left the facility the only way I could. Jericho found me and has been helping me keep Gabriel safe. Tonight, Luis kidnapped Gabriel and threatened to kill him. Jericho only killed Luis when he had no other choice.”

Some of this had been news to Jericho as well. “Taylor was helping you protect Gabriel?” he asked.

Dahlia turned her soulful brown eyes on him. “Why else do you think I would work for him?” Jericho noticed that Eli was watching her very closely.

“You’re lying,” Eli said, his voice rough.

Jericho bristled. “Now wait a minute.” Suddenly, he had an idea. He reached forward and snagged Dahlia’s hand. Immediately, the Knowledge whispered
good
to him. “Ask her whatever you want,” he told Eli. “I’ll tell you if she’s lying.”