Run to Me (18 page)

“Except for the Lancaster woman,” Gabe said.

Everyone glared at Gabe, except Shea, who asked, “What happened with the Lancaster woman?”

Noah blew out a sigh. “She was found dead. Washed up on a beach in Miami … her throat cut.”

Shea shook her head. “I don’t … I don’t …” She swallowed hard. “I’m almost sure I haven’t killed anyone.”

Ethan put his arm around Shea’s shoulders. “We don’t think you did either, Shea.” He glared at Gabe again. “Gabe was out of line.”

She pulled away from Ethan. “No, even though he doesn’t believe what I’m saying, I need to know as much as I can.” Her eyes touched on everyone in the room. “Please don’t keep anything from me to protect me. I need to know everything.”

Ethan’s heart thudded. This would be the time to tell her that the operative killed had been her husband. That they believed she was on a mission to avenge his death when Rosemount took her. He and Noah had discussed this. Noah had agreed it would be Ethan’s call when to tell her.

A breathless silence permeated the room. Everyone, no doubt, was waiting for him to speak. Shea shuddered out a sigh. The moment passed.

“I don’t know … I don’t feel as if I’ve helped at all. None of this triggers anything for me.”

“Whether you realize it or not, you have helped tremendously, young lady,” said Dr. Norton.

“I have?” The hopeful note in her voice tugged at Ethan’s heart.

Noah nodded. “Actually, you have, Shea. Based upon the information you gave us in your hypnosis sessions and today, we have a clearer idea of what the facilities are like. It sounds as though he’s got a hell of a lot more people working for him than we first thought. Question is, where are they coming from. He—”

“They’re homeless,” Shea said.

“What?” five people asked at the same time.

“I had to train many of the new recruits. I remember one young man crying, saying he wanted to go home. The man in charge of training taunted him and said, ‘Don’t you remember? You don’t have a home. Just like the other pricks around here. We gave you homeless idiots a chance and you don’t even appreciate it.’ ”

“That makes sense. There are so many street kids in the world that no one misses a few of them when they disappear,” Samara said.

Noah stood, indicating that the meeting was over. “That gives us an angle we’ve never even considered. Great work, Shea.” He frowned and added, “Ethan, why don’t you take Shea back to her room before she collapses.”

Ethan was already scooping her up in his arms. She looked as bad now as she had when she’d first started going through withdrawal. Horrific memories, along with her most recent trauma, were finally catching up with her.

As Ethan carried her toward the door, he looked over his shoulder at Noah. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. We need to talk.”

Ethan figured Noah already knew what he was going to say. Merely a courtesy warning. He would give Shea a few hours to rest and then he was taking her away from this place. Their location had been compromised. No one was safe anymore. Especially Shea.

A hand touched her shoulder, pulling her from the depths of dreamless sleep. “Shea, wake up.”

Squinting up at Ethan, she asked in a groggy voice, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing other than we’re leaving. Our plane takes off in half an hour.”

She rubbed sleep from her eyes, trying to get her bearings. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re coming with me.”

“To where?”

“My home.”

“I can’t leave.” Shea struggled to sit up, then flipped on the bedside light. “I’m just now beginning to remember things.”

“You can remember them just as well in Tennessee as you can here. Maybe even better.”

“But why—”

Ethan threw some clothes onto the bed. “You’ve got ten minutes. You’re not ready … I’ll carry you out in pajamas.”

Her feet thudding to the floor, she stood. “You know, that he-man attitude might be attractive to some, but not to me.”

“Darlin’, having you attracted to me is something we can explore at another time. Right now, speed is my number one priority. I’ve got a plane waiting just a few minutes from here. Now, are you going to get dressed or do you want to go like that?”

She told her somersaulting heart to ignore Ethan’s endearment and that slow, sexy growl in his voice. Maintaining her glare was difficult. “What does Noah have to say about all of this?”

Ethan stopped in the process of stuffing her clothes into a bag and grinned. “Said he couldn’t believe I’d held out this long.”

When Ethan smiled like that, something inside her just melted. Despite his heavy-handed arrogance, she wanted to please him. No doubt about it, she was a lunatic.

Grabbing her clothes, Shea stomped to the bathroom. If she said anything else, he would probably realize that she wasn’t all that upset about going with him. The man was too sure of himself already. No way was she going to give him more ammunition.

Shea emerged seven minutes later to find Ethan sprawled in a chair, flipping through the sketches she’d drawn. Finding out that she was a talented artist had been both surreal and exciting for her. She’d feared not remembering her talent. The instant she’d held the sketchbook and touched the pencils, though, the fear had disappeared and peace had descended. So far, other than the blurred image of a high forehead or a beaky nose flitting through her memories, the only real sketches she’d done were of the people she’d met at the clinic. For some reason, there were an inordinate number of drawings of Ethan.

He looked up at her. “You’re even better than I remember.”

Without getting too close, she peered at the one he’d just flipped to. One of him, of course. She’d drawn it a few days ago, right after an argument. He’d stalked out the door, and she’d immediately picked up the book and begun to draw.

Incredible green eyes flashing, that devilishly sexy mouth pulled into a straight line that only emphasized its sensuality. His hair had hung down around his face, and he’d been wearing a black T-shirt and jeans. It was a full-body sketch, emphasizing his size, his muscles, his masculinity. The drawing was now her favorite.

He stared at it for a long time, then looked up at her with a slow smile that fired heat to every known and unknown erogenous zone she possessed.

“Let’s go home,” he growled.

Shea didn’t remember enough to believe in anything yet. But if there was a heaven, this had to be what it looked like. The mountains of Tennessee rose green and majestic all around her, highlighted at the top by what looked like plumes and clouds of blue smoke. Every time she arched and twisted her neck to look at another beautiful sight, Ethan made that rusty, gruff laugh. Though she would never admit it to him, she overdid the twisting just so she could hear that laugh.

She caught him once again glancing in the mirror. Since they’d walked off the plane and gotten into his truck, he’d had one eye on the road and the other in his rearview mirror.

“You still believe Rosemount’s going to come for me, don’t you?”

He shot her a grim glance. “Don’t doubt it for an instant. He was able to infiltrate one of LCR’s private facilities. That means we have a mole somewhere in LCR. It also means he’s willing to risk a lot to get you back.”

“But why?”

Another look, this one even grimmer. “After you went to sleep last night, I talked with Noah and Dr. Norton. Based on the things you’ve told us over the last few days, we’ve gotten a fairly good profile of Rosemount. We believe he’s obsessed with you.”

Shea’s mouth went dry. “Obsessed? In what way?”

As if uncomfortable with the question, Ethan lifted a broad shoulder in an awkward shrug.

“You mean sexually.”

Ethan blew out a ragged sigh. “Sexually, maybe. But we think it’s more than that. You mentioned that he had conversations with you, told you things. We believe he looked upon you as a companion … perhaps even a girlfriend.”

Revulsion shot straight to her stomach, where it churned and writhed violently. She turned toward the window, looking for peace in the mountains around her, wanting to deny the horror of his statement.
Rosemount’s girlfriend? Oh, God.

“You’ll get through this, Shea. And we’ll get Rosemount, I promise.”

“I still don’t understand why he took me in the first place. No one’s told me anything. Was I on assignment somewhere?”

After a surprisingly long pause, Ethan said, “We think you went after Rosemount.” His mouth curved into a wry smile. “Actually, we’d love to know how you found him, since Noah’s had a team on his ass for years.”

“Why would I go after him on my own?”

Another long pause. “The man Rosemount killed. He was a … friend. We think you went undercover to get revenge … and you got caught.”

“This man—he was a friend of yours, too?”

“Yes, one of the best men I’ve ever known.”

She didn’t remember the man, but he must have meant a lot to her if she’d wanted to avenge his death. From the look on Ethan’s face, he’d taken the loss of his friend hard. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It was a loss for all of LCR.”

Shea stared out at the beauty of the Tennessee hills but could no longer appreciate the sight. “So this is my fault, after all.”

“Like hell. Don’t you dare blame yourself. Rosemount’s the one who did this. You got caught in a trap.”

Perhaps he was right, but she couldn’t let go of the fact that if she hadn’t gone off on her own, all of what had happened could have been prevented.

“Stop looking like that. Rosemount’s the bastard who did this. Okay?”

Shea swallowed past the regret. What was done, was done. If she could go back and change it, she would in a heartbeat. Now the key was to regain her health and, most important, her memories, so that Rosemount could be found and brought to justice.

And the reason she had the opportunity for recovery was due to the man beside her. Without Ethan, she’d still be a drugged-out slave. Gratitude swept through her for this brave, heroic giant of a man. Though he could make her furious with his dictatorial attitude and arrogance, she owed him her life and her sanity.

“Ethan, thank you.”

His body jerked as if the words surprised him. “For what?”

“Rescuing me. Saving my life … my sanity. I owe you so much.”

Instead of looking pleased or modestly embarrassed, he clenched his jaw and growled, “You don’t owe me a damn thing.”

Recognizing his discomfort with her gratitude, Shea changed the subject. “What’s going to happen to the clinic now that its location has been compromised?”

“Knowing Noah, he’ll probably donate it to the city and move the clinic somewhere else. Having any of our people at risk isn’t something he’ll take lightly.”

“And you really believe LCR has a mole?”

“No other way the location could have been found. All LCR locations are secret, and most of the people who work for the organization do so in anonymity. A compromise in security could have fatal consequences. Not only do we need to find Rosemount, we’ve got to dig out the mole.”

Shea leaned back in her seat with a sigh. The incessant throbbing of her head and the never-ending exhaustion reminded her that she was far from being well. All this talk of apprehending Rosemount and chasing down moles exhausted her. Perhaps getting away from the constant stress of trying to remember was exactly what she needed.

“This is the most activity you’ve had in weeks. How are you feeling?”

“Okay … not as cloudy or achy as last night.”

“Still have a headache?”

“A little.”

His hand landed on the back of her neck; strong fingers rubbed her tight muscles. Shea bit her lip to keep from moaning in delight. Once Ethan had learned that rubbing the back of her neck helped ease the pain and tension, he’d often obliged. Last night, her pounding head had nearly brought her to the point of tears. She’d fallen asleep with Ethan’s warm, solid fingers massaging her taut, aching muscles.

“Feels good, huh?”

“What?”

“You were moaning.”

“Oh.” Heat flooded through her. She pulled away and answered quietly, “Yes … thanks. It’s better.”

She closed her eyes, and for an instant, a face flashed in her mind. Shea blinked. Closed her eyes tight. Blinked again. Thin. Cruel. Intelligent. Mocking. Rosemount?

Twisting around in her seat, she pulled her sketchbook and pencils from her bag, hoping to capture that image before it disappeared.

Satisfaction filled Ethan as he watched Shea draw. She had an extraordinary artistic talent. So far, all of the complete sketches had been of people she had met at the clinic, but with her memories slowly returning, hopefully some new faces would emerge.

The one she’d drawn of him from a few nights ago intrigued him. He’d been frustrated and angry when he left, and she’d drawn his fury quite well. What had gotten his attention was her drawing of his body. Ethan knew he was in good shape, but having Shea draw his body in that way surprised him. She’d drawn a detailed sketch of his biceps and broad shoulders as well as the shape of his ass. Not something he’d figured she’d noticed. What else had she been thinking about him?

Ethan slammed the door shut on those thoughts. Taking care of Shea. Protecting her with his life, making sure she never suffered again … that was his goal, his only purpose. Thinking about his attraction to her … hell, his obsession with her accomplished nothing. Shea was his job. His only obsession now was to keep her safe. Full stop. Period.

The one person he’d cared about above all others had suffered tremendously because of his mistakes. He’d never have Shea again. A second chance with her would never happen. He hadn’t deserved her years ago, and he deserved her even less now. But he did have a second chance at keeping her safe. Until Rosemount was found and dealt with, Shea would stay with him.

Last night, after talking with Noah, he’d gone back into Shea’s room to find her tossing and crying from a nightmare. Ethan had held her, and in the midst of her nightmare, she’d called Ethan’s name. He’d been there for her. He would always be there for her. Until she no longer needed him.