Читать книгу Traceless - ХеленКей Даймон, HelenKay Dimon - Страница 9

Chapter Three

At Connor’s words, Jana shook her head and forced her mind to clear. She looked at the impressive devastation around her. The walls of the small cabin were all torn up from gunfire and glass covered the floor.

The front door hung from its hinges and a wall of muscled, fierce men surrounded her. She knew each of them would protect her. All would step in front of her and take a bullet. That’s who they were—quiet men who saved others for a living and refused the title of hero...no matter how much they deserved it.

Seeing Connor hit her like it always did. Made her breathless as her stomach performed a little dance. From the beginning, the combination of broad shoulders, black hair and dark eyes had battered her control.

He carried his emotional baggage with him and it showed in the serious expression on his face. He wasn’t pretty. He was tough and sexy and still had the power to make her heart stutter.

But the hesitation followed by the admission felled her. Putting aside the fear buzzing in her head and making her dizzy, she grabbed on to Connor’s arm and let him lift her to her feet. Pieces of glass hung from the ends of her hair and stabbed into her legs through her jeans, but she ignored all that.

She wanted to hide in a corner, but she forced her body to remain steady, even as she kept a hand locked around Connor’s arm. “How many men did you take out?”

“Two.”

That number was way off from what it should have been. She closed her eyes for a second and tried to remember the voices and faces of her attackers and kidnappers. Panic crashed over her but the feel of Connor’s hand over hers helped her push through it.

She swallowed hard to regain her voice and composure. “Let me see the bodies.”

With a hand skimming her hair, he frowned at her. “You sure?”

The soothing gesture almost did her in. The urge to curl up in his arms and let him make it all better nearly swamped her. She wasn’t weak and after a lifetime of being dragged around to camps and medical centers across the most poverty-stricken parts of the world by her doctor father she didn’t shake easily. But the knee-buckling kiss she gave Connor the minute the shooting ended was only part of what she wanted from him.

Drawing in a deep breath, she pushed her needs aside. There would be time later. They had so much to talk about and work through. She’d never intended to stay away from home this long but a simple solution to their complex issues still hadn’t hit her.

Now all she wanted was these men home and safe and her in bed with Connor over her. Once she survived this, maybe that could happen.

“I should check.” She eased up on the clench on Connor’s arm. If she let them see the terror still racing through her, they’d go deeper into male protection mode and she needed them to focus on what was happening around them, not on her.

“What?” Holt asked.

She glanced over at one of Connor’s team leaders. She’d liked Holt from the beginning. Raised in Hawaii by his Japanese mother, Holt protected his sister and fought for his country. He was rock solid, like all the team members were, but there was something about the way he usually maintained silence that made her smile. He backed up Connor and she knew her husband’s life was safe in Holt’s hands. Still, Holt wasn’t a “yes man” and Connor described that as Holt’s best quality.

“To see if these two were there when I got trapped at the charity.” Because if they weren’t then there were even more men out there ready to hunt Connor down.

He put a hand on each forearm and turned her to face him again. His intense stare bored into her. “What does that mean?”

“Back at the office two came in the front, waving guns around. I ran to the back and there were four more out there. Waiting.”

Holt shook his head. “Damn.”

He motioned to Shane and each man took an arm of the dead man and dragged him to the porch. They moved fast and kept low. The guy got a quick patdown then she saw a flash. Before any of it registered in her brain they were back inside.

Shane leaned the broken door against the frame and each took a position on the side of the opening and looked into the dark night. He stopped only long enough to hand something off to Cam.

“You’re lucky to be alive.” The chain continued as Cam pivoted and stepped between Jana and Connor, holding something in his palm.

“They clearly wanted me alive to get to Connor here.” She glanced down and noticed Cam held a cell. With a swipe of his thumb, a man’s face appeared on the screen. Eyes closed and face bruised. She leaned in closer to get a better look. “What’s this?”

“I got a photo of the guy Holt took down outside and sent it to Davis for facial identification.” Cam moved the cell around. “This is it.”

A shiver ran through her when she recognized the guy as the one who touched her hair. “That’s one of them. One that chased me, I mean.”

Connor broke his hold on her and tapped a finger against his ear. “Hey, Davis, any luck on the ID check?”

Shane frowned as he touched his ear. “Davis?”

Holt followed suit and did a comm check. When he shook his head, she knew they’d somehow lost contact with the Maryland office. The way Cam and Connor crowded around her only highlighted the potential new danger.

“What happened?” she asked, amazed at how small and quiet her voice sounded.

Connor motioned for Cam to pocket the phone. “Everyone stay on guard. Could be nothing.”

The shaking in her bones suggested otherwise. If she shook any more her teeth would rattle. “Or it could be something, like a blocked signal.”

She knew just enough to be frozen in fear. There were devices, ways to keep people from communicating on an internal system. Ways to cut people off and make them more vulnerable.

“We’re going to assume the signal was momentarily lost.” Holt swore when a stray piece of wood from the broken door crunched under his foot. “Okay, let’s run through this. There was nothing on the guy outside or the one on the porch. No ID or obvious markings.”

She knew he meant tattoos and markings. More than once the team had tangled with some nasty international gang types during kidnap recovery, so the team clearly thought that was a possibility here.

There was no good answer, but trained mob assassins struck her as one of the worst possibilities. She rushed to give the team as full a picture as possible so they could assess. “There were four men here earlier.”

Connor froze in the act of typing something into his black watch. “What?”

The news she was about to deliver would get them all moving. It wouldn’t go over well but evading was never the answer with this group. “Actually, there were seven men altogether. Six back at the charity office, including the leader, when they took me. Then when I woke up—”

“They knocked you out?”

She nodded because the red wash of anger on Connor’s face and mumbled profanity she heard from the others said enough. She didn’t need to add to whatever was happening inside of him—or any of them—with more words about that.

“When I got here, I heard another voice,” she said. “A guy behind me, so I couldn’t see him. He seemed to be calling the shots and the one the leader from the attack on the charity office answered to.”

“We still have four hanging around at the charity. Or we did. They could be mobilizing and on the way here by now,” Shane said.

Holt nodded but his attention never wavered from whatever he watched outside. “We should assume that.”

“There are men over there now?” Panic surged through her all over again. She had protection. She had them.

“Were, but probably still are.”

Shane’s confirmation was enough for her. She turned back to Connor, made him focus on her over the emotions spinning through him. Touching him was like touching stone. Anger vibrated off of him as he held his body stiff.

She worked to keep the worry out of her voice. “We need to warn Marcel and the others to stay away from the office. I don’t want anyone else dragged into this, whatever it is.”

“Marcel is...?” Cam asked.

“Marcel Lampari. He runs the charity she’s working for.” Connor didn’t break eye contact with her. “He’ll be fine. Go back to the part about the other men who attacked you.”

This subject, Marcel, was a sensitive one. She knew Connor blamed Marcel for so much. When she worked overseas years ago and masked gunmen intercepted a vaccine shipment with her on board, Connor and his group got her out. That’s how they met. In a mix of adrenaline, heat and terror, which she should have seen as a sign of how their marriage would run.

But they’d put the kidnapping incident behind them long ago and fallen in love. Only one topic remained and bubbled up every so often to wallop them. Back then Connor unloaded on Marcel for his poor security and vulnerable distribution channels. The charity had fixed all those issues since then but Connor’s distrust of Marcel never faded.

Connor believed Marcel viewed her as more than a fellow worker. That he would leave his wife if Jana showed any interest. She never picked up on whatever Connor saw in Marcel and the man never made a move, but the attraction was very real in Connor’s mind and he didn’t try to hide it.

When she’d had to get away she’d wrestled with the idea of coming to Utah, fearing it would hurt Connor even more to have her leave and go to Marcel. But she had nowhere else to turn. She’d lost her father when she was twenty and her mother a decade before that. Her life with Connor had been so insular and her need to get away so desperate that without really thinking it through she ran right to the one man sure to infuriate Connor.

She never meant to betray him. She loved Connor and would never cheat on him, but in her haze she messed up. Only two weeks before, Connor confronted her about Marcel during one of their weekly telephone calls and Connor’s anger bubbled over. He told her his patience had expired and started a countdown to come get her. She’d hung up on him and now that decision haunted her.

If they had any chance of making their way back to each other they had to work out the Marcel issue, but now was not the time. “Connor, please.”

A charged silence lit up the cabin. Even Holt gave a quick look over his shoulder to see what was happening in the center of the room.

Connor finally broke the quiet but did nothing to hide the fury shading his voice. “Cam will warn everyone.”

Him not blowing up qualified as a small victory because this topic changed his otherwise steady personality white hot. She took that as a positive sign.

With one last glance at the photos on the cell, the pieces came together in her head. “Not that long before you guys crashed in, there were four people here with me. These two plus the one you talked with on the phone and another.”

“How did two get away without any of us seeing them?” Cam asked.

Connor continued to stare at her as he took Cam’s cell out of her hands. “Good question, but we’re talking about people with skills. These aren’t petty thieves. These guys look like professionals and the guy on the phone specifically asked for me.”

Shane blew out a long breath. “The news just keeps getting better.”

Her heart hammered and the thumping of the beat in her ears had her inhaling in an effort to calm down. She didn’t know what would happen next or how they would get out of the cabin, so she said one of the things she absolutely needed to share. “Thank you all for coming.”

“There wasn’t a chance we wouldn’t.” Cam reached over and squeezed her hand. “And not just us. We had to keep the Maryland team from heading out here, too.”

“You’re one of us.” Shane treated her to a wink before looking away again.

Connor moved into her line of sight. “Yes, you are.”

Some of the anxiety pinging around inside of her faded. “Connor, I need you to know—”

He put a finger over her lips. “We have a lot to talk about, and we will because I am done living like this, but all of that has to wait until you’re safe.”

She wanted to spill it all. Tell him how much she still loved him and spell out all of their problems and make him talk through each one with her.

Forget about the presence of his men and the danger. If this was it, if this was how it ended, she wanted him to know she had never stopped loving him and never would. He was hers forever.

But the closed look on his face and slight shake of his head told her this was not the time. Certainly not the place. “Okay.”

He touched her cheek. “Did you recognize the voice or face of the man who talked to me on the phone?”

“No.” And she had tried. She’d turned over every memory and all the bits Connor shared of his life before her.

“Folks.” Holt cleared his throat. “We’re going to have sunrise soon and we have some people to warn.”

“Right” Connor rubbed his hands together. “We need to get word out to your coworkers.”

She knew that cost him something and rested her forehead against his chin to let him know how much it meant. “Thank you.”

A strange red light flashed through the room. She spied a dot and watched it streak along the wall. Connor followed her gaze before his grip tightened.

“Get down!” he yelled as he knocked the chair over and dragged her to the floor with it.

She blinked and he had her on her stomach, wedged under his body with her head against the upturned chair’s wooden seat. The first boom had her lifting up in shock. Before she could say anything or even think, Connor put a hand on her head and pushed her down again.

She could see from their black shoes that Holt and Shane moved around. She heard shuffling off to the side and assumed Cam kept shifting and firing.

“Do not move.” Connor spoke right into her ear. He could have been yelling, but with all the noise crashing and thumping it barely registered as a whisper.

Then the weight against her back lifted. Turning, she watched him sprint toward the broken window he came through earlier. As he got there a bullet clipped the frame and wood splintered right by his face. He ducked but not before a piece clipped his cheek.

She bit back a scream as wood kicked up around her. She sat up and her shoes slipped against the floor as she skidded on her butt, looking for any square foot of the floor not covered by debris.

“Incoming.” Red lights raced over Cam and he ducked. “Jana, tuck in a ball.”

She shook her head as she watched Cam’s mouth move and heard his voice, but the words wouldn’t register. She was about to warn him about the lights when Connor’s body slammed into her. He skidded across the floor almost hitting the far wall. Glass crunched all around her as they slid.

One second he stood a few feet away. The next, he covered her, pressing her down as his body jerked and he grunted in her ear.

As fast as it started, the gunfire broke off again. She peeked over Connor’s shoulder and saw the front door had fallen over and both Holt and Shane were gone. Pieces of wood and shards from the wall and chair littered the floor.

Cam crouched next to her head. “Are you okay?”

She looked up, thinking to reassure him. But his entire focus stayed on Connor.

“What’s going on?” She tried to shift but the weight on her grew heavier and she only made it to her side. The pieces fell together as panic roared through her. “Connor?”

Cam put a hand on her shoulder. “Hold still a second.”

She grabbed at Cam’s hand, clawing in panic from the narrow-eyed concern on his face. “Is he hurt?”

Footsteps thumped on the hard floor as Holt stepped back inside. “We have four down... What’s going on?”

“Help me.” Worry edged Cam’s voice as he caught her hand in his.

Holt dropped to his knees on her other side. “What are you doing?”

“It’s Connor.” Cam cleared his throat. “We need this vest off so I can take a look.”

They wore matching flatlined expressions that had her heartbeat nosediving. She flipped over and moved, trying to get a better look at what was happening behind her.

She shoved at Connor’s shoulder. “Answer me.”

He swore as he rolled onto his side on the floor next to her. “I’m fine.”

He shifted up to his elbow, but Holt pushed him down on his stomach and held him there with a strong hand. The sound of Velcro ripped through the otherwise quiet room as Cam stepped over her and dug his hands underneath Connor’s body.

“You were shot in the back?” The words stuck in her throat as she struggled to breathe.

Cam carefully peeled the vest off and exhaled as he fell back on his butt. “We’re good.”

“Are you sure?” She struggled to sit up and look over the two broad backs in her way. She scanned Connor’s sweat-soaked T-shirt and the good news sunk in. “There’s no blood.”

Cam nodded. “The bullet went into the vest.”

“It held. Always nice when the equipment works.” Holt cuffed Connor on the shoulder then stood up.

Her legs refused to move. Relief hit her hard enough to send her slumping against the floor. “I can’t believe you were shot.”

One of Cam’s eyebrows lifted. “It was either him or you.”

The scene replayed in her mind. Her on the floor. Cam calling out a warning. The bright flash of red light she only now remembered. It cut through the air and then Connor smacked into her. That meant one thing.... He’d risked his life to save her.

If anything had been off, even by a fraction, he’d be dead. The air whooshed right back out of her lungs. “You could have miscalculated and been hit.”

Connor sat up, wincing as he moved. “I didn’t.” The room started spinning and a wave of dizziness set in.

“Are you hurt?”

“I bet he’s sore as hell.” Holt snorted. “When the bullet slams into you it hurts like a—”

A sharp look from Connor stopped whatever else Holt might have said. Stretching and rubbing his back, Connor stood up. “What do we have outside?”

That one made Holt smile. “A bunch of dead shooters.”

Connor reached down and helped her to her feet. She hung on just in case her knees gave out on her, which, with the crushing despair at the thought of Connor being shot still zipping through her head, was a distinct possibility. “You got them all?”

Holt shrugged. “The ones that didn’t run away.”

Of course they got the bad guys. That’s how the Corcoran Team operated. They protected and they won. She’d come to depend on that so much that she couldn’t conceive of any of them getting injured. It’s probably what kept her from living every hour in fear.

Davis and Holt followed Connor’s example and led without even trying. Pax, Davis’s brother, and Joel provided some of the team’s lighter moments back in Maryland but were deadly lethal when necessary.

She knew all of them except Ben. From her conversations with Connor about the battles Ben had taken on during his former job with NCIS, she had no doubt he fit in fine with the rest of them.

“I took photos of...” Shane stopped just inside the doorway. His gaze bounced around the cabin-turned-shooting-gallery. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing.” Connor tugged her closer and put a hand just below her belt.

No way was she forgetting what just happened. “Let me see your back.”

His hold didn’t lessen. “It’s fine.”

“Okay, well, I have more photos.” Shane glanced at Holt and a look passed between them before Shane handed the camera to Connor.

Jana couldn’t read the guys’ expressions but knew they engaged in some sort of silent conversation. She guessed she was the subject. Her or Connor, or both.

Connor started to hand the cell over then stopped. “I hate to ask—”

“I’ll look.” She took it before he could analyze and start frowning. “Huh. Well, I have bad news.”

“More?” Cam asked, the amusement evident in his voice.

Connor’s stern expression didn’t slip. “What?”

“I only recognize this one.” She pointed at the second photo. She scrolled the images back and forth. “These three were not part of the crowd when I got kidnapped.”

“So there are even more of them. Great.” Shane swore under his breath. “And for the record, I hate that you’re now an assignment.”

“She’s not.” Connor leaned into her and his breath caressed her cheek. “Which one was the leader?”

She loved the closeness but knew her answer would put him straight back into work-concentration mode. “None. The leader, the one who called you, isn’t here. He got away.”

“Which means?” Cam asked.

Connor’s shoulders stiffened as he stood up straight again. “We still have a problem.”

In her mind, that qualified as a huge understatement.