Take Me Deeper (25 page)

Jesus Christ, since when had he ever lost it like this before? Since never.

With a monumental effort, Zane tried to get himself in hand. “This had better be good, Rush,” he said thickly. “Because the next time you stop me, you'd better pray I'm not holding a gun.”

His brother stared at him, his blue-green eyes uncomfortably sharp. “Who the hell is this chick to you?”

“What do you mean who is she to me? She's a woman who needs my help, that's who she is to me.”

“Sure, and I'm Elvis fucking Presley.” Rush's fingers dug into his shoulder, his focus narrowing. “A damsel-in-distress situation and you're firing out of here like a goddamn bullet.”

“What?” Zane jerked free of his brother's hold and stepped forward, getting up in his face. “You expect me to stand by while those assholes torture her? Kill her?”

In no way intimidated, Rush held his ground and stared back. “You need to calm down, little bro. Take a chill pill. You have no idea what you'll be walking into and anyway, you're sure as hell not going in there alone.”

He's right. You really
don't
know what you'll be walking into.

Zane ground his teeth together, hating the thought. He didn't want to waste any more time waiting for his brothers to get their shit together.

Because you don't trust them. You don't trust them to be there for you.

No, he fucking didn't. Why should he when his father hadn't? Which made it pointless to stand around talking strategy with Rush when the one person in the world he
did
trust was in danger.

“Fine,” he said tightly. “Come with me then. But if you're not ready to go now, I'm going without you.”

Rush was quiet a moment, but the laser focus of his eyes didn't lessen. “She's more than just a skip to you, isn't she?”

Great. So
now
Rush was going to drop his easygoing, don't-give-a-fuck facade and start asking uncomfortable questions. The asshole. “She's not just a skip,” he snapped. “She was
never
just a skip. Like I told you, she's a woman in danger who—”

“Yeah, yeah, she needs your help. I get it. So you'd do this for any woman?”

Zane opened his mouth to tell his brother that of course he'd do the same for any woman, but the words got stuck in his throat.

Because it's not true. Oh, you'd save any woman, sure, but you wouldn't feel this desperate over someone who didn't mean anything to you.

There was something thumping loudly in his head, a roaring in his ears.

They hadn't known each other long, she was virtually a stranger to him. And yet so easily she'd overturned years of control, years of training.

He'd let her get under his skin. He'd let her get to him.

Ice slid down his spine. He cared for her. He cared for her and he didn't want to. Because everyone he'd cared about he'd lost, no matter how hard he'd tried to save them. His mother. His father. Charlie.

And now she was in danger, depending on him to come for her.

Caring wouldn't help. It only made things worse. Made you do stupid things like pour out booze from a bottle and rely on your family to do the right thing by the girl you loved. Caring only meant a kick in the guts and a dead woman in your arms.

The ice spread out through him, cooling the thumping in his head, silencing the roaring in his ears, and he grabbed it, held on to it. The cold focus of the sniper was what he needed now, not to get all emotional about one small woman, because that wouldn't save her.

Zane gave Rush a long, cold look. “Iris is a special case. She's got a little sister who's depending on her, and I'm not leaving that sister without a family. Not today.” He paused. “I'm going in alone, Rush. You and Quinn can come along as backup, but this is
my
show. Understand?”

Rush stared back, frowning. “This is all about Charlie, isn't it?”

But Zane was already turning away, back to the truck. “Does it matter? I'm not debating the past while a woman's life is at stake.”

At that moment, the doors of the building that housed the Duchess offices opened and Quinn came out, Nora at his heels.

“Hey, asshole,” Quinn called, approaching the truck as Zane hauled himself into it. “If you think you're doing this by yourself, you've got another think coming.”

“Fine.” Zane met his oldest brother's gaze. “You get me the floor plans for that warehouse, then text them to me. Rush can get Rose to check the security cameras, see if we can get a sense of what we're up against.”

There was a moment's tense silence, both his brothers staring at him.

He looked back, unflinching. “This is my mission. Not yours. And I'm going to do this my way. So you can either fuck off back to Lone Star and busy yourselves with something else, or you do whatever the hell I tell you to. That's the deal, take it or leave it.”

Rush jammed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and gave Quinn a glance that Zane couldn't interpret. Then he looked back at Zane. “No need to get uptight, bro. You can trust us, you know that, right?”

And Zane didn't know what to say. How did his brother know? How had he guessed? “What?” he demanded. “So now you're going to start spouting Dad's bullshit just like Quinn?”

“No,” Rush said flatly. “This has got nothing to do with Dad. Redmonds stick together. You and me and Quinn. Understand?”

Both his older brothers were now staring at him, giving him back that unequivocal stare that meant they'd made up their minds and they wouldn't be moved.

But before he could speak, Nora said from where she stood behind Quinn, “As much as I love a family reunion, if you'll excuse me boys…I'm riding shotgun.” And with that, she sidestepped Rush and Quinn, came around the side of the truck, and pulled open the passenger side door, hauling herself up into the passenger's seat before Zane could say a word.

He scowled at her. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I'm coming with you. What does it look like?”

“Why?”

“Because I like a firefight.” She patted the Colt at her hip and grinned. “And I could use some target practice.”

There was no time to protest, but that was okay. As long as she followed his orders and didn't get in the way, he was fine with it.

He glanced at his brothers, still standing on the sidewalk glaring at him, knowing he had to say something. So he said the only thing he could. “Well? You joining me or not?”

Quinn's green gaze was sharp, the expression on his face unreadable. “I'll get you those floor plans,” he said after a moment. “And Rush'll take another look at the security cameras. Then we're coming after you.”

You trusted Iris. You can trust them.

Well, maybe, since he had to, he would. But there was no need to make a big song and dance out of it.

So all he did was give them both a curt nod. “Just stay out of my way when you do. I'm not going to let another woman die because of Redmond incompetence.”

He didn't wait for a reply. Pulling the truck door shut, he then turned the key and the motor roared into life.

Then he planted his foot and took off.

The pain had settled down into a dull ache at the back of Iris's skull, which was a blessing. But her mouth was still dry and she still felt like throwing up, which wasn't. She couldn't stop testing the ties around her wrists and ankles either, and now her skin felt raw and chafed.

Yep, she was well and truly trapped. No escaping for her.

Across from her, Shaw had finished his phone call and was now talking in a low voice to the two thugs.

Iris watched them from underneath her lashes.

That call had definitely been about Zane, she was sure of it. But what the hell could the cartel want with him?

“Hey,” she forced out, her voice croaky. “Can I get some water over here?”

Shaw finished up whatever he was saying to the thugs, then turned back to her, coming over to where she sat. The two goons disappeared behind the metal shelves.

“Water, huh?” He cocked his head, looking down at her. “Yeah, I don't think so. You're not in your fancy hotel now.”

Iris stared back at him, ignoring the jab. “You haven't killed me yet. What's the hold up?”

“Why? You in a hurry?”

“Yeah, I think I'd rather have a bullet than all this stupid suspense.”

“Funny, aren't you?” He shrugged. “All in good time, sweetheart.”

Iris squinted at him. “Seems to me like you're waiting for something. Or maybe someone.”

“You think?” Shaw sounded only mildly interested. “What makes you say that?”

“Because I'd be dead already if you weren't.”

He gave her a long, silent look. Then he smiled. “You're a smart girl, Iris. You really could have gone places if you'd applied yourself.” He sighed. “Pity you're not going anywhere now.”

She ignored him, staring into his cold, dark eyes. “Why do you want Zane?”

If he was surprised by the question, he didn't show it. “What makes you think that?”

“Oh, come on. You wanted me to tell you all about him and, hey, I'm still here, alive.” She leaned back in the chair. “Which kind of makes me think I'm here as bait.”

Shaw tilted his head. “You don't sound very upset about that.”

Okay, so he hadn't denied it. Which meant it was true, he
did
want Zane. “I'm not. Been there, done that. Anyway, you're assuming that the bait will work. That Zane will come and get me.”

“Oh, he'll come and get you all right,” Shaw said, sounding smug. “See, we know a bit about those Redmond assholes already. They've got hero complexes a mile wide and are suckers for damsels in distress, i.e. you.”

Carefully, now. She had to go carefully.

“I can't see what the big deal is.” She shifted surreptitiously on the chair, trying to find a more comfortable position and failing. “They're only small-time bounty hunters. Not exactly a threat to anyone.”

“Oh, they're not a threat. They're more of an annoyance.” Shaw flicked an imaginary piece of lint off his sleeve. “Like a splinter you can't get rid of. Except that I'm going to get rid of them.” He gave Iris another grin. “After he took you, my bosses were pretty fucking irritated. I recommended that they get rid of the entire damn family, especially since this isn't the first time they've involved themselves in things that are none of their business. Sadly, my bosses are after bigger fish and didn't want to waste any resources on such a tiny, shitty operation. So I decided I'd do it for them instead. With any luck, they'll be so grateful I'll get a nice, fat bonus.”

“Lucky you,” Iris said, trying to ignore the horrible cold feeling that was stealing through her. “But I still think you're pissing in the wind. Zane's not going to come for me. He doesn't give a shit. He just wanted sex from me. Hell, he'll probably think I've skipped out again.”

Are you crazy? You're supposed to be waiting, surviving until he comes.

Yes, she was. But she couldn't sit there helplessly and let him walk into a trap. She just couldn't.

What about Jamie? What if you die here and Jamie's all alone? You'll have left her, like Mom left you.

A weird sense of calm began to settle down inside her, edging out the cold.

No, she wouldn't. Jamie was safe. Zane would protect her if Iris wasn't around any longer, he'd promised. No, she wouldn't have Iris, but at least she'd have someone.

Unlike Iris when her mother walked out.

A frown appeared on Shaw's face. “Bullshit. He's a fucking soldier, they all are. They protect civilians, that's their job.”

She held his gaze. “First, they'll have to realize that I'm gone. Then they'll have to figure out where you've taken me. And even before those things happen, they'll have to care enough to spend the time working all that shit out. And they don't. They'll think I've skipped, Shaw. I'm just another low-life bail-jumper to them, believe me.”

Shaw's frown deepened. “But he protected you.”

“Yeah, for the money. Because their operation is in the red. I know, I overheard them talking about it.” She stared hard at him, willing him to believe her. “They're not going to bother with me. They've got too much other stuff on their plate.”

Abruptly Shaw narrowed his gaze. “You got a death wish or something? Why are you trying so hard to convince me he's not coming?”

She lifted a casual shoulder, trying to get herself to relax. “I'm not. Just don't want you to be disappointed when he doesn't show.”

Shaw glanced down at his watch. “Well, he's certainly taking his time. Maybe we need to give out a few more hints about where you are. I felt sure having recognizable plates would have been enough.” He gave her another of those infuriating, shit-eating grins. “Or maybe he's just not as smart as we thought.”

Shaw was a fool if he thought that. A complete and total idiot. And it made the last shreds of her fear disappear. Because if Shaw thought Zane wasn't smart, then the guy didn't know as much as he thought he did.

In fact, underestimating Zane Redmond would possibly be the stupidest thing anyone ever did.

Iris relaxed back against the chair, letting that deep sense of certainty seep right down into her bones. She'd never felt anything like it before. Her existence up until this point had been nothing but desperation and uncertainty, but now…

Now she had a secret weapon.

She had Zane Redmond.

Zane parked the truck a street away from the warehouse where hopefully Iris was, just to be on the safe side. Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking his email to see if Quinn had sent him the floor plans yet. And sure enough, there they were, his brother as good as his word.