Deceived (21 page)

“I'm looking for some hands and a ranch manager,” Luke told him. “My sister manages the ranches, so it's ultimately her call. And you'd have to go through a thorough background check. That's
my
call.”

The man blinked rapidly. “Uh, okay. Yeah, sure, that'd be fine. Who do I talk to?”

“You guys okay?” Melanie gasped, finally able to make her way to them.

Sarah nodded. “We'll be fine.”

“We're leaving as soon as we talk to the police,” Luke told her. “But this guy might be interested in one of the positions you want to fill.”

Mel nodded, her curious gaze flitting between them. “Oh. Okay. Sure. What's your name?”

The guy offered her a wide, toothy smile and extended his hand. “Eric Evans. Nice to meet you.”

* * *

Luke squinted against the afternoon sun as they drove back to the ranch, wondering exactly what in the fucking hell had just happened. All three of them sat in tense silence and Sarah looked like she was about to lose the club sandwich she'd had for lunch. But it was actually Eli who finally was the first to speak, asking the question on all their minds.

“Was that one of them?” he whispered from the back seat. “Did they find us?”

Luke sent a glance Sarah's way and saw the fear in her eyes. “No,” he said. “I don't think so. That guy looked like a junkie. I'm sure it's just a coincidence.”

“How can you be sure?” Sarah asked, her voice tight.

“I can't,” he admitted. “But he didn't seem organized or specifically after Eli. I think it was just wrong place, wrong time. We get drifters through here, now and then, on their way to somewhere else. I'll check in with the sheriff later today to see what he can tell me.”

Neither of them asked about Sarah's ability to disarm the junkie. But Luke sure as hell planned to as soon as they were alone. She'd moved like someone who'd been highly trained in disarming and debilitating an enemy. And yet, when he'd been teaching her how to get out of a headlock, she'd moved like a novice. But why the hell would she con him? Pretend not to know how to defend herself? What the hell kind of game was she playing?

He'd been planning to take Sarah and Eli around town—show them where he'd gone to high school and where he'd liked to hang out when he was in town, and take them to the coffee shop that had been his haunt when he'd had an argument with his mom or Jim and needed to get the hell away from home for a while. But it was just as well that he'd scrapped those plans and was taking them back to the ranch. If Sarah was hiding something from him, pretending to be something she wasn't, he'd already trusted her with too much, had already let her get too close.

When he parked the SUV in front of the house, none of them moved to get out of the vehicle, sitting in silence for several moments before Luke finally removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair on a sigh. “We'd better see if Chief needs to go out. I'll go with you when you're outside from now on, Eli.”

Sarah's gaze snapped to him. “Then you
are
concerned.”

“No,” Luke said, shaking his head. “I meant what I said. But this was a wake-up call. We've been too careless, too complacent. In a lot of ways.”

With this Sarah threw open the door and got out, striding toward the house without looking back.

“What's the matter with Mom?” Eli asked.

Luke didn't even know how to answer that. The thought of confessing to Eli that he was about to lie to Sarah and put an end to what was going on between them made his throat go tight. So he just deflected with, “She's just worried about you.”

Luke opened his door and motioned for Eli to come out. When the kid hopped down and slammed the door, Luke gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I'm proud of you, Eli,” he told him. “You handled yourself well, kid.”

“I was scared,” Eli murmured low enough that only Luke could hear as they approached the house. “But don't tell my mom that, okay?”

Luke nodded. “Being scared is good, Eli,” he replied, just as softly. “It can keep you alive.”

It was a good hour later before Eli was comfortable enough to leave Luke's side to go upstairs and read for a while, but he was careful to keep Chief with him. Sarah had gone to her room as soon as they'd returned, but she wasn't there when Luke went in search of her to talk. He walked the house, calling out to her a couple of times, checking in with Eli to see if he'd seen her, but couldn't find her.

His heart was beginning to pound with apprehension when he finally went downstairs to the basement and found Sarah sitting in the middle of the gym floor with her legs drawn up to her chest, her forehead resting on her knees.

“What the hell happened with you at the diner?” he demanded without preamble. His phone began to buzz, but when he glanced down and saw it was his commander, he sent it to voicemail. Asher could wait.

Sarah slowly lifted her head but didn't look at him. “I don't know,” she whispered so softly, he barely even caught the words.

“How
the fuck
did you know how to disarm that guy?” he pressed, his voice growing louder.

She grimaced. “
I don't know.
”

He charged into the room, determined to find out what the hell was going on, but he came to an abrupt halt when she lifted her eyes to him and he saw her gaze was unfocused, her pupils wide and dark. He immediately dropped down to his knees and grasped her chin. “Sarah, baby, look at me. C'mon.”

“I can't,” she muttered, her voice slurred. “My head hurts. I can't think. Can't focus.”

Realization hit Luke, making him clench his jaw to keep a furious string of curses from slipping out.

She really didn't know how she'd disarmed the junkie in the diner. And she didn't know because someone had implanted that knowledge in her head the same way they'd implanted the knowledge of the Templar treasures in Eli's. And when that knowledge had spilled out in a moment of danger, it'd taken a toll on her grey matter.

Luke pressed a kiss to her forehead, then lifted her into his arms. “It's all right, beautiful. I gotcha.”

Jacob Stone sent a furious glance at his phone as it buzzed where he'd left his pants beside the pool, fully expecting it to be yet another call from Will Asher. The son of a bitch was relentless. Apparently, the pricks who'd been assigned to Hal's security detail had placed him at Hal's mansion a few days before Hal had filed his succession plan. He'd managed to deny any knowledge of the plan and sound convincing—at least, that's what he'd thought. Except the bastard had called again, wanting Stone to come in and chat with Adam Watanabe. Yeah, right, like that was going to happen. He'd heard about the latest addition to Will's team, and there was no fucking way he was going to get in a room alone with the guy. God knew what he'd have him confessing to.

So he'd ignored the last couple of calls and voicemails, instructing Allison to inform Asher that he was in business meetings and was unable to talk. But he wouldn't be able to put him off for long. Sooner or later, Will was going to show up on his doorstep.

Hearing the countdown clock pounding like a funeral drum, Stone had entered the pool house to find Allison swimming and had been persuaded to join her to “relieve his tension.” And, obliging little bitch that she was, she'd been more than willing to let him strip her out of her skimpy little bathing suit.

Things had just been starting to get interesting when the damnable phone had started to ring again. He got out of the pool, muttering a curse, and snatched up the phone. He was relieved to see it wasn't Will Asher, after all. “This had better be good, Evans. I'm in the middle of something.”

“I thought you'd like to know that I have a final interview for the ranch manager position as soon as my background check goes through. Which, of course, it will.”

“It'd better,” Stone snapped. “How'd you convince them?”

“Planted a junkie in the diner where they were interviewing candidates,” Evans said, his smug grin coming through in his voice. “Promised him a thousand dollars if he took someone hostage during a robbery attempt. I was going to take him down and present myself as the hero—of course, he didn't know that. He just knew he was going to get his next fix taken care of.”

“That's risky,” Stone pointed out. “Aren't you worried he'll give you up?”

“Not anymore,” Evans drawled. “Sadly, my associate just happened to ingest some tainted drugs shortly before the encounter. I imagine he died on the way to the sheriff's department. I doubt anyone will be surprised. But there
was
a little surprise I hadn't anticipated.”

Stone winked at Allison and held up his index finger to assure her he'd only be a moment. “What? Didn't do enough ‘homework,' Evans?”

“There's no way I could've found out your pretty little schoolteacher had been trained in hand-to-hand combat,” Evans hissed. “There was nothing in her background indicating she'd ever taken even a basic self-defense class. I don't like surprises, Stone.”

“And I don't like your tone,” Stone shot back. “Did you stop to think that perhaps Rogan has shown her a few defensive moves since she's been in his company?”

“The kid knew a couple of basic moves,” Evans replied. “But the mother has been
trained
, Stone. Like one of us.”

Stone's pacing slowed. “Son of a bitch.” Stone laughed in a loud burst that echoed through the pool house. “That wily bastard. He embedded information in Sarah's head.”

“Who?” Evans asked.

Stone chuckled, ignoring Evans's question. “He wouldn't have given someone the knowledge he held without also giving them a way to defend it.”

“So is it the mom or the kid that has the information you're after?” Evans hissed.

“Well, Mr. Evans,” Stone said, “that is the question, isn't it? I guess we'll just have to interrogate them both to find out for certain. . . .”

* * *

Sarah groaned as she awoke in the dark room, feeling like she had the world's worst hangover. But then her synapses began to fire and she sat up with a gasp, fear spiking in her veins when she glanced around the room in a panic, not knowing where she was.

She threw off the blanket that had been draped over her and swung her legs over the side of the bed, ready to bolt . . .
somewhere
when a hulking form took shape in the darkness, coming toward her, blocking her escape.

“It's okay, Sarah,” a deep, soothing voice said.

It was familiar, comforting . . . belonged to someone she loved . . .

She closed her eyes, pressing the heel of her palm to her temple, trying to focus. Then his name came to her, filling her with warmth. “Luke.”

“Hey,” he said, slowly approaching. When he reached her, he took her face in his hands and peered down at her, coming into focus as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. “Good to have you back.”

She covered his hands with hers, reveling in the gentle pressure against her skin, saddened by the knowledge that soon she'd lose him.

“We'll be leaving soon,” she mumbled. “That's why.”

She felt him sigh, but he didn't respond to her statement. Instead he asked, “You doing okay? How's the headache?”

“Better,” she replied. But then she frowned. “I think. What the hell happened? How's Eli? Is he okay?”

Luke kissed the top of her head and wrapped her in his arms.

Strong arms. She was safe there. She never wanted him to let go . . .

“Eli's fine,” he assured her. “He's in bed.”

Sarah frowned up at him. “Bed? What time is it? How long was I out?”

Luke smoothed her hair. “Several hours. I gave you something for the pain. That's the only thing you can do when the memories unfold.”

“
What
memories?” Sarah asked, her confusion threatening to make her headache return. “I don't understand.”

“I'll explain it all, but you need to eat something,” he insisted. “C'mon. I'll warm up some dinner for you.”

Sarah wasn't even remotely hungry, but apparently Luke wasn't going to budge until she was sitting in front of the fire in the great room, nibbling at the roasted chicken and vegetables that Mel had brought over for them and sipping the cup of herbal tea Luke had insisted would help with the lingering headache.

After a few minutes, she actually did start to feel better. And when she finished off the last of her dinner and Luke set her plate aside, she had to admit she'd been hungrier than she'd realized. But she didn't truly feel better until she and Luke stretched out on the couch together and she was snuggled close, her cheek resting on his chest.

“Now,” she prompted, “could you please explain what's going on?”

Luke's fingertips trailed lightly up and down her arm for a moment before he finally said, “I think Eli's therapist—Dr. Locke—was working for your father, that he used a certain hypnosis technique to embed information in Eli's subconscious.”

Sarah's head came up at this. “That's how he passed the information on? By messing around with my son's
mind?
”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, I think so. It was only a theory until what happened today. I thought maybe you'd lied to me, pretending to not know anything about self-defense—”

Sarah's expression twisted with indignation. “Lied to you? Why would I lie to you about that?”

He shook his head. “I know. I'm an asshole for even thinking it. But then you got the headache, lost focus.... All of that happens when the memories unfold in an uncontrolled way. It looks like someone's been messing with your head, too. Your memories must've kicked in because Eli was in danger.”

“If that was the case, why didn't they kick in at the festival?” she asked.

Luke shrugged. “Probably because I got to the guy first.”

Sarah shook her head. “It still doesn't make any sense to me. Why would my father do that to us?”

Luke sighed. “I'm sure he thought he was passing along the information in the safest way possible.”

“But why put anything into
my
head?” Sarah continued. “I'm not his successor. He named Eli, right?”

Luke's brows came together. “That's what he said. But, hell, Sarah—who knows when he had somebody in your head. It could've been when you were a kid. Did you ever see a therapist?”

She shook her head. “No, I wouldn't go after my mom left. I refused.”

“What about when your husband died?” Luke asked.

“I saw a counselor through the school's assistance plan,” she said. “My dad didn't have any say in it.”

Luke leveled his gaze on her. “What about your husband? Could he have planted this knowledge?”

Sarah pulled back at the implication that Greg could've done something like this without her knowledge. But then how could she be sure? There was no telling what he'd done. He certainly hadn't been upfront with her about anything else in their marriage.

She closed her eyes on a sigh, a long-forgotten memory coming to her. “Greg went through a meditation phase,” she told Luke. “He talked me into trying it with him. Eli was just a baby.... It was crazy. I was exhausted. He said it would help me handle the stress at work at that time.”

Luke's arms tightened around her, pulling her back against him. “I'm sure he thought he was protecting you, giving you knowledge that would keep you and Eli safe if anything ever happened to him.”

Sarah blinked away the tears that blurred her vision. “Maybe. I hope so. I think Greg really was a good man—especially after what you showed me, what he gave up to be with us. But, God, Luke—I feel like nothing I loved or believed in was real.”

He didn't say a word, just continued to hold her. He was silent for so long, Sarah wondered if he'd drifted off to sleep. But when she shifted so that she could peer at him, his dark gaze met hers. For a long, charged moment, neither of them moved. But then Luke lifted a hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear before gently grasping her nape and pulling her down to him. His kiss was so tender, it was exactly the solace she needed.

Her hand smoothed over his chest, needing to feel the firm planes of his body, to reassure herself that he was there and that she wasn't still asleep. And if there'd been any lingering doubt, the way he groaned, deep in his chest, when she slid her hand down between them to stroke the hard length straining for release, removed it.

Her fingers fumbled with the fly of his jeans and slowly pulled his zipper down, allowing her the access she sought. He hissed a sharp curse when she slipped her hand inside to caress the silky length of his shaft.

His hand slid under her shirt, lightly skimming the small of her back, his fingertips brushing just inside her jeans, the teasing contact making her shiver. She broke their kiss and sat up, letting her head fall back when his hands slid under her shirt to smooth along her sides. Practiced fingers unhooked her bra with a quick flick before cupping her breasts, kneading them as his thumbs brushed over her nipples.

“Should we go upstairs?” she breathed.

But his response was to shove up her shirt so that he could take one of her breasts into his mouth, flicking and teasing until her body ached for his to the point of pain. As if sensing her need, he eased her back, shifting positions until she was beneath him. Then he slid her jeans down over her hips with her assistance, capturing her mouth in a savage kiss as his hand slid lower, swiftly bringing her the relief she sought.

She was still shuddering when he stood and scooped her up into his arms. “
Now
we're going upstairs.”

Seconds later, they were in her bedroom, tearing off each other's clothes with a desperation that made her want to weep. But her sorrow soon melted away as their bodies came together, skin to skin, heart-to-heart.

And when they lay together some time later, Luke's strong arms holding her tight against him, she lifted her eyes to his, hoping not to see the same sorrow reflected there but was disappointed.

“You've had news,” she surmised.

He nodded, then gently smoothed her hair, his touch achingly loving. “My commander called earlier and left me a voicemail. He's managed to move the European caches a little faster than anticipated. I'm supposed to call him ASAP—probably so he can give me a timeline for when I need to deliver you and Eli to Chicago.”

Her arms reflexively tightened around him, but she pressed her lips together. She'd known this day would come, but she'd hoped it wouldn't be so soon.

They lay together in silence for some time before Luke finally cleared his throat and said, “I was ordered to get close to you, Sarah,” he confessed. “To find out what you knew—if anything—about the information your father passed along to Eli and how.”

Sarah slowly pulled back, sitting up so that she could see Luke's face clearly. “What?”

He sat up with her, bringing their faces within a few inches of one another, and cupped her jaw, smoothing his thumb against her skin. “This is where I'd planned to tell you that what's happened between us was just me doing my job, that it doesn't mean anything. That it's been great, but it was just sex. And that as soon as you and Eli are in Chicago, it's over.”

Her heart began to pound. “But?”

His dark brows came together in a frown. “But I can't.”

She swallowed hard, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. “Why?”

His expression was impossible to read as he stared at her, but then he pulled her to him and kissed her, his lips conveying all she needed to know.