Deceived (26 page)

Sarah shook off her apprehension and allowed him to lead the way. When they finally reached the exit doors, she paused, sending a glance over her shoulder as if expecting Luke to be standing there, wearing the grin that made her heart trip over itself.

“Sarah,” Jacob prompted. “We need to go.”

Sarah took a deep breath and let it out on a resigned sigh and forced her feet to move. Waiting outside was a black limousine, half-hidden in shadow, with two other black cars flanking it.

“Who are they?”

Jacob opened the back door to the limo. “My security detail. Pay them no mind.”

She and Eli slid inside the car while Jacob took the seat across from them, next to a lovely blond woman in a pale green pencil skirt and jacket.

The woman smiled. “Hello, Sarah, Eli. It's lovely to meet you. I'm Allison Holt.”

Jacob took Allison's hand and brought it to his lips. “Allison was my assistant until recently.”

She turned adoring eyes on Jacob. “I have the plane ready and waiting, my love. We can take off as soon as we arrive.”

He sent a reassuring grin Sarah's way. “Excellent. We should be in Chicago in no time at all.”

* * *

Luke awoke with a gasp, his entire body bowing off the bed. He took in the situation in an instant, his memory of what had happened suddenly returning. His hand shot out, grasping the neck of the man beside the hospital bed.

“You son of a bitch,” he hissed as Commander Asher and another of their Alliance brothers, Adam Watanabe, rushed forward to try to pry his fingers loose from Finn's neck. “How did Evans know about me? How did he know how to find me? No one knew but you!”

Finn coughed and sputtered as he stumbled a step back out of Luke's reach. “What the hell,
brah?
I have no fucking clue how Evans knew anything about you. I didn't tell him shit!”

“Stand down, Rogan,” Will ordered, his tone calm and even but leaving no room for argument. “Finn's not to blame for this, and I'm sure you'll realize that as soon as you get over the adrenaline shot.”

Luke frowned and looked down at his chest. Sure enough a huge-ass needle was sticking out of his chest. “What happened after I blacked out? Where's Sarah?”

“She's safe,” Will assured him, but his expression was at odds with his words. “Jack contacted Jacob Stone. When he found out what had happened, Stone insisted on taking Sarah and Eli to his hunting lodge—more of a country estate in the woods—that sits about an hour outside of Chicago.”

“Why the look?” Luke charged his commander. “And don't tell me ‘nothing'—I can see it in your face. You didn't sign off on Sarah going with Stone, did you?”

Will regarded him for a moment. “No. I've been trying to contact Stone and get him to come in for a chat. He's close to Hal. It's possible he knew about Eli being Hal's successor. Jack wasn't aware of my desire to talk to Stone before he spoke to Jacob.”

Fear spiked in Luke's veins at the thought of having Sarah and Eli so far away. He sat up and threw off the hospital blankets, but the world spun and three sets of hands grabbed him before he could get to his feet.

“Where are they going?” he demanded. “Do we have an eye on them?”

“I have their flight plan,” Finn assured him. “They're heading to Chicago, just as he said they were. The satellite feed is locked on to them, so if they deviate, we'll know it. Then I'll have eyes on them when they leave the airport to head to Jacob's estate. If he was the one behind this, he'd be an idiot to go to Chicago or any of our other strongholds where everyone's on alert.”

Luke pegged his commander with an expectant look. “And you agree? You're cool with this?”

Will hesitated for a moment. “I think we should've vetted him sooner and been more cautious about him picking up Sarah and Eli, but I trust Finn's surveillance. And as soon as you're ready to move, we'll head out to rendezvous with them in Chicago.”

“Then let's move out,” he barked. “I have to get to them. I promised to keep them safe.”

“Jacob has a security detail at every one of his properties,” Will stressed. “And I've sent some of our own to keep an eye on things as well. It'll be better guarded than your haven.”

Luke sent a furious glare his commander's way, mostly because what the man said was probably true. If Luke hadn't gotten distracted by personal matters, Sarah and Eli wouldn't have been put in harm's way. He'd failed them. And now they were gone. Maybe never to cross paths with him again.

“How are Davis and the others?” Luke asked, his voice raspy, choked, as he tried to push aside his emotions at the thought of never seeing Sarah again.

The men traded glances, but it was once again his commander who spoke, “Your stepsister's fiancé is fine. We gave him the same treatment when we discovered what substance Evans had used. He's already awake. The other men . . . one of them was gone before we got here. The other has been treated, but it's touch and go. Not sure if he'll pull through.”

Luke's shoulders sagged. Apparently, it wasn't just Sarah and Eli he'd failed. A good man was dead because
he
'd missed something crucial, and another might follow. He cursed under his breath and ran a hand over his hair. “I need to see Davis and Mel, talk to them about what happened. And I want to see Evans's body when you ID him.”

Will nodded. “Your actual wound wasn't bad, but take it easy. You're going to feel shit-faced for a while from the drugs.”

As soon as his brothers left, Luke slowly got out of bed and slipped into the black fatigues and combat boots they'd left for him. He winced when he reached for his phone on the tray beside his hospital bed, and pressed a hand to his side where his wound was bandaged.

Needing to get his conversation with his family over with, Luke sighed and headed for the door, but his phone buzzed with an incoming text message. He halted, his heart hammering, when he saw who it was from.

 

 

Attached to the text was the picture that Mel had taken of him, Sarah, Eli, and Chief. He stared at it for a long moment until his eyes began to sting. Then he cleared his throat and shook off the emotions washing over him. He started to respond, to tell her he loved her, too, that he'd see them soon, but paused before sending the message.

Maybe it was better—for all of them—if they made a clean break, if he just let them go. He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, his heart and his head at war. In the end, he deleted the message, instead responding,
Just woke up. Checking on Davis. Will call you soon.

It was cold, impersonal, completely devoid of emotion. Probably not at all what she expected. Feeling like a total asshole, he pocketed his phone and made his way into the hallway. Adam Watanabe jerked his head down the hall, indicating where Davis's room was.

When Luke slowly opened the door to the room, he wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't his stepsister rushing to him to throw her arms around his neck and hug him tightly.

“Thank God,” she whispered.

He returned her hug, then set her at arm's length. “How's he doing? How's Jim?”

Mel made a swipe at her cheeks. “They're both going to be okay. Dad's going to be in a cast for six weeks, but no other problems. And Davis . . .” She paused to blink away new tears. “Your friends said he'll be okay.”

“I feel like shit,” Davis rasped, breaking into their conversation. “And you and I still need to have that conversation, Rogan.”

Luke came over to the bed and clasped his friend on the shoulder. “I'm sorry for getting you involved in my bullshit, Davis. The conversation we need to have is going to take longer than I can go into right now, but there are a few things I have to tell you. . . .”

When Luke finished going through the CliffsNotes version of the last decade, Davis and Mel stared at him in silence.

“I'm sorry I misled you,” Luke told them, meaning it. “I was trying to keep you safe.”

“You're right,” Mel said, an angry edge to her voice, “you do owe us a longer conversation. Does Sarah know any of this?”

Luke nodded. “Yeah. She knows. She and Eli have been under my protection.”

“But you didn't expect to fall in love with her, did you?” Mel asked, her tone softening. When Luke opened his mouth to deny it, to claim he wasn't in love with Sarah, Mel lifted a single brow at him. “Whatever lie you were about to tell, you can save it. We all could see what was happening between the two of you.”

“It doesn't matter,” Luke said, shaking his head. “It's over.”

Mel got to her feet and came to him to press a kiss to his hair. “Luke, you're my brother, and I love you. But you can be a stubborn jackass. If you want to lie to us, fine. But don't lie to yourself. Not about this. Not when you have a chance at true happiness for the first time in your life.”

A quiet knock on the door brought their attention around. Finn opened the door and peeked in. He jerked his head at Davis. “Glad to see you're okay,
brah
.”

“Sounds like I have you to thank for that,” Davis replied. “Thanks. I owe you one, man.”

“Nah, we're good.” Finn offered him his toothy smile, then turned his gaze on Luke. “We're heading down to the morgue. You comin' with?”

Luke nodded. “Gimme a minute.” As soon as Finn closed the door, Luke stood and hugged Mel, then shook Davis's hand. “I have to go identify Evans. When I get back from Chicago, we'll have that longer conversation.”

Davis nodded. “We'll have you and Sarah and Eli over for dinner again.”

Luke snorted. “Just get better so you can get the hell outta here, okay?”

He nodded at his team when he exited Davis's room and followed them to the elevators, moving slowly, still struggling with the cloud of grogginess surrounding him. “How long has Sarah been gone?”

“Hospital staff said she left about half an hour before we got here,” Adam informed him. “And that was a couple hours ago. Odds are good they'll be landing soon if they haven't already.”

Luke nodded. “Someone going to follow them from the airport? Make sure they reach Stone's house okay?”

“We have some of our
confreres
from Chicago PD on it,” Finn said.

Luke rolled his head, shrugged his shoulders, feeling uneasy. He didn't like it. It wasn't enough. Nothing was enough when it came to Sarah and Eli's safety.

The elevator finally reached the basement, the doors barely open before Luke charged through, following the signs to the morgue. He was damned near bouncing on his toes like a boxer getting ready to enter the ring when the attendant finally led them to the drawer where they'd put Evans's body. He half-expected it not to be the son of a bitch he'd taken out when they pulled the sheet off his face. But he let out his breath on a harsh exhale when he saw the same lifeless eyes he'd seen hours before.

“Yeah,” he said. “That's him.”

“No, it's not,” Will ground out.

Luke's gaze snapped to his commander. “The hell it isn't. That's Eric Evans.”

“He may have called himself that,” Finn confirmed, “but that's not the guy I found in the dark files. This guy resembles Evans—hell, could be a brother. But it's not him. Different hairline, different nose, slightly different build . . . but a damned good double.”

“Get me on that plane to Chicago, Will,” Luke demanded, suddenly unable to draw a breath, not giving a shit if his commander kicked his ass from here to Thursday for insubordination. “Right. Fucking. Now.”

As they all charged from the morgue, Will got on his phone, barking out orders to whoever was on the other end of the line. “Change of plans. I want wheels up in thirty.”

“Do you like cookies, Eli?” Allison asked, holding his hand as they climbed steps to the side entrance to the mansion. She punched in an alarm code on the door before adding, “I think Chef Jean-Claude was baking some for a charity event tomorrow when we left the house. I'm sure we could sneak one or two cookies for you.”

Sarah nodded when Eli sent a questioning look her way. “Thank you again for taking us in, Jacob,” she said, following them down a hallway that appeared to open into the kitchen.

Jacob gave her a tight smile in reply and checked his watch. “Of course,” he said. “You're family, Sarah. What's mine is yours. I hope you know I would be happy to share any of my wealth with you.”

Sarah's brows drew together at the curious phrasing. “I appreciate that, Jacob.”

“But, I'm afraid I do have to ask a favor,” he said. “And I hope you'll understand that I would prefer not to have to ask it at all. In fact, I tried to avoid it coming to this—”

Sarah's phone began to ring, cutting off whatever it was that Jacob was about to say. She pulled the phone out of her pocket, her heart lifting when she saw Luke's name on the display. She had to fight to keep the emotion out of her voice as she answered. “Luke! Thank God!”

“Sarah, are you okay?” Luke demanded, breathless as if he was running.

“Yes, I'm fine,” she assured him, her gaze flicking over to where Jacob was pacing. Why was he acting so agitated? “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Where are you?” he asked, ignoring her concern about him.

“We're at Jacob's house near Chicago,” she said. “We just arrived.”

“Stay there,” Luke told her. “I'm on my way. Keep your phone close. And if anything happens, call me right away. We're sending additional security over to guard the house.”

Sarah's stomach dropped. “What's wrong? What's happened?”

Jacob's pacing stopped and his gaze held hers.

“Evans is alive,” Luke told her. “The man I shot was just masquerading as Evans.”

Sarah's mouth was suddenly dry. “A decoy.”

“Decoy?” Jacob repeated, taking a few rapid steps toward her. “What do you mean? What was a decoy?”

“I'm on the plane now,” Luke told her. “I'll call again as soon as we're on the ground.”

“Okay,” she managed to grind out, wishing like hell that he was already there, that his quiet strength was wrapped around her, making her feel safe no matter what should come their way. “Luke?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you get my text?”

There was a pause. “Yeah.”

She waited, expecting him to say something. But the line was silent for several moments before he finally said, “Sarah, I . . . I'll see you soon.”

She heard him mutter a curse before he disconnected the line. Baffled by his sudden distance, she could only stare at her phone for a moment. But a comforting hand on her shoulder brought her gaze up.

Jacob's brows were furrowed with concern. “What did they say? What's this business about a decoy?”

Sarah pocketed her phone and sent a glance over her shoulder at Eli, who was chatting with Allison over a plate of cookies. When she turned back to Jacob, she said quietly, “The man that Luke shot, it wasn't Eric Evans. The real Evans is still alive.”

Jacob's face visibly paled at the news. “There must be some mistake.”

She shook her head. “I don't think so. Luke sounded pretty certain.”

“How would he know?” Jacob snapped. “Rogan's never met Evans.”

Sarah drew away, taking a step back and out of Jacob's grasp. “How do you know that?”

There was a pause. Jacob, normally so composed and polished, was clearly distracted and Sarah might even have called him panicked. But he quickly recovered. “Evans was burned by the Alliance long before Rogan joined.”

The knot of misgiving in Sarah's stomach slowly unwound. “So what now?”

Jacob's brows came together and he snatched his phone from his jacket pocket and hit a number on speed dial. “Get here. Now. Your services are required.” Then he pocketed the phone again and said to Sarah, “We're moving you and Eli to a more secure location within the house. Allison, bring—”

A shrill alarm cut off his words, the sound piercing Sarah's ears and making her wince. Eli was covering his ears, his face scrunched up with pain at the offending sound.

“What the hell is going on?” Sarah demanded.

Jacob's face became a mask of fury as he reached under his jacket to the small of his back and withdrew a handgun. “I believe we have a guest.”

Sarah's heart sank. “We need to get out of here!” she shouted. “Get back to the cars!” When Jacob didn't move, she added, “Jacob, let's go!”

Jacob grasped her arm as she turned to go and leaned closer so that she could hear clearly. “The cars will be disabled. It's one of the first things you do before going in.”

“Going in?” Sarah repeated. “I thought we were safe here.”

Jacob's jaw tightened. “Follow me.”

Sarah motioned frantically for Eli, who immediately ran to her and grabbed her outstretched hand, while Allison jogged behind him on her high heels. They were hurrying after Jacob into the hallway when the alarm was suddenly cut off.

“False alarm?” Allison whispered.

Jacob shook his head. “Shut off.”

“Where's your security detail?” Sarah hissed, desperately wishing that Luke was at her side instead of the man who'd been her surrogate brother. She didn't doubt that Jacob would do what he could to protect them, but she would've felt far more secure with the man she loved standing there, gripping her hand as he had in the haunted house the night he'd entered her life.

“Probably dead,” Jacob murmured. Then he crept down the hallway, slower than before, his entire body taut with tension.

The relief Sarah had felt earlier had completely vanished, replaced by bone-cold fear. She shoved her free hand into her jeans pocket, intending to pull out her phone and update Luke on the situation when a shadowy figure stepped into their path.

“Please refrain from any sudden movements, Sarah.”

Sarah slowly removed her hand from her pocket and edged in front of Eli, shielding him from sight.

The man walked forward, his hand outstretched, a gun aimed at Sarah's chest. As he entered the ambient light, she could see a man of similar height, build, and appearance to the one who'd called himself Eric Evans. The resemblance was uncanny.

“Hello, Jacob,” the man drawled, with a grin. “Good to see you.”

“You traitorous son of a bitch,” Jacob hissed.

Evans's grin widened. “Oh, let's not trade insults, Stone. I have a few of my own I could bring to the table. Do you really want me to share them with you in front of polite company? I will, however, take your gun.”

Sarah glanced at Jacob, expecting him to put up a fight, to defend them. Luke would've given his life to protect her and Eli—and very nearly had.

But Jacob muttered something under his breath and let his gun hang from his index finger, then crouched slowly and set it on the floor before kicking it toward Evans.

“The Alliance knows the man we thought was Eric Evans was a fake,” Sarah told him.

Evans made a slight bow. “I knew the late Mr. Troy would come in handy one of these days when he and I crossed paths in Havana. All it took was feeding him enough information to be able to play the part and gather intel. Plus the promise of a lot of money, of course.”

“You know the Alliance will come for us,” Sarah hissed.

Evans chuckled. “Sweetheart, I'm counting on it.”

He motioned with his gun. For a moment Sarah thought he was indicating that they should move, but then she heard Eli cry out and turned to see another man grabbing her son up around the waist.

“Eli!” Sarah cried, launching herself at the man before she even realized she was moving, the heel of her hand connecting with his face. The guy dropped Eli to grasp his nose, and Sarah was able to get in a jab to his solar plexus before a blow to her lower back dropped her to her knees.

“Mom!” Eli cried, starting toward her.

“Run, baby!” she ordered, bringing her elbow up and nailing the assailant in the groin as he grabbed for her. She scrambled to her feet and spun around to face the attacker and saw Jacob landing a punch of his own before snatching his gun up from the floor.

“Get the kid, goddamn it!” Evans roared.

But Jacob was already racing after Eli, with Allison close behind. Sarah started after them, but a pair of arms came around her, lifting her from her feet and dragging her in the other direction. She kicked but couldn't land a blow. Desperate, she brought her head back hard against the face of her attacker, gratified to hear the crunch of bone.

“Bitch!” the man growled. He threw her to the ground and drew his gun as Sarah rolled to her feet, ready to take on the asshole again, as whatever embedded information Greg had hidden away spilled out with a vengeance. Unfortunately, the headache she'd experienced before when the memories had burst forth was already setting in, her vision began to blur and narrow as she fought to stay focused.

“Don't shoot her,” Evans said, his voice even. “We need her alive for the moment.” Evans jerked his chin at two of his goons. “Go after Stone and the kid. I need to find out what he knows.”

“You're too late,” Sarah panted. “The treasure's already been relocated.”

Evans strolled toward her. “Hmm. Well, that's unfortunate. Stone will be sorely disappointed.”

Sarah shook her head. “Jacob? What does he have to do with anything?”

Evans leaned closer. “I'm an enterprising son of a bitch, Sarah,” he said in a stage whisper, “but I wouldn't have come after the whole fucking Alliance, not like this, unless there'd been some serious bank behind it.”

“Jacob wouldn't have put you up to this,” she insisted. “We're family. And he's a trusted friend to the Alliance . . .” She searched for the word she'd heard Luke use. “A
confrere.
”

“Oh, sweet, lovely, naïve Sarah,” Evans sighed. “You have no idea what you're caught up in. Do you think I'm really after the
treasure?
”

Sarah went still, her head pounding but not nearly as badly as her heart. “You're not? I thought that was the knowledge my father passed along to Eli.”

Evans shrugged. “Perhaps. The vast wealth of the Templars is certainly to be envied by those who wish to bring the Alliance to its knees and would no doubt be one hell of a morale killer should it fall into enemy hands. But going after the treasure was just a way to keep the Alliance scurrying around in a panic. There's something far more important at stake here, Sarah.”

She swallowed hard. “What's that?”

Evans's harsh mouth curved into a grin. “Control.”

Sarah frowned at him.
Control?
“Of
what?
”

“Everything,” he said. “Absolutely everything.”

* * *

“We have to go back for my mom!” Eli protested, digging in his heels and pulling against Stone's hold. “He'll kill her!”

Stone tried not to sound pissed when he replied, “She'll be fine, Eli. You saw how she fought back. Besides, they won't kill her. They need her right now.”

“Then call Luke,” Eli insisted, struggling to get loose. “He'll save her.”

Stone heaved an exasperated sigh. “I'm sure he will,” he mumbled, dragging the kid to the Lincoln Navigator that idled a few feet away.

The driver, dressed in a suit to blend in with Stone's typical security detail, came rushing toward him, his anxiety far too evident. “Master, are you all right—”

“I'm fine,” Stone snapped, sending a glance in Eli's direction to see if he'd picked up on the title his faithful had used. “Where are the others?”

The man opened the car door for them, handing Allison into the back seat. “En route. They should be here any moment. Should we wait?”

Stone sent a glance toward the drive that led to his home, pissed not to see reinforcement—of any variety. Fucking worthless. All of them were totally fucking worthless. Someday soon they'd realize just how worthless they were. He'd make sure of it.

“No,” he said. “We need to get the child out of here. We'll go to my penthouse in the city.”

“I'm not leaving!” Eli insisted. He brought his fist down on Stone's forearm and took off when Stone's grasp weakened.

Stone hissed a curse and pivoted to grab him, but his faithful was already giving chase. The man grabbed up Eli just as Evans's men burst outside.

“Get in the
fucking
car!” Stone barked. He fired off two quick shots, buying them time, dropping one of Evans's henchmen and sending the other diving for cover.

This time, Eli did as he was told, but when Stone joined them in the back seat, the boy had tears on his cheeks and gave Stone a furious glare. “You left her.”

“No, I didn't
leave her
,” Stone told him evenly. “I made a strategic retreat to protect
you
. Do you think your mother would want me to put you in danger to rescue her?”

Eli turned away, swiping angrily at his eyes. “We're going to get her back, though, right? You're going to call Luke and tell him where she is so the Alliance can save her, right?”

Stone traded a glance with Allison.