Deceived (27 page)

She pulled Eli close and gave him a hug. “Of course, angel,” she cooed, helping him buckle his seat belt. “Your Uncle Jacob will do everything he can. But there's something you can do as well.”

Eli straightened, alert and ready for action. “What is it? Whatever it is, I'll do it.”

Stone grinned in admiration. The boy was as tenacious as his mother and apparently as strong willed as his father had been. “You have some very important information tucked away in your mind, Eli,” he told him. “If you could share that with me, we can use it to negotiate for your mother.”

“That's what everybody wants,” Eli said. “I heard Mom and Luke talking about it. I'm not supposed to tell anybody.”

“Yes, but you can tell your Uncle Jacob,” Allison assured him. “He's family. If you can't trust family, who
can
you trust?”

Eli looked back and forth between the two of them. “I don't really
know
the information, though. I mean, if I do, I don't remember it. How am I supposed to tell you something I don't know?”

Stone offered the boy a comforting smile and patted his cheek. “As it happens, I know a way that we can find out the information. But it might not be very pleasant, Eli. You'd have to be brave.”

Eli swallowed hard, but then nodded. “Okay. If it'll help my mom.”

Stone's grin widened. “Excellent.”

“Oh my God!” Allison cried, wrapping her arms protectively around Eli.

Stone's head came up at her cry just as the impact threw him off the seat. He slammed into the back of the driver's seat, but recovered quickly and sent a frantic look around to see what the hell had just happened. The car that had hit them had driven past and was now stopped, but as Stone looked on, it was whipping around, preparing to come back toward them.

“Are you all right?” he demanded of Allison and Eli.

When they both nodded, he glanced up at the driver, who was passed out in the front seat, blood on the window where his head had smacked against it.

“Jacob?” Allison asked.

“Get out,” he ordered. “Run to the woods.”

They threw open the door and raced for the woods on one side of the road. When Allison and Eli made the tree line, Stone opened fire on the car speeding toward them. One of the bullets must've struck the driver, for the car suddenly veered off in one direction before drifting to a stop.

“What now?” Allison panted when Jacob caught up to where they'd paused to wait for him.

Stone clenched his jaw, glancing around the woods, weighing his options. His nearest neighbor was a few miles away—too far to walk in the cold. And Evans wasn't going to sit around with a thumb up his ass, waiting for his thugs to return with them. If they weren't back in a few minutes, he'd send someone else for them. Where the hell were the rest of his so-called faithful? They'd sent
one fucking person
?

Unless they were already at his mansion, attempting to take out Evans and his men.

“Uncle Jacob,” Eli whispered. “We need to go.”

“Yes, I realize that, Eli—”

“No,” he hissed, pointing. “We have to go
now.
”

Stone turned in the direction he was pointing and saw three men circling the wrecked car. One of them opened the driver's door and fired two shots in rapid succession.

Allison started with a gasp, her hand covering her mouth.

Stone cursed under his breath. “Go, go, go!” he said, shoving them in front of him.

But they'd only run a few yards when Allison's heels caught on the underbrush, and she pitched forward, taking Eli with her as she fell, crying out in pain. Stone quickly pulled them both back to their feet, but Allison's tumble had cost them. The men were running toward them, their guns drawn.

“Don't move, Stone!” one of them growled.

Stone cursed furiously and halted, raising his hands as he turned.

“I'm so sorry,” Allison said, holding her side as she hobbled closer to him.

Stone cast a look down at Eli, whose eyes were wide with fear. “Looks like we're going back for your mom after all, Elij ah. . . .”

“Something's wrong,” Luke ground out, pacing the plane like a caged tiger. “She's not answering her phone.”

Will disconnected his phone with a hissed curse. “Neither are Miles and Davenport.”

“We're ten minutes out of Chicago,” Adam reminded them. “The vehicles are loaded up and waiting for us there with the rest of the response team. Jacob's estate is about fifty minutes away.”

Finn frowned down at his phone for a moment, then closed his eyes, his lips moving slightly as he made some calculations. “We can do it in thirty. But it'll require some alternate routes. And probably calling in a favor from our
confreres
in Chicago PD. You cool with that?”

“Whatever gets us there,” Luke told him, ready to tear the door off the goddamned plane and leap out with a parachute just to feel like he was making some progress.

When they finally touched down a few minutes later, he was standing at the door, waiting for the plane to finally stop. The second the door opened, he shoved past the landing crew, who were still trying to get the roll away ladder in place, and charged toward the waiting black H2.

“What'd you bring?” he demanded of Jack by way of greeting, as his friend threw him a com device. He sent a glance toward Sarah's sister, almost not recognizing her in the Alliance's tactical gear. He'd have to get the story on that one later.

“Whatever you need,” Jack assured him as they scrambled into the H2 with Finn and Maddie. “Your M24 is in the back, just in case.”

That Jack had thought to grab Luke's sniper rifle told him they expected to find the house fully guarded and weren't planning for an easy entry.

The knot of fear in Luke's stomach twisted tighter as he pulled on the winter gear—welcome in the ball-aching cold.

“Everybody in?” Finn called from behind the wheel.

Will's voice came in over the com. “Make it happen.”

Luke had to give Finn credit—dude didn't fuck around. And he wasn't shitting with them about “alternate routes,” by which he'd apparently meant driving on the shoulder of the interstate, hopping medians, and cutting through neighborhoods and parking lots and all other kinds of crazy shit. Thank Christ there hadn't been any snow on the ground. As it was, they'd been lucky more than a couple of times. But, true to his word, thirty minutes later they were spreading out through the woods that surrounded Jacob Stone's estate, taking up positions around the house.

“There are two guards posted at each entrance,” Luke heard Adam whisper over the com. “No sign of Stone's insignia on their jackets. They're hostiles.”

“Copy that,” Will said. “Do we have eyes on the hostages?”

Luke peered through his scope, scanning the windows, looking for movement anywhere in the house, as the rest of the team all replied in the negative.

“Finn, do you have the layout of the house?” Will asked. “Where are we going in?”

“South entrance,” Finn told him.

“That's on me,” Luke murmured when he had the first guard in his sights. “Target acquired. But they'll hear the report inside the house if I take the shot from this distance.”

His commander cursed, knowing they could be walking into an ambush once they breached the entrance if they'd given away their presence at the house. “Adam, Jack,” Will said. “I need those guards taken out. Silently.”

“Copy that.”

A moment later, Luke saw movement below as Adam crept up behind one of the guards and slit his throat, then dropped the body and spun, slicing open the other guard's throat before the man could even react.

He scanned the area again, checking to see if any additional guards were headed that way. He was just about to give the all clear when he caught a glimpse of movement to his left. He swung his scope back in that direction, searching for what had caught his attention.

Adrenaline shot through him like lightning.

* * *

“I already told you, he doesn't know anything,” Sarah spat, her teeth chattering. The fully enclosed, indoor pool house was heated, but she was drenched from the repeated dunking in the water to make her or Eli talk. She'd tried to fight back, but the ropes binding her hands and feet didn't give her much to work with against the three men holding her.

“Leave my mom alone!” Eli screamed, struggling against the duct tape they'd used to bind his wrists. He managed to break free and raced to Sarah, looping his arms around her neck and clinging to her.

“I'd be happy to, Eli,” Evans drawled over Sarah's furious protestations as his men pulled Eli from her. “All you have to do is share a little information. You say you don't remember any of it, and I believe you, I really do.”

He draped an arm around Eli's shoulders when his men shoved the boy at him.

“You see,” he said, turning Eli back around so he could see her, “What I need to know is tucked deep down in your subconscious. All we have to do is”—he shook his fist back and forth, making a gurgling noise in the back of his throat—“rattle it loose.”

He gestured to his men. They immediately jerked Sarah up from the chair and dragged her toward the pool again. She struggled and kicked, screaming every obscenity she could think of, digging in her heels in a futile effort to keep them from holding her head under water again.

“Now, Eli,” Evans yelled over Sarah's screams of rage and Eli's sobs, “how about that little chat?”

“Okay!” Eli yelled. “Okay! Just don't hurt my mom!”

Sarah sent a wide-eyed look Eli's way, wondering if he really remembered anything or if he was just stalling. “Eli—”

“I had to memorize a code,” Eli said, meeting her gaze. “They're coordinates, I think. Like on a map.”

Evans held out his cell phone for Eli to speak into. “Whenever you're ready, Elijah.”

* * *

“Got 'em,” Luke said. “Pool house. Ten o'clock. Adam, can you confirm number of hostiles from your position?”

“Stand by.”

Luke continued to watch through his scope, taking in what he could see of the pool house. He could see Sarah where she sat shivering in a chair poolside, her arms and legs bound, her hair wet and matted to her face. His blood began to boil with rage, and it took every ounce of self-control not to abandon his positon and charge the pool house to take out the fuckers holding her.

But he forced himself to stay calm and further assess the situation, weighing his options. He didn't recognize any of the other three people in the pool house. And there was no sign of Eli.

“I have four hostiles,” Adam reported back. “Only one friendly. Check that. Two friendlies. They have the boy.”

As Adam spoke, Luke watched through his scope as Eli came running toward his mother, throwing his arms around her neck and trying to hold on to her, but one of the assholes dragged the boy away in spite of Sarah's furious protest.

“Fuck this,” he growled. “I'm going in.”

“Negative,” Will barked. “Hold your position. Adam, do you have eyes on Evans or Stone?”

“Affirmative on Evans,” Adam confirmed. “Negative on Stone.”

“Luke, I'm coming around to you,” Will said. “
Hold your position
. We'll move in on my mark. I want Evans taken alive, understood? I need to know who he's working for.”

Luke ground his teeth together, not willing to acknowledge the order. If it came down to saving Sarah and Eli or putting a bullet in the
real
Eric Evans, he'd do what he had to do and deal with the fallout later.

A moment later, Will was dropping into position at Luke's side, sighting through his own sniper rifle. “Luke and I'll clear the pool house. Adam, be ready to move in. Jack, Finn, clear the house and find Stone. Maddie, watch our six. You copy?”

“Yes, sir—shit,” Maddie hissed over the com. “We've got company. Car coming up the drive. Three occupants. We need to get this show on the road, boys.”

At that moment, two of the bastards holding Sarah jerked her to her feet and dragged her toward the water.

Luke felt his restraint crumbling. “Fuck! We gotta go now!”

Will cursed, then muttered, “On my mark . . .”

Luke pulled in a breath, bringing his shit back under control and felt the familiar, steady calm rush over him, as years of finely honed skill had long ago become instinct. And everything else around him disappeared except what he saw through his scope.

Sarah's gaze turned his way, her eyes widening slightly as if she saw him there on the hill.

“Three . . . two . . . one . . .”

Luke exhaled slowly, his finger curled around the trigger, waiting for Will's command.

“Send it.”

* * *

As Eli rattled off a series of numbers and letters into the recorder on Evans's phone, Sarah searched frantically for some way to escape, some sign of hope. Then, as she looked out through the glass wall facing the woods that surrounded Jacob's estate, the sun glinted off of something metallic. Her eyes widened when she realized what she was seeing.

A split second later, there was a pop as something struck the glass and each of the men holding her jerked with the impact as the bullets hit them. Sarah cringed, dropping low as Evans scooped up Eli and rushed toward the door behind them that connected to the pathway leading to the house.

“Grab her!” he called over his shoulder to his remaining thug. The guy started toward Sarah, but at the same moment a man in black tactical gear burst in, taking him down. But the two seemed evenly matched. As they fought, Sarah searched the bodies of the dead men, looking for a pocket knife or key—
something
—to cut the duct tape around her ankles so she could go after her son.

She'd finally located a switchblade when the man in black slid across the wet tile, knocking into the body at her feet. The impact was enough to knock her off balance, sending her stumbling back over the edge of the pool.

The water stung as it smacked her face and then pulled her down. She tried to kick to the surface, but seemed to be going nowhere. By some miracle, she still had the knife and bent her knees, bringing her legs up high enough that she could saw the tape around her ankles.

Just as the last of the tape gave way, a huge splash disturbed the water. And the next thing she knew, she was rushing toward the surface. She sucked in a huge breath when she broke the surface and blinked rapidly, clearing the water from her eyes, nearly sobbing with relief when she realized her arms were around Luke's neck.

“I gotcha, beautiful,” he assured her, swimming toward the edge of the pool.

“Evans has Eli,” she gasped.

The man in black pulled her out of the water, then extended a hand to help Luke out when she had her footing. A few feet away lay the man who'd been sent for her, his head twisted at a sickening angle. Sarah dragged her gaze away and back to Luke.

“Which way?” he panted as the other man cut through the tape around her wrists.

“Here.” Sarah grabbed Luke's hand, pulling him toward the door through which Evans had disappeared.

“Rogan!”

Luke turned, catching the gun belt Commander Asher tossed to him, swiftly wrapping it around his waist in practiced motions. But when Sarah turned back to the doorway, he pulled her to a stop and drew his SIG. “Adam, take Sarah back to the H2—”

“Like hell,” she hissed.

Luke grasped the nape of her neck, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I need to know you're safe. Please, go with Adam. Maddie's waiting for you.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he added, “I swear to you, Sarah, I will get Eli back. I would protect him with my life.”

He didn't wait for her response before releasing her and entering the house. Will Asher followed close behind, gun drawn, covering Luke.

Every instinct told her to go after him, but when she started forward, the man—Adam—grabbed her arm.

“This way,” he said softly. “Don't make him worry about you, too.”

Sarah muttered a curse, then turned and followed Adam.

* * *

Stone's gaze followed the man left behind to guard them as he paced the bedroom—well, he followed him with his good eye, the other completely swollen shut from being the jackass's punching bag. The idiot was clearly irritated at being left out of the more important session going on with Sarah and Eli elsewhere in his house and had decided to take it out on him.

Evans had wisely separated them all initially, but he could hear Allison's angry demands in the room next to his as she pounded on the door, insisting she be released.

“I really need to have a conversation with my builder,” he drawled. “These walls are entirely too thin.”

The man sent an annoyed look his way.

“You realize I'm a billionaire,” Stone told him. “I could pay you more than what Evans does.” He chuckled. “Honestly, it's my money he's getting anyway.”

The guy snorted at this. “Yeah, right. You're just one of the guys Evans has on the hook.”

Stone lifted a single brow. “Oh? Who else?”

The guy gave him a dismissive look. “Like I'm telling you.”

“We both know I'm a dead man as soon as Evans gets what he wants from the boy,” Stone said. “You might as well tell me who else is behind this little adventure.”

The man smirked. “Couldn't tell you if I wanted to. I just know you ain't the only one sent for Evans.”