Deceived (28 page)

Stone struggled to keep his reaction from showing in his expression. Either he had competition or someone among his acquaintances had doubted his ability to successfully complete this assignment. Turned out, they'd all underestimated that bastard Evans and his ability to play everyone involved.

“And yet something tells me that Evans had no intention of honoring his deal with either of us,” Stone mused. “He planned to use the information for his own gain. Am I right?”

The guy snorted again and resumed his pacing.

“What was he after?” Jacob pressed. “It can't just be the treasure. There's something more.”

“Hell if I—”

The sound of gunfire suddenly cut across the man's words, and they both looked toward the bedroom door.

“Ah,” Stone said. “I believe it's time for me to go.”

Before the guard could react, the door burst open. His body jerked as a hail of gunfire riddled his body. As soon as the guard dropped, two men dressed in gray hoodies and jeans rushed in.

“It's about damned time,” Stone snapped as the men cut him free. “Where are Evans and the boy?”

“We haven't seen them, Master,” one of the faithful told him.

Stone grabbed the gun from the guard's hand and stormed toward the door. He peeked around the door frame and into the hallway, making sure no one was waiting to ambush him. At this point, he had no idea how many of Evans's people were left, where they might be. And he was beginning to wonder if a last-ditch effort to grab the kid and salvage what intel they could was worth risking his own ass.

“How many of you are here?” he demanded of his faithful.

“Three,” one of them responded.

Stone cursed through clenched teeth. What the fuck was going on? Why wasn't the whole goddamned place crawling with his faithful? Going up against Evans with such pitiful numbers was bad enough, but it was only a matter of time before Will and his people arrived, if they hadn't already.

“Get Ms. Holt,” he ordered, gesturing toward the room where Allison was being held. “We're leaving.”

“But we were told to extract only you and the boy,” one of them said.

“I'm redefining our objectives,” he snapped. “Now move.”

* * *

Luke crept along the hallway, listening intently for any movement. He turned down an adjoining passage that led into the east wing, clearing each room as he went, stepping over the bodies of two of Evans's associates who'd been taken down.

“I want all eyes on the exits,” Will whispered into his com. “Evans is not getting out of here with the boy. Jack, Finn, what's your position?”

“Second floor, west wing,” Jack reported. “No sign of Stone.”

“Found Miles and Davenport, though,” Finn added.

Luke cursed silently and ground his back teeth together, his fury at losing two of their brothers causing the muscle in his jaw to tick.

“Commander, I have movement at the west exit,” Maddie announced, her voice edged with urgency. “Shit. It's Jacob and his assistant, Allison Holt. Our late arrivals have them. I'm leaving my position to assist.”

“Negative,” Will hissed. “Hold your position.”

“Commander—”

“Luke!”

Eli's cry cut across Maddie's words. Luke swung around toward the other end of the hallway in time to see Evans dragging Eli in front of him, a wicked knife at Eli's neck, positioned perfectly to severe his carotid with one quick slice. And unlike the man in the diner or the imposter at the ranch, Evans knew exactly how to hold on to Eli to keep him from slipping out of his grasp.

“Let him go, Evans,” Luke ordered, slowly advancing, his gun aimed at Evans's chest just above Eli's head. “I took out that poser you sent to Wyoming. I'll erase you too.”

Evans chuckled. “Nah, you won't. I know your commander, Rogan. He won't let you take me out. He'll want to bring me in for a chat, try to find out who hired me . . . what connections they have to the Illuminati . . .” He gasped. “Oh, I said the magic word, didn't I, Will?”

Luke felt his commander go tense, knew the guy was holding his breath. He knew Evans was right. Will's duty was to the Alliance. He needed the intel, needed to confirm his suspicions. Luke didn't know his commander all that well even after serving the Alliance for several years, but he
did
know that the guy wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he had to choose between doing his duty and doing the right thing. He wouldn't ever forgive himself if he sacrificed the life or sanity of a child to get the information he needed to ensure the Alliance's enemies didn't gain the upper hand....

And that was confirmed when he heard Will curse softly, felt the man's indecision like a palpable force in the room.

“So, because you're both a couple of Alliance
pussies
, here's how this is going to go down,” Evans taunted, backing up slowly and dragging Eli with him.

Luke advanced with him, assessing his options. He didn't have enough room to wing the guy as long as he held Eli in front of him. It was a kill shot or nothing. And doing nothing meant letting Evans walk out of there with Sarah's son.

“I'm going to take this little meat sack with me and find out what else he knows,” Evans drawled. “And then I'll be in touch to see what sort of arrangements we can make for his return. Maybe I'll even be willing to share what
I
know—for the right price.”

“Stand down, Rogan,” Will said, his voice strained. “He's right, I need his intel.”

Luke ignored him.

“Can't promise what kind of shape he'll be in when I'm finished with him,” Evans continued, a few paces from the foyer and freedom, “but, hey, what the fuck do you care anyway, Rogan? He's not even your brat. So just be a good little Templar and do what your commander says.”

“There's one little problem with your plan, Evans,” Luke said, his tone deadly.

Evan's lips curled in derision. “Yeah? What's that?”

Luke's eyes narrowed. “I quit.”

Will's enraged cry was drowned out by the report of Luke's weapon. The bullet ripped into Evans. He stumbled back, eyes wide.

“Goddamn it, Rogan!” Will snarled.

But Luke didn't give a shit about his commander's furious rant. He'd taken a knee the second Eli had broken free of Evans's death grip to run to Luke and throw his arms around his neck in a fierce hug. Luke hugged him back, relief washing over him. Then, fear spiked in his veins, and he pulled back to take Eli's face in his hands, his anxious gaze taking him in.

“Are you okay, buddy? Are you hurt?” he demanded.

Eli, clearly shaken but unharmed, shook his head. “No. I'm okay. Where's my mom?”

“She's safe,” Luke assured him. Motion out of the corner of his eye brought his head up. Will was walking toward Evans's body, his shoulders hunched.

“I'm sorry, Commander,” Luke told him truthfully. “I had to make the call. For Eli's sake. And yours.”

Will glanced over his shoulder, his brows drawn together. Then he gave Luke a terse nod before crouching down next to Evans's body. Luke got to his feet and turned to take Eli from the scene when Will's sharp intake of breath brought him up short.

“What's doing?” Luke asked.

Will took his phone out of the pocket of his tactical vest and snapped a picture of the inside of Evans's arm. He jerked his chin in greeting as Finn and Jack joined them in the foyer, a look of triumph in his eyes as he turned his phone around to show them the photo he'd taken.

Tattooed on the inside of the dead man's forearm was a pyramid surrounded by a stylized starburst. And in the center of the pyramid was the all-seeing eye.

The symbol of the Illuminati.

“Glad bag this asshole,” Will ordered. “I need to make a call to my grandfather.”

* * *

Sarah sat in the front seat of the H2, shivering in spite of the heat blasting through the vents and the heavy blanket Adam had wrapped around her. The man had wasted no time in getting her to safety and out of the cold in spite of her repeated protests and attempts to reason with him and persuade him to take her back inside.

He hadn't bothered to respond to her, even when she'd pulled out the tears. She'd begun to wonder if the man was just as cold and emotionless as the men who'd held her and Eli. Until they'd reached the H2 and he'd wrapped the blanket around her, giving her a look so full of sympathy and understanding that it made her wonder what exactly he'd been through himself.

But she'd only spared him a moment's thought before her worries for Eli and Luke came crashing back down on her, chilling her far worse than her wet clothes and the frigid Chicago autumn air. She gnawed on the edge of her thumb in silence, her gaze lasered in on the path from the house, her stomach knotted so tightly with fear that she could barely take a breath.

When Adam reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder, she started so violently it even startled him. He held up his hands in front of him in a calming gesture when her head whipped toward him. “My apologies, Sarah.”

“What is it?” she asked in a rush. “Have you heard something? Are they okay?”

He offered her a smile and jerked his head toward the front of the H2. “See for yourself.”

Sarah's gaze snapped back to the path she'd been watching, and her heart leapt into her throat and tears sprung to her eyes as Luke emerged from the woods, Eli at his side. She made a little strangled sound of relief in the back of her throat as she threw open the vehicle's door and ran to meet her son, scooping him up in her arms and hugging him so tightly the cold melted away. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on the fact that her sweet baby boy was in her arms again, safe and sound.

When she opened her eyes again, she had to blink away the tears to clearly see Luke's beloved face. He stood a few feet away, his forehead wrinkled in an uncertain frown until she set Eli back on his feet, keeping one arm around him and extending the other to Luke.

And he closed the distance between them in two strides and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead before wrapping his arms around her and Eli and holding them close. Her heart felt like it would burst with joy.

“We should go.”

It wasn't until she heard Commander Asher's quiet words that she realized there were several others with them—including her sister.

Maddie came forward to hug her sister and nephew, then turned her eyes up to Luke. “My family owes you a great deal.” Then, before he could respond, Sarah gasped as a sudden thought occurred to her.

“The code!” she said, turning to Commander Asher. “Evans recorded something Eli remembered and sent it to whoever he was working with.”

“Don't worry, Mom,” Eli chimed in, grinning from ear to ear. “I lied.”

She frowned down at him. “You lied? What were those codes then?”

“Cheat codes from a video game,” Eli said, his grin growing when Finn burst into laughter. “That's all I could think of that sounded like what he was wanting. But don't worry, Mom. I never used the cheat codes. I only memorized them—just
in case
I ever needed them.”

Finn came forward, still laughing, fist extended. “Give it up, little dude.”

Eli fist bumped Finn and even earned a smile from Commander Asher as the man ruffled his hair. “Good job, Eli.”

As they all fell out to their vehicles, Maddie ushered Sarah and Eli back to the H2 to get them out of the cold. Luke was silent when he got in the back seat with them and put his arm around Sarah, pulling her against his side. And the silence continued for the entire drive until they arrived at the gates of a community in the suburbs of Chicago.

It was only then that Luke finally spoke. “Drop us at my place.”

Adam glanced up in the rearview mirror. “Commander wants to debrief.”

Maddie wasn't as subtle as she twisted around from the front seat. “My sister needs to get into dry clothes. And then I'm sure she'd like to see our father.”

Luke met her gaze evenly, his arm tightening around Sarah. “I'll see to it she's taken care of. And she'll see your father when she's ready. Not until then.” Then he said to Adam, “I'll head to the situation room after I get Sarah and Eli settled.”

A moment later, Adam pulled into the driveway of a gorgeous yet modest brick house. It was neither the smallest nor the largest house in the neighborhood, its façade more functional and straightforward than some of its neighbors. She recognized Luke's personality in an instant. And when she noticed the bay window to one side of the house and could see a baby grand piano, she couldn't help but grin.

She was still grinning a while later when she got out of the shower and saw Luke leaning against the edge of the vanity, arms crossed. As usual, she hadn't even heard him come in.

“Hey,” he said, looking at her through lowered lashes as she finished drying and came toward him.

“Hey there,” she said, extending her hand to him.

He pulled her to him, wrapping his strong arms around her and holding her for a long moment before finally claiming her lips in a long, languid kiss. When he drew the kiss to a close, he brushed another brief kiss to her brow before heaving a sigh. “I have to go meet up with Commander Asher and the others for a while. Adam brought over some dinner, so Eli has eaten. He and your sister are currently getting a grand tour of the compound. Maddie brought you some clothes before they left. They'll probably be gone for an hour or so, but then she wants to take you to visit your father. I told her I'd let you know, but you don't have to go if you'd rather wait.”