Deeper Than Need (39 page)

She was gone, too. She’d turned a blind eye to everything … that simpering, smiling angel so many had adored.

“Not enough.”

Still, sometimes Caine wanted so much more. He wanted to see them suffer and burn and die, slow and painful. Because he didn’t trust himself not to give in to those urges, he kept away from here when he wasn’t working and he only worked for a few select people.

Noah, mostly. He was a decent sort. Blind as hell, but decent.

So unaware of what he’d uncovered down in that miserable little hole.

“Why couldn’t you just leave her there?”

Lifting a slim cigar to his lips, he inhaled slowly, relished the taste of it, the feel of it, and then blew the smoke out as he stared at the house through his lashes.

Miserable place.

Images of blood, echoes of screams, tore through his mind and nothing he did could erase those memories. No matter how far he ran, no matter what he did … nothing took it away.

A woman ran by and he eyed her narrowly, lowered the cigarette as her head slanted toward him.

Sybil.

For a moment, he thought she might come his way and part of him hated the thought because he’d have to crush out the cigar—she couldn’t stand the smoke. It bothered her asthma and it would cling to her clothes and it bothered the boy she took care of, too.

Caine knew all of that because any time he managed to drown out the screams he’d been with her. Moments stolen in the dark, when he buried himself between those long, sleek thighs and forgot about the world.

But that hadn’t happened in far too long.

Another part of him was glad, though, when she just kept on running. Sybil had enough shadows in her life, enough trouble. She didn’t need the mess he had with him.

Of course, that didn’t stop him from throwing his shadows on others. Like Noah.

Like the family who’d cared for Caine most of his life.

“You standing there like a stalker, somebody’s going to call the cops on you.”

At the sound of that voice he slanted a look up the sidewalk, and then he lifted the cigar back to his lips. He left it there and tucked his hands in his pockets. Safer that way, because this was one bastard Caine really didn’t like and if his hands were unoccupied he just might do something he’d end up regretting. “Evening, Adam.”

Something glinted in Adam’s eyes as he prowled closer. “Evening, Caine. Kind of late for you to be slinking around. Don’t you have nice little Amish girls to be messing with back at home? Why you here hiding in the shadows?”

“Just killing time,” he murmured, keeping his gaze away from Adam. Caine finished the cigar and smashed it against the tree to put it out. He didn’t leave the butt on the ground, though. Max Shepherd would have his head over that, Caine knew for a fact. “Spent a few hours in the house with Noah today—going to be spending more time here over the next few weeks. Just thinking it all through, that’s all.”

“The country-boy act don’t work very well with me, son,” Adam said, his lip curling. Then he shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “You seen Noah around? I need to talk to him—it’s urgent.”

Caine lifted a brow; then he looked down at the cigar, wished he hadn’t finished it. “Urgent.” Blowing out a breath, he said softly, “I wonder just what a man like you would call urgent … run out of rum or triple sec? Or maybe there aren’t any more condoms tucked away in your office drawer.”

A hand snaked out, but Caine swayed out of reach before Adam could make contact. Smiling at Adam in the dusk, Caine said, “Which one is it?”

“None of it, you fucking idiot. One of the kids from the forums is in trouble—and if you know shit about Noah, you’ll know he’d want to know.”

Caine stopped in his tracks.

Then he sighed and nodded at the house up on the hill, visible in the moonlight, outlined against it in stark, solemn relief.

“He went in there, Brascum,” Caine said quietly. “A while ago, with the woman who lives there. About thirty minutes ago, a light in the hallway went on upstairs, near the front bedroom. I imagine it was her room.” He waited a second. “Then the light went off. I reckon you can add two and two as well as I can. You really need to go bothering him now?”

Adam’s brows arched over his eyes. “You’ve got to be shitting me.
Noah?
” For a second, dumb shock reflected in Adam’s eyes, and then he swore and wheeled around, sprinting for the house.

The sound of him bellowing out Noah’s name was enough to curdle Caine’s blood.

*   *   *

Noah thought maybe three times would be enough … for a few hours. Maybe a day. Not much more, although he’d have to make it work, because the next time he made love to Trinity he wanted her to be his wife.

It wasn’t anything he’d ever thought he’d be contemplating, until recently, very recently, but now it all but consumed him. She stood a few feet away, slipping the petticoat up over her hips, and he moved up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist. Pressing his lips to her shoulder, he smiled as that little shiver raced through her. “You said yes. Right?”

“Yes.” She chuckled and turned around, grinning up at him. “I said yes. Now keep your hands to yourself so we can go to Ali’s and tell Micah. Then we can call my dad and…” She puffed up her cheeks and blew out a breath. “Wow. I have to plan a wedding. Like fast.”

“Yes. Like fast.
We
can plan it. I’ll help.”

She slid her arms around his waist. “We can plan it.” She hugged him tight, then eased away.

Noah’s phone rang. He sighed as he saw Adam’s number. “I’m going to have to call him soon and see what’s so important.”

“Go ahead and call.”

Phone in hand, he mumbled, “Yeah.” But his mind wasn’t on Adam. His mind, his eyes, his entire attention, was on the curve of Trinity’s butt, visible under that silly, insanely sexy petticoat as she bent over and swept her dress up from the floor.

She turned around and he jerked his gaze upward as a blush settled on his cheeks. She arched her brows at him and he grinned at her. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Um … well…” He scraped his nails down the growth of stubble on his face. “I guess I could say I really like the petticoat. How about that?”

Trinity chuckled, a low, husky sound that hit him in the gut like she’d reach out and caressed him. He thought maybe he’d try for a fourth time, but before he could make a move on that, she sighed and pushed her hair back from her face, looking around the bedroom.

“I guess we’ll have to talk about where we’ll live,” she said softly.

The heat that had built inside him died a quick, icy death. “Not here.”

The words escaped him before he could stop it and he closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry. This house … I just…”

“Not here,” she agreed, tugging her dress on. “I definitely like that idea. We’ll figure that out, too. I—”

A shout rang from somewhere outside.

They both turned their heads and looked to the window.

It came again, closer.

“Noah!”

They rushed to the window.

*   *   *

They came through the woods.

Caleb knew that path like the back of his hand and even walking it made his skin crawl, made his belly pitch and roll. He knew the way, though, knew how to avoid being seen by the judge.

Couldn’t go around the front and couldn’t make any noise until they went inside. Something about the way the house was located, right there on the hill, he’d been told. Sound carried. If they had to talk, it was in low whispers and absolutely nothing more.

No bright lights, either.

If they were careful, the judge wouldn’t even know they’d been there.

Yeah, Caleb was an old pro at escaping the judge’s attention out here.

Now Caleb ignored the pitching sensation in his belly, watching Brian finish the two cocktails.

Caleb wouldn’t have any idea how to do this, but Brian acted like he’d been doing it his entire life.

His hands moved over the supplies he’d brought along, certain and steady, and Caleb felt like he was going to shit his pants.

“You sure that ain’t going to explode or anything?”

Brian flashed him a grin. “No. Not until we make it. We set fire to it, lob it and run.”

“Sure it will burn the fuck out of this place?” Caleb glanced around, keeping a careful eye on the judge’s house a few dozen yards away. If the old man saw them, they were done. He’d have the cops out here in no time.

“It should do it. Old house. Remember the fire at my grandma’s? That started from a damn cigarette … her house was old like this.” Brian shrugged. Then he looked up. “My uncle is supposed to help with the wiring here and he was talking about how out-of-date everything is. Was grumbling about it, how wasted the walls here are. As old as this place is, it will burn like a motherfucker.” Then Brian nodded at the grill over by the back door. It was missing the propane tank. “It’s going to do more than burn, with all that gas. It’s not in the kitchen, right?”

“No.” It had taken everything Caleb had to walk into that house at night, to use the key he’d swiped from his dad—Caleb had done it while his dad was out of town on a business trip and driven an hour away from Madison to get a copy made. “It’s by the back door, just inside it. Two rooms away. Should be enough.”

Brian nodded. “Should be.” He studied Caleb. “You sure you want to do this?”

Mouth dry, he stared at the bottles and then looked up at the house. “Yeah.” He forced himself to smile. “Yeah, I do. Just remember, you take off down, get home. I’m going to disappear. Just gone. You ain’t seen me, talked to me.”

“Yeah, I got it, man.” He shoved a rag down in the mouth of the final bottle and rose, eying it with a mean little smile. “Always wanted to try this out.” He slid Caleb a smile. “Thought about maybe doing our place. With me in it. Back before Mom kicked that fuckhead out.”

The fuckhead. Rick—he’d lived with Brian for a while and beaten the shit out of Brian and his little sisters. Looking at the bottle for a long minute, Caleb swallowed the spit in his mouth and then shifted his attention back to Brian. “Out with a bang, huh?”

A wide grin split Brian’s face. “Out with a bang.” Then he looked up at the house. “This is better, though. I get to try it out … nobody gets hurt. You can see it burn.”

“Yeah.” He looked at the house as Brian passed him a bottle. “I can see it burn.”

*   *   *

Adrenaline crashed through Adam’s veins as he pounded up the sidewalk.

The kids had never come back to the chat room and Blue wouldn’t answer any of the texts Adam had sent him.

Shooting a look up at the house, Adam saw a shadow moving behind the curtains upstairs.

“Of all the times for you to decide you had to go and get laid,” he swore.

“What in the hell is going on?”

He shot a look at Caine as they raced toward the house, but before Adam could say anything they both heard a distinctive sound.

Glass … shattering.

“Aw, fuck.” He veered around the side and shouted at Caine, “Tell them to get out!
Don’t
go in, you hear me?”

He saw the two shadows standing there, saw the flicker of flame. “Stop it, you idiots.”

They froze. One went to run.

In the darkness, he saw just enough to realize he’d been right; it was Caleb. Adam thought the other one was Brian. Brian shoved upright and went to take off.

But Caleb, the hotheaded idiot, rose and hurled the small, round device in his hand through the window.

Noah.

Adam lunged for the kid and screamed at the house, “Caine, tell them to get out!”

Caleb tried to run, but Adam took him down, slamming the boy’s body into the ground. He exploded, fighting like a wild thing. “You fucking fool—you want to go to jail for murder?”

But Caleb didn’t even seem to hear him.

*   *   *

Noah heard the sound of breaking glass.

He and Trinity were halfway down the stairs by then, and although he wasn’t certain, he had the feeling she was driven by the same odd sense of urgency he was. They were two feet from the front door when it literally crashed open.

Noah grabbed Trinity and held her against him and then tensed as he saw Caine standing there, his eyes dark and unreadable. “You got to get out,” the man said.

“What in the hell?” Trinity said, gaping at him.

Caine ignored her, his gaze locked on Noah. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but Adam’s been trying to call, said one of the kids from the forums was in trouble, then I told him you were in here and he went—”

They all heard it, then. Adam’s voice, furious, echoing all around, coming from outside.

Noah grabbed Trinity’s hand and lunged for the door. Whatever was wrong, they’d figure out later.

They never even cleared the porch before the explosion rocked the house.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The world was on fire.

At least it sure as hell seemed that way.

Noah blinked the smoke from his eyes and rolled on his knees, looking around, just one thing on his mind.

“Trinity.”

It was a broken, hoarse gasp.

A hand, big and hard, closed around his arm and jerked him up.

For a second, he thought he was hallucinating as he stared into a pair of eyes … familiar …

Then he blinked and shook his head. “Caine … where…”

“I already got her away,” Caine said, slinging Noah’s arm over his shoulders. “Come on. There was already another explosion. We need to move.”

“Where’s Adam?” Adrenaline finally kicked in and Noah managed to get one foot in front of the other.

“I don’t know.”

The hot punch of the air slammed into his back and everything around him glowed with a surreal orange light. “Come on, Noah. Move it.”

He was trying, but his legs …

He forgot how his body didn’t seem to want to move as he caught sight of the golden spread of hair lying in a tangle across the way. He lunged for her, forgetting everything else as he went to his knees next to her. A big, bloody gash ran from her forehead halfway down her temple, and when he went to touch her cheek, the terror he felt inside had his hands shaking.