Safe at Last (Slow Burn #3) (33 page)

“Back the fuck up,” Zack said. “Tell me you aren’t saying what I think you just said. You are
not
allowing any of the women and especially Anna-Grace to participate in a fucking takedown and hostage retrieval exercise! Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

“We didn’t have a choice,” Beau said harshly. “Ramie wasn’t coughing up the info unless they came and Ari threatened to incapacitate us all and the three women would go on their own, so our only real choice was to let them come with us so that at least we could offer them protection.”

Zack bit out a string of curses that had the neighboring passengers lifting eyebrows and staring agog at him.

“Tell me where, and then, Beau, swear to me you’ll keep Gracie safe for me. Swear it on your life. You have to give me the chance to make things right with her and I can’t do that if she gets herself killed.”

“I know, man,” Beau said quietly. “Believe me, I know. And we
will
protect her, all of us will—and Ari and Ramie—with our lives. Just get here as soon as you can. We could use all the backup we can get, because I have no idea how this is all going to go down once Ari unleashes her fury on them.”

THIRTY-ONE

DARKNESS
shrouded the empty-looking warehouse on the outskirts of the city. But Anna-Grace knew better. It wasn’t empty. Somewhere in its bowels, Eliza suffered.

A knot formed in her stomach, dread gripped her in its menacing hold and squeezed until she could barely breathe. She clenched her fingers into a fist, anger rushing like fire through her veins. She was well acquainted with hate—or so she’d thought. But even when thinking she truly hated Zack, she knew there was still—would always be—a part of her that would never stop loving him. Or rather the young man she’d fallen in love with before he became another person entirely. Except . . . maybe he hadn’t? But the hatred she’d used simply to survive, to keep it together the many times she nearly fell apart, because she knew if she ever did truly break down, she would never recover . . . that hatred didn’t even come close to what she felt toward the people who’d beaten her, who’d nearly killed Ari and even now were putting Eliza through unspeakable torture.

Then she went utterly still as thoughts, a confusing mass of them, faintly brushed the edges of her mind. She closed her eyes while those around her stopped and she could sense their puzzlement—and impatience. They were in as much hurry to get to Eliza as Anna-Grace was.

Still, she focused on only those alien voices, narrowing her focus as well as she could since her gift was rusty from her not having been able to use it for so long.

Finally she managed to push everything else out and only listen to what was inside that building. Swearing vehemently, she suddenly strode forward because the sounds were just too faint. She needed to be closer to the source.

“Anna-Grace,” Wade hissed, making a grab for her. “What the hell are you doing? You go
nowhere
without our say-so.”

But Anna-Grace paid him no heed and picked up her pace, determined to get close enough to the warehouse, though she did keep to the shadows, avoiding the few places where light would expose her. The others had no choice but to follow or leave her without protection. Though she could feel their disgruntlement, even as they surrounded her protectively, leaving no part of her vulnerable, they didn’t order her to keep back, unlike Wade. Perhaps they picked up on her urgency because every single DSS agent was staring sharply at her, waiting for her to tell them what she was picking up on.

And then, like before, she stopped. She halted so quickly, Capshaw ran into her back, and with a muttered curse he made a grab for her so she didn’t topple forward. But she ignored him, her mouth widening in horror. She tried to speak, but nothing would come out. She slapped a hand over her mouth to stanch the silent cry. She stared at the ominous-looking building—
hell
—in horror.

“We’ve got to get in there.
Now
,” she hissed, her entire body shaking. Even her teeth chattered, sounding too loud. “They’re going to kill her. She’s been of no use to them. They’re even angrier than before because a ‘mere’ woman wouldn’t give in, no matter what they did to her. They couldn’t break her so now they’re going to kill her and send her body to DSS in pieces. They feel they’re wasting their time and should pursue an easier, more vulnerable target.”

Dane’s expression became murderous, unbreakable and unforgiving. It was an expression that promised retribution. And it was echoed by every one of Eliza’s teammates.

“Of course she wouldn’t break,” Caleb said in a soft voice that hinted of pain and guilt. “She’s one of the toughest women I know. And she’s loyal to her bones. She would never sell out her team, even if meant dying in the process.”

Just hearing those words—a confirmation of what Anna-Grace had already discerned on her own—sent panic shuddering through her body. Her airway constricted to the point of pain and light wheezing noises emanated from her flared nostrils.

It was Ari who jumped to the forefront, leaving Beau scrambling to catch up, swearing the entire way. Anna-Grace took off just as quickly, close on their heels. Her heart was beating so fast that she was light-headed and disoriented, but she couldn’t afford to hold the others back. Not when Eliza had so little time remaining.

Wade and Isaac both quickly caught up to Gracie, flanking her, guns drawn, their eyes constantly darting back and forth, looking for any movement, any possible way to pinpoint her location within the huge, sagging building.

It was startling to see Wade carrying a gun. How easily he fell in with the other operatives, though it shouldn’t have surprised her. She already knew there was a lot more to him than his polished exterior.

Caleb pulled Ramie back with him, putting her behind him and Capshaw. But there was still a keen sense of unease between the men. It was killing them to put the women they loved at risk for even one moment.

It made her suddenly feel an outsider to something so very precious and all consuming. The memory of when she had that with Zack. And how she’d lost it all. Her dreams. Her passion for life.

But right now she’d give anything for him to be here, because with all of DSS’s resources focused on bringing Eliza home—alive—she now knew in her heart that he simply wasn’t capable of doing what was done twelve years ago. Was she crazy for even contemplating forgiveness so they could both move on, live their lives and try to find the kind of happiness they once shared?

She wanted Zack with her, because every time they were together she felt that nothing could ever touch her, or hurt her, or ever bring her down. Because he loved her. He could have had any girl he wanted with the snap of his fingers and yet he’d chosen a girl four years younger than him and it was like . . . magic. When you see that one special person who you know has just altered your entire destiny.

And then to find out she’d been completely wrong about the man she loved, the man she planned to marry and spend the rest of her life with, the man who’d discussed with her a desire for a large brood of children, at least six, and Anna-Grace couldn’t have been happier on that day.

Because for the first time she’d truly seen a future with Zack. Not just one of dating, passing the time, doing menial and mundane things. No longer did she worry that when he was drafted into the pros she would be left behind. At that time, it had been understood—taken for
granted
—that their fates were intertwined. Unbreakable, endless, eternal. For all time.

Beau called a halt, close to one of the entryways to the warehouse. He turned to Anna-Grace, leveling a hard stare that held no malice. Just determination and not wanting to wait a second longer than necessary.

“What do you know, Gracie?” he asked in a low voice. “Did you see
where
in the building they are? Their position? How many?”

Regretfully she shook her head. “There were so many thoughts, some stronger than others, but they all have the same intent.”

Ramie stepped forward, shrugging off Caleb’s hand. “They are in the far left corner from our current position. But there is a lot of clutter and debris on the floor, and though it won’t be difficult to get there, one sound and they’ll know they have company.”

“I need to be the first in,” Ari said in a harsh tone.

Anna-Grace easily picked up on the other woman’s thought patterns. They were loud, as though Ari were screaming into Anna-Grace’s head. Sorrow, guilt, regret emanated from Ari in waves, but also rage, hatred, the desire to serve justice for the women these men had hurt.

Ari felt great responsibility for what had happened to both Anna-Grace and Eliza. The force of Ari’s thoughts hurt Anna-Grace and made her ache to tell Ari she wasn’t at fault. To somehow offer comfort and solace for what was not Ari’s doing. But they didn’t have time. Eliza didn’t have time.

“Hell no, you aren’t going in first!” Beau snapped, his eyes flashing as he stared his wife down.

His fear was overwhelming, filling Anna-Grace’s mind until it shut out all else. Anna-Grace closed her eyes and narrowed her focus in an attempt to break free from the hold the people closest to her had on her mind and to extend outward and reconnect with the men preparing to murder Eliza.

When she reopened her eyes, she saw Ari turn her gaze, an aquamarine that held glints of gold, to her husband, those specks nearly glowing with ferocity.

“Yes, I do. Because once they know we’re here, they’ll kill Eliza. If I get close enough to her, I can erect a barrier around her so that she comes to no further harm while the rest of you take these assholes out.”

The group went silent. Anna-Grace knew that Ari had scored a point. How could they hold her back at the cost of Eliza’s life? But no one liked it. No one wanted any part of falling in behind the deceptively fragile-looking woman and allowing her to go directly into harm’s way.

Clearly it went against their grain to, in essence, hide behind a woman. To take cover and allow her to risk so much. They were warriors. Protectors. They led, never followed.

A small smile curved the corner of Ari’s mouth. “They can’t hurt me. Remember? Or have you forgotten what happened the last time they tried to take me on?”

Beau flinched, his eyes raw with remembered pain. And for the briefest of moments before Anna-Grace once more shut out the thought patterns around her, she picked up on the memory of Ari lying limply in Beau’s arms, soaked in blood and Beau begging her not to die.

A chill scuttled up Anna-Grace’s spine and she shivered at the image so clear in Beau’s mind. She didn’t blame him for his reluctance. Not when he’d come so very close to losing the woman he loved.

“I think that what most of us remember is you very nearly dying,” Beau said hoarsely.

“Just get on with it,” Dane said sharply.

Anna-Grace jumped, startled by how shaken Dane sounded. He was always so . . . not human? He reminded her of a robot, programmed not to feel. Just to act. But right now he was extremely pissed. His nostrils flared and he was sucking in deep breaths through his nose.

And Wade as well. Anna-Grace couldn’t ever remember Wade displaying any outward emotion and yet every cell in his body seemed to be rigid with impatience. He was clearly agitated and restless as though at any moment he’d barge through the doors, with or without the others.

Without waiting for Beau’s okay, Ari walked to the door but stood back a short distance so that she wasn’t touching anything. Even knowing of Ari’s gift, it still made Anna-Grace’s eyes widen when the locks and chains quietly lifted from their resting places and hovered in the air as though waiting for Ari’s next command. Then they simply floated effortlessly away and settled quietly onto the ground several yards from where the group stood.

Ari closed her eyes and the doors slowly and soundlessly opened, just enough so they could each fit through. She disappeared within, Beau nearly glued to her backside. Dane was hot on Beau’s heels and the others quickly followed. Anna-Grace was herded forward, she and Wade positioned between Isaac and Capshaw.

Sweat beaded and rolled down Anna-Grace’s back as she concentrated on stepping around all the debris on the floor. The closer they got to where Eliza was being held, the more overpowering the thoughts broadcasting from her tormentors sounded in Anna-Grace’s head.

Silently she urged Ari to hurry. Anna-Grace’s pulse ratcheted up in response to the captors’ own. They were preparing for the kill. Her stomach clenched and nausea welled, forcing her to swallow. They were
relishing
the idea of dismembering her while she was still
alive
.

She cupped a hand over her mouth and held it firmly there, afraid she was going to throw up at the horrific images that flashed through the men’s minds. Each had his own idea or rather fantasy of how it should go down. No one wanted her end to be quick and merciful. She had embarrassed them by proving stronger than they could have possibly imagined and now they wanted revenge.

Ari turned her head, staring directly at Anna-Grace, obviously picking up on the sudden tension emanating from her. Her eyes glowed with an eerie light, growing brighter as she summoned her powers for the fight for Eliza’s life. Then, as if understanding the depth of Anna-Grace’s distress and knowing every second counted now, she turned and sprinted toward the back of the warehouse.

The DSS men took off after her, no longer caring whether they made a sound or not. Ari skidded to a halt and then gunfire erupted. Anna-Grace’s heart nearly exploded. She could no longer make sense of the thought patterns because they were all panicked and none made sense. All she could translate was their fear. That had to be a good thing. They wouldn’t be afraid if they thought they had the upper hand.

Anna-Grace ran toward Ari, determined that the other woman wouldn’t be vulnerable while she wielded her powers like a warrior of old. Wade made a grab for Anna-Grace’s arm, but she wrenched free, needing to see for herself that Eliza was alive.