Stoned (Unlikely Heroes Book 4) (29 page)

Nick cleared his throat. “Craig’s…tough, I’ll give him that. But I don’t think he would have intentionally hurt you.”

“He lied to me!” Her voice rose several notches, causing a few people to glance their way. “He made up a story about being a kid named Blade who wanted revenge against Viper. He made up a story that Viper had killed his sister. He probably lied about everything else to!”

“Calm down. I’m sure if you give him a chance to explain, it will all make sense.”

Karen felt like such a fool. She’d trusted Craig. Hell, she was
in love
with him. She’d told him about her mastectomy, about going through chemotherapy all by herself. He was the only one she’d ever told.

He’d
lied
to her.

He’d
used
her.

And he’d made amazing, incredible love to her. Undeniably the best sex she’d ever had. He’d made her feel wanted—
desirable
—for the first time in years.

But it had all been a lie.

Her heart twisted.

Her breath hitched.

That son-of-a-bitch!

Yet despite all that, she still wanted him.

Damn him.

He wasn’t the bad boy after all.

Then it dawned on her. She hadn’t been attracted to the “bad boy” this time, but the good man. It was the good in him that had drawn her to him. For the first time in her life, she’d fallen in love with a good guy, not a bad boy.

And that made her furious. Made her feel even more betrayed. Because he’d fooled her so well. Made her believe he was a badass biker dude. But he wasn’t. He was FBI.

Damn him!

She wanted to scream. She wanted to throw something. She wanted to kick Craig’s ass.

She thrust the baby at Nick.

“Take him. I’m so mad right now I can’t be holding him.”

Nick reluctantly took the baby from her. “What are you planning, Karen?”

“I don’t know. I just need to get out of here.”

Nick’s face filled with worry. “Let me get someone to drive you home.”

Karen didn’t wait for him. She marched toward the door. She had to get out of there. She had to get away from Craig. Before she went berserk and attacked him.

This was too much.

She was almost to the door when a voice halted her.

“Karen, please. Can I talk to you?”

It was
him
.

She drew in a ragged breath and spun around. Craig stood several feet away, eyeing her intently with those astute hazel eyes. Her heart twisted. Those beautiful hazel eyes that reminded her of a chameleon, the way they changed colors with his moods.

She squeezed her eyes shut. A tear forced itself loose, trickling down her cheek.

“Why?” she whispered. “Why did you lie to me? I
trusted
you. I believed you. I let you
make love
to me…” Her breath hitched. She jerked her eyes open. “You made me feel special. You made me feel
wanted
, but it was all a fucking lie! I don’t even know who the real you is.” She turned away from him and wrapped her arms around herself, drawing in several ragged breaths.

“Karen.” He touched her shoulder.

She spun around. “Don’t touch me.”

He dropped his hand. “The man I was in here…that
was
me. Obviously I’m not a badass biker dude or a drug dealer. But the man you know, the man I let you see, the smart ass, the crude sense of humor, that was me.”

“No.” She shook her head back and forth. “I don’t know you. You lied. You’re not a kid named Blade. ”

“Yes, Karen. That kid was me. That wasn’t a lie.” He raked a hand through his hair in obvious frustration. “And everything I said to you, I meant it. Every
fucking
word.” His eyes pleaded with her. “What’s between us…”

“No.” She backed away from him. She swallowed hard, trying to force the lump from her throat. “There is nothing between us, damn you. Nothing but
lies
.” She couldn’t deal with this right now. It was just…too much.

A sob broke loose as she turned on her heel and raced out the front door.

Away from Craig and all his lies.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“It’s confirmed. Viper got away. So did Cougar and Scorpion and a couple others. They fled into the woods. The SWAT team searched the area, but were unable to find them.”  

Craig groaned. “I was afraid of that. We almost had that son-of-a-bitch.”

“Don’t give up,” Nick said. “We’ll get him eventually.”

They were sitting at a table in the compound, going over the information they’d gathered and discussing what had gone down. The FBI had arrived, along with local law enforcement, to help in the clean-up and the investigation of the Cobras. Craig had already debriefed the other law enforcement agencies about what he’d been doing there and explained everything that had gone down from the moment he’d walked inside the compound. He’d witnessed some despicable things here.

Craig clenched his fist on the tabletop. “I’ve spent years trying to take this bastard down. I was so close.”

“I know.” Nick eyed him across the table. “You sacrificed a lot to go undercover, giving up your life for a couple of months to try to take him down. You broke up his organization. And you helped rescue ten teenage girls who were destined for a life as sex slaves to sick perverts like Viper and his men. That should make you feel good.”

They’d not only apprehended the Cobras, but several of the Inked Intimidators as well. The FBI had intercepted a van fleeing the compound with the teenage girls. The driver and his passenger had been arrested. The girls were now on their way home to their families.

The wounded look in Karen’s eyes before she’d stormed out kept coming back to him. It haunted him now. She’d been so hurt.
God.
He’d wanted her to understand. Prayed she would forgive him. But she hadn’t. Why would she? He’d lied to her. He’d hurt her. His heart twisted in agony. He couldn’t bear the thought of her in such misery. If only they could have met under different circumstances. If only he hadn’t had to lie to her…

“She’ll be all right.” 

Craig jerked his gaze back to Nick’s. He drew in a deep breath, exhaled. “You think? I
hurt
her.”

“April forgave me,” Nick reminded gently, “when I went undercover and had to deceive her. Karen will forgive you too. Just give her time.”

Craig wasn’t so sure. “Yeah, but you didn’t allow your wife to be abused. You didn’t let her be treated like shit. I’m no better than them.”

“You were undercover. You had to play the part. You said yourself that when Viper ordered you to kill her, you didn’t. You killed one of the bikers instead. You saved her. That was pretty brave.”

Craig snorted. “I stood back and let Viper slap her. Twice.” He groaned, rubbed a hand over his face. “And in the dungeon I almost let them rape her.” He made a sound of disgust. “How can she forgive me for that? How can I ever forgive myself?”

Nick sighed. “Karen is a lot like April. She hasn’t had an easy life, as I’m sure you know. Give her a couple of days or a couple of weeks to calm down, then go see her. Explain everything to her.
Make
her listen. When I betrayed April and she told me to leave, I just left. If I’d stayed and tried to make her see reason, we might not have lost those six years that we were apart. If you love her, don’t let her go. Don’t let her push you away.”

Craig cleared his throat. Personal conversations between him and Nick were rare. Most of the time, those conversations were about Nick. Craig rarely talked about himself. Karen probably knew more about him than Nick did.

He needed to tell her that, needed to let her know she was the first person he’d let in. He needed to tell her everything. He especially needed to tell her how much he cared about her. Hell, cared? He
loved
her. She needed to know that. But would she even listen to him after how much he’d hurt her?

“I think Viper might come after her.” Craig voiced his fears aloud. “In an attempt to get at me. We need to get her into protective custody.”

Nick nodded. “I’ll talk to her about it. But she probably won’t agree. She’s too independent. Likes to do things on her own.”

“She’s more apt to listen to you than to me.” Craig had let her walk out of here and one of the cops had driven her home. He’d asked the guy to stay with her until he could make arrangements for someone else to guard her. He had a bad feeling Viper wasn’t far away and he hadn’t seen the last of the guy. Craig needed to be ready to take the bastard down when he showed up.

Because when Viper returned, he’d be dead set on vengeance.

“So what was the hood’s significance?” Nick asked. “Karen mentioned you all were wearing black snakeskin hoods when she first saw you in the forest.”

Craig shrugged. “All I know is that they wear the hoods whenever they leave the compound to commit a crime. I think it’s so that if anyone witnesses them committing a crime, the witnesses won’t see their faces. Like robbing a bank.”

Nick scribbled something on the paper. He was always taking notes. The kid was the best of Craig’s team. Craig admired and respected him. “So it’s not a white supremacist thing?”

“I think that’s where Viper got the idea, but no, I don’t think it’s directly related to any racist group. He apparently used to be a member of the Skinheads, but that was years ago, when he was younger. I think the hoods are just a way to hide their identities.”

Nick wrote something else on the paper. He glanced up at Craig. “Anything else you can think of?”

“That autistic child, Runt. Did they find him yet?”

Nick shook his head. “There were no children except the baby.”

Craig nodded. Runt was probably still around here somewhere, hiding out. He’d have to search for the kid himself. The boy would be terrified of the cops. It had been a slaughter when Rebel had turned the dogs loose. If Runt had witnessed that, it may have traumatized the kid. The dogs that were still alive when the cops had shown up had all been euthanized.

“I need to find Runt. I’m worried about him.”

“I’ll help you.”

They got up from the table and searched for Runt, calling his name as they went from room to room.

They found Scar in Rebel’s room several minutes later, cowering underneath the bed. Rebel would be worried about the dog. Craig had to at least see that the animal was taken care of until Rebel’s fate was decided.

“Here boy.” He patted his thigh. “Come on Scar. Come on, boy.”

The dog’s tail wagged once, twice. Then Scar slowly inched across the floor to Craig.

“Good boy.” Craig scratched the dog behind the ears, then rubbed his belly. Scar rolled over on his back, sighing contentedly as Craig continued to rub his belly.

Nick raised a brow.

“One of Viper’s fighting dogs?”

“No. One of his bait dogs. Rebel rescued him and nursed him back to health.”

Nick made a face. “Poor thing. So what’s the deal with Rebel? Are they going to let him off?”

Craig shrugged. “Depends on the final deal the prosecutor and the judge decide on. The deal he made with me was that if he went undercover with me and helped me take Viper down, I would do what I could to get his sentence reduced. The prosecutor and the judge both agreed to the deal. They just have to decide how much of a reduction they will give him and how much time he will have to serve behind bars for the multiple drug charges he’s facing.”

Nick nodded. “He seemed like a decent guy.”

“He is. Just a little mixed up. I’ll do my best to convince the prosecutor to go easy on him. I owe him big time.”

Craig rose from the floor. He grabbed the dog’s collar so the animal couldn’t slink away. “I think I’ll take Scar home with me until Rebel gets out.”

Nick chuckled. “You? Have you ever had a dog before?”

“No. But it can’t be too hard.”

Nick chuckled. “You can put him in the car while we go find the kid.” One of the agents had brought Nick his vehicle. April had been notified Nick was okay and Nick had spent several minutes on the phone with her, reassuring her that he was fine. Craig had been envious. What he wouldn’t give to have a woman—Karen—love him like that.

Once Scar was safely in Nick’s SUV, they went back in the compound and continued the search. There was no sign of Runt anywhere in the building.

Next they headed out back where the dogs had been kept. Craig spied the kid almost instantly. The boy was kneeling on the ground, rocking back and forth. Next to him was the body of a large white dog.

Killer.

Shit.

He and Nick exchanged glances. Craig approached, calling the kid’s name. “Hey Runt. What you doing out here by yourself?”

The boy lifted his tear-streaked face to Craig’s. He glanced back down at the dog. He made a mewling sound and patted the dog’s stiff body.

“I know,” Craig said gently, kneeling before the boy. “I’m sorry. But I found Scar. He’s okay. Want to see him?”

Runt lifted his gaze to Craig’s. He nodded slowly. Craig held his hand out to the boy. “Come on.” Runt took his hand. Obediently he followed Craig back through the compound and out to Nick’s SUV.

On the way home, Runt sat in the back with Scar, hugging the dog to him and humming softly.

Nick glanced askance at Craig. “What are you going to do with the boy?”

Craig sighed. “I’ll have to take him home with me for now. If I separate him from the dog, he’ll probably freak out.”

Nick dropped Craig off at his house out on the lake. He told Craig to call if he needed anything.

“Get some sleep, boss. I’ll see you later.”

Craig nodded. He entered the house with the boy and the dog.

What the hell was he going to do with them?