The Galilee Falls Trilogy (Book 3): Fall of Heroes (34 page)

“You are never going near that psychopath again, Jo,” Justin declares. “He’s liable to slit your throat the moment he sees you.”

“You’ve got that reversed there, rich boy, but I will find a way to control myself. My way is the best way, and you know it. If the roles were reversed—”

“Don’t play the misogyny card with me,” he snaps. “If the roles were reversed, you’d be blocking the door or shooting me in the leg to stop me too.”

He’s got a point. “One life. One life against millions. We need to use every weapon in our arsenal. Including my female wiles.” I pause. “He likes me, Justin. I think he genuinely likes me. As much as someone like him can. If I approach it right, he’ll never suspect a thing until it’s too late. I can do this, Justin. I’m
going
to do this.” I pause again. “With you at my back.”

He smiles. “Really?”

“Figured you’d just follow me anyway. Now give me the damn phone before I lose my nerve,” I say, hand out. He gazes at my outstretched hand, hesitates for a moment, but does pass me the phone. “Get the Sharpesh family here. Quietly.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says with a nod.

Okay.
Okay
. I can do this. It’s just a phone call to a friend. My trembling finger somehow punches in the telephone number. My stomach seizes when he picks up. “Bennett Stone,” he says.

At the sound of his voice, I lose the ability to speak. So much’s riding on this. On
me
. All those lives. All—one life. Just one life, Jo. This is for
him
. God give me strength. “Guess who got a clean bill of health?” I ask cheerfully.

“I was just thinking about you,” he says seductively. I’ll bet you were. “So you’re out?”

“Resting comfortably at home. Seems not even a virus is a match for me.”

“
I
could have told you that.”

“And here I thought you were worried about me.”

“Oh, I was.” The way he says it, I actually believe him.
He
must have arranged for us to get the serum. At least for me to. Maybe the others got a placebo. “But you’re okay? Really?”

“Physically. Finally got a moment of peace, and the survivor’s guilt just kicked in. My friends are still sick. Jem’s in the hospital. He might not…” I can’t say it. Not even now. “It just feels wrong, you know?”

“I could give a three day seminar on survivor’s guilt, gorgeous.”

“I’m trying to work, but I can’t focus. It’s just all going to hell. One step forward, seven back.”

“Then take a break. I could use one too.”

“Shocking though it may be, I am not one for phone sex.” Justin narrows his eyes at me, and I roll mine. “I-I’ll be fine. This is helping already.”

“Well, I am in your neck of the woods,” he purrs.

I figured he would be with everything going to shit here. “What? Why? Do you want to catch the fucking plague?”

“Believe me, I would not be in town if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. A deal’s proving more complicated then I’d like. Put out one fire only to discover there are two more about to spring up. I’m exhausted. If you help with my little problem, I’ll distract you from yours, at least until the next fire crops up.”

“Where are you staying?”

“The Firebrand. My usual room.”

“Give me an hour to shower and assemble myself into a human woman.”

“I’m counting the minutes, gorgeous.”

“See you soon, playboy.” I hang up. “God, I really need another shower now.”

“Well done. Now what?”

“Now…I get ready for my date with the devil.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Heart of Stone

How far are you willing to go for someone you love?

We all think we’d walk to the ends of the earth. Storm a castle. Throw ourselves off a cliff if it meant they would live. Most people never have to face this trial. They’ve never been pushed to that edge. If they were, would they flounder? Stare at the castle but never enter? Hold onto the edge of the cliff and let him fall? I failed this test once. I held on and he fell. I won’t fail again. I’d rather die than live with the guilt. If I have to give my body to the monster, if I have to strangle him with my bare hands, I will. I am not leaving without the information I need.

I will not fail.

“You are a sight for sore eyes, gorgeous.”

I cannot.

I plaster on my smile and even bite my lower lip seductively. “And I come bearing gifts,” I say, holding up two hot chocolates. I hand him the one with whip cream. And roofies. “Mr. Sweet Tooth.”

“You remembered,” he says, taking my offering. He steps aside to let me in. I hobble through the door. “What? What’s the matter? Why are you limping?”

“Ever have a bone marrow biopsy? I don’t recommend it.”

He shuts the door. “Bone marrow?”

“Seems I not only have a killer rack, but my immune system ain’t no slouch either. They think my marrow might help with a vaccine or cure.” I lower myself onto the couch. “They better work fast.”

Bennett sits on the couch beside me, close enough I sense his body heat. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.” He reaches across and brushes a stray strand of hair from my forehead. I suppress a cringe. “I’ve been so fucking worried about you. I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything when I desperately need to.”

Yeah. Right. I plaster on a sweet smile. “It’s so surreal, you know,” I say before taking a sip of my cocoa. “Ryder dying like that. The virus…” I shake my head and take another sip. “Jem’s…dying and all that goes along with it. Guilt. Regret. Grief. Even after all he put me through, I did love him once upon a time. And he was only at that house because of me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Bennett says sincerely. “You
know
it’s not your fault.”

“Ugh.” I take another sip of cocoa. This time he does too. Keep drinking, asshole. “I haven’t slept in three days, which isn’t helping matters. Oh, and let’s not forget we have next to fucking nothing on whoever did this.” Another sip for us both. “Those Motoneslly bastards got wind of our investigation and cleaned house. What we do have is gonna take weeks to investigate, which won’t save Jem or anyone if they’ve already released this virus worldwide.” I drink again. He does as well. “You know I thought Jem was a genius, but whoever planned this…” Another sip. “I almost admire them.”

“Why?” he asks before another gulp of cocoa.

“I don’t know. The dedication? The patience? The intelligence involved? We have the top minds on this, several world governments, and they’re still ten steps ahead of us.” Another sip for us both. “The only mistake they made was letting Ryder escape. If he hadn’t, we never would have known about any of this until it was too late. Hell, it still may be too late.”

He’s about to open his mouth to spew lies, when his phone buzzes. Instead, he sighs. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re busy. Take it. Go.”

He rises from the couch, drink in hand. “Just give me a minute, and I’m all yours, gorgeous. I swear.” He begins walking to the door, pressing the phone to his ear. “Bennett Stone.”

The moment the door shuts after he steps into the hallway, I leap up to follow. I press my ear against the closed door. Shit, he must have walked down the hall. I can’t make out the words. Asshole. Fine. I hobble back to the sofa. “He’s on the phone,” I say into my watch/communicator to Justin who waits a floor below. “The computer’s on the desk. I’ve seen him with another laptop model, so I’ll have to find it too. Stand-by.”

I don’t dare start snooping now. Good decision too because Bennett returns a few seconds shy of a minute, all smiles. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m shutting it off now.”

“You don’t have to. You’re busy. I understand.”

“I know you do, but I’m gonna shut it off anyway,” he says with that smile of his.

I force one to my face. “I’m honored.”

“Besides, this is far more interesting than a real estate deal.” The monster sits beside me again. “I’m only sorry I couldn’t help you more.” He takes a sip. “Did you ever get in touch with Dr. Sharpesh? I have a call into him, but he hasn’t responded.”

“Yeah, after I spoke to you, he sent me an email. I have a call into him too, but we have a few dozen other doctors already on this, we don’t really need him.”

“Well, I’ll try again anyway.”

I touch his hand. “Thank you.” I squeeze it. “And thank you for listening. There’s…no one else. And it’s just so goddamn much, you know? I thought I was dying. Harry…Jem…the whole fucking world…I…” Okay, I’m genuinely getting emotional now. I shake my head to clear it. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I don’t want to
think
about it anymore. Take my mind off things, playboy.” I take a sip. “Give me good news. How is Nathalie?”

A sip. “Still doing well. Attending meetings. Focusing on her fashion. I have real hope this time.” Another sip. “Thanks in part to you.”

“A very small part.” Another sip. “And
our
little girl? Our society hasn’t toppled since I’ve been neglecting her?”

“I’m sorry, but between work and worrying about you, I’ve been an absent parent as well. I get the odd update, but as far as I’m aware, everything’s on schedule.”

“Let’s just pray there will be a need for the Society by the time it’s set up.” He chuckles and gulps his drink. “What?”

“A need for charity. In a perfect world, there would be none.”

“This situation might be the exception to the rule,” I point out.

“You got me there.” He takes and squeezes my hand again. “You have such a good heart, Joanna Fallon. I adore that about you. Your heart…everything about that general area,” he says with a smirk. Here we go. Moment of truth. He reaches up to cradle my face, caressing my cheek with his thumb. “I was terrified when you were in there.” I believe him. “You’ve come to mean a lot to me. More than I knew until all this happened.”

“I’m sure you say that to all the girls just coming out of quarantine,” I say with a smirk.

“Got me,” he says with the same smile before it slowly drops. “But it’s true in this case.”

“Ben—”

He leans across and presses his lips to mine. Thank God. I was worried I’d vomit in his mouth or bite his tongue clean off, but I don’t feel a damn thing. It helps when I close my eyes. Now he’s nothing but a stranger. A random man massages my tongue. Runs his hand through my hair. Squeezes my breast. Lowers me down on the couch. Presses his erection against my thigh. I can do this. I can—

I let out a cry of pain when his hip presses against my wound. The hands and mouth lift off my body, and I open my eyes, greeted by confusion and concern in his brown eyes. “Did I hurt you?”

“I…I don’t think we should…I still feel dirty. Infected. And my hip…”

He strokes my hair. “I understand.”

“You do?”

“Of course,” he says before kissing me again.

“Can you just…hold me? I never thought I’d miss just having arms wrapped around me. Just for a little while?”

“Okay,” he says, still stroking and smiling. “Gladly.”

Thank God.

We move to the bed, and with the gentlest of care, he removes my shoes and helps me lie down. He climbs in beside me, wrapping his arms around me and nestling against my back. At least I don’t have to look at him now. “I’m exhausted,” I whisper.

He tenderly kisses the back of my neck. “I’ll bet. Saving humanity really takes it out of you.”

“Just hold me until I fall asleep,” I whisper. Or you do.

He kisses my hair. “You got it, gorgeous.”

The drug takes anywhere from fifteen minutes to half an hour to take effect. It takes him twenty-five minutes before I sense him fully relax and begin breathing heavily. Feels like a damn hour. “Bennett?” I ask loudly. No response. “About fucking time.” I gently peel his tentacles off me. “He’s out. Stand-by.”

As quietly and gently as possible, I rise from the bed and tip-toe back to my purse for my tools. His cell phone is easy to clone, just a simple download of every number, website, and GPS coordinates on there. He might have another phone or at least another SIM card, so as the download continues of the phone and computer on the desk, I begin my search of the hotel room. Okay, I’m looking for another computer, another phone, and any papers that might prove useful. He probably hid the incriminating good stuff before I arrived. There’s nothing on the desk and the files in his briefcase seem useless. I take a picture of them on my phone anyway.

Okay so, if I needed to hide my nefarious evidence, where would be the best spot? I check the drawers, the dresser, even under the corners of the mattress. Where—

Bennett moans, damn near making my heart leap out of my mouth, and turns over onto his back. I stand still for ten tense seconds before even blinking. He remains asleep. He should be out for hours with no memory of anything, but I’m not going to bet my life on it. Just every super in the world’s life.

The one place I haven’t checked is the room safe. Most five star hotels don’t place safes in the closet, so I check behind every painting. I find it behind the Galilee cityscape. Fuck. Guess my luck just ran out. I grab my purse and put in the earwig. “Guardian to Knight, come in,” I whisper.

“Knight here,” Justin says.

“We have a safe. Keypad. Remington A2. Thoughts?”

“Let me see if I can find the override code.”

Think, Jo. Think. What would he— “I need Molly Stone’s birth and death dates.”

“Stand-by.”

Gives me time to secure the cell phone information. The download’s done, but I’ve been around scumbags long enough to know their tricks. He must switch out the SIM cards. We only get one shot at this, I have to be through. I move to the bed. Here comes the real test of luck. I gently reach into his pants pockets. He doesn’t stir. Jesus, he really has the face of an angel. Soft. Serene. Handsome. I want to scratch it to pieces. Bite his nose off. Instead I look away and get the SIM card. He’s nothing but a common criminal after all.

As I switch the cards and prep to download again, Justin says, “Found the dates. Still working on the override.”

“Give me the dates then stand by.”