Unleashing the Storm (40 page)

“That’s
great.”

The
odd tone of his voice sent a low-level buzz of worry through her, and then she
noticed where they were heading—or, more important, where they weren’t heading.
“Why are we walking away from the parking lot?”

“Because,”
he said, staring straight ahead, “I’m not taking you to my house. I’m taking
you to an apartment on base.”

“But
I don’t need to be near the clinic.”

“I’ll
explain when we get there.”

She
planted her feet on the ground and her fists on her hips. “No, you’ll explain
now. Why are we going to be staying in an apartment?”

He
stopped, but didn’t turn around. “Kira—”

“Now.”

He
cursed, but it was a soft, pleading sound, so unlike his usual harsh invective,
which worried her even more. “I really think it would be best to do this in
private.”

“Do
what?” A shroud of dread settled over her. “You don’t plan to stay there with
me, do you?”

“No.
You’ll only be there until a house on base is set up the way you want it. A
nursery and furniture…a place for your animals.” She didn’t have time to think
or react, because he swung around to her, his eyes red-rimmed, and she didn’t know
if they’d been that way since he arrived and she hadn’t noticed, or if it had
just happened. “I can’t do this, Kira. I’m not cut out to be a family man. I’m
sorry.”

She
recoiled, unable to process what he’d said. This had to be a joke. Except the
tension in his body, his face, told her he was dead serious. “But you said—”

“I
know what I said. I was wrong. I’ll make sure you have everything you and the
baby need.”

“We
need
you.
” Her voice was so full of tremors that she barely understood
her own words. “Why are you doing this?”

“For
you. For your own good.”

“What?
Are you kidding me?
That’s bullshit, and you know it. We’re good
together. I’m happy for the first time in my life. So how is dumping me like an
unwanted dog for my own good? It’s not.” No, there was something else going on
here, and she was going to find out what. She marched up to him and poked him
hard in the chest. “I want answers. The truth. Do you think this baby isn’t
yours?”

“God,
no. And even if it wasn’t…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t
raise a kid. I’m a killer, Kira. Not good father material.”

Relief
flooded her, a heady sensation when mixed with the fear-based adrenaline that
had juiced up her body. “Are we back to that again? You’re a good man, Tommy.
You do what you have to do to protect people and defend yourself. I’m fine with
that.” She grabbed his hand to lead him toward the parking lot. “Now let’s go
home.”

He
didn’t budge, forcing her to turn back to him. He kept hold of her hand,
gripping tight. “No. Listen to me. My job is more than bringing people like you
in to ACRO. Sometimes my missions are based on my speed and shooting skills.”

Goose
bumps prickled her flesh. “So…What? Are you saying you’re an assassin?”

“Something
like that.”

A
breeze ruffled his hair, drawing her thoughts to how many times she’d run her
fingers through it, how his breath would catch, almost imperceptibly, when she
did so. Little things like that had made her fall for him, and she wasn’t about
to give up now.

“Well,”
she said, lifting her chin in resolve, “I don’t know how I feel about that, but
we can work it all out at home. I’m sure the people you’re sent to, um, take
care of, are horrible people.”

“Dammit,
Kira! Stop making excuses for me. I’m not a good person, and the people I have to
take care of
aren’t always the devil incarnate.” He released her. “I
almost killed you, okay? Do you get it now?”

Geez,
he had serious guilt issues. Which only proved her point about him being a good
person. “You didn’t almost kill me. If you hadn’t gone after those men in the
woods, they would have killed you and done God knows what with me. It wasn’t
your fault you couldn’t get to me right away when I needed sex. In the end, you
saved me.”

“I’m
talking about my orders. They were to bring you back here,” he said. “Or kill
you if you refused.”

Her
stunned silence was broken only by the blood pounding in her ears.

If
you don’t leave with me, you’re going to be killed. And that’s something I can
promise you will happen.

The
words he’d spoken back at the refuge the night she’d attacked him for sex
roared through her head. He hadn’t been talking about Itor. He’d been talking
about himself. Itor had never planned to kill her, and he’d known it even then.

But
she
had
refused to leave with him—and he hadn’t killed her. They’d been
talking at the tiger enclosure after they’d made love. He’d stood there, his
hand over the bulge in his bag pocket.

The
same pocket where he’d kept his gun.

Her
heart careened to a stop with such violence that it must have left skid marks
on the inside of her rib cage.

“Oh,
God,” she whispered. “Oh, my God…that night at the big cat pens.” Her gut
clenched, and trembles wracked her body. “Were you…were you really going to
kill me?”

“Yes.”

She
shook her head so hard, her hair whipped at her eyes, stinging them. “You’re
lying. I know you are. You wouldn’t—couldn’t—do that to me.”

“The
animals knew,” he said hoarsely, and she remembered how they’d tried to warn
her, how they’d sensed danger. Her gaze snapped to his, to the cold, hard truth
in the depths of his eyes.

The
ground dropped out from beneath her, leaving her swaying in a vertigo spin.
Ohgod,
ohgod, ohgod.

“Kira—”
He reached for her.

She
stumbled backward. “Don’t touch me,” she whispered.

He
held his hands up as if in surrender and stayed rooted to his spot. His chest
rose and fell in great, shuddering swells, and he looked flushed, feverish, and
it struck her that he had no right to be as miserable as she was.

Silence
stretched. “So that’s it,” she said finally, with a calm she didn’t feel. “Nice
knowing you, nice knocking you up, but you’re better off without me, and, oh,
by the way, I was going to kill you?”

“I’m
so sorry.” The way he said it, like he truly felt regret, lit her fuse. How
dare he lie like that? If he were telling the truth, he’d be trying to convince
her he loved her, that he wouldn’t really have killed her, not throwing her
away like garbage.

“You’re
sorry?” Her voice was reedy, shaky, and she hated herself for it. “You’re sorry
that you were going to shoot me and my baby?” She pressed her hands to her
belly, because although she hadn’t been pregnant at the time—at least, she
didn’t think so, but Dr. Lavery hadn’t determined that yet—she was now, and the
thought that her child would never have had a chance to grow inside her…

“You’re
upset—”

“No
shit. Tell me,
Ender,
when you were inside me, were you thinking about
killing me? What were you going to do with my body? Feed me to the tigers to
get rid of the evidence? Bury me with Derek?” The harsh reality swirled in the
watery depths of his eyes, and she backed up another step, the backs of her
knees striking a park bench. “My God,” she croaked, “you’re a monster.”

His
throat worked hard on a swallow, and she expected him to try to talk his way
out of her accusation, but all he finally said was “Yes.”

“That’s
it? Yes? You planned to murder me while you were coming inside me and all I get
is a
yes
? You son of a bitch. You fucking son of a bitch!”

She
lunged. Her palm connected with his face hard enough to knock his head around.
With his reflexes, he could have stopped her, but he hadn’t. He didn’t look at
her either.

Hand
and eyes stinging, she shoved him. “Get away from me. Get out of my sight. I
never want to see you again.”

“That’s
probably for the best. But for what it’s worth, you’re safe now. No one will
ever hurt you again.” His voice cracked, and as he walked toward the clinic, so
did her heart.

“No
one but you,” she whispered.

Oh,
God, how could this have happened? Sobs stole her breath and tears blurred her
vision. Now what? She wasn’t stupid enough to think the ACRO people would just
let her waltz off the compound; they were no doubt watching her right now. She
felt exposed, vulnerable, and her instincts told her to go to ground. After
that, she had no idea. She couldn’t think about the future or what to do even
in the next thirty seconds, because all she wanted to do right now was cry.

ENDER
STOOD INSIDE THE INFIRMARY, gazing blankly out the window at the park where
he’d left Kira. He could go after her, pull her to him, force her to try to
understand. But there was no point to that when the fact remained the same—he
was a trained killer, not meant to be a father or a husband, and he’d come to
terms with that long before the animal whisperer had walked into this life.

Being
shot didn’t hurt half as much as having his heart voluntarily ripped out of his
chest.

“Ender?”

He
turned abruptly, and Annika put her hands up in fight position, ready to shock
him if he touched her. He didn’t. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and
stared at her.

“Dev
knows I’m here,” she started after he didn’t say anything. She still kept her
hands poised and ready for attack. “He said Kira went into hiding and won’t
come out.”

“She’s
over there.” He motioned toward the row of bushes across from the medical
building he’d watched her run off to.

“Ender,
I just want you to know that I never meant to hurt her—”

“I
know that,” he said fiercely. “I didn’t mean to either.”

“Okay.”
She put her hands down. “We’ve made arrangements for her to stay with Haley and
Remy. I’m going to get her.”

“Don’t
corner her, Annika,” he said, hating the desperate quality his voice held.
“She’ll go feral, run or fight if you corner her, and with the baby…”

“I’ll
be really careful. I promise,” she said.

He
thought about the promises he’d made to Kira. Made and broken—for her own good.
His too, probably.

He
turned and walked away, to head back to the emptiness he knew his house would
now hold, before he lost his willpower.

ANNIKA
WOULD HAVE KNOWN where to find Kira even if Ender hadn’t pointed her out.

With
the exception of three security guys sent to watch over Kira, the little park
was free of people, but ahead, rabbits and squirrels collected around a bush, a
woman huddled inside, knees drawn up to her chest. As Annika approached, the
creatures scattered.

“Kira?”
Annika crouched on her heels and peered into the foliage made darker by the
thin morning cloud cover. “It’s Annika.”

Kira
burrowed deeper into the brush, and Annika wondered what she’d been thinking
when she’d gone to Dev and begged him to let her try to talk Kira out after
several nurses, a psychologist, and a Convincer had failed. Annika had only
wanted to try to make up for what she’d done, but it was probably a huge
mistake. Annika was, no doubt, the last—well, the second to last—person on
earth Kira wanted to see. Everyone said that Kira didn’t blame her, but deep
down, how could she not?

“I’m
not going to hurt you. But we’ve got to get you out of there and away from
ACRO.”

“Away?”
Kira’s thin voice dripped with desperation and hope, and Annika knew she’d
struck on the way to get her out of there.

“Yes.
I’ll take you to a friend’s house, and I promise, no one will come near you if
you don’t want to see them.”

“I
don’t trust you.”

“I
know. But isn’t it better to take a chance on me than to sit under this bush
until you starve?” Or until the vet showed up with a tranquilizer.

She
felt ridiculous talking to the shrub, but after a few moments of silence,
Annika sighed. She
so
wasn’t good at this touchy-feely crap. “Look, I’m
sorry about what happened when you got here. I’m normally more in control than
that. I’ve just been stressed lately…” She trailed off, because Kira didn’t
give a shit about her problems with Creed, and Annika didn’t want to talk about
it anyway. No man was going to turn her into a blithering idiot.

Finally
Kira peeked out from between some branches. “You’ll really take me away from
here?”

“Yeah.”

Kira
bit her lip, considering, and then she crawled out of the bush, her scrubs
smeared with dirt, twigs and leaves tangled in her hair. “I don’t want to
see…anyone.”

Anyone,
meaning Ender. Annika chose not to bring up his name as she led Kira toward the
parking lot. The way Kira seemed to look everywhere at once, sometimes stopping
suddenly and sniffing the air, reminded Annika of a skittish stray cat.

“We
won’t see anyone but Haley and Remy. Haley’s a parameteorologist at ACRO, and
Remy is a special operative like En—uh, me. Haley’s totally starched, but for a
scientist, she’s cool. Remy’s probably the only person on the planet besides
Dev who can stand En—” Crap. She cleared her throat. “Anyway, you’ll like them.
Nice house.” A house where Dev had sent a crack security team to keep Kira safe
from intruders—but more likely to prevent her from sneaking away.