Who Knows the Dark (21 page)

“And you keep saying that. When are you going to learn that I don’t back down when something is important to me?” A slight flush bloomed over those high cheekbones, illuminating his freckles. “And when are you going to figure out you’re not alone anymore?”

Instinct overruled everything; Nox leaned over and pressed their mouths together, kissing Cade deeply. It wasn’t a kiss that led to sex or even having to readjust your jeans—no, Nox just didn’t have the words to say
I know
and
thank you
.

And maybe—
I love you
.

A
S
THEY
passed over each state line, the chatter in the truck grew quieter and quieter. Nox, LJ, and Cade switched off driving—Rachel laughed when they asked if she wanted a turn—and didn’t stop for anything but gas and food. Every mile northward revealed a bit more damage, more abandoned towns, growing colder, seemingly by the hour.

Winter wasn’t quite through with this part of the world yet.

“You think we should set up outside the city?” LJ asked the following evening as they cruised through the tiny corridor that was Rhode Island. “Like Jersey or something?”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Rachel said. “Storming the island doesn’t make much sense.”

Cade squeezed Nox’s hand, a warning to head off any expressions of disgust at Rachel’s contribution. They were working in a state of truce here—three states without a war breaking out between them was their standing record.

“It’s actually a good idea. Keep him off the NYPD’s radar.” Cade turned in the seat enough to make eye contact with Nox.

Keep him safe
, Cade thought. The same reason Sam, Mason, and his parents had gone to Alabama.

The same reason Nox had tried to ditch them back in South Carolina.

“Yeah, that makes sense. You and Rachel can stay with LJ while I go into the city.”

“I already hate this plan,” Cade interjected, frowning.

“Give me a few days to set up a place for us, then you can join me,” Nox continued, as if Cade hadn’t spoken.

“Thanks, but no.” Rachel shifted among their gear and bags. “I’ll find my own way onto the island, and I’ll find my own place to hide.”

“Rachel,” Nox started, twisting around Cade’s body to look at her.

“
Asshole
. Stop acting like this isn’t my area of expertise. What’s going to happen is, you’re going to wait with LJ, and I’m going into the city to establish a safe space. Then you can show up and stomp all the drug dealers you want,” Rachel snapped.

Cade put his hand up to forestall any war between them. “Everyone’s going to get what they want,” he said, switching his glare between the two of them. “But we need to be smart about this. First, we’ll set up the location outside the city. Then we will make our move.”

“Fine. Then I know a place where we can go.” Rachel’s voice went cold and deadly, the temperature inside the truck dropping with each syllable.

Nox grunted.

It was the closest to agreement Cade was going to get, so he wisely took it.

They stayed silent right up until they drove into Jersey.

They reached West New York after midnight. The former refuge of Cuban immigrants sat atop a hill, its once busy urban streets and packed apartment buildings reduced to a ghost town. With work in the city nonexistent, the blue-collar residents had packed up and moved closer to cities like Montclair, which boomed years ago as businesses flocked to higher and safer ground. Towns like WNY now housed mostly addicts and those who didn’t do much legal business to make money.

A shivering Rachel crawled into the front seat—banishing Cade to the back, as he let his feelings be known through a constant stream of muttering—as they left the highway and began traveling on empty, unlit streets. She directed LJ to an abandoned block full of boarded-up houses and an empty school high up on a hill; across the way, they could see the bright lights of the District.

“What is this?” Nox asked as Rachel pointed out a gap in the fencing, a place to drive the Denali into. She shook her head, processing the memories before she could speak.

“This is where they brought the bodies from the ferry accident,” Rachel said finally. LJ took one hand off the wheel to touch her knee, and she exhaled through the cold fog that appeared to squeeze her.

“What is it now?” Cade murmured from the backseat.

“Someplace for us to wait before we make our next move.”

T
HEY
MADE
camp on the second floor, in a pair of classrooms that sat back-to-back, end-to-end. Nox put LJ and Rachel on the water side, while he and Cade took the view of the street.

“I’ll take first watch,” he said as Cade unpacked sleeping bags by dim lantern light.

“I’m not even going to try and argue.” Fully dressed, Cade settled down in the downy warmth, pulling his hood over his head.

Nox pocketed a flashlight, then sat to watch out the window. Nothing stirred and no vehicles drove by. Now and again light flickered in a nearby building as drug dealers and their clients made deals in near darkness. No one came close to the abandoned school.

His eyes grew heavy with exhaustion—the drive, the emotional weight of the day. As much as he was used to doing things alone, it was a comfort and a curse to have Cade and the others here.

At least Sam was safe.

The low rumble of a truck caught his attention; it drove past the school to the end of the block, headlights off. It paused, idled at the intersection, then slowly began to drive backward.

Adrenaline pumped through Nox’s veins; now wide-awake, he was already reaching for the Sig at the small of his back.

Quiet footsteps alerted him—LJ had entered the room.

“Nox,” LJ whispered anxiously.

“I know. Might be nothing.”

Even as he spoke the words, the truck stopped, then pivoted, driving the same route they had with the Denali—effectively cutting off their escape route.

“We need to go,” Nox said as the doors of the truck opened and men in dark clothing emerged from the vehicle.

N
OX
RAN
down the hallway toward the center stairwell; he dropped to peer over the side and watched as the men poured into the first floor. This wasn’t a quiet recon—this was a full-out assault.

One of the shadowy figures paused—Nox couldn’t make out what he was doing. A second too late, he realized the man had reached his arm back and flung something up the stairwell.

The smoke bomb hit a few feet away from where Nox was hiding.

He ran in the opposite direction of where Cade, LJ, and Rachel were presumably hiding. Every footstep was exaggerated as the plumes of smoke followed him. He kicked over a broken chair, hopefully alerting the people downstairs to his presence. If he could just keep them occupied so the others could escape….

Hearing the thumps of people coming up the stairwell, Nox pulled his hoodie up over his mouth and slid into an open doorway. Through the smoke he caught the outlines of at least three men running in his direction. He aimed carefully, then took down the one in the middle.

Shouts followed him as he dropped and rolled across the hallway, then slid into another open doorway—the emergency stairs.

C
OUGHING
,
EYES
stinging, Nox ran down the stairs, dodging debris, and plunged into the darkness. Above him the thudding sounds told him he was being followed. At the bottom, he ducked and felt his way to the door handle. The rusted handle didn’t move.

Pushing deeper into the shadows, Nox hastily wiped his eyes. The men had slowed their rush and were easing down the stairs with methodical steps. He aimed his gun, ears trained; whoever got closest died first.

It would reveal his position.

And the second person who would die would be him.

He wanted to know that Cade and the others were safe. He wanted to be sure before he sacrificed himself, that there wasn’t more he could do….

A radio crackled in the darkness and gunshots echoed through the static.

Someone else was shooting, and from the sound of it, it was a massive amount of gunfire.

Nox held his breath as the men murmured among themselves. A few sets of footsteps clattered back up the stairs, and he had a glimmer of hope he could escape this death trap….

Until the sound of gunfire surprised him again, this time as the bullets hit his body. The flash of violent pain, the shock, and then Nox hit the floor, unconscious before he formed a single curse.

N
OX
FLASHED
between consciousness and blissful darkness, registering movement as he was dragged roughly across the rocky ground. When he opened his eyes again, he lay on the cold metal floor of a moving van. His body ached; he could feel the sticky flow of blood seeping into his clothing, the moments when his body went numb, and he guessed the bullets had damaged something vital.

A weird peace came over Nox.

He couldn’t see anything, his vision clouded by blood loss; his ears buzzed with overload, everything a fuzzy murmur. Above him the chatter of conversation, below him the shakes and rumbles of a moving vehicle.

Nox was fucked.

Whoever these men worked for, they weren’t here to help. He might die before they arrived at their destination, right here on the dirty floor of this van.

He didn’t know if Cade was all right.

I’m sorry
, he thought.

He didn’t know if Rachel and LJ had made it to safety.

He would never find the people who hurt his family. He would never stop the destruction of his city.

The cold crept up his limbs and along his spine. All sight and sound began to sputter, like a candle in a draft unable to hold its heat. He felt himself flicker and fade, every breath a painful chore.

This was it. This was how he died.

T
HEY
LEFT
everything behind except the guns; Cade and LJ flanked Rachel, each of them armed. Cade watched as the crush of men ran down the opposite hall, saw when one of them dropped to the floor in the spreading smoke.

Nox. Nox was leading them away.

“Goddammit,” Cade spat. When they got through this latest round of shit, he was going to handcuff their wrists together.

They were almost down the hallway when gunfire erupted, a spray of bullets sending plaster exploding over their heads. Cade dropped to the floor, pulling LJ and Rachel with him. In the smoke and darkness, he couldn’t see where the new rounds were coming from—but he could tell where they were going.

In their direction.

“Back in the room,” Cade rasped. They crawled—LJ, then Rachel, then Cade, gun nervously aimed at an enemy he couldn’t see.

“Can we get out the window?” Rachel whispered, coughing between words. LJ angled his body in front of hers, and Cade had no doubt his brother would take any bullet intended for her.

“Too far a drop.” Cade slid through the dirt, around them, then crawled to the window. The gunfire and shouting weren’t getting any closer, but that was clearly only temporary. They had to get out of there.

“Our choices seem to be taking a chance with the concrete or facing the guys with machine guns.” LJ pushed Rachel to follow Cade toward the window. “I think I know what I want to at least try.”

“You could break your leg or your neck, and then you’ll be praying for someone to shoot you,” Rachel hissed.

“That leaves surrendering.”

Cade put up his hand. “I’d like to know who I’m surrendering to before that’s an option.”

He put his handgun in LJ’s lap, then got a little closer to the window. In the distance, the bright lights of the District. Boats patrolled the water. Everything below their window was dark concrete, the remnants of a basketball court.

“Maybe we can jump toward one of the trees,” Cade mused.

Then he stopped.

Because the gunfire stopped.

LJ was the first to move; he jumped up, a gun in each hand, positioning himself in front of Rachel and Cade.

“Throw your weapons out of the door. Come out with your hands up,” a disembodied voice crackled and pinged over a loudspeaker. “We are federal agents. If you cooperate, you won’t be harmed.”

Cade’s heart pounded; Rachel grabbed his jacket, and LJ trembled above him. No one moved or said anything, and he knew they were waiting for him.

“Do it,” Cade murmured. He prayed Nox was long gone.

LJ walked slowly to the doorway, then into the other room.

“I’m doin’ it,” he yelled. “Two guns, coming out.”

Rachel slid her handgun into her pants as Cade took her free hand.

LJ leaned down, then slid the guns across the floor and through the doorway. They clattered into the hallway.

“Thank you. Now if you would instruct Rachel to do the same with hers, we can get started.”