With Every Breath (34 page)

“Shit,” Wade hissed. “Shit, shit, shit!”

Then he went rigid, terror seizing his heart.

“It was a fucking setup. It was a goddamn fucking setup. Somehow he tagged one of us or maybe he's just a paranoid, cautious motherfucker. But he planned this well in advance and took into account every possibility and then made certain he had a solution.”

He yanked his phone from his pocket and dialed Eliza's number.

Please be there, baby. Please answer. Please be okay.

But it went straight to voicemail, which meant she either didn't have service, it was powered down or had been destroyed.

His hands shaking so badly that he could barely manage to operate his phone, he hit the contact button for his team leader. Jones answered on the first ring.

“Where's Eliza?” Wade demanded.

“She's still in the house, sir. We have every angle covered and every possible vantage point. We'd know if she left.”

Yeah, yeah. He'd heard that just minutes ago when Dane had made the same assurances.

“I want a visible confirmation,” Wade said in an icy tone. “Get the hell in the house now. I want you to be looking at her when you tell me she's still in the house.”

“On it,” Jones said shortly.

Wade held the phone to his ear, each second an eternity as he waited for his man to tell him Eliza was safe and accounted for. He heard the door open, heard Jones's footsteps. Then they stopped. Then they began again. What the fuck was taking so long? The house wasn't that big.

“Fuck!” Jones said explosively.

Wade's heart bottomed out and he closed his eyes, dreading what Jones would say next.

“Tell me,” Wade said lifelessly, dread encompassing his soul.

“She's not here, man,” Jones said, worry and anger edging his voice. “I have no idea how the fuck she got by us. She left two sealed envelopes on the counter. One with your name and one with Dane's name.”

“You have got to be shitting me!” Wade exploded. “How the fuck could you let this happen?”

“We had the entire house cased,” Jones said grimly. “But your girl is good. You know that. She's trained.”

“Get the goddamn letters and meet us in town. Now!” Wade barked.

“Tell me where and we'll be there double time.”

Wade thought a moment and then chose the most central location, one that would hopefully not put them too far from finding Eliza, wherever the fuck she was, and barked his order for where Jones was to meet them.

When he ended the call, Dane stared him down, fury and worry that went bone deep etched into his every feature.

“Tell me she hasn't disappeared,” Dane said in a pissed off voice. “Goddamn it, Sterling. You swore to keep her safe!”

“If your men hadn't fucked up and let Harrington give you the slip, we wouldn't be having this goddamn conversation,” Wade bit out. “We've got to move out now. Get your men so we can meet with Jones.”

Dane flinched and then briefly closed his eyes, his grief evident. But then Wade didn't blame him considering the last letter she'd left that amounted to little more than a goodbye before embarking on a suicide mission.

“We can't afford to wait to read the letters to act,” Wade said grimly. “We need every man you've got on this. I need to know everything about Thomas Harrington we can unearth. Any houses or property in his name. Anyone affiliated with him. Eliza told me one of the Devereaux brothers is a computer whiz and can hack into just about anything. We need to get him on Harrington and leave no stone unturned. Pay particular attention to the time he spent in prison and find out if he had visitors, contact with the outside world and if anything seems suspicious or if he received any special treatment while in prison. We already know he got to one of the police officers who investigated the case and was instrumental in gathering the evidence that put Harrington away for life. Look for any other irregularities. Anything. We're operating blind here and we need every piece of intel on the bastard we can get. He has Eliza. I know it. He purposely lured us here so he'd have a clear path to Eliza and we took the bait, hook, line and sinker.”

“Let's roll,” Dane said harshly.

Wade didn't wait around for Dane to gather his men. He ran to his SUV, threw himself behind the steering wheel and pushed the vehicle to its very limits, knowing every precious minute counted.

He roared into town, screeching to a halt just as his men pulled to the back of the diner in a convoy of three vehicles. Wade was out of the seat before the SUV came to a complete halt, killing the engine and causing the vehicle to rock violently with the force applied to the brakes. He wasted no time stalking over to Jones and yanking the envelopes from his grasp.

Just seeing Eliza's hastily scrawled address, his name, on the paper filled him with anguish. His hands shook violently as he tore it open to reveal the contents. As he pulled the single piece of paper from the envelope, headlights illuminated the area and bounced erratically as Dane and his crew roared up.

Dane got out and rushed over, taking the envelope Jones extended. Wade paid no attention to the others as he unfolded the letter and sucked in a deep breath as he began to read.

Wade, I know you'll be angry that I snuck away and broke my promise to you to stay at the safe house and let you take care of Thomas. I'm sorry, but I had no choice. He called me. I have no idea how he knew my number but he obviously set up a diversion to lead you and Dane in the wrong direction. He told me he had already chosen his next victim and that she was with him now but that I could save her by trading myself for her, that he would let her go if I would come to him. He knows about you or Dane, maybe both, because he wouldn't tell me the address over the phone. He told me to leave and he'd text me the address. I couldn't call you for two reasons. You would have had your men lock me down and you would have gone instead of me. And when I didn't show, he would have killed her. I had no other option. And I couldn't live with myself if another woman dies because of me. I just can't. Please understand that I can't sit back and do nothing. I don't want to die. I have too much to live for now. I will do everything I can to survive, to take him down. I'll do whatever it takes to make it back to you. I love you. You taught me the true beauty of love and the difference between love and obsession. For the first time in my life, I was loved, truly loved, and I felt loved. You gave me the most precious gift anyone has ever given me. I have to try to save her, Wade, and I hope you'll forgive me if I live to beg for your forgiveness. Always and forever. Eliza.

Tears burned like acid, blurring his vision. His chest ached. His heart hurt so damn much and he was sick to his soul. His beautiful, courageous, brave, compassionate Eliza. A woman who had no idea of her worth or how very loved she was, how very deserving of love she was. Dear God. He couldn't lose her. He wouldn't survive it. He had to find her fast.

He glanced up to see that Dane fared no better, the letter Eliza had written him shaking like a leaf in his trembling grasp. Sorrow and grief were so evident on his face that it was as if she'd already died, as though the letters were notifying them of her death.

Fuck that. He would
not
lose her. Not now. Not ever.

“If everyone doesn't get that fucking look off their faces right the fuck now, swear to God, I'll kill every damn one of you,” Wade said furiously. “We have not lost her. I have not lost her. Now snap the fuck out of it and give me anything you've got and you better have something, Elliot.”

Dane's expression lost the despair and fiery determination ignited in his eyes.

“I have a list of houses, a few businesses and property he owns in a fifty-mile radius. Given the short amount of time between when he entered the house we had under surveillance and when Eliza disappeared, they have to be somewhere close. We divide up, divvy out the locations and hit them as quickly as possible.”

Zack Covington stepped forward, his expression grim, anger billowing from him in waves.

“Beau and I will partner up. Give us some locations and we're out of here.”

Dane nodded then looked to the rest of his assembled men. “Isaac, you take Shadow and Knight. Eric, you take Dex and Zeke. Capshaw and Brent, you two work together, and I want all of you to be on your toes at all goddamn times. There has never been a more important mission than this one. One of our own is on the line. You make damn sure she's not caught in the line of fire and that you protect her with your lives. Take Harrington out any way you can, as soon as you can, but make damn sure Eliza doesn't end up as collateral damage or I'll have your balls.”

Dane took out his phone and then looked to Wade. “You want north end of town or south?”

“I'll take north. My men and I will spread out and cover as many locations as possible so give us an entire sector. You and your men see to the rest.”

“I'm forwarding the locations Quinn texted me so check your phones for your assignments. Now get moving so we can take Eliza home where she belongs.”

“Something's not right. It's too easy, too obvious,” Wade growled into the phone as soon as the call connected to Dane. “We're missing something here. He's not stupid and he's had a long time to plan this. He wouldn't bring a victim or lure Eliza to a place that a public record links him to.”

Dane's voice was urgent and tense when he broke in.

“I was in the process of calling you when you buzzed me. Quinn found something and I think it's the only logical answer.”

“Spit it out then. We've wasted enough goddamn time,” Wade said, his body rigid as he waited, hoping, praying that Quinn had come through in a big way.

“Quinn accessed Harrington's prison records. Visitor logs, correspondence. His every move or anyone he had any contact with. The cop who testified that he tampered with evidence had visited Thomas in prison just a week before the cop made his confession. Here's the interesting part. When Quinn accessed records of all correspondence Harrington received while in prison, he discovered that the cop's wife had been writing to Harrington for a long period of time before the cop visited Harrington in jail and then subsequently confessed to a crime. The cop disappeared right after testifying and most assumed he did so to avoid sanctions and possible jail time. The wife, however, remained in Calvary and owns a house just north of town. Not far from where you currently are. Now, the woman may or may not be a victim. She may be in league with Thomas and helped lure Eliza to her house, but it's the only logical conclusion. We've come up with jack shit on every other lead.”

“Give me the address,” Wade demanded. “I can be there before you. Get there as fast as you can, but I'm not waiting.”

TWENTY-FIVE

ELIZA
pulled to a stop in front of a modest ranch-style home in the vehicle she'd hot-wired and stolen as soon as she'd slipped past Wade's men. The closest neighbor had been a five-minute walk. Eliza had made it in two at a dead run. Since Thomas likely assumed she was in Calvary, he'd given her a deadline that forced her to drive like a demon possessed the entire way, praying she wouldn't be seen by a cop.

She wiped her damp palms down the jeans she'd chosen, and glanced quickly at her top, praying it would be nice enough for Thomas not to call her out on her lie about wanting to look nice for him. She'd quickly brushed out her hair and fluffed it out by bending over and tousling it with her fingers because Thomas like it that way. Thank God he wasn't a fan of makeup, in fact he considered women who “painted their faces” whores, which saved Eliza time by not having to apply it.

Opening the door, she got out and sucked in several breaths to compose herself. This was it. This was everything. The biggest test of her strength she'd ever face. One she couldn't afford to fail. A woman's life depended on Eliza pulling off the ultimate deception. Eliza's life depended on it. And no doubt countless other women's lives depended on Eliza succeeding.

She walked slowly toward the porch and when she reached the first step, the door opened and Thomas appeared, a welcoming smile on his face.

“Melissa, darling, you have no idea how long I've hoped for this day. How many nights I spent dreaming of us being together again as we were always meant to be.”

Eliza swallowed and met Thomas's gaze, careful to keep any hint of anger or disgust from her expression.

“I'm here now, let the woman go,” she said quietly. “I won't set foot in that house until I see that she's alive and is allowed to go free.”

In a daring, calculating move, praying she wasn't making a huge mistake, she sent him a challenging stare, her words an obvious taunt.

“It's not as though you should have any worry over letting her go free. You can manipulate people so easily without them ever knowing. You can make them do your bidding. All you have to do is make her leave and plant a false memory or simply command her to forget all about you.”

Thomas smiled and Eliza could swear he looked as though he were proud of her. “And yet you seem immune to my powers now. You're much stronger now. I can't read you like I could before.”

“I was a vulnerable, mixed-up teenager who only wanted to be loved. I'm not that girl anymore, Thomas. You're right. I am stronger now, and I don't want us to be together because you
make
me feel things that aren't real. Is that really what you want? A puppet you control, knowing the entire time that her feelings for you are manufactured by you? Don't you want to be wanted for who you are? Isn't that what we all want?”

Thomas stared at her, shock reflected in his gaze. But also a glimmer of hope, as though she'd hit the nail on the head and had exposed a vulnerability he'd refused to acknowledge until now. His features softened and then he abruptly turned, stepping just inside the doorway and called for the woman.