Kitabı oku: «Way of the Shadows»

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

The darkness was all she knew. It surrounded her, seemed to suffocate her. It bound her as deeply, as securely as the ropes around her wrists.

Fear coiled around Noelle Evers as she waited in the dark. She was waiting for her own death, and she knew it. That certainty was there, filling her mind—that and nothing else. So when the door opened and she heard the squeak of wood, Noelle tensed.

The light spilled forward. The wood squeaked again.

Someone was coming toward her....

The beam of a flashlight slit through her eyes, blinding her because it was such a sharp contrast to the darkness.

“Found her!” A man’s voice called. It was deep and rough, heavy with relief. “She’s alive!”

Noelle squinted as she tried to see past that bright light.

More footsteps thudded toward her. Then hands were on her. Rough, strong hands. They pulled at her ropes then yanked her out of the chair and to her feet.

“It’s all right,” that deep, rumbling voice told her. “You’re safe now.”

She didn’t believe him.

There were more lights then, sweeping into the room. It looked like...a cabin? She was in a cabin? In the darkness, she hadn’t been able to tell anything about her surroundings, but she could now see glimpses of an old, log-lined cabin.

She licked her lips. Her mouth felt so dry. She had to swallow three times before she managed, “H-how did...I g-get here?”

His face was in shadows, but he was tall, with broad shoulders and a gun strapped to his hip.

Noelle backed up when she saw the weapon. Her feet slipped on something. She glanced down and saw a twisting mass of rope near her feet.

“Easy,” he told her, and his grip tightened around her arms. “I’m a deputy. We’re all with the Coleman County Sheriff’s Department, and we’re here to take you home.”

She’d...she’d been at home...sleeping in her bed... Noelle remembered that. She’d gone to sleep—and awoken to darkness.

“Sheriff!” Another voice cried out then, breaking with what sounded like fear.

The deputy pulled Noelle close as he hurried toward that cry.

The flashlights all hit the far left corner of the room. They fell on the man sprawled there. A man who was dead—his throat had been cut. The man stared sightlessly back at them while his blood formed a dark pool beneath him.

The deputy’s hold on Noelle tightened. “Who is that?” he demanded.

Noelle started to shake.

“Ms. Evers...” His voice gentled a bit. “Is he one of the men who took you?”

Tears leaked down her cheeks. “I don’t know!”

Voices rose. Shouted. More men and women came inside the cabin. More lights.

Too bright.

Noelle’s shoulders hunched. She looked down at her wrists. They were bloody and raw. And her hands—her hands were stained with blood. So was her gown. The gown she’d worn to sleep when she climbed into her own bed.

This isn’t my home. But she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there. Noelle only knew darkness.

The deputy pulled off his coat. Carefully, he put it around her shoulders. “Tell me what happened.” He was leading her from the cabin keeping his fingers around her arm. “Get me a medic!” He called out to another one of the men swarming the area.

Then she was outside. The night air was crisp, but she could still smell blood.

Because it’s on me.

“I want to go home,” Noelle whispered. “I want to see my parents.” Noelle was seventeen. She was a sophomore at Coleman High School. She was cheering at the football game on Friday. She was—

Noelle’s knees gave way and she would’ve hit the ground if the deputy hadn’t grabbed her. He lifted her up against his chest, holding her tightly. “Medic!” the deputy yelled.

She wasn’t just shaking any longer. Noelle’s eyes rolled back in her head as giant shudders jolted through her.

The deputy carried her to a gurney. He and the medic strapped her down. “What the hell is happening?”

“Noelle!” She heard the scream distantly, but she knew that voice. It was her mother’s voice. Noelle tried to respond, but she couldn’t speak.

“She’s seizing,” the medic snapped. “We need to get her stable!”

The darkness seemed to close in again. She didn’t want to go back into the dark.

Something bad waited in the dark.

Death waited.

But Noelle couldn’t fight, and the darkness took her once more.

* * *

THE NEXT TIME Noelle’s eyes opened, she was surrounded by a sea of white. The scent of antiseptic told her she was in the hospital even before the room came into focus.

She blinked a few times then saw her mother’s tear-filled gaze. “You’re okay, baby,” her mom whispered.

Noelle didn’t feel okay.

“We need to ask her some questions.”

Noelle’s gaze darted to the left at those words. Her father stood close by. He looked pale, and...older than she’d ever seen him.

Right next to her father, Sheriff Morris Bartley stood, his stare on her. He leaned toward Noelle.

“She just woke up,” her father gritted out.

“I know.” The sheriff sighed. “But she’s the only one who can tell us what happened. I got a dead body, and I got her and I need to know—”

The darkness waited.

Noelle gave a hard, negative shake of her head.

“Noelle, how did you wind up in that cabin?” the sheriff asked her.

“This needs to wait,” her father barked.

The machines around Noelle began to beep, faster, louder.

“Who was the dead man? Is he the one who took you? Is he—”

“I don’t remember,” Noelle whispered. Her throat hurt. She hurt.

The sheriff exhaled on a rough sigh. His hands gripped his hat. “Start with what you know. Tell me who took you from your house. Tell me how you got to that cabin and how—”

“I don’t remember.” Her voice was even softer now.

The sheriff’s brows shot up. “Did you leave your house willingly? Is that what happened? Did you—?”

He didn’t understand. “I don’t...remember anything.”

Her mother gave a little gasp.

“I was in my room, in my bed.” Noelle’s heart galloped in her chest. The machines raced. “Then I was in the dark.” She blinked away the tears that filled her eyes.

Something happened in the dark. Something bad.

“I don’t remember,” she said again, and it was almost as if...as if the words were a vow.

The machines beeped louder around her. Noelle’s mother pulled Noelle into a tight hug.

And, over her mother’s shoulder, Noelle glanced up and met the eyes of the sheriff. There was concern in his gaze and suspicion.

I don’t remember.

There was only darkness in her mind, and Noelle didn’t know if that was good...or bad.

Chapter One

Fifteen years later...

The plane dipped, hitting another hard patch of turbulence, and Noelle Evers locked her fingers around the armrest on either side of her body. The private plane was currently flying over an area of pure-white land in Alaska, and Noelle was afraid they might be diving right into that snowy landscape at any moment.

“Relax,” a low, gravel-rough voice told her. “We’ll be landing in just a few more minutes.”

The voice—and the guy who went with that voice—pulled Noelle’s attention from the narrow window. She looked at the man seated directly across from her.

Thomas Anthony.

Tall, dark, deadly...and, currently, her partner on this assignment. Thomas “Dragon” Anthony was a man who seemed to always put her on edge.

“If you’re going to be working with the EOD,” Thomas murmured as he lifted one dark eyebrow, “rough flights will be the least of your worries.”

Noelle forced herself to take a long, deep breath. She didn’t want to show any weakness in front of Thomas. The man made her far too...nervous. Too aware.

Noelle was new to the EOD—the Elite Operations Division. She’d been recruited by EOD Director Bruce Mercer a few months back. Normally, the agents in that secretive group were all ex-military. They belonged to some of the most elite military units operating in the world. The agents were recruited to join the EOD because of their skills and because they were deadly when it came to their missions.

Noelle wasn’t ex-military. She didn’t specialize in killing or hunting prey. Instead, her specialty was getting inside a killer’s mind. Before Bruce Mercer had used his pull to get Noelle into the EOD, she’d been working as a profiler at the FBI.

But then one of the EOD agents had gone rogue...and Mercer had brought her in to profile the agents there.

To hunt a killer within the division.

“You don’t fit, you know,” Thomas added in that deep, dark voice of his. A voice that made her tense and think of things she really shouldn’t.

The plane bounced again. Noelle swallowed. “You mean because I lack the military training?”

“I mean because when we get into a life-or-death situation—and we will—you won’t be prepared to take the necessary action.”

Her eyes narrowed at those words. Way to insult your partner on the first case. “Look, I might not be an ex–Army Ranger—” as he was “—but I worked at the FBI for five years. I’ve been in plenty of dangerous situations, and I’ve handled myself just fine.”

Thomas’s lips quirked a bit. They were sensual lips, with a faintly cruel edge. Thomas was a handsome man, if you went for the deadly, dangerous type. As a general rule, Noelle definitely did not go for that type. She preferred safe guys, with a capital S.

And everything about Thomas spelled DANGER. From the top of his midnight-black hair down to his well-worn hiking boots, the guy just oozed a threat. Maybe it was because she’d read his file. She knew just what he was capable of doing—what he had done. Thomas didn’t need any weapon when he went after his targets. He could kill—and had—quite easily, with his hands. He’d earned the nickname of Dragon while at the EOD because he was a martial-arts expert—he attacked with brutal control, and his opponents never had a chance against him.

Cold. Hard. Dangerous.

Thomas had a firm, square jaw, a blade-sharp nose and sculpted cheekbones that gave him a strong, fierce appearance. His deep, golden eyes reminded her of a lion’s gaze. Maybe because every time she looked into those eyes, Noelle felt as if he were a predator and she was his prey.

We’re partners. Partners. Mercer had sent them on this trip to Alaska because they were supposed to be hunting a killer. Together.

“You’ve never killed anyone,” Thomas said as he tilted his head to study her. “Death is a way of life for EOD agents.”

“Yes, well, I’m sure this will shock you, but FBI agents see plenty of death, too.” Death was rather her specialty. “I know killers, and you can trust me to do my job.”

Her job... Her job was to question the suspect they were pursuing. To break through the very public façade the man presented and to determine if Alaskan Senator Lawrence Duncan was the man who’d recently plotted the destruction of the EOD.

Thomas’s eyes narrowed just a bit as he gazed at her.

And there it is again. He was looking at her with a touch of familiarity. As if he knew her.

Too well.

But Noelle hadn’t met Thomas Anthony until she started work at the EOD just a few months before. They were most certainly not intimately acquainted.

No matter how Thomas might glance at her.

“You’re doing it again,” Noelle blurted. Then she could have bitten her tongue when his face tensed. She was normally so much better at controlling her emotions and her responses to people, but Thomas just put her on edge.

“Doing what?” Thomas asked voice totally emotionless.

“Staring at me...as if—as if we’re—” She floundered because what Noelle really wanted to say was...As if we’re lovers. But they weren’t. No way would she have forgotten him.

It was just...the intensity in his eyes...the heat...

“I make you nervous,” he said.

Why lie? “Yes.”

“Because you know what I’ve done.” His gaze slid to the files on the seat beside her. “You read all of our files, right? When you were trying to decide which EOD agent was actually a psychotic killer in disguise.”

That had been her first assignment at the EOD. This outing to Alaska was her second.

“So, what’s the verdict, doc?” The doc was mocking, but Noelle was a doctor, a psychiatrist. She’d been trying for years to understand the demons that chased people.

Ever since she’d woken up in a small, southern hospital with her life shattered around her.

“Tell me...” Thomas continued with his gaze assessing. “Am I dangerous? Am I psychotic? Is that why you tense up every time I get near you?” He leaned forward. “Are you afraid I’ll hurt you?” Then, before she could respond, his jaw hardened even more. “Because that’s not the way things work at the EOD. You trust your partner, or you don’t trust anyone.”

She couldn’t seem to take a deep enough breath. Thomas filled the space around her so completely.

The pilot’s voice floated over the intercom then, announcing their impending landing.

Thomas leaned back.

But Noelle’s hand flew out. She touched his wrist.

Thomas stilled.

“I know you’re not psychotic. You’re a soldier. A damn fine one, at that,” she added because it was true. “And if I seem nervous...” Tell him. “It’s not you, really. I have a...very hard time getting close to people.” Mostly because Noelle had made a habit of putting a wall between herself and others.

Once, that wall had been necessary for Noelle’s survival. But now, she didn’t know how to live without that protection.

His gaze dropped to her hand.

Noelle slowly pulled her fingers back.

After a moment, Thomas’s stare lifted once more to her face. “You’ll be closer to me than you will be to anyone else.”

Goose bumps rose on Noelle’s arms. Was that a promise? Or a warning?

Then the plane began its descent, and she held back the other questions she wanted to ask him.

* * *

THOMAS ANTHONY WAS used to danger. He was used to pain. He was used to surviving any and every hellhole on earth. As an Army Ranger, his job had been to get the mission accomplished, no matter what.

But his job had never involved working intimately with Noelle Evers, not until now.

She doesn’t remember me.

He’d known that, of course, from the beginning. From the first day he’d glanced up at the EOD and found himself staring into her warm, hazel eyes. Just looking at her had been like a punch to his gut. He’d wondered if she’d seen the flare of recognition in his eyes, but...

No, she hadn’t shown any awareness of the past they shared.

That was a good thing. Her not remembering helped him. Because if she ever did remember what he’d done...

She’d be terrified of me.

Even more afraid than she already was.

And, despite her words, Noelle was afraid of him. Thomas knew a whole lot about fear, and he was certain of the emotion he saw in her eyes.

“The senator will see you now,” Paula Quill said as she pointed toward the closed door on the right. The woman’s blond hair was pulled back in a perfect twist, and her face was schooled to show not even a hint of curiosity about their visit. As the senator’s assistant, Thomas figured the woman was used to keeping that mask of hers in place.

They were in the senator’s mansion, a too-big, mausoleum-type place Thomas didn’t like. But they’d needed to track the man back to his lair, even if that lair was in one of the most isolated spots in Alaska.

“He’s waiting in his study,” Paula added. Paula was pretty, a woman in her early twenties, and based on what Thomas knew about the senator, Paula was exactly the guy’s type. The senator was single, and from all accounts, quite a ladies’ man.

The EOD also suspected the man was a killer.

Noelle breezed past the other woman and headed into the senator’s study.

Noelle and Paula...they were night and day. Paula was icy reserve, cold perfection.

But Noelle...with her dark, red hair and her striking face...she was heat. Fire.

Passion.

The senator turned at Noelle’s approach, a fake smile on his face. Senator Lawrence Duncan was forty-two, rich and currently the chief suspect in the recent bombing of the EOD office in Washington, D.C.

Someone with a whole lot of power had hired an assassin—a man known as the Jack of Hearts—to take out EOD Director Bruce Mercer and to destroy the EOD in the process.

Right now, all of their intel was pointing to Senator Duncan as being that person in question.

“Senator Duncan.” Noelle’s voice was smooth, giving no hint at all to her southern roots. “Thank you for seeing us today.” She offered the senator her hand.

And he held it far too long. “How could I refuse?” Duncan murmured. “Though I’ll confess, I don’t quite know why the FBI wants to see me.”

That was their cover. They were acting as FBI agents because even U.S. senators didn’t have clearance to know about EOD missions.

But if this guy is the one we’re after, he already knows far too much about the EOD.

“We have some questions to ask you,” Noelle murmured. “About a killer who was recently hunting in D.C.”

Paula pulled the door shut, sealing them inside the room with the senator as she left.

The senator’s gaze swept over Noelle. He was still holding her hand and looking far too appreciative as his gaze dipped over her.

Noelle was a fine-looking woman, no doubt about it. Tall and curved, Thomas had seen plenty of men pass admiring stares her way. And every time those guys gazed at her with desire flaring in their eyes, Thomas wanted to drive his fist into their faces.

He cleared his throat. “I’m Agent Thomas Anthony,” Thomas said. A full, fake dossier had been created with his FBI credentials, just in case the senator wanted to dig. “And we certainly appreciate your cooperation.” Bull. Thomas didn’t appreciate anything about the jerk, and if the guy didn’t let Noelle’s hand go in the next five seconds—

Noelle pulled away from the senator. “Are you familiar with the killer known as the Jack of Hearts?”

Duncan blinked. “Ah...I read about him in the paper. Wasn’t he the serial killer who left playing cards at the scenes of his kills?”

Not exactly. Jack had been a murderer all right, but he’d been an assassin, not a serial killer. His kills hadn’t been for pleasure. They’d been for pure profit.

“That’s him,” Noelle inclined her head toward the senator. Thomas noticed her gaze swept around the study.

Thomas followed her stare. Duncan was a hunter. The trophies from his kills filled the walls of the room. And so did pictures. Pictures of cabins. Of boats. Of smiling women who stood at his side.

“Ah, well, I’ve certainly never met the man.” Duncan took a seat behind his desk. He motioned toward the couch on the right. “So I don’t see how I can—”

“When the authorities caught up with him,” Noelle interrupted smoothly. “He was planning to escape on your boat, the Dreamer. It was docked in D.C., and Jack had intended to slip away on that vessel.”

The senator’s eyes flared with surprise. “I hadn’t realized that. I heard he was at the dock, but not that he was planning to use my boat.”

Thomas thought the senator’s response seemed a little too perfect. Almost rehearsed.

“Do you have any idea why he might have selected your boat?” Noelle didn’t sit on the couch. Neither did Thomas. They both kept standing. Noelle pulled a photograph from the manila file she carried, and she pushed it across the desk toward the senator. “Take a look at Jack, and tell me...have you seen him before?”

The senator’s gaze darted down to the photo, then right back to Noelle. “I see so many people on the campaign trail. Our paths could’ve crossed, and I wouldn’t know it.”

“Why did he choose your boat?” Thomas demanded because the senator had conveniently not answered that particular question.

Duncan’s gaze—a dark brown—darted toward him. “Agent...Anthony, was it? I have no idea why he chose my boat. Perhaps it was just convenient for him. The right escape boat, at the right place.”

Thomas wasn’t buying that. “Before he died, the killer implied he knew you. That you’d hired him to do work for you in the past.”

The senator’s jaw hardened. “I have dozens of people working for me at any given time. You can check with Paula to see if this—this man was part of our extended staff, but I’ve certainly had no personal experience with him.”

“I’m not talking about hiring him to work as part of your campaign team.” Thomas knew his voice had roughened. He also knew Noelle was carefully studying the senator’s reaction to their questions. “I’m asking if you hired him to kill for you.”

The senator shot to his feet. “This is outrageous!” He pointed toward the door. “Leave. Now. I will not stand for this sort of harassment!”

“It’s not harassment,” Noelle said quietly. “It’s just questioning. And we thought it would be better for you if we did that questioning here, away from prying eyes, instead of back in the limelight of D.C.”

Anger burned in Duncan’s stare. “Now I see why I warranted a personal visit from the FBI. It’s certainly not every day that I’m tracked to my home like this....” His breath heaved out in what was probably supposed to look like an affronted rush. “I don’t like the accusations flying from you two.”

“We’ve made no accusations,” Noelle replied. Thomas had to admire her. She was good at keeping her emotions in check. “We’re simply asking you questions.”

“You’re done with your questions.” The senator stomped toward the door. “You want to see me again, you talk to my lawyer.” He yanked open the door and gave them a hard glare. “Hope you enjoy your trip back to D.C. By the time you get there, I’ll have already talked to your supervisor. You’ll both be lucky to have jobs waiting on you.”

Oh, Thomas was sure the jobs would be waiting. He was also sure they wouldn’t be leaving Alaska anytime soon.

The mission isn’t over. It’s just started.

“Thanks for your time, Senator,” Noelle said. “It’s certainly been enlightening.”

Duncan frowned at that, but Noelle just headed right past the guy.

Thomas took his time following her. He’d been around men like the senator before. Men born with silver spoons shoved deep in their mouths. He often wished those guys would choke on them.

“You and your partner should be careful,” the senator muttered. “This is a dangerous part of the country.”

Thomas froze. Had that jerk just threatened them? He turned his head and met the senator’s dark stare.

“No one comes into my home and tries to destroy me,” the senator spat at him. “No one. You’ve just made a very powerful enemy.”

Thomas fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Right. In case you can’t tell, I’m terrified right now.”

The senator frowned.

It was Thomas’s turn to smile. “Something you should know, too. I’m a bit of a hunter, like you.” He motioned to the trophies on the wall. “Only I don’t hunt animals. I take out the humans who are too dangerous to be walking the streets.”

“I—” The senator’s face reddened.

Thomas leaned in closer to him. “We know what you did. We know what you are. Soon, the whole world will know, too.”

The senator’s shoulders hunched.

Thomas nodded. “We’ll be seeing you again, soon.” Because they hadn’t come all the way to Alaska for some quick turnaround trip. They’d come to Alaska to get the proof they needed. Proof of the senator’s guilt. They weren’t leaving until they’d accomplished their mission.

Satisfied he’d made his point, Thomas exited behind Noelle. Paula watched them with wide, wary eyes. Thomas knew she’d overheard plenty of their conversation. If you’re smart, lady, you’ll get away from the senator, as fast as you can.

But Paula appeared to have frozen in place.

Thomas and Noelle didn’t speak again until they’d left the senator’s mansion. Once they were back inside their rented SUV, Thomas glanced at Noelle.

She was staring up at the senator’s home.

“Don’t keep me in suspense,” he drawled as he cranked the vehicle. A light dusting of snow had started to fall. “What did you think?”

She didn’t glance his way. “It’s too early to tell.”

He didn’t buy it. Noelle made her living by reading people. By looking past the bright, shiny surface they presented to the rest of the world. He pulled out of the winding drive and headed back toward the cabin in town that the EOD had rented for them.

They hadn’t bothered with getting a room in the local lodge—they’d needed more permanency.

They were planning to stay in Alaska for the long haul.

Until we can bury the senator.

“But I do know he was lying to us,” Noelle added.

Thomas wasn’t a profiler, and he knew that. The guy had barely been able to hold eye contact with him, and the senator had reacted far too strongly to their questions.

“So he’s our guy.” Thomas kept his hold steady on the steering wheel. He’d driven on snow-covered roads plenty of times. But those roads were sure different from the dirt roads of his youth.

“I think he could be. The man is controlling, dominating, and he’s—” Noelle hesitated. “I think there may be quite a few layers to the senator.”

“Yeah, well, your job is to peel away those layers, isn’t it? To find out what hides underneath.” That knowledge made him nervous. He didn’t want Noelle to ever see beneath the surface he presented. Thomas had told her before she shouldn’t profile him, but he’d caught her staring at him a few times, her eyes curious.

What does Noelle see when she looks at me? He knew what he saw when he looked into her eyes.

The thing I want most.

But when she stared at him, Thomas wondered if she just saw a killer.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what he was.

* * *

“THEY NEED TO VANISH,” Lawrence Duncan said as his fingers tightened around the phone he had pressed to his ear. “Hell, yes, I know the risks, and that’s why I’m telling you...they can’t make it out of this area.”

His heart was racing in his chest. It had been pounding too fast from the moment his study door had opened and FBI agent Noelle Evers had walked inside. He’d recognized her instantly, even after all those long years. “She’s a threat,” he said flatly. “One that should have been eliminated by now.”

Silence stretched on the phone line.

“Do it,” Lawrence snarled. “Or I will.” Even though he hated to get his hands dirty. But too much was at stake in this situation. They were already too exposed. And when Noelle put the pieces together—

I’ll lose everything.

He heard the rough rasp of breathing on the other end of the line. Lawrence waited, hoping to hear—

“They’ll die tonight.”

He smiled. “The snowfall is just going to get heavier. They’re on their way to their cabin now. That means they are heading your way.” He’d taken the liberty of acquiring all of his information earlier. His assistant, Paula, had a knack for discovering information. Even before the agents had entered his home, Lawrence had known where they’d be staying in town. “With weather like this, it will be easy enough for them to have an accident.”

A fatal one.

The senator hesitated. “Just...don’t leave obvious wounds on their bodies.”

“Don’t worry, there won’t be any bodies to find.”

The words should have chilled Lawrence, but he’d lost his conscience long ago. The first time he’d seen a kill, his life had changed.

And the blood had stained his hands ever since.

* * *

THEY’D BEEN DRIVING for about twenty minutes when the bright flash of headlights illuminated their rental vehicle. Thomas narrowed his eyes as he glanced in the rearview mirror. He could hear the growl of a fast-approaching vehicle behind him.