Sean"s head whipped from side to side as he tried to keep us both in his line of sight. But that was impossible. We moved with him, always keeping him between us like an unspoken signal. We were the hunters now, not him.
Sean had finally become the prey.
"Rachel, you don"t know what you"re getting into. You can"t trust her." He pointed at me. I snapped my teeth at him.
"A little closer, I could use a snack," I said.
Rachel laughed again, but there was a bitter tone to it. "Yeah, get a little closer to Lea."
"G.o.d, it sickens me that you would give it a name," Sean growled.
Rachel gasped and I narrowed my eyes. Then again, he had a point. As a Cazador, I had been taught that all vampires had to be wiped out as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to keep the rest of the populace safe. We no longer saw them as the humans they"d been before they were bitten. So while I didn"t like what he"d said, there was truth underlying his words.
I was a monster, and had been one far longer than I"d been human.
Rachel pointed her knife at him, her arm not wavering for even a second. "Sean, you are going to take us to the facility and help us get in."
"No."
I burst out laughing; I couldn"t help it. "You think saying no is going to stop us? Delusional. They must be handing out good hallucinogenic drugs at the base."
Sean turned his attention fully to Rachel, his eyes and face softening. "Rachel, please, please listen to me..."
I didn"t let him go much further than that. I leapt into the air, straight up above his head and landed directly behind him. Grabbing his shoulders, I yanked him back so that his a.s.s slammed into the floor. After his head snapped back, I cupped his throat with one hand and his forehead with the other. "There"s a good boy. Now behave or I"ll rip your throat out and dance in the blood."
His eyes rolled up to look at me. "b.i.t.c.h."
I smiled down at him. "Thank you."
Rachel cleared her throat. "Since you two are getting on so well, how about we move this along? Sean, you are going to escort us to the base. The cover is that we are bringing in Lea since that was your plan all along. I will be your helper, and of course, the reason you were able to capture her."
"They"ll never believe it."
I gave him a shake. "Don"t be an idiot. You told us they"re after me. That"s why Rachel was used as bait. That"s why they committed those murders. To draw me to New York. Keep your own stories straight at least, eh?"
His jaw tightened. I looked at Rachel. If her expression was any indication, we had him. The plan would work.
Rachel hurried over to Justin"s p.r.o.ne body and pulled off two pairs of cuffs. "One for Sean. One for you later." She flipped a pair to me, which I caught and slid onto Sean, tightening them until he grimaced. I dragged him to his feet and frisked him, finding several knives and a small gun tucked into the small of his back. I checked the safety and handed it to Rachel.
"We don"t need anything else, do we?" Rachel asked.
I shook my head. "No, we can take Sean"s SUV from here. Calvin can follow us in my car."
Sean cleared his throat. "Rachel, you can"t trust her."
"You keep saying that, but you are the only one who"s lied to me," Rachel said. Her words sent a twinge of guilt through me. Louis"s death might not have been at my hands, but Rachel wouldn"t see it that way if she knew.
Sean smiled up at me from where he sat. "I"ll bet she killed my two other men. One of them was Benjamin. You remember Ben, don"t you?"
Rachel swallowed hard. "Tell me he"s wrong. Ben was my friend. We were in Iraq together."
There could be no compromise here. "And if he was your friend, why didn"t he warn you? Why would he help Sean stake you out?" I said. "I"m sorry if they were your friends. But I won"t lie. They are dead."
"She would have killed them even if she"d known. That"s what she is, Rachel. She"s a f.u.c.king killer." Sean"s Adam"s apple bobbed against my hand, and for just a second, I considered doing as I"d said. Then again, without him, we"d be stuck without a proper escort.
Rachel pulled herself together. "People die in war, and that"s what this is, isn"t it? War."
A breath of air I didn"t realize I had been holding slipped out of me. Sean let out a low laugh. "You think that"s the worst of her sins? She promised to let the young vamp go, didn"t she? Tell me, why is there a pile of ash outside your building then?"
Rachel sucked in a sharp breath. "You had my building bugged?"
He nodded. "I had one of my men watching. He watched while Louis had his heart blown out of him with silver shot. I keep trying to tell you that I"m on your side. I"m trying to protect you from the monsters, Rachel."
Her blue eyes sought mine and I didn"t look away. I wouldn"t lie to her, not even to make this happen an easier way. Whether she realized it or not, she"d sworn an oath to me. I needed her trust fully and completely, no matter how hard won it was going to be.
I nodded slowly. "He"s right, Louis is dead."
Jaw tightening, she stalked over to Sean, grabbed his arm, and helped him stand. "Then I guess I am the fool here."
"Rachel-"
"No, just f.u.c.king give it up. I wanted to trust you, but obviously I can"t trust anyone. Don"t you follow us, Lea. Not for one f.u.c.king second." She glared at me as she pushed Sean in front of her. But then she tipped her head to me ever so slightly. She might not trust me fully, but I was the only backup she had.
Maybe she was p.i.s.sed at me about Louis and the others, but she was a smart girl.
She needed me to get this job done.
Rachel stalked to the front door and down the rusty steps. I waited until I heard the engine start and the wheels of the SUV pull away before I sprinted after her. I reached the Camaro and leapt into the backseat. Calvin was so fast asleep he didn"t even twitch. Some helper.
"Calvin, wake up, old man."
He startled in his seat and opened his eyes, starting up the engine before he was even fully awake. "Did it work?"
I stared after the receding taillights of the SUV. "That it did."
CHAPTER 26.
RACHEL.
A fine mist fell from the sky as I shoved Sean into the backseat of the SUV, then climbed behind the steering wheel, my mind reeling.
She"d lied to me.
Why had I been so stupid?
Yet I still needed her. d.a.m.n it.
The keys were still in the ignition, so I didn"t have to dig them out of the pockets of any dead bodies. Bodies of men I had thought were my friends.
Like Ben.
He, Derrick, and Sean had been close back in Iraq. It didn"t make sense that Ben wouldn"t have tried to help Derrick.
What if Sean was right after all?
I was questioning everything.
I started the vehicle and backed it up, then pulled on to the street. "Which way?"
"Rachel," he pleaded. "Think this through."
"I am thinking this through, you a.s.swipe. That was why we never worked. You always underestimated me."
"How was cheating on you underestimating you?"
"You thought I was too stupid to find out."
He was silent.
"Where are we going?"
He released a sharp laugh. "You really think I"m going to tell you?"
I cast a glance over my shoulder. "If you"re smart you will."
"You think I"m scared of you?"
"No." I shook my head. "I think you"re so stupid that you"ve underestimated me once again. G.o.d." I shot him a look of disgust in the rearview mirror. "Do you really think Lea"s just going to let you go?"
Surprise filled his eyes.
"She"s going to follow us, you fool. I"m delivering her for you with a nice tidy bow. That"s exactly what you want, right?"
He sat up, his jaw slack with surprise. "You"re helping me?"
"I"m here in this d.a.m.n car with you and she"s not. What does that tell you?"
His eyes narrowed. "Why the change of heart?"
"G.o.d, you really don"t know me, do you?" I asked with a sneer. "She not only lied to me, but she also broke a vow."
He snorted. "That"s always been your problem. You"re so d.a.m.n idealistic. When are you going to figure out the world doesn"t work that way?"
I was starting to ask myself the same thing.
"I"m only trying to help you, Rachel."
"Stop. Don"t pretend you give a f.u.c.k about me or how I feel. I"m here for self-preservation, nothing more, nothing less. You can bet your a.s.s I"m not doing it for you."
"I"m not the one who lied to you."
I snorted. "Don"t insult me." I glanced at him in the mirror. "But I need you to tell me the truth now."
He studied me for a moment before I glanced back at the road. "You"ve changed."
"I"m not sure if that"s a compliment or not."
"You"re wiser."
"If I wasn"t, I wouldn"t still be alive."
"Why do you want to turn her in? It can"t be because she lied to you. Why not just let me go and be done with this?"
"For one thing, do you really think someone like her would just let me walk away? I know too much. Besides, I turned my back on her. She"ll hunt me down to the end of the earth to find me." I searched the mirror for his eyes again. "Just like she"ll find you," I said in a low, ominous tone.
He swallowed, betraying his fear.
I sucked in a breath. "But mostly it"s for Derrick. He deserved more than what he got." I paused. "I think she did it. She knew it would motivate me to search for answers, which would lead her straight to you and the facility." I found his eyes again, so he would know I meant every word I was about to say. "Because I vow to find Derrick"s murderer and I will make them pay."
His gaze softened. "Then let"s make her pay. Together. We can do this as a team. We used to work pretty well together."
I released a harsh laugh. "Working in bed does not count."
He leaned forward, his mouth in my ear. "I disagree," he whispered huskily. "We were always quite in sync."
He wasn"t lying there.
The mist turned to a drizzle and I switched on the winds.h.i.+eld wipers. "If I pull over and un-cuff you, then what?"
"Then we do this together. And I can only hope it"s the beginning of more togetherness."
I shook my head. "This is just a job for you, Sean, so quit bulls.h.i.+tting me. You"ve been using me from the start. Just. Like. Lea."
"Rachel, pull over."
"Do you think I"m stupid?"
"I want to tell you the truth. Can I do that?"
"Nothing"s stopping you."