"I need you to look at me while I tell you."
I groaned.
"Rachel. Please."
I didn"t see Lea tailing us. I had a gun and two knives, and he was unarmed and cuffed. "Fine, but I"m keeping my gun on you the entire time and I won"t hesitate to shoot."
"You need me to take you to the facility."
I pulled off the road and parked behind a building. "I never said anything about killing you."
He laughed as I put the car in park. I pulled out my gun and s.h.i.+fted in my seat, pointing it at his crotch. "Back up all the way in the seat. You make one move toward me, and I"ll shoot off your favorite body part. Understand?"
Grinning, he shook his head and sat back. "Is this good?"
"It"ll do. Start talking."
He pushed out a breath. "I"ve been chasing this group for a year. It became obvious Derrick was on to the same thing, which was no surprise. He"d been in contact with the scientist who"d been heading up the program, but the scientist stopped all contact. Derrick realized he was missing and was trying to track him down. But it was Derrick, all alone, against all of them. Like I told you, I tried to warn him, but he refused to listen. My superior officers," he leaned his head back and sucked in a big breath of air before letting it out and lowering his gaze to mine. "Once they figured out the Cazador was interested in you, they decided to see how it played out."
"So you decided to use that to your advantage?"
His expression became pained. "My superiors" plan was to capture you and use you as bait. We made our move earlier today-at the bar. I was dead set against it, but then I realized it would be easier to protect you if we brought you in. That"s when the terrorists showed up and I knew I had to get you out."
I groaned. "Don"t insult me. There are no terrorists. The government owns the lab. You"re protecting a government facility."
He watched me for a moment. "The government does own the lab, but there is a terrorist group set on using the research for harm. They kidnapped one of the scientists-the one Derrick had made contact with-and forced him replicate his research. And they were there at the bar and the bakery this afternoon. They were after you and Lea. The monsters are theirs."
"More lies," I said in disappointment.
"I swear. I"m telling the truth."
"Which time? When you were molesting me in that bakery or now? Or how about this morning? You tell so many lies I don"t even think you can keep them straight."
"Call Justin. If he"s even still alive. Ask him." His eyes narrowed. "I"d tell you to ask Ben, but that monster vampire killed him." When I didn"t respond, he forged on. "He volunteered for this mission. He found out we were protecting you and he was the first man to jump on board. He died trying to keep you safe. Don"t let him die for nothing."
"Even you can"t deny you"ve lied to me."
"To protect cla.s.sified information. To keep you safe."
"Save it."
He slowly tilted his face forward. "I know you have every reason not to trust me, but I"m begging you. Take off my cuffs and let"s avenge Derrick"s death together. The key is in my coat pocket."
I watched him, the rhythmic thud and squeak of the winds.h.i.+eld wipers making an eerie sound. I wasn"t sure what to believe, but I knew I didn"t trust any of them. Not Sean. Not Ben. Definitely not Lea. I only had my instincts to keep me safe, and I was listening to them now. I only hoped they didn"t steer me wrong.
"I"ll un-cuff you, but you"re driving and I will shoot you if you make a wrong move."
His coat pocket buzzed and he glanced down at it. "If I don"t answer that, they"ll start looking for us."
I slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out the cell. Recognizing the name, I answered.
"Justin?"
"Rachel?" he asked, his voice sick with worry. "Are you okay? Is Sean with you?"
G.o.d, I hoped I hadn"t made the wrong choice. I switched the phone to speaker. "He"s with me."
"Justin. What"s the damage?" Sean asked, all business.
"The team"s gone. I"m all that"s left." He paused. "Sean. I need you to take me off speaker."
Sean gave me a knowing grin. "Okay, Justin. I"m off speaker. What"s up?"
My eyes widened in surprise.
Justin"s voice lowered. "There"s been a change in orders. Command says to take out the bait."
Take out the bait? That was me.
"Why?" Sean"s tone was brisk.
"We don"t need her. The vamp knows how to find the facility. She"s headed there on her own. Tracking you."
Sean"s eyes found mine. "So why take out the a.s.set?"
"I don"t like it any better than you do, Sean, but they want to clean up loose ends. What are you going to do?"
Sean"s gaze still held mine. "I didn"t find her just to lose her. Command can go f.u.c.k themselves."
"I was hoping you"d say that," Justin said. "So what do you want to do?"
"I made a vow to Rachel to help her avenge Derrick"s death and that"s exactly what I"m going to do. We"ll sort out the rest later."
Justin hung up and Sean continued to stare at me. "I meant every word, Rachel."
"And so do I," I said reaching for the handcuff key in his pocket. I wouldn"t stop until the person who had killed Derrick paid for his crime.
Even if that meant I had to face down Lea.
CHAPTER 27.
LEA.
Calvin kept the Camaro at a perfect distance, all the lights off. A pang of regret circled my heart. I was going to miss him, no matter how much of an a.s.s he could be. Not to mention the fact that I knew he was being fed vampire blood. That alone made him a danger to this mission. I pulled out the things I"d taken from Victor"s safe. I placed them on the seat between us.
"When we get there, drop me off and go."
He glanced at the small fortune piled up next to him. "Just like that?"
"I release you from your vow." My jaw snapped shut on the last word as the back of my eyes p.r.i.c.kled. If I"d had any tears left, they would have been on my cheeks. Fifty years, and I was saying goodbye. d.a.m.n, it never got any easier.
"You still need me-"
"I"ve got Rachel now. Whether she likes it or not, she made the blood vow. I will train her." I stared straight out the window at the blinking taillights of the SUV ahead of us. I rubbed a hand over my face. "One of us isn"t going to make it out of this alive, Calvin. And we both know I"m the one who"s harder to kill."
"Lea, you don"t know that. You don"t know."
"I do, dammit! Madre de Dios! I see death coming and it isn"t looking at me. And I can"t do it. I can"t be the death of you." I was yelling, screaming if I was being honest. All the years between us, all the fights, and then that one night...I loved him as much as he would let me, and at least I could do this one last thing for him. "Swear it to me, you will drop me off and leave. Take this money and the jewels and go."
His jaw tightened, reminding me again of the young, broken man he"d been. We never talked about it, but I was the one who"d found him that night, cradling his wife as she died in his arms.
"If I die, then it"s my d.a.m.n time to go. You think death scares me? I know she"s waiting for me on the other side. My boy, too. I have no reason to run from death." He let out a sigh. "Why do you keep trying to protect me? Because I"m old?"
Now or never. "Because I will always try to protect those I love."
The words hovered in the air between us; things that had been left unsaid for fifty years.
"Kind of a s.h.i.+tty time to spit that out, isn"t it?" he grumbled.
I tried not to smile. "Yeah, but my timing has always been suspect."
"You think it"s going to go that badly in there?" Calvin motioned at the car in front of us with one hand.
The facts Rachel and I had gathered swirled around my head, like pieces of a puzzle I could almost see if I looked hard enough. "I think no matter how it turns out, it"s going to be our last hunt together. The likelihood of us all getting out alive is...not good," I said the last two words softly, but I knew he heard me.
"And you would go in anyway."
"I have to. Even if it weren"t for the vampires waiting somewhere in there, and whatever testing is being done on them, I have Rachel to think about." I drummed my fingers on the edge of the door.
"That bonded to her already?"
I let out a soft sigh. "She has potential. When I look at her, I see the person I once was, and I...I want to find that person again. She can help me, Cal."
He snorted and gave a bitter laugh. "You aren"t ever going to be human again."
"No, I know that. But I can be better than what I am. I want...more than this life of a never-ending hunt."
"And all this deep conversation is because you think we"re going to die." Not a question, a statement.
"Yes, I think there"s a chance. And I don"t want to leave certain things unsaid." I didn"t reach for him, but my fingers itched to touch him. "I know why you killed Louis. I didn"t realize at first how much he looked like the vamp who took your wife and boy. I"m sorry."
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. "They"re slowing down."
I nodded. The SUV was pulling over, but there were no buildings. Nothing to indicate a base of any sort. "You don"t have anything to say to me before we do this?"
Calvin let out a slow breath. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then shut it again and shook his head. "No."
It shouldn"t have hurt, that single word.
Yet it did, more than I cared to admit.
So I focused on something that was within my power. Rachel and Sean slipped out of the SUV.
And Sean wasn"t wearing his handcuffs. What the h.e.l.l was she thinking? Or was she really fool enough to think she could trust that a.s.shole?
"Here," Calvin handed me a cell phone. "I can trace it. You go after her and make sure she doesn"t get herself killed. If I"m getting replaced, at least it"s by someone who"s worth your time to train."
I took the phone and tucked it into my back pocket. "Be careful."
A big breath slipped out of him. "You, too. You"re about the only vamp worth saving on this planet."
My lips twitched. That was as close to an admission of affection that I was going to get from him. "Thank you, Cal."
I rolled down the window and slid out the opening, not wanting the light from the door to alert them to my presence. Wherever they were going, they wouldn"t know I was there, but I"d be watching. Waiting for Sean to try and hurt Rachel.
My fangs lowered of their own volition at the thought. Rachel was in my circle now and I wasn"t about to let him lay a hand on her.
CHAPTER 28.
RACHEL.
"We"re close," Sean said, pointing to the forest in front of us. "We"ll slip in the back door, through the hangar. Very little security there, and I think we can rappel down. We need to try to beat her there."
I"d holstered my gun when I uncuffed Sean. I wasn"t exactly thrilled about it. Despite the conversation between Sean and Justin, I still didn"t completely trust him. I was either getting smarter or just cynical. Either way was an improvement over my previous naivety where Sean was concerned.
"What happens if she gets there first?" I asked.
"You know what she is, right?"
I suspected he wasn"t just talking about her being a vampire. I might not trust her, but there was no sense volunteering any information he might not already have. Then again, I didn"t know very much myself. "A monster."
"And the murders? They were ordered by the vampire council." It wasn"t a question. "But why were the bodies carved with symbols?"