Savage Redemption Page 16

  As he spoke, he pulled the drapes aside to study the street out in front of the condo. “Traffic is rolling along. I want to get out of here before the morning rush is gone, so we won’t stick out as much. Once I’ve made sure we haven’t picked up a tail, we’ll get something to eat. After that, you can tell me where we should head next.”

  Time to plead her case. “Conlan, I want you to drop me off at the nearest turbo train station. I can take public transit to where I need to go while you head back to Rafferty’s.”

  When he started to protest, she cut him off. “No, please hear me out. I appreciate that you want to help me, but I’d feel a whole lot better about my nieces’ safety if I knew you were the one standing guard over them. Rafferty means well, but his first duty is to his clan. Ambrose O’Brien answers to the Coalition. His duty is to bring me in.”

  Conlan’s face turned red as he let the drape drop back in place. He took a single step toward her and then froze, his hands flexing into fists. “Damn it, Kat, I cannot believe you’d say something that stupid, especially after everything that’s happened.”

  Okay, that didn’t go well. What had she said that made him so angry?

  “It’s not stupid, Conlan. It’s not like I have a real future ahead of me, but Rose and Maggie do. I need to know they’re safe. Nothing else matters.”

  Conlan flinched. “Nothing?”

  She should lie to him; she really should, but she couldn’t. Not this time. “You mean something to me, Conlan, and have since the first minute we met. I want to know the people who matter the most are as safe as I can make them, and that includes you.” She took a deep, bolstering breath. “It may go against your chancellor nature to go back to the estate, but your friends will think walking away from me would be the smartest thing you could do right now.”

  As soon as she quit talking, a deep well of silence settled over the room. She prayed he’d listen to her and crossed her fingers that he wouldn’t. Being alone with an unknown pack of killers hunting her was the last thing she wanted. But how could she live with herself if something happened to Conlan because his sense of honor wouldn’t let him abandon her?

  When he finally spoke, his words were deadly cold. “Kat, I know you mean well, but I’m going to do my best to ignore the fact that you just insulted not only my honor but that of my friends, as well. Right now Rafferty is risking major trouble with the Coalition. Joss is doing her best to take care of two little girls who have to be scared out of their wits. Ambrose should be coming after me for helping you escape. Instead, he’s right there beside Rafferty trying to get to the bottom of this mess.”

  He paused to catch his breath. “They’re all doing everything they can to help simply because they know you’re important to me. That’s what friends do, so drop the martyr act and get your head back into the game.”

  Her own temper flared. “Martyr act? You think I want to do this on my own? I love that your friends are willing to help me even though they hate that I’m back in your life. And love—”

  She brought herself up short. That was the last place she needed to go right now. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and met Conlan glare for glare.

  “Right now I’m scared to set foot outside of this room. But the only way I’m ever going to find any peace in my life is to retrieve that flash drive and see if I can use it to leverage an end to all of this. If that makes me a martyr, so be it.”

  She wanted to stamp her foot like Maggie did whenever she was out-of-control tired. As an afterthought, Kat added, “And I’m hungry, not to mention I had to waste my coffee on that jerk.”

  Conlan started laughing, the last thing she expected.

  “What about any of this is funny?”

  He crossed the room to stand right in front of her, his mouth still quirked up in a smile as he leaned down to brush his lips across hers. “Not a damn thing, Kat. I have no idea how any of this is going to play out, but at least I can feed you. It’s a start.”

  Yeah, it was.

  “I still think you should go home.” As she spoke, she raised up on her toes to brush her lips across his. “But I’m glad you’re not going to.”

  He kissed her back. “Me, too. Now let’s get going while we can.”

  She followed him out to the transport, feeling better about their situation. That lasted until Conlan handed her his gun and said, “Keep that handy for me, but pray we don’t need it.”

  Chapter 14

  Out on the street, Conlan leapfrogged up the line of traffic, quickly passing four vehicles one at a time, ignoring the chorus of squealing tires and honking horns as he did so. Instead, he kept a wary eye on the surrounding transports, trying to see if anyone was duplicating his maneuvers or consistently making the same turns that he did, even if they did so at a distance.

  So far, he hadn’t been able to pick out anyone tailing them, but that didn’t mean much. Those bastards who’d made the aborted attempt to capture Kat hadn’t gone far. Mercs didn’t stay in business long if they failed in their assignments. The only way they would’ve quit was if whoever was funding them had called them off.

  Even then, they might be tempted to continue. He had thwarted their efforts in the valley and again at the gate to Rafferty’s estate. If that hadn’t been bad enough, his men had shot out their tires. Hiking their asses out to call for assistance had to have stung their tough-guy egos.

  Add in Kat’s success in eluding them that morning, and they had to be really pissed off about the whole mess. They might take another run at capturing Kat, especially if they were looking for a little payback. If their mysterious employer was to let it slip how badly they’d screwed up, the lot of them would be out of work. Of course, if it were up to Conlan, they’d not only be unemployed, they’d be incarcerated—or dead.

  Either worked for him.

  But he’d let the whole bunch go in exchange for the name of their boss. Once he and Kat had a chance to refuel with some coffee and a hot meal, he planned to set a trap to see if he could get his hands on one of the mercs. He was under no illusions that it would be easy to make one of them roll over on his buddies or whoever was funding their team.

  However, he’d leave the prisoner trussed up somewhere for Ambrose to pick up. Between the chancellor and Rafferty, the merc would be singing in no time. Conlan wished that he could be there to watch, if and when it happened.

  “I don’t know what you were thinking about right then, Conlan, but you were looking pretty scary.”

  He laughed. “I’m thinking about fishing.”

  She arched a brow. “Really. Fishing? Here in downtown New Eire? What kind of fish are you planning on catching around here?”

  “One of those mercenaries who’ve been dogging our trail. If I can get my hands on one of them, I’m thinking we’ll be a whole lot closer to finding out who’s after you.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask this, but what—or who—are you planning to use for bait?”

  His smile dimmed a bit. “Well, that is a problem. Using you as bait to cull one of them from the herd would mean putting you in danger. I won’t do that, not if I can’t guarantee your safety.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “Right now we’re chasing ghosts, Conlan. If dangling me on a string means we can get some answers, then I say go for it.”

  No way in hell he was going to risk it. “Damn it, Kat, you don’t know what these guys are capable of. They’re trained killers. I’m good, but I can’t defend you effectively unless we get lucky and find one out on his own.”

  “But—”

  “Let’s not argue until we’ve had a chance to eat something and regroup.”

  “Fine, but don’t think I’ve given up on this idea.”

  He wisely kept his mouth shut and circled the block one last time. When all appeared clear, he pulled into a parking lot next to a small neighborhood restaurant he used to frequent when he lived in the area.

  That was back in his previous life. With luck, the s
ame guy owned it, because he owed Conlan a favor or two. Right now all Conlan needed was the use of one of the private rooms in the back. Dwayne would feel as if he was getting off lucky to make good on a favor so easily.

  Although Conlan hadn’t seen any sign of the mercs, that didn’t mean they weren’t out there. The last thing he wanted was to get caught out in public where he couldn’t control the situation. If the mercs tried another snatch, innocent bystanders could get caught up in the fallout.

  He scoped out the area carefully. No movement. Good.

  “We’ll make plans after we eat, but let’s get inside. I don’t know about you, but sitting out here makes me feel like I’ve got a target taped to my chest.”

  They headed for the door, moving quickly but not so fast as to draw unwanted attention to themselves. Inside, he was relieved to see that the same balding, skinny guy was behind the counter. Conlan caught his eye and then jerked his head in the direction of the small rooms down the hallway past the restrooms. When Dwayne acknowledged him, Conlan led Kat to the one that had at least two exits besides the one from the hall. He had no desire to end up cornered.

  A few seconds later, the ugly picture in the corner swung away from the wall, and Dwayne stepped through the opening.

  His smile was friendly enough, even if the expression in his eyes was understandably cautious. “It’s been a long time, lawman.”

  Conlan offered his hand. “You know I’m not a lawman anymore, Dwayne.”

  “The fact that you spent time in prison doesn’t change that none.” He accepted Conlan’s handshake with a firm grip.

  “Lucius warned me you might be stopping by. He wanted me to be ready. Said for me to give you anything you needed and he’d stand good for it.”

  Dwayne shuffled his feet and added, “Besides, I haven’t forgotten I owe you.”

  Conlan stared at the guy for several seconds. Dwayne held his gaze long enough to convince Conlan that he was on the level. The man was referring to the time Conlan had broken up a gang that was extorting money from a lot of the small businesses in the area. Dwayne had been on the verge of losing his restaurant, but Conlan had not only taken down the gang, he’d recovered the money.

  “Okay, then. We could use a hot meal, and maybe a couple of sandwiches to go. You okay with us being here that long?”

  “Not a problem. Have a seat, and I’ll be back in a few with your food.”

  On his way back to the picture, he pointed at a small green light up near the ceiling. “If that light starts blinking yellow, something’s going on out front. If it turns red, get the hell out of here any way you can. You remember the other way out, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “If things go all to hell, follow the tunnel to the other end. You can lay low there, or if you need to be moving, the keys are under the floor mat.”

  “Thanks, Dwayne, and we’re even after this.”

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Kat had made some serious inroads into the heaping plate of food that Dwayne had delivered. She often made do with coffee and maybe some yogurt for breakfast. Today, though, the pile of eggs, hash browns, bacon and toast really hit the spot. Evidently, living in stark fear revved up the appetite.

  She studied the man sitting across from her. She’d cost him so much, and yet here he was ready to lay his life on the line for her again. Why? Three years before he’d acted out of duty, at least at first. Now he had every reason to hate her. But when he held her in his arms, it certainly didn’t feel like hate. Even that morning when Conlan had dragged her to the couch and taken her hard and fast, he’d been careful with her. It felt like a claiming, the emotion behind his passion something she was reluctant to name. She should know. That same powerful emotion had taken up residence in her own heart.

  Conlan had already cleaned his plate. Right now he was eyeing her last piece of bacon. She laughed and held it out to him.

  He hesitated. “You sure?”

  “Sure, go ahead, but it’s going to cost you. I’ve got a few questions.”

  He obviously wasn’t worried about the price, because he quickly finished it off. “Ask away.”

  How best to put this? “You and me, we’ve been through a lot, shared a lot, but I don’t really know anything about you. That doesn’t seem fair, since you’ve had access to everything the Coalition has in my file.”

  The jerk actually laughed. “Funny, Kat, after the past few days, I would’ve thought you’d gathered a lot of firsthand knowledge.”

  The little burst of heat in his gaze made it clear what he was talking about—like how his kisses tasted and that sexy growl he made when they made love.

  Okay, point scored. She was an expert on a few things about him.

  “Yes, I know the important stuff, Conlan, or I wouldn’t trust you with my life. It’s the little stuff, you know, like your favorite color.”

  “Whatever you call the shade of blue your eyes are.”

  She rolled those very same eyes. “Yeah, right. Where are you from?”

  “An estate about two hundred miles north of New Eire.”

  “Parents?”

  “The requisite two.”

  “Conlan.” She infused enough temper into that one word to make him hold up his hands in surrender.

  “Okay, sorry. They both died in an accident when I was fifteen. No siblings. No clan, not anymore. That affiliation officially ended when they disowned me after I went to prison.”

  She gasped, but he was already shaking his head. “Before you feel bad about that, I left the estate when I was eighteen and never looked back. Once my parents were gone, my father’s pureblooded relatives had little use for a grief-stricken teenager, and neither did my mom’s folks.

  “Rather than hang around where I wasn’t wanted, I applied for and won a scholarship that got me out of there. If I’d stayed, I would’ve spent my life living on whatever crumbs they tossed my way. To tell you the truth, I was surprised they even went to the trouble to disown me. I didn’t know they were even aware that I was still alive.”

  Then he got a funny look on his face. “Rafferty considers me clan. Never saw that one coming. He didn’t even act like Joss nagged him into it. He even told me to get my ass back to the estate where I belonged.”

  Somehow she doubted Conlan realized how much he’d revealed with that last bit. It was obvious that before Rafferty said that, the only time Conlan had ever felt he belonged someplace was when he worked for the Coalition. No matter what justification she’d had for her actions three years ago, the end result was that she’d stripped Conlan of everything that had given his life meaning, cutting him adrift. It was a miracle he hadn’t finished off the job the mercs started when he’d realized she was the one lying facedown in the dust.

  She still had one question left to ask, one she needed to have answered for purely selfish reasons.

  “You and Joss, have you always been, um...” She hesitated, immediately sorry she’d brought it up. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

  Conlan leaned back in his chair, his eyes smiling at her over the rim of his coffee cup. “No, that’s okay. Have we always been what?”

  “Good friends.” Her face flushed hot. “Close friends.”

  “Yeah, we have. She was hired on as an investigative chancellor with the Coalition not long after I was, and we partnered for a while.” He stared up at the ceiling, lost in the memory. “Damn, she was amazing. Blew past us mere mortals in no time at all. I’ve always preferred the investigative end of things, but she liked negotiating disputes between the different factions.”

  Then he frowned. “That’s how she met Rafferty. They served on the Council together. Boy, when those two debated an issue, the sparks flew. It was amazing to watch. He was engaged to someone else at the time. Seamus’s sister, as a matter of fact. When Rafferty was convicted of murder, Joss cleared his name. They’ve been inseparable ever since.”

  Conlan topped off his coffee and did t
he same for her. “But to answer your real question, Joss and I have never been anything but friends. Neither of us had much in the way of family, so we sort of adopted each other. Adding sex to the mix would’ve only messed that up.” He shrugged. “Besides, once she met Rafferty, she never saw anybody else that way. He’s an egotistical jerk sometimes, but he’s good to her. That’s all that matters.”

  He turned the tables on her. “How about you? Is there anyone in your past you’ve got an interest in hunting up when we get your name cleared?”

  She supposed turnabout was only fair. “No, no one. I always hoped I’d meet someone special, but it never worked out that way.”

  Maybe it was time to roll the dice. “That is, until I met—”

  But he wasn’t paying any attention. What had captured his attention? Then she noticed that the light Dwayne had warned them about had turned amber. It wasn’t blinking, so maybe the situation wasn’t too serious. She held her breath for several seconds, waiting and hoping it would turn back to green.

  Conlan must have thought there was little chance of that happening, because he was already on his feet, shoving the sandwiches into their packs. He motioned for her to follow him. She didn’t need to be told to stay quiet.

  Conlan crossed to the far corner and knelt down to study the floor. What was he doing? She crept closer, not wanting to get in his way, but she knew they’d have to move quickly if that light changed.

  Finally, he pressed the opposite corners on one of the floor tiles. His efforts were rewarded with a soft click and a section of the floor slid back, revealing a steep staircase—more of a ladder, really. She leaned over to see where it led, but it disappeared into the shadows below.

  Okay, no wonder Dwayne had asked if Conlan remembered the last way out of the room. She’d have never found it in a million years. “Are we out of here?” she whispered.

  Conlan nodded. “Give me a second.”

  He quickly gathered up all evidence of their meal and dumped it in the trash. “Finish your coffee. If someone checks in here and finds it’s still hot, they’ll know someone was here.”