Redemption’s Inferno (Inferno #3)

Chapter 23

E milie dozed on and off and finally got up early to shower. She roused Simone and fed and dressed her before dropping her off at Kate’s for the day while she went to work. It was Wednesday, time to start another work week, and that would keep her mind off Chains. She knew with every fiber of her being he was in trouble, but she had no way to help or to find out what had happened. She’d left a message for Warren and then she, Becca and Dante had driven to the club together. Becca had a babysitter who came during the week and she’d announced if Emilie was going to work, so was she. Emilie knew it was for support, not because Becca really wanted to work, but she played along because she was too terrified to be by herself anyway .

Joe arrived just before them and was turning off the alarms as they walked in .

“Everything all right with the system?” Dante asked him .

Joe nodded. “Everything’s sealed up tight .”

They walked in, turning on lights and the air-conditioning as they talked quietly .

“You tell no one anything,” Dante looked at Becca and Emilie as they heard Franny’s voice calling to them. “No one. Me entiendes ?” You understand me ?

Emilie and Becca nodded and turned towards Emilie’s office. Emilie’s step faltered when she saw an envelope taped to the door. Becca squeezed her hand and Emilie forced her feet forward, grabbing it and tearing it open. She already knew what it would say—he’d given her several scenarios of things he would do if he felt either she or both of them were in danger—but her overabundance of hormones had her crying anyway .

Em—Sorry I had to go this way, but it was time. Seeing you upset always guts me, so I thought this would be easier. I can’t be the man you need. Your family is Viggo and Jamie, your children, your brother and sister-in-law. No place for me in that, and it’s time for me to move on anyway. Joe will fill my shoes at the club until he finds a replacement. Be happy, beautiful girl. C .

“Ah, shit, did he really split?” Franny asked, standing beside them and reading over Emilie’s shoulder, her eyes filled with sympathy .

“Apparently so.” Emilie balled up the note in her hand and unlocked her office. “I have work to do, if you’ll excuse me .”

“You going to be all right?” Becca asked worriedly .

“Yeah. He, uh, he never really got excited about the baby and he’d been acting weird lately…I guess my unconventional lifestyle is more than he can handle. Stupid Brits are too uptight for their own good.” Shutting her door behind her, she leaned against it and let the tears fall. Chains wasn’t at all uptight, and just saying the words felt disloyal. Please, let him be okay , she thought as she fought against hysteria. She knew he hadn’t left her because he didn’t think he could be the man she needed; he’d left because there was a threat of some kind and wanted to protect her. She couldn’t prove it, but she knew it. They’d talked about the possibility and the note was her first piece of evidence. The problem was she couldn’t tell anyone except Dante and Joe .

“ I ’ve found nothing,” Joe told her a few hours later, sitting on the edge of her desk. “No sign of him anywhere. His car is still in Viggo’s driveway, his credit cards haven’t been used, and no one with his name or any of his known aliases has rented a car or flown anywhere .”

“He has dozens of aliases and he could have driven to any airport within eight or ten hours in any direction,” Emile said wearily, rubbing her temples. It had been a spectacularly disheartening day and after only sleeping a few hours last night, she was exhausted .

“Did you hear from Warren ?”

“No.”

“I’ll find Chains,” Joe promised quietly .

“He doesn’t want to be found,” she whispered, meeting his gaze. “Either he’s dead or he’s gone underground for a reason .”

“Then I’ll find out the reason.” Joe stood up. “And he’s not dead, Emilie. If he was dead, I would know .”

She nodded. “I hope you’re right.” Her stomach churned at the thought and the moment the door closed behind him, she emptied the contents into the wastebasket next to her desk .

F or days, Emilie didn’t sleep. She would take cat naps at her desk or in the chair in Dante’s office, but she never truly slept, and wouldn’t even go into their bedroom. As word spread Chains had left her, friends and family rallied around her, but only Joe, Dante and Becca knew the truth. It took all her resolve not to break down and tell Viggo and Jamie, but Chains had drilled the importance of playing her cards close to her vest in the event something happened to him. Her pain was palpable, though, and while she valiantly stuck to the story about him leaving her, inside she was coming apart. Not knowing whether or not he was alive was more excruciating than anything she’d felt after Adam’s death. She hadn’t cared about Adam other than as a human being; Chains was part of her and without him she was slowly spiraling back to where she’d been when he’d found her in London, which seemed like a lifetime ago .

“Em?” Jamie found her on the couch on Christmas night. Friends and family had gone home, food and gifts had been put away, and everyone else was asleep .

She looked up, her blue eyes haunted, her face growing more and more gaunt with each passing day .

“Sweetie, you can’t keep doing this,” he whispered, sitting beside her. “You’re going to make yourself sick .”

“Don’t worry, I’m taking care of the baby .”

“I’m not worried about the baby,” he said tightly, scowling at her. “I’m worried about you .”

“I’ll be okay,” she said, patting his hand. “Just not sleeping well. You know that .”

“Emilie.” He lifted her chin gently with his fingers, looking into her eyes. “You’re not a woman with a broken heart—you’re a woman whose soul is gone. Tell me the truth…is Chains dead ?”

She swallowed, her mind screaming to tell him as tears puddled in her eyes. “Please,” she whispered, squeezing his leg. “Please, don’t…it’s dangerous for all of us—I can’t!” Sobs wrenched free even as she strained to stop them .

“Oh, honey… Jesus, I’ve got you.” He wrapped his arms around her, rocking her like a child. “Whatever it is, don’t worry about my safety. What can I do? Tell me what I can do. Em, I’ve already survived hell—there is no other hell for me unless someone hurts you, Viggo or the baby. Tell me what’s happening .”

“I, I, c-can’t.” She sobbed pitifully, her fists against his chest .

“Em?” Viggo padded into the room in nothing but his boxers, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and staring at them in confusion .

Jamie looked up at his husband as he stroked her hair and held her tight, their eyes locking meaningfully .

“What is it? What’s happened?” Viggo sank down on the other side of her .

“They could come after me or Simone…or….one of you,” she gasped out. “ Please …”

“Whoever they are, whatever this is, we stand together!” Viggo hissed under his breath. “Tell us !”

“Shower,” she whispered, no longer able to hold back. Since they were blinking at her in confusion, she looked from Viggo to Jamie and back. “We need to take a shower. Together .”

Understanding dawned; no one could hear their conversation with the shower running. Viggo abruptly stood and lifted her into his arms. “Yeah, right. Let’s go .”

D espite her aching heart, with Viggo and Jamie now in the know, Emilie got through each day because she was never alone. Though Viggo was at the height of hockey season, Jamie was only practicing with the team and not yet ready to play, so he was with Emilie day and night. He joined her at the club as soon as he was done with therapy and practice, took her to all her doctor’s appointments, slept beside her at night, and generally was the glue holding her together. She was hanging on by a thread emotionally and only Jamie’s constant companionship kept her from sinking into the same black darkness that had consumed her almost all of her adult life. This time, instead of guilt and shame, she felt only helpless and empty. Even the child growing inside of her brought her no relief this time; this time she was as close as she’d ever been to giving up .

When her phone rang on a brisk afternoon in late January, she picked it up without even looking at who was calling. “Yes, hello ?”

“Emilie?” Dolores’ voice made her jump and she sat up straight .

“Dolores? Hello.” She cleared her throat .

“What’s happened? Why hasn’t Darryl called me since Christmas? I — ”

“He called you at Christmas?” Emilie interrupted, her heart leaping into her throat. He’d still been alive at Christmas !

“Well, yes, of course.” Dolores paused. “Emilie? What is it? What’s wrong? Why didn’t you know that ?”

“I, er, we, um…” She faltered, caught entirely off guard. “We had a falling out. He left. We haven’t spoken since…well, almost two months .”

“What are you talking about?” Dolores demanded. “At Christmas, he was asking my opinion about buying you a ring !”

“No…” Emilie said sadly. “I haven’t seen or spoken to him since early December. I’m sorry he lied to you .”

Dolores was quiet. “What aren’t you telling me, child? My boy wouldn’t lie to me about a broken relationship! And I left him a message that my house was robbed—why didn’t he call me back? Tell me what’s happening !”

Emilie’s excitement faded quickly. If his mother had left Chains a message that the house had been robbed and he hadn’t called back, that meant he couldn’t. Which was what she’d feared all along .

“I’m sorry, Dolores, but I really don’t know where he is. Are you okay? Was much taken ?”

“It was just Darryl’s room,” she said quietly. “They were looking for something, I’m just not sure what. Tore it apart, they did. He’d left behind a lot of mementos from the military—photos, postcards, his dog tags, the like. They ripped apart the photo albums, as if they were looking for one specific-like.” She paused. “And I think I inadvertently saved it .”

“What do you mean ?”

“There was a picture of a friend—his American friend that died. Name was Shay Gentry…what a handsome lad he was…anyway, I was plannin’ to make him one of those shadow box things, with his dog tags, his medals, his things, and in the back I was planning to have the picture of him and Shay enlarged, repaired a bit. But the lab got delayed over the holidays and I hadn’t gotten to picking it up yet. It’s still at the photo lab .”

Emilie was frowning now. Why did that name sound familiar? She couldn’t put her finger on it but it was literally right on the edge of her tongue. “Mum, could you send me that picture? Can you overnight it with FedEx? I’ll send you the money if — ”

“Don’t be silly, child! If you think it’ll help, I’ll send it straight away. Lab’s closed today, but I’ll pick it up tomorrow and send it out .”

“Thank you .”

“Emilie?”

“Yes?”

“You just called me Mum—are ye all right? You don’t sound like yourself .”

“I’m…I just miss him, but I’ll be all right. I love you. And don’t worry about Chains—I’m going to find out why he didn’t call you.” She disconnected and sat staring at a picture they’d taken one night just before he disappeared. They’d gone to dinner and he’d snapped a selfie, saying she looked like a woman in love, and he’d been right; she’d never looked more alive than she looked in that picture and it was because of that wonderful man next to her. If he was still breathing, she was going to find him and bring him home .

E milie had been keeping her distance from Karl and Kate because she’d already been unable to keep secrets from Viggo and Jamie, so she was pretty sure her brother would worm it out of her fairly easily. However, the girls were going to a spa on Valentine’s Day and she hadn’t been able to weasel out of it. There was a big group of them going and with the baby just weeks away from being full term, her feet had begun to swell and her face was dry and pale. She didn’t have it in her to protest anymore, so she let them drag her along .

Sitting in the big comfortable pedicure chair, the massage function soothing her tight muscles and the laughter of her friends somewhat comforting, she found herself dozing off. She was half-asleep when she heard Kate laughing with her friend Erin, who was also married to one of the Sidewinders .

“…whatever you say, Major Gentry!” Kate snorted. “You know damn well you’re never leaving the military completely .”

Emilie’s eyes popped open and she leaned forward. “Major Gentry! Who’s Major Gentry ?”

Erin glanced over at her, frowning. “I am. I mean, I’m technically Major Riser now since I legally changed my name when I married Drake, but my last name was Gentry when I was active in the military. Why ?”

“I, you…” Emilie struggled to form a sentence. “I need my purse!” she announced loudly, looking around at the attendants. “Can someone please get my purse? It’s very important .”

Her friends were looking at her as if she’d grown horns and a tail, but one of the attendants obligingly took her locker key and returned a moment later with her purse. Emilie dug inside and pulled out the picture she’d received from Dolores nearly two weeks ago. She handed it to Erin .

“I need you to tell me if you know the men in this picture,” Emilie whispered .

Erin frowned as she took it. “I…oh my gosh, where did you get this ?”

“Just tell me who’s in the picture, please. It’s very important .”

Erin narrowed her eyes but nodded. “Well, duh, that’s Chains, isn’t it? Without dreads? And next to him is Shay Gentry, my late ex-brother-in-law and my best friend in the world.” She met Emilie’s eyes. “Where did you get this? And how did they know each other? Was this in Iraq ?”

“I don’t know for sure, but yes, I think so.” Emilie’s thoughts were racing .

“Emilie? What’s going on?” Kate asked softly .

“I don’t know,” Emilie admitted, “and I can’t seem to put the pieces together. Dammit!” Tears of frustration sprang to her eyes .

“Honey, whatever it is, maybe we can help?” Kate asked. “Erin is pretty badass, for a mom and all, you know…even in the Marine Corps Reserves she kicks ass and takes names .”

“Emilie…” Becca’s voice held a warning as their eyes met across the room .

“I…” Emilie was torn .

“Shay was my ex-husband’s brother, but he was also one of the two great loves of my life,” Erin said after a moment. “He died in my arms on the side of a dirt road in Afghanistan, and even though I wouldn’t trade Drake for anything in the world, if I could go back in time and do something different, do something to change what happened that day, so that he didn’t die—even if he didn’t love me anymore—I would .”

“I don’t want to put anyone else in danger,” Emilie whispered .

“Just by virtue of being friends and family, we’re already in danger,” Kate pointed out. “Did something happen to Chains ?”

“I don’t know…all I know is he was afraid someone from his past might come after him again. Something happened on his last mission in Iraq. It was a joint intelligence thing with a Marines unit, some British ground troops, MI6 and I think maybe some Israelis. I don’t know anything about the mission, except that something went wrong. The helicopter Chains and several others were in was shot out of the sky. As they were going down, Chains said he figured he’d rather live with a bunch of broken bones than be in the helo when it exploded, so he jumped. Somehow, he got tangled in a tree and was fine. Everyone in the helo was killed, as well as most of the ground troops. He and the Israelis were the only ones who survived. I didn’t get the impression he blamed them, though .”

“What does that have to do with Shay?” Erin asked. “He was in Afghanistan with me from February until August, 2010—the day our Hummer drove over that IED and I got these…” She pointed to the deep, rough scars that mottled her right arm and leg .

“He said he was really torn up about the deaths—he was friends with the men on that mission—and the day he got back to London he found out his good friend Shay, whose last name I only just learned from his mother, had been killed the same day. He knew he was betrayed by someone in MI6, but never found out who and he hinted that maybe the same person was responsible for Shay’s death. When he couldn’t find any answers, he left MI6 and London .”

“That IED in Afghanistan was meant to kill me,” Erin said quietly. “I didn’t find that out until a few years ago, but someone in my unit was feeding information to Shay’s mother—who hated me for ruining both her sons. It’s a long story but even though I loved Shay, I stupidly married his brother and supposedly ruined their family. She paid mercenaries to place that IED in our path because Shay was our unit commander and he wasn’t supposed to go on patrol that day. It should have been me and one of the other guys .”

“She killed her own son?” Emilie looked shocked .

“I don’t see how what happened with Chains’ mission in Iraq could be related to what happened to Shay in Afghanistan, even if they happened around the same time,” Kate reasoned .

“Unless the mercenaries who placed the IED in Afghanistan were part of the same group who betrayed Chains and his friends in Iraq,” Becca suggested .

“We need details,” Erin muttered, pulling her phone out of the pocket of the robe she wore. She lifted it to her ear. “Hey, Louie… Yeah, everything is fine, I just need a favor… Fuck you, friends don’t ever run out of favors!” She laughed. “Okay, listen, I know this is going to sound weird as hell, but can you pull information about another mission that went wrong on August 17, 2010… No, in Iraq. Yes, a Marine unit with some spooks from both the CIA and MI6, possibly Mossad… Yup… Thanks!” She hung up and looked around. “Keep your fingers crossed Louie can find out .”

“Guys, I don’t…” Emilie sighed. “Thank you .”

“Do you think something has happened to him?” Erin asked finally .

“I do. I know he would never leave me without a reason. Either someone took him, someone killed him, or he ran and is in hiding because he’s afraid they’ll go after me or his mother .”

“The note he left made it sound like he broke up with you,” Kate said, her brown eyes gleaming .

“To protect me.” Emilie nodded. “We’d agreed he would do that if something ever happened. And I’m so afraid he’s enduring something terrible so no one comes after me .”

“All this time?” Kate whispered, horrified. “He’s been gone more than two months .”

Emilie’s eyes filled with tears. “Yes. That’s why I had to tell you—even though I hate putting you in danger—and that’s why I’m going to do something .”