Chapter 19 #3
“Drop the gun, Henry,” Rafe ordered. “There’s nowhere to go. It’s over.”
The other man’s smile disappeared. “I’ll do it.” He swallowed nervously. “I’ll put a bullet through her head.”
“You do, I’ll put one through yours.”
Uncertainty flickered across Stanton’s face. Rafe saw it. Lena, too. She took advantage, abandoning the ties to twist and throw her weight sideways.
Stanton’s attention snapped toward her, and Rafe rushed to him. He moved quickly, his surroundings little more than a blur.
Rafe slammed into Stanton as the man started to pull his trigger. The shot went wild as they crashed against the concrete wall.
Stanton fought back like a man with nothing to lose. Rafe hit him once. Twice. The other man staggered but came back hard. He caught Rafe across the jaw, but almost immediately, Rafe drove him backward.
The two continued to struggle. Stanton started to raise his gun. He barely moved it an inch before Rafe knocked it away. Together, they tumbled down to the floor. A moment later, Stanton was beneath him, and Rafe’s forearm was across his throat.
“We’re almost to you,” Digger’s voice came through the comm.
But Rafe immediately hollered back, “Hold!”
Stanton made a move for Rafe’s gun. He reacted on reflex, grabbing the guy’s wrist with his free hand, and slamming it to the floor hard enough to break bone.
The sound was almost as satisfying as his opponent’s howl of pain. Rafe pressed the barrel of his gun against Stanton’s forehead, but he hesitated to pull the trigger.
“Go ahead.” The prick dared him. “You’re going to kill me anyway, so just do it already.”
His finger tightened around the trigger. Stanton’s eyes grew wide, but then Rafe glanced over at Lena. He took in her battered face. Her bound hands and legs.
This man had hurt the woman Rafe loved, and yet, it was in that moment that Rafe knew—
No more.
Justified or not, there was already enough blood on his hands. Enough death to last him ten lifetimes. Maybe more. He had more than his fair share of ghosts, and so did the woman looking back at him now.
“Enough.” Rafe lowered the weapon before pushing himself back up to his feet.
Digger and the others rushed into the room. Rafe turned to them with a rough, “Secure him.”
Digger rushed over to Stanton and hauled him to his feet. He tied his hands—ignoring the defeated man’s shouts of pain—while Bones got busy searching the man’s pockets.
“Knife,” Bones announced, holding up a folding blade. “And an extra mag.”
Rafe dropped to his knees beside Lena.
“I’m here, sweetheart.” His hands shook as he cut her free.
“I knew you’d come.”
Her voice was low and weak. Strained with obvious notes of pain.
The plastic strips fell away, and he carefully pulled her into his arms. Rafe pressed his lips to her forehead before placing a gentle kiss on the corner of her swollen lips.
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
“You call this okay?”
“My hand is the worst of it.”
His gaze fell to the bruised and deformed hand she was protecting against her chest.
Rage burned within him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”
She touched his cheek with her good hand and smiled. The woman had been beaten to hell, and she was still smiling. As best as she could manage, anyway.
“You came.” Her thumb caressed his beard. “That’s all that matters.”
Rafe closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the fact that she was still alive.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
He opened his eyes, wondering what else there could possibly be. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“Roger.”
Rafe went still, prepared to hear her tell him she’d witnessed her mentor’s murder. Instead, she told him—
“He was the one driving the car when I was taken.”
Shock reverberated throughout his system. “Wilcox? Are you sure?”
Lena’s nod was slight, but he saw it all the same.
“I don’t know why.” Tears fell from her bruised and swollen eyes. “But h-he’s the one who drove us here.”
Behind them, Stanton started to laugh. They turned and looked his way.
“Everyone has a price.” He winced with pain, but his arrogance had fully returned. “Especially a man trying to save his wife from cancer. Those treatments are quite expensive, and well . . . government pensions being what they are these days . . .”
Silence filled the room, and they all understood.
Somehow Stanton found out Roger’s wife needed pricey cancer treatments, and he exploited the desperate man’s need for his sick, twisted game. And then, Stanton killed him for his troubles.
There was nothing that could be done about it now. It was over. For real, this time. The danger was past, and he and Lena were finally and truly free.
“Let’s go.” He and Bones helped Lena to her feet. “We need to get you to a hospital.”
“For once, I won’t argue.”
Rafe looked down at her and smiled. And then, because he could, he oh-so-gently scooped her into his arms.
Lena curled into him, resting her battered cheek against his chest and closing her eyes. “My hero.”
He’d never fancied himself a hero, and that was perfectly fine with him. Rafe was, however, a man in love. And he was holding onto his future.