Chapter Twelve
I vy held her breath. She’d heard the sound as well, and her heart thumped so loudly in her chest she thought for sure Clay could hear it.
She hated this, hated being completely blind. It helped that Clay could see, that he was so cool under pressure. But the pain he was in had to be astronomical. He’d reinjured his foot, and even if she couldn’t see it, she’d heard the agony in his voice.
The seconds seemed to stretch into hours before a voice cut through the stygian darkness.
“Well, looks like we’ve got quite the stalemate here, don’t we?”
It was Hamilton.
“Not from where I’m sitting. You don’t have your hacker friends to distract my team,” Clay responded, his voice like a glacier.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Hamilton sounded truly confused and Ivy knew Dev had been right about Hamilton's level of computer expertise. Or lack thereof. It didn't help in the here and now, though.
“Never mind,” Clay said. “It doesn’t matter. I’m between you and the entrance, and I’m armed and can see you as soon as you come around the corner.”
“Ditto,” said the disembodied voice. “But I’m not fucked up.” He sounded almost jolly now. “So I think I’ll shoot you and take your little girlfriend hostage again, just like before. Except now they’ll have the chopper inbound.”
Where had Cali gone? Had he killed her? Fear soured Ivy’s stomach as she tried to think of something, anything she could do to help. But she was, quite literally, in the dark.
There was really only one thing… “Do you need me to distract him?” she whispered, so low it was almost inaudible. But Clay heard her. She felt his nod.
“Think again, asshole,” she said, her voice so loud it echoed off the walls. “You surprised me once. You won’t again.” She moved away from Clay, widening the distance between them so Hamilton had to split his attention, even with his night vision goggles.
She felt Clay moving incrementally in the other direction.
“The things I’m going to do to that mouth,” Hamilton said, his voice so slimy she fought a shudder. “Here’s the thing honey, the zoomie is down for the count and we both know it. He can see me, and he can try to shoot me, but he’s not getting up off the ground. I saw him go down before his fucking partner flushed me out. I heard the bones snapping. He’s in so much pain right now his aim is going to be for shit. Come with me willingly and I won’t put a bullet in his brain.”
God, he was completely logical, and likely right. But she knew he was lying. He’d kill Clay the second he had a chance, just like he’d probably killed Cali.
“I was a Marine, back in the day,” he said his voice still full of so much ick it made her skin crawl. “The flyboy may have seen combat, but nothing like I’m trained for. So come along, girlie, and make this easy on all of us.”
Clay was quiet through his speech, and Ivy wondered if he thought she’d actually do it.
“Fat fucking chance,” she replied, and inched further to the right, closer to what she hoped was safety for her and enough space for Clay to work.
Hamilton laughed at her reply, and then the cave echoed with a cacophony of noise that deafened her. She curled into a ball and closed her eyes, ready to lash out if Hamilton touched her. She’d go down fighting, dammit.
The gunfire ceased, though her ears rang with the aftershocks of it. Then Hamilton’s laugh cut through the ringing.
“You’re a shit shot, zoomie.”
Clay still said nothing, and now they’d moved far enough away from each other that she couldn’t feel him. Was he even still alive?
Then the gunfire screamed again, muzzle flares lighting the darkness, and she saw Clay surge to his feet and lunge toward Hamilton, who’d stepped around the corner he’d been hiding behind. Heard the single shot that ended it all.
“Ivy?” Clay asked, his voice gruff and strained and oh-so-welcome.
“I’m fine,” she said, fighting back tears. She hadn’t had to see the bullet hit Hamilton to know the man was dead. Clay wouldn’t be talking to her if it wasn’t safe.
Then he was at her side, lifting her to her feet. “Come on, let’s get you the fuck out of here, and I’ll go back for Cali.”
“But how…” she trailed of as she realized he was walking, completely surefooted beside her.
“I have no fucking idea,” he said, “And right now I don’t care.”
Light from the mouth of the shaft began to peek through the darkness, and then suddenly they were there, almost to freedom.
“Andrews and Foster on our way out,” he called, and stepped into the light. “Hamilton is no longer a threat, but Cali is missing.”
Ivy was instantly blinded, felt hands pulling her to safety, and blinked until Tate’s big form swam into focus.
“You’re okay,” he said as he set her down and another set of hands uncuffed her. It was Jordan, and behind her was Undersheriff Abel Jones, a thunderous expression on his face.
“Clay,” she turned, in time to see him disappearing back into the mine shaft, along with Jordan, who’d also donned night vision gear.
“He’ll be fine,” Tate said, his soothing voice a contrast to his size.
“You don’t understand,” she said as Dev jogged into view. “He reinjured his ankle while we were in there. Hurt it badly.”
“He looked fine,” Jones said.
“Well, he’s not,” she said hotly in response. “Hamilton is dead,” she told Dev. “Cali’s still in there. I have no idea what happened. She went after Hamilton and Clay stayed behind to save me. Then he came back, but she didn’t.”
Everything in Dev seemed to tighten and for a moment Ivy thought he might race into the darkness himself, lack of night vision be damned.
But he held himself back, donned an expression colder than anything she’d ever seen.
“Then we wait. Jordan is a professional. Out of all of us, she’ll know what to do.”
Jones grumbled something under his breath that Ivy didn’t catch, but that made Dev give the man a harsh glare, though he said nothing.
“Ivy, we can send you down to the ambulance,” Dev offered, but his eyes never left the cave entrance.
“I’m fine. I’ll wait,” she replied, found a rock to sit on and hoped like hell that Cali and Clay were all right.
Within five minutes a search and rescue team had ascended the mountain, having waited until it was clear that Hamilton was no longer a threat. They and two armed deputies surged into the cave, headlamps illuminating the way, giving a nod to Ivy when she warned them about the shaft she’d almost fallen into.
The sun beat down on her head, and she was sweating like she never really had before, a mix of nerves and Vegas sun, but there was no way in hell she was leaving, not without Clay.
Twenty minutes later the search and rescue team exited with Cali. She looked dazed, as if she’d just awoken.
“Report,” Jones barked.
“Probable concussion,” the team lead said. “Her team had already found her but were afraid to move her. Then she came around right when we got there.”
“I’m fine,” Cali said, pushing at their supportive hands. “Asshole laid in wait and conked me on the head with a fucking rock.” She looked more embarrassed than injured now.
“Take her in,” Dev said, his tone and body language still encased in ice.
“I said I’m fine.” Now anger flared in her eyes.
Dev stepped forward, right into her space and looked down at her. “Please do this. For me. For all of us.”
She held his stare for a long moment, then dipped her head in acceptance. “All right.”
And in that moment, Ivy knew the woman had been hurt more than she’d let on. And that there was a hell of a lot more going on between the two of them.
As much as she wanted to comfort Cali, her eyes were still trained on the entrance, and her whole body went weak when Clay and Jordan emerged, unhurt.
She rushed to him, laughed when he held her so tightly that the air was squished out of her lungs.
Then he held her at arm’s length, gave her a once over before pulling her in again, laying his lips on hers and giving her the kiss of a lifetime.
She fell into it, into him, until Jordan’s wolf whistle brought them both up for air.
“As much as I hate to interrupt,” Dev said dryly, “You said Clay was injured?”
The elation whooshed out of Ivy as she looked down at his legs. His apparently perfectly functional legs. She looked up, a question in her eyes. He shrugged in response.
“It’s a miracle,” he said, for her ears only, then louder, “I just tweaked my ankle. It’s fine now.”
Ivy almost protested. Almost. But because he’d asked her with his eyes, she kept her silence.
“You’re still getting looked at,” Dev said and Clay just nodded in response and tightened his hold on Ivy.
~
It must be nice to have this kind of clout, Clay thought, as he sat on the comfortable exam room table of the private medical practice. Dev had made a call, and within twenty minutes of leaving Abel Jones and his men they were being seen by a very serious, very Ivy League doctor.
Warren took Katie to Agnes’ house for some Mom time and to rest and recoup while Tate and Jordan did a sweep of Ivy's house for any kind of surveillance. Since Hamilton hadn't been behind the incursion, theoretically her place should be clean, where their homes would be swept daily until they'd figured out who was behind the break-in. For tonight, apparently everyone was in the clear.
Ivy was in another exam room, and as much as he needed her to be seen by a doctor and get treated for Hamilton’s abuse, he wanted her here with him even more.
As he waited and avoided thinking about what the fuck was happening within his body, he allowed uncertainty to raise its ugly head. What if what they’d felt for each other had more to do with adrenaline and lust than actual feelings? He hoped like hell not but was already prepping himself for the worst.
Ivy had seen him take another man’s life. What would she think? Why would she want to be with someone who’d done that? It didn’t matter that Hamilton had needed killing. Ivy was sunny and free, everything he wasn’t, and he’d do well to remember that.
He rotated his foot, only wincing when a loose screw rubbed against his skin. The plate that’d held everything together was in an odd place as well, and clearly visible. It was weird and glorious at the same time. And he had no idea what the hell had happened.
He’d purposely avoided talking about it on the way to the doctor, mostly because he was afraid to jinx it. Somehow, some way, his mobility was back, and he was going to take that gift. But explaining it to the doc was going to be interesting.
She entered, with Dev behind her. Apparently doctor-patient confidentiality wasn’t going to be a thing here. He didn’t mind. Dev had just as much of a stake in this, and if they could keep it between them until they figured it out, so much the better. He really didn’t want to be on display for the rest of the team.
“The hardware installed after your surgeries has come loose, as we suspected, and in rather dramatic fashion. Luckily, we can take care of that right now, under local anesthesia, unless you have objections.” She was completely nonplussed, as if she saw this kind of thing every day. Then again, as a doc to the rich and famous, she just might.
“That’s fine,” he replied. He didn’t say that he was pretty sure the holes the screws had been drilled into were gone. Just like magic.
It took just over an hour after she administered the local, but he was bandaged up and out the door with Ivy, Dev and Cali, an unmarked bottle of what he’d been told was a mild painkiller in his pocket.
He and Ivy climbed into the backseat, where she plastered herself to his side so closely they could have been conjoined twins. Apparently, his fears had been unfounded. And because of that, he didn't allow himself to sink into much of a rage that Hamilton had given her a black eye to rival a boxer's. He feathered a hand over her hair and allowed the anger to drain away. She was here. With him. Alive and well.
Once they were buckled in, he asked Dev the question at the top of his mind. “Do I want to know why you have her on call? And why she didn’t even blink?”
Dev fired up the engine of the big SUV. “Because I put her through medical school.”
That opened up a whole different set of questions, but from the set of his jaw, Dev wouldn’t be answering any of them. Cali just stared straight ahead from the passenger seat, as closed up as Dev.
Clay sat back for the short ride to HQ, more than over the drama. He wanted to celebrate. Wanted to rejoice that Ivy was safe and this was all over. Hamilton was dead, and he felt absolutely zero remorse about being the person to pull the trigger.
Whatever had healed his ankle was at work on the doc's incisions as well. He could feel the ants-crawling sensation again, and now that the local anesthetic had worn off, a bit of a burn where she'd cut him open to remove the hardware. With each successive mile that too faded, until all he felt was reborn.
Night had begun to fall by the time they pulled into HQ to debrief. There weren’t many surprises until it came to Clay and Cali. He let her lead, telling it from her perspective.
How they’d separated, him to care for their client, his charge, and how she’d gone in pursuit of Hamilton. Even with her NVGs, the man had been good. Good enough to get the drop on her. She’d only seen him coming at the last moment, a flash of gray-green movement in her goggles, and she’d twisted. What was a concussion tonight would have been a killing blow if she hadn’t ducked.
She’d awoken just as Clay and Jordan reached her, having heard none of the shootout.
Clay filled in the gaps, meeting Dev’s gaze as he downplayed the severity of his injury.
“He put himself in the line of fire to keep me safe,” Ivy cut in. “Took that asshole out.”
Clay tucked her closer, amazed by her resiliency, at the fact she wasn’t looking at him any differently.
She laid a hand on his jaw. “All I feel is relief in knowing he’s dead. That he can’t threaten Katie or me or any other women again. As for the rest, we can talk about that in private.” She feathered a kiss over his cheek. “Now finish, so we can go home.”
Jordan’s cell chimed and she popped up, heading for the front door without a word. They waited as she returned, with Undersheriff Abel Jones in tow.
“Why are you here?” Dev asked.
Jordan answered. “I asked him to come, rather than sending one of the detectives. We’re all here together, this is the best possible time to take care of it. He was there, he knows what went down, and we need to get our statements in for the record. I can't take them because of my obvious conflict of interest.”
As much as Dev might have looked disgruntled, it was the right thing to do, and they all knew it.
And because Clay had Ivy beside him, he told the rest, how he and Ivy had lured Hamilton out, and when he had the chance, he took aim and killed Hamilton with a head shot, then got Ivy out of there before returning for Cali.
And even though keeping his team in the dark about his miraculous recovery chafed at him, he kept his silence. And so did Ivy and Dev.