Chapter 35
In his arms Savannah remained rattled, but safe. But Voodoo’s blood was a firestorm, his every nerve locked on a single purpose.
“Talk to me, Haley,” Voodoo barked. “Who did this?”
“Working on it,” she said, typing furiously on her end. “Signal originated through a remote routing protocol—masked under four VPN layers, but Jester left me a wormhole.”
“Why does this guy keep helping us?” Eggs wondered startling Voodoo since he hadn’t realized his teammates had followed him out of the building and were standing nearby.
“You trust it?”
“Don’t have time not to.”
Her keyboard clacked faster. “The signal’s bouncing off Shanghai, Prague, New Delhi… The U.S. East Coast. D.C.”
“He’s close?”
A pause.
“Real close. He’s either inside the building, which you’d think would be stupid if it was wired to blow. Or he’s nearby. Two hundred-yard radius max.”
“He’s outside. Probably in his car in the parking garage.” The parking garage was underground and away from the Center itself. It was probably the safest place on the campus.
Shit. He suddenly felt torn. He didn’t want to leave Savi, but there was a burning need to find this guy.
“Go. I’m okay.”
“I got her,” Daphne said, appearing out of nowhere.
“Where did you come from?” Eggs asked.
“I never left. I wanted to wait here until Savannah got out.”
“Okay,” Voodoo said, rising to his feet again and letting Savannah’s feet drop to the ground.
He steadied her before taking a reluctant step back.
He gestered to a nearby police officer. “Protect her,” he ordered before turning back to Savannah.
“I’ll be right back.” He gave her a brief kiss then, “Let’s go hunting, guys. ”
Voodoo headed for the underground garage, moving like a shadow, his footsteps silent against the concrete.
The echo of distant traffic on the nearby interstate was muffled by the reinforced ceiling as he entered the structure.
Down here, under the symphony of culture and power, the air felt colder . . . and thicker.
He descended the ramp into the garage. The hum of fluorescent tubes buzzed like insects. Rows of high-end sedans and SUVs loomed in the dim overhead lights, all waiting to exit the garage as soon as possible. The sheer number of cars made it clear this wouldn’t be an easy task.
But he wasn’t deterred. This wasn’t a sweep.
This was a hunt.
His hand settled near the small of his back where the pistol rested, exposed since he’d long since shed his tux jacket. Not drawn. Not yet. He wasn’t here to make a scene. He was here to finish something.
The man who’d nearly killed Savannah had made a mistake. He’d pissed off Voodoo. And now the hunt was on.
Voodoo reached a concrete column, pressed his back to it, and exhaled slowly. He peeked around the edge. Voodoo’s heart rate slowed. Focused. He didn’t care if the man was a merc, a spy, or a senator’s pet weapon.
All that mattered was that this was the bastard who’d tried to hurt her. And Voodoo was done playing defense.
A dark SUV sat idling alone in the underground space. Engine running. Lights off. Tinted windows black as night.
His gut coiled.
He didn’t hesitate. He strode up, weapon now drawn, and yanked the front driver’s side door open—
Unlocked. Surprising. And incredibly stupid.
Inside, bathed in the cold blue wash of a tablet screen, sat Brian.
Voodoo froze, momentarily stunned by the surreal sight. Brian’s face was pale, lips parted in shock, like he hadn’t expected to be found so quickly—or maybe at all. The glow of the tablet illuminated the last message on screen:
DON’T FORGET TO BOW!
Voodoo’s fury detonated.
He reached in, grabbed Brian by the collar, and ripped him out of the SUV with a strength fueled by pure rage. The tablet clattered to the concrete.
“What the hell did you do?” Voodoo growled, slamming him against the doorframe. “What did you do to her?”
Brian sputtered, panic in his voice. “Wait—just—just let me expl—”
“Yeah. You’ll definitely provide an explanation.” Voodoo snarled.
Hoot and Eggs rounded the corner at a sprint, both freezing at the sight before them.
“Is that the piano tuner?” Eggs breathed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Voodoo tightened his grip, resisting the burning urge to snap the man’s neck. He forced himself to breathe. “Restrain him.”
Eggs moved in quickly, binding Brian’s wrists behind his back while Hoot picked up the tablet.
He fiddled with it for a few moments. “Still hot,” Hoot muttered. “He was transmitting. Live feed. Last commands came from this exact location.”
“Why?” Voodoo growled, jamming his forearm against Brian’s throat, pinning him against the frame of the SUV. “You were supposed to be her friend. She trusted you.”
“I loved her!” Brian gasped, eyes wild with a twisted mix of panic and desperation. “I’ve always loved her.”
Voodoo’s grip tightened. He didn’t even realize how close he was to crushing the man’s windpipe.
“Whoa, Voodoo. Easy,” came Hoot’s voice.
“I-I didn’t want to hurt her,” Brian rasped. “It wasn’t supposed to go that far. I just . . . I thought the scare would be enough. Just enough for her to see that I was the one who really cared. Not you.”
“You planted a bomb in her piano. And when that wasn’t enough, you put another one under her seat,” Voodoo said coldly, not loosening his hold.
Brian flinched. “That was . . . I just wanted her scared. Wanted her to need me.”
“You think that’s love?” Voodoo’s voice was quiet now, but deadlier than ever. “You tried to terrorize her. To break her down so you could swoop in and play savior.”
“Not what I’d call love,” Eggs mumbled.
Brian looked up, and in his eyes was something twisted—pain, longing, and the most chilling, obsession.
“She was slipping away,” Brian said, tears brimming in his eyes now.
“Every time I saw her look at you, I knew she’d never look at me like that.
I waited years. Years! This tour was supposed to be my chance. ”
“You planned the sabotage,” Hoot said, voice tight with realization. “You locked her in the bathroom. The poisoned water. Was the text message with the video of Voodoo from you, too? You used all of it to make her more dependent on you. And then when she turned to Voodoo instead—”
“I had to do something,” Brian said, his voice cracking. “You don’t know what it’s like. Watching her smile at you. Knowing she’ll never look at me like that. Not after everything I did for her.”
“You mean spying on her? Setting her up?” Voodoo snapped. “You were going to make her a martyr just because she didn’t love you back?”
Brian’s expression shifted, shame, fury, heartbreak twisting across his face in rapid succession.
“I wasn’t going to let her die,” he whispered.
“It wasn’t gonna go that far. I just . .
. I thought the scare would be enough. Just enough for her to see that I was the one who really cared. Not him. She deserves better.”
Voodoo stared at him for a long moment, then took a slow step back. “You don’t get to decide what she deserves.”
Brian looked up, eyes wild. “Neither do you.”
“And I wouldn’t even try. She’s her own person.
She can decide for herself who she wants by her side,” Voodoo started.
“Here’s what you don’t understand. She did choose you.
She chose you to be her friend. She chose to trust you to take care of her instruments.
She brought you along on this tour when she didn’t have to.
That’s how much she trusted you. Now, you’ve lost all of that. ”
The impact of Voodoo’s words was immediate; Brian slumped, his face streaked with tears that flowed uncontrollably. Eggs gave Voodoo a sharp nod. “We’ve got him. Go back to your girl.”
Voodoo finally pulled back, shaking with fury, forcing himself to step away before he did something permanent. “You’re lucky she’s still breathing. You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you the second I opened that door.”
“We’ve got enough to bury him,” Eggs muttered. “The messages, the tablet, the confession. All of it.”
Brian didn’t fight. He just stood there, shoulders slumped, eyes still tracking Voodoo.
“You’ll never be what she needs,” he said bitterly. “She’ll see that eventually.”
Voodoo didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to. Because he knew down to his bones, he was exactly what she needed. Just as she was the same for him.
He turned his back on the man who claimed to love her and walked up the ramp into the fresh air and toward the flashing lights where Savannah waited.
He’d stood between her and chaos, time and time again, and with each near-miss, his resolve hardened, and he vowed to always be her shield.
And now, no matter what came next, Voodoo wasn’t going anywhere.