Chapter 21
Noah wasn’t sure what woke him. He stared into the darkness, listening, but all he could hear was breathing.
Hannah.
Images of them making love filled his mind. She was incredible, so daring and bold, taking what she wanted and reveling in the sexual experience just as he did. They were equal partners in bed, the first time he’d ever been with a woman he could say that about, and he wanted to do it again.
He rolled over intending to do just that, when he opened his eyes and found Brady sleeping between them.
No more sex for you, tonight.
Suddenly feeling all too naked, he sat up, finding his briefs and pants on the floor and pulling them onto his body before lying back down.
The room was dimly lit by moonlight and he stared at the two of them—Hannah and Brady.
The boy’s presence changed his dynamic with Hannah, almost forcing him into a father-like role, and he was all too aware of how that could be misinterpreted by Brady.
Kids didn’t understand the transient nature of certain adult relationships.
Hell, I don’t understand it myself.
Because it wasn’t just messing with Brady’s mind to have the three of them snuggled here like one happy family, it was messing with Noah’s mind, too.
You’ve got to stay focused.
He wasn’t here on some kind of romantic mission.
He was here to find out what had happened to his sister and he still hadn’t done that.
His mind replayed the scene with Manning on the hospital roof and he wished he’d had the chance to interrogate the other man and find out what he knew before he died.
He was all but out of options.
A loud thud had Noah sitting upright in bed.
What the hell was that?
He was out of bed in an instant, slipping to the floor and moving to the door like a ninja in the night. He grabbed his firearm as he made his way into the hallway, another loud thump clearly coming from the door of the condo.
He went back and woke Hannah, shaking her shoulder. “Someone’s trying to break in.”
She was groggy. “What?”
“Someone’s trying to break into the condo. Lock the bedroom door,” he said. “Stay here with Brady.”
“Oh my God!”
He ran to the other room just in time to see the door bust open as if it had been propelled by great force, two men in black with ski masks entering the space. Noah fired twice into both men and they each went down but quickly got back on their feet.
They were wearing body armor.
Holy fuck.
He had the ammo to deal with it, Kevlar-piercing rounds that could go right through bulletproof plates, but they weren’t his default ammo and sure as shit were not in his gun.
Only head shots would save him now.
He thought of Hannah and Brady in the next room.
He had a hell of a lot worth saving, and he thanked his lucky stars he was a sniper.
Two more bullets had the two tangos down, this time permanently.
Blood and brain matter were splattered in dark splotches on the wall around the doorway, but men kept coming and Noah kept firing.
The men fired, too, and Noah knew he might be hit. Adrenaline was a funny thing, blocking out all sorts of wounds at the time of impact. Time was his saving grace. His attackers had just as much time to kill him as he had to kill them, and Noah was faster.
He was counting bullets, a habit that had kept him alive more than once. The magazine held fifteen rounds. He’d reloaded after his run-in with the cop on the side of the road, another habit that had served him well. So far, he’d put thirteen into these black-clad intruders.
Fourteen.
One shot left.
Three more men came at him.
How many of these guys were there?
He fired at the first, killing him instantly, then Noah lifted his leg in a roundhouse kick that caught the second man off guard before he could fire his weapon. The third held his gun trained on Noah’s head. “Freeze, motherfucker.”
Noah put his arms in the air, one of the men coming around behind him and securing his wrists with zip ties.
The one with the gun came closer. “Where are they?”
“Who?”
The man behind him punched him in the kidney. “Dr. Fielding and her kid. They weren’t at their place, so we figured they’re here.”
“No.”
The one with the gun snickered. “You check the bedrooms. Mr. Ryker and I will wait here.”
Noah hoped they’d hidden, hoped against hope they could avoid being found, but he worked to keep his concern from showing. He narrowed his eyes. “You sure know a lot of stuff.”
“Like your name? You gave that to the police officer you killed when you handed him your license.”
“How do you know about that?”
“We went looking for him when he didn’t show up as expected.”
“And this condo,” said Noah. “How did you find me?”
“How many Rykers do you think there are on this island? The first one that came to mind was Lizzie. Some coincidence, I was just here a few weeks ago. Standing just like this.”
Every color in the room seemed to converge to a single point in the middle of the man’s ski mask. “You killed her,” Noah said.
The man laughed. Noah forced himself to notice details.
Eyes so brown they were nearly black. The man’s frame and build.
His hands and skin tone. His height. His shoes.
He was considerably taller than the other man, nearly as tall as he.
This was his sister’s killer, standing not more than five feet away, and if Noah got away, he sure as fuck needed to know who to go after.
“I did. That was messy, though I see you took out the carpeting.” He cocked his head at the condo walls. “Not this messy, but still. I imagine it was difficult.”
The other man’s voice came from behind Noah, and he twisted around to see him.
“I can’t find the kid, but I got the doctor.
” Sure enough, he held Hannah’s elbow, her wrists clearly bound behind her back, as well.
She wore a short nightgown and he was glad she’d also dressed before being dragged out here like this.
“Where’s the boy?” asked the man with the gun.
“With my in-laws. They evacuated for the hurricane.”
“All right, then. Let’s get a move on.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To the roof. I figured you should die the way you killed my brother.”
That piece of information clicked into place, tying everything together in Noah’s mind. “Manning was your brother, and you killed Lizzie? He was in love with her.”
“That’s why he pussied out. Somebody had to do it. Now let’s go.”