Chapter 24
Noah sat at the HERO Force conference table, his hands at his sides, dangling toward the floor.
There wasn’t a single part of his soul that remained untouched over the last forty-eight hours, from his love for his family and the safety of a child to lust and feelings for a woman he had no right to be feeling right now.
He leaned his head back and stared at the recessed light over his head, the intense beam overwhelming his retina. Lizzie was still gone, but he now knew who’d killed her, had snuffed out the life of that man as surely as that man had done to her.
I’m not done.
I need to find Joe’s killer.
Even as the helicopter had taken them back to Atlanta, he knew he would need to return. His vengeance would not be complete without giving Hannah the same vindication he was experiencing now, not to mention her safety.
The men in black had known her address, had been to her condo before coming to his.
They knew where she lived. And while those men were dead and gone, Noah knew there was someone higher up who had ordered her death, just as they had ordered his own.
Hannah didn’t know the men had been to her place and he wasn’t about to tell her.
Cowboy walked into the room and sat down heavily at the head. “Drink?”
“I’ll take a water.”
Cowboy opened a small fridge and put a bottle in front of him. “You doing okay?”
“Nope.”
“How’s your arm?”
Noah looked down at the bandages, barely able to see blood seeping through the gauze over the blue afterglow of the light bulb. “Fine.”
“Two bullets in two days. I think that’s a record. Where’s my fucking boat?”
“In the chopper.”
“Where’s Hannah?”
“In my office. Brady fell asleep and she wanted to be there in case he woke up. Kid’s going to have nightmares for months.”
Cowboy leaned back in his chair. “If not years.”
Noah sighed heavily. “I’m going back to the island.”
“What for?”
“The people who killed her husband. When they came after us, they went looking at her place, first. I’ll turn myself in to the cops as soon as I get back. I promise.”
“That’s right. I’m harboring a fugitive.”
“I’ll be gone in an hour.”
“Hannah said she couldn’t wait to get home. Does she know the tangos were looking for her?”
“No.” Noah gulped down half the water in one long pull. “And you’re not going to tell her.”
Cowboy narrowed his eyes. “Who is she to you? On TV they called her your wife.”
“The reporter just assumed and we didn’t correct him. I was too busy begging her to come with me even though I’d kidnapped her and Brady at gunpoint.” He explained the details of what happened.
“Do you care about her?”
“Fuck.” He laughed without humor. “Ask me what you want to know, Leo.”
“Did you sleep with her?”
“Yes.”
“Do you love her?”
“It’s only been a couple of days.”
“I’ve seen it happen faster than that.”
Noah thought of Brady and the tough road the boy had ahead of him.
He thought of Hannah, starting from scratch after the waters receded, needing to get her family back to some semblance of normal.
But try as he might, he couldn’t picture himself in that scene, teetering noncommittally on the edge of their existence as Brady got more and more attached. He stared into space.
Don’t forget. You’re going to prison.
He shook his head. “No. I don’t love her.”
Cowboy said nothing, Noah’s words seeming to echo in the space like a judge’s final ruling. It was his decision to make and for all their sakes he had to make it a good one. He wasn’t what they needed right now, no matter how much he wanted to be there.
“They’re going to need someplace to stay,” said Cowboy.
“Hawk offered them his house. He’s going to Paris on the red-eye tonight.” He stood. “I know what I’m doing, Cowboy.”
“I’m sure you think you do.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“I saw the way that kid looks at you. He worships you, man.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“And her. Hannah.” Cowboy stood and crossed his arms. “She looks at you like that, too. You and she are like mirror images of each other, staring all googly-eyed like you’re on a damn Hallmark card.”
“Like you said, we’ve been through a lot.”
“And if it’s more than that?”
“What’s your fucking problem, huh? You playing cupid while I go to jail? You think that’s what she wants? To get hooked up with somebody who’s going to make her life even harder than it already is?”
“No.”
“Because that’s the shit I’m dealing with here. It doesn’t matter if I care about her. It doesn’t matter if I don’t. All that matters is that I get the fuck out of here as soon as goddamn possible and Hannah and her kid stay here.”
Movement in the open doorway of the conference room made him turn his head. There stood Hannah. She lifted her chin, her green eyes full of pain as she stared him down.
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. She turned to Cowboy. “We’re ready to go to Trevor’s whenever you can take us. Brady’s just using the washroom.”
“Hannah,” said Noah.
She lifted her hand. “Please don’t.”
“What I just said—”
“I really don’t want to hear it. You and I both made our share of mistakes over the past few days. Let’s just forget it ever happened.”
“It’s not what it sounded like,” Noah said.
“It doesn’t matter.”
He crossed to her. “It does.”
“Does it? Does it really?”
He was close enough to see her eyes were red, whether from fatigue or unshed tears he couldn’t tell. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
She nodded and bit her lip, then lifted her chin once more. “You didn’t hurt me. You saved us.” She smiled and frowned at the same time. “Thank you, Noah. I’ll always be grateful.”
His throat worked. She was killing him, the grace with which she was handling this situation humbling. He wanted to open his arms and pull her close, smell the familiar scent of her hair, feel her body against his, but every word he’d said to Cowboy was true.
He had to get back to Hilton Head and find out who was after her. That was how best to love her right now. Instead of everything he wanted to say, he nodded and said, “You’re welcome.”
She turned and left the room, Brady’s voice in the distance. “Where’s Noah?”
“He’s not coming, sweetie.”
“But I want to see Noah!”
“Not tonight, baby. Come on.”
Noah ripped his stare away from the empty conference room door, his vision unfocused.
“You’re a bigger man than I am,” said Cowboy. “Or a complete asshole, depending on how you want to look at it.”
“I need Booger to come with me to the island. Logan, too.”
“You can have Doc, but you’ll have to talk to Booger yourself. He’s still pissed about the last time.”