Dark And Dangerous (29 page)

Nathan realized in an
instant that there was no way he was going to reach Kayley before
Schnyder
did, and whipped up his gun. But
Schnyder
grabbed Kayley, and yanked her around in front of
him, turning his own back safely against the wall, before Nathan had a chance
to pull the trigger. And looked Nathan dead in the eye, smiling.

 
"Everyone drop your weapon or she
dies."
Schnyder
pressed his gun to her temple
and waited almost triumphantly as everyone stopped dead in their tracks.
"That's right. Drop them."

 
"If you kill her you lose your
shield," Damian pointed out coolly and stepped up beside Nathan. "And
your leverage."

 
"You want to risk her life by being
smart?"
Schnyder
jerked Kayley's head back by
her hair, intending to make her scream. But she was expecting it and locked her
jaw against the pain. She would be damned if she would give him the
satisfaction. "I said drop your weapons now, or I'll shoot."

 
Nathan considered trying for a shot, just for
a second, before he lowered his gun along with the other men. He couldn't take
that risk. His pulse was anything but steady, so he dropped the gun on the
ground with a thump.

 
"That's good. Now, I want you all to
back up towards the door. Very slowly. And keep your hands where I can see
them."

 
Nathan backed up slowly, careful to keep his
hands out in the open, and kept his eyes locked on Kayley's. Her eyes were dark
and fierce with determination in a face that would have been white as a sheet,
if it wasn't for the vivid bruises.

 
Schnyder's
men
didn't waste any time getting back on their feet as
Schnyder
gestured.

 
"Close those boxes again," he
ordered, without looking away. "And help me untie her from the wall."
He knew he couldn't trust her to obey his orders, even with a gun to her head.
Not until he had had time to break her. Like a cowboy would a mare, he thought.
And this was not the time for one of her little escape scenes.

 
Schnyder
kept his
eyes trained on them while one of his men freed Kayley from the wall, without
untying her hands, and kept his gun pointed at her temple.

 
"That's enough,"
Schnyder
told them. "I want you where I can see you.
And you're going to stay there while we drive away. If you try to come after
us, I will kill her." He started to pull her back towards the other door,
all the while keeping her safely in front of him.

 
"If you let her go, we won't come after
you," Brown lied hopefully.

 
"I think I'll just take her with me
anyway."
Schnyder
nodded to his men. "Open
the door and start carrying those boxes out into the cars."

 
Nathan inched slowly backwards through the
crowd of agents, making sure
Schnyder
didn't notice.
If he could just get out of the barn, he might be able to surprise
Schnyder
from the other side. The second
Schnyder
glanced towards the boxes, Nathan slipped
soundlessly out into the night. He moved fast, checking around the corner,
before he rounded the barn. He pushed the button on his headset and spoke
softly into it.

 
"The bust went wrong.
Schnyder
has taken a hostage and is trying to use it to get
away.

The agents have been
disarmed." He knew the Navy seals were still out there, and he didn't
think Klein would have planned an operation without having agents standing by
for an emergency.

 
"Where are you," a voice asked in
his ear.

 
"I'm sneaking around the back of the
barn.
Schnyder's
men are loading boxes into the
vans." He walked light footed towards the other end of the barn. "I'm
going to try to sneak up on
Schnyder
and free the
hostage."

 
"Copied. Snipers are in position to
help."

 
"Agents on foot are moving in to
help," another voice said in his ear.

 
"Copy that." He crouched down at
the corner of the barn and leaned forward slightly, surveying his possibilities.
Schnyder's
men were busy loading boxes into the vans
quickly, with the help of the smugglers. He could hear
Schnyder's
voice inside the barn, but the words were muffled through the wood. He
considered trying to take out one of the men without causing a stir and
stealing his weapon, but discarded the idea. He couldn't risk alerting
Schnyder
.

 
"You're free to go." He heard
Schnyder's
voice clearly, and knew he had to be getting
closer to the door.

 
Nathan spotted the three smugglers hurrying
out of the barn and around the other side of it. Making their way back towards
their boat, he thought with a grim smile to himself. They were in for a nasty
surprise.

 
"Navy seals get ready. You're about to
get company." He was all too happy to give the smugglers the kind of
welcome committee that they deserved.

 
When a twig snapped behind him, he whirled
around, ready to strike. And saw Damian.

 
"Didn't think I was going to let you do
this alone, did you?" Damian said under his breath.

 
"Shit. You scared the hell out of
me." Nathan dragged a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

 
"I just saw the Russian's sail
off."

 
"Three less we have to deal with."
Nathan turned his attention back to the vans.

 
"Start the cars." They heard
Schnyder
say, and knew he had to be moving closer. His men
hurried out, jumping into the vehicles. Engines sprang to life and roared as
they quickly backed the cars around, so they faced their escape route.

 
He couldn't have planned it better, Nathan
thought. In his attempt to secure his own escape,
Schnyder
had inadvertently made it much easier to get to him.
Schnyder's
men wouldn't be able to come to his rescue before it was too late. Still Nathan
wished for a gun.

 
"I think he's coming," Nathan said
softly to Damian. They saw him the second he stepped out of the safe cover of
the barn, pulling Kayley along with him. The gun was still pointed at her
temple.

 
Nathan's muscles coiled with the strain of
control as he and Damian bided their time for the right moment to strike.
Neither of them had to ask what the other was planning. They both knew.

 
Schnyder
dragged
Kayley roughly around the limousine. When he turned his back towards the barn
to climb into the car, Nathan jumped forward, like a cougar pouncing on its
prey. Before Kayley had time to realize what was happening, the gun
Schnyder
held pointed at her temple, jerked away. She had
just been waiting for the first opportunity to break free, and sprang to the
side.

 
Everything happened so fast, it was all a
blur to her. She stumbled back and saw Nathan plow his right fist into
Schnyder's
gut, while they struggled for the gun. A shot
went off and to her horror she saw Nathan jerk from the impact.

 
She heard someone scream with despair, and
didn't realize it was herself. Then shots thundered through the night, when
Schnyder's
men jumped out of the cars to help him.

Answering shots whizzed
through the air, from somewhere in the dark, but she didn't notice. Her only
thought was to help Nathan. She leaped forward, intending to lash out at
Schnyder
, and had the breath knocked out of her as someone
tackled her. She fought desperately, kicking and clawing at her attacker, but
he countered her moves with a frightening ease and pinned her to the ground.
Before she could do any serious damage, he had her wrists caught securely in
his hand. She bucked and managed to throw him off enough to ram her knee hard
into his gut. He grunted, but didn't let her go.

 
"Damn it, Kayley. It's Damian."

 
She froze beneath him and gasped on a half
sob, "Nathan?"

Chapter 32

 
"Kevlar,"
Damian said simply and rolled off her and up into a crouching position in an
easy move. He put his hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place. "Stay
down."

 
He spotted
Schnyder
lying on the ground, held there by Nathan's knee in his back and the gun
against his temple.

 
"Nathan." Damian waited until he
looked up. "Are you okay?"

 
"Yeah. Kayley?" His eyes racked
over her, searching.

 
"Kayley, are you injured?" Damian
asked her gently. Her eyes were taking on the glassy sheen of shock.

 
She shook her head and struggled to sit up.
Fear and relief mixed up in an indistinguishable turmoil, making her shake
violently with the aftereffect of adrenaline.

 
"No, stay down until it's clear."
He rose to look over the roof of the limo at the chaos that had unfolded on the
other side.
Schnyder's
men lay sprawled and bleeding
in the grass.

 
Moans rose from the few lucky ones that were
still alive as they stirred, futilely trying to grab for the weapons they had
dropped when the snipers well aimed shots had ripped through their flesh.
Agents descended on them and had them secured in a matter of seconds, before
they could manage to do anymore damage.

 
"Where is
Schnyder
?"
They heard Klein's voice rich with desperation through their headsets.

 
"He's over here." Nathan muscled
him up more roughly then he had to. But then he wasn't feeling gentle at the
moment. He handed
Schnyder
over to Klein and Brown,
but didn't take his gun off him until he was securely cuffed.

 
Nathan didn't waste any time getting to
Kayley. She was sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped tight around her drawn
up legs. Damian left them to look for a first-aid kit, as Nathan crouched down
beside her. Her face was bruised and swollen. She barely noticed him.

 
"Kayley." She flinched at his
gentle touch on her shoulder. "Come on, baby. It's over." He lifted
her carefully into his arms, cradling her against his chest.

 
"Is
…
Is
…
" She couldn't stop shaking and her mind felt fuzzy and numb.

 
"Is what, honey?" He carried her
around the limousine while police cars and ambulances drove up.

 
"Is anyone
…
anyone hurt?" she managed.

 
"None of the good guys." He avoided
mentioning
Schnyder's
men and quickly decided to
change his direction and walked away from the ambulances and the sight of
rescuers rushing out to tend to the ones that were still breathing. He had to
admire the snipers skill.
Schnyder's
men had barely
jumped out of the vans before they were effectively immobilized, and had
dropped to the ground. They should thank their lucky stars that the snipers had
been shooting to injure and not kill. Most of them were probably going to
survive their wounds, and going to live to enjoy a very long stay in prison, he
thought grimly.

 
Nathan carried her back into the well-lit
barn and set her carefully down on an old crate along one of the walls.
Ignoring all the agents and police that were busy carrying the crates from
Schnyder's
vans back inside to open and inspect under the
bright lights, he took her face gently in his hands. And felt his heart squeeze
as she jerked.

 
"Relax, baby. I'm just going to check
you for injuries."

 
"I want to go home." She closed her
eyes against the light.

 
"I know. I'll get you home."

 
"Here." Damian appeared at his side
and handed over a first-aid kit. "She hurt?"

 
"Bruised. I don't think anything's
broken." Nathan poured antiseptic onto a cotton pad.

 
"I'm sorry, Kayley. This is going to
sting." He dabbed carefully at her tender face and cracked lip, and blew
on it quickly to relieve the pain.

She sucked a breath in
swiftly as the pain penetrated her shock, clearing her mind.

 
"Where is
Schnyder
?"
She looked around the building, fear in her eyes.

 
"He's in police custody, straight on his
way to jail." Nathan applied lotion on her split lip.

 
"That's some nasty bruises," Damian
commented.

 
"He didn't appreciate it when I tried to
escape." Kayley sighed when the cool balm began to ease her burning face.

 
"You've looked better, sis."

She looked up to see Joe.
"I'm sure you're right." She had certainly felt better.

 
"You gave us quite a scare. I was sure
Schnyder
would leave you at the boat. We had everything
planned to rescue you." Joe watched Nathan tend to his sister. He could
see by the uncertain way Kayley looked at Nathan, that she had no idea what he
felt for her.

 
"I wasn't sure you knew where I was. And
when
Schnyder
said he was going to take me out of the
country, I thought I might never get away." She felt Nathan stiffen at her
words and avoided his eyes.

 
"He was going to leave the
country?" Joe asked surprised.

 
"Yes. He told me this would be his last
job here."

 
"He was going to take you with
him?" Nathan cut in before Joe could continue his questions.

 
"Yes." She looked down at her
hands, refusing to meet his eyes.

 
"Why don't you go talk to Klein about
getting us out of here," Nathan suggested to Damian and Joe, without
taking his eyes off her face. Anger clawed red and hot inside him.

 
"We'll arrange it," Damian said,
understanding perfectly, and gestured for Joe to follow him.

 
"Did he touch you, Kayley?" Nathan
asked intently as soon as they were alone. When she kept her eyes averted, he
put a hand under her chin, lifting it to face him. "Look at me. Did he
hurt you, baby?"

 
"No, I
—
" She swallowed hard at the look in his
eyes, and knew she had to tell him the whole truth. "He tried to. He was
going to rape me, but I fought him off."

 
"And when you did, he beat you."

 
"Then, and when I tried to escape."
She looked away from him again, when the memory of it came back full force.
"He wanted to kill me, I could see it in his eyes." Her eyes shifted
back to his. "He's crazy, Nathan. Insane. Started rambling about how I was
going to be the mother of his children."

 
Cold ran down his back at her words. "He
will never get anywhere near you again." He was going to make damn sure of
that.

 
"There's a police cab ready to take us to
the airport," Damian said from behind them.

.....

 
Kayley woke up confused and groggy, and
struggled her way up in bed, blinking furiously to clear her vision from sleep.
It took her a moment before she realized that she wasn't caught on
Schnyder's
boat. Swallowing back the scream that had lodged
in her throat, she looked around trying to figure out where she was.

 
Her breath whooshed out when she recognized
Nathan's bedroom. Not
Schnyder's
boat, she told
herself, rubbing her hands over her arms trying to warm her cold flesh. She
glanced down at the bed
beside
her looking for Nathan,
and found it empty. Frowning she scanned the room.

 
She was alone.

 
She drew the blankets close around her. He
had left her, she thought. Rubbing a hand over her chest where her heart ached,
she told herself it was for the best. She had known he was done with her. He
hadn't exactly tried to hide it from her before she had been taken by
Schnyder's
men. And if she had misunderstood his kindness
after he had come to her rescue, thinking that he might still want her, then
she only had herself to blame.

 
Stop it, she told herself, when her heart
squeezed painfully. She was not going to fall apart. In fact she was glad he
wasn't there. If he had been, she would have wanted to curl up in his arms,
while he told her that she was safe. And that was just weak and childish, she
berated herself.

 
He didn't want her anymore and she could
hardly blame him. Why should he be different from anyone
else.
And if she had allowed herself to believe that he was, then she only had
herself to thank for her breaking heart. She rubbed a hand over her chest,
where her heart throbbed mercilessly.

    
Nathan might have come to her rescue, but
that was only because he would never turn his back on anyone who needed help.
She knew him well enough to know that. And now that it was over, he would try
to find some kind way to tell her that it was over between them.

 
She glanced down at the bed beside her. And
wasn't that exactly what he was doing?
she
asked
herself. She remembered him carrying her into his house, as if in a haze, and
gently washing all the grime and dust off her in the shower, before tending to
her bruises again and tucking her into bed. She had fallen into oblivious
sleep, snuggled close against him, feeling safe with his arms tight around her.

 
It hurt, more than she wanted to admit, to
realize that he had just done it out of pity. He certainly hadn't wasted any
time leaving her as soon as she fell asleep.

 
Scrubbing her hands over her face, she cast a
look at the bedside clock. Nearly five in the morning.

 
Well, there was only one thing to do about it
if she wanted to save what was left of her pride, she decided quickly. She had
allowed herself to be weak for much too long.

 
Throwing aside the blankets, she got out of
bed to look for her clothes. She had to turn on one of the small bedside lamps
to see where she was going in the dark room. She found her small suitcase in
Nathan's big walk-in closet, and breathed a sigh of relief. She had been afraid
it might still have been in his spare bedroom. After rummaging through it, she
found a pair of jeans and a blouse, and pulled them on quickly. She wasn't
going to give him any chance to brush her off.

 
No, she thought. She was going to make it
easy on both of them. Easiest for him.

The bastard.

 
On a burst of anger, she gathered the rest of
her things that were set out neatly on the bathroom counter, and threw them
haphazardly into her suitcase. It wasn't like her to be that careless with her
things, but then she didn't usually pack her bags before dawn, to sneak
unnoticed out of a
mans
house.

 
Riding on her anger, she closed her bag and
carried it through the room, grabbing her purse on the way to the door. She
much preferred anger to the pain she had felt before.

Anger she could deal with.

 
Kayley snuck like a burglar down the hall,
telling herself what a fool she was for fearing running into him. He was
probably sound asleep in one of the other rooms and wouldn't wake up for
several more hours. And would be relieved when he woke to find her gone.

Her heart throbbed
painfully in her chest again.

 
No, she told herself sternly. She was not
going to fall apart. At least not yet. Not until she was safely home, alone.

 
She winced as one of the steps on the stairs
creaked beneath her feet. She stopped for a moment and breathed a sigh of
relief when nothing moved.

 
Idiot, she told herself and continued down
the stairs. He was sleeping, and even if he heard her, she doubted he would
rise to see what she was doing. He was hardly eager to face her anymore. She
tip-toed towards the front door and shifted her suitcase to her other hand.

 
"What the hell do you think you're
doing?"

She nearly dropped her
suitcase at Nathan's angry voice behind her, and whirled around.

 
"I
…
ah
…
" She couldn't prevent herself from taking a step back as he
stalked towards her from the living room, his eyes burning with anger. She
swallowed her panic when her back pressed against the cold wood of the door,
preventing her retreat.