Secret Obsession (10 page)

They all would learn.

Chapter Nine

Noah took the night watch from a spot on the wall with a view of both the suite door and the outside window. Rafe and Zane had done their share of staking out already in freezing temperatures. Archimedes hadn’t shown and they deserved the rest.

Besides, Noah knew he wouldn’t sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes, Lyssa’s sweet voice seduced him. In the dreams, she started out wanting him, begging for his touch, and then ended by presenting him a bloody knife—to kill for her.

He didn’t need a psychology degree to comprehend the meaning.

Did she want him...or did she want the Falcon? Killing the ones who believed they could get away with it.

Archimedes fit the category.

So did most of the terrorist leaders he’d tracked down and eliminated.

The soft swish of Lyssa’s bedroom door took Noah out of his thoughts. He glanced at the red numbers of the radio clock on the end table in the sitting area. Four in the morning.

Lyssa padded across the room and sank down beside him, tucking her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs.

“You’re up early,” he said, his voice husky from a night without speaking to anyone, except in his mind.

“I never went to sleep,” she said softly. “Still snowing?”

“Light. We’ll be able to leave as soon as they clear the runways. I would think midmorning.”

She rested her chin on her knees and looked over at him. “I’ve been thinking about you. About us.”

Oh, boy. Noah wasn’t sure he wanted to hear this. “Your conclusion?” Did he even want to know?

“You confuse me,” she said, chewing on her lip. “Jack couldn’t quite figure you out. He told me...”

Noah waited for the teasing, the mocking. Jack had respected Noah’s ability, he knew that, but Jack hadn’t been able to resist a jibe or two about the human calculator.

“Your smarts blew him away. He didn’t talk about work a lot, but he couldn’t help but mention a few crazy MacGyver stunts you’d pulled off. One with toothpicks, duct tape and some blasting caps.”

“That mission was classified,” Noah said. He leaned back against the wall. “Jack was convinced I’d gone nuts for coming to boot camp, especially when he found out about Dreamcatcher.”

She smiled, her expression bittersweet, and Noah couldn’t stop himself from being caught in the sad depths of her green eyes.

“He couldn’t understand why someone with your brains and your money would be willing to fight so hard to be a marine. Mostly because Jack’s father had told him it was either the military or working in his dad’s auto-body shop.”

“I’d forgotten that story,” Noah said with a slight grin. “The truth is, Jack was made for Intelligence. His charm got him information I could never have gathered. Plus he had guts. He was loyal, and he could sniff out the bad guys like he was a bloodhound. Great instincts.”

“He said the same about you, but he said you did it with your brain and techie toys.” She tilted her head to the side. “Why did you join up? Why not just run your companies?”

He shrugged, bending his leg at the knee, studying the light dusting of snow still falling. “I was good at school. I tinkered a lot with computers and stuff. Not much of an athlete.”

She poked at his biceps. “No way.”

“Believe me. I was the kid that got called egghead. My dad was a cop, my brothers kick-butt athletes. My sister...well, Sierra is a math whiz and a state-champion volleyball player. And then there was me. The brain. Uncoordinated, skinny. A computer geek.”

“I would never have guessed.”

“I was an enigma to my family, stayed in the basement playing with a computer my dad bought me for Christmas when that’s all I begged for. Then, in high school I got into encryption and decryption. I developed a couple of decryption programs. My math teacher talked to Dad. They got the patents. The companies were born. My career was set.”

“So, why did you enlist?”

Noah chuckled. “Man, you should have seen my dad’s face when I told him. I thought he was going to faint.”

“I’ll bet. The brains of the family choosing the Marines.” Her gaze bored into his very being. “You didn’t want to be who you were. You wanted to be more like the rest of your family. You wanted to fit in.”

Noah stilled. He said nothing. How could she know?

“You wear your masks well. Both of them. The Falcon and Noah Bradford, genius and CEO. But who’s Noah, the man?” Lyssa leaned closer, placing her hand on his leg.

He tensed under her touch, unable to move away.

“Not very many people look beneath the surface, do they?”

“Why are you? Why now?”

“Because lying alone in that bed I realized something. I’ve worked for two years to perfect my own mask. I hate that not one person I’ve met in the last two years really knows me. It’s lonely. Do you find it lonely, Noah?”

His body leaned toward her, almost as if a string tugged them ever closer. He could practically feel the heat of her body, and his own responded, surging to life, tempted beyond reason.

“I remembered what Jack said about you,” she whispered. “I compared his stories to what I’ve witnessed the last three days. I finally understood what’s been bothering me. You’re not who I expected when Reid said he’d be sending you.”

Noah sent her a wary look. “Is that good or bad?”

“Both. I thought you’d be a killing machine.”

Noah winced. She wasn’t wrong.

She clutched his hand, squeezing it hard. “Don’t pull away. I realize now Reid sent the Falcon. Someone who would help me and then disappear from my life.” She leaned into him. “That’s who I met our first few minutes together, but you’re more than the Falcon. You care. About me, about Jack, about the other victims. That, Noah Bradford, is my problem.” She took a deep breath. “Because tonight I realized I could fall in love with the man you hide behind the mask.”

His heart thudded in response to her words. He’d given away too much. He’d let those long-ago dreams of her distract him.

To save her, he needed to be the Falcon. Not Noah.

Noah had to stay buried, even if it meant losing Lyssa.

The buzzing of his phone saved him. He stood, needing to get away from Lyssa’s overwhelming presence.

Rafe and Zane appeared in the doorway, alert.

“Bradford.”

“It’s Ransom. Rich will have the plane at the airport around nine in the morning. Be ready.”

“We leave the hotel no later than seven,” Noah said. He looked at Lyssa. “Try to get some sleep. We’ll wake you in a couple of hours.”

“Don’t do this, Noah,” Lyssa pleaded.

“Call me Falcon.”

* * *

CTC’
S
PLANE
ARRIVED
on time.

Snow blanketed the area around the small airport. The flurries had finally stopped, and the runway had been cleared. Noah climbed the plane’s stairs, the wind whipping through his coat. The chill went straight through to his soul. Lyssa hadn’t said two words to him since she’d walked to her bedroom, head held high.

The pilot, Rich, offered Noah the captain’s chair.

“Not enough sleep last night,” he said. Rich nodded and headed out to do the final preflight check.

Noah moved into the cabin.

Lyssa had taken a seat next to Rafe. His friend lifted an eyebrow as Noah buckled in across from them.

Noah wanted to kill Archimedes. Slowly and painfully. Mostly because the guy deserved it for every life he’d taken. Noah forced himself not to look into Lyssa’s eyes. She’d reminded him of something important. Of how much he had to lose if he let his emotions take over. He’d been there and done that. The results had been disastrous.

“Do you have Archimedes’s tracking chip?” Noah asked Zane.

“Sure thing, Falcon.” Zane showed him the envelope. “Working perfectly.”

Lyssa gripped her armrests, her knuckles whitening. “He’s tracking us right now?”

“That’s the point,” Noah said. “If we block the signal—you have figured out how to do that, right?”

Zane shook his head. “Sorry. If I disrupt the signal, he’ll know we know about it.”

Noah scowled. “We’ll work with it.” He looked at Lyssa. “We
want
him to find us...but on our terms. Not his.”

“What’s your plan?”

“We set a trap. Somewhere he won’t be able to resist revisiting. Somewhere he missed out on the prize of a lifetime.”

Lyssa’s complexion lost all its color.

Noah wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, but he couldn’t. He shoved aside the instinct. The Falcon didn’t hold his clients, he protected them. “That’s right. We’re going to Jack’s house.”

* * *

B
Y
THE
TIME
the plane landed in New York and they’d traveled to Darien, Connecticut, Lyssa knew the afternoon sun wouldn’t be shining much longer. Noah dropped Zane off a few hundred yards to the north of Jack’s house then pulled the SUV off on a dirt road to the south.

Despite the fact that Rafe had the chip and was heading toward the UN building, Lyssa still couldn’t drive away the feeling of foreboding. Her pulse fluttering, she exited the vehicle, hand on her weapon. Noah palmed his Glock and they made their way toward the home she’d shared with Jack.

Shadows climbed up the sides of the abandoned house nestled in the small wooden glade. Jack had picked it for several reasons: one was defense. The other was the backyard. Where they’d wanted their children to play.

The dream that Archimedes destroyed.

Noah stopped Lyssa with one hand. He signaled for her to wait.

Archimedes knew they would be here eventually. Still, part of her hoped he’d be here now. She wanted this over. Whatever happened, at least it would be done.

She could go with Noah’s plan. Set the trap. Hide, then Rafe would bring the tracking chip, and they would wait Archimedes out.

Except the serial killer seemed to read minds.

She could tell Noah wasn’t used to anyone being able to get the better of him. His forefinger scratched the knuckle of his thumb rhythmically. She’d noticed it more than once. In fact, the more frustrated he became, the more the small tell gave away his emotions.

They crept closer to the house, Zane to the north, keeping watch.

Lyssa’s entire body froze as they entered the backyard. She couldn’t stop herself. Her nerves were shot. She gripped Noah’s arm, her hold tight.

This was the first time she’d returned to their home since Jack’s death. Law enforcement had packed her bags, and when they’d recognized she might be the only person left alive to identify Archimedes, they’d whisked her away. Not that it had done any good.

Silently, Noah opened a bag and pulled out a crowbar. He pried off several boards at the rear of the house, the creaking echoing through the night.

He tossed the boards onto the dead grass. With a sidelong glance, he studied her. “You okay?”

With the words, Noah touched her arm. His strength calmed her a bit. If being here would get them Archimedes, then she wouldn’t let a little thing like fear stand in her way.

She nodded, but it was a lie. She didn’t want to go inside. The memories were so very good and so very bad. This was the place where she and Jack had loved, laughed, made love. Where he’d proposed to her, kissed her, held her. Made a baby.

And where he’d died saving her life.

Noah jimmied the last board away from the door. She placed her hand on the jamb and closed her eyes. She could do this.

He knelt beside her and with two long prongs picked the lock in seconds, then grabbed an electronic device from his bag of tricks. He ran the scanner around the wood. “Clear.”

Cautiously he pressed the screen and the door swung open, creaking, revealing a darkened room inside.

Lyssa took a deep breath as Noah stepped across the threshold, part of her waiting for another Archimedes surprise.

Nothing happened.

That didn’t diminish the knot of tension spreading through her shoulders.

Noah snapped on his flashlight. The beam swept across the kitchen. With each new illuminated section of tile, her heart hitched.

No one had done a thing since the cops had searched the place. The light bounced off the dust gathering on the oak table, its thickness obscuring the grain of the wood.

“Anything strike you as unusual?” Noah asked as they walked through the chaos.

“Besides the fact that cops make lousy housekeepers?” she said, trying to maintain control.

“Better than my place,” Noah said. He squeezed her arm. “You’re doing great.”

“A lot you know.”

Lyssa stopped in the center of the kitchen. The cabinet above the refrigerator was the only one unopened.

Could it still be there?

Ignoring Noah, she climbed onto the round step stool that Jack had placed in the corner of the kitchen for her.

“What are you looking for?” Noah asked.

“Nothing, just seeing if they missed anything,” she lied.

She peered inside, moved the cookie jar out of the way and let out a small sigh. Except for Reid, her secret remained safe. In her vision lay a silver rattle and a pair of baby shoes.

* * *

T
HE
SCENT
OF
peanut sauce floated through the front door of the restaurant. This was Rose’s favorite place, but Archimedes hated coming here. He longed to be in his germ-free apartment, watching the video, waiting for Lyssa to arrive. Waiting for her to understand the final clues to his message.

She
would
prove her worth. She had to. He wouldn’t consider any alternative.

Lyssa would come to him.

Unable to resist, Archimedes glanced at the blinking light on the small screen of his phone. Fools. The tracking device showed them moving toward the United Nations. Following the trail of the insipid Frederick Allen.

Why couldn’t Lyssa see where she should be going?

Eventually, she’d have to return to where the journey began. But that time, she’d be on her own. Noah Bradford would be dealt with soon.

Then Lyssa would be his and his alone.

Archimedes pocketed the device and walked into the small café. He catalogued the floor. Clean. He weaved through the chairs, making certain he didn’t touch anything on his way to Rose.