Deadly Bonds (24 page)

“Need any help?” Max Sawyer asked, his gun trained on the closet as his gaze swept the foyer, assessing the situation.

“Chad’s in there. Sara says it’s a closet.”

Max took a flashlight from his waistband and aimed it at the doorway, then stepped closer to inspect the space. “Shit.” The space was empty. Chad—Toxin—was gone. Holt stepped forward and pulled a string that brought a bare bulb to life.

Sara gasped. “The crawl space. I forgot all about it.” A square opening near the floorboards was just large enough for a man to squeeze through. The board that had served as a barrier had been set to the side, leaving a gaping hole with more darkness beyond. “Chad knew about it because he upgraded our wiring. He knows this place from top to bottom.”

“I’ll walk the perimeter again and see if I can find where he came out,” Max said. “Stay with her and keep watch in case he comes back this way.”

Once Max was gone, Sara turned and folded herself into Holt’s side. His shirt was wet with melted snow, but she didn’t care. He was warm.
Alive.
His arm came around her, while the other kept his gun at the ready, in case Chad should pop his head out of the hole like a whack-a-mole.

“Are the boys really with the police?” Sara asked.

“Yes. They’re all okay,” Holt assured her. “I watched them leave for the station.”

“Oh, thank God. Then they’re nowhere near here. What about Becca? She took off after Tox—” She shook her head. “She was chasing the guy we thought was Toxin.”

“Noah’s found her by now, I’m sure. It looked like she and Brady ditched the cars in the storm and it turned into a foot chase. Chad set Brady up to take the fall again.
He
sent her that text.”

“He said you were dead.” Moisture pricked at her eyes.

With his free hand, he cupped her cheek. “I have too much left to do, so I refused to die.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Chad never did stick his head back out of the hole,” Sara told Becca as she sipped a hot cup of tea at Holt’s house hours later.

It was nearly two in the morning, but she couldn’t sleep. The relief that her friend was okay, combined with the adrenaline rush from a roller coaster of a night, had left her both giddy and exhausted. Gripping the mug was possibly the only thing holding her together right now. Worry for Holt, who was still out with law enforcement looking for Chad, threatened to rip her apart.

“Max found tracks in the snow that led away from a rear door to the Academy’s kitchen,” Sara said. There had been another square hole in the kitchen, where the crawl space let out.

“I’m just glad nobody was hurt.” Becca absently touched the strap of the sling that encased her left arm. She’d tracked Brady for nearly an hour until she’d caught up to him trying to break into an empty lakefront home. Without her cell phone, which had gotten lost in the snow back at the site of the car wreck, she’d had to cuff Brady and march him back toward a populated area where she could finally make a phone call. Brady was in custody for attempted murder, among other charges. He claimed to have no idea who had hired him—that it had been a random job from a twisted referral source. He insisted he certainly wouldn’t have worked for Toxin.

Sara said a silent prayer of gratitude. They’d all come through the night relatively intact. “Even Roscoe’s okay, thank God.” The head veterinarian of the CPD K-9 unit had been called in to check out Roscoe, who was spending the night in an animal hospital to ensure his safe recovery. Sara had been assured they would receive a call the moment he woke up. She could pick him up in the morning if he was well enough by then.

Becca smiled. “I’m so glad. The kids at the school seem to love him.”

“He’s become a sort of mascot.”

“How are Theo’s friends?”

“Neil and Jeremy are safe with their mother. Another thing to be thankful for.” Claire had burst into the police station like a mother lion soon after Sara had arrived. She’d hovered over her boys, and couldn’t seem to stop touching them. There was always a hand on their shoulders, their hands, their heads, as they answered Noah’s questions. Damian and Noah had agreed that, since they weren’t the primary targets, Claire, with a police escort, could take the boys to her sister’s home an hour away.

Sara took another fortifying gulp of hot tea. “The only thing left is to make sure Max and Holt are safe.” They were still out there, along with the CPD, looking for Chad. The storm had let up, but the roads were still treacherous.

The sound of a key in the lock and the front door opening had Sara running for the living room. She exhaled in relief as Holt walked in. Without taking his eyes off her, he closed and locked the door then bridged the gap and caught her up against him. His arms were like steel bands and she reveled in the feeling of security, until she felt the tremors shuddering through his body. Sensing he needed to be held, she gripped him tightly. After a moment, she pulled away to inspect him. She ran her hands over his arms, relieved to find he was in one piece, but exhaustion lined his face. “You’re okay. Did you catch him?”

His gaze shifted to Becca, who came up behind her. “No, but we’ve set up shifts so we can get rest and hit the search hard in the morning.”

Becca nodded. “I’ll do the same, and give you guys some space. Damian set up a guard for out front again, and one to roam the little alley out back too. Call them if you need anything. See you in a few hours.” With a salute from her good hand, she let herself out. Again, Holt locked and bolted the door.

“How are you?” he asked Sara.

She gave a short laugh. “Sore, but not anything a hot soak wouldn’t cure.”

Holt’s gaze searched the hallway beyond Sara. “Where’s Theo?”

“Sleeping, finally. That call from you really helped put his mind at ease.”

“I didn’t want him to worry. Sorry it was so short.” His hand brushed her cheek. “I wanted to talk with you too.”

“I understand.” He’d been busy at the time, and his son needed him more than she did...or just as much, anyway.

“Still, I wanted to hear your voice. Hold you.” His hazel-gold eyes raked her face. “In fact, I don’t want to let you out of my sight. It seems all of my senses crave you.”

“You need rest.”

“Then I’ll have to settle for holding you all night...or at least for what’s left of it. But once I hold you, I won’t be able to let go.” He cupped her cheek. “I’m talking about more than tonight, Sara.”

Her breath hiccupped in her chest. “What about Theo? And Elizabeth? The baggage...”

“Are any of those things issues for you?”

“No, I love Theo, and I love you. And I think Elizabeth would understand.” The last of her concerns faded. She was completely in love with Holt Patterson. Always had been and always would be. There was no point fighting it any longer.

“I feel the same.” He touched his lips to hers and the weight of the world evaporated. The kiss only lasted a moment before he pulled his mouth away and took her hand. “Come with me.”

Holt led her up the stairs, stopping to peek in on Theo, who was sleeping soundly in his bed. He pulled Sara to his bedroom, shut the door and pulled her into his arms. Burying his face in her neck, he shuddered and held on as if she were a lifeline.

“Holt?”

“I almost lost you and Theo forever.” His words were hot against her skin.

Sara wrapped her arms tighter, absorbing his shaking. “You didn’t. We’re here.”

He pulled back just far enough to look into her eyes. “Because you were smart enough not to trust Chad White.”

Not until it was almost too late. “We’re okay. We’re safe.”

“It’s not enough.” His gaze held hers. “I want you with me, always. I meant what I said. I love you. Theo loves you. You belong with us. Please stay.”

Her tongue darted out to wet her suddenly dry lips and his gaze hovered there. With a groan, he pulled her against him and kissed her. His hands ran down her back, then moved still lower to cup her buttocks. He molded her against him from chest to thighs.

He tasted like coffee laced with sweetness. He took his coffee with two sugars. One morning, would making him coffee with two sugars be part of their routine together? No, not one morning...
every
morning. Starting this morning...but not for a few hours yet. She smiled against his lips.

He pulled away to look at her. “What?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“I’d love to be part of yours and Theo’s lives. Forever.”

* * *

Holt inhaled a deep breath through her hair. The familiar smell of her, the feel of her body pressed to his...it was so right. This was what he’d been denying himself for so long. He’d almost lost his second chance at happiness and he didn’t intend to let go anytime soon. Not ever, in fact.

Elation filled him like helium in a balloon, lifting the heaviness from his heart. Careful of her sore leg, he backed her toward his bed. Soon, it would be
their
bed. The way she was looking at him, her face so close he could see the indentations by her eyes as she smiled up at him, brought other things to mind. The little details about her that he hadn’t been able to get out of his head since the last time he’d held her close stirred his longing. Details like her knowing smile and the way her body felt sliding over his in the dark, how her soft hair had brushed his nose and cheek as he inhaled her sweet scent. It was an ache that only Sara could ease. He forced himself to take it slow, treasuring her as he peeled her clothing off one item at a time.

She did the same with him. “Tit for tat,” she said with a wicked smile.

Skin-to-skin, they fell back onto the bed. He braced his weight so he wouldn’t land full force on top of her. She seemed just as hungry for him as he was for her. After months of denying himself a full connection with Sara, he was downright starved for every drop of her. He wanted to bury himself in her heat forever.

Her lips were so hot they burned him from the inside—they traveled over his mouth, down his neck, across his chest. Exquisite torture. Her hands joined the fray. Teasing, touching, stroking, she heated his skin until he thought he might combust.

Tit for tat.
She arched against him as his hand stroked down her side, his thumb pausing to circle her nipple. As his mouth took over her breasts, his hand continued exploring along the arc of her hip, stopping at her uninjured knee to bend it. He positioned himself to enter her, delaying the sweet torment a few moments longer. As he sank into her, their gazes collided. She bit her lip. His hand moved lower, teasing her most sensitive parts until she was gasping and digging her nails into his shoulders, trying to pull him closer, urging him to join her. She breathed his name and he found their rhythm, riding the wave until it took him over the edge.

He was falling, but not alone. They were falling, together. They’d land together.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Life had kicked him in the groin again. Toxin had been low before. He’d learned how to use the pain. He was adaptable. He’d survived this long, hadn’t he? He’d even outrun Holt and the police and returned safely to the house he rented under a fake identity.

Survival of the fittest. Darwin knew his stuff.

But this time, he wasn’t sure he wanted to survive. Pain ripped through his chest. He had failed in his quest. His hand came up to the cheek Sara had smashed with a hammer. Swollen and tender. He almost wished Sara had swung the weapon into his head.

I
should have had Sara and Theo half in love with me by now.

Instead, Toxin lay in his bed. The rising sun cast shadows across his ceiling. The scent of Sara’s hair still permeated the pillowcase he’d snatched weeks ago from her apartment. The smell of her usually soothed him. Tonight, it stank of betrayal. She’d chosen Holt Patterson over him. What the hell had Holt done to deserve her love?

Toxin
had eliminated the threats to her.

He’d
been the one to deal with Rochard and the board. Just as he’d dealt with his boss, and Dr. Brown, and all the other threats to Josh.

Only he hadn’t been able to deal with the one thing that truly threatened his son...the fucking cancer. Toxin’s throat squeezed until he thought it might shut off completely. Good. Except it didn’t and he kept on swallowing. Kept on breathing.

Despite his inability to stop the cancer, Josh had seen him as his hero. Toxin would have died for him, if he could have taken his place. The ceiling blurred. He’d made a promise by Josh’s grave a year ago, after he’d watched men he didn’t know shovel dirt onto his son’s coffin, but he wasn’t able to keep it.

Oh, he’d righted the wrongs that had been done to Josh. Toxin’s CEO who refused to provide more time off or medical assistance for the riskier, unapproved treatments when the regular chemo hadn’t worked. The bitch doctor who’d failed to diagnose Josh for months, until it was too late for effective treatment. The politician who prided himself in balancing the budget by cutting funding for important medical programs that would have helped kids like Josh. And Buzz Redding, who’d thrived on self-righteous judgment and had never fully accepted Josh as his grandson because the kid was a “bastard” child of unmarried parents.

Yet, despite all he’d done, somehow Sara hadn’t seen him as her hero. What more did a guy have to do to prove his heroism?

He’d had Theo hooked. He’d seen the glimmer of love in the kid’s eyes as he’d appreciated what Toxin had created for him. But Sara and Holt had intervened.

If only Brady had succeeded in what he’d been goddamn paid to do and killed Holt...

And Henry had been arrested. The guy had probably flipped so fast, telling the police everything he knew about Chad White, that he’d have permanent whiplash. At least Toxin still had a few doses of the special drug Henry had created.

He rose and stumbled over to his chest of drawers, then located his stash. Soon, he’d be drifting in oblivion, at least for a short while. In his dreamy haze, he’d visit his son. He’d forget the fuckers who’d betrayed him. For a brief time.

But the hurt would return. It always did. There was no escape.

* * *

Warm lips pressed against hers, rousing her from sleep in the best way possible. But her eyelids were heavy and gritty. Sara moaned and wrapped her arms around Holt’s neck. Her nostrils filled with the fresh scents of musk and mint.

Her eyes shot open. “You’ve already showered, shaved and brushed your teeth. No fair.”

He grinned down at her unapologetically. “And you haven’t. I’m sorry I had to wake you. I would have asked you to join me, but you were smiling in your sleep. I like to see you smile.”

“I was having some very nice dreams. But I’ll forgive you for waking me after practically no sleep, as long as this is your method of choice.”

Holt chuckled and brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. His smile dimmed. “Damian is gathering the team here. Twenty minutes.”

“Here? Why?”

“I don’t want to leave Theo and you alone.”

She shot upright in bed, pushing him off of her. She immediately regretted the action as her stiff muscles protested. “I’ve got to shower, change—” She stood and gingerly tested her right leg, grateful the ankle sprain wasn’t as bad as she’d originally thought. Still, the knee was throbbing, reminding her it was time for more pain medication too. She looked down at the floor, where her rumpled sweatshirt lay in a heap along with her jeans. “I have no clean clothes...no shoes, even.”

Holt lifted a shopping bag. “Catherine dropped off some toiletries and clothes I asked her to pick up for you.”

Sara took the bag and peeked inside. It appeared to have everything she needed. “Bless her.”

He took her shoulders and turned her toward the bathroom. “Go. Theo and I are making pancakes. You can gobble them down before the meeting.”

She could get used to waking up to Holt and Theo in her life. She stopped at the bathroom door and looked back at Holt. “What about Roscoe?”

“I haven’t called the vet yet, but he told me he’d call immediately if there was anything to be concerned about.”

A quick shower and a change of clothes later, Sara filled her tummy with blueberry pancakes across from a bright-eyed Theo and a grinning Holt.

“The vet told Dad that Roscoe’s okay.” Theo drenched his pancakes with a second helping of syrup. “And Dad says we can keep Roscoe. We’re going to pick him up this afternoon. You coming?”

Sara realized it was Saturday, but a lifetime seemed to have passed since yesterday. “I’m actually supposed to catch a flight to Mexico this afternoon.”

Holt stopped chewing a second, then swallowed. “I forgot about that.”

“I was going to spend Thanksgiving vacation there, recuperating.”

“Recuperating?”

She wanted to reach out and touch him but didn’t know if that was appropriate in front of Theo. She’d let Holt dictate the terms of this new beginning. “Sometimes you need a break when things aren’t going your way.”

“But now?”

She smiled. “Things are going rather well and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Holt took her hand where it lay on the table and threaded his fingers through hers. He reached out with his other hand toward Theo. Theo set down his fork and joined hands with each of them, completing the circuit.

“Does this mean you’re finally going to make her an official part of our family?” Theo asked, looking from Sara to Holt.

Holt smiled. “Working on it, bud.”

“Guess you should dust off those chess skills,” Sara added. After making quick work of cleaning up, they left Theo in Holt’s office watching a movie. As they moved back into the living room, Sara chewed at her lip. “No ideas where Chad is, then?”

“Given the weather and the way he disappeared, he had to have somewhere nearby to go,” Holt said. “But the address on his Academy employment application was an old one. Police are still patrolling a five-mile radius of the school, now that the roads are mostly clear.” The storm had blown through and snowplows were cleaning up in the aftermath.

The doorbell rang and Damian, Noah, Becca, Einstein and Max stood on the threshold. Holt set a fresh pot of coffee and several mugs on the living room table and they all took their seats. Sara was uncertain whether she was welcome there until Holt reached out to tug her down next to him on the couch.

“Einstein, want to start?” Damian asked.

The guy in a Geeks Need Love Too T-shirt looked up from his laptop. He was scruffy in a sexy-Colin-Farrell kind of way. A can of Red Bull sat on the side table, within arm’s reach. Sara wasn’t fooled by his nerdy image. Beneath the shirt, Einstein had some muscles. And beneath his haphazard hair, a whole lot of brain. “Sure thing. Chad White is, in fact, a real person. He was employed at the Academy using his real name and social security number. There was no reason to hide his real identity. He has no known criminal history.”

Max looked up. His jaw was covered with stubble and his eyes were red-rimmed. “So now that we know who he is, he should be easy enough for an experienced hacker like you to find.”

Einstein frowned. “Unfortunately, he’s got hacker skills too. Granted, he’s no match for me, but it’s taking some time to track him down. My guess is he’s rented or purchased a place to live under a false name, or he’s hiding out somewhere off the grid.”

Damian looked at Noah. “What have Brady and Henry given the police?”

Noah set down his coffee mug. “Brady lawyered-up quick. But Henry is cooperating, hoping for leniency. According to Henry, the predominant neurotoxin in the mix was scorpion venom from a species known as Deathstalker.”

Holt looked to Sara. “Ow. What?” She realized she had a firm grip on his forearm and loosened her hold.

“Scorpion’s Sting,” she said. “Chad told us he’d helped create that video game. The hero is a half-scorpion, half-human named Deathstalker.”

Einstein nodded. “Theo told us about that last night. I’ve been playing the game, trying to see if there are any other parallels that will help.”

“Good thinking,” Holt said. “The game certainly illustrates Toxin’s need for control of his world as well as his need to be a hero. What’s the objective?”

“Deathstalker defeats various enemies across several levels to save his queen and the prince.”

“Art imitating life.”

“What do we know about Chad’s real-life queen?” Damian asked. “I mean, before he saw Sara as a substitute.”

“I can help with that,” Becca said. “I spoke to Gloria Redding just a bit ago. It took her a while to return my calls, as it was the middle of the night. She didn’t answer when I went to her door. Apparently she uses a heavy-duty sleep-aid. And if I’d been through what she had, I would too. Chad White was her son’s biological father, but she and Chad never married. Not because he didn’t try. Apparently, he tried very hard to move them toward a commitment...so hard that something about him scared her away. It sounds like she caught glimpses of the controlling man he really was underneath his charm. She kept on a friendly basis for their son’s sake.”

“And yet he killed her father.” Max shook his head. “Some friend.”

“Things apparently went down the tubes fast after their son died. Twelve-year-old Josh White had leukemia. Toxin started killing a couple months after Josh’s death last year.”

“Grief drives people to do some pretty crazy things,” Holt said. Sara took his hand. Yeah, he’d been through the hell of losing someone. But he’d come out even stronger than the man she’d fallen in love with years ago.

“And sometimes it leads you to do beautiful things,” Holt continued. “This man thinks he’s saving the world, doing a noble thing. In reality, he’s deluded in his grief. I suspect he’s also using drugs to numb the pain. That always complicates things.”

Noah nodded. “Henry admitted he makes a special concoction that Toxin requests regularly. It’s a drug that puts him in a trance-like state so he can tune out the emotions but hone his thinking.”

“And his thinking led him to kill seven people.”

“The first victim was Chad’s employer at Technological Innovations. Chad was hired to help with video game development there.”

“What about the others?”

Einstein frowned. “Dr. Sheila Brown was an oncologist at Mercy Hospital. She treated Josh White.”

“If you say you figured out Vic Three’s connection, you deserve a bonus,” Max said.

“I did,” Einstein said with a grin. “At least, I think so. A simple online search showed that Senator Beechum didn’t support the health care bill that would have given Josh more coverage.”

“But Josh died almost a year before Beechum was murdered.”

Holt shook his head. “Toxin started with the two people he felt personally hurt his son—Joseph Kurtz and Dr. Sheila Brown. Somehow, killing them wasn’t enough. To justify taking other lives, he adopted a hero complex, but that took some time. Eventually, he wanted to do what he thought was right and just for
society.
He likely saw killing Beechum as serving the greater good. And the resulting media attention fed his fantasy and his need to be acknowledged, because that’s what heroes deserve.”

“Josh White has a social media account. An active one, actually, despite his age and his death. I’m assuming Toxin took it over as a tribute to his son.”

“And a way to keep him alive,” Holt added.

“There’s a mish-mash of posts on Josh’s page. But I was able to search where Chad had searched and follow the links he’d clicked.” Einstein’s eyes lit up as he dove into a subject that clearly fascinated him. “He’d been searching the political postings. Sites that indicate what Congressmen have been voting on, and how. And sometimes he was extremely vocal about his opinions. There are forums out there where people can share their opinions, and Chad—posting as Josh—was vocal about his desire to change the level of health care available to kids in this country.”

“So how do we find him?” Damian asked.

“The CPD is scouring the neighborhoods around the Academy,” Noah said. “Knocking on every door. We did as much as we could last night, but now that the streets are clear, we can do much more.”

Einstein tapped on his computer keyboard. “I plan to search all the forums and do anything else I can think of online until something pops up. I’ll also work on cracking the video game, in case there’s a hint in there.” His eyes sparked with the challenge. It was the same spark Sara had seen in the boys’ eyes in Toxin’s lair the night before.

Max grunted. “Tough job. Good thing all those years of playing prepared you for this. To think you could have been out meeting people face-to-face.”

“You meet some pretty interesting people online,” Einstein said in self-defense.

Sara’s eyes widened. “You’re right. Theo and Chad were talking about that last night, and how Theo hadn’t recognized playing online with Chad because of his user ID.”

Einstein’s gaze was piercing. “Toxin didn’t happen to say what that ID was, did he?”

“Yeah, something about his son. JoshCW.”