Fighting Chance (Misty Grove Book 1) (29 page)

“Hey!”

“What is wrong with you? Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with me? Kate’s gone! That idiot Montgomery let her go. Do I have to wait another twelve years to see my sister again?” Matt shouted. “And as if that’s not enough, I’m being investigated by the DEA...”

“The admiral said it was just—”

“... by a
damned woman whose guts I hate
! Ah, fuck,” Matt groaned and threw his head back on the couch, closing his eyes. “Go home, Cassie. Leave me alone.”

Cassie and Lucas exchanged shocked expressions. Matt disliked a lot of people and it seemed that sentiment was returned. He never got bent out of shape if people hated him, he never cared, so there was definitely more story behind this.

“Holy shit,” Lucas mouthed.

“I saw that.” Matt had opened his eyes, glaring at the twins as best as he could with still swollen eyes.

Cassie looked at the beer she took from him. Feeling guilty for all of two seconds before walking into the kitchen and dumping the contents into the sink. She did her sisterly duty. If Matt decided he wanted to grab another beer when she left, then that would be on him.
 

“I’m heading home,” Cassie said.
 

Matt mumbled a “good riddance.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Lucas said.

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”

“You’ve refused to go to the hospital,” Lucas told him. “You might have a concussion. I’m staying with you and waking you up every damned hour. So get comfy. I’m not fucking going anywhere.”

“Good luck,” Cassie mouthed at her twin. Matt could be real ornery when he was laid out. She should know since he’d had his fair share of broken bones and gunshot injuries.

“I saw that,” Matt mumbled.

Cassie smiled inwardly and a tad wistfully. Ornery or not, she loved him to pieces. Not all of them survived today. Kate would be haunted the most by Piper’s death. Hopefully, she’d realize she was in no way to blame. But Cassie prayed hard that she would return soon. Matt needed his twin. They needed each other.

She was about to leave Matt’s garage when Trent called to tell her that he was going to take another hour. It would give her enough time to get home and get cleaned up. Even though she’d managed to wash up a bit at the diner, with the air conditioner broken, it didn’t take long for her to get all sweaty and sticky again. If she had known she was staying this late in town, she would have showered at Matt’s. She couldn’t wait to get under a cold, cleansing spray and maybe she’d have time to fix a little midnight snack for Trent.

Smiling at the notion of domestic life, she parked the Silverado in front of the house, got out, skipped up the steps and paused. There was a darkened corner of the wraparound porch and she remembered distinctly that the motion-detection lights had been working in that section.

She was not alone.

Pia Larkin moved from the shadows toward her and she was holding a gun.

Cassie’s body stiffened with alertness. Her eyes assessed the condition of her unexpected guest and was surprised to witness a different personality. The woman in front of her was cold with a calculating gaze. A far cry from the compassionate and flirty nurse she had met at Trent’s apartment.

“Nurse Pia,” Cassie greeted cautiously.

A derisive smile twisted the other woman’s lips. “Dr. Deborah Stiles actually. Though I can’t say that’s my real name either. You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”

“The feds are looking for you.”

“Really? I’m quaking in my shoes.” The woman laughed shortly.
 

“Why are you really here?”
 

“Revenge.”

“For Monroe? Are you forgetting he’s the one who attacked our town?” Cassie exclaimed disbelievingly.
 

“My reasons run deeper than that, Scout. You look different now, but you weren’t always this way, were you? You used to be this little siren that lured men to bed before you killed them.”

Cassie felt the blood drain from her face and she felt lightheaded for a second. Images flashed through her mind. Memories. Memories she had learned to live with and accept, and yet at this moment, she wanted to throw up.
 

“Who are you?” She blinked at Deborah.

“You don’t know me, Cassandra Reed, but I know you,” Deborah said. “I’ve known of you for almost fourteen years, but this might ring a bell as to why I’m here.”
 

Two men dressed all in black, obviously her crew, dragged a figure from the woods surrounding the property.

“We know there are perimeter tripwires and cameras,” Deborah said. “You might want to tell your boyfriend to upgrade the system. Oh wait, you’re not going to see him again.”

Cassie barely heard her as her eyes focused on the severely beaten and unconscious man Deborah’s goons were holding.

John Crowder.

Oh no.

*****

After going several rounds in the conference room with all the agencies, Trent finally carved an hour to finish his own report. He wanted to put today behind him. He wanted a new dawn where his woman would be free from threats. Lockdown would be over for Cassie. He couldn’t wait to take her on a weekend trip to Atlanta, book them in a nice hotel, and eat at a fancy steakhouse. Cassie might take some convincing to dress up, but if she wasn’t comfortable, they could certainly do a more casual dinner.

There was a rap on his door. So many of his deputies had questions and needed guidance on how to handle their role in today’s events, so he’d left the door open. Right now Grimes stood there, shoulder against the doorjamb, eyeing him with amusement.

“Counselor, taking your turn to take a swing at me?”

“Don’t get smart with me, Sheriff,” the attorney said, taking several steps into his office but waved off Trent’s invitation to sit. “Do you know that ever since you took office, you’ve caused me more heartburn than anyone I know in three counties?”

“Could be trouble finding me, Counselor.”

Grimes snorted. “At least you played mostly by the book this time and no one is calling for your head on a silver platter.” He pointed at the conference room that abutted Trent’s office. “The guy in there? Porter? He managed to get the GBI and Internal Affairs off your back.”

“He does have a way of managing things.”

“Biker war and drug vendetta, huh?”

“Yes, it was.”

Grimes sighed. “I know when to back off, but can you please swear that we won’t be seeing the FBI, DEA, ATF, and especially the CIA anytime soon at our county offices?”

“Yeah, working on that.” Trent rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I had to reschedule Homeland Security. With what happened today, biker drama or not, it may fall under domestic terrorism. I’m not looking forward to that meeting.”

“Well, you know where to find me if you need advice.”

“Sure thing, Counselor.”

Grimes bumped into the admiral who was unusually in a hurry when he entered Trent’s office.

“Pack up. Let’s go,” the admiral ordered brusquely.

Trent’s eyes narrowed as a seed of panic started to take root in his gut. In the short time he’d known Porter, he’d never seen him in a rush, so he didn’t question the admiral’s demand.

“What’s going on?” Trent shutdown his laptop.
 

“I’ll tell you on the way,” the admiral said as they strode through the hallway straight out the back exit. “When was the last time you’ve spoken to Cassie?”

“Maybe five to ten minutes ago. She was about to leave Matt’s garage,” he replied as he fought to remain calm. “You better tell me what the fuck is going on.”

Since Cassie had his truck, they got into his assigned cruiser. Trent started the vehicle then called her.
 

“I’ve made some inquiries into Pia Larkin. Her name is Deborah Stiles,” the admiral informed him as they pulled out of the parking lot. “She has a PhD in Bioengineering from Leeds and was at the top of her class. This would explain how she landed a job with Xavier Sanchez.”

Trent cursed because he couldn’t get a hold of Cassie.

“No luck?”

“She’s not answering. I’m calling Lucas,” Trent said. “So Sanchez corrupted her? Enticed her with the ultimate genetic marvels of Enhanced Soldier subjects.”

“That’s my initial conclusion.”

“Lucas,” Trent said when Cassie’s twin answered the phone. “Can you go over to my house and check on Cassie. Something has come up. It could be nothing but just be cautious.”

“Damn,” Lucas muttered. “Will this ever be over?”

“Hopefully, it’s nothing,” Trent repeated and hung up.
 

“As I was saying, that was my initial conclusion,” the admiral said. “However, one would wonder how she’d integrated herself so easily into Monroe’s confidences. I’ve done my research on the man and he’s not one who trusts easily, especially when he’s supposed to be dead. The next logical step was to delve into Deborah Stiles’s finances, and that’s where I uncovered something disturbing.”

Trent’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.

“She’s pretty well-off financially, but the question was where was the money coming from? I put my best hackers on it and they’ve uncovered a whole new persona to Deborah Stiles.” The admiral exhaled heavily. “Her real name is Ariana Stefani. Her father was Albanian mob boss Petro Stefani, who was on the CIA’s kill list.”

Trent’s blood ran cold. “Cassie’s first kill.”

“She told you about it?” There was disapproval in the admiral’s tone.

“You’re telling me now, so does it fucking matter?” Trent snapped as he tried to call Cassie again. It just went to voicemail. “Fuck! You think she’s going after Cassie?”

“Yes,” the admiral stated bluntly. “We’ve traced funds coming from that account and it has helped us uncover our leak in Devlin’s prison security. The traitors are being apprehended as we speak and those idiots don’t know they could be charged with treason because Devlin intended to unleash a biological weapon on U.S. soil. I could go into further details, Trent, but it’s becoming crystal clear that Dr. Deborah Stiles, also known as Ariana Stefani, is the mastermind behind everything. She manipulated everyone starting with Deuce, Riley, Sanchez, Devlin, and Monroe. I don’t know why she didn’t kill Cassie when she was in a coma, but something tells me she’s out of options and is desperate. This is her last chance for revenge.”

Trent didn’t respond, but he did press his foot harder on the gas.

*****

Headlights lit the driveway as a vehicle rolled closer to the house.

For the longest seconds, Cassie feared it was Trent and he was going to walk into an ambush. She debated whether to jump Deborah, but then would her henchman finish off John?
 

“Don’t worry, it’s one of mine,” Deborah interrupted the gears working in her head. “I’m not repeating Monroe’s mistake and hanging around. I don’t want trouble with the law.”

Cassie wanted to point out that she was kidnapping the sheriff’s girlfriend.
 

The dark-colored SUV pulled up beside the Silverado and turned down its headlights.

“Leave her alone. Please,” John croaked, finally regaining consciousness. “I was the one who betrayed your father.”

“But she made him bleed to death,” Deborah snapped.

“Your father was a pervert who preyed on young girls,” Cassie pointed out.

“He was still my father, but what would you know about the love for a parent?” The woman smiled derisively. “You’re nothing but a lab experiment. An abomination that should have been put down.”

Cassie snorted. “And yet you’ve aligned yourself with people who wanted to exploit my kind.”

“And look where they are now? Dead.”

“Didn’t you betray Xavier Sanchez?”

“He was stupid not to accept Monroe’s help in the first place.”

“Sanchez was just second choice, wasn’t he?” Cassie speculated. “You and Monroe were in cahoots from the beginning. When you couldn’t get Sanchez to cooperate with Monroe, it was imperative to spring Dr. Devlin out of federal prison. And with everything that went down in the Route 11 debacle that exposed Sanchez, he became a liability.”

“Monroe is dead because of your kind!”
 

“No. He’s dead because of many things. Greed, his thirst for power, but his biggest downfall was his pride. If he hadn’t gone after Matt and just focused on me, it would have been an easier and less messy affair, and he would still be alive.”

“Shut up!” Deborah’s face reddened with anger.

“You’re in love with him. Your plans for revenge changed and you can’t kill me, otherwise you would have taken me out when I was in a coma.”

“Well, he’s dead now, isn’t he? Just like my father.” She stepped toward Cassie. “I’ll admit, making you my lab rat had its appeal, but not anymore.” She gestured with her gun. “Let’s go, and don’t try anything stupid or John gets it first.”
 

Cassie took her time descending the steps, all the while assessing the situation. Deborah behind her with a gun, two men on either side of John, both armed with a 9mm with a secondary firearm probably tucked away unseen, plus the driver. She did have a tracker on her, but her gut told her Deborah wasn’t going to keep her alive for long.

“Why not finish me off here?”

“Too messy.”

“You think Trent won’t pin my disappearance on you?”

“He won’t be able to find me, honey. I’ll be long gone,” Deborah snapped, getting irritated. “Stop stalling and get moving.”

As Cassie passed John, who was still kneeling between the two men, he inclined his head slightly.

Dammit, John
. He was going to do something heroic, and Cassie had to be ready to back him up. Just when she and Deborah passed him, a scuffle erupted behind them. All Cassie needed was a split second of Deborah’s inattention and she brought her elbow swinging up under the other woman’s chin, stunning her. She quickly twisted one of Deborah’s arms behind her and had a tight grip on the hand holding the gun, which was now pointed under the woman’s chin.

“Drop your weapons!” Cassie shouted.

John had managed to wrestle a gun away and was on his back on the ground pointing his gun at the disarmed henchman. Unfortunately, the second man had the gun pointed at him.