A few minutes later, Allison found Zack grinding his teeth in front of the open gun cabinet in the pantry. The men had packed up Stuart’s hunting weapons, and she’d drawn Zack a map of the hidden gate near the river that would get them onto the Fenwick Hall property.
“Zack,” she said softly. “What’s wrong?”
He placed ammo boxes on the counter. “Nothing.”
She knew that wasn’t true because in the last few minutes, he’d been terse and distant. “I know something’s—”
He slammed the door and faced her. His clouded eyes were filled with hurt and anger. “Why didn’t you tell me you were considering that UVA job? Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving Charleston?”
She swallowed and licked her lips. “How do—oh. My phone.” She’d left it on the desk right after they’d voted to save Emilie, and he probably saw the text that’d come in from her UVA colleague. It’d been filled with excited emojis. “It’s not decided yet.”
“You haven’t asked me if I’d go with you.” He gripped the cabinet handle and his knuckles whitened. “Does that mean you haven’t decided whether or not to break my heart?”
“No. I mean…” She clasped her hands behind her neck and stumbled over her words. “I don’t know what I want.”
He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. “Then let me remind you.”
His lips met hers with force, like a silent plea to be seen, to be understood, to be loved—a plea she wasn’t sure, right now, she could answer.
When his lips softened, she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. She might not know what she wanted, but she knew who she wanted—her wild man.
Zack ended the kiss, picked up the ammo, and left the room.
She followed him, but by the time she got to the foyer, the men had left, slamming the door behind them.
She blinked to clear her blurred vision and locked the door.
“Where’s Nicholas Trott?” Alex asked when she entered the study. He sat near the window, reading a book, with her handgun on a nearby table.
“Spending the night with Susan and Mrs. Pickles.” Allison touched her lips and moved to the window. The garden lights were on, but it was dark outside.
Zack’s kiss hadn’t just been forceful yet gentle. It’d been…fearful.
It’d been a silent plea to wait.
While she wanted to go after him now, she knew it was best if she stayed behind.
At first, she’d been annoyed that he hadn’t wanted her to help save Emilie, but while watching the men—professional soldiers—organize their mission with such efficiency and calculation, she’d realized she’d only be in the way.
Besides, she had the feeling Zack needed to save his sister without her.
“Zack was a sourpuss before he left,” Alex said as he turned a page.
She crossed her arms tightly around herself. “He found out I’m considering a teaching position at the University of Virginia.”
Alex moved toward her and stared into the garden as well. “Are you leaving Zack behind?”
“I don’t know.” She pressed her fist against her forehead. “It’s a great job and a chance to start over again. I also know Zack has commitments to his men in Savannah. I don’t want to hurt him, but I honestly don’t know if I want him to come with me. All I do know is that I want to find Emilie and end this nightmare.”
Alex’s breaths sounded harsh. “Can you guess what the problem is with running away?”
She shook her head and brushed away a stray tear.
“You take yourself with you.” Alex bumped her shoulder with his. “I speak as a man who’s run away and been put away.”
She exhaled heavily. “I don’t know what to do.”
“In a situation like this, you’re not supposed to. And while I hate to break up your personal pity party, we have real things to worry about. Like Zack leading an operation with no idea what he’s walking into. Hell, for all we know, there could be a company of Fianna warriors there protecting Emilie.”
She hit Alex’s massive bicep with her small fist. “Why didn’t you say something?”
He didn’t even have the decency to rub his arm like it hurt. “Zack is a Green Beret. He’ll figure it out. Unfortunately, he’s almost out of time.”
She swallowed back the tears that made her vision blur. She hated that she was such an emotional mess. “Do you think Kells meant it when he told Zack not to come back?”
Alex shrugged. “Kells gets frustrated when men don’t do what he says or question his orders. The irony is he’s known in SF circles to be calm, cool, and completely in control. Since the discharges? He’s been under tremendous stress and acting like a dick. Probably because he’s beholden to this super-secret contact who’s keeping his men out of prison. Being an ass is his way of coping.”
She could see why a man like Kells might act like that. And she could also see why Zack would chafe. “I think Zack is trying to redeem himself. To prove he’s not a coward.”
Which was crazy because he was the bravest man she knew.
“Probably. Male pride and all that.”
She gave her most dejected sigh, went to the desk, and found Stuart’s planner. “Alex, what did you find at the Charleston Architectural Board?”
Alex came to the desk and shoved the envelope containing the appendix and homemade Pirate’s Grille into the tote bag. “Stuart borrowed a book, Notorious Pirates and their Secrets, 1650–1781. It hasn’t been returned, so he must’ve put it somewhere.”
Allison flipped through the planner. “I’ve not seen anything like that in the house.”
“Maybe at his office?”
“No. The bank delivered…” A flash of heat rushed through her body. With shaky hands, she dropped the planner and grabbed Alex’s wrist. “Get your gun.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to Pirate House.”
* * *
Zack led the way through the woods around Fenwick Hall, trying not to worry about Allison’s text. Not only was he shocked by her consideration of that job, but his heart was shattered. Even though they’d never once talked about their future past the Fianna-driven deadline, he’d just assumed…because he was a selfish bastard.
When was he going to remember that about himself?
Why wouldn’t she take the job? Why wouldn’t she leave all of this heartache behind?
Why wouldn’t she want to start a new life with new people in a new state?
While a part of him wanted this opportunity for her, another part knew the futility of running away. Hell, he was living that futility every moment of every day.
Including that exact moment, as he dodged a spiderweb only to step near a nest of copperheads.
He moved carefully, silently ordering himself to let go of his worry about Allison. He had to keep his focus sharp and his physical responses sharper.
He held up a hand and stopped behind an oak tree fifty yards from the barn. Pete and Rafe squatted nearby. Garza waited on the causeway, where they’d hidden the truck. Being a cop, they decided it was best for him to stay as far outside of this operation as possible.
Their other concern was Rafe. He’d gotten no information from the Fianna about this situation. They had no idea what they were walking into, how many—if any—Fianna guards were there. Yet if the warriors discovered Rafe was helping Zack, the Prince could rain down hell.
“Getting here,” Pete whispered, “was too easy.”
Zack glanced at Pete and Rafe. Since they both wore black combat pants, black T-shirts, field jackets, and boots as their regular-day dress, they were more prepared. This wasn’t the first time he’d ended up running an op with little preparation, wearing jeans and carrying borrowed weapons. But he was determined to make it his last.
“I agree,” Rafe said.
Allison had been right about the opening in the ten-foot-high wall surrounding Raven’s Retreat. What she hadn’t mentioned were the brambles, snakes, or spiders.
“The only cameras are on the front gate and the trees down the driveway,” Rafe said. “Which is strange.”
“Allison said her mother and Fenwick rely on the walls, the river, and the impassable land for protection.”
Pete peered into the dark. “Is this place really a cult?”
“Yes.” Zack wished they had night vision, but they’d have to manage with two flashlights they were hesitant to use. Luckily, the half-moon’s reflection off the river provided ambient light. “Fourteen men and twenty women live here with Rue and Fenwick.”
“That’s fourteen men too many,” Rafe said. “Still, I don’t see any of them. There were no guards at the front gate. No perimeter patrols. Something doesn’t feel right.”
Zack pointed to the barn near the river. “Pete, you and I will get into the barn. Rafe, you stay behind as watch. Signal if anyone shows up.”
“What if there are warriors inside?” Pete asked Rafe.
“Pray. Kneel. Submit.”
Zack nodded. “Let’s go.”
A few minutes later, Zack opened the combination lock and led Pete inside the barn. There was no movement, no sounds other than the river lapping at a faraway dock.
“What’s that smell?” Pete whispered.
“Herbs.” Like the last time he’d been there, he smelled lavender and licorice. Unlike last time, the fan sound was off and the upper door was no longer barricaded.
Once they cleared the bottom floor, they met at the steps. Zack went upstairs first and used his rifle to push open the unlocked door. He went in, surveyed the scene, and exhaled.
“Well, shit,” Pete muttered.
A lit flashlight lay on the floor, beneath a blanket, giving off a muffled beam. A mattress in the corner had a plate of food next to it. Pete picked up a newspaper. It was the same one Emilie had held in her proof-of-life photo.
They heard an owl hoot twice. Then a third time.
Pete gripped Zack’s shoulder. “That’s Rafe. We need to leave.”
Emilie was gone. Zack had failed. Again.
“Come on!” Pete dragged Zack down the stairs and stopped.
Two flashlights came on, blinding them. Zack raised his hand to shade his eyes, and one of the lights lowered enough for him to see the situation.
Horatio and another warrior he didn’t recognize blocked the exit.
Horatio turned off his light and came forward, his gun’s red laser sight pointed at Zack’s chest. “Offer your swords to Fortinbras.”
When the red laser sight from Fortinbras’s gun hit Pete’s forehead, Pete threw down his rifle. Zack tossed his on top.
Horatio raised an eyebrow.
“Fuck.” Pete pulled out his pistol and knives and tossed them.
Zack did the same. “Now what?”
Horatio pointed to the door. “Now, you attend us.”
Fortinbras came over with plastic zip ties and bound Zack’s and Pete’s wrists behind their backs. Fortinbras gagged Pete with a blue bandana.
Before Fortinbras could gag Zack, he demanded, “Where’s my sister?”
“Safe for now.” Fortinbras shoved a gag into Zack’s mouth and dragged him toward the door. “Although you may have forsaken Lady Emilie’s life because you’ve chosen to fight instead of search.”
“Fuff foo.” He tried to kick Fortinbras only to trip and fall to his knees.
Fortinbras yanked Zack up and pain ripped through his shoulder. He ground his teeth on the gag. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of a grunt.
Horatio walked ahead with the flashlight until they reached a white van near the river. He opened the back and forced Pete in. Then Zack. Not an easy thing to do when one was bound and had to hop in ass-first.
Horatio pushed Zack, and he landed on his side. It wasn’t until he managed to get into a seated position that he saw Detective Garza, also bound and gagged, a few feet away.
Horatio sat on a bench bolted to the wall and pointed his gun at Zack. “Pray that your love will find the pirate king’s treasure in time.”
The door slammed, and Zack kicked the metal door, leaving a dent the size of a cannonball.