Alex shoved the box into his brother’s closet in the Mills House Hotel suite and dialed Nate. When Nate didn’t answer, Alex left a detailed message and hung up. Then he returned to the living room to finish the dinner he’d ordered from room service.
Even though he was stuck here, with Marcellus in the hallway guarding the door, the information he’d just learned was worth being traded for the women.
Finally, just as Alex stacked his dishes on the tray, Marcellus opened the door and Aidan walked in. Although he wore a suit and still appeared tall and strong and formidable, there was a tiredness about him that Alex hadn’t seen the other day.
“My lord,” Marcellus said to Aidan. “Your brother has returned.”
Aidan dropped a leather briefcase on a polished credenza. “Thank you, Marcellus.”
Marcellus left and Alex said, “You heard what happened?”
“Yes.” Aidan went for the bar and opened a bottle of water. “You gave yourself up to save those women. Commendable, yet as usual you acted without understanding the consequences.”
Alex sat on the couch and propped his boots on the coffee table. Now that his stomach was full, he yawned. “I’m not interested in another lecture on my lack of impulse control.”
“You can’t lack what you never had.”
Alex clasped his hands behind his head. If Aidan was going to lecture, then Alex was going to respond with insolence. “I saved them.”
“You put them in even more danger.”
“Horseshit.”
“Do you know where the women are now?”
“On their way to Savannah where the great Kells Torridan can protect them.”
“They were until they were intercepted by Isabel Rutledge. Now they, along with your buddy Zack, are missing.”
“Wait.” Alex stood. “What?”
“Isabel has Allison and has sent Emilie and Tarragon to Remiel. My guess is that by dawn, they’ll be dead.” Aidan pointed toward a door across the room. “Get some sleep. You’re going to need it.”
“Aren’t we going after the women?”
“No.” Aidan headed in the opposite direction, toward his own room.
“You and Kells are so much alike it’s weird that he’s not your brother.”
Aidan came back, anger flashing in his eyes until his phone rang. He answered on the first ring. “Yes?”
Aidan’s face turned red. “I’ll be in touch.”
After he hung up, Alex pressed even though he shouldn’t. “Who was that?”
“Kells.” Aidan headed for his room until Alex grabbed his arm.
“What’s wrong?”
“Kells has one of my warriors. If I want him back, I have to give Kells what he wants.”
“What’s that?”
“You.”
* * *
Zack paused near an oak tree. Horatio had been hunting Zack for miles.
Zack’s lungs ached and his legs felt like they were going to fall off. He pressed his forehead against the bark and took in as many deep breaths as he could in the shortest amount of time.
I have to keep going.
Except the problem was he had no idea where. His only hope was to find a river or a road he could follow. He took in more breaths and listened to the sounds around him. When he didn’t hear anything, he moved again. A hundred yards later, he noticed a road.
A light flickered ahead and he ran. A car sat on the side of the road. Its headlights were off but a man with a flashlight was searching it.
Horatio?
Zack crouched while Horatio went through the car. It wasn’t until Horatio moved to the trunk that the flashlight lit up the back bumper. A silver Honda Accord with a Nicholas Trott bumper sticker.
Allison’s car?
Horatio shut the trunk, leaned his ass against the metal, and held his cell phone to his ear. He held the car keys in his other hand. “I’ve lost Tremaine yet have reclaimed Lady Allison’s carriage.”
Where was Allison?
“Isabel has Lady Allison?” Horatio closed his eyes and responded, “Yes, sir.”
Horatio hung up and went around to the driver’s side door.
Zack picked up a dead branch and came up behind Horatio. Horatio turned just as Zack swung. The branch hit Horatio on the temple and he fell to his knees.
Horatio recovered enough to grab Zack’s legs and throw him to the ground. The force knocked the air out of his lungs. Horatio straddled Zack and swung a right hook into Zack’s jaw. Pain shot through his head and his vision starred. He reached for the nearby branch and swung again, knocking Horatio off. Zack straddled Horatio and threw so many punches he lost count. He only stopped because his fist had gone numb and his arm hurt like every bone had been broken.
Zack rolled off, his chest aching as he dragged in oxygen. He placed his palm on his own heart and discovered he was hyperventilating. Between the running, the fighting, and the worrying, he was a mess. Here he was, a former Green Beret, lying on his back in the middle of a rural road, barely able to breathe.
Hooah.
When Horatio groaned, Zack got to his knees and found the flashlight beneath the car. In the process, he found the car keys and discovered the front side windows had been smashed. He had to get himself together. Allison was missing and he had no idea where she’d gone. And what was he going to do with Horatio? Zack could leave him in the road, but that seemed cruel. Even for a Fianna warrior who’d been nothing but a pain in Zack’s ass.
He used the car to pull himself up and found a dog leash in the trunk. After tying Horatio’s hands behind his back, and spending another ten minutes dragging the enormous man into the back seat, Zack brushed away the safety glass and got into the driver’s seat. Luckily, he’d found a bag with water bottles and snacks. He also had Horatio’s cell phone, but it was locked. “Horatio? What’s your phone’s password?”
Horatio tried to spit at him.
Zack thought about everything he knew about Horatio. The man ran around hitting people, kidnapping women, and spouting Shakespearean verses.
Of course.
Zack used the keypad to spell out a word and…it unlocked! Since Nate wasn’t answering his cell, Zack called the gym’s phone.
“Hello?” Nate’s hesitant voice came through in pieces, probably because there was little cell service.
Zack put the phone in the cup holder and drove. “It’s Zack. I found Allison’s car. I’m thirty minutes away.”
“Allison called me earlier. She was with Emilie and another woman. I gave her directions to the gym, but we have no idea what happened to them.”
“Isabel has Allison. I don’t know about Emilie.” Zack blew out a breath. Knowing Emilie was free of the Prince was a huge relief. But the fact that she was missing again made him feel even worse. “Pete and Garza?”
“They arrived with a Fianna warrior as hostage. Kells is concerned.”
“Tell Kells I’m making it a twosome. I have Horatio.”
“Great.”
“What about the fact that Kells fired me?”
“Don’t worry about that. Drive safely and get back ASAP. We’ll figure out what to do next. Rafe just left to meet a contact. He’s hoping to find something out as well.”
“Thanks, brother. I’ll see you soon.” Zack tossed the phone out the window and sped up. The phone probably had a tracking device.
When Horatio moaned, Zack glanced in his rearview mirror. “Hey, Horatio. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Horatio raised his head and dropped it again.
Zack readjusted the mirror and thanked God for the gift of stupid cell phone passwords like Hamlet.
* * *
Allison couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t move. But she could smell the distinct odor of gasoline.
Her frozen body refused to move and not just due to her bound hands, gag, and blindfold. She was also squished between two armed guards. It felt like she was trapped beneath ice, flowing with the cold current yet unable to let anyone on the surface know she was alive. The rag in her mouth made it impossible to swallow. She was completely immobile. She was shocked that she’d even dozed off.
Find a path back.
She moved a finger, but her hands, tied behind her back, had gone numb.
Slowly, she flexed each toe. At first, only her big toe twitched. Then feeling returned to her feet. As her body released the paralysis, she realized they were still driving and she’d no idea where they were going.
“The truck has arrived at Remiel’s safe house,” Isabel said softly from the front seat. “How many gas cans did you bring?”
“Four,” Fenwick said. “Are you still reading that book?”
“Yes. I found documents folded in the back. They’re the photocopied eighteenth-century records Stuart showed me proving that Thomas Toban bought two headstones in St. Philip’s a few days after Mercy and Henry disappeared. One with a broken daisy carved on the front, the other with a skull and crossbones.” Her sigh carried a bitter edge. “Forgeries, probably made by Hezekiah, to keep me away from the Isle of Grace.”
“You betrayed Stuart, Isabel. You lied about working for Remiel and why you wanted Stuart to find those documents. Then you threatened Allison’s life. What did you expect?”
“He loved me.”
“Not enough to give you the treasure,” Fenwick said.
“Be. Quiet,” Isabel said.
“Sooooo.” Fenwick elongated the word as if trying to change the subject. “When we get there, what do we do?”
Allison leaned forward slightly.
“My guess is that Henry Avery had Thomas Toban and Joshua Linguard manage a project that hid the treasure.”
“Except,” Fenwick added, “if I were an evil pirate like Henry Avery, once this project was done, I’d kill everyone involved, including the manager and the builder. Since I’m also a paranoid fuck, I’d kill my lover and use her as a fifolet.”
Allison heard the sound of flipping pages.
“Fifolets are mentioned a lot in this book,” Isabel said. “If Henry Avery killed Mercy to protect the treasure, he may have also killed Joshua Linguard. Two murdered souls doubled the protection.”
“And the treasure?”
“I assume buried beneath Mercy Chastain.” A book slammed shut and Isabel said, “Once we get there, we look for her grave. Ten thousand pounds would buy a hell of a mausoleum.”
“We have to dig up a woman who’s been dead over three hundred years? Whose spirit might be a vengeful ghost?”
“You’re afraid of vengeful ghosts?” Isabel’s laugh sounded almost cruel. “The man who killed his own brother, married his brother’s wife, and allowed his stepson to drown because he had proof of his father’s murder? The man who stole the Witch’s Examination of Mercy Chastain on the day of his brother’s funeral, hid it for sixteen years, only to allow his lover Tarragon to steal it from him? The lover who was not only his wife’s acolyte but is about the same age as his stepdaughter?”
“Yes.”
“Henry Avery isn’t the only evil fuck in this story.” Isabel paused. “Tarragon was right. You do have deep undercurrents.”
They continued talking, but Allison was shaking so hard it was hard to concentrate.
Fenwick had killed her father and Danny?
She struggled not to vomit into her gag.
“Turn onto that dirt road,” Isabel said many minutes later.
The car stopped, and the guard dragged Allison out of the back seat with the warning, “Fight me and I kill you. Got it?”
Allison nodded and walked with him. The ground beneath her sneakers felt sandy yet gravely. The acrid smell of marsh mud, with a hint of pine and gardenias, burned her nose.
Finally, the guard said, “Sit.”
Her legs stiffened and she sat on something hard and cold.
“Stay,” the guard added.
“We need to search the cemetery for Mercy’s grave.” Isabel gave the guards more details and finished with, “Clayborne, the guards and I will search while you watch Allison. And turn off those damn tree lights.”
Allison heard the sound of boots breaking twigs and walking away.
“Allison,” Fenwick said in a voice that reeked of snarl, “if you promise not to move, I’ll take off your blindfold.”
She nodded. A moment later, she blinked to adjust her eyes. It’d been black behind the blindfold. Fenwick had left the flashlight on top of a tomb, and she could see she was in a cemetery she didn’t recognize with a small white church behind her. The one visible side was dominated by three arched windows flanked by enormous shutters, and someone had strung white lights through the trees.
Construction equipment was lined up nearby, along with a generator and red gas cans. In the distance, she saw flashlights leading deeper into the churchyard.
Something rustled and she looked down. A water moccasin glided by. She whimpered and lifted her feet onto the tomb. She hated snakes.
“Where am I?” She tried to speak through the gag but her words came out garbled.
Instead of responding, Fenwick zip-tied her ankles together, retrieved his flashlight, and disappeared through the back door of the church. A minute later, the tree lights turned off, leaving her in darkness.