On the Isle of Grace, Zack stared at the church across the street knowing he needed a plan. ASAP.
Unfortunately, at that moment he had nothing close. He couldn’t even confirm that Allison or his sister were in Saint Mary of Sorrows or even on the isle.
He left his hiding place behind a shed and returned to where he’d parked on the back side of Mamie’s Café, across from the church. The roof of the café, a former Texaco gas station, gave them a perfect vantage point from which to gather intel. The cloudy night had that blessing/curse thing going on: it hid him well but randomly obscured the moonlight and everything else.
He had to admit that he was surprised by Vane’s decision to tag along and that he’d taken charge of the aerial recon on the café’s roof. Then again, just because he sucked up to Kells and could be extremely entitled and annoying, that didn’t make him useless. The truth? Vane was, and always had been, a powerful, professional soldier who could do the hard things and be counted on when things got hot.
Zack found Detective Garza resting his elbows on the top of his car and staring at his phone. “Do you have a connection?”
“Nah.” Garza slid his phone into his jacket pocket and opened his car’s trunk. “The cellular is spotty and I can’t believe this place doesn’t have Wi-Fi.”
“There’s not enough people in this town to make it worth the cost.” Town being a generous description, since it consisted of Mamie’s Café, a modular shed for hurricane evacuation supplies, the rectory/sheriff’s office, and the church.
Pete climbed off the café’s roof. “I don’t see any perimeter guards.”
Zack hadn’t either. And that just added to his stress. Were they not in the right place?
Garza dug into a duffel bag in his trunk and dragged out a rifle with a scope. “These clouds are going to keep it darker than normal when dawn hits.”
Zack took the shotgun. “There’s a parked SUV near the rectory, and I thought I saw brief flashes of light inside the church.”
But they’d disappeared in the space of a blink.
“Dudes!” Vane’s head popped over the edge of the roof. “You need to see this.”
One by one, they climbed the exterior metal fire escape ladder to the second story. Zack slung the shotgun onto his back and went last. Once on top, he crawled to the edge overlooking the church on the other side of the street. He lay between Vane and Pete while Garza crawled to the corner.
Pete took Vane’s binoculars. “What are we looking at?”
Vane pointed to dark woods behind the church. “Lights in the far side of the churchyard.”
Garza used his rifle’s scope to survey the area. “I don’t see anything.”
Pete held the binoculars up to his eyes. “Nope.”
Zack took the binoculars and looked for himself. Nothing.
Garza crawled closer to the men. “Now what?”
“Dudes!” Vane took back his binoculars. “There are lights deep in that cemetery.”
“We have to get a visual,” Zack said. “I’ll go first. You three stay up here and I’ll use my flashlight to signal. One light means danger and I’m coming back. Two lights mean all is clear.”
“I’m coming too,” Pete said. “You always need backup.”
Vane swung his rifle off his shoulder. “I’ll cover you. Garza can cover Zack.”
At least they had a plan. He had no headspace right now to consider the fact that this was a waste of time.
* * *
Isabel stood inside Mercy’s crypt and held her breath while Clayborne and the guards struggled to move the two stone coffins. The guards had opened them, but they’d been empty. Not filled with bones or dust or remnants of clothing. Just…empty.
Now the men were moving the coffins so they could see what was beneath. The tomb’s floor was made of stone, but there had to be a way to dig.
The treasure had to be here.
While they worked, she used her flashlight to check out the angels. They were the only other things in the room, but they didn’t appear to be made out of anything other than marble.
“Isabel.”
“Keep looking.” She’d never trusted Clayborne. He was as evil a monster as Remiel. She’d just not expected him to challenge her outright. That meant she had to kill him. She coughed and covered her nose and mouth from the dust and mildew.
“Ugh.” One of the guards pushed hard and a coffin finally moved. And beneath it? The same stone floor she stood on.
“Use the sledgehammer and break up the floor.” She took a breath to steady her increasing heart rate.
“It’s not here, Isabel.” Fenwick wiped his brow with his arm and tossed the digging stick down. It hit the floor with a loud clang. “It’s time to leave.”
She glanced around the tomb again. They only had a few flashlights. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t seeing what was probably in front of her.
“Did you hear that?” One of the guards pointed outside.
She turned to Clayborne. “Allison—”
“Bound and locked in that church. We need to take care of that problem and leave. Cut our losses.”
“No.”
Clayborne waved his hand in disgust and left the tomb.
Unfazed by his attitude, she picked up the sledgehammer and started hammering the floor until one of the guards offered to do it for her. “It has to be here.”
Her life depended on it.
* * *
Zack ended up behind a tall limestone column, shotgun ready, breathing heavily. A few yards away, he saw faint lights moving in a large tomb with Isabel and two guards inside.
Pete whistled from his position three feet away behind a tree. They were going in.
Zack led the way until they took up positions on either side of the door. From his vantage point, Zack could see one guard trying to move a coffin while another took a sledgehammer from Isabel and struck the floor.
Pete threw a rock into the tomb, hitting the wall, and all three looked up.
Isabel pointed to the guard. “Check that out.”
When the guard came out, Zack hit him with the butt of his shotgun and dragged the unconscious body behind the tree. Luckily, the guard had plastic zip ties in the pocket of his combat pants, and Zack borrowed them. After securing the guard, he motioned to Pete by raising one finger at a time.
One. Two. Three.
Zack and Pete raised their weapons and entered quickly, with Zack ordering, “On your knees. Now.”
The guard dropped the sledgehammer and fell to his knees, hands behind his head.
Isabel, on the other hand, stood there with her hands on her hips. Disgust lined her beautiful face. “What the hell is this?”
Since Pete covered the guard, Zack focused his aim on Isabel. “This is me telling you to get on your damn knees.”
Isabel’s eyes widened. Then, slowly, she moved toward him. “No man says that me.”
Before Zack could respond, Isabel drew her gun and fired at Pete and the guard, then pointed her gun at Zack.
The sound reverberated through the stone room, leaving Zack with ringing ears and flooding his veins with adrenaline. Nate had said she was a quick draw, but Zack hadn’t believed it. Now they stood opposite, weapons aimed at each other. Her pistol against his twelve-gauge loaded with buck shot. At this proximity, they’d both be dead in a second.
Pete dropped and rolled to his side; blood soaked his T-shirt. “Fuck.”
“Brother?” Zack adjusted his grip on the shotgun. He’d already hesitated once because he didn’t want to kill a woman, but he would if he had to.
“It’s not fatal,” Isabel said. “But he’ll bleed out if you don’t help him.”
“I’ll be okay.” Pete gasped. “The guard is dead.”
Zack sneered. “You shot your own man?”
“I killed your leverage.”
Because that’s what these games between the Prince and Remiel and Kells were always about—leverage.
“Drop your weapon, Isabel. End this now. Tell me where Allison and Emilie are, and we’ll help you get away from Remiel.”
She laughed and moved toward the open door. His aim followed her. “You’re insane. No one gets away from Remiel. Just ask Kells.”
“Isabel—”
“No, Zack. You have a choice. Come after me or take care of your man.” She took one step out of the tomb. “I wonder what it will be this time? You have a history of seeing to your own needs before those of your men.”
“Don’t listen to her.” Pete struggled to sit but he ended up on his side. “I’ll be okay.”
Isabel smiled and took another step back into the darkness. Then another and…she disappeared.
“Fuck.” Zack took off his T-shirt and pressed it against Pete’s wound. The bullet had skimmed the side of his chest. It wasn’t serious, but it was bleeding. “Hold this.” Zack muttered curses. He was such a pussy. He couldn’t even shoot a woman.
“Go after her.” Pete coughed and tried to roll into a ball.
Zack swung the shotgun onto his back, then the rifle, and dragged Pete until he stood with his arm over Zack’s shoulder. “We’re either walking out of here, or I’m carrying you.”
“Walking.” Pete pressed the T-shirt to his side and grunted. “You don’t lift like you used to. I don’t want you dropping me.”
Zack adjusted Pete’s weight and the weapons and headed out into the dark. “Maybe if you didn’t have me taking stupid-ass refresher self-defense classes—”
“Says the man who”—Pete paused to spit—“can’t shoot a woman.”
“So true, brother.” So very fucking true.