Hours later, Alex pushed away from the table the men had set up in the back room of Iron Rack’s gym. They’d returned and ordered breakfast from the diner around the corner. None of them had cleaned up yet, other than washing their hands, and they were covered in varying amounts of soot, dirt, and blood. Yes, they were that hungry.
Alex had no idea how they were paying for this meal, but that wasn’t his problem.
Although it was still midmorning, it felt later. Possibly because he was so exhausted. Or maybe because clouds had chased the sun away. Either way, he wanted to sleep for a million years. But now that he was back with the group, he didn’t want to leave.
He didn’t want to be alone.
“I knew Zack wouldn’t pull that trigger.” Nate poured an insane amount of syrup on his seven-stack of pancakes. “Zack is too smart to fall for the Prince’s bullshit.”
Alex agreed. Although he also knew that sometimes the drive for revenge obliterated everything else in a man’s mind, hence the monster known as Remiel.
“I can’t believe the treasure was in the altar,” Pete said with his mouth full of bacon. “Who thinks of these things?”
“It’s craziness,” Cain stuffed his mouth with sausage biscuits. “And the woman with the scarred face was not only Remiel’s niece but Zack’s fiancée. That is messed up.”
Alex finished his orange juice. “Everything having to do with Remiel is messed up.”
The room went silent, probably because that truth meant Remiel wasn’t finished with the men of the Seventh Special Forces Group. While Nate picked at his eggs, Ty wiped his sooty face with a white napkin. Vane excused himself to use the bathroom. Luke moved asparagus around his plate like a three-year-old. Cain cleared his throat before drinking more water.
Finally, Nate said, “I wonder what’s on that thumb drive Alex found.”
Not found. Traded. For Isabel’s freedom.
Yeah, Kells was going to hold this one over Alex’s head for a long time.
“Probably shit,” Pete said as he ate more bacon. “No matter how close we get to finding intel, it always ends up as shit.”
“Maybe not.” Vane returned to the table and took more pancakes. “Alex let Isabel go for that information. It has to be worth something.”
Nate raised a glass with the fakest smile plastered on his grim face. “Let’s hope so.”
The other men chimed in with weak optimism. Alex didn’t have that kind of hope, but he’d still do it again. Letting her go for that flash drive was a chance he’d had to take. He, in all sincerity, hoped she’d gotten away. From the Prince. Kells. And Remiel. She was a coldhearted bitch, but she’d earned that truth the old-fashioned way—through abuse, neglect, and betrayal.
And Alex’s truth? He’d felt sorry for her.
After the hubbub over Isabel’s disappearance, they’d packed up their gear and left the isle just in case any cops or firetrucks arrived. Although, given the Savannah PD’s indifference to the isle in the past, Alex would be shocked if any cops showed.
While the details were being handled, Alex also knew that their actions today were superficial. Until they dealt with the emotional issues, nothing was going to change.
Remiel wasn’t going away.
“The Prince may have won this round, but Remiel didn’t lose,” Alex said. “According to Zack, Isabel took the witch’s examination’s appendix and the Pirate’s Grille when she kidnapped Allison. Now they, and Fenwick, are missing.”
“The treasure’s been found.” Luke used his fork to point at Alex. “The Prince has it.”
“As far as the world’s concerned, Henry Avery’s treasure is still out there. That means those documents will bring in a lot of cash. There’s no reason for the Prince to buy them since he has the treasure. But another buyer would be eager to pay…thousands?”
“I read online that together they’re worth millions.” Luke stabbed a sausage and ate it in one bite. “The question is, what will Remiel do with that money?”
Cain laid his head on his arms on the table. “Can we sleep now?”
Zack entered the room and beelined for the coffee. Once he had a full cup, he sat. His scorched hair hung around his shoulders, his dark eyes had a grayish veil over them, the lines around his mouth looked like someone had cut them out with a putty knife.
He’d showered and changed into jeans and a black T-shirt. White gauze covering cuts on his arms were a startling contrast to his dragon tattoo. He had butterfly bandages on one eyebrow, and his knuckles were bruised and swollen. “Allison and Emilie are both asleep.” He nodded toward Alex. “In our room.”
The men started asking questions and it wasn’t until they realized Zack hadn’t said a word that they went quiet. They had a friend—Doc Bennett—who doctored on the side. Kells and his men were just some of Doc Bennett’s off-the-books clients. Doc Bennett had already checked Pete out and praised Rafe’s combat medic skills.
Zack drank his coffee and started answering. “Doc Bennett says Emilie is in better physical shape. She’s dehydrated and has some cuts and bruises, and she’s exhausted. Although I have no idea what she suffered with the Fianna, so that’s a wait-and-see situation. Allison is dealing with smoke inhalation and dehydration. With rest and IV fluids, she’ll recover as well.”
The men offered a collective sigh of relief.
“How did this happen?” Nate asked. “How did Emilie end up on her way to Remiel and how did Allison end up in that church with her stepfather and Isabel?”
“Tracking device,” Luke said. “I did a sweep of Allison’s car once we got it back to the gym and found it under the back wheel well.”
“What about Garza?” Pete asked. “Has anyone heard from him?”
Nate shoved eggs into his mouth. “Garza is at the station and as we suspected no one was around to call in the fire. The Savannah PD, as well as the rest of the State of Georgia, has a hands-off attitude toward that Isle. The Prince took care of the guard Isabel killed, and there’s no word on Fenwick.”
“Isabel?” Cain asked. “If she’s still out there, we have to find her.”
“Agreed.” Nate used his executive officer voice. “Once the women recover and we sleep, we’ll come up with a plan.”
“No.” Zack stood and looked at each man directly. “Since Kells fired me, and I’m no longer part of the unit, finding Isabel is all on me.”
* * *
Allison rolled over in a soft bed and opened her eyes. The room was dark and not just because the lights were off. The half moon shining through the window told her it was nighttime.
Blinking lights came from the machine next to the bed. She was still hooked up to an IV as well as the pulse/blood oxygen monitor. Before the doctor had checked her out, she’d insisted on taking a shower and washing her hair. It wasn’t until she was rinsing the shampoo that she’d felt dizzy and nauseated. Luckily Zack had been close by to catch her and carry her to bed. Unfortunately, that also meant she’d fallen asleep with wet hair. Now it was a snarled mess.
She sat up in the twin bed in the tiny room and took off her oxygen cannula. She could make out duffel bags on the floor and an empty twin opposite hers. What she didn’t see? Zack.
She pulled the meter off her finger and got out of bed, holding on to the IV pole. She wasn’t brave enough to take the IV out by herself. Her feet hit a wood floor and the AC’d air left chills on her arms. She wore two hospital gowns. One tied in the front and one tied in the back. Beneath that she wore nothing.
After using the bathroom in the hallway, she was determined to go downstairs and find Zack. Except with every breath, she felt queasy.
“Whoa.” Zack came upstairs and hurried over. Carefully, so he wouldn’t dislodge her IV, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Once he placed her beneath the blankets and adjusted the IV pole, he laid down next to her. Because they were in a twin, she ended up curled around him.
“How’s Emilie?”
“She’s downstairs eating. She was scared, but now she’s angry.”
A sentiment Allison understood well.
“I explained as much as I could about Remiel and the Fianna and why we couldn’t go to the police. Surprisingly, she was okay with that. Fortinbras took decent care of her. He also told her a lot of what was going on—what happened to my men in Afghanistan—and how if she went to the cops, they wouldn’t believe her. And if the cops did believe her, it would put me, my men, and herself in even more danger.”
“She’s okay with all of that?”
“She agreed to keep quiet but gave me hell for not telling her about what had happened to us in Afghanistan and that I was dishonorably discharged. I reminded her it was classified. Still, she called me an obfuscating lout. I left the room before she threw a plate at me.”
Allison laughed for the first time in…she couldn’t remember. She had so much to say to him but her eyes refused to stay open.
He tucked her next to him, making sure her head was on his chest so she could listen to his heartbeat. “You need to rest.”
She yawned. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not telling you about the UVA position. For allowing you to find Emilie while believing I might leave you. I shouldn’t have left the house with Alex. I wanted to save you.”
“Shh.” He kissed her head. “You found my sister and the treasure. As for the rest, we’ll work it out. I’ve always liked Virginia.”
She chuckled, coughed, and closed her eyes, loving his warmth and his heartbeat.
“Allison?” His breath tickled her head. “Will you marry me?”
She raised her head. Even in the dark, she could see his glittering eyes. “Are you sure?”
He rolled until she was on her back and he was over her, propped up on one arm. His free hand smoothed stray hairs off her face. “Yes. I’m sure I’m asking you to marry me.”
She couldn’t hide her smile. “I’m afraid I may hurt you.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be enough for you. That makes us even.”
“You will always be more than enough for me.”
“No matter what happens, I will never leave you. Never betray you. Never let you go.”
She touched his face, covered in a day’s worth of stubble. “Yes, Zack. I’ll marry you.”