Chapter Sixteen

 

 

Becca sat down at the table and stared at the mug in front of her.

“It’s not poisoned or anything,” her red-haired captor said. “It’s Earl Grey. It’s all they have. I’m afraid this place isn’t well stocked. It’s beautiful and remote, but not a lot in ye old pantry, hence the Earl Grey but without milk or sugar. Someone better go find that or we’ll have trouble later.”

Like she was going to touch anything these people gave her. “Not a problem. I can absolutely get that for you.”

“Tough girl,” the woman said with a nod. “I didn’t expect that.”

She’d woken up an hour before to find herself in some kind of prison. From what she could tell she was in a cabin, and they weren’t in the city anymore. It was dark outside. She hadn’t had the chance to run because the redhead had been there when she’d woken up. She’d been told to do whatever she’d needed to do in the bathroom and then come with the woman.

Now, here she was sitting at a folding table across from a woman she’d never met. A woman who had a gun in a shoulder holster. She wasn’t trying to hide the fact. That gun was there as a warning. Or maybe they believed in foreshadowing.

Becca forced the bile down her throat. Her hands were still shaking. “What kind of sedative did he give me?”

“The kind that works,” Red shot back, opening a file folder. “Sorry, I don’t know what Dante puts in those things. I’m a little worried that he carries them around. Have you had any problems with serial killers in the last couple of weeks?”

Becca simply stared.

“Too soon? Okay, let’s get down to it. My name is Erin and I’ll be your interrogator this evening.”

She was so not interested in sarcasm. “I’d like to see a badge.”

“I bet you would. We made damn sure you wouldn’t.” Erin sat back. “Would it surprise you to know that there’s a warrant out for your arrest? This is a copy of the legal paperwork that would have been shoved through court in order to quickly push your extradition to the States through.”

She looked down at the papers. They didn’t make a lick of sense. Why would she be arrested? And why would anyone want to extradite her? She wasn’t a lawyer, but it looked like she might need one. Lawyer Larry would come in handy now. “I’d like a lawyer. I don’t think I should say anything else until I talk to one.”

“I’m sure we’ll get you an attorney if it comes down to that,” she said. “Unfortunately, we’re in Canada and I don’t know a ton of people in Canada, so we’re going to have to work on it. Next time you get in trouble do it in Dallas. Or London. Or New York. Mostly any place but Canada.”

“Who are you?” It was obvious this woman wasn’t with the police.

“I told you. I’m Erin. I work with a group of former military and intelligence officers who investigate bad shit that happens. Sometimes we work with the Agency. Sometimes the Agency sucks and we find ourselves on opposite sides, like tonight.” She slid a photograph across the table. “Have you ever met this man?”

She shook her head, but not in response to the picture. She didn’t bother to look at it. “I want to leave this place. I want to make a phone call and have my boyfriend pick me up. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I want no part of it.”

“I’m sorry for the way we had to bring you in, but if we’d left you there, you would be in police custody right now. That warrant is real. We barely managed to get you out in time. There’s nothing on the news yet, but I imagine they’ll have to say something at the foundation tomorrow to cover up why you’re gone. I’m interested to see how they play that one, but we’ve had to pull our guys out so we’ll hear secondhand.”

“Your guys?” She was confused. More than confused. “Look, if you aren’t the cops, then I want out of here. I want my phone.”

“You’re not going to listen to me, are you? I told them it wouldn’t work and we would have to bring the big guns in, but do guys ever listen? Nope. Sometimes I think they’ll try anything besides a woman’s very reasonable suggestion just to try to prove me wrong.” Erin’s lips curled up. “Yeah, I bet you will, baby.”

That was when she realized Erin was wearing a small device in her left ear.

Someone was listening in. A cold chill went across her skin as she glanced around the room. The small room was sparse, with only the table and three chairs to decorate it. Except for the cameras mounted in either corner.

What the hell was going on?

Was Reasor somewhere in this cabin? Was he the one who’d decided to play this game with her? She hadn’t woken up the way she had the last time. Whatever he’d given her that night had produced the worst dreams of her life, dreams of never-ending pain and torture. She could still remember the day. Unless…

“How long was I out?” Could she trust anything this woman would say?

“A couple of hours.”

“What day is it?”

Erin frowned and managed to look slightly concerned. “It’s the same day, Dr. Walsh. It’s eleven o’clock on Friday. You didn’t lose a day.”

Then it had to have been a different sedative since the one Reasor had given her the first time had caused her to forget a whole day. One minute she’d been walking in the cafeteria and then…then she’d had her time in hell.

“All right. Let’s start with the basics,” Erin said. “Would you like to explain how a little over one million dollars was funneled from your research accounts at Huisman to your charitable organization?”

The bottom threatened to drop out of her stomach. “What?”

Erin flipped a folder around and pointed to what appeared to be copies of bank drafts and a report. She recognized the name. Phoebe Murdoch. Owen’s Phoebe. How had they gotten that report? Were they watching Owen, too? Had she gotten him involved in her problems?

“This is a report from a forensic accountant,” Erin explained. “She managed to track the funds from the account at Huisman to a Swiss account. Naturally we can’t know who owns that account, but I find it interesting that the money was then transferred from that account into the account your charity uses in the form of several large donations.”

She was going to be sick.

“Take a deep breath,” Erin said. “If you go, I’m sure to go, and I’ve done my vomit-time today.”

She barely managed to keep it down. “I didn’t take any money. I sure as hell wouldn’t take money from my research account. I need that money.”

“Everyone needs money.”

“I don’t. I have what I need. I don’t need to steal.”

Erin’s shoulders moved up and down in a negligent shrug. “As it so happens, I agree with your assessment. This is a setup. It’s been going on for over a year. Do you have any enemies?”

It was a harsh word, and not one she’d ever thought applied to her. “Enemies? Of course not. I’m a doctor.”

“Trust me, I’ve met a doctor who had enemies. I was her enemy. She’s not here anymore,” Erin said, an odd pleasure to her tone.

This was a dangerous woman. A predator. She was probably the kind of woman who worked with a man like Steven Reasor. “You work with him, don’t you?”

“I work for a couple of men,” she said. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Dr. Reasor.” She said his name, forced herself to say his name. “I assume he’s why I’m here.”

“The Dr. Reasor who worked with Dr. Hope McDonald?”

They were going to dance around the subject? “Yes. I saw him today. Is that why I’m here? He was supposed to be dead.”

“How did he die?” Erin asked.

Frustration threatened to well over. “He didn’t since he was in my building earlier today.”

“Who told you he died?”

She wasn’t playing this game. “I’m done. I want to make a call.”

“Who are you planning on calling?”

“My boyfriend. He’ll come get me.” She needed to see Owen. Tears pierced her eyes and she fought hard not to shed them.

“Are you sure about that? It might be better to leave him out of this,” Erin replied. “I’ve found that bringing men into a situation does nothing but complicate things.”

Becca stood up. “Fine. Shoot me, but I’m leaving. I’m not playing this game with you and I won’t let that man hurt me again. I won’t. Owen will look for me. He’s probably looking for me right now, and he’s smart and strong. He’ll figure out where I am, and then you should watch your back.”

A look crossed Erin’s face. It almost seemed like sympathy. “Things aren’t always as they seem, are they, Dr. Walsh? Remember that.”

The door opened and her heart threatened to stop. Owen was here. She didn’t even think about it. She threw her arms around him and sobbed. He was here. She was safe. He’d come for her and now he could figure this whole terrible situation out and they could go home.

It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t hugging her back. She clung to him and he was simply standing there, his arms at his sides.

She looked up, and his face was an icy mask. “Owen?”

“Dr. Walsh, if you’ll take your seat we can continue.”

She stepped back, feeling the tears coursing down her cheeks. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

His voice was as cold as the look in his eyes. “I didn’t want to give up my cover, but it’s obvious to me you won’t cooperate until you realize no one is coming for you. I know you won’t believe me, but we saved you earlier today. You might deserve prison, but we won’t be the ones to put you there. You have information we need. Cooperate and this will be over soon.”

“I don’t understand.” She didn’t seem capable of moving past those words.

He took a seat beside Erin. Like the redhead, he held a file in one hand. He placed it on the table in front of him. “Sit down, please. You won’t be allowed to leave. I’m with a group investigating Dr. Hope McDonald.”

“You said you were with a security company.” The words felt dull in her mouth. She had to force herself to say them. Her whole body felt numb in a way that had nothing to do with the sedative she’d been given.

“I am,” he admitted. “And I’ve certainly done bodyguard work before. However, that wasn’t the focus of this job.”

It was beginning to penetrate her brain. “No, I was the focus.”

“Yes,” he agreed as though he’d never touched her, never put his mouth on her, never held her all through the night.

He’d done all those things, but now she understood that she’d been a job to him. Nothing more.

She was still sleeping. That was it. This was a dream and she would wake up and Owen would be beside her in bed. She would tell him about the dream and they would laugh. He would make love to her again and she wouldn’t go to Casa Loma. She would stay with him.

She would wake up soon.

“Dr. Walsh? Becca?”

She turned to him and sat down. It was okay because this was all a dream and she had to get through it. “Why are you here?”

“Because you worked with a woman named Hope McDonald. Because she was working on a drug that erased memory and acted as a time dilation mechanism. Because Hope McDonald tortured at least fifteen men, ripping their memories and lives from them, and I think you helped her do it.”

“Time dilation?” It was a theory, that drugs could trick the brain into thinking more time had passed than had in reality.

If someone was administered a time dilation drug, he or she could be tricked into feeling as though days had passed in a moment’s time. Whatever was being done to them under the influence of the drug would seem to go on forever.

Like what had happened to her.

She couldn’t stop it now. She wasn’t dreaming and she hadn’t been back then. It had all been real. What she’d gone through had been real.

Pain flared through her as she hit the floor hard. She crawled to the trash bin in the corner and emptied her stomach.

“Fuck,” Erin said before the door opened and slammed closed again.

“Becca? Becca, let me help you.” Owen was on his knees beside her.

But she wouldn’t accept his help. She wouldn’t accept anything from him again.

She was alone, and she had no idea what he was going to do to her.

Becca held on to the trash bin and prayed she made it through the next couple of hours.

 

* * * *

 

Owen had never felt so helpless. He tried to touch Becca, wanted to help her, but she shrank back from him.

She’d gone so pale. What had he said that made her go so pale?

You told her everything was a lie, arsehole. You ripped the rug from under her feet and you’re surprised she fell?

She looked up at him. “Get out. I don’t want you here.”

He stared down at her. “Rebecca, you’re sick. It could be a reaction to the sedative. I’m sorry about that. He wasn’t supposed to do that unless it was absolutely necessary.”

“It’s not the sedative,” she said, her skin pale. “It’s being kidnapped. It’s finding out you’re an asshole. Go away.”

“I’ll get you a cold rag.” Wasn’t that what she needed? Nick’s wife Hayley was pregnant and he always got her a cold rag when she was feeling sick to her stomach.

He turned and walked out the door, careful to lock it. She was sick, but she was strong, too, and he wouldn’t put it past her to try to run.

“I need Tucker,” he said. Becca was sick. She needed a doctor and they were three hours away from Toronto. Tucker would have to do.

“He’s about fifteen minutes out. I just got off the phone with Sasha and he said there’s something wrong with Tucker.” Jax glanced up from his laptop. He’d set up in record time. The living area of the cabin they’d rented was covered in high-tech stuff. The minute they’d gotten here, they’d set up security equipment and then the interrogation room where Becca was currently shaking.

He’d made her sick. He’d seen the minute she’d realized he hadn’t come for her, that he was the enemy. A light had died in her eyes.

Ezra strode in from the kitchen carrying a can of soda. “Erin wasn’t lying about the sympathetic nausea thing. Theo’s locked up in the bathroom with her. Where is everyone?”

When they’d realized what Green was planning, they’d scattered. Erin and Theo had gotten the cabin, and along with Jax and River, had gone out to open it up. He and Ezra had gone to the Huisman building to collect Becca. Dante, Sasha, and Tucker had handed her over and then gotten in their own vehicles to throw off anyone who might be following them.

“Robert’s driving Ariel and Nina in, but they’re about an hour out. Tucker dumped his truck. Dante and Sasha have him. They should be here any minute.” Jax stood up, looking at Ezra. “You know we don’t have long. Green is going to figure out where we are and he’ll come after all of us. If it comes down to it…”

Ezra put a hand on Jax’s shoulder. “If it comes down to it, you take River and that big mutt of yours and you run. Go to Bliss. They’ll protect you.”

Jax took a deep breath. “Ezra, I don’t…”

The boss shook his head. “You owe your wife everything. I know these men are your brothers, but you made vows to River.”

Hadn’t he made vows to Becca? Not the legal kind, but his body had made a promise to hers. He’d made promises to her. He’d done it with kisses and caresses and words. He’d told her he would take care of her.

And he’d fucking done it. He’d ensured she didn’t end up in Levi Green’s hands. What else was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to forgive her for what she’d done?

“I’m not going anywhere,” a soft voice said.

Jax turned to where his wife stood, Buster sitting at her side. “You damn straight will if this goes to hell. I might have to stay. I might have to deal with the fallout of what McDonald made us do, but you will be safe in Bliss if I even get a hint that Green is on his way.”

River simply joined him. “I believe the words for better or worse were spoken. You’ll find I take those words seriously.” Her face fell as she looked at Becca. “Oh, what did you guys do to her? I told you putting Erin on her was a mistake. Can I go talk to her?”

Ezra shook his head. “Absolutely not. I’m not happy that Owen went in there. We have no idea how she’s going to react or how deeply she’s involved in this. Until we figure out her place and where that box is, I would prefer we keep her exposure to the team to a minimum.”

“She has to know Robert’s involved,” River pointed out. “And if you’re planning on questioning her and letting Ariel talk to her then she’s going to know Jax and I are involved, too. Or we just had a dinner party where we happened to invite the whole team investigating her.”

“She’s got a point,” Jax said.

Ezra cursed under his breath. “Fine. You can talk to her, but later. We need to ask her about the box, but first I would like to know why she mentioned the name Reasor and what she knows about him.”

“Damn it. Does Tucker know she mentioned that name?” Owen asked.

It was Tucker’s greatest fear, that he was the man mentioned in Hope McDonald’s private notes, the man named Reasor. The trouble was Reasor apparently had a nickname among McDonald’s less savory associates. He’d been called Dr. Razor because he cut so deep. Ever since the day a mercenary had called him that, Tucker had been dreading finding out anything about his past.

“I don’t know,” Ezra said. “He didn’t say a word when we picked her up, but then we had to move quickly. I assume we’ll discuss it when he gets here. Now, we have to go back in there and get her talking. So unless you want Dante or Sasha in here questioning her, it’s got to be you and me. Can you handle this?”

No. He wasn’t at all sure he could. He’d nearly broken down when she’d asked for him, and when she’d shuddered in his arms he’d felt her relief at seeing him. It had taken everything he had not to wrap his arms around her and tell her it would be okay. It had been easy to be cold until he’d seen her in Dante’s arms. He’d carried her out the back even as the police had walked in the front, and that fucker Green had been with them. They’d managed to get her out with mere moments to spare.

He’d taken her from Dante’s arms and held her in the back of the van Ezra had driven. All the long drive, he’d held her close and gone over all the reasons he should strap her in and stay away from her. She’d lied. At best she’d been quiet about a project that hurt people. At worst, she’d known exactly what she was doing.

It hadn’t mattered. He’d been the one to carry her into the cabin they’d found. He’d been the one to lay her down on the bed, and he’d sat there until he’d noticed she was starting to wake.

Now he was the one who couldn’t stop wanting to hold her.

“She needs some time.” He looked down at Jax’s screen. She was sitting with her back against the wall, tears streaming down her face, but there was a stubborn set to her jaw. She was weak but she wasn’t out. If he had to bet, he would say she was scared.

“We don’t have time. I think we need to be ready to move in forty-eight hours tops,” Ezra said. “If we decide she’s worth the risk, we’ll take her with us. If she can’t help us, we’ll leave her behind.”

“For Levi Green?” The thought sent a wave of anger through him. “I’m not allowing him to arrest her. We have no idea what he’ll do to her. Or rather we do. He’ll take her someplace where he doesn’t have to follow Geneva Convention rules.”

Ezra’s gaze was steady on him. “Then we should get her talking.”

He got it. He had a day or two or Ezra would force them to leave her behind. Just moments before he might have agreed with that plan, but seeing that look in her eyes…he wasn’t sure what he was doing. He needed to be cold.

“Be honest with her,” River said. “I’ve been where she is, and Jax didn’t win me back by being a bastard.”

“I did it with sex,” Jax admitted with a grin.

River’s eyes narrowed on her husband. “You did it by convincing me you loved me.”

“I don’t love her.” Owen couldn’t love her. It would be dangerous to love her. Dangerous for her. Damn dangerous for him. He couldn’t love the woman who’d had a hand in doing this to him and his brothers. She couldn’t love a man who’d betrayed his team.

River looked at him, disappointment stamped on her features. “Then be kind to her because it’s the right thing to do. Having some kind of revenge on her won’t help any of us now, and yes, it’s easy for me to say because I’m not the one who lost her memory. But it’s still the truth. I know that if I was in her position, you would have two choices. Convince me to help you by showing me your cause is just. Or torture me until I have to talk.”

“No one’s bloody well touching her.” The words came out before he could think about them.

River and Jax shared a look. Yes, he’d just given away more than he’d wanted to.

There was the sound of a car coming up the gravel drive and it had Owen reaching for his pistol.

Buster sat there and thumped his tail.

“It’s fine,” Jax said, looking down at the monitor. “It’s the boys.”

Ezra unlocked the door and Dante strode in followed by Sasha and Tucker.

“You will have to talk to him,” Sasha said, shaking his head. “He’s now absolutely certain he’s a serial killer.”

Dante huffed. “So much drama. If you were a serial killer then be happy that now you are not. Stop whining about it or I might become the serial killer.”

Tucker’s jaw was tight. “She knew me. She took one look at me and she ran. How could we have been wrong about that? She called me Reasor.”

“Hutch checked on the passports Hope might have used on each of you,” Ezra said. “It’s obvious we missed something. But we couldn’t find any evidence that a doctor named Reasor ever set foot in Kronberg. That name isn’t on any accounting or human resources documentation. As far as we can tell, Dr. Reasor never existed.”

“Except I did,” Tucker insisted. “McDonald erased me. She erased my memory and then she got rid of my existence.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Ezra replied. “She didn’t have that kind of power.”

“But she worked with people who did.” Tucker was pacing the floor, his hands shaking slightly. “She worked with The Collective. They could do things.”

“It’s very difficult to completely erase a person,” Ezra said quietly.

“You don’t think we’ve pointed this out to him?” Dante sank down to the couch. “We spent hours on the road trying to explain this to him. But he’s right about one thing. She was terrified of him.”

He had a few words to say to Dante. “Maybe she should have been terrified of you. Did you even think before you sank that needle into her neck? You had no idea what kind of reaction she would have to that drug.”

If it bothered Dante at all, he didn’t show it. He merely shrugged and sat back. “I decided she would react more poorly to being taken into custody.” He frowned suddenly, looking to Ezra. “I had no choice. I had very little time to make a decision, and if you’d seen her, you would have done the same thing.”

“She wasn’t in her right mind.” Sasha backed up his friend. “I’ve seen people with that look in their eyes. She was ready to fight like a wild cat, and she wouldn’t have listened to reason. Dante did the only thing he could.”

“Don’t do it again,” Owen warned.

Dante’s eyes flashed. “You’re not in charge of me.”

He needed to make a few things clear to the man. “I’m bloody well in charge of her, and you’ll do well to remember it.”

Dante sent him his middle finger. “Fuck you, Shaw. You shouldn’t be here in the first place. I should have known you would take her side.”

“She was there,” Sasha argued, pointing toward the screen that showed Becca staring at the door as though wondering when they would come back, what they would do to her. “She was in that lab. No one who wasn’t there would have said those things. She worked with McDonald. Hell, she worked on Theo and you’re defending her?”

“We don’t know what she did there.” It was perverse, but he couldn’t call back the words. He was well aware that moments before he’d made those arguments himself, but that was before she’d cried in relief at the sight of him.

“We know that she ran away and never spoke of the experience,” Sasha said. “If she found out what was happening and she didn’t tell the world, she’s just as guilty as McDonald.”

“We have no idea why she ran, if she ran,” he shot back.

“He learns,” River said.

Those words seemed to stop everyone in the room. They all turned and looked to River.

“I’m the only one here not so involved in this that I can’t see straight,” River said, her arm going around her husband’s waist. “I understand that you heard a couple of sentences she said, and you’ve found her guilty without even asking her the questions. Ask her why she walked away, and don’t do it like you’re the damn police. You’re not. Tell her who you are. Explain to her why it’s important that she tell you the truth.”

“And if she’s still working with them?” Ezra asked.

“Then we’re not any worse off than we were before. If she’s working with them it doesn’t matter if I walk in there and offer her a drink because they already know who I am and whose side I’m on.” River looked to Owen. “I understand that I’ve never been in your position. I haven’t been through what you have. I didn’t lose what Erin did. But I do know where Becca is, and if you want to have any chance that she’ll end the night helping us, don’t walk in there as avenging angels. Owen, walk in there and explain why you did it. Tell her you didn’t mean to hurt her, but you got in deep with her. Let Jax explain how he lost his family. Let Robert talk about how hard it is to have no idea who he is. Tell her your story. And then listen to hers. That’s the only way we’ve got a shot at getting that box.”

“She was terrified, Owen,” Tucker said, his face grim. “Have we considered the fact that it might not have been McDonald and the drug who made her run? It might have been me. I need to know. I need to know if I’m some kind of monster.”

He turned to his friend, trying to let what River had said sink in. He’d gone about this all wrong. He’d heard a few words and declared her guilty without even asking what had happened and why. Tucker couldn’t make the same mistake about himself. “You are not a monster.”

“How can you know that?” The question sounded tortured coming out of Tucker’s mouth.

“Because I know you. I can’t begin to understand the forces that shaped you before you lost your memory. I can’t say who you were then, but I know the man you are now. I know the man who those forces didn’t touch. This is who you are without the influence of anything else. That’s not right. This is who you chose to be despite the pain she put you through. When you had your mind erased, when you were tortured and forced to do another’s will, this is the man you chose to be. Kind. Helpful. Hopeful in a way I try to understand so I can find it for myself. Tucker, we need to figure out who you used to be but only because it could help us move forward in clearing your names. Not so you can pay for some crime you committed for reasons you’ll never remember. This is who you are. That person, Dr. Razor, he’s dead and he’s not coming back. You’re Tucker. You’re who you are right now, and that’s a man I’ll fight beside. That’s a man I’ll let watch my back. That’s a man I’m proud to call my brother.”

Tucker looked up and there was such determination in his eyes. “Back at you, brother. Now listen to River and maybe we can save this thing. Maybe we can save a lot.”

He turned to the door that separated him from Becca and wondered if there was anything left to save at all.

“All right,” Ezra said with a nod. “We’ll try this River’s way. She’s right. She’s the only one who knows how it feels to be Rebecca right now, but we have to be careful. If she won’t tell us where that box is, we could lose our shot at what’s in there. I can’t imagine Levi is giving up.”

Levi Green would never give up, and now he had to wonder why Levi had sent them here at all. Were they still falling into a trap?

And how much would it cost them?

He took a deep breath and walked through the door.