Dead No More (27 page)

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Thursday, October 2, 10:39 p.m.

D
EREK
YANKED
OFF
the needle cover, tapped the syringe twice and then looked down at his boss. “Sorry about this.” He shoved the thick needle into John’s chest and drove the plunger down, watched as the serum vanished.

Gasping, John’s eyes bulged, and then he went limp.
Shit
. Derek pressed his fingers to the man’s neck, felt a faint but steady pulse. He pulled John out of the chair and threw him over his shoulder, fireman-style, and headed for the elevator, gun up.

The elevator opened in the lobby and Derek stepped out, his radio crackling to life. “I have John. He needs a medic.”

“Copy that,” Marcus’s steady voice confirmed. “Coming in now.”

“Also, Gina isn’t our victim.” Derek lowered John to the floor, propping him up against the wall. “She’s involved somehow in this whole thing.”

“You sure?”

Derek slid his hand behind his body armor, winced. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Well, isn’t that a bitch.”

Derek looked down at his boss, wondering if he’d make it.
That was putting it mildly.
He checked his gun, crouched down next to John.
“Has Lily che—”

The sharp crack of bullets being fired cut him off, the sound of his worst nightmare.

Derek took off at a run.

* * *

R
OWLAND
LUNGED
,
AND
THEN
his body bucked. His eyes widened. He stumbled back, dropping to his knees. He looked at Lily, his eyes glazed with surprise, and fell onto his face.

Lily tried to clear the fog in her brain. She needed to get out, find Derek. Now. She stumbled toward the door, then stopped as a subtle flutter in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She turned, the abrupt movement tilting the room on a crazy edge.

Jackson moved from the shadows and stood over Rowland’s body.

The bottom fell out from under Lily.
Son of a bitch.
She scrambled to the far side of the room and shoved her back into the corner, raising her gun.

“Easy, Lil.” He stepped closer, his hands up. “Take it easy.”

Why was he talking to her like they were something other than enemies? “Don’t tell me to take it easy. You killed my friend, you bastard. There’s no way Rowland would have known where to find me, find George, unless
you
told him. George’s death is on you. You may as well have held the knife yourself.”

His brow wrinkled. “I didn’t...”

Her hand trembled. Her heart followed suit. “Bullshit.”

“Lily, I didn’t compromise your location.” Jackson ran both hands over his head and stared at her, confusion in his face. “Why would I do that?”

She grasped the butt of the gun with both hands. “Why would you do any of the shit you’ve done?”

“What I’ve done? I would never do anything to hurt George.” Jackson’s voice rose. He shook his head and his face dropped, a pained expression flashing through his eyes. “I’ve done nothing but try to
protect
you ever since you blew into Rowland’s sights at that damn gala.”

Protect her? What the hell? Lily blinked, her guard splintering. “
You
were the waiter in the hallway?”

Jackson nodded. “I tried to tell you to back off, to get out of town. I tried.”

She bit her lip...to stave off the advancing blackness, help her focus. She’d seen that same look descend when they’d lost their teammate in Afghanistan. Maybe he hadn’t gone rogue.
No.
She shook her head. “All lies. I should’ve known.”

“You don’t know anything,” Jackson snapped, his tone harsh. “I didn’t disclose your location to Rowland, and I didn’t betray you.”

“You didn’t—” She choked on the bile that rose in her throat. “You threw me out a three-story window. I almost died. How the hell does that not constitute a betrayal?”

“I knew the Dumpster was there.”

She felt like she’d been sucker punched. What was he talking about? Did he really think she’d buy that bullshit?

“There’s no way you could have known that.”

Jackson held his hands out in front of him, almost as if in a peace offering, and took a step toward her. “Lil, I put it there.”

Her mind raced as she backed away from him. “Move one more step, and I swear, I’ll blow your head off.”

“No, you won’t. Despite that brilliant countermove at your loft, I know you. I trained you. And I know you won’t shoot to kill.”

“Don’t push it.”

“Listen to me. I had to disappear. Had to go silent.”

Lily shook her head. The numbing effect waned, and pain fought for its rightful place once more. Her vision swam. “What are you talking about?”

His face pinched together. Regret pooled in his eyes. “I couldn’t let them question your innocence.”

“My
what
?” Her heart constricted. What was he trying to tell her? That he’d done all this for her? Her lips trembled. “Why’d you have to disappear? Nothing of what you’re saying makes sense.”

“I caught wind of ARME’s secret undertaking. When I brought it to the director, he agreed we needed to make a move, but it came down the line that the government’s hands were tied. If I went in alone...” He shrugged, pleading with his eyes. “The message was clear. If we wanted to bring them down, neutralize the threat, I had to go off the radar.”

She blinked hard. His story matched Derek’s version.
Perfectly.
Was Jackson telling her the truth? Had he really done all this out of duty? Did that mean...

Her stomach flip-flopped. Did he still love her? She shook her head.
No.
It didn’t matter.

For all she knew, he’d bugged every place she loved: her home, Ben’s, Keystone.

“You still left me. You still committed treason.”

He tipped his head to the side. He looked ten years older now, his face drawn. “Did I?”

Lily didn’t know what to believe. Truth. Lies. They all blended together to make one royal mess.

Two soft pops echoed in her ears at the same time Jackson’s body bucked. Slowly, he dropped to the ground. Crimson stains spread across his chest.

Ducking behind the desk, she glanced around the room. Nothing.
Was their sniper back?
Lily kept her head low and rushed to Jackson’s side. As she knelt, she pressed her fingers into his throat, searching. A thin, erratic heartbeat thumped against her skin. He was still alive.

Barely.

“Stay with me.” She held her hands against the holes in his chest. Blood seeped between her fingers. “Don’t die on me now.”

Despite the fact that Lily wanted to take Jackson down, she didn’t want it to happen this way. She didn’t want him to bleed out in her hands. Warring emotions sparred within her brain, and Lily was suddenly very tired, and very freaking confused.

Jackson reached up, covered her hands with his. “Lil, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t talk.”

He pressed his hand against her cheek. The familiar touch sent her senses reeling. Tears blurred her vision.

“I didn’t betray you.” His hand dropped to his side. He coughed, and a thin line of blood trickled out from the side of his mouth.

“Shhh.” She cradled his head. “Don’t talk.”

“I didn’t betray you, Lily. I love you.”

Lily hung her head. Rebellious tears sprung to her eyes. All signs pointed to this man committing treason, betraying her. Could they have been wrong? Could
she
have been wrong?

“Jackson.”

“I had to leave you. It destroyed me. But it was the only way to keep you safe.” He laughed, and blood spilled from his lips. “I misjudged her.”

Her?

Lily frowned. She stroked Jackson’s face, his stubble scratching her skin. “Rowland’s dead.”

“Yes, but he isn’t your problem,” a female voice said behind them. “I am.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Thursday, October 2, 10:43 p.m.

D
EREK
BOUND
UP
the stairs, taking two at a time, switched channels. “Ben, I need a location on Lil. Where is she?”

“We’re still flying blind out here.”

Shit
. “Copy that. I’m headed up to the executive level, sweeping level two first. I could sure use some cover.”

“Say no more. On my way.”

Derek cleared the second floor, every cell in his body on high alert. Rowland. Jackson.
Gina
. Derek didn’t know where the truth forged into lies.

What a fucking mess.

* * *

C
ONFUSION
WASHED
OVER
Lily as she glanced over her shoulder. Gina Elsworth walked out from the shadows, her gun trained on Lily.

“Never send a man to do a woman’s job.”

Gina noticed Alyssa’s wasted body, her throat sliced open, and clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, shaking her head in disgust. “What a waste of money. I sent her in to spy on Rowland for me. Clearly, she couldn’t cut it.” Gina laughed, high and slightly crazed, at her own twisted joke.

Lily glanced over at Alyssa, then quickly back at Gina.

Her spy? What the hell?

Lily positioned her body between Gina’s gun and Jackson. She was no longer sure whether or not he was a traitor, and she wasn’t about to let Gina kill him. Especially if he turned out to be innocent.

“How did you get here? The police? You’re supposed to be at the house, with Ben’s—”

“I called the police, told them not to come. It’s amazing what powerful people like me can get away with. And those men you stashed at my house?” Gina laughed. “Well, let’s just say they will no longer be of service.”

“Well played, with the scared little wife act.” Lily stood and raised her gun. “Clearly, I underestimated you.”

Gina wasn’t a victim. So was she working with Rowland? Or Jackson?

“You did. But don’t kick yourself. Everyone does. How else do you think I could puppeteer all the men in my life? They think I’m weak, small-minded. Timid. When the truth is, they are.” She tipped her head, made a soft clucking sound with her tongue. “Always thinking with the wrong head.”

“It was my plan from the beginning. Rowland was supposed to set it up with his contacts, but he botched the timing. My poor excuse of a husband was supposed to be at home with the kids, not me. The Black Cobras weren’t supposed to kidnap John. They were supposed to kill him and those brats. Apparently they couldn’t deliver.”

Kill them?
Lily glanced between Rowland’s corpse and Gina. “You put a hit out on your husband and your children?”

“ARME was supposed to be mine. Clear and free.
But my father refused to let me run the company alone.” Gina waved the gun in the air. “Something about him not thinking I could handle the temptation of power, or some other psychobabble bullshit.”

Lily studied Gina’s face, the crazy glint in her eyes. Her father had been on to something.

“So I married the son my father always wanted. And waited. I never wanted to play house with the husband and those annoying brats. But I did. I bided my time, waited for my father to die, then went to take what was rightfully mine. Only the joke was on me. The company would never be mine.” Gina sat on the edge of the desk and trained her gun on Lily’s chest. “That’s when I sought out Rowland and invited him to join us.”

“You brought Rowland in?”

“He promised to get rid of my problem. In exchange, I would give him access to our weaponry. For a price. I thought we’d come to a mutually beneficial understanding. Until he tried to sell the technology out from underneath me to that one.” She motioned to Jackson with her gun.

“When I found out that he’d betrayed me and discovered his misguided plan to avenge his family using
my
company by raining hellfire down on the United States, well, did you honestly think I’d let that madman cripple the very country that’s made me rich? Hardly. What do they say?” Gina tipped her head to the side, pursed her lips and looked off into the distance, almost as if she were searching for her next words. Gina’s eyes refocused, and she trained the gun squarely on Lily’s chest. “Ahh, yes. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

Lily stared.
The woman’s lost her mind.

“I wanted them both dead, so I followed Rowland to his meeting.” Gina laughed again, the sound harsh and wild. “Imagine my surprise to find
you
perched on the roof.”

Gina was their sniper? Lily’s head spun. Gina must have known who Lily was at her house. Was everything dripping from this woman’s tongue a lie?

“Then the bastard had the audacity to try and double-cross me.” Gina’s top lip curled. “Didn’t see that coming.” She looked at Rowland’s body. “Such a shame. He was beautiful. And incredible in bed.”

Lily shuddered. His brutality could hardly be classified as incredible.

“Which you know firsthand.” Gina glared at Lily. “Don’t you?”

Lily’s skin crawled. The woman was a lunatic.

Gina pushed off the desk. “But his usefulness ran its course. If your knight in shining armor hadn’t gotten to him first, I would’ve enjoyed killing him.” Her face darkened. “No one double-crosses me.”

Gina paced. Lily peered past Gina’s shoulder and prayed Derek would walk through the doors.

Keep her talking.

“So what? You kill your husband, your children, and take over the helm?”

“Exactly.” Gina’s face lit up. “Without John dragging his feet or pulling the morality card every fucking minute, I could usher ARME into a new era. I’d own the future.”

Reaching toward her thigh, Lily searched with her fingers. They landed on the cool flash-bang grenade cylinder. She inched it out, pulled the pin, counted to two—cooking it so Gina wouldn’t have time to throw it back—and tossed the grenade. Lily turned her head, covered Jackson with her body and placed her hands over his ears.

The explosion blew out parts of the window. Ceiling tiles rained down on them. If Ben hadn’t found her yet, that would be a dead giveaway.

Gina dropped her gun, screamed and clawed at her eyes.

Lily shook her head, desperate to orientate herself. She knew she had five seconds, tops, before Gina’s eyesight came back.

Ignoring the pounding in her ears, Lily pushed to her feet and rushed the woman.

Their bodies collided with a soft thud. She flipped Gina over her shoulder. Gina scrambled to her feet and swung her fist.

Lily sprang for the gun, ended up on one knee and pointed the gun at Gina. With the speed of a viper, Gina kicked out her foot. It connected with Lily’s wrist. Pain shot up her arm. Her gun clattered to the floor.

Lily looked up.

And down the barrel of Gina’s gun.

Lily’s heart sank. Derek was going to be too late.

“You know what?” Gina asked, panting. “You were supposed to be on Rowland’s kill list, as well.”

She pushed back her hair and smiled. Dread curled around Lily’s chest and squeezed. She’d seen the same darkness flicker in the eyes of the last sociopath she’d locked horns with—Rowland.

“Apparently, if I want anything done around here, I have to do it myself.” Gina raised her arm and pulled the trigger.

Lily’s body jerked violently. Searing pain ripped into her shoulder and her torso. She pressed her hand against the wound and pulled it away. Blood dripped down her fingers.
That bitch had armor-piercing bullets.
Lily looked up just as Gina dropped and face-planted on the Italian tiles. Blood pooled around her body.

Lily slammed into the wall, slid down and blinked twice before the pain overcame her brain. A shadowy figure moved just off to the left. Lily searched for her weapon. She’d made it this far, damn it, she wasn’t going to die now. Her fingers landed on the cool metal and pulled it into her lap. Pain tore through her shoulder.

“Easy.” A familiar voice cut through the fog in her brain.

Derek?
She tried to focus.

“It’s going to be okay, babycakes.” Derek knelt in front of her and smiled. “Sorry, my love. I was a little delayed.”