If Ever I Fall: Book 3 of The Six Series (14 page)

Tears wavered heavily in my eyes before rolling down my face as I went totally and completely numb.

Someone announced their presence with a heavy knock, but I stayed silent. Unmoving. It was the only thing keeping everything held together.

Whoever it was stepped close to Aiden, speaking low. “Grant wants you in his office.”

Aiden’s eyes stayed on mine. And I realized it wasn’t just me that had gone numb.

He shrugged off the other guy’s hand without replying.

“Get it together, Aiden. You can’t do this now. We need you. She needs you.”

Aiden exploded out of the chair. His chest bumped into the other guy, forcing him back a few steps. “Don’t tell me what she needs, Ace!”

Ace put his hands up, taking another step back from Aiden. “He’s still out there. None of us are safe until this mission is complete. She can’t move forward until this is over.”

Aiden’s fists balled up at his sides. His chest heaved.

A smirk crossed Ace’s lips. “You wanna hit me, huh?”

“Shut up, Ace,” Aiden growled.

“What pisses you off more, the fact that you’ve fallen for her, or that you feel like you failed her?”

Aiden’s fist shot out, catching Ace’s jaw.

Ace worked his jaw back and forth, watching Aiden as if thinking of another way to set him off. “Feel better?” he asked mockingly, taunting him.

Aiden shoved him hard enough that Ace lost his footing. Ace came up, landing a solid blow into Aiden’s stomach. “Is this how it’s gonna be? ‘Cause I gotta tell ya, bro. I’m down if it makes you wake up and get your head back in the game.”

Aiden’s hands came up, both fists high as he moved from one foot to the other. “Don’t tell me how to feel, asshole.”

“I don’t need to tell you anything. It’s written all over your damn face,” Ace said, ducking as Aiden’s fist shot out, clipping his shoulder.

“You don’t know shit,” Aiden answered, jumping right into Ace’s punch. His head snapped back, and he swiped the side of his mouth with the back of his arm.

“Really? I’m the guy who left his girlfriend and let her think I was dead. Try that on for size and see how it feels,” Ace countered, lowering his fists slightly.

“You know this is different. You didn’t drop your guard. You don’t have to look her in the eye and tell her you failed her.” Aiden’s hands dropped down to his sides. “I’m not doing this with you.”

Ace looked past Aiden to where I sat wide-eyed, unsure what to do, and winked at me. “You think she’ll hate you for this?”

Aiden’s shoulder slammed into Ace as he walked out of the room, sounding heartbreakingly sad when he said, “She doesn’t have to hate me. I hate myself enough for the both of us.”

He was gone after that, leaving me with a total stranger who’d done everything to piss him off.

Ace watched the doorway for a second before strolling over to the vacant chair. “Hello, Airen. It’s nice to meet the girl who stole my best friend’s heart.”

“Are you crazy?” I asked, unable to keep my anger in check. “What the hell did you push him like that for?”

Ace’s eyes twinkled as he took in my disheveled appearance. “I didn’t just do it to him. Both of you looked like zombies. And there’s no time to be that way. I need him, even if he’s angry. Maybe even more so if he’s angry. Robert de Fleur’s days are numbered. I just guaranteed it.”

“By using the guilt he feels against him? What sort of friend does that?” I asked, curling my hands into fists to keep from striking him.

He smiled at me, the bloody bastard. “The kind of friend who would put everything on the line to save him. Even when it’s from himself. Now, let’s set that aside for a minute because I want to know right here and now… Do you blame him for what happened?”

Ace used his words with me like he’d used his fists with Aiden. I sucked in a sharp breath and let it hiss through my teeth before I answered. “Ye’ve a lot of nerve coming in here acting like a complete asshole and then demanding answers from me. In case you don’t remember, let me fill ye in, I lost my aunt and my mum. The only person left of my family is a homicidal bastart who I’d shoot myself if I could. How I feel about Aiden has nothing to do with any of it right now, so you can just get tae fuck.”

He laughed.

My hand shot out, cracking against the side of his face, and he laughed even harder. “I like you, Airen. You’ll be just fine.”

“Get out!” I said, poking my finger into his chest, wincing with each jerky move.

Capturing my hand in his, he said, “I have a better idea. I want to show you something. Do you think you can stand up?”

“Let go.” I didn’t want to look at him anymore, let alone go anywhere with him.

He put his other hand on his chest, over his heart. “Trust me. If you can get up and out of that bed, you’ll want to come with me.”

“Why, so I can watch ye kick puppies next?”

He rolled his eyes at me. “I know you think I was hard on him. Believe me, I got no joy out of that, but he needed to snap out of it. Do you know what guilt does to you when you allow it to take over? It eats you alive. He doesn’t deserve that. He made a mistake. One he has to live with for the rest of his life, but one that doesn’t define him. It doesn’t make him less of a man.”

I let him pull me slowly to my feet, giving me time to move my stiff body without wanting to double over from the pain.

After he slipped his hand under my elbow, we stepped out into a long hallway. The carpet, cold against the soles of my feet, was at least soft with a thick padding of cushion.

The lighting was minimal, spilling from mounted fixtures spaced too far apart along the wall. The frosted glass held back more than it let through. Ace never moved his hand from my elbow as we walked to the end of the hallway.

“It was touch and go for a little while, which is why you’re just now being brought here. Before you go in, I want you to keep something in mind,” Ace said, bringing us to a halt just before the hallway took a sharp turn to the right.

“The medic has had one hell of a time keeping them stable, and there’s no way of telling if they’ll make a full recovery, or if their bodies will give out on them during the night. But for now, your aunt and mother are alive.”

He didn’t wait for my reaction as he urged me around the corner and pushed open a door. Bright lighting pierced my eyes, making them water. I blinked rapidly and moved further into the room.

Two heart monitors and a ton of wires and tubes surrounded them as they lay no less than five feet from one another, both fighting for their lives.

I moved forward on legs that threatened to buckle with each step. I had to know; I had to see them for myself.

A man in a white lab coat shot a nasty look in Ace’s direction. “You don’t have permission to be in
here.”

“She has the right to know what’s happening,” Ace said, feet planted as he steadied me.

“Grant will hear about this,” the medic answered, crossing his arms against his chest as he glared at us.

“I don’t really care. I’ll tell him myself,” Ace answered, helping me move closer to stand in between their beds.

The dam inside me broke. Tears poured down my cheeks as I leaned heavily against Ace. He shifted to keep me upright as my world tilted back into place.

Ace spoke over the top of my head to the medic. “Can you get her a chair?”

Something like an angry sigh sifted through the air, “I’ll get her a chair, but you can only stay for another five minutes. Deal?”

I bobbed my head, not waiting for Ace to answer. The next thing I knew I was sitting in between Mum and Aunt Brenda, sending out every prayer I knew, willing them to live. They had to live. They were all I had left.

The seconds ticked by between the hiss and beeps of the machines around me. Before I knew it, five minutes had passed in what felt like a blink of an eye. I wasn’t ready to leave, didn’t want to walk away from them as they lay still as death.

The medic walked over to Aunt Brenda’s bed. I could see him on the other side of her, adjusting wires, checking readings, and jotting them down. The pen made a scratching sound as he continued to write.

“She’s a strong one,” he said as he stepped away, walking behind where I sat perched on the edge of the chair with only Ace’s hand to keep me steady.

When he got to Mum’s side, he repeated the same process. Instead of having something hopeful to say, he only sighed, making adjustments to the small bottle attached to her IV line. It was there on his face. Mum wasn’t doing well. At all.

Ace cleared his throat. “I’ll take you back to your room now.”

When I didn’t acknowledge what he said, he tucked his arm underneath mine and helped me stand. “I’ll make sure you can come back later to check on them. Okay?”

I fumbled beside him, keeping my head turned, watching them until the door closed behind us with a soft swish. The only thought keeping me going was the fact that they still lived.

Fight. You have to fight!
I willed the thoughts through the closed doors, hoping they could hear my silent plea.

SITTING
ACROSS FROM GRANT AS
he scrubbed his hands down his face, I knew I was in for the ass chewing of a lifetime. He’d rip me to shreds. And I deserved it.

He dropped his hands to the desk, staring at me with bloodshot eyes. “What happened?”

I couldn’t meet his gaze. “I screwed up. And two innocent women died.”

Grant snorted, shoving himself back in his seat, crossing his arms as he waited for me to say more. But I couldn’t get the words past the boulder shoved inside my throat.

“Aiden, look at me,” Grant said.

I couldn’t.

“Goddamn it, Aiden, look at me!” he snapped.

The force in his words lifted my head, even when the last thing I wanted to do was meet his gaze.

A tear rolled down my cheek. Then another. Until I swiped them away, angry that I couldn’t get my shit together and explain myself like a man would. Like I needed to. I’d fucked up. I needed to face the consequences. Two women—good women—were gunned down all because of me and my selfish needs. I was no better than Robert de Fleur, and Airen didn’t deserve to have someone like me in her life.

“It was her, wasn’t it? I should have known better,” he said, blowing out an angry breath. “I should have pulled you last night, and I have to live with that.”

If he would have pulled me last night, who knows what Robert de Fleur would have done with her?

“Aiden, do you blame yourself for what happened?” he asked.

My heart stuttered, and then went into overdrive. How could he ask me that when he knew damn well that was how I felt? Did he need to hear the words? Hear me own up to my mistake?

“What kind of fucking question is that? Of course I blame myself. He shot them, Grant. He shot them with my fucking gun!”

My heart picked up speed, banging against my chest like it sought escape from the confines of my body. I clutched my hand against it, willing it to slow. Willing the ache to become numb so I could just move forward and… and what? Heal? That would never happen. Not with what I had on my conscious.

Grant’s fingers steepled in front of his face, tapping against his nose. “How did he get your gun?”

There was no getting around telling him about my abrupt leaving after what had happened with Airen. Only I’d give him the abridged version. He didn’t need to know the details. That was a private moment between Airen and me. One I wouldn’t share with anyone but her. Steeling myself against the disappointment he’d have in me, I forced myself to look at him.

“I left Brenda’s house this morning after something happened with Airen. I was tied in knots, Grant. Knots.” I brought my fist up, bumping it against my chest. “I just… I couldn’t.” I swallowed hard, forcing myself to tell him about my feelings. Feelings I didn’t want to have. “I couldn’t stay any longer. She was getting to me, and I knew I couldn’t stick around. So I got in my car and headed here.” I’d been so damn torn about leaving her. “I parked a few blocks further away from the church than I normally do. I just needed a few more minutes to clear my head. Get my shit together before I faced you. That’s when he jumped me. I came to in his trunk.”

Grant nodded as I forced my lips closed. Gripping the arm of the chair, he pushed himself up and moved around the desk. “I know you’re beating yourself up for all of this, but you need to understand something. Even if you’d have been there, the outcome probably would have been the same. He still had his own gun, Aiden. He just used yours instead, because for as much as he is an asshole, he’s smart too. We’re not dealing with an idiot. We’re dealing with a man who knows how to evade us. Hell, he’s done it a few times now.”

“Then why did you pull Ace and Oliver from the field?”

“Because I need him to go wherever it was he was heading with the two of you before the accident. There could be more than just Mrs. Campbell and Ms. Anderson’s lives on the line.”

I snapped to attention. “Send me in. Tell me where to go, and I’ll do whatever it takes to eliminate Robert de Fleur.”

The corner of Grant’s lips lifted as if he’d smile, but he stopped himself before it could make an appearance. “Before we set out, and yes, I mean we, I’m going with you, there’s something you should know.”

I swallowed hard.

“He didn’t kill them.” He waited for what he said to sink in.

“They aren’t dead? What… how?” I wanted to run out of Grant’s office and share the news with Airen. Give her something good to hold onto in the madness we’d been pulled through.

“I sent a team to Ms. Anderson’s house when the live video feed showed Robert de Fleur pulling up the driveway. I wasn’t sure what they’d find when they got there, so I sent a medic crew behind them just in case,” Grant said, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “I don’t know if they’re gonna make it or not, Aiden. The medic says it’ll be a miracle if they do.”

My heart sank again. I couldn’t help but wonder how many more times my heart could take the emotional beating I’d been put under before it just quite working all together.

The door to Grant’s office opened as Oliver stepped in. “Intel was able to pull some satellite feeds. We know where he is.”

Grant grabbed the phone on his desk. Cradling the receiver between his head and shoulder as he dialed, he flicked a quick look at Oliver and said, “Go get Ace.”

I let it all go in that moment. The hurt. The anger. Everything. It was time to focus on what mattered the most, and that was taking Robert de Fleur down.

I listened to Grant’s one-sided conversation for clues as to where we were headed.

“I want a map on the property. Lists of buildings or any other areas where the bastard can hide. Have them to me in ten.” He hung the phone up and turned to face me. “I’ll give you one good guess as to where he was headed with you when we intercepted him.”

My brows pulled low in confusion. “But why? Brenda said she sold the property. The house isn’t even there anymore.”

“That’s the million-dollar question. I guess we’ll find out when we get there. Before we go, I need to know if you got this,” he said, tapping his finger against my forehead. “Because if not,” he said, trailing the end of his thoughts for me to fill in the blanks.

Oh, I had it all right. There wasn’t anything that would keep me from being there to take him down. That was until Airen walked in, trembling from head to toe, tears rolling down her face. I shot up from my chair, and she stepped into my arms.

“Aiden… I saw them. They’re…”

I cupped her head against my chest. “I know. Grant just told me.”

Oliver stopped short just outside the door, taking in the scene. I could feel Grant’s eyes on the back of my head, watching Airen cling to me.

Grant cleared his throat as he stepped around us. “Aiden, we have to go.”

Airen jerked in response, dropping her arms from around me. “Go where?”

Understanding dawned on her face as she sucked in a sharp breath. The others walked out, giving me a chance to talk with her alone before I left.

“Airen, I know I have a lot to explain to you. And I will as soon as I get back. But I have to go now.”

She pulled her arms tight against her stomach. “I don’t want you to go. I know that sounds selfish, but there it is.”

I couldn’t meet the look in her eyes, so I turned my head away, sighed inwardly, and said. “Robert de Fleur is my mission… my job. I can’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of that. Not even you.”

I hurt her. I know I did. But I walked away and left her standing in the middle of Grant’s office, and I didn’t look back. Because if I would have looked back, I never would have left.

“HE'S GOT A FEW HOURS head start on us, but it’s pretty clear where he’s headed,” Grant said, voice crackling through our headsets.

We’d left the car behind at the small airfield and boarded, of all things, a helicopter used for tourists. It was the only way to go from Glasgow to Ireland on such short notice.

Oliver sat to my right, looking over the map of the land Brenda’s family once owned that Grant had printed out.

Grant leaned in, motioning a white-faced Ace to do the same. I couldn’t blame Ace. If I’d have been involved in a helicopter crash not that long ago, I’d probably look the same way.

“I want the two of you set up here and here,” Grant said, pointing out two spots on the map that were opposite each other. “It’ll give us a clear shot from both areas in case the bastard tries to run again.”

“That doesn’t cover the cliffside. There’s no way either one of us can take a shot from that angle,” Oliver replied.

Grant flicked a glance at Oliver with a jerk of his shoulder. “There’s not much we can do about that. Once you’re set up, Aiden and I will take our positions. I’ll need you to get to your locations as quick as possible to give me a status report. As soon as you get a visual on him, let me know. We’re not leaving any of this up to chance and if we do this right, we’ll cage that bastard in and he’ll have no way out.”

“Unless he has a boat,” Ace said, pointing at the water on the map.

“If he gets in a boat, give him a burial at sea,” Grant answered.

What if we made it all the way there and that wasn’t where he was headed after all? Ireland was an island with plenty of places he could hop in a boat and disappear.

“Maybe he’s not headed for that property. What if he’s throwing a false trail, thinking that’s where you’d expect him to go?” I asked.

“Then we keep following his trail. But there’s something about that land for him, call it a hunch, but I think he’s been using it for something for a long time. He wants it bad enough that he tried to kill his sisters and kidnap Airen for it,” Grant answered.

“It doesn’t make sense though. If the land was sold, there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it,” Ace said.

Grant nodded. “Exactly. Which means he had no idea the land was sold and was operating on the idea that he’d force them into turning over the deed to him. From what I gathered, the company that bought the land hadn’t done anything with it up until recently when they moved the construction trailer in on it,” Grant answered.

“Won’t he be in for a surprise seeing that?” Oliver said, snorting.

“If the house is gone and there weren’t any other structures on the land, what the hell could he be using it for?” I asked.

“It’s a pretty big piece of property. There’s a lot of draws to it. Waterway access is the biggest thing. He could have used it for just about anything. Smuggling in drugs, people, weapons. There’s really no limit on what he could have been doing all these years since no one’s been out there,” Grant said, ticking the laundry list of illegal activities off on his fingers.

“It’s the perfect set up,” Ace agreed with a shake of his head. “Which means that he’s had plenty of time to come up with escape routes and places to hide.”

“That means we need to be extremely careful when we go in,” Grant added.

With that said, everyone settled back into their seats. I leaned towards the window, looking out over the patchwork-covered ground of the Emerald Isle.

It took everything in me to keep focused on the mission and not what was happening back at the church with Airen.

No matter how hard I tried, her face kept coming back, haunting me with the look she gave me when I told her I had to go.