In the Shadow of Vengeance (24 page)

Elizabeth's hand rubbed gently up and down his spine. “What's going on?” Her voice was calming.

“Mendoza has Jared. We have to go.”

He could feel his twin's fear and knew without a doubt Mendoza somehow made it into the cabin. The unease that cut through him through at the crash site now made sense. Noah shut off that part of him for Elizabeth. He couldn't save them both.

Uniformed men appeared in the window. Noah set the rifle back on the floor and holstered his own weapon. Removing his badge from his coat, he leaned into Elizabeth's ear. “Raise your hands.”

“Why?”

“I don't want the sheriff to confuse us for the bad guys.”

The door slammed open and several armed men stormed the basement, shouting orders. Noah held out his badge and introduced himself. “I'm MSP Detective McNeil. This is our kidnapped victim, Elizabeth Merlot, and that's the asshole who took her.” He nodded to the man a few feet from Spencer. “Bad guy number one, and beneath the rubble under the staircase is bad guy number two. There are at least two others unaccounted for.”

The county sheriff approached. “I just got off the phone with your brother, McNeil. I have four bodies, all federal marshals on the highway. Can you explain that too?”

“This guy's your man. He can fill in the blanks. When you are done with him, there's an alphabet soup of agencies that will want a piece of him.” He headed toward the door. “Elizabeth's daughter and son escaped capture and are on the mountain. My oldest brother, Adam Blake is on their trail. I need to get back to the cabin.”

The sheriff faced Elizabeth. “I should have a report from search and rescue any minute now. If you want, you can warm up in my car. I have a couple of blankets and—”

“No, she's with me.” Noah grabbed her hand and raced up the cement steps to his truck.

Not a word was spoken on the trip back. His breathing was labored, and while the pain in his neck lessened the closer he got to Jared, he couldn't calm the pounding heartbeat between his ears.

Elizabeth's hand rested on his shoulder blade. She somehow had become his rock, holding him together when all he wanted to do was drop to the floor and blubber like a baby.

He slowed the truck to a stop at the gate. He could see the sedan and county sheriff department car in the circular driveway. A man in uniform lay on the gravel behind his vehicle.

“Is he dead?”

“I can't tell.”

“What's the plan?” she asked.

“I haven't a clue. Moving in on foot and making it up as I go.”

“We move in on foot.”

He didn't have time to talk her into staying behind. He got out, unlatched a compartment in the bed, and reached for his rifle. “Do you still have the gun I gave you?”

“Yes,” she said, lifting her hand.

“Then stay behind me and cover my back.” He stopped, cupping her chin. “Don't get shot.”

“Wouldn't think of it,” she said, flipping off her heels.

“What are you doing?”

“They don't go with this pistol.”

Noah raked the length of her with a stare. Soaking wet, barefooted, and armed, she was so damn confident that the fear fled, leaving behind only his focus.

“Noted.”

He eased past the open iron gate. Using the tree line to hide his advance, he crossed the driveway and darted toward the corner of the living room. Keeping his back flat against the stone, he inched toward the window and took a peek inside.

Mendoza stood in the middle of the room with a gun at Jared's jugular. He was addressing Jennie, but Noah couldn't make out what was being said. Father Anthony lay still at Jared's feet.

Noah inched back away from the window as his finger released the safety on the rifle.

“Well?”

“Not good. One chance, one shot,” he choked out.

Elizabeth moved in close but kept her hands down at her side. “Trust yourself.”

Raising the rifle to his shoulder, he gave up a quick prayer that Jared felt him. As he adjusted his aim to account for the glass, his mind screamed, “Now!”

Jared's stare locked on his and he dropped to his knees. Noah took the shot. The butt of the rifle kicked back into bone and skin and the roar of the blast bellowed through Noah's ears. Mendoza's eyes widen and blood spread through his white silk dress shirt. He slumped to the floor, pulling Jared with him.

Noah didn't remember running, but the next instant, his hand was pulling Jared off the bastard. “Fuck, don't ever put me through that again.”

“That was a great shot, bro,” Jared said in a hoarse whisper. “Right through his black heart.” After giving Noah a hard hug, he released him and drew Jennie into his arms.

“How in the hell did he get in here?”

Color rose into Jared's cheeks. “This guy,” he said, pointing to a man lying unconscious in the hallway by the kitchen door, “carried him in over his shoulder. I thought he was an injured marshal. I turned my back for a second and Mendoza had me. Father Anthony took care of him before Mendoza knocked him out.”

Elizabeth knelt and pressed two fingers at the priest's neck. “Strong pulse.” She moved her hand around the back of his head and it came back with blood spread across the tips of her fingers.

“Mendoza wouldn't kill a priest,” Jared murmured. “He hit him with the butt of his gun.”

There was no need to check Mendoza's vitals.

The next several minutes passed in a fog. The sheriff arrived and ordered a couple of ambulances. Jennie and Jared fussed over a now-conscious priest while Noah couldn't take his eyes off Mendoza.

Elizabeth had taken his rifle from him and leaned it against the wall. She stood by his side, her hand clutching his. The room grew dead quiet when Mendoza was placed in a black body bag and loaded onto the medical examiner's gurney. Jared flanked Noah's other side and drew him back from the doorway. Elizabeth, who had never met Mendoza, turned her face into his side. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She didn't need any reminder of what evil looked like.

Jared cleared his throat. “He's not faking it this time.”

Noah met his twin's misty eyes. He wasn't mourning. Those tears stood for a different meaning entirely. Relief. Deliverance. Vengeance.

“No, he's not. He's dead, stone-cold dead.”

Elizabeth pressed a hand at his cheek. He knew she wanted his attention so he wouldn't watch the men roll Mendoza's body out of the house and into the bay of the ambulance. He gladly gave it to her. At the sound of the vehicle leaving the property, he brushed away a tear on her cheek with the back of his forefinger. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

“For what?”

“Standing by me. I don't think I could have made that shot without you there.”

“We're in this together, right?”

“Hell, yes.” His lips came down on hers, and for just a moment, he let the world slip away. There had to be times when it was okay to just feel.

Jared made a loud noise from the back of his throat. “Nice to see you two made up, but it looks like the sheriff here is biting through his bottom lip trying to get your attention.”

Noah broke away. “Remind me to slug you later.” He faced the sheriff. “I guess you need a statement.”

“That can wait.” He turned toward Elizabeth. “I need more information about the direction your kids might have taken.”

She leaned her weight on Noah and his arm went around her waist. “Have you not reached Adam or Marshal Derek Ramon? Derek had a large gash to his right leg, but he could walk on it and should have caught up with them.”

The sheriff's eyes narrowed. “There's a U.S. marshal with your children?”

“I don't know for sure. Erin and Danny were only a couple of minutes ahead of us when one of my ex-husband's men held Derek and me at gunpoint. He said he would kill Derek if I didn't go with him.” She turned back to Noah. “Can't you track Adam? Maybe he has caught up with all three of them.” She glanced out the door and the color in her cheeks drained away. “It's going to be dark soon. We have to find them.”

Noah tightened his hold. “Sarah is trying to track his cell phone. He wasn't that far behind Derek.” He glanced at his feet, trying to find the words to ask the question that had been plaguing him since he came upon the roadblock. There was no way to ease into it.

“Elizabeth, can we trust Derek? Mendoza found you because someone on that team is working with him. There's no other explanation.”

“Yes,” she hissed. “He has risked his life for me and the kids so many times. There is no way he would ever work for someone like Mendoza. I haven't a clue how Spencer knew we would be on that road at that time, but it wasn't Derek.”

The sheriff cleared his throat. “Ms. Merlot, I got a call from the guy in charge of the search-and-rescue team.”

She pulled away. “And?”

“We haven't had a lot of rain up here all summer. Things have been dry. The amount of rainfall we have had the last two hours has caused at least one major mudslide on the trail we suspect your children used.”

“Sheriff, what are you trying to say to me?”

He removed his hat and wiped the rain off his forehead. “It's going take time to reach the other side of the trail. There is a gorge the size of half a football field where the trail used to be. And then there is the possibility they …”

“What?”

“They could have been on the trail when the mudslide hit. We just don't know.”

Noah pulled her into him as his heart drummed against his ribcage. Adam was on that trail, too. His father's famous words danced across his mind:
Worry when you have something to worry about. Until then, work the case.

He lifted Elizabeth's chin. “Don't allow your mind to take you to the worst case scenario.” He placed his lips on her forehead. “We'll find them, all of them.”

She fisted his shirt in her hands. “This can't be happening,” she sobbed, resting her head at his heart. “God, one nightmare ended and now this. Noah, I can't … Danny and Erin … I sent them into those woods.”

The mud and rainwater squished over Elizabeth's borrowed hiking boots, but she continued to place one foot in front of the other. Moving down the trail gave her a purpose, a direction. If she stopped to think for even an instant, the fear would eat her alive.

Noah's hand rested at her waist. From the moment they learned about Danny and Erin, he never let go of her. For the first time in more years than she could remember, she dropped all her walls and allowed herself to lean on someone else. His courage kept her moving forward.

And she loved him with all her heart for standing strong beside her. She never believed it possible to give her heart away to another man, but she was through ignoring the emotions stirring through her. They were raw, explosive, and all-consuming. Noah's love was absolute, and she would always be able to trust it.

Her foot slipped and she stumbled. Noah caught her against him, holding her until she found her balance. She paused and wiped the tears and rainwater from her eyes. Choking back a sob, she rested her head against his chest, her hand caressing his soaked shirt. “Just give me a second. I can do this.”

“You are holding me together as much as I'm holding you together. Just rest a moment and let us both catch our breath.”

“Tell me again I made the right choice, Noah.” She raised her eyes and met his stare. “I need to hear the words.”

“There hadn't been a moment in Danny's or Erin's lives when you haven't placed them first. You did what you had to do to keep them safe. I never would have been able to get you away from Spencer if he had the kids, too. I would have had to choose, and that would have been hell on earth. By the time I got back to you, it would have been too late.” He pulled her closer. “So hell yes, you did the right thing.”

She let out a breath she didn't realize she held. “And they are going to be okay, we're going to find them.”

“Adam is a force of nature. This will be like playing in the mud. Derek has kept you safe for fourteen years. He won't let you down. And Danny and Erin, they are just damn remarkable.”

He kissed her with such tenderness, it made her chest ache. She stepped away from his warmth and took his hand.

“Okay, that will hold me for the next five minutes. My timing stinks,” she said. “But I need you to know—”

He cupped her face. “Tonight, Elizabeth. When Erin and Danny are sleeping soundly in their beds, you can show me. I can wait.”

“Okay, then, tonight. It's a date.”

He moved in front of her on the trail, and they didn't stop until they reached the area taped off for the mudslide.

The area below the ridge she had left only a couple of hours earlier was unrecognizable. The debris field looked like what was left over from a tornado: splintered trees ripped out by their roots, boulders, bushes, everything covered in thick mud. A large chunk of the mountain seemed to have broke free and slammed down the slope, taking everything in its path into the river below.

Several rescue workers tethered to ropes upturned branches and bushes, then moved lower. She turned her head into Noah's chest. His heartbeat slammed against her ear. He said nothing but held her tightly.

“They are not down there,” she choked out. She searched across to the other side. A hint of a trail was visible. “Let's go,” she said, taking his hand and giving it a yank.

“Go where?”

“My children, Adam, and Derek are not down there.” She pressed her free hand over her heart. “I feel it here.”

Noah studied her for several moments before a slight grin touched his lips. “I do, too. This isn't how it ends.”

“How does it end?”

“Shit, we all just got our lives back. Those who tried to hurt us didn't succeed.” He pointed down the hill. “This isn't your retribution for doing the right thing. You didn't sacrifice your life, your family, for your children to end up like this. And my brothers and I didn't spend the last eleven years of our lives fighting the evil that was Elías Mendoza to lose good men like Adam, Derek, and those marshals in the caravan.” He took her face in his hands. “Damn straight it doesn't end like this.”