Last Chance (29 page)

if you kill Damon, it will be personal. For revenge." He shook his head.

"Killing for revenge isn't in you, McKenna. You're not a killer."

As Noah's words sank in, something eased inside her; McKenna felt a

lightening of the burden she'd carried since her family died. For so many

years, her entire being had ached for Damon's death. And for so many years,

she'd called herself a coward for not confronting him.

And now another person was suffering. Yes, she hated what had

happened to Jamie Kendrick, but Noah was right. Placing the blame where it

belonged was not only correct, it helped lessen the terror of facing him.

She would view Damon as a monster who needed to be put away, but

the responsibility of killing him was no longer on her shoulders. Her parents

wouldn't have wanted her to avenge their deaths in this way. She would see

this through to the end. Damon would go to jail, where he belonged, and this

time he would stay there.

And McKenna would finally be at peace.

Lucas's image instantly came to her mind. Without Damon and her

fear hanging over her head, could she have something with him? She knew

he cared for her. What his true feelings were she couldn't begin to guess.

Lucas was a master of not revealing how he really felt. But the way he had

made love to her, cared for her when she was sick, been so compassionate

when she told him about her past...he had to have strong feelings for her.

Despite what lay ahead, McKenna suddenly felt an optimism she

164

Christy Reece

never thought she'd have. She would survive this one last experience with

Damon and then she would go to Lucas. Her life had not been simple for so

long. But this was simple. She was in love with Lucas Kane, and in a week,

maybe less, she would return to England.

Was she being overly confident? Perhaps, but she had put her life on

hold for too long. She had a lot of catching up to do. And whether Lucas

knew it or not, he had helped her reach the point where she wanted to have a

real life.

She closed her eyes and imagined his beautiful smile when she

appeared on his doorstep again. He would be so surprised.

165

Christy Reece

Seventeen

A warm breeze floated gently over her skin, soothing McKenna's

ragged nerves. When they'd left Paris, the weather had been damp and cold.

Here, the sky was the blue of a bird's egg, the sun blazed like a beacon, and

everything seemed peaceful and nonthreatening. She hoped it was a portent

of how the operation would go down.

They all stood on the long pier together. Noah was in front, facing

her; Dylan and Aidan stayed several feet behind him. For men who often

looked as though they chewed bullets for fun, all three had the same worry

in their eyes. Their concern was touching, but it also made her even more

determined to succeed.

As she expected, Noah reviewed the plan with her again. "Remember,

the ring has a GPS radius of a thousand miles. If something happens and you

get taken, we'll find you. Your earpiece has a microphone, too. We'll be able

to hear you, and you can hear us. You see anything suspicious, anything

strange, let us know. We'll abort and go after him another way. Okay?"

Touching the plug in her ear lightly with her fingertip, she nodded. It

was in place and working fine--it had been tested three times to make sure.

She was as ready as she would ever be.

"As soon as Jamie passes you, drop down, lie flat on your face. We'll

start shooting. The tranquilizers should incapacitate him immediately. I don't

want you anywhere near Damon, not until he's under lock and key. As soon

as I call an all-clear, you run the other way. After he's in custody, if you

want to see him, that's your choice."

If she never saw Damon in this lifetime or any other, it would be too

soon for her. However, she did look forward to seeing him in leg chains and

handcuffs. The mental image of him shuffling around in chains, wearing an

orange jumpsuit, was so enticing she could barely keep from laughing.

A glance down at her watch increased her heartbeat. The time was

close. "We're within an hour of his scheduled arrival. You guys better get

out of here."

Noah put his hand on her shoulder. "Just remember, we're only a few

feet away. Dylan will hide behind that post over there. Aidan is going to be

166

Christy Reece

stooped behind a rock on that incline." He pointed to another giant post. "I'll

be behind that one. If anything goes wrong, seems out of place, I'll say abort

and you haul ass. Got it?"

"Got it," McKenna said. She winked at Dylan, nodded her thanks at

Aidan, and--in a move completely unprecedented for her--hugged Noah. If

she'd ever had a big brother, she would have wished him to be just like Noah

McCall.

Noah returned her hug and then backed away.

Taking several deep, even breaths, she strove for calmness and prayed

for courage. In less than an hour, she might well be looking into the eyes of

the one man she hated and feared above all others. She needed some alone

time, away from everyone, to prepare. Whenever she was on an op, her

conscious mind--at least the part where fear and nerves existed--shut down,

enabling her to do her job with efficiency and determination.

Oftentimes, when the job was over, she would realize how scared she

should have been. Nerves would attack her then. And occasionally, when

she'd had to kill someone, she got sick. It wasn't something she was proud

of, and few people even knew about her problem. Actually, Lucas was

probably the only one who knew. After she'd killed Victor, she'd passed out.

Embarrassing, yes, but dangerous as hell, too. Thankfully, Lucas had been

more than able to handle himself.

His face appeared once more in her mind, his image giving her peace

as always. What was he doing now? Staying with him had given her insight

into his daily routine. Today was Monday, so he would be at his office in

London. He always met with his top executives on Mondays.

An interesting aspect she'd discovered was that Lucas had a routine

and rarely veered from it. Silly, but she loved that about him. After living on

the edge for so long, having a routine seemed so normal, so gloriously safe.

God, how she would love to feel that safety. That security.

The sound of a speedboat caught her attention. McKenna straightened

her shoulders. "Noah?" She uttered his name without moving her lips, if they

were using high-powered binoculars, as Noah was, she didn't want them to

see her speaking.

"I see them...four men...don't see a woman yet." Noah's calm, even

voice came through as though he were standing next to her.

Several tense seconds passed. McKenna was about to ask for an

update when Noah said, "Okay. They're docking. I see what looks like a

small woman. About your size. They've got a hood over her head."

McKenna turned to see the speedboat putter into the narrow area

between two small piers. She brought her hand up to her mouth as if she

167

Christy Reece

were coughing. "I'm going to get a little closer."

She took slow, careful steps toward the boat, noting the four large

men, along with a smaller person. From her vantage point, she couldn't tell if

the small person was a woman. McKenna continued to move toward them.

"Stop...wait, McKenna," Noah said. "Do you see Hughes yet?"

Squinting, she carefully examined each man. Damon was about six

feet tall, but these men appeared to be taller, bulkier. That was odd. Having

what he considered to be his prized possession collected by his flunkies

wasn't really in keeping with Damon's obsessive personality. That, along

with his supreme arrogance, made her think he would take part in this event.

Pretending to push a strand of hair behind one ear, she covered her

mouth and said, "No, I don't see him."

"I don't like...Wait. She's walking toward you. They removed the

hood. Her head's down, so I can't see her face, but her hair is about the right

length and color."

McKenna breathed a relieved sigh, even as she felt a crushing

disappointment. Damon wasn't with them. They wouldn't be able to get him.

His men would be captured and questioned. Hopefully one of them would be

willing to give up Damon's location.

A harsh gust of wind ruffled the approaching woman's hair; McKenna

saw ink-black hair beneath. It wasn't Jamie! Dammit, they'd been tricked!

Simultaneously Noah shouted, "It's not Jamie. Get down, McKenna!

Get down!"

The men in the speedboat jumped back into the boat and took off.

Before she could move, McKenna heard an odd noise.
Wop, wop,

wop
. A fiercely loud whirring sounded overhead. She looked up, her breath

catching on a gasp. A helicopter hovered above her; a large man she'd never

seen before hung from a ladder with his arm outstretched.

Holy crap!

Noah shouted, "Dammit, run, McKenna. Get the hell out of there!"

Blanking out all noise and distraction, she made a split-second

decision. Jamie was still missing. McKenna might be her only hope. She had

no choice but to let Damon take her.

"I have to go with them, Noah. I have to find her." Holding out her

hand, she allowed the man hanging from the ladder to grab her. In an instant,

her feet left the ground and she was soaring through the air.

Hanging on tightly to the man's massive arm, McKenna looked down.

The pier below grew smaller and smaller, but she was relieved that it

remained empty. Noah and the others were still hidden. Anyone looking

down would assume this exchange was something she'd done all by herself.

168

Christy Reece

She could hear Noah's voice in her ear. Although the sound of the

helicopter was deafening, she was able to pick up quite a few swearwords.

And then his voice lowered to its normal calm tone. "We're tracking you,

McKenna. We'll find you."

Despite the terror flooding through her, she knew this had been the

only way. If Damon hadn't killed Jamie, he had her stashed somewhere.

McKenna owed it to the woman to find her.

Hanging on to the arm of the man who held her over the ocean, she

closed her eyes and tried to find that center of calm once more. It was harder

this time because she would be seeing Damon after all. And she would be in

his lair. Surrounded by his people. People who would do exactly what he

told them to do.

Closing her eyes, Lucas's face appeared before her, reminding her

what she had promised herself once this was over: a possible future with the

man she loved. Resolve stiffened her backbone; she had too damn much to

live for to panic now.

The game might have changed, but the end would still be the same.

She would rescue Jamie Kendrick and they would both be safe.

Noah had gone ominously silent in her ear. The microphone range

wouldn't reach this far. Pretending to push her hair out of her eyes,

McKenna pulled the earphone from her ear and let it drop to the ocean

below. If Damon was to believe this was her idea alone, explaining an

earphone would be impossible.

The man holding her started climbing. McKenna had no choice but to

hang on to him. If she let go, she'd fall to her death. Massive muscles bulged

as he held her with one arm and climbed upward. At last they reached the

top and he threw her face-first onto the floor of the helicopter.

McKenna rolled over onto her back.

"Hello, darling." Damon stood over her.

Forcing her lips into what she hoped was a believable smile,

McKenna stared up at her worst nightmare. The smile must have worked.

With an approving expression on his wicked face, Damon held out his hand

to help her up; before she knew it, she was in his arms, his mouth over hers.

Nausea bloomed and bile surged; McKenna jerked away. "I'm going

to throw up."

"What?" he snapped.

"Heights...I'm afraid of heights." Heights didn't bother her; she was a

certified skydiver. Damon didn't have to know that his sloppy, disgusting

mouth on hers had caused the nausea.

Damon released her and drew as far away from her as he could in the

169

Christy Reece

small compartment of the helicopter. She almost laughed. Good to know the

freak had a weak stomach. Knowledge like that might aid her again.

She perched on the edge of the seat across from him and closed her

eyes, pretending to try to control the nausea.

"Better?" Damon asked.

Opening her eyes, she shook her head. "Not yet."

"It'll get better. Take your clothes off."

Astonished, she couldn't control the question that blurted from her

mouth. "What?"

"Do not question me. I said strip. Now."

Knowing she had no choice, McKenna shifted so she could pull the

dress over her head. Left only in her bra and panties, she shivered.

"Everything. You come to me completely bare. Everything you need,

I will provide. Understand?"

She shot a glance at the man who'd grabbed her. He was sitting with

his back to her, looking out the small window.