Primal Passion (16 page)

“Do you know Chester Cook?” Price asked.

Deni nodded. “The night custodian? Sure. He’s
a nice old man, little odd, bit quiet. Why?”

Price ran his hand through her hair. He
looked troubled. “He hasn’t returned to work since the night of
Curtis’s shooting. My source says Chester is a member of the
Reverend’s congregation as well.”

“You think he shot Curtis?”

Gunner took over the explanation. “You spend
lots of nights here in the lab, Deni. The night custodian would
know that. You said yourself Curtis had never slept here. When we
found Curtis, his face was turned away from the door. I think we
can assume Chester opened the door and fired, confident he was
harming his intended victim.”

“Me,” she whispered.

“That’s why we were so frantic when we
realized your car was gone. Our fears turned from kidnapping to the
idea that you were here and Chester could get to you.”

Her heart broke at Price’s admission. “But
you said he’s gone.”

“There’s a warrant out for his arrest, but so
far the police have had no luck in finding him. He could be
anywhere. If he felt strongly enough to try to kill you once,
what’s to stop him again?”

Deni’s chest tightened with a fear so
blinding she was afraid she’d fall down. Too much had happened in
too short a time period. Shock and panic were warring for control
inside her. “Does that restraining order you requested apply to the
Reverend’s entire congregation too? You know…that huge group of
people who are apparently willing to do his bidding?” She didn’t
try to hide the quiver in her voice.

Gunner frowned, recognizing her fear. “I
didn’t say it was the answer to the problem. It’s just a hoop we’re
jumping through in order to build a case against the man. We’re
going to keep you safe, Deni. You have to believe that.”

“I’m sorry.” She felt guilty for snapping at
him. She just hated living this way. After a lifetime of nothing
special, she was suddenly thrust into a world of absolute bliss and
unquestionable terror. The extremes were starting to wear her
out.

Price reached over and grasped her hand.
“We’re going to get this guy, Denise. He’ll slip up somewhere and
then we’ll have him. He’s going to pay for what he’s done to you.
To Curtis.”

The mention of her assistant’s name sent
tears to her eyes. “It’s my fault he was shot.”

“Oh, hell no.” Price tugged on her hand,
pulling her into his arms. “Don’t you dare go there. Leopold hurt
Curtis. Not you.”

Deni wrapped her arms around his waist,
soaked up the strength of his embrace, let it ground her, calm her.
“I’m not waiting for him to make a mistake.”

Gunner narrowed his eyes. “What?

“I think we should draw the Reverend out into
the open. Lure the beast from his lair.”

Price shook his head. “Hell no.”

“Think about it. Right now, we’re always on
the defensive, trying to sidestep his attacks. We’re not in
control. He is. We’ll never win this way. If we set a trap, one
that’s too tempting for Leopold to resist, suddenly we’re holding
the cards.”

Gunner pushed away from the desk. “Absolutely
not.”

Deni looked from Gunner to Price and knew
she’d never win this argument with logic. She’d have to fight
dirty. “Fine. Then I’ll go to the Grand Master and refuse this
match. Tell him I’m no longer interested in being a member of the
Trinity Masters.”

Price reared back as if she’d hit him. “Why
would you do that? You’d lose everything.”

“I already have. Let’s face it. I’m sitting
on a big pile of nothing right now. I can’t continue my research.
I’ve lost my freedom. And I don’t have your trust.” It was a low
blow, but it had the desired effect.

Gunner grasped her hands. “That’s not
true.”

“How long have you known about Leopold?”

Gunner flushed, glanced over at Price
uneasily.

Price shrugged once, the action filled with
guilt. “Five days.”

She knew that answer, but it didn’t make his
admission hurt any less. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We didn’t want you to be scared,
Denise.”

“You didn’t trust me enough to tell me the
truth. You tried to hide it from me. I’m just a child in your eyes.
Some little doll for you to play with and coddle. I won’t live like
that.”

Gunner’s face reflected pure misery. She
hated hurting them, but she refused to put their future on hold, be
held prisoner according to the whims of a madman.

“That’s not true, Deni.”

“Prove it. Trust me enough to do what I’m
asking.”

Price frowned. “You’re not leaving us much of
a choice.”

“So you’ll help me set a trap?”

Neither man moved for several moments, and
then they both slowly nodded.

Price stood at the entrance of the Boston
Public Library three weeks later and cursed himself for being such
a lovesick, fucking fool. Denise had pressured him into this farce
with her threat to leave him, and he’d reacted with his emotions
rather than his brain. That never happened.

“Is the sound working?” Gunner’s voice
broadcast through his earpiece. Price glanced toward the stage
where the other man stood and nodded.

They’d begrudgingly agreed to participate in
Denise’s trap, though it had taken them some time to put all the
pieces in place. Denise had moved her research to their home—he’d
stopped thinking of it as his house weeks ago—and set up a
makeshift lab in a small cottage just outside the main house. His
father had built the cottage for his mother, who used to enjoy
writing poetry. Price’s mother would spend hours in the quaint
little house, letting the peace and solitude of the place fuel her
muse.

Denise seemed to have fallen in love with the
cottage as well. He’d never met a more devoted or harder worker in
his life. While the three of them lost themselves in lust for hours
each evening, Denise never failed to rise with the birds, heading
to her lab to run her trials and experiments for hours on end.

Gunner had secured a permanent transfer to
the Boston office, returning to D.C. for several days to pack up
his apartment and office. They’d just finished unpacking the last
of Gunner’s things two nights earlier, most of his belongings being
absorbed into the large house, while a few things—unneeded
furniture—was sold or given away.

Now that both of his lovers were living in
the house, Price wondered how he’d spent so many years in the huge
rambling mansion alone. Gunner, a music lover, was always blasting
his collection of classic rock, while their absent-minded Denise
was forever losing a shoe or her comb. Once she’d actually
misplaced her toothbrush, and they’d spent nearly an hour looking
for it. They’d found it in a jar of pencils on her desk.

They had decided to try to lure the Reverend
out into the open by widely advertising another lecture on the
importance of stem-cell research given by Dr. Denise Parker.
Denise’s first talk had lured Leopold out, so they hoped this one
would as well. They’d sweetened the pot by adding that the lecture
would be held as part of a fundraising effort for the laboratory.
The newspaper reported that several top politicians in the area
would attend. The Grand Master had friends in high places and he’d
pledged to help Price in his attempts to lure the madman into the
open.

For three weeks, Price had his top men at
Bennett Securities working closely with Gunner’s friends at the
FBI. They’d gone over schematics of the library—most specifically
the Rabb Lecture Hall, where Denise would speak—pinpointing key
places in the auditorium that needed to be covered. Price had
purchased bulletproof material for the podium as well as a thin
Kevlar vest that Denise was currently wearing under her suit
jacket. Gunner would be in position near her on the stage, while
Price would cover things from the back, watching the audience from
above. Three of Price’s best men, as well as Agent Young, would be
stationed at various places around the auditorium, though they
would be dressed in plain clothes and acting as members of the
audience. They decided it would be best if they maintained the
appearance of a low-security event.

Given that most of the Reverend’s past
attempts on Denise had been instituted through the use of other
people, they were on high alert, well aware that the threat could
come from anyone. Price wasn’t sure if he should hope for the man’s
arrival or not. He’d become accustomed to Denise working from home.
He liked the peace of mind that provided him. He and Gunner had
begun taking turns working from home, ensuring that one of them was
always close by during the day.

The doors to the auditorium opened and people
began filing in. Price heard Gunner mutter, “show time,” through
the earpiece. Price tried to remain calm, but an uneasy feeling
crept in. He began to question their decisions, second-guessing
everything. The lecture hall was on the lower concourse, which
meant they would have to climb stairs to reach the nearest exit.
That had been his main concern when they chose this room, but he’d
let Gunner assure him they had the stairs secured and that Denise
would have easy access to it from the door at stage right. Men were
in position at the top and the bottom of the stairwell and his
limousine was parked right outside the exit, Roman instructed to
keep the motor running and to be ready to leave quickly if
needed.

“We’ve got a big crowd of protestors forming
up here.” Price recognized Pearson’s voice coming through his
earpiece. Pearson was one of his top employees and Price didn’t
like to acknowledge the man’s anxious tone.

“Stay in position. Keep them out of the
library,” Price said into the microphone tucked in the lapel of
this jacket.

Gunner and Denise were standing in front of
the stage, speaking to the lab director and the mayor. Denise’s
boss was unaware of the trap, so it was important Denise play her
part. For the director, this lecture was the kickoff of a huge
fundraising campaign. Price had already promised to make a large
contribution to the lab should things take a bad turn. Hell, he’d
make the donation regardless. After weeks spent with Denise, he’d
come to understand exactly how vital her work was.

The auditorium was nearly full when Pearson
spoke again. “Local police have arrived. It’s getting crazy up
here.”

Before Price could respond, a fire detector
went off. Glancing toward the door, Price saw smoke drifting under
the door.

Someone else noticed too. “Fire!”

Panic ensued as everyone in the auditorium
rose, clamoring for the exit. Price caught only a brief glimpse of
Gunner as he grabbed Denise and pushed her toward the side
exit.

Price fought his way against the tide of
terrified people, waiting until he saw Gunner get her safely out of
the auditorium. Then he took off for the staircase. He’d meet them
at the top and together they’d get Denise out. As he reached the
stairs, he glanced down in time to see Gunner and Denise turn a
corner. Before they could begin climbing, Gunner roughly shoved
Denise forward.

Time stood still as a shot rang out. Price
sprinted down the steps, desperate to reach his lovers. Gunner’s
body flew back, slamming against a wall just as Price grasped
Denise.

“Get her out of here,” Gunner yelled. Price’s
gaze met Gunner’s and a lifetime of understanding passed between
them in those split seconds. Price nodded and turned Denise,
pushing her up.

“No!” Denise tried to go back to Gunner, so
Price lifted her, tossing her over his shoulder as he ran up the
stairs.

“Stop! Gunner’s hurt. We have to go back! We
have to go back!” Her fists beat on his back as smoke burned his
eyes, but Price didn’t stop. He had one goal. The limo.

The bright sunlight pierced his vision as
they burst through a side door. Mercifully, the limo was in place.
Price ran to the car and threw open the door.

Denise was crying. “We have to get
Gunner.”

He tossed her onto the seat. “I’ll go back,
Denise. I’ll get him and we’ll meet you at home.”

“Please.” Her voice trembled through her
tears.

“I’ll get him. He’ll be okay. I promise.” He
prayed to God that was a promise he would be able to keep. Slamming
the car door, he pounded on the roof twice, indicating for Roman to
take off. The car pulled away from the curb quickly.

Before Price could turn to return to the
library, he spotted a man lying in the middle of the street right
next to where the limo had been parked. Roman.

Price started to run to his driver just as
Gunner emerged through the side door.

“What the fuck?” Gunner said, hot on Price’s
heels.

They reached Roman together and helped the
man to his feet. “That man, the Reverend. He tricked me out of the
car.”

Price glanced down the street in time to see
the limo take a left turn, its progress hindered by the growing
crowd of protestors. Price didn’t bother to consider his actions.
He simply took off.

Gunner was right beside him, step for step. A
quick look told him his friend had indeed been shot, but given the
strong, determined expression on Gunner’s face, his injury didn’t
appear to be too bad. When they reached the corner, they spotted
the limousine as it turned down a side alley.

“That alley is a dead end,” Price said.

Gunner pointed to the people blocking the
street. “Looks like the Reverend didn’t realize his plan to
distract us would cut off his only means of escape.”

Price pointed to the bar on the corner. “I’ll
go through the bar, come at him from the side. You block the end of
the alley. We’ll trap him.”

Price entered the bar, ignoring the bartender
who asked if he wanted a drink. He walked down a long corridor,
past the bathrooms and a storeroom until he found the exit that
would lead him to the alley.