Lie with Me (34 page)

DMH wouldn’t shoot to kill. They wanted Gabriel alive too badly. No, Cam would have to be the one to fire. And when Gabriel turned around to face him, Cam looked through the scope, first at the man’s face and then he moved his shot down and fired.

S
ky was as close as she possibly could be to Zane without actually being inside his coat. Once they’d gone around the back of the motel and gotten down to parking lot level, they’d remained in their position, and she was nowhere near as calm as he was as they watched the two men break into their room.

It was too dangerous to move. They were better off playing statue, as they’d barely made it away from the line of sight in time.

Except, without cover from the earlier storm, she felt like a sitting duck—like any minute, there would be a sniper’s scope aimed directly at her.

“We’re fine. Covered,” Zane told her. “We’d have been spotted in a car.”

And I can’t run fast enough to make a good getaway
.

Zane was kind enough not to blame her, but she knew that if she weren’t with him, he’d be gone by now—or fighting. Of course, the only reason he was here at all was to protect her.

His weapon was drawn, at his side, and she took comfort in that, and the fact that she knew Zane could fight like hell—and would, under Cam’s orders.

God, the cold cut through her sharply, the adrenaline coursing through her body doing little to abate the sting.

As still as she tried to hold, she was shivering so hard her entire body ached. It seemed like hours passed, when she was sure it was mere minutes, and that as soon as the men realized the person they were looking for wasn’t in the adjoining rooms, they would come out and search the area.

And as soon as she had that thought, they emerged from the room. Looked around. Pointed at various places and then checked them thoroughly.

She sank against Zane, as if to become invisible, increasingly aware that it was his strong arm around her waist keeping her on her feet. Because below-frigid temperatures and fear did not make for a good combo in any scenario.

The men strode across the parking lot, heading in their general direction. One of their phones rang, echoing loudly in the quiet poststorm air.

Zane barely made a sound, but his words registered.

Move aside. Hide. I’ll get them
.

He would too. His fury at what happened to Olivia earlier was barely couched, his body was tense behind Sky’s—and oh, God,
Liv
.

“Do you think they know about Liv?” she asked quietly.

“Maybe.”

“Make them talk, Zane.”

“You are my priority.”

It pained him to do nothing about Liv—she felt it. Although doing nothing in this case included being prepared to keep her safe at all costs.

Her body sagged as the men began arguing loudly. And then, miraculously, they went back to their truck, got in and peeled out of the lot at top speed.

She released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, a white puff of air forming in front of her face.

“Why would they suddenly leave like that?” she asked, her voice still low. “It doesn’t make sense, unless …”

She stopped then. Felt the frigid air go straight through to her bones in a way that made her think she’d never be warm again.

Unless the plan had worked
. Unless they thought her father was dead.

Of course, he might really be so. It was part of the risk, one she knew he would take to save her life.

“I don’t feel well, Zane,” she heard herself whisper, and realized Zane was well ahead of her, had actually begun carrying her toward the parking lot, where he was trying different car doors as he walked.

Finally, one opened. He placed her into the passenger’s seat, buckled her in, closed her door and raced around the to driver’s side. He jumped in and yanked wires out from under the wheel, starting the car quickly.

He’s stealing a car to take me to the hospital
was her final thought before she passed out.

T
he police were coming.

Cam had the truck off-road, and when he heard the sirens, he pulled over for a few seconds, lights off, until they passed.

They would find chaos and blood, but little else. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t be looking.

Finally, when the two police cars zoomed by, Cam turned the lights on and headed back to the motel.

The last thing he’d witnessed at the scene was two members of DMH loading Gabriel’s body into the back of an SUV.

His own survival—and Sky’s—was on his head now. Cam said a quick prayer that he would pull it off, and knew that, no matter what, this mission was far from over.

Dylan was talking to Zane, tapping the headset impatiently. “Dammit, we lost contact.”

“When?” Cam asked as he sped up.

“Not sure. Last time I heard him was before all hell broke loose at the house. Maybe fifteen minutes ago.” Dylan ripped the headset off, and suddenly everything else was forgotten. Cam’s one and only concern was getting to Sky. And fast.

He slowed down as they entered the motel parking lot after a grim ten-minute ride.

“Door’s open,” Riley said as she pointed to the second floor. She was out the door before Cam stopped the car fully, her weapon drawn. Dylan and Cam were right behind her, with Cam overtaking her on the stairs.

The place had been trashed. But all their bags were there, and so was the listening equipment. And Sky’s cell phone, ripped open.

“Shit.” Cam grabbed it and studied the wires. After discovering the tracking bug in the battery, he hadn’t delved further. “They’ve been tracking us the entire time.”

Dylan’s phone was ringing. He flipped it open quickly. “Hello?” He listened for a second and nodded before he said, “Zane got her out. They’re on their way to the hospital.”

“Why?”

“Sky fainted. Possible hypothermia.”

Cam was out the door before Dylan could say another word. He wanted to drive like a maniac to the hospital, but he understood that they were in a stolen car, with weapons. And so he kept close to the speed limit, telling himself that Sky would be fine, as if he could will it true.

When he slammed through the door of the ER, the first person he spotted was Zane. The man apologized his ass off, until Cam shut him up with, “You saved her fucking life.”

“They won’t let you see her,” Zane continued. “I told them she was a transplant patient, and they immediately took her to isolation. She was awake. Said she was okay.”

“Her meds—”

“I grabbed them when we left the room. It happened fast.” Zane shook his head, still visibly upset.

Dylan joined them, put his hand on Zane’s shoulder. “We made it through, that’s what counts. Come on, we’ve got to go back to the motel and do some damage control.”

“I’ll stay—get some food from the cafeteria for you,” Riley added, and Cam nodded gratefully. He wanted to be alone—needed to be, to decompress. To wait this out. And within ten minutes, a young doctor with the last name of Holister was introducing himself.

“Any family?” Dr. Holister asked, and Cam shook his head.

“Just me.”

“You’re her husband? Brother?”

“Neither.”

“I’m sorry, but we’re really only supposed to release information to family members.”

“She’s got no one else. Can you understand that? She just lost her father—you’re going to have to report to me.”

He didn’t know if it was the growl in his voice or the crazed look he no doubt had in his eyes, but the man in the white coat paled a little.

“I just got back from my tour,” Cam lied, not wanting the doctor to call security. “She’s all I have too—I plan on marrying her as soon as she’s well.”

That did it. Mentioning military status usually did, and although Cam never liked to pull that card, for Sky he would.

“I have a brother in Iraq. I understand,” Dr. Holister said. “She’s running a pretty high fever, but so far, she shows no signs of rejecting the kidney.”

“I told her not to go running when she wasn’t feeling well, but she didn’t listen. She’s stubborn. Strong.” Cam gave the doc the cover story to keep him convinced of his and Sky’s relationship, and to keep the cops and DMH from zeroing in, if necessary.

The doctor nodded and said, “You can see her in a little while—let us get her fever down first, okay?”

“Thank you.”

During the last minute of their conversation, Cam’s phone had started vibrating in his pocket.

When he looked down at it, he realized that his white lie to the doctor was about to become a reality. His CO was phoning home, beckoning Cam to the mothership, ASAP.

CHAPTER

21

T
his time, Gabriel had been prepared to die. Knew full well that Elijah could’ve ordered his men to shoot him again and again, or dismember him, or bury him before he could regain consciousness.

Instead, he woke with a start in the back of a moving SUV, heard talk of
disposing the body
, and knew he’d regained consciousness in time. He took shallow breaths, his ribs sore from where the fake rounds had hit. They’d done the job, and his plan was much different than the DMH one.

He’d been damned lucky that DMH hadn’t put a bullet through his head for good measure.

Or maybe
luck
wasn’t the right word. Time to get his shit together, because, as Cam had said, Gabriel was on his own.

After this, he truly would be, and although now wasn’t the time to get maudlin, the thought of not being able to throw off a cover, walk through the door of his house and simply be Skylar’s father was unsettling, even heartbreaking. And yet, this sacrifice was worth it if it meant saving her.

He’d been fighting for the fine balance between real life and cover story for years, and failing. Now he’d have a clean slate, simply by rolling over and playing dead.

The consolation lay in the fact that Cameron Moore loved his daughter. But if Skylar loved Cameron as well, no doubt Cam would tell her what Gabriel had done to him.

And that, he’d never been prepared for.

He flexed his hands, shifted his legs quietly, making sure his muscles were functioning after the pill that had rendered him more than unconscious. It had basically depressed his breathing rate so severely that he’d appeared dead.

From the way the car shimmied, he could tell they were off road and already well into a deserted area. He heard their voices rise as they spoke over one another.

“Here. Right here’s a good spot.”

“No, go farther along, more remote. More coverage.”

“Stop here—we can’t waste any more time. The police are all over the fucking place.”

The car finally stopped, and the men got out, still bitching. Perfect.

Gabriel readied himself, kept his eyes closed. Waited until they’d pulled his body out of the car before he made his move. Opened his eyes and caught the first man directly in the throat with his elbow, knocking him backward. For the second man, who lunged, Gabriel grabbed him, pressed along the side of his neck until he passed out. He did the same with the first man, who had continued to gasp for air.

And then he stood over them for a few minutes, at a loss for the first time since entering the CIA.

This was all really over. Say good-bye to Gabriel Creighton.

And then he dragged both unconscious men back to the SUV, into their respective seats and sent the car over the edge of the cliff.

As he watched the SUV burst into flames down in the canyon below, he pulled out the cell phone he’d hidden inside his pants earlier and dialed a familiar number. His old handler, who owed him one last favor.

It was high time Gabriel collected.

Z
ane had been climbing the walls until his brother and Riley and Cam arrived at the hospital. Now he supposed they all were; three men and a woman, all used to helping people, now had their hands completely tied while waiting to hear word on Sky.

“She’ll be fine, man. You got her out,” Dylan continued to reassure him as they drove back to the motel.

“I shouldn’t have let her stand out in the cold like that.”

“She can survive the fever.”

But if DMH’s men hadn’t been called off, thanks to Gabriel’s faked death … well, Zane didn’t want to go there, and forced himself not to think about it.

Instead, he focused on charming the female manager of the motel into not calling the police. Or the owner. Paid for the damage to the room and the door, while Dylan collected their things, wiped the room clean of fingerprints and got rid of the weapons stashed in the back of the truck.

Zane didn’t bother to ask what he did with them. He’d learned long ago that Dylan didn’t like questions, and that most of the time Zane wouldn’t necessarily like the answers.

Although lately, Dylan had … changed. The ruthlessness Zane had once seen behind his brother’s eyes was gone, replaced by … something softer.

No doubt, Riley had a lot to do with that change.

Finally, on the drive back to the hospital, Zane allowed himself to broach the subject he knew would weigh heavily on his mind for a long time to come. The one he’d been avoiding. “Any idea where they took Olivia?”