Cyber Seduction: Across A Crowded Room (IATO Series Book 3) (9 page)

Chapter Nine

Emily drove herself to Mosel’s estate, not waiting this time for him to send the driver. Time was running out, and every minute Jason was with El Marat’s men, he was in danger. She worried how long he’d be safe with them and was concerned about his treatment. What if they hurt him? Tortured him? She didn’t want to even think about what they could be doing to him.

All the way out to the estate she wondered what Senator Kincaid had to do with all this. In the recent research she turned up, she realized he was the foster father the others had escaped all those years ago. She never even knew who it had been before. She never would have suspected a US Senator of fighting with Jason. No one ever told her what went on, but she had seen Jason firsthand. No one ever talked about it. None of the kids he fostered had any contact with him since her father arranged for their adoptions that night.

Apparently her father had kept his own identity from Kincaid to keep the kids safe. The only people who were aware of his existence were a handful at the agency. How did Senator Kincaid figure into this?

The gates opened as she announced her name into the intercom. Mosel was outside in front of the house waiting for her as she drove up. He didn’t look surprised. His expression was one of concern, as was hers. Without speaking, she knew he realized she had figured something out.

“Don’t say anything. Come with me,” he whispered into her ear, and walked out past the formal gardens, down to the deceptively peaceful riverbank.

“Who are you?” Emily asked directly, holding his arm as they walked. To anyone watching they appeared to be very close friends or lovers who had grown comfortable with each other.

“I can’t say,” he replied in no more than a whisper, “but we have to get Jason out of there.”

She let out the breath she was holding. “I knew it, I knew you were my friend. I knew you were my white knight,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “Hardly a white knight.”

A wide smile broke over her face. “I liked you too well to believe anything bad about you.”

He smiled. “Good, I’m flattered.”

She cupped his cheek affectionately and leaned into him. “I have a plan,” Emily started, but Mosel stopped her, pulling her to him away from the house.

“This is a serious and extremely dangerous situation. Kincaid intends to kill Jason. Someone has revealed Jason’s past identity, tying him to your father.”

“What do you know about the bombing that killed my father?”

“Kincaid recently found out he actually missed killing Jason in the bombing that killed your father years ago and intends to correct the mistake.” Mosel dodged the actual question. “I do not know why. But make no mistake. He is a very dangerous man. I do not want to see anything happen to you.”

“Me either. But we have to save Jason. I’ve sent for reinforcements.” She told him her plan and about Cade and Andrea.

“When Andrea makes contact with Harrison, we’ll have the entire team at our disposal. We just can’t risk waiting until they arrive. What if they decide to kill Jason before we get help? What if they’re hurting him?”

* * * *

Mosel saw the worry on her face and knew he’d lost. He’d actually known it back in Monte Carlo. He saw the way she and Jason looked at each other, as if the world disappeared when they were together. They weren’t even aware how deep their feelings for each other ran, or wouldn’t admit it, anyway.

Jason was a worthy opponent. He’d have to help him out.

Emily was babbling quietly, trying to fill him in. “Cade is well-trained for this sort of situation, so when Andrea gives him my directions, he’ll know what to do. You and I will just walk in through the front door when everything is in place, like nothing’s amiss.”

Mosel shook his head. “No, I’ll go in alone. They won’t expect anything from me. I’ve known El Marat’s men for years.”

Emily’s doubts must have shown in her face. Mosel reassured her, “If you show up, they’ll be suspicious.”

He gave her a look, weighing whether to add the rest. His identity was at stake. She must have understood his dilemma because she seemed surprised, maybe flattered when he added, staring directly into her eyes, “It may even impair my ability to work in the future.”

He could tell she wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that, but he noticed when she realized he’d entrusted her with a secret.

She nodded. “Okay, I understand.”

“You stay back after we get there and meet Cade by the boat. I’ll bring out DesJardin and send him back your way.” Mosel held her shoulders. “Emily, you and Cade should be ready to help in case he’s injured. They have held him too long already. Kincaid is a sick man, so I’ve heard.”

He watched her face go pale and decided that was more than enough said. “Make your calls from down here. I never know who’s listening closer to the house.” He gave her a strange look and let the remark catch.

Mosel blocked her from view as she dialed Andrea and quickly filled her in. Just as he suspected, Emily countered Andrea’s suspicions and protests. He heard her assure Andrea, “He can be trusted. Even if he couldn’t be, what does it matter right now? He’s my only hope.”

She closed the phone with a sigh. He sensed a big part of her was relieved that she’d been right about him.

They walked toward the “Regal Commodore,” his forty-four-foot sports yacht. Emily untied the slipknot at the stern and helped him cast off.

When they were aboard, she moved up into the cockpit, looked around, and said, “The marsh grass looks different through my eyes today. This has always been my peaceful home, a place of refuge from the city and the intrigue of my father’s work. Now it’s filled with danger, and all I feel is dread and fear.”

Mosel noticed her white knuckles and the tension in her body. He prayed they wouldn’t be too late.

* * * *

Jason heard groaning. It was coming from him. With consciousness came the inevitable pain. His head ached, and the pins and needles in his arms were so bad he couldn’t feel his hands. Well, at least he knew he was alive. The pain told him that if nothing else.

He squirmed around to get a better look at his surroundings. He tried to figure out where Kincaid had him taken after they discovered him tailing them. The meeting with El Marat proved he conspired with known terrorists.

Abu, the lookout, recognized Jason from three years ago—from the night of the bombing. Men didn’t meet face to face under those circumstances and ever forget the eyes they stared into. It was just Jason’s bad luck to run into the one man from back then who could identify him. He tried to back out of the shadows until he bumped into the gun. The gun he’d felt pressed against his temple convinced him to go inside the old farmhouse.

They’d tied his hands behind his back, but at least he was able to sit up. He figured there wasn’t anywhere for him to run. This place must be pretty isolated. Earlier, all he could smell with his face pressed into the old barn’s floor was rancid hay. Now he wished he had stayed buried in the dirt outside as the smell of cheap cigar smoke brought back old memories that made his gut clench. Waves of nausea rolled over him with the old reaction to the fear.

No one was more surprised to see Kincaid show up here in person than he was. He thought the senator would be too wary to show up himself, not chancing exposure by putting himself in the middle of this. That was too much to wish for. They’d hit pay dirt! Of course his excitement was tempered by the fact that his hands were tied and Kincaid held a gun he’d likely use to finish the job he’d attempted so many years ago.

“I thought we killed you off with Holmes in that car bomb. Too bad, we’ll just have to do it right this time.” He directed the last to a nervous Abu.

Jason realized that somewhere behind him, there was another man in the room. “Wait, isn’t this Jason DesJardin, the real estate financier?” El Marat asked.

Obviously, his reputation had gotten around. “Yes, it’s me. What’s all this about? What have I got to do with anything?” Jason stalled.

Kincaid grinned and lit up his cigar. The alcohol weight had accumulated, and the belly had gone soft from years of easy living, but the old, recognizable evil came shining through. He circled Jason with a slow steady appraisal that made Jason’s skin crawl. He remembered the man’s touch and the old deep-seated anger began to well up inside him.

Jason remembered he was a grown man now. He could handle this coward who abused children. He was beyond uncontrollable fury at this stage of his life. He could do this.

Sure, he could. Then why were his insides seething?

“What were you doing outside spying?” El Marat asked.

Jason smiled, “Spying? I don’t know what he’s talking about. Don’t be ridiculous. I financed this place. I was checking it out when this crazy man put a gun to my head.” He shifted his head to Abu.

Kincaid backhanded Jason across the head with the cane.

Some things never change.
Jason shook off the pain.

Kincaid’s face reddened. “He’s lying. Abu can confirm he worked with an antiterrorist agency years ago when I had his car wired to blow.”

He kicked Jason. “You should have died with your new daddy back then.”

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else, I’m afraid. I don’t deal in politics, as you well know.” He directed all his conversation at El Marat, betting the terrorist leader held all the real power in this room.

Kincaid growled. “I’m not the one mistaken.” He laughed.

Jason tried another angle. “Do you know what I’ve heard about Senator Kincaid? I’ve heard he likes to hurt little boys and girls. Do you know what kind of pervert you’re dealing with?” Jason spit the information out, hoping to diffuse the situation, shocking El Marat.

Kincaid took his cane to Jason’s legs. That was familiar.

Chapter Ten

Emily followed behind Mosel. He wanted her to stay back, but she refused. He circled around one side of the old house, and she stayed toward the back by the dock where Cade hid the boats. Before coming ashore, she checked in with Andrea, who was stationed on the road waiting for Harrison and the team. They were only moments away.

She positioned herself where she could hear what was being said and practically went insane when Kincaid hit Jason. When he admitted to wiring the car bomb, she almost couldn’t contain herself.

She nodded to Mosel, and as planned, they burst through the doors simultaneously. She jumped at Jason and knocked him down. Her first instinct was to get him out of firing range.

While she struggled to get Jason to cover, Mosel took out Abu and then turned to take a body shot from Kincaid. Before Emily could get off a shot, he took another round as she watched helplessly. Kincaid escaped through the side door.

When she looked up, El Marat had his gun aimed at her. She opened fire without hesitation. Suddenly there were more of the terrorists than she realized coming through doors.

Before she had time to doubt they’d survive, Peter took aim through a window, and the semiautomatic rifle blasted. Jason rolled over her to protect her from the spray of bullets flying around, so she missed the rest of the action.

Harrison’s team secured the farmhouse before many other shots were fired.

“Is he dead?” she asked Harrison as they bent to put pressure on El Marat’s wound.

He rolled El Marat over to examine the damage. “No, he’ll survive.”

Emily scrambled frantically around searching for Mosel. She’d seen him get hit several times and knew it was serious. When she finally found him, a team of medics scurried around him. A medic treating him shook his head at her.

Emily had only to look at his pale skin and blood pouring out of his wounds to know he was critically wounded, but she had to know who he really was before he died.

“Tell me now, who are you?” Jason limped up to them and kneeled beside Mosel.

“If I tell you, I’d have to kill you.” Mosel tried to laugh, but gasped for air and choked while she held him.

Jason’s face was torn and swollen where the cane had connected, and his wrists, still tied, were bleeding.

“Go ahead and try, “Jason said. “Thanks for everything, man. I wish you’d tell me your story, though. I feel like I still don’t know what the hell this was all about.”

Mosel pulled him toward him, choked, and quietly spoke into Jason’s ear, “I was there that night, the night of the car bombing, working as a liaison on Franklin’s team.” He coughed. “I called off the meet. Too late. I’d grown suspicious with the arrangements.” He winced with his pain, and Jason didn’t think he’d last to finish the story.

“Someone intercepted my message.” Mosel paused. “You never received the update. I was a trainee with INTERPOL, on loan to the agency. I didn’t realize that you and the chap who got blown up back then were the same until this year during the chip assignment.”

“Were you in on that?” Jason asked suspiciously. Mosel could only nod as the medic shot him full of painkillers.

Mosel gathered what little remained of his strength to explain, “Go to INTERPOL. They’ll fill you in. Kincaid has been under investigation for years.” He choked again. “Did we get him?”

Emily saw Kincaid being hauled into a black agency van. Mosel closed his eyes. “Yes, yes, we got him, Mosel,” she whispered then stood beside Jason and untied his hands.

Jason wasn’t moving as the paramedics worked feverishly over Mosel. When the paramedic shook his head at them again, Emily turned away. She wouldn’t watch life flow from the man who helped save their lives. A team stepped in front of them, blocking their view, and still, Jason didn’t move.

She wondered what Mosel divulged to him when he whispered in his ear. When she couldn’t watch anymore, she ran down to the water for refuge. It was then she finally cried for the friend she couldn’t help trusting. Looking back at the war zone, she saw Harry and Pete picking up around the farmhouse. Harrison stopped by and said something to them just as another helicopter set down.

When she turned around to see what was happening, she saw Jason standing over a body bag and watched as they whisked the lifeless form off to a waiting medevac helicopter.

Cade came up beside her and carefully checked out each member of his family. He put an arm around Jason first. “They got the bastard. This time Kincaid won’t get away with it. Emily recorded his confession to the car bombing. He did it to get rid of any credible witnesses to his abuse. I just wonder why he waited so long.”

“I don’t think he knew who was behind getting us kids out,” Jason said. “Someone must have let it slip or sold him the information. There weren’t many who knew the story…” Jason stopped mid-thought. His mind clicked away to the past…

When Jason recalled that fateful night, he noted it hadn’t been an ominous sort of night, not the kind that film directors like to portray in horror movies. It certainly hadn’t been the kind of night anyone would have expected to change the course of so many lives.

Even the moonlight couldn’t be blamed for producing the silhouettes that haunted the walls in the children’s room, creating imaginary monsters to initiate their nightmares. The real source of light came from a small bit escaping the upstairs hallway, sneaking warily through the crack beneath the door, seeping in, penetrating the ebony space, turning black into shades of gray. It reflected off the ancient oak outside and cast back soft shadows on the walls.

Jason didn’t sleep soundly back then...never when his foster father was drinking.

* * * *

Past...

The man closed the door quickly behind him and became nothing more than a massive shape, a mere shade defined by a flash of light. The glow broke the smoky depths of the room and then dimmed to gray, allowing the stick figure shadows of the tree branches to resume their flickering limbo over the walls. As the man crept silently deeper into the room, Jason held his breath and waited.

Beyond the piles of discarded clothes and other remnants of the day scattered around the waxed wooden floor, the man watched Cade and Harry as they slept soundly in their bunk beds. The brothers’ spindly bodies were still childishly fragile, defined by their delicate bone structure. Each had matching wheat-colored hair, sticking out at all angles from their round, freckled faces. So innocent as they slept.

The man stilled, allowing his eyes to adjust to the low light, and then glanced over his shoulder to make sure Jason slept.

With his eyes squeezed shut and his frame sprawled across his bed, Jason engulfed the entire surface. His gangly limbs extended well beyond the mattress boundaries, and yet he didn’t dare succumb to sleep. Instead, he allowed his chest to rise and fall evenly, faking it. A few stray hairs from an unkempt lock fluttered across his forehead with each outward puff. When a whisper of sound tried to escape, fear kept him silent. His foster mother mentioned the evidence of his full masculine potential lay dormant beneath the surface of his still soft features. Jason knew that what kept the monster at bay was how the harder planes of his body had already appeared, mere moments away from emerging.

“Such a shame to lose all that softness.” The man whispered. “Too old.” He turned away from Jason and headed toward the younger boys.

The branch figures danced innocently around the quiet room, muted ghosts unable to forewarn the approaching peril, but Jason could.

The real monster wasn’t under the bed—he was climbing into it.

* * * *

Emily still wasn’t sure she understood the situation with Kincaid. “I don’t understand. What’s all this mean?”

Jason’s expression turned black. Even Cade’s usually light personality turned dark as if some realization hit.

She looked to both men waiting for one to answer, but they both seemed reluctant. Andrea stepped up and put her arm around Emily’s shoulder for comfort, and when Emily met her gaze, she knew it was terrible.

The woman soothed everyone. “Let’s go home and let everyone get things cleaned up. The guys have a bunch of paperwork to take care of here, and we’ll just be in the way.” Andrea urged Emily away. “Cade, can you take Emily back in the boat? Jason can come later with Harrison. I’ll meet you all back at the main house once I get the kids settled. We’ll talk then.”

She ushered Emily toward the dock. “Come on, Cade, take Emily back to the house.” He looked up like a zombie and responded as he was told. He didn’t speak. His blank look frightened Emily more than anything she’d ever seen. This wasn’t Cade.

Emily watched helplessly as Andrea managed them. She turned and walked to the water, then down the path following Cade. As they rounded the corner, she saw the little skiff that he’d left there.

They didn’t speak on the way back. Each kept their thoughts to themselves. Emily couldn’t understand why Senator Kincaid would want to have her father and Jason killed. It made no sense to her.