The Midnight Hour (28 page)

When she felt she had found a good position she looked back at the cabin. It was dark and if she didn't know better, she would assume the occupants inside were asleep. But she did know better. Cross's men did not.

She didn't have to wait long before she spotted the first man. He was crouched low on the ground and making his way just a few feet from where she was hiding. Making sure he was alone and no one else was in sight, she emerged from the shadows, knocked his legs out from under him.

When he tried to recover, she gave him a quick, effective hard chop to the neck, deciding not to break it. The blow would render him unconscious for quite a while.

She roiled his body to the underbrush and took the gun he had dropped. He didn't have a tranquilizer gun, but had the real thing. She glanced around as she got back down to the ground. One down, five to go.

Unknown to Tori, there were only two more to go. Alex had taken down one and Drake had taken care of two. Drake scanned the darkened area, hoping that Tori was okay. They were unable to use their remotes for fear of alerting Cross's men of their location. He'd overheard the conversations between the two men just moments before they had crumbled to the ground with his blows. They had bragged about their leader, the Red Hunter's expertise in finding any prey he went after.

When Drake had heard the code name, he'd searched his memory and could not make a connection. It wasn't until he got a glimpse of the man sneaking around the side of the house that he'd known who the traitor was. He was none other than the man who had teamed up with Tori on a couple of missions, Daniel Horton. Drake had even approached Horton upon his return from South America about Tori's whereabouts. Drake knew that Horton was good at what he did and that had Drake worried. Not for himself but for Tori.

Drake decided he needed to take Horton out before he found Tori. Knowing he was taking a chance, he eased up from his position to move around to the other side of the cabin when he felt it, a sudden, piercing pain in his shoulder. He looked down and immediately knew he had been hit with a tranquilizer dart. He pulled it out, and then the world began to tilt. He staggered and the last thing he remembered before his body crumpled to the ground was Daniel Horton's smiling face, floating above him.

Tori was getting worried when she saw no signs of Alex or Drake. She started to crawl toward the cabin when suddenly, a heavy weight dropped on her, almost knocking the breath out of her and knocking the rifle from her hand. She tried to recover and pull the pistol from her holster but she suddenly found herself flipped to her back, and a huge male body straddling her, pinning her down.

He leaned in and whispered into her ears. "Just where I've always wanted you," a deep male voice said close to her ear. "On your back beneath me."

Tori flinched, recognizing the voice of Daniel Horton. She didn't want to believe that a man she once liked well enough to let her guard down and date, could deceive her this way. "Get off me, you bastard!" she screamed.

He laughed. "Not until I'm good and ready. And I might as well tell you that I had to put a bullet in your friend's head."

She went still. "Drake…"

He chuckled. "No, not Warren. I'm talking about Tom Crowley. He found out about my extracurricular activities and was about to turn me in, and I couldn't let him do that."

Anger consumed Tori. With lightning speed she rolled over, taking Horton with her. The surprise move momentarily gave her an advantage but before she could jump to her feet and give him a good roundhouse kick to the groin like she wanted, he grabbed her ankle and yanked her back down. She landed in a bed of grass and leaves instead of the hard, solid earth.

Horton pinned her with his body again. "Hey, don't fight, enjoy it," he said, running his hand along her thigh, trying to work his way toward the zipper of her jeans. "I promise it will be a hell of a lot better than what Cross has planned for you. And don't worry about your lover interrupting us. He's out cold. There was enough serum in that dart to bring down an elephant so he'll be out for a while."

He grabbed the front of her blouse and was about to rip it off of her when a loud animalistic growl rent the air, seconds before Horton was abruptly snatched off Tori.

It was Drake.

And he was mad. Fighting mad. She scrambled to her feet as the two men squared off. Horton had drawn a bowie blade knife from his boot but it didn't faze Drake. The fury in his eyes was so potent Tori knew that the knife in Hor-ton's hand wouldn't do the man any good.

"Cross told me to bring you alive but I'm sure he'll understand if I have no choice but to kill you," Horton said smiling, as the two men continued to circle each other.

"You touched my woman, and you shouldn't have done that, Horton."

Horton shrugged as if Drake's words meant nothing. "Hey, she's a looker, you should expect that kind of attention. Besides, I tried like hell for a whole month to get her in my bed and she outright refused me, so how did you get so damn lucky, Warren?"

"She has good taste," Drake snapped, just seconds before he whirled and kicked the knife out of Horton's hand.

Tori blinked. In a series of lightning-quick moves Horton soon discovered he was no match for Drake, but he seemed determined to come back for more. Horton staggered back and Drake backed away, quickly glanced over to Tori and smiled.

"You want to finish him off?"

She smiled back, surprised but appreciative that he had" offered. "My pleasure," she said, striding forward.

Horton recovered with a cocky grin when he saw her. "Oh, you made it easy for me, Warren. And you may as well know that I have two other men and they know what to do if something happens to me."

"Shut up, Horton," Tori said, then released a side kick to his throat. He fell to the ground but was back up quickly, with the knife in his hand again.

He sprung forward but she ducked aside. It was time to end this. "You wanted me, Horton, well now I'm going to give you something to remember me by."

She knocked the knife from his hand once again. Faster than the speed of lightning, she made a series of karate kicks, then let loose one hell of a roundhouse kick to his groin. Ignoring his howl of pain, she gave him another kick to the groin, hoping she had pretty much damaged him for life.

And like the typical man, with his precious jewels damaged, he went down.

Drake walked over to her and placed an arm around her. "You okay?"

She breathed in deeply as she tried to smile. "Yeah, he's a good hunter but he can't fight worth a damn."

Drake chuckled.

She shook her head, remembering what Horton had said. "He killed Tom Crowley."

Drake sighed deeply. "Yeah, I heard him bragging and I hope he ends up rotting in jail."

Tori nodded. She hoped so, too. She then met Drake's gaze. "Why?"

He lifted a brow. "Why what?"

"Why did you let me finish him off?"

Drake held her gaze for the longest time before saying, "After what he intended to do to you, you deserved to be the °ne to kick his ass… or in this case knock his balls out of toe socket."

A slow smile touched Tori's lips. "I'm glad you thought that way." She then glanced around. "Do you think there're other men around here like he claimed?"

"Probably. But I have a feeling Alex has taken care of them. Come on, let's check to make sure."

Alex had taken care of them.

Tori couldn't help but admire his handiwork as she gazed at the four unconscious bodies spread out on the ground. She jerked her head around when she heard the sound of vehicles approaching. In the first truck she recognized Jake, Ashton, and Trevor. She didn't recognize the four very handsome men who got out of the second truck.

Introductions were quickly made. Three men from the second truck were introduced as Jake's nephews, the Madaris brothers-Justin, Dex, and Clayton. The fourth man was introduced as Trask Maxwell, Alex's brother. She blinked, remembering Trask as a former professional football player, one who was still considered the greatest running back in the NFL history.

"Justin's a doctor," Jake was saying. "He lives near Dallas, but is in town visiting the family, and agreed to take a look at Drake to make sure he's doing okay after that injection."

Tori nodded, appreciating Jake's thoughtfulness. She soon discovered that Clayton Madaris was an attorney and from what she could see, he was a very smooth and efficient one. Dex Madaris was in the oil business, but according to Trevor he had come along because he enjoyed kicking butt every once in a while.

"Why the hell didn't you call us, Alex?" Ashton asked, angrily, as he and Trevor approached the younger man. "You said that you would let me, Trevor, and Jake know if anything went down."

Alex grinned. "I changed my mind. I decided all of you had families to take care of and this was no place for you. I figured I could help out if Tori and Drake needed it, but I think they did just fine on their own."

He drought of the damage he'd witnessed Tori giving Hor-ton's precious body parts. He winced and shifted uncomfortably, just thinking about it. "I'd hate to run into Tori in a dark alley. She's one hell of a fighter," he said, nodding over to Horton who was on die ground, his body curved in a fetal position as he moaned and groaned piteously.

Trevor grinned. "Oh, you got to see her in action, did you?"

"Hell yeah, and I don't envy Drake one bit."

"Damn, what a mess," Alex Maxwell said twelve hours later, after everyone was briefed on what had happened. Abram Hawk had arrived after being pulled out of retirement by die Director of Central Intelligence. Also present were the directors of the DEA and the FBI. Alex wondered if there was ever a time when the heads of the three most powerful law enforcement agencies in the country had met in one location other than D.C. There was the murder of agent Tom Crowley to deal with and as a result, a number of their agents who'd been taken into custody were either suspected of murder, on the take or had totally abused their power. Casey and Chisholm had been relieved of their duties pending a thorough investigation by die Justice Department.

Needless to say all three organizations were reeling with embarrassment and trying to find a quick, easy, and quiet way to handle things.

"Cross is still out mere somewhere," Drake said as he angrily paced the room.

Hawk nodded his head. "Yes, and he'll go deeper into hiding once word gets out about his involvement in tonight's activities. He defied the cartel's orders to keep a low profile and they'll handle him as they see fit. It won't surprise me if they got rid of him."

"That's not a possibility I'm going to wait for, Hawk. I've lost too much because of him," Drake said, glancing across the room at Tori, who was being checked over by Justin Madaris.

"Well, the only way you'll get a crack at him is if he comes out of hiding," Hawk said, understanding how Drake felt.

Drake stopped pacing as an idea came to mind. He met Hawk's curious gaze. "I think I have good reason for him to want to come out of hiding."

Hawk lifted a brow. "And what reason is that?"

"Me and Tori. You saw how desperate he was to get us, and according to Horton, the only reason he wanted Tori brought to him was because he thought I was interested in her. What if he knew the truth? What if he knew that Sandy never died in that explosion, that she cheated death and the last laugh is on him?"

Hawk shook his head as a cold shiver slid down his spine and spread throughout his body. 'The man is demented, Drake, a bona fide psychopath. If he even suspected she was still alive, you and Tori's life would become a living nightmare. All hell would break loose. He'd finish the job."

"Yes, and he'd be so damn pissed he would want to do it himself this time. He wouldn't depend on anyone else failing him."

Hawk nodded his head. "Yes, that would definitely draw him out, but are you willing to take that chance with Tori's life?"

"He has no choice," Tori said, from behind them. She walked forward and stood next to Drake. "I can't continue to run and hide and look over my shoulder, Hawk. It's time that Drake and I confront Cross face-to-face. He wants us, so it's time that he come and get us."

Hawk sighed deeply and thought about what they were saying. Casey and Chisholm had been willing to use them as bait without their knowledge. Now they were volunteering to be used to draw out Cross in order to finally end this madness. "That means we'll have to leak the information mat Sandy Carroll is still alive."

"No," Drake said as a dark frown covered his face. "I have a better way. I'll call Cross myself."

Hawk raised a dark, surprised brow. "And you just happen to have his personal phone number?" he asked dryly.

Drake smiled. He then pulled out a slip of paper from the pack pocket of his jeans. "Exactly. I don't know where Cross is hiding out but thanks to Horton, I do know his private number."

"You have a call, sir."

Cross quickly took the phone from Miguel. He had been waiting for the call from Red Hunter. He had a plane standing by and was anxious to give them the word to take off to bring back his houseguests.

"I assume you're calling to let me know my houseguests will be arriving shortly," he said.

Drake laughed. "Fat chance, bastard. I was calling to let you know that Tori and I won't be visiting after all. We figured we wouldn't like the company."

Cross's hand tightened on the phone and his face filled with rage. "Warren!"

"Umm, I see that you remember me. And don't waste time asking about the Red Hunter. Let's just say he's a little indisposed at the moment."

The vein in Cross's neck almost strained in anger. "You'll pay for what you've done."

"Your ass will be too busy hiding out from the cartel to worry about me. It won't be long before they find out that you defied them. They won't like you being a bad little boy. But I thought I'd give you something to think about while you're on the run for your life. You screwed up, Cross. You screwed up tonight but most importantly you screwed up five years ago. You didn't kill Sandy. The CIA outsmarted you. They let you think you killed Sandy but she still lives, Cross. The woman I love is still living and you were too stupid to put two and two together to figure out who she was."