TRACELESS (7 page)

Shadows moved and footsteps shuffled around him. The gravel made it tough for them to move in quietly, and that was his advantage. Gunfire rang out around him, chipping stones and kicking up a combination of dust and dirt. He ignored it all, biding his time.

When the first man tried to slip around the corner and angle in, Connor nailed him in the head with a bullet. The guy went down in a whoosh. His gun fired and the bang echoed around Connor, but he stayed focused.

One down. Two to go.

He’d just had the thought when a second man popped up in front of him. Connor fired without thinking. The bullet hit the attacker’s shoulder and spun him around. The second one went through his neck. The man let out a yell as his hand went to the wound.

As the man fell to the ground, Connor heard a scrape behind him. He turned out to be a beat too late. Before he could shift, shoulders nailed him in the back and knocked the air out of him. He grabbed for the side of the rock in order to stay on his feet but something whacked into his shoulder blades and had him doubling over.

Connor heard the cock of the gun. He stayed down, waiting for the right moment.

“You’re lucky the boss wants you alive.” The guy leaned in. “Your woman won’t be so lucky.”

Connor lifted his elbow and slammed it into the guy’s jaw. He heard a crack and a roar of anger. Before the man could fight back, Connor went in low, pounded into the guy’s stomach and pushed him back into the rock wall.

Punches flew as both men kicked and clawed. Fingernails dug into Connor’s flesh through his pants then a hand jerked him behind the knee and off his feet. He felt the warm air rush around him as he went down.

He shifted, trying to spare his back, and his butt and palm took the brunt of the freefall. He hit the hard surface and his gun went flying. It skidded right out of his hand. Lunging for it, he reached out but the attacker beat him to it.

They fought for the weapon, rolling in the dirt, but neither got a good grip. Missing it, Connor settled for pushing it farther away from the other man’s grasp.

An elbow rammed into Connor’s stomach as he tried to catch the other man’s head and pound it into the ground. They flipped and the man’s weight crushed him.

Hands, legs—he used it all to gain leverage. The air filled with grunts and moans. The shuffling of their clothes and bodies against the pebbles drowned out every other sound.

In desperation, Connor reached for his knife. The move left him vulnerable for a second and the guy moved in. He punched once, twice into Connor’s stomach, causing him to bend over double.

In the battle, the attacker ended up on top, pinning Connor to the dirt as the guy reached over and grabbed his gun. Connor hadn’t even realized there were two free for the taking until one filled the attacker’s hand.

“I’m going to enjoy your wife before I kill her. Just wanted you to know that.” The guy’s smile was feral. Sick.

Rage swept through Connor. The thought of Jana being at this guy’s mercy gave Connor the push he needed. He gathered all of his energy for one last push. The simple plan lacked finesse—nail the guy between the legs, turn him over and shoot him in the head.

“No, you’re not.”

Jana’s voice had them both turning. The attacker stilled and Connor reached for the gun. Jana beat him to the shot. She fired once and the attacker dropped.

Dead weight fell against Connor. He shoved and pushed until he rolled the guy off.

After a quick check for a pulse, Connor looked up at his wife. She had her feet planted and her arms up, still aiming as the smell of hot metal surrounded her.

Scrambling to his feet with the aches and soreness fading into the background, he stood beside her and lowered her arms. He had the gun out of her fingers but couldn’t get the stiffness out of her hands. “You okay?”

Her body shook with the force of the aftermath. “Not really.”

“You saved me.” The fact stunned him, leaving him humble and grateful and more in love with her than he’d ever been. And that was saying something.

She finally blinked. “All your training paid off.”

As gently as possible, he put a hand on her chin and turned her to face him. “Thank you.”

Those beautiful eyes cleared. “I couldn’t let him hurt you.”

He kissed her forehead because it was killing him not to. “You didn’t.”

“Okay,” She leaned into him as she nodded her head. Every few seconds a tremor ran through her.

He held her through it all. Reality would smack into her later. Taking a life would imprint on her. She did it for the right reasons and didn’t have a choice, but she’d need to work through it.

He just wanted her to hold it together now. “You’re okay now.”

“I found this.” She pulled a small black square out of her front pants pocket.

“Nicely done.” He dropped it to the floor and ground it under his heel. “And now it’s gone.”

“I don’t recognize any of them.” Her fingers tightened in his shirt. “Get us out of here.”

Chapter Eight

Luc lowered the long-range binoculars as his first man went down in the distance. The shuffling moved out of position but it didn’t start out well. He stood with Bruce, Rich and Reno more than five hundred feet away and out of sight. Keeping Reno from rushing in fell to Bruce. He whipped out a knife to make his position clear.

As they listened in on the radio and minutes passed, Luc heard grunts and shots. Gunfire echoed through the canyons. The men they sent in were too busy fighting to give a status report. They didn’t call out directions or ask for reinforcements. They clearly thought they had the situation under control and for a few seconds, Luc believed them.

Then silence. Whispered voices and nothing more. Absolutely nothing that sounded like an all-clear signal.

Reno shoved Bruce’s hand away. “What the hell was that?”

“Failure.” Bruce’s comment said it all.

Luc had been in the business a long time. He worked for the boss off the books. He carried out plans and made sure the shipments moved smoothly. Someone else handled the stupid paperwork. They were supposed to, anyway. But a mess up there trickled down to Luc and now he had a disaster on his hands. A woman who wouldn’t stop digging and never seemed to be where he needed her to be.

The boss was going to be ticked off. He didn’t like incompetence and he hated Connor Bowen. Losing to Connor and his team would set the boss off. Have him looking for someone to blame. Luc vowed to put Bruce in the firing line. He was the boss’s muscle and he couldn’t get trained men to do a simple job.

It all came down to Jana. Something about her inspired loyalty in the Corcoran Team. Her husband put his body in front of hers once. He’d do it again. For Luc, that meant killing her was his first priority.

They just had to follow Connor and Jana and figure out the perfect time to swoop in. “Where are we?”

Rich stared at the black box in his hands. It was larger than a cell phone. The green light tracked Jana’s movements. That one of the men managed to sneak it on her was a triumph in an otherwise flawed operation.

But then Rich’s arms dropped and he started swearing. “Unbelievable.”

Luc braced his body for more bad news. “What is it?”

“The tracker’s dead.”

“How is that possible?” Reno asked, the shock evident in his voice. The big man’s face had turned bright red and his cheeks puffed in and out.

Bruce exhaled as he put his knife back in its sheath. “Connor Bowen.”

No, it wasn’t just him. It was all of them. Luc recognized the extensive prep work and admired it. Every last one of them had resources that put his own men to shame. “His wife is turning out to be pretty resourceful, as well.”

Rich threw the box against the ground. The plastic shattered and pieces flew. “Damn it.”

Reno got right up in Luc’s face. “I told you we all needed to go in.”

Holding on to his temper and not letting the bigger man see any panic, Luc tugged his shirt out of Reno’s fists and stepped back. “And risk having Connor and his team take everyone out?”

“He’s not some freak of nature,” Reno said. “He can’t protect his wife and shoot us all.”

Rich stopped pacing long enough to wipe his mouth. Whatever was going on in his head had his shoulders tightening. “Who says he’s alone? Maybe he met up with his team again.”

That was the only piece Luc knew he had covered. “Not possible. We have eyes on them. They aren’t out here running around and shooting.”

No, that was Connor and his wife. A two-person killing machine. More information that would have been helpful to know a week ago when this operation moved from the planning stages to implementation.

“Are we ready to stop underestimating Connor Bowen?” Bruce’s firm voice cut through the anxiety building around them.

Luc would not make that mistake twice. “I want his wife out of this right now.”

Bruce’s mouth twisted and he looked like he was considering the options. “That probably means killing her.”

Fine. The boss might want live bodies but experience said that couldn’t happen. Connor would fight to the end. Neutralizing him, ripping out his emotional center, depended on Jana. Kill her, destroy him.

New orders ran through Luc’s head and he ticked them off. “Hunt them down. Shoot Connor if you have to, but leave him alive long enough for the boss to talk to him. You can do whatever you want with her.”

Rich raised his head and pinned Luc with a glare. “About that—I think we need to meet this boss of yours.”

“Do your job.” Bruce delivered the comment then started a weapons check. Knives, a gun. He touched everything.

The display clearly didn’t impress Rich. He stepped right up to Luc. Barely any space separated them now. “I don’t think so.”

“You think you’ll get more money out of him if you meet him?” If so, Rich didn’t understand how the boss operated. He would not be threatened or bribed. He killed people who stepped in his path. Luc could already see a target on Rich’s chest.

“I want to know what we’re all out here dying for.” Rich pointed back and forth between him and Reno. “We’re the ones taking all the risk and some guy is sitting in air conditioning somewhere, keeping his hands clean.”

There was sharp whack as Bruce thumped his foot against the ground and let his pants leg fall back over the gun strapped to his ankle. “All you need to know is what he wants done.”

Reno shook his head. “We’re working under new rules now.”

“Exactly.” Rich stood next to his friend. Together they formed a wall of raging fury. “I agree with Reno. The rules have changed.”

Bruce shifted his weight from foot to foot. “No, they haven’t.”

Time blurred in front of Luc. Before he could blink, Bruce drew his weapon and fired. A red dot formed on Reno’s forehead. His mouth stayed open as his body dropped in a heap to the ground. Down on the rock and right over the edge, rolling through the brush until he came to a stop in an unmoving sprawl.

Rich’s hands went into the air and his wide-eyed stare followed his friend’s descent. Then he turned and went right for Bruce.

“Try me.” Bruce’s gun didn’t waver and the man didn’t show a bit of remorse.

“Why?”

Bruce ignored Rich’s question. “Go grab your friend’s weapons and anything that can tie him to this operation. We leave in five minutes to find Jana Bowen.”

Rich’s knees gave out and he bent over with his hands on his thighs. “You killed him.”

“Consider it a warning.”

A tense silence followed Bruce’s comment. The men faced each other, neither moving. It was a standoff between two lethal and very stubborn men. Both held weapons but only Bruce looked ready to pull the trigger and walk away. Rich’s gaze kept sweeping down the small hill to where his friend’s body lay.

A bloodbath came next and Luc didn’t want or need that. “Do it now, Rich.”

The hesitation stretched until Rich looked away. He jogged over the rise and slid down through the dry shrubs and wall of small rocks.

“That was a mistake.” Luc kept his voice low as he stood next to Bruce.

“Let me worry about that.”

The man didn’t get it. Someone like Rich sought out revenge. Maybe not today, but it would happen. “You’ll have a target on your back now.”

Bruce finally broke eye contact with Rich’s back and stared at Luc. “Then you better makes sure no one hits it.”

* * *

J
ana
watched
C
onnor
pat down the three bodies. She couldn’t go a step closer. In fact, she backed up, taking tiny steps and moving deeper into the overhang of rocks. If she could have wedged her body into the seam and disappeared, she might have.

The stench of death refused to leave her. A slight tremor ran through her hands and her insides seemed to shake and squish. She kept from throwing up, but only barely. Even now the bile threatened to rush up her throat and choke her.

On his knees, Connor held up something in each hand and stared at her. “Satellite phone and radio.”

“Good.” She forced the word out. Balling her hands into fists at her sides kept her from rubbing them over her face in shame.

His gaze traveled over her and his eyes narrowed. “You okay?”

She was the exact opposite. At least her wavy vision had cleared a bit.

His concern registered and she rushed to lessen it. “I will be if one of the items you found works and we can leave this place.”

He jumped to his feet and walked toward her. For some reason she stepped back again. Not out of fear because Connor never scared her, but being wired and jumpy any movement only added to her skittishness. She felt as if she could jump right out of her skin.

“I am so sorry you had to do that. For all you’ve seen and been through.” He didn’t reach for her. Just stood there, watching her with dark eyes filled with worry.

Guilt. He had an awesome case of it and her reaction only heightened the issue. She wanted to reassure him but the words wouldn’t come.

Battling through the pain circling around her, she stood straight when she wanted to curl in a ball. After dedicating her world to preserving health and life, she had taken one.

In her head, she couldn’t make sense of the violence. Looking down, she half expected to see blood staining her hands.

He tucked the phone in his pocket and put the radio under one arm. “He would have killed you.”

A shiver ran through her. “I know.”

“Listen, you did the right thing. It makes me sick you had to...” His strained voice trailed off. With his hands over hers, he leaned in closer, as if willing her to believe. “I wish I could make this better for you.”

Being there, holding her, not pushing or insisting she shouldn’t wallow all helped. “I know that, too.”

“You’ll work through this. Promise.”

She thought about the weight he carried and the horrors he didn’t share. He always said it was to spare her from hearing and him from having to relive them. For the first time she got it.

“I love you.” The words slipped out. Not that they were a secret or something he had to earn. She loved him every minute of every day and being on the edge of death she needed him to know that.

His palm cupped her cheek. “And I love you.”

He stood close enough for the radio in his pocket to knock against her hip. “Then work your magic and call for help. My only request is we go somewhere without gunfire or dead bodies.”

“Aren’t you demanding.”

“Hurry up before I add something else to the must-have list.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The wink caught her by surprise. A shock of lightness spun through her. She kept her eyes focused on his face and her hand braced against his arm. Glancing just a few feet past his shoulder to the puddle of blood seeping into the dirt would send her flying back to that horrible place in her head. She feared closing her eyes and being overcome by the vivid mental images.

Connor skipped the radio and went for the satphone. He fiddled and pressed buttons. When it beeped several times and then the line clicked, she assumed that was some sort of ring. Hearing Holt’s voice had her slumping into Connor’s side in relief.

“Holt?” Connor being Connor, he made the connection and started talking. No greetings or small talk. “No time to explain. We had more men on our trail but took care of them.”

“How many?”

“Three.” Connor didn’t mention her shot.

She didn’t fill in the blank or take credit. Instead, she focused on the steady rhythm of their deep voices. The sound lulled her into a sense of security.

“They have to be running out of men,” Holt said.

“You’d think so, but there always seems to be an ample supply of men of this type.”

“True. Is Jana okay?” Holt’s usual no-nonsense tone came over the speaker.

“I’m fine.”

Connor’s eyebrow raised but he didn’t comment. “Where are you?”

“Lampari’s house.”

The news had Jana’s stomach plummeting to the hard canyon floor. She wanted to ask why and hear what Holt had found out, but she held it all in. Marcel was the one topic sure to make Connor go nuts and she needed him on his game now more than ever.

“Stay there. And get Davis checking on Boundless. We have some shipment irregularities.” Connor watched her as he said the words. “A guy I used to work with can help. He’s still black ops, but he had connections and intel. His name is Drake Federson. Have Davis use the dark blue cell phone in my top desk drawer. There’s one number but tell him to talk fast.”

As she listened, Holt delivered the same information Connor gave her but with a little more detail. Through it all one thing was clear—Connor believed that whatever happened in the charity office was tied to the kidnapping.

She didn’t see the connection but it was possible this all stretched back to when they’d met. She couldn’t ignore the charity incongruities or the fact Marcel had missed them. Again.

The line crackled before Holt started talking. “You staying under?”

“It’s too dangerous for us to be moving around out here. The hired guns could be anywhere, including near you. So watch.”

“Of course.”

“We’ll meet up with you when the sun goes down.” Connor gave a quick look around. “If the satphone service goes out, meet at Lampari’s yard at nineteen hundred.”

“Joel is trying to break through whatever blocked our signal earlier and trace it back to the source.”

Connor nodded. “He’ll figure it out.”

There it was. The absolute certainty in his men’s skills. Connor acted as if they could wiggle out of any situation and break any code. He made her believe it, too.

“Out.”

She could almost see Holt nod as he broke the connection. The ease with which Holt and Connor communicated settled her nasty case of nerves. The two men didn’t get wound up and their confidence strengthened hers.

A boot from the downed man caught her attention and she angled her body to block it again. The temptation to plaster on a fake smile came and went. She didn’t have to pretend with Connor. She knew that much.

She folded her arms then refolded them. She finally settled for resting a hand on the top of his belt. “What happens until tonight?”