Wicked Games (7 page)

He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “A man just shot at us, and you want me to stop and let you
out
? You want him to come back and shoot you point blank?”

She shot back, “What do you care?
One less thing for y’all to be
angry
about.” 

Richard and Brianna both show up alive within hours of each other?
Noah knew better than to think that was a coincidence, but he hadn’t yet figured out the connection. 

No time like the present to find out.

Noah leaned forward, closer to her. “No, I don’t think I will let you out here. Maybe I’ll just take you to
Richard
.” 

Her head jerked to meet his eyes
, and he saw complete terror in her eyes. That terror wasn’t there, even after the guy shot at her. This was definitely not the reaction he had expected from her. At one point, he had suspected something was up between the two of them. He never really believed she was cheating on him with Richard, but he wasn’t really sure what exactly was going on. 

Noah remembered Brianna
brought Richard up frequently in conversation, always asking questions about him. She asked about how they met and about their business dealings. She was always careful about the way she questioned him, but Noah was suspicious, nonetheless.

Brianna
turned her head to look straight ahead, but he saw her eyes darting in all directions. He could see every muscle tense in her body, and her breathing and pulse rate had drastically increased. He knew she hit the flight-or-fight mode in an adrenalin dump, and she was definitely terrified of something.

She looked back at him and
the pain in her voice was palpable, “You would really do that to me?”   He let out a disgusted “humph” as his response.

The SUV slowed for a red light
, as she looked back out the side window. Lightning fast, she grabbed the door lock and the handle, jumped from the vehicle, slamming the door behind her, as she ran as hard as she could. Bull had also been watching her, but he was a split second too late on hitting the automatic door locks. Just as she slammed the door shut, Noah slid across the back seat, but was locked in, giving her a good head start on him.

Noah chased
her down the side street, as Bull honked the horn and finally got around the cars waiting at the red light. Brianna scanned the area ahead, looking for an escape route. She saw an abandoned house with a fenced back yard. Behind it were a few more houses and what looked like an apartment complex. 

She
jumped the chain link fence and kept going until she reached the apartment complex. Hiding in the shadows, staying close to the buildings, she spotted another main road a couple of blocks down. Fear was propelling her. Fear that Noah would really take her to Richard. Fear that she had misjudged him, and he was really part of everything she had uncovered.

Why else would he have said that?

Pushing off like an Olympic runner, she headed in the direction of the cars and witnesses when she was suddenly engulfed from behind. Big, muscular arms circled her, pinning her arms in front, and a long, muscular leg circled one of hers, making it impossible to move. 

Noah’s deep voice growled
in her ear, “You’re not going anywhere.” The SUV slid into the parking lot in front of them. Bull and Rebel got out of the car and approached them, as Noah released his hold on her. 

She was boxed in and there was no way out.
She was close to hysterical by this time, shaking her head, and holding her hands out to keep them at bay.  Through her tears, she kept repeating, “Just let me go.” 

Noah didn’t know what was going on, but he sure as hell intended to find out.
He tried to coax her.  “Bri. Just get back in the car.”

“No! You’re not taking me to
him
!”

The three men gathered around her and led her back to the SUV.
She climbed in the back, Noah sat on one side and Rebel sat on the other, sandwiching her in the middle. Pulling her feet up on the seat, she wrapped her arms around her legs, laid her chin on her knees, and a steady stream of tears flowed from her eyes. 

Bull looked at her in the rearview mirror and saw the fear and defeat in her eyes.
He was still mad that she had betrayed his trust. With his low, gruff voice, he started, “Sunny, look-“

She quickly cut him off. “
Don’t. Call. Me. That.
  That was a nickname given to me by
friends,
who swore to always be my
brothers!” 

She could feel all three sets of eyes on her
, but she refused to look at any of them. She didn’t want to see the hatred in their eyes, feel their icy stares, or sense their indifference towards her. 

A few moments
later, with no emotion left in her voice, she added, “Those men don’t even exist anymore.
”
Three of “those men” were in the SUV with her and had all turned on her.  

She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. God, she was tired.

***************

“I hope you’re calling with good news.”

“Negative. Subject had bullet proof glass.”

Richard scowled into the phone. With a blatant attempt on his life, Noah would now be on high alert.  And he had the manpower to run effective security details and surveillance. Richard decided he would
have to back off of Noah, for now. He knew Brianna would eventually show up in Miami, he just needed to wait her out.

“Leave him alone for now. We can’t afford a second attempt. Keep watch for the girl.”

“Understood.”

Once inside Noah’s house, he walked
Brianna to the den, and told her to stay there. Activating the security alarm in case she decided to run again, Noah, Bull, and Rebel went into the office to watch the security tape again. The camera didn’t capture whatever she did in the bedroom, and there was nothing in her hands when she came out. 

They speculated that
she may have planted something in there, but that didn’t seem reasonable, since he never used that bedroom. There was nothing in her hands when she went in. They rehashed the events of the night again, trying to make sense of it, and come up with a plan. 

Rebel’s cellphone chirped
, and he had a short conversation with the other security team. Hanging up, he looked to Noah, “Dude got away. They chased him, but he abandoned his car and took off on foot. Tags came back stolen.”

Frustrated,
Noah raked his hand through his hair, and let out a loud sigh, “I don’t know who’s trying to kill her, or what she’s up to. But she sure as hell didn’t think of me when she brought all this shit to my front door.”

Rebel leveled his gaze at Noah and said, “Brother, you know I got your back
, but you may be too close to the trees to see the forest on this one.”

“What do you mean?” Noah’s frustration was growing.

“Man, look. I’m just looking at the facts. One, she tried to get away from you. Two, when the guy shot at her, she wasn’t trying to save herself – “

“What
the hell do you mean – ‘she wasn’t trying to save herself’?” Noah growled.

“If she was trying to save herself, she would’ve laid down in the seat, or the floorboard, or hell, man, even
just bent over. But she didn’t. She used her body to shield
you
. We are trained to handle that kind of stress – she’s not. Most any civilian, and a lot of soldiers for that matter, would panic in that situation, Reap. I saw her face, man. She didn’t know that was bulletproof glass. She was protecting
you
from that bullet.”

Noah put his head in his hands and blew out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding.
 

“And three,
” Rebel continued, “she begged to be let out of the car, even after dude tried to shoot her. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s trying to bring trouble to your door.”

A small voice at the door said, “He wasn’t aiming at me.”

All three men whirled around and looked at her, trying to take in what she said. Then Bull spit out a response, “What the hell did you just say?”

Brianna looked at each of the men, feeling partially
afraid of the repercussions she would face for intruding their male bonding time. She had only heard the last part of what Rebel was saying, but she knew he was referring to the guy who shot at them earlier. 

She took a deep breath and said,
“He wasn’t aiming at me. He was aiming at Noah.”

Rebel turned back to Noah and gave him an
I-told-you-so
look. Noah looked back at the doorway and Brianna was gone. The three men filed out of the office and back to the den, finding her sitting on the leather couch in the darkened room. Noah turned on a lamp, sat in his recliner, and the other men took a seat. One sat in the second recliner and one on the loveseat. 

Surrounded again
,
Brianna inwardly sighed.

Noah couldn’t get used to seeing her with the short, black hair. She always had long blond hair
, and he remembered how he loved to run his fingers through it. Had she lost weight? She was always lean and muscular, but she seemed to be thinner now. She definitely looked tired. Hell fire, it had been a long day, but she looked completely undone. He hesitated to ask her any questions, because he was sure she would shatter to pieces if he did. She wasn’t crying any longer, but her eyes were red, bloodshot, and a little swollen.

Without saying a word, he rose and walked to her,
squatted in front of her, and took her wrists in his hands to remove the zip-tie cuffs. When he grabbed her wrists, she winced in pain, but didn’t say anything and didn’t make a sound. He opened his fingers, her wrists lying in the palm of his hands, and he saw the lines of dark purple bruises, in the shape of fingertips, against her pale skin on both wrists.

“Did I do this to you?” Guilt riddled his voice
, because he knew the answer. His eyes searched hers for some type of reaction, but she just pulled her hands away and looked down. He was still extremely pissed and hurt, but he would never intentionally physically hurt Brianna. 

“It doesn’t matter.” There was no self-pity in her voice. She wasn’t trying to make him feel bad for what he’d done. She was just stating a fact, as if she deserved it.

He pulled a knife from his pocket and cut the ties from her hands. She absently rubbed the indentions they had left on her wrists, and he realized he had zipped them a little too tight. She had never complained about it. He stayed squatted in front of her, watching her, but she wouldn’t look at him. He looked at Bull and then at Rebel, but they were both watching her.

“Can I please use your shower?” 

He didn’t know how such an innocent question could hurt him so much. She had her own place when they first started dating, but she had practically lived here with him. She had slept in his bed. Hell, she had made love to him all night in his bed, his shower, and most everywhere else in the house. And she was asking for
permission
to use his shower?

“Sure.
Don’t even think about trying to run, though.” He kept his voice even to hide all the emotions lying just underneath the surface. He stood, but stayed in front of her. He offered his hand to help her up, but she didn’t take it.

“Thank you.” And with that, she quietly left the room, still avoiding looking at anyone.

**************

In the bathroom, she broke down again, unable to stop the tears
and body shakes. During the quiet part of the ride, she had a little time to think and sort through the events of the night. When she saw the man raise the gun and aim at Noah, her heart sank to her knees. She knew he didn’t love her anymore. He viewed her disappearance as betrayal and loyalty was not an option with these guys. Noah didn’t understand, and there was no way he would believe her word now. 

Even with t
hat, and the fact that he was angry that she was even still alive, she still couldn’t stop her traitorous heart from loving him. And she couldn’t bear the thought of him getting hurt because of her. She knew what she had to do. But first, she knew he and the others had questions they wanted answered. She decided to tell them whatever they wanted to know. 
What could it hurt now?

She removed the wig and the hair cap and her headache let up slightly. She knew she would have one hell of a headache after crying so much. She ran her fingers through her matted hair and started the water for her shower. She made i
t as hot as she could stand it. 

She was
trying to wash away the pain and dread of what she knew was still to come. She washed her long blond hair and applied conditioner, knowing it would definitely need it after being under that wig for so long. Once she had rinsed off, she sat on the tile floor, with her back against the built in seat, and sobbed until the water ran cold.

After
she dried off, she realized she didn’t have any clothes to change into. They drove straight here, and her backpack was still in the hotel room. She wrapped the towel around her and stepped out into Noah’s bedroom, intending to ask him if he could spare a t-shirt for her to sleep in for the rest of the night, or morning, whatever it was now. She knew he had decided she was staying at his house until he figured out what he should do with her.

She walked by the bed and noticed a pair of pajamas laid out across the bed. Her heart nearly stopped when she thought his girlfriend had come over
while she was in the shower. She never expected him to stop dating after her, but she couldn’t be in the same house with them. She couldn’t sleep in the next room knowing another woman was in the bed with him. Visions of them together played in her mind, and she shook her head to get rid of the images.

She felt like she was about to hyperventilate when something registered in her brain and she realized they were her old pajamas. Noah had laid out a pink
cotton tank top with spaghetti straps and pink with white polka dot pajama pants for her. She quickly dressed and towel dried her hair. She was much too tired to fuss with the hair dryer right now, and made her way back downstairs.

She heard muffled voices in the den and knew the guys were still in there talking
, so she went to the kitchen. Her eyes and head hurt from crying, so she left the light off and stood at the huge picture window, looking at the pool water sparkle from the underwater lights. 

The lights changed colors, reflecting throughout the decorative water fountains in the middle of the pool and the waterfall at the other end. She always love
d to watch the water at night. Water and waves had such a calming effect on her, and she desperately needed it right now.

She felt the air in the room change, energize almost, with body heat, muscles
, nervous energy, and testosterone. She knew that Noah, Bull, and Rebel were standing behind her in the dark.

“What do you want to know?” She didn’t turn around.

“Everything.” Noah said
flatly, as he flipped on the kitchen light. He turned to look at her and stopped dead in his tracks. Her blond hair was back, still a little damp, but no doubt, it was blond and long again. 

Damn
! She had been wearing a wig this whole time!
He wondered if he was starting to lose his edge.

If he suspected she had lost weight, he had no doubt now. The pajamas he had left out for her
had fit her perfectly at one time. He always loved how she filled them out. Now they hung loosely on her, and she looked so….lost.

She stood with her back to them, staring out the window
, with her head slightly tilted down. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, as if she were trying to protect herself. Noah was standing with his friends, but she was alone. 

A
thought hit him so hard it almost felt like a punch to the gut.
Has she been alone all this time?

“Where do you want to start?” Her voice
came out so soft but strained, trying to hold back the tears. 

Noah had
heard her sobs in the shower when he laid out her pajamas. When he heard her cries, her pain sounded so raw, so real, he almost went to her to hold her. The sound was faint at first, but as he got closer to the bathroom door, he clearly heard her sobs.  Old feelings rose in his chest, and he put his hand on the doorknob, intent on rushing to comfort her. Then he remembered attending her funeral…her
fake
funeral…and backed away from the door.

Now wasn’t the time to reminisce.

“Is there a boyfriend I need to be concerned about showing up here, looking for you?”

“No.”

A snort and a sarcastic comment Noah couldn’t withhold, “Oh, let me guess….you didn’t tell
him
where you were going, either?“

Both heads snapped in his direction
, as Bull and Rebel looked at him. Reaper nodded and looked down momentarily.
OK, low blow
.

She shook her head
and paused. “There’s no one….There hasn’t been anyone since…since you.”

Reaper, you are a dick.
“Where have you been all this time?”

“Boulder, Colorado.”

“Why Boulder?”

“Because that’s where the US Marshals put me when I entered the Witness Protection Program.”

The three men looked at each other, all puzzled. Noah’s jaw dropped, and he couldn’t believe what he just heard her say. WITSEC only happens in the movies, not in real life. Not for anyone he ever knew, anyway. Bull’s face showed his complete disbelief of her story while Rebel was intrigued. Noah couldn’t think of anything intelligent to say. He simply asked, “Why?”

Brianna turned to face them and stepped a few paces closer to them. Noah saw her cobalt blue eyes and realized she’d been wearing colored contact lenses, too.
How did I miss these details about her?  Because I have been so busy being angry with her for being alive,
he mentally chastised himself.

She let out a long sigh and considered how to start. “The last story I went on…
.in the Middle East? I got proof that some of our government officials were guilty of….well, illegally selling weapons to terrorists.  One of them tried to kill me by blowing up the plane I was supposed to be on.”

Noah, Bull
, and Rebel considered her story, but she could tell they were all still very skeptical. She had only given them very vague information. She supplied no names, nothing for them to run any checks on themselves, and even she had to admit the story was pretty far-fetched. Brianna kept her eyes trained on Noah, refusing to look away and give him any reason to think she was lying.