Lie with Me (31 page)

Just like Cam himself.

What kind of fine line did Cam skate every day, every mission?

What would stop him from turning, the way Gabriel had? Then again, Gabriel seemed to be the same way he’d always been—the duality hadn’t changed at all.

And still, for his family, the man would do anything.
Anything
.

Cam would have to find his own peace the only way he knew how. The only peace he’d truly ever had was in Sky’s arms, and how the hell could any of this end well?

It will just end
, he told himself firmly.

“Did it help?” she asked. “Talking about my father. Did it help?”

He cleared his throat. “It didn’t hurt.”

S
ky could clearly see the struggle Cam was having. The fact that he’d chosen to help her proved that he wasn’t, and never could be, a monster.

Her instincts had been right the entire time. And still, moving forward, there was a great deal to go through before either of them could be at peace.

“How are Dylan and Riley going to feel about this? I can’t imagine Riley is going to be happy either.” She relaxed her stance a little, letting the blanket fall around her waist as she turned to face him.

“Riley’s here. She’ll have to be open to whatever the plan is. Dylan’s going to be harder to convince, because he’s seen firsthand how working for your father affected me,” Cam told her, and she could see the strain on his face.

“I know what a big risk this is.”

“I’m not doing it for Gabriel. I’m doing it for you. Because if we don’t deal with this now, you’ll never be safe.”

“I might never be anyway, Cam. What matters is you.”

“Yeah, well, right back at you.” He shook his head. “What Dylan told you before, that your father might off himself before he lets himself be rescued … he’s absolutely correct.”

“I know that.”

He continued. “We don’t even know if he’s still alive—you know that, right?”

“Yes. But I also know I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do something.”

He didn’t say anything more about it. She knew he was thinking about what happened after—about the possibility of things, like her being put into witness protection.

She didn’t want to go there yet. Better to focus on the task at hand.

She thought Cam would go back out to Dylan and Riley, but instead he shifted so he leaned against the headboard, rubbed a spot between his eyes for a few seconds. “I don’t understand … your father’s always so careful. It’s been over ten years and I’m just now getting intel on his undercover work with the OA. He’s been with DMH for three months and he’s made by Riley—someone who’s not even in the organization?”

He moved his hands away and stared straight ahead. And then he brought his eyes back to her, looked like he wanted to say something else.

“What is it, Cam?” she asked, moved a little closer to him.

“I think I know.” He swallowed hard. “The transplant is the key.”

“How?”

“You said, in order for him to do that, he had to put himself literally on the line.”

“Yeah, because he risked his life for me by giving me the kidney.”

“There’s more to being a donor than that. He had to prove he was related in order to consent. In order to speed up the process, he had to be himself.”

Her mouth opened, in surprise, in understanding. “He used his real name to register—he had to.”

“And that’s how Riley found him. Before that, his name was impossible to find in any database. Trust me, I tried,” he muttered, ran his fingers through his hair.

“So it’s my fault.”

“None of this is your fault, Sky. If anything, you saved me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you hadn’t been dying, needing your father, I wouldn’t have been set free—I wouldn’t have survived.”

Even now, just talking about it, he felt broken. Like making it through this conversation could let it all rush back to him, fresh and raw. “Do you know how fucked up it is that I’m grateful to you for your illness?”

“I don’t think of it like that. I’m just so sorry that you had to—” Her voice caught before she could finish.

“Don’t. Don’t you feel sorry for me. I couldn’t stand that.”

His voice held a dangerous edge, ran through her like a warning:
Don’t get close, don’t touch
.

Certainly, don’t give away your heart.

Too late. She pushed his arms aside and climbed into his lap. Ignoring the warning growl of, “Not now,” she traced the inside of his collarbone first with a finger and then with her mouth, tasting the warm skin.

Her breath stopped being slow and steady when her hands traveled down between their bodies. Her hand rested on the warm, soft cotton of his jeans, his arousal pushing against her palm.

“Can’t help that you do that to me. All I have to do is look at you, think about you … hear your voice,” he told her, and heat flooded her.

“Now we get down to what’s real,” she told him, and for a second, the urge for fight or flight clenched his chest.

“Sky—”

“Not because you owe me, or you’re using me. But because you want to. Only if you want to.” She paused for a moment and then asked, “Do you?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then nothing else matters right now.”

She was right. Living in the moment. Hell, he did it with his job all the time.

She curled up against him and he traced her scar with his finger. “I know how much I’m asking,” she told him.

“Could you ever forgive me if I didn’t help you?”

Could she? He was saving her, and that’s what her father would want. He didn’t owe her father anything. Gabriel had put Cam through hell for years.

“We need to do this, for both our sakes,” she whispered. “And then …”

And then …

“This is your safe place,” she said.

“Yeah, I thought it was. But walls don’t make you safe.”

“They will, for now.” She ran her hands through his thick hair.

He pulled her close and he held her until he couldn’t put off sharing his decision with Dylan and Riley any longer.

D
ylan and Riley both looked like shit. Riley worse, thanks to the bruises that circled her neck and the ones on her cheekbone. Cam was pretty sure he looked almost as bad—couldn’t remember the last time he’d shaved. His shoulder ached, but at least the fever had stopped.

Dylan was rubbing Riley’s back, the two of them had their heads together and were talking, until Dylan looked up and saw Cam.

“Hey, how is she?” he asked as Riley turned toward Cam as well.

Cam shrugged.

“Zane called—no one’s reported the doc missing yet,” Dylan told him.

“Shit.” Cam rubbed the back of his neck.

“What’s wrong?”

They all turned to see Sky, standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Jesus, he was getting soft if he could let her sneak up on him like that—and by the looks on Dylan and Riley’s faces, they felt the same way.

“It’s about Olivia, isn’t it?”

Dylan attempted to break the news gently. “I sent my brother to check on her. She’s definitely been taken.”

“She’s hurt. Because of me.” Her voice sounded hollow.

“None of this is your fault, Sky.” Cam held her by the shoulders and did everything but shake her to get her to meet his eyes. “None of this. I keep telling you that. This world your father’s gotten involved in, it’s dark and it’s sick and it’s scary. It’s not meant for the general public to see.”

“Yes, I know the quote—something about rough men keeping us safe in our beds,” she murmured softly, reached out to touch his cheek. For a second, they were the only ones in the room and Cam wondered if it would always be like that. If he’d always have the chance to feel that way.

“We need to get a plan together to find Gabriel.” He waited for the fallout from Dylan and Riley, which came instantly.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Dylan demanded, and Riley went pale. Sky could clearly see the circle of bruises around her throat now—bright purple, as if they were very new.

“Gabriel Creighton’s hurt every person in this room, and now we’re going to save his ass? That’s bullshit,” Dylan continued.

Sky couldn’t let that comment go. “Yes, my father’s done things that I’m sure would make my stomach turn. But he’s still my father, and he was there when I needed him. He’s the reason I’m alive today. He made sure after my mom died that no one knew he had a kid. They’d hidden me from the beginning—different last name and all that. After she died, it was even more extreme. But I was glad, because I knew what could happen to me. Then, when it looked like I wasn’t going to make it, he took months off work—he went through all the tests and spent two months recovering with me in a safe house in New York. So you can say what you want about him, think what you want, but he gave me life.”

“What is she talking about?” Dylan asked Cam.

She’d wrapped herself back into the sweater she’d been wearing that first night, drawn it around her tightly as if it was her only means of protection and she answered Dylan instead of Cam. “My father gave me a kidney—that’s how DMH knows about me.” She watched as both Riley and Dylan connected the final pieces of the puzzle.

Riley spoke first. “That’s why Gabriel let his guard down. Why I was able to track him so easily, when I’d never been able to before.”

Sky shrugged. “He left me after two months—earlier than doctors wanted him to. But Olivia said he was in great shape and that he’d be okay if he took it easy. She had no idea what he did for a living—probably thought he worked behind a desk because we actually went to her office for visits, the only time we left the safe house. We didn’t want her to be involved, or to get suspicious.”

“He went back too soon. Left himself vulnerable. And I took advantage of that.” Riley turned away and Sky reached out for her.

“He might’ve hurt your family, in ways I can’t imagine. I can’t defend what he’s done in the line of duty—but I have to believe that’s why he’s done the things he has. Like Cam, I can’t blame you for hating him, even wanting him dead, but you have to understand, he’s still my family.”

Riley nodded. “Even if we come up with a plan that might work, where does that leave you? You’ll be completely at risk if we’re taken.”

Cam shot Riley a look after he heard Sky’s surprise gasp at her words. Yeah, he’d known Sky hadn’t thought the whole plan through—he hadn’t wanted her to. Hadn’t wanted her to worry.

“I’m going with you. I won’t stay here while you put yourself in danger,” Sky insisted.

“You can’t come with us, Sky,” he told her gently. “You’re still recovering. And I’m not putting you at risk like that.”

“I’m not staying behind, Cam. I barely trusted
you
. Who would you leave me with? The CIA? A bodyguard? I’m not doing that. So unless you’re okay with leaving me alone in a room with a gun to protect myself …”

He wasn’t. No fucking way. “Just give me a few minutes, okay? Let me get everyone on the same page.”

She nodded. “I’ll make us all something to eat.”

When she crossed to the kitchen, Cam turned to Riley and Dylan. “You’ve got to keep the threat-level shit under control. She’s fucking terrified and doing a damned good job of hiding it, okay?”

Riley nodded. “So we’re taking her with us.”

“We can bring her with us and then have Zane watch her,” Dylan offered.

Cam’s eyes narrowed. “He hits on anything that moves.”

“He’ll behave. It’s perfect. I can’t get him involved in any kind of kidnap/shoot-out mission when he’s still on active duty—bad enough you are. But he won’t let anything happen to Skylar. You know that.”

Cam did. “Caleb doesn’t know, does he?”

Dylan shook his head. “None of your team does. Figured that would make things easier when you went back to lead them.”

“If I go back,” Cam countered.

“If, when—as long as the decision’s yours, that’s all that matters.” Dylan was already ringing his brother. Cursing at him too, which was pretty typical of all the conversations Cam had ever heard Dylan have with Zane, although he’d never met the man before. When Dylan hung up, he said, “Zane should be here within the hour. He’s up for going with us to keep an eye on Sky.”

“I’ll bet he is,” Cam muttered, and noticed Dylan had a serious look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s this doctor thing—it’s freaked Zane out.”

“Freaking Sky out too. DMH is really going whole hog for Gabriel’s intel.” Cam glanced into the kitchen, where Sky appeared to be lost in thought while making sandwiches. He turned back to Riley. “It’s time to start telling me everything you know about DMH.”

Riley nodded, grabbed Cam’s laptop and began to type, pulling up maps of Minnesota. “This is where Bullet—Elijah Killoran—grew up. His family home is still there—it’s under his mother’s name, but she died years ago. But someone is still paying the taxes. DMH uses a lot of other safe houses, in the Midwest, mostly, and this would be a perfect place to bring people you don’t want found. Tiny town, lots of space between houses. Sentimental value.”

“You’re counting on a terrorist being sentimental?” Cam asked, raised an eyebrow at her. Granted, he definitely believed in gut instincts, had traveled on them more times than he cared to count—safely, for the most part. But to put Riley’s theory to the test with so much at stake …

“DMH wants to kill me, Cam. And I need to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m not happy about getting close to them, but I’ll do what it takes. For Dylan. For Skylar,” Riley told him.

“I know a lot about DMH,” Cam said roughly. “Delta’s been following their operations for years. Mainly, they work from a home base of Morocco. Sell their secrets and their services to terrorists and warlords. They’ve grown to a size where they’ve become impossible to control and hard to track down. They did that purposely, and it’s certainly worked for them.”

The good thing about DMH was that they traveled in relatively small numbers and rarely all gathered in the same place.

The bad thing about DMH was that they traveled in relatively small numbers and rarely all gathered in the same place.

No, they scattered to the wind, and catching them in the past had been like trying to grab a snowflake and keep it from disappearing in your fist. “We’re going to have to do a smash and grab,” Cam said. “We get in, take out who we can and grab Gabriel—and hopefully Olivia, if they’re together. The DMH men won’t know what the fuck hit them.”