Second Chance (37 page)

Tears rolled down Shea’s face as she refocused her gaze on Keeley. “Knowing the kind of man Cole is, how protective he is … can you imagine what that did to him when he realized he’d watched my torture and hadn’t tried to save me?”

As if unable to watch his wife share her story without holding her, Ethan sat beside Shea and wrapped his arms around her.

Shea nestled into her husband’s arms as she continued, “After he was rescued, came off the drugs, he woke up to a living nightmare. Had to relive losing his wife and daughter all over again. He remembered the bad things first … that’s how the drug works. The good things either never come back or are sketchy. All of this might have destroyed a lesser man. Cole took it on all over again, because there was one thing he couldn’t let go of, couldn’t stop thinking about. Do you know what tortured him the most?”

Frozen, unable to speak for the mounting sorrow building inside her, Keeley could only shake her head.

“The knowledge that he’d killed an innocent man. It happened after the very first drugging. The dosage was wrong … the pain almost killed him. He was crazy with it … didn’t know what he was doing.”

Barely able to whisper, Keeley said, “He told me.”

What Cole had been forced to do, what had been done to him, was tragic and horrendous. Keeley couldn’t blame him for Stephen’s death. It hadn’t been his fault.

“When he was well enough, he came to check on you,” Shea said.

Keeley shook her head. “I never met him before—”

“He did it from a distance … he was worried for you, for your children. He couldn’t let go of the fact that he’d killed your husband and felt as if he needed to take on the responsibility of seeing to your safety.”

“How did he do that?”

“He kept an eye on you for days, trying to determine if there was a threat. You seemed to be getting your life back together. He could detect no danger.”

“Why didn’t he tell me any of this?”

“He didn’t want to hurt you … bring you more pain. Getting your children back for you was his only priority.”

“He should have been the one to tell me everything.”

Shea nodded. “You’re right, he should have. But Cole is human, just like the rest of us. He screwed up. Couldn’t figure out how to tell the woman he was falling in love with that he’d been her husband’s killer.” Her green-eyed gaze direct and challenging, she said, “The question is, are you going to let that one mistake destroy everything? Because, if you are, then you don’t deserve him.”

Keeley hurriedly stuffed clothes into a small duffel bag. Of all the mistakes she’d made in her life, and she had made plenty, telling Cole to leave had been the worst.

Everything Shea said was true. She had imparted Cole with perfection, and when he’d ended up having flaws,
she’d turned on him. If there was anyone who should be apologizing, it was herself.

Years ago, she’d dreamed about a man of integrity and courage coming into her life. Her mother had told her about her father, about what a wonderful, strong man he’d been. Keeley had dreamed about finding a man like that. Instead she’d settled for a shallow, handsome man with a charming smile.

The reasons Stephen had married her no longer mattered. Whether he’d done it to spite his mother; whether he’d actually loved Keeley at all. It was all in the past. Stephen was gone and her only goals were to have both her children back with her … and to go after the man she loved.

Cole was the man of integrity and character she’d longed for, and what had she done? She’d accused him of making love to her out of pity. Told him to leave.

Her mind went back to all those beautiful moments they’d shared. How he’d made love to her with such tender ferocity. Her fantasies hadn’t come close to the reality of how Cole made her feel, what his lovemaking had done for her … not just the pleasure, which was immense, but also the confidence she’d gained.

She had wanted perfection and now with her eyes wide open, Keeley realized how very imperfect she herself was. She had wanted a hero … a white knight … a savior. What had she gotten? A flawed, imperfect man who was good and decent and had done everything within his power to help her. Had sacrificed himself time and again to make up for something that hadn’t been his fault in the first place. Every time she’d turned around, Cole had been doing things for her. What had she done for him? Nothing.

Would he forgive her?

She loved him. He hadn’t told how he felt with words, but his action had been full of love.

It wouldn’t be easy … nothing worthwhile ever was, but if she could convince him of her love and sincerity, would he give her a second chance to make it right? To be worthy of his love?

She’d already called Jenna and asked her to come stay with Hannah. Now all she had to do was convince Shea to give her Cole’s address. Hopefully, she wasn’t so angry with her she wouldn’t tell her where he was.

Grabbing the duffel, she took one last look at her hastily dressed self. The black jeans and white shirt were comfortable and would hold out for however many hours she would need till she got to the man she loved.

A soft knock on her door had her turning around. “Come in.”

Shea opened the door. The expression on her face was one Keeley had never seen before. Her entire face glowed with excitement. “We have news.”

Her heartbeat quickening, Keeley ran toward her. “What?”

“You know that Eden and Jordan are in Thailand?”

Unable to speak, Keeley could only nod.

“Since they can’t bring their son home yet, they decided to do a little snooping in some of the lesser-known houses that are suspected of selling children.”

Keeley’s heart was ready to leap out of her chest.

“They think they’ve found Hailey at one of them.”

Her finger gripped the dresser behind her as her legs threatened to give out. “Are they sure?”

Shea grinned. “Almost one hundred percent sure. You know they’ve seen numerous pictures of Hailey. They would know.”

“Oh my God.”

“How do you feel about going to Thailand?”

“Thrilled. When do we leave?”

“Can you be ready in an hour?”

“I’m ready right now.” Heart racing and insides shaking, Keeley tightened her grip on her duffel bag and followed Shea out the door. She was really going to get her baby back!

“What the hell is she doing here?”

Keeley almost didn’t recognize the man standing in front of her with a glare that could melt steel. Gone was the man who’d thrown her daughter up in the air, laughing at her antics. The man who’d held her so gently in his arms, tended her bruises and cuts when she was attacked, and made love to her with a fierce tenderness she’d felt to her soul. In front of her stood a man primed for battle—ready to fight, defend, and protect. A warrior.

The Cole Mathison she’d fallen in love with had disappeared. Or had he? Was this the real Cole, or the man he had to be to do what needed to be done? The man she’d told to leave?

Keeley felt a wailing begin inside her, similar to the one she’d felt since her girls were taken. Now the wailing was for a different reason. Had she destroyed her only chance for happiness by not being brave enough and wise enough to grasp what was in front of her?

Swallowing past the pain, Keeley glanced around the large room. They’d set up shop in a small warehouse. A dozen or so people, men and women, milled around, each doing various jobs. A few worked at computers. Two were deep in conversation in a corner. Several had weapons in front of them that they were cleaning and
checking. Cole was with this last group. Except for the one time when he snarled out the question of why she was here, he hadn’t spared her a glance.

She had to find a way to get him alone, to tell him how sorry she was and that she loved him. Straightening her shoulders, Keeley took a breath and started toward him.

A young woman stalked into the room, catching Keeley’s attention and halting her. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, she was below average height and slender. Her bleached blond hair was shorter than some of the men’s, but the short cut only emphasized her incredible bone structure and natural beauty. She was young, maybe early twenties, but she looked at home here. Confident and capable.

Cole looked up when the woman approached him, and he gave her a smile. Cole’s smiles had always been so discriminating and rare that Keeley somehow believed they all belonged to her.

The woman held herself back from the others, but with Cole she seemed to loosen up. The other men surrounding Cole backed off, as if they knew she didn’t want them around. They seemed to respect her need for distance, and when they spoke to her it was from several feet away. She looked serious and competent, as if she’d been in the midst of battles many times and had come out a winner.

Even though this operation was to rescue her daughter, Keeley felt awkward and out of place. As if she were the only one who shouldn’t be here. She fought that sensation. She had every right to be here. But the feeling lingered, as it had many times when she felt out of place back home.

The woman said something to Cole and he let out a dry laugh.

Keeley’s heart lurched at the sexy, familiar sound. Was
Cole attracted to this kind of woman? A woman who understood his world … could live and work in it?

“So the mysterious Ghost is on the case.”

Keeley turned to see Shea smiling.

“Ghost?”

Shea nodded, her eyes still on the slender woman talking to Cole. “That’s her nickname. Her real name is McKenna. She’s an LCR operative but no one but Noah knows anything about her. She shows up, sometimes unexpectedly, does her job and leaves.”

“Cole seems to know her.”

Shea snorted softly. “Not really. He saved her ass once during a raid. She’d been shot. Cole picked her up and carried her out of the building. She was kicking and biting at him the entire time.”

“But why?”

A compassionate flicker of understanding gleamed in Shea’s green eyes. “She doesn’t like to be touched. Cole ignored her and saved her life.”

“So they developed a friendship?”

“Not hardly. In a few minutes, she’ll be just as distant with him as she is with everyone else. I suspect this is the first time she’s seen him since he was rescued. Being halfway friendly to him is her way of saying ‘I’m glad you’re not dead.’”

Compassion suddenly replaced Keeley’s jealousy. “She’s been hurt, hasn’t she?”

“Most LCR operatives have.” She paused for a second and said, “Maybe you should consider joining our ranks.”

With those intriguing words hanging in the air, Shea winked and walked away.

“You okay?”

Stunned at Shea’s suggestion, she hadn’t realized anyone was behind her. She turned to see Eden standing there with a warm smile of welcome on her face and
tears in her eyes. With a soft sob, she threw herself into Eden’s arms. “Thank you. Thank you.”

Eden laughed softly and held her tight. “It was a long shot, but it paid off.”

She pulled out of Eden’s arms and reached up to press a grateful kiss to Jordan’s cheek as he stood beside his wife. “And you’re sure it’s her? How does she look? Does she look healthy?”

“Her hair’s been colored a dark brown, so we didn’t recognize her at first,” Eden said. “And yes, though she looks like she could use a bath and hairbrush, she looks healthy.”

“What kind of place is this?”

“Black market adoption,” Jordan said. “We think they’ve only had her a few weeks.”

“Why do you think that? Where has she been?”

“Jordan and I went inside, pretending to inquire about an adoption. Most of these places actually do a few legal ones. We told them some specific features we were looking for, hoping if they hadn’t seen Hailey themselves, someone had. The second agency we went to, they’d just gotten in a child about the age and physical description we said we were looking for.” She grinned. “They warned us she was a handful and that the people who’d had her before returned her. She apparently was a little more rambunctious than they anticipated.”

Hailey!

“I remember your description of Hailey included her tendency to be a bit of a daredevil. We told them this was exactly the kind of child we’d love to have. They let us meet her.”

“And she was healthy?”

“Yes. She looks like she’s been well fed, not abused, but she had quite the attitude. Refused to come when
they called. Glared at me and Jordan the entire time we were there.”

“Oh God, I can’t believe I’m finally going to see her again.”

“I’m glad you could be here. Who’s with Hannah?”

“Jenna’s staying with her.”

“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to have her sister back home.”

Keeley shivered as she glanced around at all the busy people. “Will everyone here go in?”

Eden shook her head. “No more than three or four. The less we send in, the better our chances of getting out without anyone getting hurt.”

One again, people would be putting their lives on the line to save her child. Cole included. Another shiver swept through her. “How dangerous will this be?”

“Nothing we haven’t done before. They’ve got a good plan. Everything will be all right.” She grabbed Keeley’s hand. “Okay?”

“Yes … thanks.” Shaking her head, she said, “I haven’t even asked about Paulo. How is he?”

Pure happiness lit up Eden’s face. Keeley had never seen her look more beautiful.

“He’s perfect. He’s still in the hospital but we’ve been spending time with him each day. Yesterday Jordan asked him if he’d like to come home and live with us.”

“What did he say?”

“He asked if Fred could come, too.”

“Who’s Fred?”

Jordan grinned. “The stuffed bear we gave him. When we assured him that he could come, he said that would be fine then.”

“That’s wonderful. When can you take him home?”

“In another couple of weeks. He’s still too weak to travel and the last thing we want is for him to get sick again.”

“I—” Her words caught in her throat as she saw Cole striding toward them. Would he say anything to her?

Cole had worked hard to keep his eyes off Keeley. He understood why she had to be here, but seeing her was a simultaneous gut punch and heart stab. He’d blurted those unwelcoming words without thinking. Keeley’s corresponding flinch had made him feel like shit.