Seeking Vengeance: Callaghan Brothers, Book 4 (19 page)

“Is she
crying
?” the one called Fisher said in disbelief.  “You know, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself...”

“Fucktard,” she rumbled.  “Give me my shit.”

“Now that’s the Nix I know,” grinned Brookes as he tossed her a badge and her piece.  “For a minute there I thought we rescued the wrong girl.”

Nicki snorted in response.  “You didn’t rescue anyone.  I had the situation under control.”

“Yeah, that was obvious.”  The taller of the two shot her a questioning look.  “So what’s up, Nix?”

“What the hell are you guys doing here anyway?” she asked, blatantly ignoring his question.

“Looking for you.”

“Why?”

“Because we miss your smiling face and loving arms, darlin’.”  Brookes allowed his native Southern drawl to color his words.  He did it solely to annoy her; he knew the sound was like nails on a blackboard to her because she told him every damn time.

“Fuck you.”

Fisher chuckled.  “You say the sweetest things.  Relax, Nix.  We know what’s going on.  The boss man dispatched us the minute word came through about your mom.  Your leave is officially rescinded, effective immediately.  Just in the nick of time, too, by the looks of it.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snorted.  She knew the rules as well as they did - they weren’t allowed to have family
or
relationships.  In agreeing to join them she had given up all ties to her former life, to become a spook.  She’d broken all the rules in coming to Pine Ridge – caring for her mother, staying with her brother, hooking up with Sean. 

And she was stupid to think she’d ever get away with it.  They’d probably been using the tag imbedded in her tat to monitor her activities all along.  They all had them; it was how they remained accessible anywhere, anytime without any actual trail.  Between assignments they were allowed to disappear, as long as they heeded the call to return when it came.

“Goddamn it, Nix!  Quit fucking around.”  Brookes tossed his DEA badge into a bag in the truck.  Nicki already knew the bag held similar ID tags and papers for the FBI, NSA, CIA, and various other agencies.  Their little organization didn’t actually have an official name.  Like the animals after which they had been named, the Chameleons became who they needed to be at any given time.  Nicki was a natural.  “Do you have any idea who that guy is?”

“Former SEAL, maybe a black ops man,” she rattled off, voicing what her instincts had already told her.  “Owns the garage in town now.”

Fisher laughed.  “All true, sweetheart.  But he’s also a member of the special forces team we call when
we
need help.”

That gave her pause.  She looked into his eyes, waiting for the punchline, but he was dead serious. 

“
The Ghost Team?
” she breathed in disbelief.  That was the name she and her crew had given the group of independent Irish ops men who tackled jobs not even they would touch.

“The same.  Yeah, no shit, Nix.  Remember that shit in Kazakhstan a year ago?  That was your boyfriend and his brothers.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said emphatically.

Fisher laughed.  “Yeah, that’s why his team fired off all those sniffers looking for info about you, sweetheart.  Because there’s no interest.”

Nicki paled as her heart studded against her chest, but she’d be damned if she’d show weakness in front of these guys.  Her partners, like her, however, were trained to simply
know
.  Their lives so often depended on it.

“Relax, babe.  We’ve got you covered.  But Jesus, couldn’t you have just scratched your itch with a regular guy?  You know, one that doesn’t kill people for a living?  Christ, woman, you just attract trouble, don’t you?”

Despite the roiling of her stomach, Nicki’s lips quirked.  “Yeah, so everyone keeps telling me.”

“Seriously, Nix, you’re playing with some intense shit here.”

“Don’t sweat it, sweetie.  Game’s over, I won.  I always win.”

“It’s not, and you haven’t.  Not yet, anyway.” Brookes breathed.  “We know about Marscone, Nix.  We know all about the recon you’ve been doing.”

“Fuck,” she hissed.  They were supposed to be using their resources on everyone else, not on her.  Another thing she should have known.  With any luck, they knew only of Benny’s business dealings and not of her personal history with him.

“No worries.  We’re here to help you.”

Her eyes lit up.  “Yeah?”

“Yeah.  I don’t know how you find them, Nix, but the boss says this one’s got to go down.  Taser’s got a real woody about this one.”  Nicki laughed at that.  Taser was their leader, and the closest thing to a legitimate psychic she’d ever seen.  It was he who examined potential Chameleons, got inside their heads and decided which way they’d go.  He had yet to be wrong about a single candidate.

A vision of Sean filled her mind’s eye, but she pushed it into a neat little box in the back of her brain and locked it away.  That was over, effective immediately.  Later, when she had nothing but time and space and solitude, she’d take out the key and page through the memories and try to make sense of it all, but she couldn’t afford the distraction right now.

“Great.  Now help me nail this bastard and get me the fuck out of this town before I start getting all sentimental.” 

Brooke’s grinned in obvious relief.  “Get in the car, be-yatch.”  Somehow he made it sound like a long-suffering term of endearment.

“Ah, now you’ve gone and hurt my feelings,” she said, faking a pout.  “Sticks and stones, baby.  And there’s no way I’m letting one of you guys straddle my ride.”  She strutted over to her bike and climbed on.  “Just try and keep up, will ya?”

S
ean was already coming out of it by the time Shane arrived with Nick.  It took both of them to get Sean into a sitting position on the couch.  Shane called Michael immediately.  After relaying what Sean was able to tell him, Michael confirmed that the best thing they could do was pump Sean full of water and other liquids to dilute the effect of the paralytic and suggested they bring him up to the farm immediately to make sure there were no other ill effects.

Nick was so quiet they nearly forgot he was there.  He hovered in the background, watching and listening in disbelief. 

“Nicki did this to you?” he finally asked, his expression unreadable.  “Why would she do that?’

“Because,” Sean said, the words coming out a bit slurred as he regained control of his jaw, “she knew I wouldn’t let her go.” 

Nick’s eyes widened a little. “She’s gone?”

Sean nodded.  Nick felt as though something heavy slammed into his chest.  Part of him wasn’t surprised, but another part - the one that he thought had been crushed into non-existence a long time ago, screamed in protest.  She had promised him she wouldn’t leave without saying good-bye.  Nicki had
promised
. 

“But why?”

“I was hoping you could tell us.”

Nick shook his head as the hurt that came from learning of Nicki’s sudden and unexpected departure began to sink in, the disbelief and feeling of betrayal fading – or at least being buried, back under that massive load of shit where it had resided for so long, at least until Nicki came back and it slithered to the surface. 

He shouldn’t be surprised, not really.  Their mother was dead.  He’d left Nicki to deal with that shit all alone, choosing instead to go out and get himself wasted.  He’d failed her in so many ways.  How could she not want to bolt?

Despite the family issues, though, Nick thought that she and Sean had something going on.  Sure, finding Nicki in Sean’s apartment earlier had made him all kinds of crazy, but that was probably more the drugs talking than anything.  It hadn’t really been a shock.  It would have been impossible to miss the way they’d looked at each other over the past couple of weeks.  And, when his brain engaged enough to think things through, he realized that Sean Callaghan was probably the best thing that could have happened to Nicki. 

Because of Sean, Nicki was no longer working at
Angels
.  He’d given her a job doing what she loved, even though it had to be a pain in the ass for him with the special hours and all.  He’d taken her over to Birch Falls and introduced her to Kyle McCullough; Nicki’s eyes had glowed for a week after that.  Sean was strong, solid, and protective of her.  And he’d been there for her when Nick hadn’t.

Looking at it now, seeing the tormented look in Sean’s face, Nick could not help but think that maybe there was even a lot more to it than he realized.  “It was more than a one night thing for you.”

Sean met his eyes.  “Yeah.”

Holy shit
.  The guy’s eyes were like lasers.  And they said a lot more than the single word response did.  “You’re in love with her.”

“Yeah.”  There was no hesitation, no thinking.  Sean never even blinked.

“But she laid you out, man.”  Icy flames flared to life in Sean’s eyes, but Shane actually laughed.  “That’s like foreplay to him.  The only thing she’s done is made herself irresistible.”

––––––––

T
hey made it out to Michael’s farmhouse in record time.  Shane suggested they drop Nick off at his apartment, but Sean didn’t think it was a good idea.  On the off chance that Nicki tried to contact him, Sean argued, he wanted Nick to be there.

Introductions were made, and Sean was ushered directly into a room at the back of the house.  Shane left Nick in the kitchen with Maggie while he joined his brothers.

Nick was hesitant to accept anything, but it was hard to say no when Maggie placed a plate piled high with roast beef, mashed potatoes, sweetened carrots, homemade rolls and whipped butter in front of him.  He looked at it as if he had never seen such a thing before. 

“Go on,” Maggie coaxed, smiling.  “They’ll be a while, most likely, and it looks like you could use it.”

He thought to have only a little so as not to insult her, but after the first bite he couldn’t help himself.  It was easily one of the best meals he’d ever had.  He tried to remember his manners, at least, forcing himself not to eat too hurriedly, or to shove too much into his mouth at once.  He wouldn’t have believed it possible, but he finished every last bite.

“Would you like seconds?” Maggie asked in amusement.

Nick thought about it, then shook his head.  As fine as it had been, he did not want to be rude.

“Then you’ll have room for this,” Maggie said, bringing him a plate oozing with caramel apple pie and vanilla ice cream. 

“Ah, Mags,” Shane said as he entered the kitchen and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  He paused and closed his eyes, inhaling deep.  “Your special roast beef?”

“Sit down and let me make you a plate.”

Shane winked at Nick, then turned his attention back to Maggie, placing his hand over his heart.  “I swear, Mags, if Mick didn’t call dibs first I’d ask you to marry me.”  Maggie laughed and swatted at him with a dishtowel.

“Need me to kick his ass for you, love?” Michael said, joining them.  He pulled Maggie into his arms and kissed her passionately, leaving no doubt as to exactly which brother Maggie had chosen.

Nick looked up at the man he’d met briefly upon arrival.  He was just as big, just as formidable as the others.  He sported the same blue-black hair and blue eyes, but Nick guessed him to be a few years older.  He’d heard that there were seven of them, and wondered if they all resembled each other so closely.

Shane began tucking into a plate of food at least as big as Nick’s had been as Sean came through the door.

“Smells awesome, Mags,” Sean said, rubbing his stomach in anticipation.

“Sorry, Sean, none for you.”  Michael didn’t seem very sorry at all, snagging the plate Maggie had already prepared for himself.  “It’ll slow the purge of toxins from your system.  Maggie has some great herbal tea for you, though.”

Shane could barely hold his snickers as Sean sat down, shooting daggers at Michael and mumbling something in Irish under his breath.

“Ah, don’t listen to them,” Maggie said, laying her hands on Sean’s shoulders and shooting the others a fierce look.  “Dandelion tea with a little fennel will have you right as rain, and I’ll save you the last of the chocolate cake.”

Michael’s smug smile faded as he looked up from his meal, his expression horrified.  “That’s my cake!”

“Not anymore,” she said firmly, squeezing Sean’s shoulders affectionately.  “Dark chocolate’s as good as charcoal for filtering out the bad stuff.  He needs it more than you do.”

“That’s not true,” Michael grumbled.  Sean grinned as Shane tried to cover his laughter with a cough.

After they had eaten their fill and the plates had been cleared away, Michael leaned back and glanced at Nick before turning his gaze to Sean.  Sean had already briefed his brothers on what had happened; Shane had shared everything that Nick had told him. 

“So.  How do you want to play this?”

Sean looked at Nick, clearly wondering just how much to say in front of him.  “She’s mine.  I’m going after her.”

Nick’s eyes widened slightly, but to his credit, he displayed no other reaction.  Michael studied him for a while, then nodded.  “Alright.  You want some help?”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to need it.”

Nick looked up, clearing his throat.  Thus far he’d remained silent except for occasional murmurs of thanks to Maggie.  “I’m in.”

Three pairs of similar blue eyes regarded him.  “Might be more than you bargained for,” Sean told him. 

Nick heard the warning clearly, but chose not to heed it.  “I’m not stupid,” he said, summoning the courage to look at each one in turn before settling on Sean.  “I’ve heard the rumors.”

“What rumors?” Michael asked softly.

“About you, all of you,” Nick said carefully.  “About how you... do stuff.”  He flicked his eyes away as Shane arched a perfect brow. 

“Stuff?” Shane asked. 

Nick was no stranger to fear; he’d learned to deal with it at a very early age.  Most of his life he’d been surrounded by some powerful men who used terror and intimidation to maintain control:  drug dealers, pimps, politicians, dirty cops.  But none of them chilled his blood as much as these three men did.  They didn’t need to say anything to be scary as hell.