Slaying the Dragon (Deception Duet #2) (34 page)

“You two are pretty close, aren’t you?” I asked, shifting gears. I wasn’t sure I could forgive Alexander for everything he did to me, but I could at least try to get to know him as a person and the brother of the man with whom I was in love.

He sighed, a troubled look crossing his brow. “We were. While he was going to college, we used to get together at least once a week for a drink. Then…” He sighed. “Then it was awkward between us. He left to join the navy, and I had a family of my own, so we kind of grew apart. When he came back and started to work at the security company, things were still tense between us. It wasn’t until he came back from Sudan a few months ago that we finally started to
talk
again. He was absolutely livid at me over what I had done. He even got a few punches in.”

I gasped, giggling a little. “He did?”

Alexander nodded, caressing his jaw. “Yeah. So I actually have you to thank. If he never met you, I don’t know if we’d be back to having the normal relationship we did all those years ago. Granted, now he’s a few thousand miles away so that makes being able to go grab a drink together a bit cumbersome…”

I bowed my head, starting to realize why moving back to Boston was so important to Tyler. He had been away from home for so long, and not just because of this assignment. Even when he was home, it didn’t seem like home, not if his relationship with his family was strained. But now that it was back to normal, according to Alexander, I could understand his desire to return there and have that connection once more. I regretted being so selfish as to not even consider his side.

“So,” I said, clearing the air a bit. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Alexander shrugged. “Actually, that was it. I just wanted to get you alone so I could properly apologize to you.”

“So you don’t know anything about Tyler? You sounded quite upset on the phone when we landed.”

“Well, yes, but I’m not sure you have any answers that will help us.”

“Try me,” I said, leaning against the window of the car. “You never know. Maybe I know someone who can give us some insight about what happened.” I raised my eyebrows at him, hoping he’d take the bait. I was desperate to know what he knew about Tyler’s condition and would promise him anything, regardless of how empty those promises were.

“You know Tyler was looking into who could have set up your father, correct?”

I nodded. “Yeah. The last time I met with my father, I asked if he’d speak with Tyler and give him his side. Tyler hoped maybe there was something he was missing and my dad would have that missing piece.”

“He mentioned that,” Alexander said. “Tyler had some of his guys digging into your father’s past…his time in the Rangers, then Counterintelligence, all of it…hoping to see if they could uncover something that would tell us who was behind everything. Two of Tyler’s team members uncovered a classified mission your father led in Bosnia.”

An unsettled feeling formed in the pit of my stomach at his words. My father didn’t speak much of his time on deployment, but he did talk about all the places he had been. He had never mentioned Bosnia, and I knew something must have happened there that he’d rather leave forgotten and buried. I just prayed it wasn’t something that would paint him as a monster.

“There was no record of it anywhere,” he continued, “apart from your father filing a report that two of his team members had died. It could have been nothing, but they decided to check it out.”

Sighing, he ran his hand over his face, his unease returning. “Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that only two members of your father’s team are still alive. Everyone else is dead or missing. So Benson and Maxwell, two of Tyler’s team members, went to go question one of them. Tyler and Eli went to question the other. When Benson and Maxwell got to the guy’s house, it was in flames. The door was wired to trigger an explosion when it was opened. The subject in question was not in the house at the time, but his housekeeper triggered the explosion and died. Subsequently,
his
body was found in his car at a casino parking lot in Oklahoma, the cause of death an apparent heart attack.”

“And Tyler…?” I asked with a quiver in my voice.

“Well, Benson said he spoke with Tyler to apprise him of the situation. He and Maxwell decided to stay in Oklahoma to follow-up on any information they may find. It wasn’t until Martin touched base with them earlier today that they grew concerned something was wrong. They called around and found that Tyler and Eli were discovered unconscious on the beach below a stilt house that was engulfed in flames. As you would have guessed, the individual they were sent to question was found in the parking lot of a bar, having also died of an apparent heart attack.”

“It’s suspicious though, isn’t it?” I said softly.

He nodded. “Someone must have known Tyler’s team was looking into your father and wanted to put a stop to it.”

“But how? Who else knew about what they were doing?”

“Well, that’s the million dollar question. One I intend to get to the bottom of.”

Mackenzie

I
SAT
IN
A
sterile white waiting room on an uncomfortable chair, doctors and nurses rushing past us every few minutes. The sound of various monitors and the automatic doors surrounded me. It wasn’t until now that the reality sank in. Even after Martin told me there was an accident, it didn’t seem real. Now, as I waited for some news, my hand clutched in Colleen’s, the truth was impossible to ignore.

“Mrs. Burnham,” a gentle voice said and we all shot our heads up to see a short, blonde doctor dressed in scrubs standing with a clipboard.

“Yes?” Colleen replied as we all eagerly awaited news.

“I’m Doctor Pell. I’ve been in charge of your son’s treatment over the past twenty-four hours.”

“No one would tell us anything,” Colleen began. “How is he?”

“He’s in a lot of pain,” she explained. “He’s suffered some burns on his arms, but they’re relatively minor and will fully heal in time. He must have taken a pretty nasty fall, which resulted in three cracked ribs.”

“Can we see him?” I asked, desperate to see his chest rise and fall so I knew he was still alive.

“Yes, but we’ve been keeping him relatively sedated to ease the pain a bit. I’m hopeful he’ll make a full recovery, but he has a few weeks until he’ll be able to walk out of here.”

“I still need to see him,” I insisted, raising myself from my chair and placing my hand over my stomach.

The doctor surveyed me and her lips turned into a gentle smile. “Of course. Follow me.”

I started out of the waiting room, then glanced over my shoulder to see Colleen, Alexander, Olivia, and Melanie remaining behind. “Aren’t you coming?” I asked.

Colleen shook her head. “No, you go ahead. Now that we know he’s okay, in a manner of speaking, we’ll go check into the hotel and give you some time alone with him. Just call one of us when you’re ready to leave and we’ll send the car to come get you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, dear,” she replied in a reassuring manner. “Now, go see my baby.”

Smiling appreciatively, I turned and followed the doctor down several corridors toward the recovery suites. She paused outside one of the doors and slowly pushed it open, allowing me to enter, then left me alone.

The sound of monitors surrounded me, the decibel level seeming to get increasingly louder and higher as I put one foot in front of the other. With each step, Tyler’s tall, built body, drained of all color, came more into focus. Bruises covered his face, stitches stretching across his chin and brow. His arms were covered in bandages, as was his midsection. Everything made him look frail, as if he were teetering on the brink of living and dying. Seeing Tyler in this state, confirming with my own eyes that he had narrowly escaped death, brought forward all the emotions I had been suppressing all evening.

I fell to the chair beside him and grabbed his hand in mine. Burying my face against him, I shivered as a chill flew through me. “I’m so sorry, Tyler,” I sobbed into his chest. “I was so stubborn the other day. You just want to share your life with me and, being who I am, I completely blew it out of proportion. I get it now. I promise I’ll stop being a pain in the ass. I want a new beginning with you. I want to start over again where we can watch our son play in the leaves and make snow angels. I want my new start with you…in Boston.”

I glanced up to see his eyes still closed, his breathing light and even. I soaked in his face, memorizing everything about it. My tears continued to fall as I thought how different tonight could have gone, how it was a possibility I could have been sitting in a morgue instead of next to Tyler’s unconscious body. Life was fragile, and I vowed to never take it for granted again.

Lowering my lips to his, I kissed him, his mouth unmoving against mine. “I love you, Tyler Burnham.” I rested my head on his chest and listened to the drumming of his heart, the rhythm soothing me.

“So is that all it takes to get you to agree to move in with me?” a husky voice commented. My eyes widening, I pulled back and gazed into a pair of tired green eyes. “Surviving an explosion and a two-story fall?”

“Tyler!” I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around him. I was breathless, a tingling spreading through me.

He yelped softly and I immediately drew back.

“Sorry.” I bit my lip. “I got carried away.”

“You’re worth the pain,” he replied, clutching my hand in his.

“I thought I lost you,” I choked out as he closed his eyes once more, obviously trying to fight off the drugs.

“Impossible, Serafina,” he crooned. “You think a small little fire can keep me from you? It’ll take a lot more than a few burns and some cracked ribs.”

I laughed at how nonchalant he was over nearly dying, allowing the warmth of his presence and heart to surround me as I rested my head next to his.

“I love you, Tyler.”

“Even with my stank ass hospital breath?” he joked.

“
Especially
with your stank ass hospital breath.”

He let out a content sigh as a small smile crossed his face. “Stay,” he murmured in a lazy voice.

“For how long?”

“Forever.”

I took a satisfied breath and held onto his hand, remaining by his side throughout the night. Forever sounded like a good plan to me.

~~~~~~~~~~

L
OW
VOICES
ECHOED
AROUND
me, but I tried to tune them out. A sort of glow filled me and I didn’t want to wake up only to find out it had all just been a dream.

“You can’t really think it was someone on the inside,” a voice said softly.

Tyler.

“I don’t know what to think,” Alexander whispered in response. “Who knew what you were doing?”

“Just Benson, Maxwell, Eli, Martin, and me. Hell, Benson and Maxwell had just tracked down the lead. We hadn’t even contacted either subject to let them know we were coming.”

“And Martin already did a sweep of your house for bugs.” He sighed loudly. I could sense his frustration.

It was silent for a moment before anyone spoke again. “You said Maxwell hacked into some army database and that’s how he found out about the mission in Bosnia, right?” Tyler asked, his tone growing urgent.

“Yes. You don’t think…?”

“What other explanation is there? Maybe whoever did this is just as talented, or more so, than Maxwell is. Mackenzie’s friend, Damian, has been missing for months now, and he just happens to be one of my most skilled hackers out there. Maybe he was taken, like his FBI colleagues think, and is being forced to do this guy’s dirty work. From what I’ve read about him, he’s more than capable of putting a trace on the file, and maybe when Maxwell hacked into it, he could have stirred up something that had been left dormant for years. Think about it… The members of the team who had died or gone missing did so years ago. And now, all of a sudden, the remaining two, who had been practically impossible to even track down, end up dead, their houses wired to explode. I think we may have found out the link as to why Galloway was set up. I have a feeling it has something to do with the mission in Bosnia and how two of his men ended up not coming home from that mission.”

“Well, in light of recent events, there’s an unfortunate reality we need to face,” Alexander said.

“That Galloway is the only remaining member of his Ranger team still alive,” Tyler responded, dejected.

“Precisely… Suspicious or just a coincidence?”

“I know. I just…”

I began to stir, not wanting to listen to any more. I didn’t want to hear anything else that could taint the picture of my father I had in my head.

“There you are,” Tyler crooned, meeting my eyes as they adjusted to the light in the room. “I hope we didn’t wake you.”

“No, you didn’t.” I sat up in the chair, rubbing my sore neck, my entire body aching from whatever position I had fallen asleep in.

“Well,” Alexander said, eyeing both Tyler and me. “I’ll give you two a bit of privacy. I’ll be back sometime this afternoon with Olivia and Melanie.” He placed his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “I’m glad you’re okay, Ty.”