The Devil's Masquerade: The Poison (26 page)

“I need to talk to him. I need to …” I say before Elijah takes hold of me.

“You talked to him. You saw him tonight, Kayla!”

“You saw Nick?” Franky rushes in on us and stares at each of us before focusing on me. “You saw Nick? How is he? Did he say when he would be back?”

“We weren’t talking about Nick. We were talking about someone else,” Elijah says to her.

“Don’t bullshit me. I know you were talking about him. At least tell me that he is okay,” she says forcefully to Elijah.

“Go to bed Franky. We will let you know if we hear from Nicky, I promise,” Elijah says, waiting until he is sure she has left before closing the door and locking it.

“Why didn’t you tell her?” Ryan asks.

“I would prefer to keep all information to as few people as possible for now. Besides, no sense worrying people for no reason.” Elijah stands tall and silent for a moment before turning towards us again. “Okay this is what we are going to do …” This is the first time I understand why Nick trusts Elijah so much and why they were so close. They are both similar in their actions and the way they think. Elijah carefully plans out our moves and talks to Ryan and I as if we are his equals, allowing our input to be considered. He is an excellent leader, just like Nick.

After discussing every possible advantage we could take, we decide to finish the discussion tomorrow after we get some rest. I hate going to bed without Nick. I hate being in that bed without him. I prefer to sleep in Nicky’s room, so I grab my pillow and head off to his extra bed, but I come face to face with Elijah.

“Where are you going?” he asks, shirtless and with his usually tamed hair hanging down freely around his face.

“I was going to check on Nicky.”

“He’s fine. I just checked on him and Brayden before I made myself a nightcap.”

“A nightcap, really? Is that necessary?” I shake my head at him but find him much closer than before.

“Yes. I can’t sleep, and it looks as if you can’t either. You don’t like your bed Kayla?” I shake my head. “Why?” he asks, looking me over and playing with my hair. “You look tired. You need some sleep. I need you to be well-rested if you are going to help me get your husband back.” I look up into his sparkling blue eyes and crash into his chest, searching for that comfort Nick would always provide. Elijah holds me tight and kisses the top of my head. “Don’t worry. I’m going to make sure everything works out for all of us.” I grip him tighter, fighting my tears, and he picks me up. “Come on, Trouble. You are going to sleep in your bed and get some sleep even if I have to tie you to it.” He puts me in bed and lies next to me on top of the covers.

“What are you doing?” I ask him.

“I told you. I am going to make sure you are going to get some sleep, and I think the only way to do that is for there to be a warm body next to you.” He smiles. “I promise I will sleep on top of the covers. You can be protectively underneath. Feel free to sleep naked though.”

“Eli.” I sit up with a huff.

“Calm down, Stress Ball. I’m not going to touch you. I only want to live up to my promise to your husband, nothing more. Believe it or not, you can trust me. Even if you came on to me, I would have to tell you no. Besides, I’m not that kind of man,” he says, smiling wide in my face.

“Don’t worry. I won’t test your loyalty,” I say, staring into his calming eyes, knowing he would kiss me right now if I was anyone else. I slide down into my bed and reach out, taking Elijah’s hand to his shock. “You can hold my hand but nothing else.” True to his word, Elijah never makes a move, but he holds my hand whenever I need him to.

The one thing Savage doesn’t expect is for us to attack him. First, we have to decide what we need to takeover. There are no clear options. We have gone over the map and information over and over, and none of us can agree. Then, out of nowhere, our strange dog jumps on to the table and sniffs around before barking.

“What the hell is up with this dog?” Ryan asks, trying to push him away.

I begin to think of what Nick has been saying for months,
there is something strange about this dog
. Nick’s intuition has never been wrong. “No wait!” I yell. I look down at the area that Eey has marked with his paw. “I think he knows something?”

“Who? The dog? Are you crazy? There is nothing in that area,” Elijah snaps.

“Let’s at least check it out,” I say but am quickly dismissed and so is Eey. I gaze over at the dog as he puts his paw on my leg. I know he knows something. Nick was right. There is something strange about this dog. No one is going to listen to me, but I bet I can get one or maybe even two to help me check it out.

Secretly, I talk Terrance and Eddy into helping me. I don’t think they have any faith in the idea either, but they are willing to oblige me out of respect. Not what I would prefer, but it will do for now.

“Kayla, are you sure we should be doing this?” Terrance asks.

“I have a hunch, and I promise my hunches are usually spot on.” I lied. Eddy messes with his equipment, seeing if there is anything out in the middle of this wilderness. “Anything?” I ask hopefully.

“Nothing but some rabbits and some deer. I wish I could say otherwise, but …”

“Just keep looking,” I say, sitting back in my seat and ignoring their odd glances towards me. At this point, they already think I am crazy, might as well keeping pushing for results even if it does seem crazy. I did, after all, bring the dog, who is now hanging his head out the window with his tongue flapping in the wind.
They are going to have me committed. I’m sure of it.
Before I give up completely, Eey starts barking wildly, and we all look around trying to see whatever it is he is seeing. “Stop the car Terrance.” We pull over and let Eey out who immediately uses the bathroom.
Really?
He looks back at me and wags his tail before barking again. “Great. Good boy,” I say with a sigh until he starts running. I look back at Eddy and Terrance before I start running after him. Thankfully, they follow. I can barely keep up with the dog.
Oh I hope he is onto something and we are not chasing after a squirrel.
Eventually, Eey slows down and begins crawling on his belly.

“What is it?” Terrance whispers, trying to catch his breath. I look through the small clearing and see two guards.
There isn’t much of anything here to guard.
I turn to Eddy, and he instantly takes out his body heat monitor which suddenly begins reading, right below us. “They are underground.” Terrence smiles, looking up at me. “What do we have here?”

We both turn to Eddy as his eyes go wide, and he shrugs his shoulders. “This place is highly protected, so whatever is here means an awful lot to someone,” Eddy says.

“What do you want us to do Kayla?” Terrance asks.

“I want you to do what you do. Penetrate the enemy, from the inside out.”

Terrence and Eddy spend days scoping it out. Terrence’s intelligence is unbelievable and alongside Eddy’s technology skills, they are able to find weaknesses in the compound. Terrence smiles wide at me as he lays out the information they gathered.

“This here. This place, Kayla, is Savage’s central headquarters. Everything he runs is run from here. All his money is controlled from here; his intelligence system is run from here. Everyone he is watching and keeping tabs on is watched from here. You want to hurt him, and I mean cut his heart out hurt him, then this is the place to do it.” Terrence watches as my smile grows.

“Kayla, this isn’t going to be easy. Now, Terrence and I have found some weaknesses in their system, but they will only allow us seconds and nothing more. That isn’t enough time to get enough men in there to take it over,” Eddy says.

“Then, we just get one man in to destroy it completely,” I say.

“Kayla … this man is incredibly powerful. There is no telling what we could learn about him if we control the place rather than destroy it. Nick’s father gave us some great notes, but it is broken and unconfirmed. This place could fill in those answers we don’t know. If there is a way to control and own, rather than to destroy, I think that is our best answer.
If
we can figure out a way to do that.” Terrence suggests the impossible, but we have managed the impossible before.

“Alright, then we will do that, and I guess we will need to get some help too.” I say watching them both sigh.
Time to share our information.

The decision to bring in Elijah and Ryan is an easy one, but knowing I am going to catch hell for keeping them out of the loop until now is not going to be enjoyable. Terrence and Eddy go through all their findings before I step up and explain my plan for the takeover. I face Elijah and Ryan with a smile and roll my eyes at their less than thrilled expressions.

“How the hell did Nicky have enough energy to put up with you every day?” Elijah sighs.

“Don’t waste your breath, Eli. Kayla always does only what Kayla wants to do, and she doesn’t care what anyone else has to say about it,” Ryan says. He stands up and looks down at me. “However, this time, I’m glad you did, but stop leaving us out of the loop. You need us, and we may not want to listen, but you know how to force us to so please try that next time. We have been going in circles for days working on these other ideas when we could have concentrated on this the whole time. As far as this takeover, I am going to lead it.”

“Why you?” Elijah asks.

“Because I know how to get in unseen,” Ryan announces as if we should have already known that. He leans down on the table with both hands, “I know how to do this, and all I need is for you all to trust me.”

Chapter 32

Savage

“Alright, Dennis, I am going to be straight with you. I think you are overstepping your ground. I cannot sit by and let you destroy Amery. He had every right to sentence Belinda. We both know she killed Haile without just cause” Gideon says as if I should care what he thinks.

“Haile was a nuisance. She needed to go,” I say.

“She wasn’t so much of a nuisance when you called for her to entertain you. If she had not of turned you down for Amery, I am sure you would feel differently about her.”

“I am growing tired of this conversation, Gideon.” I wave my hand for Rabbie to give me a new drink while Gideon sits back and sighs.

“Why did you agree to meet with me if you were not going to be reasonable?” Gideon asks. “I’m sorry, Dennis. I can’t support you anymore. Unless you are willing to compromise, I am going to have to side against you.” I don’t bother to speak until I know for sure he is finished. “Are you listening to me?”

“I’m listening. I’m hearing one of my longtime friends say he is going to side against me.”

“You know that’s not what I said. Fine, Dennis. What is it that you want? What will end this feud?” Gideon asks finally.

“Oh, good! We are going to get to what I want now. About damn time. Rabbie send for Galena. Gideon, my friend, I think you have been holding your position too long. It is time for you to step down from the Lord of the Sixth and move to … well just move. I have someone else to take your position.”

“Damn it Dennis! You need me to fight the others,” he yells.