Ultimate Kill (Book 1 Ultimate CORE Trilogy) (CORE Series) (31 page)

Her stomach flipped and her head tingled with unease. She didn’t want to see the bastard. After everything he’d done, the thought of seeing him made her want to vomit. He had a sickness that couldn’t be cured. He took what he wanted without a care or any remorse.
 

She glanced over at Jake. The man she loved was the polar opposite. If Jake wanted something, he went after it, but he did so with good intentions. He was a good man, and she wished she could have told him everything from the start. But she could tell him now. If something went wrong and she didn’t survive, she wanted to die without any regret lingering and following her into the afterworld. She wanted to die with a clear conscience and also wanted Jake to have the closure he’d need to move on after she was gone.

Tears burned her eyes. She didn’t want to die. She wanted peace and love.
 

She wanted a future with Jake.
 

“There’s something else I need to tell you,” she said before she changed her mind and allowed cowardice to creep in and stop her.

He stopped scrolling through the tablet and set it on his lap. “Another secret?” he asked, keeping his focus on the empty seat in front of him.

“Yeah, but I planned on telling you, only I ended up leaving so I—”

“Wait, leaving from where? Bola?”

She nodded. “The day before I found out my brother was murdered, I’d gotten test results back from my gynecologist.” She drew in a deep breath hoping to bolster her confidence. “Jake, I can’t have children.”

He turned in the seat and took her hand in his. “
That’s
your secret?” His eyes searched hers.

“What, not big enough for you?”

He touched her cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—I’m an insensitive jackass.”

She rested her hand along his. “No, you’re not. I guess when you look at everything else I’ve been hiding, not being able to have kids isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Liar.”

“We’ve already established that.”

He grinned and gave her forehead a quick kiss. “I meant, you’re not being honest with me. You used to talk about having a big family. I’m sorry you can’t have children, but if you’re worried this changes things on my end, don’t. All I’ve ever wanted was to be with you—for you, not the kids you could give me.”

His words gave her comfort, but didn’t lessen the guilt. “You come from a big family, your brothers now have families and I know you always wanted a big family, too. This is hugely import and something you need to consider if we…”

“If we what?”

“If we got back together,” she answered. She’d come this far, she figured she might as well place all the cards on the table. He’d told her that he’d never stopped loving her. Prior to the bombings, they’d tentatively planned on trying out a long distance relationship. After spending too many years living with uncertainty, she wanted to solidify the future.
 

He caressed her cheek before running his hand through her hair. “If?” He cupped her head and drew her face closer to his. “There are no ifs or doubts allowed in this conversation. I want you. I want to be with you. I’ll be honest. I might’ve lied to you when we were back in Woodbine.”

“Good, now I don’t feel as guilty.”

He half smiled. “You shouldn’t feel any guilt. Not anymore. What I lied about was where I saw us heading. I suggested a long distance relationship, but had no intention of doing one. Once I had you in Chicago, I wasn’t letting you go.”

She grinned at his audacity and confidence, two things she loved about him. With Jake, she always knew where she stood. “And how did you plan to do that?”

“Good question.”

“In other words, you had no plan.”

“Not exactly. Does sex count as a plan of action?”

She chuckled. “Sex is always a good plan.”

“Seriously, though. I want to be with
you
. I don’t want to pick up where we left off, I want us to have a fresh start. I know now isn’t the right time to talk about this, but I needed you to know that—”

She cupped his strong jaw and kissed him. “I want a fresh start, too. Jake, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you everything. You’re a good man and I trust you more than anyone. You didn’t deserve any of this.”

“
You
didn’t deserve any of this. Now that I know the truth, I get why you didn’t tell me about Hunnicutt.” He sent her a rueful smile. “I’m not gonna lie, it was hard for me to accept that my woman was protecting me when it should have been the other way around.”

She hadn’t thought about how her need to keep him safe might have dented his ego. Her sole focus had been on regaining his trust and starting their lives together all over again. “You’re still the toughest guy I know.”

“Keep that in mind if you see Dante in action,” he said with a quick grin.
 

“Let’s hope Rachel pulls through and that won’t be necessary.”

The plane started to descend. Her stomach knotted and her chest tightened.
 

Jake pulled her into his arms and rubbed a big hand along her back. “You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever known,” he murmured against her ear. “We’ll get through this.”

When the pilot came over the intercom and told them to fasten their seatbelts and prepare for landing, she drew away. “Don’t let him take me,” she said, as fear seized her by the throat. “I’d rather die than belong to him.”

His eyes hardened and turned coal black with murderous rage. “He won’t.”

Her insides coiled when the jet’s landing gear dropped. Minutes from now, she’d be in a car on her way to Hell. She had no idea what lay ahead, or how Christian would react toward her. Based on their past interactions, she had to prepare for the worst. Jake needed to, as well. “You have to listen to Ian. Stand down unless it looks like Christian is going to…kill me.”

“Jesus, Naomi.”

“Let me finish,” she said, then winced when the jet touched the ground. “We need that evidence.”

“You
are
the evidence.”

She shook her head. “I’m not enough to have him executed for being a terrorist.”

As the jet slowed, he took her hand and raised it to his lips. “Screw the evidence,” he said and kissed her knuckles. “Hunnicutt’s a mass murderer.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “He wiped out your family.” He kissed her other cheek. “And he’s hurt the woman I love.” Pressing his forehead against hers, he ran the tip of his finger along her jaw. “Execution would be too easy on him. He deserves to feel pain for every life he’s taken.”

Sick satisfaction ran through her. She imagined baring Christian’s back and lashing him with a barbed whip. One lash for each life until the flesh fell from him and the pain had become unbearable. Death
would
be too easy. He needed to suffer.
 

When the jet came to a stop, her conscience grabbed hold of her. She blinked several times and tightened her grip around Jake’s hand. She wasn’t a murderer and neither was Jake. Christian needed to suffer, but she was better than him. She had morals. While revenge sounded sweet, she wasn’t sure if she could live with herself knowing she’d killed a man. No matter that he was evil incarnate.

“Whatever you do, don’t stoop to his level,” she said just as Dante came down the aisle.
 

“I paid the pilot his bonus. He’ll vouch that Naomi is the only passenger if Santiago asks.”

“But what if he wants to come on board?” Naomi asked.

“Already asked that question. The pilot said he’d make up some FAA rule and get rid of the guy or threaten to call the police. Hunnicutt is a killer, but he’s not stupid.” Dante pierced her with his dark eyes. “He’s so close to finally having you where he wants, I highly doubt he’s going to take any additional risks at this point.”
 

“But what if Santiago threatens the pilot with a gun?” Naomi asked, still unconvinced.

“We shoot him,” Jake said as if shooting a man was an everyday occurrence.

“No, we’ll hold him at gunpoint and force him to take us to Hunnicutt first.” Dante countered. “If you still want to shoot him then—”

“Maybe we should just stick with forcing him to take us all to Christian,” Naomi said. With reality setting in, she questioned whether she was brave enough to face the bastard alone.

Jake bent and raised the hem of his jeans where a gun had been strapped around his calf. “Good plan.”
 

“It’s not one we’re going to attempt. We need a little thing called evidence.” Dante reached beneath the seat across the aisle and pulled out a duffle bag. As he unzipped the bag, he glanced to Jake. “Working for CORE is a good gig and not one you want to blow.”

Jake shook his head. “I had a good gig until Ian—”
 

“He saw potential in you.” Dante pulled a small gun from the bag. “There are a number of men and women who would kill to have your job. Follow orders and trust what he says. And trust
me
on this—you don’t want to screw with Ian.”

Naomi could tell Jake wanted to say more, but the pilot waved to them and pointed toward the jet’s exit. She didn’t know what Jake’s issues were with his boss and, at this point, it seemed ridiculous to even think about it. When this was over, she’d ask him. She just prayed to God she’d have that chance.

“Stall him,” Dante called to the pilot, then shifted his gaze to Jake. “Let’s make sure the GPS is still working and call Rachel.”

After Jake confirmed he still had a lock on her GPS chip, he contacted Rachel and placed the call on speaker.
 

“I can tell you landed. How’s your signal?” Rachel asked.

“The GPS is working,” Jake answered.

“Jake, remember what I told you.” Naomi immediately recognized Ian’s voice. “Wait until we have the evidence or until I can bring the Feds on board. This has to be done by the book. We can’t allow Hunnicutt to get away on a technicality.”

Jake and Dante exchanged a look. Dante’s was more of an
I told you so
, while Jake’s was an
I don’t give a shit
. Knowing Ian was right, she touched Jake’s arm and mouthed, “Listen to him.”

The coldness in his eyes softened. “Yes, sir,” he said, keeping his gaze locked on hers.

“My spiders haven’t found anything yet, but I do think I found the last explosion,” Rachel said. “There’s no time for the details, but fortunately only two people were killed. The bombing explosion was obscure and never made the headlines. I’m not sure if Hunnicutt did it to throw everyone off track, or if it was accidental. Either way, I’m hoping this was the last one.”

Naomi did too. She didn’t want to die, but she would sacrifice her life to stop the bombings. If she survived and the press found out she was the reason hundreds of people had died—
 

She drew in a ragged breath. She couldn’t worry about how people would think of her once this was over. Her focus had to remain on one thing. Stopping Christian once and for all.

The pilot waved again. “There’s a guy approaching the jet.”

Carrying the duffle bag, Dante moved toward the bathroom in the back, while Jake took a quick look out the window. “We’ve gotta go,” he said to Rachel and Ian. After ending the call and pocketing his phone, he latched onto her hand and pulled her close. “We’ll be right behind you.”

She clutched the front of his shirt. “I love you.”

He kissed her. She poured her love and fears into the kiss. She didn’t want to leave his side. For too many years she’d been on her own, running, hiding, living a lie. The years she’d spent without Jake had been lonely. Always worried about involving others in her life, the few friendships she’d developed while living in Woodbine were superficial. On the surface, she’d become a hollow shell of her former self. Before Christian, she’d been bubbly and fun, daring, yet trusting. She’d loved being surrounded by people, being social—she’d loved life. When she’d been with Jake, she’d begun to go back to her old ways, until the bastard had murdered her brother.

She tore her mouth away. “I want my life back.”

“With me in it.” His eyes held love, compassion and promise, his voice, strength. “This ends today.”
 

“You need to go,” Dante urged her.

She looked at him and nodded, then turned back to Jake. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Before you know it.” He gave her another quick kiss. “Be strong. I love you.”

Before the tenderness in his eyes caused her to burst into tears, she rushed down the aisle toward the jet’s cockpit. The pilot gave her a somber nod, and said, “I don’t want to know what Ian has you doing. But, whatever it is, good luck.”

After he opened the door and pressed a lever to drop a handful of stairs to the ground, she looked across the small airstrip. Several small planes sat near a hanger. Unlike a major airport, there was no activity, no shuttles carrying luggage or employees performing maintenance on planes.

She drew in a deep, fortifying breath and took a step. Then quickly jerked back.
 

“
Hola
.” Terror gripped her as she immediately recognized the man Christian had brought with him the night he’d attacked her in her apartment. The Columbian raked his brown eyes over her body. “Welcome back to Virginia.”