Wild Card (49 page)

Sabella's head snapped up. "More than anything," she breathed out roughly. "I didn't consider."

She paused and shook her head. "I didn't think. I'd forgotten about the antibiotics. Things have

been crazy at the garage." In her life. The shock of having Nathan back had dulled her senses.

Dr. Aiken smiled, her serious hazel- and blue-flecked eyes somber. Concerned. "I want you

back in three weeks. I'll rerun the blood tests then and we'll do a full workup. You weren't

pregnant when you were in here last month, you're no more than a few weeks along."

Sabella shook her head. No more than weeks. But she knew. She knew she carried Noah's

baby. She knew it was growing inside her. She swore she could feel it now. That unknown

feeling that had plagued her the last few days, the sense of being off balance, not entirely

certain why. It wasn't just because of Noah. It was their child, letting her know he was there.

"You can get dressed now." Amy rose to her feet. She paused again and looked at her. "If you need to talk, you know you can call me anytime. Or come by the house. We'll have coffee."

She smiled suddenly. 'Though it's decaf for you."

Decaf worked for her. She was already planning revised menus. She would have to eat better.

Eat more often. No more caffeine and she didn't even give a damn.

She was carrying Noah's baby.

She dressed quickly, floating, feeling as though a surge of euphoria had taken hold of her mind

and refused to release it. She stopped as she buttoned and zipped her jeans, and touched her

stomach again. Just felt it. Needing to feel the life growing inside her.

She and Nathan had talked about starting a family after he returned from that last mission.

They had wanted children, but they had wanted a stable environment to bring one into. They

were going to pay off some of the bills. They were going to talk about it when he got home.

But he hadn't come home, until now.

Her lips curled softly, though sadly. She could keep him, she thought. She could tell him about

the baby, he would never leave her… She shook her head. No. She wouldn't hold him. If he

left, he would leave without knowing. And then she would have to leave as well, because Rory

and Jordan would make certain he knew. They would never keep that information from him.

And she would be back where she started, with a man who had returned, not for her, but

because of their child.

Besides, if he knew about the baby, and he left anyway? It would destroy the love she felt for

him, and that she couldn't bear. Noah was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Loving

him had been the greatest fulfillment of her life. Until now.

She finished dressing, then left the exam room, and went back to the lobby.

"Everything okay?" Rory came to his feet as she stepped back into the lobby and moved to the

counter to pay her bill.

"Everything's fine." She smiled back at him, forcing herself to keep the curve of her lips

restrained. "I'll be ready in a minute."

The nurse took her check. She was busy inputting information into the computer and, thank

God, didn't ask about the shot Sabella hadn't received.

"I thought you would be in there forever," Sienna teased as they left the doctor's office and

emerged in the parking lot. "She never takes that long."

"She wanted to make certain I was over that flu bug." Sabella shrugged.

She was dying to tell someone. Why wasn't she telling Sienna? Rory? Why wasn't she shouting

it from the rooftops? She was pregnant. Finally pregnant and it was her husband's baby.

She inhaled slowly as they turned the corner of the building and headed across the back lot to

Rory's truck. She was lost in the happiness, trying to hide it from Rory and Sienna. She kept

her head down, and she didn't see the van.

"Sabella!" Rory's yell had her head jerking up as he tried to grab her, to pull her back from the black van that suddenly stopped beside them.

Sienna was jostled into her, throwing her closer to the wide door that was flung open. Black

masks. Black clothes. A gun aimed at Rory, a muffled report sounding as Sabella tried to

scream over the hand that covered her mouth, tried to fight the ruthless force that tossed her

into van.

Her last sight of Rory was the horror in his face and the blood pouring from his shoulder as he

went down. Then the doors slammed closed, locking her and Sienna into the back of the van as

it squealed out of the parking lot and accelerated as it headed out of town.

Horrified, terrified, she fought against the hands holding her. Her arms were jerked behind her

back. Oh God. Her stomach was undefended. She couldn't cushion it, couldn't protect her baby

like this.

Cuffs were snapped on her wrists and tape slapped over her mouth as she stared at her friend,

her best friend, in shock.

Sienna wasn't being cuffed or gagged. She was settling herself into the lap of one of the masked

abductors, a smile curving her lips as she tilted her head and regarded Sabella like a distasteful

chore.

Sienna stared at her for long moments then she got up, braced her hand on the ceiling of the

van, and before Sabella could process it, Sienna backhanded her with enough force to send her

head bouncing against the side of the van, stars exploding in front of her eyes as she crumpled

to the floor.

Sabella didn't bother lifting herself from the floor. She blinked, felt the blood trickling from her

nose, and stared back at the woman who smiled with cool, calm arrogance.

"You stupid fucking bitch," Sienna drawled. "That's for all the years I've had to put up with babying your whining ass because Rick insisted I should worry about you. And for marrying

Nathan. Whore. You should have left the hometown boys to the hometown girls." She settled

back on the lap of the man who had held her moments before.

Brown eyes glared at her from behind the mask. Mike Conrad's brown eyes. His gaze was

malicious, satisfaction filling them, hatred glittering in them.

Sabella curled herself in a ball, her knees lifting to protect Noah's child. And she stared at Mike

and Sienna in disbelief.

Mike she could believe. But Sienna? Sienna who had been there when Nathan's casket was

buried. Who rocked her when she cried, who had forced her out of the house over the years and

had played the part of the loving friend so convincingly.

"Look at her." Sienna laughed. "Didn't I tell you, lover? I'm the best. No one ever suspected."

Sabella hadn't suspected, but she knew in that moment, that a part of her had known,

unconsciously, that this woman wasn't her friend. Just as she knew, beyond a shadow of a

doubt, that Sienna intended to see her dead.

But she knew no matter how hard they tried to hide, no matter how deep they might bury her

body, Noah would find them. And when he did, he wouldn't let the fact that Sienna was a

woman save her. Mike Conrad's past friendship with Nathan wouldn't even be a memory.

He'd kill them both. And he would make it hurt.

She just prayed he found her before they managed to kill her.

Noah stepped from the garage as they heard the sirens in the distance and the squeal of tires,

the sharp blasts of a horn.

He was aware of Nik moving behind him, the other mechanics as well as Toby stepping out to

the parking lot. He was aware of a cold core of ice freezing inside him when Rory's truck slid

around a corner and raced to the garage, the sheriff, lights blazing, riding on his ass.

He stood stiff, still, as Nik cursed behind him. He heard the Russian cursing, felt the tension

suddenly building in the air as Rory barreled into the parking lot, the truck fishtailing as he put

on the brakes, slamming to a stop.

He wasn't aware of moving. He wrenched the door open and caught his brother as he fell into

his arms, blood staining his shirt, tears washing his face.

"Noah!" Rory screamed out, hysteria brightening his eyes. "Ah God. Ah God, Noah, I'm so

sorry. I'm so sorry."

Noah held his brother, dragging him into the garage and then the office as Rick rushed in

behind them. He could feel Rory's blood soaking his shirt, his skin.

"Where's Sabella, Rory?" He put his brother in a chair before grabbing a handful of clean

mechanic's rags and pressing them to Rory's shoulder. "Tell me where Sabella is."

Rory sobbed. His head fell back on the chair and he howled in rage. "They took her! Took her

and Sienna. Noah, I tried to grab her, but Sienna stumbled. And they took Sabella."

Noah stared at him. Something beyond rage took hold of him.

"What the hell do you mean, they took them?" Rick tried to push past Noah, rage echoing in his

voice. "What the fuck is going on here?"

Nik hauled him back, jerked the handgun from his hand, and snarled down at him. Noah didn't

pay attention. He didn't give a fuck about Rick.

"Who has her, Rory?" His voice was calm. "Did you recognize anyone?"

"Masks." Rory shook his head furiously. "They were wearing masks. When I tried to grab for Sabella, one of the bastards pulled a gun. It was silenced. I jerked to the side and kept trying to

get to her." He held his shoulder and rocked forward. "Ah Christ. I'm sorry, Noah. I'm sorry."

"Nik, get on it," Noah ordered quietly.

"Calling now."

"Rory." He gripped Rory's jaw. "Rory, look at me. Tell me what you saw."

Rory stared back at him, dazed with pain and blood loss. His shirt was soaked with blood.

"Tan van." He shook his head, tears still filling his eyes. "Black masks. Black clothes. Pulled to a stop beside us and Sienna stumbled." He shook his head again. "I don't know why. She

knocked into Belle and they both fell toward the door while I was trying to grab Belle. They

jerked her inside. Mud on the tires, on the frame. It looked fresh. No plates, I checked. They

were gone. Brown eyes." He stared up at Noah. "The guy that took Belle. He had brown eyes.

Really dark eyes. I know those eyes."

Conrad's eyes.

"Nik, ambulance," Noah said softly. Rory was going to need help. He turned back to his

brother. "Did they say anything? Tell me, Rory, did any of them say anything?"

Rory was panting now, shock taking over. He stared back at Noah, dazed, fighting back

unconsciousness.

"Said. Said something about good hunting. As the doors closed. Someone laughed, and said it

would be good hunting."

"Teams moving," Nik reported. "ETA is twenty minutes."

"How long ago, Rory?" Noah questioned him then. "When did it happen?"

Rory was shaking now. He looked at his wrist. Blood coated the face of his watch. Noah wiped

it off, watching his brother carefully. The false calm that filled him was just a prelude. The ice

was coming. Noah could feel it coming.

Rory sobbed. "An hour," he whispered. "Christ, Noah. An hour. I blacked out, and the lot was nearly empty. No one saw. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Nik. What's Travis reporting?"

"Movement on Leon," Nik stated. "There was a pullout five minutes ago. He's trying to track but T lost signal."

T. Tehya.

Noah turned and stared at a silent Rick. He was watching Rory, watching Noah.

"You're supposed to be dead," Rick said faintly. "I watched them bury you."

A man ran a risk when returning to his hometown, pretending to be someone he wasn't, and

claiming the wife he had left.

"I still am. Dead." He bared his teeth at Rick. "You're in. But God help you if you're a part of this."

Rory shuddered as Noah turned back to him.

"Noah, she called him 'baby.'"

Noah sharpened his focus on Rory. "Who?"

Rory frowned. "When the door closed. Sienna. Brown eyes jerked her inside. She said 'baby.'"

"You misheard," Rick objected behind them. "You had to have misheard, Rory." But the

objection was faint and filled with bitter pain.

When Noah turned back to the sheriff, he was staring at Rory in horror, in knowledge.

Rick shook his head as though clearing a fog and stared back at Noah, his tobacco-brown eyes

filled with anguish. "He misheard."

Rory hadn't misheard. There was a leak in the Alpine sheriff's force. That leak was Sienna, not

Rick as they had first assumed.

"Nik, what do we have?"

"Ambulance pulling in."

Noah jerked around, pinning him with his gaze as Nik grimaced. "We got nothing yet, man.

The team's pulling in. Trav is tracking and T is working comm. That's all we have."

"Who the hell are you?" Rick grabbed Noah's arm.

Slowly, more to control the impulse to rip the sheriff's throat out than for any other reason,

Noah turned back to him. Then he smiled.

He could feel the blood pumping through his veins, his muscles hardening, tightening. His

vision edged with red, with blood, and the monster was free.

"I'm the BCM's worst fucking nightmare," he said softly. "I'm a dead man walking, and I'll take every damned one of them to hell with me."

Rory had been transported to the hospital under duress. He hadn't wanted to go. He had begged

Noah not to make him go. The team was assembled, quietly, in the apartment after that. No one

had seen them enter, no one knew they were there.

Rick stood at the back door, staring through the narrow window, tense, prepared, as he listened

to the team assemble the gear the other Elite Ops agents had brought in. Trackers.

Communications. Weapons.

Noah was listening to Travis Caine's report from his attempts to track the van that had