Striking Distance

Chapter 16

“Where’s Lucas?”

“He’s on his way, ma’am,” Logan told Victoria. “I’ve checked the package thoroughly. It appears to be safe, but I’d rather you wait for Lucas’s arrival before we open it.”

Victoria looked to Ian and then to Simon. Both men looked as uncertain about this as she felt.

She hadn’t needed John Logan to rush in and snatch the package from her hands to know something was wrong. The young woman who’d delivered it had given her the undeniable impression that she should be afraid.

Victoria closed her eyes and tried to steady the spinning in her head. She wasn’t sure she possessed the fortitude to get through this. It was bad enough that an assassin was stalking her, but the ice cream...now this.

Leberman, the son of a bitch, why didn’t he just confront her face-to-face? Why all the subterfuge? All the games?

Because the sick bastard gets off on the pain he inflicts. She knew the answer. Understood perfectly why he was doing this to her. Still, she couldn’t fully come to terms with it.

Victoria opened her eyes and stared at the package. Her only regret was that she couldn’t kill the bastard here and now.

From his hotel only minutes away, where he’d set up a mini command post, Lucas arrived just then, his gaze going first to her, then settling on the package lying in the middle of her desk.

“That’s it?” He looked to Logan and then to Ian.

Both men nodded. Logan told him, “I can’t find any indication of explosives or poisonous substances. Scans indicate a nonmetal object.”

“Clear the room,” Lucas commanded. “I don’t want anyone in here when I open it.”

“Absolutely not,” Victoria argued. “The package is addressed to me, I’ll open it.”

“I’ll open it.” Simon stepped toward her desk.

Simon had a new wife. Ian had a wife and two children. And Logan had a wife, as well. Victoria looked to each of the trusted men and ordered, “Leave my office. I want to do this alone.”

Ian shook his head. “Not going to happen, Victoria. Either allow one of us to open the package, or we’ll stand here and debate the point all evening.”

She surveyed the determined male faces around the room. All were prepared to die to protect her. Every damned one of them was as stubborn as she was.

“All right.” She stepped back. “Open it.”

Simon quickly stepped in front of Ian. Simon had done time with the FBI and was fearless when it came to doing his duty. He was just one of many fine investigators Victoria employed. She prayed the evil that had followed her life for nearly two decades would not touch him now.

Using the gloves and utility cutter Logan had brought into the office, Simon carefully slit the packaging. He pulled back the outer wrapping and cut the tape sealing the lid on the small box. He dragged the package a little closer and cautiously lifted the lid.

He studied the contents for a moment before allowing his gaze to meet Victoria’s. She saw the uncertainty there a split second before he turned the box around where she could see what it held.

A small blue sneaker was the only item in the box.

She didn’t have to touch it or inspect it in any way. She recognized it immediately. She knew everyone in the room was waiting for her to say something...but she couldn’t speak. She could only stand there, as the tears spilled down her cheeks, and stare at the small shoe her son had been wearing the day he disappeared.

Chapter 17

He drove back to the house in Oak Park well after dark. He’d waited until Victoria Colby had left her office, her protector, Lucas Camp, and his two men close by, and then he’d followed her home.

It hadn’t been necessary for him to see her face as she opened the package. He saw all he needed to in her pained, stoic profile while she pretended to go about her daily routine as she left the office. He was satisfied.

They knew he was watching, but they did nothing. He’d wondered at that in the beginning but he understood now. They had what they considered an ace in the hole. And Victoria Colby would want to see how this game played out. She wanted the truth. She wanted Leberman.

As, he imagined, did Lucas Camp.

He laughed softly as he considered what lay before them. Victoria Colby couldn’t possibly imagine the horrors in store for her before the blessed relief of death would come. He almost hated to allow it to end that way.

He backed into the driveway that flanked the house he used for the time being. He hated coming back here, but it was a necessary part of the strategy. Though he enjoyed the buildup, the crescendo of death would be lessened immensely, in his opinion, by this grandstanding.

But it was not his decision to make.

As he did each time he returned, he searched the grounds, considered the windows and doors for any subtle change in the way he’d left them.

He knew immediately that he had a visitor.

A careful one.

Like smoke, soundless and camouflaged by the darkness, he stole into the house. His visitor waited in the darkness of the inner hall, like a cancer lying dormant before it struck its unsuspecting victim. Being in this house again with him gnawed at Seth’s gut like the sharp hunger pains he’d once known in that dark place he’d called home.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

He didn’t want him here. Had no desire to speak with him or to see him.

Leberman flipped on the overhead light switch, leveling the playing field since he could not see so well in the dark. He blinked to adjust his vision.

“You made the delivery?” he demanded without preamble.

“Yes.” Seth squashed the sensation of fear that, even now...after all these years, tried to surface. He reminded himself that he was not afraid of anything—most especially this son of a bitch.

Leberman nodded. “Good. And the rest is on schedule?”

“I don’t want you here.” He clenched his jaw hard to hold back the emotion he refused to allow. Control was essential.

Leberman met his gaze, those beady eyes showing no fear. The tables had turned in recent years. He was a fool not to fear him. “I know you don’t want me here. You despise me now.” He circled him slowly, inspecting him as he had hundreds of times before. Seth resisted the instinct to stiffen. “I know exactly how you feel about me,” Leberman continued. He moved back in front of him. “But that changes nothing. You owe me this. You will see it through.”

Seth didn’t respond. Leberman knew he would not fail. As he said, he owed this to him. And then they would be even...finished.

Leberman leaned closer and sniffed. “You’ve been with a woman. I smell her perfume.”

He didn’t bother to respond to that comment, either, though a tendril of uneasiness slid through him. He banished it with the same indifference he displayed for his unwanted guest now. Theirs was not a relationship based on friendship or fondness of any sort. They had only one thing in common. Sheer hatred for the Colby name.

“Did you fuck her?” Leberman inclined his head thoughtfully. “I think not. Perhaps that’s the reason for your foul mood.” He smiled grotesquely. “She must have seen you for what you are. Pure evil...a beast. Did you let her live in spite of her rebuff?” He sniffed again. “You’re not getting soft are you?”

Seth locked down all emotion and moved a step closer to the bastard, his fingers fisting tightly to resist the urge to wrap around that scrawny throat. Only with him did he still struggle with the human weakness of baser emotions. “Unless you came here to provide additional instructions, we have nothing to discuss.”

Leberman peered up at him, studied his face, seemingly oblivious to the hatred radiating in his direction. “I trained you so well. You don’t show the first hint of emotion. Anger now and again, perhaps, but nothing more.”

This was a waste of time. “Say what you came to say and go.”

“Pain, death, none of it touches you, does it?” Leberman persisted. He smiled. “You are magnificent.” He shook his head slowly from side to side. “You have no idea how proud I am. Every moment I’ve waited will have been well worth it.” He sighed mightily. “You’re prepared for tomorrow?”

The question was unnecessary. “Of course.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to this step more than you can know.”

Seth said nothing.

A beat of silence passed. When Leberman would have gone, Seth reluctantly issued a warning of a different sort, “They’re watching me closely now. I don’t think I was followed, but it’s a possibility.” Though he didn’t really care if Leberman was caught or not, it would ruin his own plans at this stage.

Leberman cocked his head. “Really? I’m surprised you let them that close.” His eyes narrowed. “That’s not like you. It’s her, isn’t it?”

“I’ll create a diversion so you can go undetected,” he offered and walked away, leaving the bastard to think what he would and not bothering to answer his question. He didn’t give a damn what surprised him.

If Lucas’s men were out there, as he suspected, all he had to do was set a course for Victoria Colby’s private residence, and they would follow.

He glanced back at Leberman once more and warned, “Don’t come back.”

“Just so you know, I will be watching tomorrow,” Leberman told him, an underlying threat in his tone. “I’ll be very careful to stay out of sight, but I will be watching.”

Seth just wanted him out of his sight. If he chose to watch tomorrow it was of no consequence to him as long as he stayed out of the way and away from him. The death of Lucas Camp only served one purpose as far as Seth was concerned.

To torture Victoria Colby.

Chapter 18

Tasha lay in bed at midnight with no sign of sleep in sight. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Lucas had told her. The package had contained a small boy’s shoe. One of the shoes Victoria Colby’s child had been wearing eighteen years ago when he’d gone missing.

Victoria had been devastated then and today.

Tasha thought of the woman she’d met briefly when she delivered the package. Strong, steady, still very attractive at fifty or so. But that woman had been brought to her knees by a horrible reminder of the past.

Why would Seth do that? Tasha felt certain that he was following Leberman’s orders. Lucas had told her that they suspected this man named Leberman of having taken the child. Once he’d disposed of the body he’d obviously kept souvenirs for later.

Leberman wanted to make Victoria suffer before he ended her life. Lucas was sure he had more dirty tricks up his sleeve. Tasha also fully understood Lucas’s personal ties now. Victoria Colby.

Tasha’s thoughts turned to Seth then. Was it about the money? She’d turned the uniform and the bills he’d given her over to Maverick for fingerprinting in hopes of finding Leberman’s or anyone else’s who might be connected. She wondered how much a man like Leberman would pay to hire a man as skilled and ruthless as Seth to carry out this well-planned drama that was supposed to end in death.

She wondered at the brutalities Seth must have suffered to make him the kind of man he was. She flopped over onto her other side. Why the hell did she care? He was a killer. It didn’t matter what made him that way. Her only job was to stop him once they’d located Leberman.

Tasha pushed up from the bed and shuffled into the kitchen for a drink. Sleep wasn’t coming. She might as well give up and do something useful. Maybe some yoga. She could definitely handle some relaxation exercises.

The telephone rang, startling her.

She blew out a breath. Damn, she was going to have to get a grip here. She strode over to the table next to the sofa and picked up the receiver. It wouldn’t be Maverick, he’d knock on her door.

“Hello,” she said softly as if she’d been awakened, though she really didn’t expect to hear from Seth again this soon.

“There’s a cab waiting outside.”

Seth.

Anticipation seared through her. “A cab? Where am I going?” She glanced at the clock, 12:35 a.m.

“I think you know.”

An audible click told her he’d hung up.

She lowered the receiver and dropped it back into its cradle.

For a while Tasha simply stood there trying to decide if she could take this step or not.

She knew what he wanted.

Had felt the primal urgency in his kiss that afternoon. Had also felt his resistance. He didn’t want to want her.

She closed her eyes and ordered her heart rate to slow. Sleeping with him was supposed to be a last resort. But nothing was as it should be with him. She needed that closer connection with him. She needed him to need her. Seduction was her only option.

Rather than stand there rationalizing further, she did what she had to do.

She dressed for the occasion.

Short black skirt, matching thong, even shorter gold top, no bra, no hose. She slid her feet into strappy black sandals and looked herself over. The hesitation she saw in her own eyes was unlike her...she shouldn’t hesitate. This wasn’t personal. It was business—essential to the mission. She’d known going in that it might come to this. She shook her head and looked away from the lie in her eyes. Somehow, stupidly, she had waited for this moment. She hoped like hell her motivation was grounded in the mission. But she had a very bad feeling that it wasn’t.

Tossing her toothbrush and other essentials into a bag, she glanced at the gun she’d left lying on the toilet tank. But she couldn’t risk him finding it. She had mace. That would have to be sufficient. He was a lot bigger than her, but she could fight as well as any man. On second thought she removed the patch and tossed it into the trash. Maverick knew his location. She wasn’t going to risk having to explain the patch to Seth. Or worse, have him detect its signal if he chose to do a body sweep.

As he’d said, a cab waited at the curb. She climbed in, and the driver pulled out onto the street without asking for directions. Maverick would be furious, but it wasn’t like they didn’t know where Seth lived now. Her apartment was monitored, they would know she’d left.

She relaxed into the seat and cleared her mind. She wasn’t going to argue with herself anymore. Whatever happened happened. End of subject.

She knew what she had to do.

A few minutes later she leaned forward and surveyed the street signs.

“Why aren’t we headed for Oak Park?”

“That’s not the address I was given,” the cabbie offered with a shrug. He smiled then. “Maybe it’s a surprise.”

Uneasiness slid through Tasha. An all-too-familiar sensation these days. There were surprises and there were surprises. This was definitely one she hadn’t anticipated. Failure to anticipate her target’s moves was a dangerous weakness. He looked more and more as if he was a serious weakness.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, after traveling through several exclusive neighborhoods, the cab braked to a stop in front of a massive ornamental gate. She squinted to make out the house that lay beyond but couldn’t.

After a moment the gate opened and the cab rolled through and toward the house at the end of the drive. As they neared the structure she could make out the soaring, contemporary lines and angles. A high wall enclosed the property for as far as she could see, and if her sense of direction was on track they were near the lake. That would explain the elegant homes they’d passed.

“Here you are.” The cabbie glanced back at her and smiled with masculine approval. “The fare has already been taken care of.”

“Thanks.” Tasha stepped out of the cab and looked around for a bit before moving toward the house. The cab left through the gate, and she heard it close behind him. The house looked dark except for foundation lights that up lit from the well-landscaped shrubbery. But Seth liked the dark.

She moved toward the front entry, wondering where his SUV was parked. A side entry garage perhaps.

As she moved up the steps, the front door opened and he stood there waiting for her. He didn’t speak, just waited. Her pulse reacted and she chastised herself for the lack of control.

If Maverick had tried to follow her, he was nowhere to be seen. But then, that was her fault for removing the one link between her and her backup.

It was just him and her.

She was on her own.

When she’d stepped inside, he closed the door behind her and turned on the lights, the setting far dimmer than she would have preferred.

“Looks like you’ve moved up in the world,” she said to him when he remained silent. Even in the low light she could see that the house was elegantly decorated and expensively furnished.

“This way.”

She followed him up the grand staircase. Surely this wasn’t his home. Maybe Leberman’s? That didn’t make sense, either. Lucas and Victoria would certainly know if he were this close. This place didn’t exactly have a lived-in feel, but it didn’t have that closed-up smell or feel about it, either.

When he stopped again and turned on a light, they were in a generously sized bedroom with French doors that likely led out onto a balcony. She imagined there was a view of the lake. The furnishings were just as exquisite as the ones downstairs, including the massive king-size bed.

He took her purse, then leveled that piercing gaze on her. “Take off your clothes.”

She walked over to him and reached for the buttons of his shirt. “How about we take off yours first?”

Strong fingers encircled her wrists and pulled her hands away from his shirt. “Take them off.”

She backed up a step and considered her limited options. She could refuse and blow this now—maybe have to fight her way out of here—or...

He unzipped her purse then removed a thick fold of bills from his pocket and dropped them inside. When he’d tossed the bag aside he issued his order again. “Now, take off your clothes.”

Unbridled fury scorched through her. “You think I’m some kind of hooker?” She glanced at her bag for emphasis.

When he didn’t answer she huffed in disbelief. “Oh, man.” She stormed out, didn’t even bother with her purse. She wanted to make the right connection with the guy. Earn his trust. This kind of connection would get her nowhere fast.

By the time she reached the landing he was right behind her. She ignored him and kept moving. She was down the stairs and halfway across the entry hall when he stopped her. He whirled her around to face him, his hold on her arms brutal.

“No one walks away from me.”

“Let me go,” she warned.

Something changed in his expression. “I thought you needed a job,” he countered, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

She tried without success to jerk free of his savage hold. “I need a job not a john. Now let me go!”

He released her as suddenly as he’d grabbed her. He took a step back physically and emotionally. “Get your bag. I’ll take you back.”

Tasha couldn’t move for a moment, unable to look away from that fierce gaze just yet. When she could break free of the spell, she turned and hurried up the stairs. She cursed herself every step of the way for being the fool she was. She should be glad that he hadn’t out-and-out raped her. Instead, he’d turned off the desire she knew he had felt as easily as he turned off a light switch.

And, unbelievably, she was disappointed.

Chapter 19

He performed his usual check of the perimeter of the Oak Park property before entering. Thankfully no one waited for him this time. A quick sweep for alien electronics and he relaxed.

If Leberman showed his face once more he might just kill him now and put them both out of their misery. Dread, or something on that order, hardened in his gut. He tamped it down. Hated those old sensations Leberman so easily engendered in him. When Victoria Colby was dead they would be even, anyway. What difference would a few days make? Once his score with Leberman was settled he intended to kill the bastard if he ever came near him again. Just looking at him made Seth remember the past, and he didn’t want to remember.

He climbed the stairs to his room without bothering with light. He was as much at home in the dark as he was in the light, maybe more. The dark had always been his friend. No one could see him in the dark.

Before he could stop the mutinous memory, Leberman’s words echoed in his head. He knew what he was all right. He was pure evil...a monster. Hadn’t he been marked long ago? That was just one more reason he couldn’t trust Tasha. She pretended to see what wasn’t there...pretended not to care what he was.

But he knew differently.

He knew a great deal more than she suspected. He knew exactly what she was doing. Leberman had his sources. He untied his shoes and toed them off, then shouldered out of his shirt and dropped it to the floor. The weapon and holster he shrugged off and lay on the bed. A gun had been his only sleeping partner for more than a decade. He was never without it. Never intended to be, as long as he was still breathing.

As he peeled his T-shirt up and off, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He moved closer to inspect the numerous scars that marred his otherwise well-maintained body. Ugly, brutal marks that told the story of his past. A past he wanted to forget. He studied his face and the slash on his jaw that had been the last one inflicted by the bastard who’d trained him.

He banked the fury that ignited instantly whenever he allowed himself to dwell on the past. His lips flattened into a grim line. The bouts of anger he’d been dealing with lately were nothing but an indicator of his one weakness—the past. When he had paid his final debt he would never think of the past again.

The image of Tasha flashed through his mind, sending a new kind of fire straight to his groin. She was proving a weakness, as well. He’d allowed his curiosity to get the better of him.... That had been a mistake.

It wouldn’t happen again.

He had no reason at this point to kill her, but he would if she got in his way.

The curiosity she’d sparked in him was the only reason she wasn’t dead already.

But she was toying with him...there could be no other explanation.

He knew what he was, and no woman would want that.

Unless she was paid to want it.

He shook his head in self-disgust when even the mere thought of her got him hard. Not once since becoming a man had he allowed any woman to hold that kind of power over him.

Sex, he decided, was only about his body’s need for physical release, nothing more. He stepped back into his shoes and tied them. Then reached for his shirt and weapon. Well, physical release would be easy enough to obtain.

There were plenty of women out there who knew how to use their mouths for something more than talk.

He didn’t need Tasha.

Any woman would do.

They were all alike—manipulative, clingy, untrustworthy. Though admittedly they had their uses, he had never met one he needed.

He didn’t need anyone or anything.