Secret Obsession (Carder Texas Connections #6)(38)

Immediately Lyssa rolled off Noah. So, a trial wouldn’t be possible. It gave them only one choice, and part of her was relieved. Noah’s arm snaked around her and tugged her against him. She relaxed and let him anchor her close.

“How did Archimedes get to it?” Noah asked.

“Oh, he made it look like an accident—if you believe in oceanfront property in Arizona. A kerosene lamp just above the Archimedes evidence section. A wire short circuit. A fire. A convenient computer virus. Panic is racing through the Justice Department.”

“Find the leak, Elijah.” Noah’s gaze held her captive. “It doesn’t change what we have to do, but it may give us a lead on Archimedes’s identity.”

Noah’s finger trailed a soft stroke down her arm. Her body shivered under his touch, but her mind pulled away. Every moment she was with Noah, the wall around her heart splintered a bit more. She was a fool.

Noah ended the call with orders for Elijah to keep in contact. Lyssa placed her hands on Noah’s chest and pushed at him. “Let me go,” she said.

He rolled her under him, holding his weight up on his forearm. “It’s a blow to the prosecution,” Noah admitted. “But it doesn’t change our plans. In some ways it’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

As if he could read her mind.

She couldn’t meet his gaze. “He would never have been convicted anyway. Reasonable doubt.”

The warmth of his body didn’t budge, but she shifted in his arms, staring at the wall. “Promise me something,” she said softly. “Promise me he won’t go free. Promise me, if something happens and I can’t do it...promise me Archimedes won’t walk away. No court. No trial.”

He stayed silent for what seemed like hours, but it may have been only a few seconds. “I promise,” he said finally.

Lyssa pushed at his shoulders. He let her and eased off her body. She rose from the bed, then looked at him over her shoulder. “Thank you.”

She paced the room. He sat up on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand, capturing hers. “I want a promise from you.” He drew her near. “Don’t take him on by yourself. Let me do this.”

With a sharp yank, she pulled away, shaking her head. “I...I can’t, Noah. I vowed to Jack. It’s my battle.”

Noah’s eyes bored into her. “Have you ever killed a man?” he asked.

“I watched the man I love die. I saw a WitSec officer assigned to protect me carved up on my apartment floor. I watched an innocent woman stop breathing and a man I respected with his throat cut,” she said harshly. “I’m way too familiar with death.”

“Taking a life changes you, Lyssa. It’s something you can’t ever take back.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Let me do this for you.”

Lyssa tugged at the ring around her neck. She lifted her gaze to his. “I’d give up my soul to see Archimedes dead.”

He kissed her palm. “Not by these hands. I promise you that.”

*

DARKNESS HAD FALLEN over the Rocky Mountains. Archimedes flicked the small but bright flashlight on in the abandoned building. He dragged Sierra Bradford into a small closet at the center of the structure and propped her up against the back wall. Outside, sirens wailed, but no one would find them here. He’d made certain.

His chest wheezed with each breath through the stocking mask. He’d be glad to return to the coast. Bending down, he tested the climbing cords securing her hands and feet. The knots wouldn’t give; they were strong and nearly indestructible.

Last, he pressed duct tape to her mouth, leaving her free to breathe through her nose.

He wouldn’t kill her. Not yet. Partly because he wanted Bradford to believe there was a chance his sister could be saved.

More importantly, he wanted his victim to know what was happening every hour she waited. He relished the fear, had come to savor those moments when eyes widened with terror, then resignation, then finally the flicker of life snuffing out.

He had total, absolute control over all existence.

So, he waited, and watched, until her eyelids fluttered a bit.

He smiled, crouching down in front of her so he would be the first thing she’d see.

Her eyelids snapped open.

He could tell the moment she recognized her position. She twisted, but the tight fit of the closet stopped her.

“Don’t bother trying to escape.”

The flashlight swept down her body.

Archimedes waited for the panic to settle in her eyes. Instead, her expression skewered him with hatred.

His temple throbbed.

Fool.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked, his voice a singsong whisper.

She simply glared. No response. Not even a shake of her head.

His teeth ground. She couldn’t ignore him. He wouldn’t allow it.

He lifted his knee and slammed the steel-toe boots against her ribs. She folded up, whimpering through the duct tape.

“Do you know me?” he asked.

No response.

He kicked her again. “Do you know me? Answer me!”

She shook her head, just barely.

He grinned, hoping his distorted face through the stocking terrified her. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Archimedes.”

This time her eyes did widen and he got what he wanted. A flash of fear.