Secret Obsession (Carder Texas Connections #6)(52)

The wall he’d erected around his heart solidified. He’d finish this job and go back to CTC. That’s where he belonged. The life his father had, the life his brother Mitch had found, it wasn’t for him. He was expecting too much.

Lyssa approached him while Elijah worked on the computer, trying to pretend he wasn’t listening.

“Are you going to talk to me again?” she asked.

“Of course.”

She sighed. “I know you’re upset—”

“Now’s not the time. It’s almost over, Lyssa. Then you can have your life back. And I’ll have mine.”

He stepped away from her tempting scent and pulled a signal booster and decryptor from his bag. Neither were on the market, they were in a testing phase. He’d come up with the idea when Daniel and his new wife had been lost in the desert of West Texas during a lightning storm. How to boost a signal and follow it.

Lyssa disappeared into the bathroom. He let out a long sigh.

“You two okay?” Elijah said quietly once she’d closed the door.

“Fine.” Noah met his colleague’s gaze. “I need this to be over.”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t screw this up, Noah. She’s something special.”

“She doesn’t trust me...us,” he said, attaching the last connector into place. “I can’t live that way.”

“Lyssa’s been on the run for two years.”

Noah leaned forward. “How much do I have to prove that I can be trusted? She’s keeping a secret from me, Elijah. A big one. I’m willing to die for her, and she can’t tell me what she’s hiding. That chips away at a guy’s heart, you know.”

“Yeah,” Elijah said quietly. “I know. Been there. Without trust, there’s nothing.”

They both returned to work, letting the sour memories settle between them.

Ten minutes later, Lyssa appeared from the bathroom. Noah tried not to notice the red puffiness of her eyes.

“Are you ready?” he said.

She nodded.

At exactly nine o’clock, Noah opened the browser window and entered in the URL again. The black screen appeared.

One minute passed, then two minutes.

Lyssa paced back and forth and retrieved her shotgun. Elijah went to the window, perusing the parking lot.

“Is he out there?” she asked. “Is this just a trick to find us?”

The phone left in the mailbox rang.

“Answer it,” Noah said.

She pressed the speakerphone. “H-hello?”

“Alessandra, my dear. You’ve been keeping secrets. You’ve been a very naughty girl.”

*

LYSSA’S BREATH STOPPED. No. Reid was still unconscious. He was the only one who knew. She hadn’t told Noah. She hadn’t told anyone. He was bluffing. He had to be.

She met Noah’s unyielding gaze.

“I...I don’t understand.”

“Don’t lie to me, Alessandra. Don’t ever lie to me. Your friend Mary lies. She disrespected me. She has to pay.”

The screen blinked on.

Mary Patterson was strapped to a chair, her eyes dark with pain. Archimedes stood nearby, a strange smile protruding from the mouth of his balaclava.

Perfectly straight teeth. The odd thought flitted through Lyssa’s mind even as disbelief washed through her.

No!

“Alessandra!” Mary cried into the camera. “God, I’m sorry.”

Archimedes grabbed her chin. “Do you recognize your good friend, Alessandra? The person you trusted the most? She tried to lie, but she knows better now.”

The camera panned down to Mary’s hands. Two of her fingers were missing.

Lyssa’s knees buckled.

“Don’t you know I’m the only one who lives up to my promises, Alessandra?”

The camera panned to the left. A toddler sat crying in a Pack ’n Play, reaching to Mary.

“Marmie! Marmie!”

“God, no!” Lyssa moaned.

“That’s right, Alessandra. I have your daughter.”

Noah caught Lyssa when she fell. He cradled her in his arms. She gripped his arms, gaze frozen at the computer screen.

Archimedes repositioned the camera and leaned in. “Alessandra. Don’t you want to know how to get your daughter back?”

She gripped the phone tight. “Please, don’t hurt them.” Tears streamed down Lyssa’s face. She trembled in Noah’s arms. “I’ll do anything.”

“That’s better,” he said, those teeth grinning in a way that made her shiver in revulsion. “First, you must understand that lies are unacceptable. For example...” Archimedes’s voice trailed off.

“Your friend lied about the identity of your daughter to the world for eighteen months. She lied to me today. She still hasn’t admitted the truth.”

He clucked his tongue at Mary.

Lyssa froze at the resigned expression that settled on Mary’s face. She covered the phone. “What’s he doing?”

She couldn’t see what Archimedes held in his hand.

“Please,” Mary whispered. “Alessandra...tell my family—”

Mary’s body seized in the chair. A flash sparked.

“Stop!” Lyssa shouted. “Stop it. What are you doing?”