“Walt, please!” I cried as he pressed the metal tip between my eyes.
“Tell me the goddamn truth, Clare. Now or fucking never.”
Suddenly, a noise caught his attention and he quickly aimed the gun to the door.
Relief blasted through my body as I saw a uniformed officer—a savior—filling the doorway.
That relief died along with part of my heart when I saw who was beside him.
“Elisabeth?” I breathed.
“Rorke,” he answered.
“Where the fuck is Officer Marco?” I barked as soon as he picked up.
“Interesting. You want us on the case now that your precious Clare is missing?” he sniped.
I had no time for his bitchy little feelings over jurisdiction. “I found your fucking mole,” I snapped. “He currently has Elisabeth Leblanc, and I’d wager my life that she’s headed to Noir.”
“What?” he asked in outrage. “No fucking way. Anthony Marco is a well-respected cop. You’ve got this wrong.”
I clenched my teeth and searched deep within myself for even a fragment of patience. There was none to be found. “Bullshit!” I boomed. “He used my name in order to convince her bodyguard that I’d ordered him to take her into protective custody. That was twenty minutes ago, and she has not made it to the station yet. Now, where the fuck is he?”
“I, uh…” he stammered. “Shit.”
I stormed to my car, Roman nearly exploding as he followed behind me. His phone was at his ear with Tomlinson on the other end.
“Where is he?” I repeated.
“The DEA has everyone out clearing Noir’s known properties, looking for Clare.”
I slammed the door to my Explorer closed behind me. It echoed as Roman did the same.
“Is he out clearing houses alone?”
“Shit,” he repeated. “Goddamn it. I want you to be wrong here. But fuck, yeah, he’s alone. He was on patrol when we got the call.”
“Okay, I need you to fucking listen to me here. Do not alert anyone. I have no idea who else Noir’s got buried in your ranks. But this stays between us. Track his car. Get me the address. Alert no one. You hear me. Not a single person finds out about this. Yeah?”
“Son of a—”
“Say you got me, Rorke.”
“Light, this needs to be reported. He could be—”
“You tell no one!”
Roman finally detonated, slamming his fist down on the dash before trying to rip the phone away from my ear.
“Let me fucking handle this,” I barked, throwing a hand out to stop him from all but climbing through the phone.
“He has my wife!”
“He has mine too!” I snarled back. “We will get them back. But chill the fuck out and get your head together.”
He stared at me for several beats before curling over and burying his face in his arms. He rocked back and forth in his seat, physically unable to sit still as adrenaline ravaged him. A feeling I knew all too well.
I turned my attention back to Rorke. “You’ve met Elisabeth Leblanc, and I know you’ve heard what Noir did to Clare. Now, that fucking monster has them both. I’m gonna get them out, and you are going to grow a fucking pair of balls and keep this quiet from your chain of command. Get me the GPS location of Officer Marco’s cruiser, and then, when we have both of those women home safe, you can report whatever the fuck you want. But, for right now, you keep your fucking mouth shut unless you are talking to me. Now, say you got me.”
He sighed. “I got you.”
“Good. Get me the damn address.” I severed our connection and dropped my phone into my lap.
I threw my arm around the back of Roman’s seat and started to back out of my driveway, but then I caught sight of Tessa peeking over Devon’s shoulder as he carried her into the house.
Her scared, green eyes were like a rusty knife to the gut. She should have been oblivious to this kind of drama for at least another…forever. She should be playing with Barbie dolls and watching fucking princes kiss their princesses, not living with the knowledge that someone had tried to snatch her from the safety of a place I desperately wanted her to call home. And then knowing they had succeeded in taking her mother.
I watched until the door closed behind them, a slew of agents and officers still flooding my lawn.
I couldn’t change her past, but I could—and would—change the future.
No more.
This life was done for her.
Blood trickled down Clare’s ashy, white face as her gaze locked on mine.
“We’re even now. I can’t do this shit anymore, Noir,” Officer Marco said.
“You’re done when I fucking say you are.”
“I’m going to lose my job over your obsession with this bitch,” Marco returned, shoving me into the room.
I stumbled on my heels before falling forward and landing on my knees. Clare climbed to her feet and hurried toward me, but Walter caught her by the back of the shirt at the last second.
“Oh God!” I cried, extending my arms toward her as she crashed to the floor.