Savage Redemption

chapter 11



The trip to New Eire had been far from relaxing. If the scenery had been worth admiring, Kat hadn’t noticed. She didn’t know which was worse—the bone-jarring drive along the rough dirt road to reach the highway or the snail pace along the city streets. Conlan must have had someplace specific in mind, but so far he’d been driving in circles, probably checking to see if they were being followed. Although she knew better, it felt as if everyone they passed was staring at them.

When they’d driven past a traffic officer, she’d even had to fight hard not to duck down out of sight, which would’ve only drawn his attention if he’d noticed. It wasn’t as if she were the center of the universe, but it was hard not to be paranoid when she knew there were faceless strangers out there hunting for her.

For them.

That was the other problem. The longer the two of them were shut up inside the transport, the more aware she was of every breath Conlan took, every small movement he made.

It was an uphill battle to keep her attention on the outside world when all she wanted to do was stare at her companion in wonder. Even now, well over an hour since they’d left the airfield behind, she could still remember the strength of his arm around her shoulders as they’d watched the predators flying overhead.

Some people feared chancellors because of their vampirelike qualities, but not her. Kat truly loved how strong Conlan was. No matter how scary the moment had been, she’d been secretly thrilled when Conlan had swept her up in his arms and carried her to safety.

After three years of running and hiding, she’d learned the hard way not to depend on anyone other than herself. Even so, it was awfully tempting to let Conlan’s broad shoulders take on all the weight of her problems, to sit back and let him take charge. Or, better yet, she could just give the bastards what they wanted along with a promise to simply disappear. She couldn’t imagine how sweet it would feel to be shed of all this mess forever.

But that wasn’t going to happen. There was no way the powerful men behind the Dowitar Institute could afford to let her live, not with the knowledge she possessed. And now they’d be after Conlan, too, because they’d have to believe that she’d shared that information with him.

Maybe she should’ve kept it all to herself, but the burden had simply become too much to bear alone. Once again she found herself staring at Conlan as the weight of all her regrets crushed her heart.

“You’re thinking way too hard, Kat.”

He took advantage of a break in traffic to gun the engine, shooting forward to pass a slow-moving truck before looking in her direction. “No guilt, no regrets, Kat. It might have been better if you’d told me everything three years ago, but we’ll never know that for sure. As it is, all we can do is play the hand we’ve been dealt.”

“Which is?” Because right now, she couldn’t see any future for them outside of this brief respite inside the transport. Once they left it, they’d be back out in the real world, where killers hunted them with all the weight of the Institute behind them.

Conlan actually grinned. “We follow our plan.”

“We have a plan? How come I didn’t know that?” She tried to match his lighter tone but wasn’t sure how successful she was.

“Yeah, sure we’ve got a plan. First we hole up for the night. We’ll get something to eat and grab some sleep. Come morning, we’ll retrieve that flash drive from wherever you’ve got it hidden. Once we have it, we’ll decide the best way to use it to beat down the bad guys.”

“Any ideas on that?”

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. “We could try to do it all on our own, but I’d rather confer with Rafferty and Ambrose. They’ve got clout where it counts.”

“Wow, I am impressed. That’s some plan. It’s complex, with multiple steps and everything.” She stared back out the window. “And here I was worried because the bad guys have helicopters, rocket launchers and dozens of mercenaries at their command, while we just have...”

When she hesitated, Conlan finished it for her. “We have us, Kat, but don’t count out Rafferty and Ambrose. When we really need them, they’ll step up. I know you have no reason to trust them, but I do.”

Then he reached over to squeeze her hand. “Bottom line—we’re not alone, Kat, even if it might seem like it right now. Once we have the proof of your innocence in hand, Ambrose O’Brien will go after the Institute or whoever is behind all of this with the full weight of the Coalition.”

“And if we can’t provide the proof, Conlan? What then? Right now, all you know is what I’ve told you. If I were in your place, I’d kick me to the curb and then drive straight back to Rafferty’s.”

Conlan stopped for a red light, his expression grim when he turned toward her.

“I don’t believe that for a second, Kat. You think I haven’t finally figured out that you left me because somehow someone threatened your nieces and your sister? I do get why you ran, but what pisses me off is that you didn’t trust me enough to help you. And what I don’t understand is why you waited that long to take off.”

He meant long enough to end up in his bed, in his arms. “It took them that long to find out that I managed to alter the data from not only my work but Richard’s and Rory’s, as well, enough to make it all useless to them.”

“Why haven’t they replicated the study with other researchers? You can’t be the only one capable of that kind of work.”

“No, I’m not, but the data that I left for them to find was designed to lead their replacement team to a dead end. If they used that formula, it would’ve also proven fatal to humans, not just vampires and chancellors.” She sighed. “I was hoping it would be enough to keep them from pursuing it any further. It seems to have worked this long.”

He glanced her way. “So are you thinking the Dowitar Institute is a front for a human-supremacy group?”

“It’s either that or the company that hired them to do the research in the first place that’s behind it all. There’s no way to know at this point.”

Conlan lapsed into silence for a short time, but then he asked, “Were there any chancellors working for the Institute?”

His question surprised her. “Come to think of it, not at the particular facility. No vampires either, although there were a few of each at the first site where I worked. I guess that would lend some credence to the theory that it was an outside group who wanted to create a chemical weapon against those who carry the vampire genes.”

On that cheery note, he pulled into a driveway in a residential neighborhood, stopping to key in a security code to open the garage. As they pulled inside, she looked around in surprise. Evidently they were staying, because Conlan shut off the engine and climbed out of the transport.

She joined him and helped gather up their few possessions. “Is this place yours?”

“Nope, it belongs to a friend.”

He hit the button to close the garage door before heading inside. Kat followed him, looking around. What she noticed first were the sparse furnishings in the living room. The next was that, unless she was mistaken, those were bullet holes in all of the walls.

“Uh, Conlan, who owns this place, and what happened here?”

He actually laughed. “If you think it’s torn up now, you should’ve seen it before we cleaned it up some.”

The man definitely had a perverse sense of humor. “You still didn’t answer my question.”

“It belongs to Joss. This was her place before she hooked up with Rafferty.”

He set down his pack and started pulling out weapons while he talked. “A while back, Ambrose was negotiating what he thought was a simple dispute between a human clan and their vampire neighbors. Instead, one of the humans and a chancellor from the vampire clan were conspiring to kill the human’s husband and Miranda, the heir to the vampire clan. They shot up her home in town and then blew up Ambrose’s condo. He brought Miranda here, thinking it would be safe.”

He gestured toward the walls polka-dotted with bullet holes. “Obviously, it wasn’t.”

She shuddered. “Since Ambrose is alive and well, things turned out okay for him. How about Miranda?”

“Depends on how you look at it.” Conlan shot her a wry look. “Ambrose married her. By all reports, they’re really happy together.”

Lucky them. Heck, she wouldn’t mind a little happily-ever-after in her own future. And she knew exactly who she’d like to be part of that scenario. Her mind filled with images of waking up next to Conlan every morning, of spending her nights in his arms, of making love to him over and over.

Then ugly reality returned. In truth, right now she’d settle for knowing she had a future at all.

* * *

Okay, they’d made some progress. Cyrus studied the email Richie had forwarded to him a few minutes ago. As ordered, the mercs had withdrawn to a safe distance from the sprawling O’Day estate. The place was too big to monitor the entire perimeter, but they’d know if someone left by the main gate. Meanwhile, they’d done some digging into Conlan Shea’s past.

Once he’d been dragged off to prison, most of his former associates had written him off as a lost cause. Evidently those chancellors Ambrose was so damn proud of had no loyalty to one of their members, only to the job. However, not all of his friends had jumped ship.

Right now, the mercs were reaching out to their usual contacts in the seedier side of New Eire to see if Shea had been heard from. So far, the results had been discouraging, but at least one likely suspect was on their radar. Apparently, one known associate of Conlan Shea’s named Lucius Domke had been out of town on business. But shortly after returning to New Eire, he’d taken off in a hurry for parts unknown. No flight plans had been filed, which meant he didn’t want to be followed or found. Interesting.

A brief check of the man’s file made it clear that he was the kind of lowlife who’d made a career of thumbing his nose at authority. Richie had issued orders that the man was to be watched, not apprehended. Unfortunately, this Lucius fellow had a helo at his disposal. If he’d picked up Shea and Kat, they could be anywhere by now.

Richie had indicated that his next step would be to do some digging in Lucius’s background. If he’d offered Shea a helping hand, they would most likely have headed for someplace familiar, someplace where Lucius had conducted business successfully in the past.

That made sense, but it wouldn’t do to focus on such a narrow target. Rafferty was still involved. Cyrus knew that to be true even though there was no indication that the vampire had set foot off his property. That didn’t mean he wasn’t offering aid in some other way.

Cyrus reached for his phone. His assistant answered before the second ring, a definite improvement. “You’ve done a great job so far, Richie. But while you’re doing some digging, check to see if Rafferty has any property in New Eire, maybe even something under his wife’s name.”

Then he hung up before Richie could respond. Petty of him, perhaps, but right now all he cared about was the fact that the noose was tightening on their targets. Cyrus could almost taste success, and he really loved the flavor.

* * *

After surveying the meager offerings in the tiny kitchen, Conlan considered their options. One box of stale cereal and an outdated can of beans left him little choice but to make a food run.

“There’s a small deli two blocks away. Will you be all right if I leave long enough to pick up something for dinner? We could both go, but they’re hunting for a couple. There’s no reason to think that they’ve tracked us this far, but I’d rather not risk it.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Despite her words, Conlan suspected that she didn’t like being separated even for the short time he’d be gone. The question was, why? They’d been through a lot, but they’d gotten this far. He wished like hell he could read Kat’s thoughts. Maybe there was one more question he needed to ask, but would he be able to trust her answer?

“Will you be here when I get back?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kat’s blue-green eyes darkened in anger. “I gave you my word, Conlan. Why did you even ask me to if you’re not going to believe me anyway?”

When he didn’t immediately respond, she held out her wrists. “Better yet, chain me to the refrigerator. I won’t get far dragging something that size down the street.”

Damn it, he should’ve just kept his mouth shut. Obviously he’d hurt her feelings. “Look, forget I said that. We’re both tired. I’ll get dinner, and then we’ll turn in for the night.”

He headed for the door, then stopped to toss her his phone. “I shouldn’t be gone more than a half hour. If I am, assume the worst and call Rafferty. Tell him where you are. He and Ambrose are together. You can trust them to do the right thing, so tell them everything you’ve told me.”

She followed him all the way to the door. “Be careful, Conlan.”

The worry in her voice washed away the last chill of doubt. When he held out his arms, she walked right into them. He’d meant to simply offer her some comfort, but she was having none of it. She captured his face with her hands and tugged him close enough for a kiss. Even so, she kept it gentle and quick. Good thing. If she’d fanned the flames at all, he wasn’t sure he would’ve made it out the door.

He stepped back, letting his regret show. “I’ll be fine. Keep the door locked, and stay out of sight.”

“Just hurry.”

* * *

Kat watched from the edge of the window until Conlan disappeared around the corner down the block. As soon as she stepped away from the window, the phone he’d left with her started to vibrate in her hand.

Who would be calling?

Rafferty maybe. She checked the caller ID, but it was blocked. Okay, that probably ruled out the vampire. He had no reason to hide his information from Conlan. It was doubtful Ambrose would, either. She prayed that meant that Rose and Maggie were still safe. Would they ever forgive her for abandoning them with no warning? She hoped so.

She let the phone go silent without answering. If it was someone Conlan wanted to speak to, he could call them back when he returned. It immediately started vibrating again. Still she hesitated, hoping this time it would go to voice mail. It didn’t. When it started up a third time, she reluctantly answered.

“Hello.”

“Where is it, bitch?”

The venom in the words startled her into dropping the phone. Her hands were shaking when she held the phone back to her ear.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play stupid. We both know you didn’t destroy all your research. A smart woman like you would’ve kept a copy as an insurance policy.”

She didn’t bother lying. Whoever this guy was, he knew too much about her for it to work. “I don’t have it, not with me.”

“But you’re going after it. That’s the only reason you would’ve left the safety of Rafferty’s estate. I don’t know who you’re planning on selling it to, but you can forget it. It’s mine.”

She couldn’t string together a coherent response, but he didn’t seem to expect one.

“Once you and that freak you’re with retrieve the information, you will turn it over to the people who paid for it in the first place. And I want the real data, not that worthless crap you left behind. Oh, and one more thing, Miss Karr—don’t tell your companion or he’ll die. Then I’ll go after those cute little nieces of yours. No one can keep them safe forever, you know. I’ll be in touch.”

Then the line went dead.

A chill ran down her spine. The caller’s voice had been so distorted that it was impossible to determine whether the speaker was male or female for sure, although her gut instinct was that it had been a man on the other end of the line. Even so, the disguise did nothing to lessen the threat.

She set the phone down on the counter and stepped away, as if that small distance would protect her from the evil that had dripped from every word the caller had spoken. Then she picked it back up. If she didn’t delete any trace of the calls from the phone’s memory, Conlan would find out anyway. She quickly took care of that small chore and closed the phone, this time shoving it into her pocket. It was stupid to be afraid of the instrument that had delivered the message.

Whoever the caller was, he knew about the copy of her research that she’d taken with her when she’d walked out of the Institute. No way she wanted to turn a chemical weapon back over to them. Heck, she wasn’t even sure she could trust the Coalition to do the right thing.

In the wrong hands, her findings could lead to the destruction of thousands of people, all singled out because of the genetic anomaly that separated the vampires and the chancellors from the purely human. To her way of thinking, each race had its own strengths and weaknesses, as well as its own share of good and bad among its members.

For years, there had been rumors of an underground movement among the humans who bitterly resented what they saw as the unfair advantages enjoyed by the vampires, with superior strength and longevity being the main two. That they needed blood to survive was seen as a weakness, especially when the majority of their food supply came straight from humans. It wasn’t that they couldn’t feed from chancellors or even other vampires, but there simply weren’t sufficient numbers of those two groups to meet the growing need.

Among the human purists, chancellors were equally hated because of their mixed blood and because they often inherited the strengths of vampires without the weaknesses.

Kat wandered through the condo, trying to figure out what she was going to do. She wouldn’t risk Conlan’s life; he’d already paid too dearly for trying to help her three years ago.

They were probably safe for now, but all bets were off once they retrieved her flash drive. Maybe tomorrow, after a good night’s sleep, she’d be able to figure out a way to escape the noose that was tightening around them both.

* * *

Well, that answered that question. Kat Karr was definitely with Conlan Shea. Richie hadn’t been able to dig up a telephone number for Kat herself, but he’d managed to find Shea’s. Cyrus hadn’t actually expected her to be the one to answer the call, but bonus points for that.

Unfortunately, Shea had disabled the GPS chip in his phone. That was against the Coalition’s regulations, but obviously the man wasn’t thinking with the head on his shoulders. If he’d actually gone on the run with a wanted criminal, the last thing he was worried about was breaking a few other laws along the way.

Cyrus crossed to the window and stared out into the darkness. He had to wonder if threatening her nieces had been the right thing to do. People did crazy things when they felt cornered. Some collapsed, destroyed by the pressure. Others, though, fought back with everything at their disposal, digging down deep and finding strength they never knew they had.

He wished he knew more about Kat Karr. Based on her file from before she’d disappeared three years ago, he would’ve expected her to be weak-willed and more likely to beg for mercy than stand her ground. However, she wouldn’t have survived so long on her own unless she’d been stronger than she seemed. That she’d held off his men until help arrived certainly gave that some credence.

Then there was the way Rafferty had welcomed those mongrel girls into his clan. Rumor had it that Ambrose O’Brien had taken up residence on the O’Day estate, as well. He wouldn’t be staying there if the fugitive had already been apprehended. If she was on the loose, shouldn’t he be back in New Eire leading the hunt? Since he wasn’t, Cyrus could only assume that Ambrose had other reasons for remaining where he was. He suspected that it had something to do with the nieces. The head Coalition chancellor wasn’t the kind of man to use children as weapons, which meant he was more likely there to help keep them safe.

Fine. Cyrus hadn’t really planned to make another attempt to gain custody of the brats. That didn’t mean he couldn’t use the threat against their aunt anyway.

Shea, on the other hand, might make the perfect target for the mercs if she refused to cooperate. No doubt he’d already lost his job over this escapade with Kat, and he’d be a wanted man. No one would miss him.

Yes, now that he thought about it, better to sacrifice one ex-con chancellor than two cute little girls, even if they were mongrels. Regardless of their bloodlines, it would be a public-relations nightmare. Yeah, that felt right.

He reached for the phone, satisfied with his plan. “Richie, here’s what I want you to do next...”

* * *

The instant Conlan walked back into the condo, he knew that something was wrong. Granted, with everything that had happened in the past few days, Kat had every reason to be tense and worried.

Ever since he’d walked back into the condo, she’d been restless, wandering from spot to spot, touching the few belongings Joss had left behind. But that wasn’t what bothered him. After all, she was bound to be a bit wired after all she’d been through. No, it was something else about her behavior that kept niggling away at him. It took a few moments to finally pinpoint the

problem—there was something off about that smile Kat kept flashing at him whenever she caught him watching her.

It was brittle and maybe a bit guilty. What had happened while he was gone that had her eyes looking so sad in stark contrast to the smile? He’d tried asking her if anything was wrong. Well, other than the obvious. She’d immediately claimed that she was relieved that he was back. The quick kiss she’d given him had been an obvious diversion with no passion, no heat.

He wished like hell she’d tell him what was going on. His plan for after dinner had been to go over her testimony one last time and then talk about the hard stuff. Like what had really happened to make her take off on him three years ago. Where she’d been hiding. Now he was afraid she’d shatter if he pushed too hard.

Maybe it was time to call it quits for the day.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some downtime. You take the bedroom and I’ll sack out on the couch. We’ll get back to the hunt first thing in the morning.”

If he hadn’t been watching her so carefully, he wouldn’t have seen her flinch. Okay, what was that about? He started for her, intent on getting some answers.

Kat started to back away but then held her ground. “Conlan? What’s going on?”

“You tell me.”

He flexed his hands in frustration, fighting hard to keep this small bit of distance between them. His emotions were already running hot; touching her would only fan the flames. He fought back the urge to drag her into his arms and sink his fangs into that fluttering vein at the base of her neck. As satisfying as that might be, it would only complicate an already volatile situation.

“Tell you what?”

Conlan glared at her, making sure she recognized his frustration. “Why you’re so damn jumpy right now. You weren’t this wired when I left for the store. Nothing’s happened since I got back, so whatever set you off took place while I was gone.”

“Nothing’s changed. I’m just having trouble dealing with everything. It’s all just catching up with me.”

He might have believed that, but her eyes flickered over to where he’d left his phone on the counter after she’d returned it. Okay, that made sense. Someone had called. The question was, who? And why hadn’t she told him about the call?

He wanted to have some faith in her, but it was hard to do when she obviously didn’t return the favor. He’d risked everything for her, not just now but three years ago. What else did he need to do to prove himself? And why the hell should he bother?

Rather than corner her, he took a slow breath and released it. Gradually, his fangs retracted and the hunger for her blood and body faded enough for him to regain a bit more control. “Look, just go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.”

She started to walk away, but then turned back to face him. “I’m sorry, Conlan.”

Weary beyond description, Conlan couldn’t help but ask, “For what, Kat? For lying to me just now? For screwing with my mind again? I don’t know what I have to do to make you trust me, Kat, but I’m tired of trying.”

Not that he really wanted to know. Without waiting for her answer, he picked up his pack and headed down the hall to the bathroom. Maybe a shower would wash away some of his frustrations.

He kicked the water up to just shy of scalding and stepped into the stall. He leaned against the wall and tried to lose himself in the contrasting sensations of the cool tile at his back and the hot sting of the spray. At that moment, he felt the weight of all the long hours since he’d last slept. Other than the short nap he’d had on Seamus’s couch, he’d been up for the better part of three days.

He glanced down. It wasn’t helping that a certain part of his anatomy went on full alert every time he saw Kat or even thought about her. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have more important things on his plate right now—like how to keep the two of them alive long enough to find out who was trying to kill her.

The bathroom door opened. What the hell? The steamed-up glass of the shower door prevented him from seeing clearly, but he didn’t need the details to recognize her. Either his overactive imagination had just conjured up the perfect fantasy for him or that was Kat on the other side of the glass.

“Kat? What’s wrong?”

“While you were gone, someone called. The voice was disguised, so I have no idea who it was, although I’m pretty sure it was a man. He wants my research. He said that if I told anyone about the call, first you’d die and then he’d go after my nieces.”

Her breathing was ragged. Clearly the fear was riding her hard, and there were tears in her voice. “I trust you, Conlan. It’s me I don’t trust. I don’t know how to keep the people I care about safe. I should’ve said something as soon as you got back rather than try to hide it from you. I’ll understand if you want to walk away.”

Then she was gone, the door closing with a soft click. Conlan rinsed off and shut off the water. Without bothering to dry off, he grabbed a towel to wrap around his hips and yanked the door open hard enough to crack the wooden frame. He ignored the damage as he charged after Kat and caught up with her at the bedroom door.

One tug and she was in his arms, hanging on for all she was worth.

He captured her face in his hands, struggling to keep his touch gentle. “Kat, if I had it in me to walk away from you, I’d have done it three years ago. I couldn’t do it then, and I can’t—won’t—do that now.”

For the first time in hours, her eyes looked at him with something other than fear or worry. It was heat, pure and simple, making him burn with the need to possess this one woman.

“Tell me to stop now, Kat, or I won’t be able to. I’ve wanted you too much for too long to stop.”

Bless her, she smiled. “That’s not going to happen, Conlan. I already have too many regrets in my life. I won’t add missing out on this to the list.”

Then her hands wandered south to the evidence of how much he wanted her. “Make me forget about everything but you, at least for a few hours.”

There had to be a whole lot of reasons why this was a bad idea, but at the moment Conlan couldn’t think of a single one. He lifted Kat high against his chest and carried her into the bedroom. Then he kicked the door closed, shutting out the rest of the world.