“Somewhere in Chinatown,” Aidan replied.
“I don’t like this. You need to find them. If you have to, kill the woman now. She’s expendable.”
“With all due respect, I think that would be premature at this point. She’s our ace in the hole.”
“I’m willing to sacrifice her to get my hands on Vickers. I want that son of a bitch on his knees and begging when I put a bullet in his brain.”
“Rest assured, he’ll beg. If not for his own life, for hers.” Aidan thought of the woman’s condition and smiled. “She’s pregnant.”
“His?”
“The timing is right.”
“No matter. He’s weak when it comes to women. The child’s parentage won’t matter. When we kill her, it will have even more impact.” He made a sound low in his throat. “What about the other part of the mission?”
The bomb, Aidan thought, and smiled. He’d planted the high-power explosives himself in a very central location that would have a maximum impact of terror on the good citizens of Boston.
“Done,” he said.
“Excellent.” Liam Shea sighed. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”
“It won’t be long now.”
“Let’s stick to the plan as closely as possible, but if you have to divert to get the job done, do it.”
“Understood.”
“Find them, Aidan.” Urgency laced his father’s voice.
“I’ve got two of our best men on it. They’re like bloodhounds. I’m certain Vickers and the bitch are here in Chinatown. I’ve got a couple of snitches with sharp eyes. I’ll ask around. Rest assured, we’ll find them.”
“Let me know the instant you do. I want to be smiling when Vickers dies.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Breaking the connection, Aidan clipped the phone to his belt and set out to find Vickers and the pregnant woman.
“LILY.”
Chase placed the paper plate of crackers, cheese and fruit on the beat-up table next to the cot where she lay sleeping. He’d been gone only a few minutes, but already she was out cold, a sure sign of complete physical exhaustion.
Taking in the pale cast of her complexion, he felt a quick and savage twinge of guilt. Intellectually he knew this wasn’t his fault. Not directly, anyway. But he’d always known his work with Eclipse might catch up with him one day. He’d known it could place the people he cared about at risk. It was one of the reasons he avoided close relationships.
But those dangers hadn’t been enough to keep him from his work. It sure as hell hadn’t been enough to keep him from getting involved with Lily.
Lowering himself onto the cot next to hers, he put his elbows on his knees and rubbed at the ache behind his eyes. “What a mess,” he muttered.
Remembering the cell phone he’d commandeered from the Asian man, he pulled it from his pocket and again dialed his half brother, Shane Peters. When it went to voice mail, he left another message and dialed Ty’s number. Another layer of uneasiness washed over him when Ty didn’t answer. It was unusual for either man not to answer. What the hell was going on?
Chase forced his mind back to the ambush in the limo and tried to think of who might be responsible and why. A frightening number of faces and names came to mind. Vicious men he’d played a role in bringing to justice. Had one of them targeted Lily in the name of revenge? If so, who had the resources for such a well-orchestrated attack?
Chase racked his brain, but time and time again he found his eyes straying to the woman a few feet away. In the shimmering yellow light of the battery-powered lantern, her face looked angelic. She lay curled on her side with both hands tucked beneath her pillow. Her knees were drawn up slightly. She was so beautiful it hurt just to look at her. The pain twisted like a dull knife between his ribs.
He could just make out the soft curves of her full breasts and the bulge of her belly. The reality that she was pregnant hit him like a sledgehammer. He couldn’t get that out of his mind. He still couldn’t quite believe it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered.
But Chase knew why. She’d never approved of his penchant for risk taking, the secret work that took him away and sent him home battered and bruised. In the past he’d always written off her lack of support as a lack of understanding, or an over-reaction based on emotion. Now that he’d brought danger into her life, he knew he’d been wrong. He’d placed her baby—his baby—in jeopardy. The only question that remained was how he was going to keep them safe and make things right.
Chase didn’t have a clue.