Fatal

Chapter 2

2

Raina stepped out of the shower and grabbed for her towel. Another bland white towel in a bland, boring bathroom. Safe houses were essential, but damn, it was depressing. She would have loved to have something to hold her interest. Bright towels, fancy soaps, a plant. Something.

But that wasn’t the point. She wasn’t staying there long term. No one was. Best-case scenario, the safe house wasn’t ever used. But she knew it was. She knew they all were. Because Damon wasn’t the only evil in the world.

Raina wrapped her hair in the towel and picked up her panties from where she’d set them on the toilet. More white. More plain. More bland.

Raina groaned and slipped them on, yanking on the gray sweats over the top, then adding her black tank. She was done wearing a b*a. She was done trying. She was just f*****g done.

She untwisted her hair from the towel and stared at her reflection in the mirror. The woman who looked back was one she barely recognized. Vacant eyes, frizzy hair, empty.

Raina turned away before her brown eyes filled with tears. She hated the person she’d become. The person Damon turned her into.

“You okay?” Lorelei asked from the other side of the bathroom door.

Raina opened the door and looked at the woman who’d become a friend over the last few months. “No.”

Lorelei gave her a smile that was just as empty as the promise she was going to utter. “It’ll be over soon.”

Raina snorted. “No, it won’t. This is my life now. I know eventually you two will have to go back to your jobs and lives and I’ll be on my own. We’re just delaying the inevitable right now.”

“Don’t say that,” Adam growled.

The roughness of his voice sent a shiver up Raina’s needy spine. If her situation wasn’t so f*****g sad, she might let herself be attracted to Adam, but she was the worst kind of bad bet. And he had too much to offer the world. She couldn’t drag him down with her.

Raina shook her head and turned toward her room. She couldn’t face either of them. Not when she was so full of anger. She would blow up at them, and they didn’t deserve it. Neither of them had done anything wrong. They were just as stuck as she was, but Damon wasn’t after them. Damon would leave them alone as soon as they weren’t protecting her. She was his goal.

“Raina,” Adam said gently.

Raina held up her hand without turning around. “I need a minute.” She closed the door to her room, leaving them on the other side while she struggled to pull herself together.

She threw her dirty clothes toward the laundry basket in the corner, not caring when they fell far short. Raina flopped facedown on the bed. More f*****g white. She growled and pushed herself up again, yanking at the sheets, pulling them all off the bed and dumping them in a heap in the middle of the room.

She sat down again and let the tears come. They’d been in the new safe house for a week. One more week of hiding. Hoping Damon didn’t find her and kill her. If she could go back to the night she met him, she’d slap herself for even considering getting involved with him.

A sob slipped out. She slapped her hand over her mouth, but there was a knock on the door.

“Can I come in?” Lorelei asked.

“Fine.” Raina swiped at her tears. She was sure Lorelei and Adam both knew when she cried or got angry or lost her s**t, but she tried to keep it behind closed doors.

Lorelei looked at the sheets on the floor and stepped around them, joining Raina on the bed. “Is there anything we can do to make this easier?”

“Kill Damon.” Raina had finally accepted that was the only solution. She had never been a violent person, or a person who believed in deadly force, but that was before Damon Street dragged her across the room by her hair and made it clear he was going to make her his again, no matter what she had to say.

Lorelei sighed. As an FBI Agent, she couldn’t plan something like that. She’d lose her job and go to jail. But Raina knew Lorelei didn’t disagree.

“I’ll be fine. The white made me mad.”

Lorelei nodded as if she understood what that meant. “We’re going to get groceries tomorrow. Is there anything you want?”

Raina sighed. She loved to cook. It was something that made her feel good. To feed her body and soul and that of whoever she was cooking for was a joy. Damon had stolen even that from her. He preferred to order in when Raina lived with him. At first, she thought it was sweet that he didn’t want her to have to fuss over him. Nope. That wasn’t it. He didn’t want to risk her putting something in his food.

The bastard was smart.

“Whatever you guys want is fine,” Raina finally said.

“Adam’s going to pick junk food and meat if we let him make the list.”

“Hey! I resemble that remark,” Adam said from right outside the door.

Raina looked up and found his blue-green eyes focused on her. Again, it sent a shiver through her. One she could not let take hold.

“You okay?” Adam asked.

Raina shook her head. No use lying.

Adam smiled sadly. “There are a lot of people looking for Damon.”

“Which only proves how dangerous he is. We finally had him. He was in custody. And he got out. How in the hell did he get bail?” Raina’s throat tightened with the emotion that bubbled right at the surface constantly. She sucked in a ragged breath and tried to push it down. “It’s just not fair.”

“He has to report to court. If he doesn’t show up, his lawyer will be charged the million dollar bail he posted. And he’ll be on the hook for Street. He’ll be back in custody.”

Raina shook her head. “You have no idea what he’s capable of.”

“I have some idea,” Adam said, rubbing the back of his head where Damon hit him and knocked him out.

Violence was Damon’s first answer. It didn’t matter what the question was, he turned to violence. Raina learned that time and again before she left him. And she learned even more about what he was capable of after. When she found out who he was and the depths of his darkness.

“What do you guys want to make for dinner?” Lorelei asked.

Adam glanced at Raina and held her gaze. She let herself sink in for just a minute. One minute of feeling a little safer than she’d felt for months.

Raina opened her mouth to answer when one of the many alarms went off.

Lorelei jumped up from the bed and put herself between Raina and the door as Adam turned and hurried down the hallway.

Raina froze. She hated herself for it, but she froze. Bile rose up in her throat as she imagined walking into the living room and finding Adam in a heap once more. Watching Lorelei get hurt. Staring down Damon as he approached her with that gleam in his eyes that said he was going to make her pay.

“Come with me,” Lorelei said, looking back at Raina.

Raina forced herself off the bed as the alarm stopped screeching. Her feet barely carried her forward, her entire body shaking in fear.

Lorelei walked down the short hallway to the living room, where Adam was on the phone.

“Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Hang on.” Adam turned the phone from his ear and looked at Lorelei and Raina. “Liam said something tripped the motion detectors outside, but he doesn’t see anything on the cameras or the heat sensors. We need to check it out.”

“I’ll go,” Lorelei said.

Adam nodded sharply. “Lorelei’s going to look. Watch for her to make sure everything is working.”

Raina sucked in a gasp. She never considered the cameras and security and high-tech everything in the house not working. That someone could have messed with them and gotten close.

Lorelei stuffed her feet into the boots she had near the door. She opened the door a c***k and looked out, both directions, before she stepped out into the cold evening air, pulling the door closed behind her.

Raina stared at the door and wrapped her arms around herself. Adam was still on the phone, but Raina was lost in her fear. Her gaze was locked on the door, her fear bouncing around inside her as she waited for the door to open.

Lorelei or Damon. Who would walk through when it did?

Raina’s hands hurt from squeezing them into fists. Her breathing was shallow and panicked.

The door opened, and Lorelei stepped in. She closed the door behind her, locking it before she returned her g*n to the holster she wore around her waist. “I didn’t see anything out there. No footprints, nothing.”

“Hear that?” Adam asked. “Yeah. Thanks. Okay.” Adam hung up the phone and shrugged. “Liam was watching you. Said he saw you the entire time so everything is working. It might have been an animal that tripped the sensors.”

Lorelei shrugged. “Maybe.”

They both turned to look at Raina. She wasn’t sure what they saw, but their faces changed instantly and they rushed to her.

“Come sit, Raina. It’s okay. You’re safe.” Lorelei’s voice was soft and soothing and did nothing to take away the fear that was making Raina shake.

“She needs to snap out of this,” Adam said. “She’s not okay.”

“Would you be?” Lorelei asked.

“I’m fine,” Raina choked out. “I… I’m okay.”

Lorelei rubbed her hand up and down Raina’s arm. The sensation brought back a little more of reality.

“Three things,” Adam said, his voice low and strained.

Raina knew what he was asking her. He’d been doing his best to help her with the anxiety she was sure was permanent in her life now. “Fireplace, coffee table, boring white walls.”

“Good,” Adam said. “Three scents.”

Raina closed her eyes and inhaled deep. “Crappy shampoo, bananas, you.”

Adam cleared his throat.

Raina realized what she said. Her cheeks flushed hot. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry,” Adam said. “How are you feeling?”

“Angry.”

“Good. That means the fear is moving to the back again,” Lorelei said.

“Yay,” Raina said sarcastically.

“Let’s see what we can fix for dinner,” Lorelei said. She patted Raina’s thigh and stood, reaching for Raina to follow her.

Totally normal. For someone in protective custody. Lucky Raina.

* * *

Adam sat on the armchair he’d claimed and reviewed the footage from earlier. No matter how many times he slowed it down, he couldn’t see anyone around the property where the alarm went off.

But he didn’t trust it.

Every time he talked to his cousin or checked in with his boss, he heard about another threat. Someone was sitting outside Shelter in the Storm, a shelter for abused women and children run by the police chief and his wife, two nights ago. They drove off when Marcus went outside, but the threat was clear. Mackenzie, a nine-one-one operator who helped put Damon behind bars, was followed after her shift more than once.

Damon was in hiding, and everyone believed he would stay that way, even though he was supposed to report to court in five days. If he didn’t show up, no one knew where he was.

Which meant Raina would still be in danger.

Adam hated the look in her eyes when she walked out of the bathroom. They’d all been living together for close to two months. Two months of constant vigilance and fear. Not that Adam was afraid. Protecting someone was part of his job. It wasn’t every day he came face-to-face with a criminal as adept as Damon Street, but Adam would give his life for Raina. Or Lorelei.

But he’d rather eliminate the threat instead of go down again.

Adam wanted to kick his own a*s for letting Damon get his hands on Raina. When Lorelei told him what Damon did, Adam wanted to rip the man to shreds with his bare hands. He wanted to see the life drain from Street’s eyes. To know he’d never hurt Raina, or anyone, ever again.

The overwhelming hatred and fury that rose up inside Adam was something he knew he shouldn’t keep inside. He should ask for a reassignment. He should tell his boss, or at least his partner, how he was feeling. But Adam wasn’t going to do either. He was going to use those emotions to make sure Street never got the jump on him again, and ended up on the floor if they ever came face-to-face again.

Lorelei laughed at something Raina said, and Adam realized he was clenching his hands into fists and gritting his teeth so hard his jaw hurt.

He slowly released the tension in his body, knowing he needed to do something physical to get rid of his stress. If he were home, he’d head to the gym and beat the f**k out of a speed bag, but the safe house didn’t come with a gym, and Adam couldn’t leave.

The solitude was getting to him, too. Lorelei didn’t have an issue with having to stay put, but she was frustrated to not be out there looking for Street. Adam was restless. He wanted Street found. He wanted Raina safe. And he wanted to get the hell away from her before he broke down and admitted how many times he’d pictured her smile when he was stroking his c**k in the shower.

Rule number one was don’t f**k the witness. Don’t get involved. Keep it professional. Adam had never broken that rule. He’d never wanted to until he met Raina. He’d crossed a few lines in his past, and he planned to cross another one when he came face-to-face with Street again, but Adam couldn’t afford to break rule number one. Not now, not ever.

“You hungry?” Lorelei asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Adam looked up and saw her standing in front of him with a bowl. “Thanks. Sorry. Lost in thought.”

“Anything good?” Raina asked as she sat on the couch opposite his chair.

Adam shook his head, but Lorelei answered first. “Trust me, you do not want to know what goes on inside of that head.”

Raina chuckled at Lorelei’s joke, and Lorelei winked at Adam before she turned away.

They were good partners. Adam was grateful for Lorelei, both for the way she’d handled this assignment and for the number of times she’d saved his a*s. She was a damn good agent, smart as hell, and easy to be around. Her cousin was tied up in the whole disaster of a case they were in Niagara Falls working on, so it was good for both of them to be in the area.

Lorelei and Raina talked while they ate. Adam didn’t join in their conversation, though. He ran through everything they knew so far, which was admittedly not much. Damon Street had a network of more people than they knew. It was believed he was near the top of the organization, but no one knew if he was actually in charge or not. He’d been an enforcer for decades, something they only learned recently, and had either worked his way up or killed his way up. Both were equally possible.

The number of bodies the organization had dropped grew by the day, and at times, it seemed to be near infinite.

Shortly after dinner, Raina said goodnight and went to her room. Long days of little to do but worry was exhausting, and Raina slept more than Adam suspected was normal for her.

Lorelei checked Raina’s room and talked to her for a few minutes before she joined Adam in the living room again.

“Are you good out here tonight?” Lorelei asked.

Adam nodded. “Definitely. All good.” He jerked his chin toward Raina’s closed door. “She okay?”

Lorelei shook her head once, her dark brown afro jolting with the sharp movement. “She’s f*****g done. She’s scared of her own shadow and has herself damn near convinced Street’s going to show up at any minute. She’s not the same woman we met two months ago.”

Adam had been thinking the same thing, but he wasn’t going to say any of that. There were things a woman could say about another woman without sounding callous, but if a man said them, he’d get torn apart. “Do we have anything on the judge that granted bail?”

Lorelei snorted. “Please. He’s an overworked weekend judge who rubber stamped something without paying much attention to it.”

“That or he’s in Street’s pocket.”

“Always a possibility, too. Unfortunately.”

“I wish we could get the f**k out of here. I know it’s cold as balls out there, but even some fresh air would make this all a little easier.”

“There is one option.” Lorelei met Adam’s gaze with an open one of her own.

“You look way too relaxed for whatever this option is. What the hell could we possibly do differently?”

Lorelei leaned forward. She clasped her hands together, her dark brown fingers crossing as she rested her forearms on her thighs. She glanced at the hallway, as though she didn’t want Raina to overhear her suggestion.

Which only made Adam even more curious.

“You could go on the run.”

“What?” Adam barked.

Lorelei shrugged. “If you two posed as a couple and took off…”

“You’re f*****g nuts. No. Why would we do that?”

“Because it would get all of us out of this house. I hate sitting here every day knowing the man who ordered a hit on my cousin is still out there. You, and everyone else, can tell me a hundred times a day that he’s not likely to go after Karli again, but I can’t shake it. We should be out there. We should be helping find him. Keeping tabs on him.”

“No one knows where he is,” Adam said, hating the words as he spat them out.

“Exactly. But we could find him. He has to be somewhere.”

“Raina is safer here. With both of us. Two people protecting her, no one in and no one out. No one knows where we are. If we left and Street found us—”

“You’d protect her.”

“Like I did last time he found us?” Adam knew Lorelei couldn’t argue with him on that point. He’d hate himself forever for letting Raina, Lorelei, and Edie get hurt. For not putting up a fight at all. Street cold-c****d Adam before he knew what was happening, but he was a f*****g FBI Agent! He should have known someone was in the house. He should—

“Stop beating yourself up,” Lorelei snapped. “That’s not going to make any of this any better. You have to let it go. s**t happens. We are all alive. That’s the important part. We will get Street again. Every single one of his victims will get justice.”

Adam held Lorelei’s gaze for a long minute before he nodded. “I hope you’re right.”