If he walked through that door alone, they would immediately kill him. She could distract Beau, Chad, and the others. She could give him a chance. Between Connor, who was firing enough to start his own war, and Gemma, who would return after setting Lara and Morgan on the path around the swamp to provide another distraction, Dax had a shot at survival. Lara would make a clean getaway and meet up with Connor in front of the house, probably when the rain of gunfire ended.
Honestly, she didn’t give a shit if Morgan died. He was an ass.
“Sweetheart, I can’t lose you.” Dax squeezed her hand.
Despite the gas that was making her eyes tear, she kissed him. “Then don’t.”
There was no more time then to figure out their relationship or decide what she should do. There was only the here and now and she loved him. She couldn’t let him walk out there first because he would die and her life would be over.
Even if she never touched the man again, she couldn’t live in a world that didn’t have Dax Spencer in it.
She dropped her gun and darted out the door, holding her hands up high. Holland hoped her leap of faith, that her uncle and Chad wouldn’t simply shoot her, paid off. She had to take the chance so Dax could live.
As soon as she emerged, fresh air hit her eyes. Tears flowed freely down her face, but she could sort of breathe again. She dragged air into her burning lungs as she took in the scene in front of her. A body lay strewn on the ground about ten feet away. Another was laid out to her left. Chad and her uncle were back to back, looking for the sniper.
Her uncle stopped, training his gun on her. “Stay right where you are. Where’s Spencer?”
“I told you. He’s not here.” She needed him to believe that now . . . but Dax couldn’t linger in the noxious house too long. “I told you, I left him behind. He’s too reckless.”
“Who’s out there shooting?” Chad demanded.
“Gemma’s fast.” She wasn’t revealing Connor’s presence. “But I’ll play along with your plan. Take me in. Just don’t shoot me.”
She only needed them to believe her surrender for a minute or two, just until Connor could get a clean shot at Chad, then the others could back her up to take her uncle in.
But she feared Dax wouldn’t stay in the background.
In fact, she knew he would come for her. Always. He could be angry with her, feel betrayed by her. It wouldn’t matter. He would come for her.
She wasn’t a woman who needed saving, but Dax would still be there, supporting her.
“Go and get in the car, Holland,” her uncle insisted.
“Do it!” Chad yelled.
She nodded, stepping off the porch and into the yard. “I will.”
Smoke poured out behind her and she moved slowly, not really having to pretend distress and disorientation.
“In the back of the car,” her uncle yelled, his finger on the trigger.
He followed directly behind her. Holland’s heart pounded furiously. She hoped like hell her calculated risk hadn’t been a mistake. She’d had to leave her gun behind and had zero way to defend herself. She was trusting that blood meant something to this man who’d already ruined her life and Dax’s.
So many things could go wrong. But she prayed that Dax would be all right.
She pretended to hobble down the porch steps, hands still raised. When she looked back, she saw Dax emerge from the house. Instantly, she hit the ground.
“Twelve o’clock,” she yelled. He wouldn’t be able to see well. She needed to give him some point of reference.
Gunfire cracked all around her. She tried to see what was happening, hoping Dax wouldn’t be mowed down in a hail fire of bullets. She couldn’t lose him. She’d been so scared of what would happen between them, but she knew that losing Dax would ruin her life. She would never love another man.
The mist of gas began to clear. Tears still poured from her eyes, the burning painful, but she had to be Dax’s eyes now.
Then the world exploded with gunfire again. Nearby, she heard a thud. Her uncle tensed and grunted. She dragged a hand across her eyes, trying to focus.
When she stared at Beau, he clutched his chest and coughed, spitting blood from his mouth as his weapon fell from his hands. He’d been shot—and it looked bad.
“You chose the wrong side, girl.”
She wasn’t listening. Despite all the terrible things he’d done, she couldn’t simply let the man who had half raised her die. She knelt and held his jacket over his open wound to stem the bleeding. “Don’t talk.”
He pushed her hand away. “Listen to me. If you ever loved me, let me die. I can’t go to prison.” He sputtered and gasped. “Hear what I’m saying while I can still talk. Stop looking for answers or they’ll take you all down. They won’t stop. This game has been going on for decades.”
Dax darted to her side, kicking Beau’s gun away. Vaguely she noted that Gemma had a weapon trained on Chad, who had fallen to his knees, hands in the air.
“What game?” She leaned over to try to hear her uncle’s words.
“Sergei’s game. That’s what the old man told me. He said Sergei will burn everything down. He’ll burn you, too.” He coughed again just before a terrible blankness entered his eyes.
Holland couldn’t spare a moment for grief now. Maybe later, but at the moment she was simply glad to be alive and have Dax beside her.
He wrapped his arms around her. “You’re safe now. Gemma is arresting Chad. Connor and I took out everyone else and he’s taking Lara and Morgan to safety now. Sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”
She looked down at her uncle and her tears weren’t just about chemicals now. He’d been such a big part of her childhood. He’d been the reason she’d gone into law enforcement. He’d been a lie, but she’d loved and idolized him as a girl.
“I’m sorry for all he did to you.”
“You had nothing to do with that. It’s going to be all right.” Dax held her tight.
They’d done their job. The scandal surrounding the admiral’s death had been exposed as a hoax and the investigation was over. But not only was someone still after the president, her whole world had changed. Nothing could ever be the same again.
TWENTY
Washington, D.C.
Twenty-four hours later
Dax wanted to reach for Holland, but she seemed so damn far away. From the moment they’d boarded the private jet to the White House with Lara, Connor, and Gemma, she’d been distant. She’d sat with Gemma, writing up a joint report to satisfy the White House, NCIS, and the New Orleans Police Department.
The night before she’d slept on a couch at NCIS, napping in between interview sessions.
He’d sat and stared at her and wondered if she would ever let him touch her again.
Now he walked into the residential wing of the White House, wishing he could hold her hand.
“Oh my god!” a familiar voice said. Gus was standing in the hallway, dressed to the nines in a cocktail gown and sky-high heels. They clacked along the marble as she ran toward him.
He braced himself for an armful of sister. “Hey, Gus.”
She slammed into him and that was when he noticed Roman behind her. He wore a tux, his hair slicked back. How long had Roman been shadowing his sister? Now that he thought about it, Roman had been lingering around Gus for a really long time.
“I was so worried. When Gemma called and said you were all out in the bayou about to be horribly murdered, I freaked out,” Gus said, stepping back and looking him over. “You look all right. Better than you did after New York.”
“Yeah, well, I only got gassed this time. I avoided a bullet,” he admitted. Actually, the last few months of leave had been way more dangerous to his well-being than being on his boat.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Roman held out a hand. “Sorry, we were at a party for some diplomats. Zack is on his way. You guys got here quick. I’m glad to see you’re all right. Hollan
d, I’m so sorry about the last few years.”
Holland was dealing with Gus, who wasn’t taking no for an answer on the hugs. She’d wrapped herself around her friend. “Holland sucks. Stupid girl. You should have called me when you found out the Russian mob was after you.”
Holland smiled and squeezed her back. “They weren’t after me, silly. They were after you and Dax.”
“I still would have taken them down,” Gus promised. “I missed you, sister.”
Holland’s eyes suddenly had a sheen to them. “You have no idea how I’ve missed you, Gus. The world is not as bright without you.”
Gus kissed her cheek and then reached out to shake Gemma White’s hand. “Special Agent, thank you. Any assignment you want. You tell me and I’ll force Roman to make it happen.”
Roman’s head shook. “You’re going to kill me one of these days, Gus.” He turned to Dax. “Your sister is a menace. I have absolutely zero idea why I don’t fire her ten goddamn times a day.”
Connor looked at Dax and smiled. “I’m sure you’re just lazy, Roman. That’s the only explanation.”
How had he not seen it? There was a crackling energy between Roman and Gus. He probably hadn’t acknowledged it because he hadn’t wanted to know one of his best friends had fallen for his sister. Did Roman know she’d slept with Mad a few years back?
Probably. Gus didn’t hide her past. She didn’t apologize and she had no reason to. She was a force of nature. If Roman couldn’t see how amazing his sister was, then Roman didn’t deserve her.
And that was his great loss.
Roman put a hand on his arm. “Come on, buddy. I’ve got some ridiculously good Scotch waiting for us. I think we all could use it. Zack brought a date to the ball tonight. A very pretty lawyer.”
Shit. When they’d realized how dangerous his situation could be, Zack had decided to pull away from Liz. The White House Press Secretary had been the woman in his life for years, but he’d never made a move. Liz had been his wife in every way except the bedroom. Dax was fairly certain Zack was in love with the woman, and dating someone else was a sacrifice.
“A total bimbo law whore,” Gus hissed. “You tell Zack he can bite my ass and he’s lucky, and I mean lucky, that he got Liz to sign that contract or he would be looking at a complete turnover in the press office because he sucks. He’s the president of sucking.” Gus grabbed Holland’s hand. “Come on, girls. We’re not drinking with the boys this evening. Liz is really excited to see you again, Holland.”
Holland gave Dax a glance before she followed after his sister.
“Well, we know which side Gus is on,” Connor said acerbically as he waved good-bye to his wife.
Roman frowned as he watched the women move down the hall. “The wives won’t tell Gus about why Zack is suddenly dating someone he doesn’t love, right? Because Gus can’t keep a secret to save her life.”
Gus could keep a secret. She’d done it for years but he plainly saw that she was still in love with Roman. But Dax knew Roman was right in one way. She wouldn’t keep any secret about Zack’s feelings for Liz. Under her shark exterior, she was a romantic. “Holland won’t tell.”
“Neither will Lara,” Connor said. “They both know what this game is. If Zack wants it quiet, they’ll stay quiet.”
Roman was watching the women as they moved down the hall. “Good, because she is a pain in my ass. If she understood what was really going on, I wouldn’t be able to stop her.”
Dax couldn’t help but note that Roman watched Gus until she turned and disappeared. Then his friend shook it off.
“Come on. Zack will join us when he can. I want to know everything you found out,” Roman said. “I’m going to London in a few weeks. Zack has a summit with the prime minister. I’ll contact the hospital and start looking into Constance’s death. I also have some contacts there with Interpol who can brief me on the Krylov syndicate.”
“Good,” Dax said. “I think I might back you up.”
Roman slid him a long look as they started down the hall. “Really? Because I thought you would be busy with your new girlfriend. I snuck a peek at Gemma White’s reports once I realized what Gus had done. Have I mentioned what trouble your sister can cause? Gemma was one of our best agents. I thought we lost her over pay.”
His sister was a schemer. She’d also watched over Holland when he’d been too stupid to. “I don’t think she’s my girlfriend. She told me she would walk away at the end of this.”
They headed past uniformed guards and into the president’s personal apartments.
“You should really make sure she doesn’t do that,” Zack said as they entered. He had a crystal decanter in his hand and he poured out what looked like a couple of fingers of Scotch.
Gabe Bond, who had been sitting on the sofa, stood and crossed the space between them. “Dax, I’m so glad you’re alive. I thought you were going to get eaten by a reptile.”
Such a city boy. “Yeah, the gators aren’t so bad.”
Gabe shook his head. “I was talking about the cops in New Orleans.”
Funny, some of them had turned out pretty good. They’d taken Chad into custody and promised a full investigation. He believed them. They would get to the bottom of what had gone wrong with their department. Unfortunately, even the good guys sometimes went bad. “We survived. I wish we’d taken Beau Kirk alive, though.”
Zack passed him a glass. “All that matters is you’re safe, Dax. Let Roman and me take it from here.”
Connor snorted. “Hell, no. I promised Lara a London honeymoon.”
“Already bought my tickets,” Gabe agreed. “Everly is very interested in seeing the local sights.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” It wasn’t like he would have anything better to do. “After all, who’s going to chauffeur all you taken men around?”
“Don’t mind him,” Connor said, going for the Scotch. “He’s being a horrible pessimist. I thought that was my job. Twenty years’ worth of being the dude who can’t see a silver lining and I end up as the Suzy Sunshine of our duo.”
Dax flipped his best friend off. “Screw you, Sparks. I can handle my own love life.”
Zack slipped his tuxedo jacket off. “It sounds like you can’t. Dax, you’ve been crazy about that girl since Joy introduced you to her. You can’t let her go.”
“I don’t know that I have a choice.” He’d thought about this the whole way from Louisiana to D.C. “Do I even have the right to bring her into our collective nightmare? You’re not bringing Liz in. I heard you had a date tonight.”
Zack’s jaw tightened. “Yes. I’ll have another in a few days. I have an entire ‘romantic’ calendar planned. All anyone will be able to talk about is the playboy president, and they’ll forget the rumors that I was ever in love with my press secretary. Holland is a trained agent. Liz has no idea how to handle this. She would get hurt. She would do what she always does, throw herself into solving the problem. And she would end up dead. Holland knows what she’s doing. So do Everly and Lara. We’re keeping the truth from Liz and Augustine.”
Roman started to pace. “I don’t even like to think about what would happen with Gus. She plots behind all our backs. She would try to take over.”
Dax didn’t miss the way Zack bit back a smile.
“We all know Gus would immediately inform Liz and then unionize the women against us,” Zack said with a shake of his head. “We’ll keep this quiet. As far as Liz and Gus know, Roman and I are going to London for meetings and they don’t need to attend. Connor, if you wouldn’t mind being pressed into security duty, I would appreciate you looking out for Roman.”
“I don’t need anyone to look out for me,” Roman complained. “I’m perfectly good at protecting myself.”
Gabe laughed. “Yeah, buddy. You don’t even know which way to point the gun. Let’s be democratic. All for Connor being in charge of security say aye. Aye.”
They’d inst
ituted democratic voting over crazy shit at Creighton, often when they ganged up on one another—especially when it was in the best interests of the ganged-up-on party.
Roman rolled his eyes as the rest of the group issued their ayes. “You know I miss the shit out of Mad because at least I could count on him to dissent.”