Darkest Before Dawn
Page 87
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She leaned forward eagerly. “Tell me.”
“I’ll bring you there myself,” he said. “I won’t send you off without protection. And it’s not far at all. Dover, Tennessee, just a few miles south of the Kentucky border. How soon can you be ready?”
She was already rising from the swing. “Give me five minutes.”
Conrad smiled to himself as he watched her stalk away, her eyes fierce with purpose. The dull, lifeless look that clung to her like a second skin had evaporated and she looked like the Honor he’d first met. Full of fight and fire. Courage and bravery.
If anyone was going to save Hancock, it was going to be her. He almost pitied the man. Almost. Because he was never going to know what hit him when Honor Cambridge ran him to ground.
CHAPTER 45
HONOR’S family made it clear that she was going nowhere with a man they didn’t know, and she damn sure wasn’t going alone with Conrad. Brad insisted on accompanying her, and Conrad and she were equally insistent she was going alone.
An argument broke out, and every single member of Honor’s family refused to allow her to leave without them.
“This is something I have to do,” Honor said quietly.
“I realize you don’t know me and have no reason to trust me,” Conrad said in a calm voice. “But I will protect Honor with my life. You have my word. And where we’re going, there is no danger to her. She will have an entire army of men surrounding her at all times. This is important to your daughter. She needs to heal, and that is exactly what I mean to make happen. If you love her, and I know you do, and if you trust her, which I know you do, then let her do this. She needs this if she’s ever going to come back whole.”
“I don’t have much time,” Honor said impatiently. “Trust in me to know what I’m doing. I’ll keep in touch. Conrad will keep you informed. But I have to do this if I’m going to survive.”
There were shocked and worried expressions on every one of her family’s faces, but also resignation, much as there had been when she’d been so determined to go to the Middle East to help those in such desperate need.
They all gathered around her, hugging her, tears shed as they kissed her and told her they loved her. And then Brad leveled a hard stare at Conrad.
“I know your kind. I know the things you do in the name of justice. I’m not judging you. But you protect my sister. You keep her safe and if things go bad, you get her out. I don’t care what she wants or says. You get her back home where she belongs.”
Conrad came to attention, a signal of respect for the lawman.
“I’d give my life for her,” he said truthfully. “She saved my life, and I repay my debts. I swear to you that she will be safe with me.”
Honor gave each of her family one last hug, and then she urged Conrad out of the house so they could be on their way.
“How far is it? Are we driving or flying?”
“We’ll fly. KGI has a private landing strip in their compound and it’s secure. It’s not only the fastest way, but also the safest.”
Relief staggered her. Now that she knew, every minute was agony. Every moment apart from Hancock seemed an eternity.
• • •
HONOR swallowed nervously as one of the men who’d met them at the landing strip and driven them to the “war room” punched in the access code and the doors slid open with speed that made her blink.
She’d purposely worn baggy, oversized clothing because at approaching five months pregnant, her pooch had developed into a tight ball. But all the weight loss and starving she’d done was in reality making her pregnancy look like her regaining her normal weight and size.
Besides, she wanted Hancock to want her. She wanted him to love her independent of anything else. And she knew, regardless of whether he loved her or not, whether he wanted her or not, he’d never turn her away if she was pregnant with his child.
It wasn’t in her nature to deceive, but she refused to manipulate him or force him to make a decision he wouldn’t have ordinarily made by revealing she was pregnant until she knew the outcome of her come-to-Jesus meeting with Hancock.
As soon as she was herded into the main area, she could see that apparently everyone who worked for KGI had turned up for the occasion. It only took one person to tell her how to find Hancock. Not a room packed full of kick-ass operatives.
Anger suddenly gripped her. She was tired of being endlessly intimidated by soldiers, mercenaries, terrorists, assholes, whatever. If they thought to intimidate her they could all kiss her ass.
She narrowed her eyes and stepped from behind Conrad’s protective position.
“Look, is it that all twenty or so of you all know where Hancock is, or are you just fucking with me and trying to intimidate me? Because if this is all you’ve got, bring it on.”
She was greeted by broad smiles, some outright laughter, and she could swear she heard a female voice saying, “You go, girl.”
One of the men stepped forward with a smile. He had muddy blond hair and the clearest blue eyes she’d ever seen. He extended his hand and she had no choice but to reluctantly take it.
“Miss Cambridge, it’s an honor to see you again. I’m Sam Kelly.”
She looked at him, faintly puzzled, but then realized he would have been on the mission to rescue her from Maksimov. Which meant that she was facing an entire room of people who’d seen the way she was when they’d gotten her out.
Her back went up. She refused to feel shame for that. She was going to stop feeling humiliated about things she had no control over, and she was going to stop being so easily intimidated and stop acting like a timid freaking mouse. Maybe she could take lessons from the only two female members of KGI. They certainly didn’t look like scared mice.
“Who can tell me where to find Hancock?” she demanded, donning her most ferocious look. The one Brad told her made her look like a really cute kitten hissing for the first time.
She pulled at her hair in exasperation, not even waiting for an answer.
“What is with men making arbitrary decisions, thinking they know all the answers to the universe? What is with them torturing themselves because they think they’ve betrayed or hurt someone, and yeah, while it might look to the person that they’d been screwed over, the man knows it but doesn’t bother to explain because he believes he is guilty of betraying her and hurting her. So he goes off in some giant manhurt and broods and sulks and God only knows what else men like you do,” she said with a sniff of disdain. “But I know what Hancock isn’t going to do, and so help me if one of you doesn’t cough up some information fast, you are not going to like the results.”
The others had watched her with open mouths in obvious befuddlement, but by the time she got to the end of her tirade, they started laughing until tears rolled down their faces. She was furious with them for laughing like hyenas when her life was on the line. Her future. Her child’s future. And Hancock’s.
Garrett wheezed. “Oh God, he’s never going to live this down. I’ll torture that bastard the rest of his life over this. How priceless is this?”
Honor gritted her teeth and stalked over to get right into the big man’s face. She nearly mowed him over, and would have, but his back bumped against the wall, effectively trapping him.
“I’ll bring you there myself,” he said. “I won’t send you off without protection. And it’s not far at all. Dover, Tennessee, just a few miles south of the Kentucky border. How soon can you be ready?”
She was already rising from the swing. “Give me five minutes.”
Conrad smiled to himself as he watched her stalk away, her eyes fierce with purpose. The dull, lifeless look that clung to her like a second skin had evaporated and she looked like the Honor he’d first met. Full of fight and fire. Courage and bravery.
If anyone was going to save Hancock, it was going to be her. He almost pitied the man. Almost. Because he was never going to know what hit him when Honor Cambridge ran him to ground.
CHAPTER 45
HONOR’S family made it clear that she was going nowhere with a man they didn’t know, and she damn sure wasn’t going alone with Conrad. Brad insisted on accompanying her, and Conrad and she were equally insistent she was going alone.
An argument broke out, and every single member of Honor’s family refused to allow her to leave without them.
“This is something I have to do,” Honor said quietly.
“I realize you don’t know me and have no reason to trust me,” Conrad said in a calm voice. “But I will protect Honor with my life. You have my word. And where we’re going, there is no danger to her. She will have an entire army of men surrounding her at all times. This is important to your daughter. She needs to heal, and that is exactly what I mean to make happen. If you love her, and I know you do, and if you trust her, which I know you do, then let her do this. She needs this if she’s ever going to come back whole.”
“I don’t have much time,” Honor said impatiently. “Trust in me to know what I’m doing. I’ll keep in touch. Conrad will keep you informed. But I have to do this if I’m going to survive.”
There were shocked and worried expressions on every one of her family’s faces, but also resignation, much as there had been when she’d been so determined to go to the Middle East to help those in such desperate need.
They all gathered around her, hugging her, tears shed as they kissed her and told her they loved her. And then Brad leveled a hard stare at Conrad.
“I know your kind. I know the things you do in the name of justice. I’m not judging you. But you protect my sister. You keep her safe and if things go bad, you get her out. I don’t care what she wants or says. You get her back home where she belongs.”
Conrad came to attention, a signal of respect for the lawman.
“I’d give my life for her,” he said truthfully. “She saved my life, and I repay my debts. I swear to you that she will be safe with me.”
Honor gave each of her family one last hug, and then she urged Conrad out of the house so they could be on their way.
“How far is it? Are we driving or flying?”
“We’ll fly. KGI has a private landing strip in their compound and it’s secure. It’s not only the fastest way, but also the safest.”
Relief staggered her. Now that she knew, every minute was agony. Every moment apart from Hancock seemed an eternity.
• • •
HONOR swallowed nervously as one of the men who’d met them at the landing strip and driven them to the “war room” punched in the access code and the doors slid open with speed that made her blink.
She’d purposely worn baggy, oversized clothing because at approaching five months pregnant, her pooch had developed into a tight ball. But all the weight loss and starving she’d done was in reality making her pregnancy look like her regaining her normal weight and size.
Besides, she wanted Hancock to want her. She wanted him to love her independent of anything else. And she knew, regardless of whether he loved her or not, whether he wanted her or not, he’d never turn her away if she was pregnant with his child.
It wasn’t in her nature to deceive, but she refused to manipulate him or force him to make a decision he wouldn’t have ordinarily made by revealing she was pregnant until she knew the outcome of her come-to-Jesus meeting with Hancock.
As soon as she was herded into the main area, she could see that apparently everyone who worked for KGI had turned up for the occasion. It only took one person to tell her how to find Hancock. Not a room packed full of kick-ass operatives.
Anger suddenly gripped her. She was tired of being endlessly intimidated by soldiers, mercenaries, terrorists, assholes, whatever. If they thought to intimidate her they could all kiss her ass.
She narrowed her eyes and stepped from behind Conrad’s protective position.
“Look, is it that all twenty or so of you all know where Hancock is, or are you just fucking with me and trying to intimidate me? Because if this is all you’ve got, bring it on.”
She was greeted by broad smiles, some outright laughter, and she could swear she heard a female voice saying, “You go, girl.”
One of the men stepped forward with a smile. He had muddy blond hair and the clearest blue eyes she’d ever seen. He extended his hand and she had no choice but to reluctantly take it.
“Miss Cambridge, it’s an honor to see you again. I’m Sam Kelly.”
She looked at him, faintly puzzled, but then realized he would have been on the mission to rescue her from Maksimov. Which meant that she was facing an entire room of people who’d seen the way she was when they’d gotten her out.
Her back went up. She refused to feel shame for that. She was going to stop feeling humiliated about things she had no control over, and she was going to stop being so easily intimidated and stop acting like a timid freaking mouse. Maybe she could take lessons from the only two female members of KGI. They certainly didn’t look like scared mice.
“Who can tell me where to find Hancock?” she demanded, donning her most ferocious look. The one Brad told her made her look like a really cute kitten hissing for the first time.
She pulled at her hair in exasperation, not even waiting for an answer.
“What is with men making arbitrary decisions, thinking they know all the answers to the universe? What is with them torturing themselves because they think they’ve betrayed or hurt someone, and yeah, while it might look to the person that they’d been screwed over, the man knows it but doesn’t bother to explain because he believes he is guilty of betraying her and hurting her. So he goes off in some giant manhurt and broods and sulks and God only knows what else men like you do,” she said with a sniff of disdain. “But I know what Hancock isn’t going to do, and so help me if one of you doesn’t cough up some information fast, you are not going to like the results.”
The others had watched her with open mouths in obvious befuddlement, but by the time she got to the end of her tirade, they started laughing until tears rolled down their faces. She was furious with them for laughing like hyenas when her life was on the line. Her future. Her child’s future. And Hancock’s.
Garrett wheezed. “Oh God, he’s never going to live this down. I’ll torture that bastard the rest of his life over this. How priceless is this?”
Honor gritted her teeth and stalked over to get right into the big man’s face. She nearly mowed him over, and would have, but his back bumped against the wall, effectively trapping him.
