Page 46 of Temptation and Treachery
Chapter Twenty
The scent of blood and gunpowder filled the air. Men called out orders. Boots pounded on the pavement. The noise reached her, as if it came from somewhere far away. She ached with a pain so profound it formed a halo around her body. In a life-changing minute she’d lost everyone she cared about. Dear God, what must her father be going through. She’d just put him in a situation no parent should ever experience. She could have stopped Leonard, kept him alive. If she’d seen the clues that were right in front of her.
She doubled over with the weight of her guilt. The world pitched and strong arms caught her, lending her support. With all the headgear she couldn’t be sure who. Gatlin? Maybe. But not Rio. She looked back to find him watching her with an emotionless stare. Her breath caught in her throat. Why would he want anything to do with her? Once he found out who Leonard was he had to put the pieces together and realize she’d betrayed him. She turned away, pressing her lids closed. He’d come for her, walked straight into danger to save her, and had almost gotten himself shot. Lord, he could have died, too. Her heart ached at the thought.
She looked up in time to see her father put into the back of a dark SUV. “No!” Her voice vibrated with a painful note, but they didn’t stop. He was going back to jail. A place he’d never leave again. “Please. Please. No.” The vehicle pulled out of the parking lot as she shook her head, pleading with fate. They were taking away her last living blood relative. They’d both be alone now.
“He’s gone, Celeste.” Gatlin’s voice reached her through the curtain of emotion. She turned to find Rio nowhere in sight. He’d left. Fear stabbed at her chest. She looked around, but Gatlin moved in close, blocking her view. Putting an arm around her, he ushered her away from the gruesome scene, returning to the hotel. Holiday watched them approach from the balcony, his features stony. Had she gotten him in trouble? Fired? She wasn’t sure what kind of issues she’d caused for him or the team. The very people trying to keep her alive.
The hand at her back pressed on, leading her into the building and up to the room. Holiday was now inside, taking apart the weapon on the table. He didn’t bother to turn when they came in. The animosity was a virtual wall around him. Gatlin led her past, heading to the bedroom. She stopped, unable to go farther without doing what she could. With a quick glance at Gatlin she held up a finger and stepped away.
“Holiday,” she said from beside him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what he was doing.”
He didn’t turn.
She sniffed and forged ahead. “I was just trying to get a lawyer for—” She looked back at Gatlin, not knowing what she could say.
“It’s okay,” Gatlin assured her, taking off his mask. “He has clearance to be read in.”
Holiday turned, a brow raised in question. “My father’s Victor Ayala,” she confessed. “I thought Leonard was having us meet a lawyer.” It sounded stupid now. “I’m sorry,” she said again, hoping he’d understand.
Holiday stared so hard she could almost feel the pummeling. She swallowed hard, knowing she more than deserved whatever he had to dish out. “We work together here, Snow White. You need to learn to follow orders, rules, and procedures.” He glanced at Gatlin. “You put every agent out there in jeopardy and almost got yourself killed. If Rio hadn’t shown up when he did, we’d be collecting your body.” With that, he turned back to his task.
She ducked her head, nodding in agreement. Her and the baby, gone. She wrapped her arms around her middle and shuffled into the bedroom.
Time passed. It could have been hours for all she could tell. Not even Vix had made an appearance throughout the afternoon. Which didn’t help Celeste’s conscience. Her mind kept replaying what happened. The things she’d done. The things she’d missed. Leonard. What happened to turn their relationship to this?
Though she’d always known she had a much-older half-brother, to her it had been her father’s first family. Nothing out of the ordinary when most of the kids at boarding school had mixed families. Her father had come by for a day at Christmas, because he also spent time with Leonard during the holiday. The elaborate gifts she got were because Oz wanted to keep them even when it came to spending money on his children.
From everything she’d known of her half-brother over the years, Leonard was a businessman. He’d been running the custom broker’s office they’d inherited from their grandfather while she’d been locked away in a boarding school. Had it all been a cover? Why had he come to hate her so much? What could she have done when she hadn’t actually met him until she graduated. Even then, with the twelve-year age difference, they’d never been close, despite Oz’s failed attempt to have them bond a few years ago. In hindsight, that’s when Leonard retaliated by murdering innocent people. Why? Jealousy? Had she suddenly become real to him?
Her stomach heaved. She rushed to the toilet bowl, dropping to her knees. The food they’d brought her did a quick turnaround, leaving her limp and achy. She was rinsing her mouth when someone closed the bedroom door.
“Celeste. You okay in there?” Kari asked through the door.
“Yes.” Her throat burned from her earlier screaming. The mirror confirmed she looked as bad as she felt. Puffy, red-rimmed eyes and nose, while her cheeks had no color at all. “I’ll be right out.” She pulled a hand towel off the rack, and her gaze wandered. The empty phone cradle sat like a glaring reminder of what she’d done. Tears welled, and her insides lurched again. She swiveled, heaving over the toilet. With her stomach empty, she only had the stabbing pressure moving up her chest to ricochet in her head. One hand braced on the tank, she closed her eyes, praying her stomach would settle.
The faucet turned with its regular squeak, splashing water in the sink beside her. Kari. She opened her eyes a sliver, to make sure. The medic handed her a damp towel. “Thank you.”
“I sent one of the guys out to get you some crackers and juice. He shouldn’t be long. Then you’ll be debriefed.”
Celeste swallowed hard. She’d have to recount every move. Most of them seemed thoughtless now that she had more time to review her decisions. They had to understand she was alone in the world. This morning she’d only had two family members. Now one was dead and the other was headed to prison. “Please tell me everyone on the team is okay.”
“They’re okay.” Silence stretched out between them. “If you’re asking about Rio, I haven’t seen him.”
Tears started again. “I can’t believe I was so stupid. But I felt like I had to do something,” she finished in a ragged whisper.
…
Rio dropped onto his office chair with a thud that sent him rolling to one side. For most of the day he’d carried the weight of a life extinguished. Over the past decade he’d been in hundreds of skirmishes, wounded countless cartel members, and killed more men than a man should count. As a coordinator, he’d been responsible for hundreds more. Yet today’s experience had shaken him to the very foundation of his beliefs. For the first time he’d seen another side of the cartel. Ayala wasn’t a target he’d tracked anymore. Not because he’d been caught, but because he’d become human. The target turned into a man who became a father and protector. A father who’d been put in an impossible situation and forced to kill one of his own children in order to save another. Leonard Bello may have fallen, but Victor Ayala had been the one to crumble.
Shoulders slumped, Rio rolled his chair back to his desk. After leaving the hotel, he’d spent the rest of the day deposing everyone involved in the jailbreak. They hadn’t realized one of their own had turned on them. Two guards had been treated and released, two were dead, and the hospital staff was hopeful about the fifth one. All for a big payday.
Though he was exhausted, his mind wouldn’t shut down. So he planned to start compiling the depositions into a report. He moved the mouse, bringing his laptop out of sleep mode. In that moment of stillness his mind went back to the night he brought in Celeste. How brave she’d been when she had to be terrified. He swallowed hard.
As much as he’d tried to focus on the events at the holding facility, he hadn’t been able to keep her out of his head. How could he when every detail was told and retold a dozen times over. Every moment that had to do with Ayala, Leonard, and the guard. They all culminated into the memory of when he looked at Celeste and she turned away, heartbroken. I hate you. The mental chant was back. If she’d hated him when she thought he’d made a fool of her, how would she feel now that her brother was dead, her father was on the way to prison, and he’d been the one responsible for both?
Kris had pulled him aside, trying to get him to talk. But there’d been nothing to say. Not when he was numb. Programmed to keep the memory of her walking away from coming past the fringe of his conscious. Her words dancing around his mind like a disembodied ghost. The masochist in him prodded at the dark shadows in his soul. What would happen if he forced himself to work through the scene? If he could let himself feel?
