Chapter 44

Nate and Pete left the club. Instead of after-storm coolness, the humidity was cranked to 100 percent. They were loaded with water and weapons, ready to search for the safe house.

Nate paused. “Do you hear sirens?”

“Yes.” Pete faced the river. “I smell smoke.”

Nate’s phone buzzed with a message from Calum. Nate’s heart kicked like a pistol being cocked. Then he ran back inside the club, yanking Pete’s arm along the way. “Do we have a first aid kit?”

“Yes. I think someone who worked here was an army medic or something. There’s a combat medic kit in the kitchen closet.”

Ten minutes later, they had the stainless-steel kitchen work table cleared and the windows covered with cardboard and duct tape so they could turn on the lights.

Pete checked his watch. “They should be here by now.”

Nate went to the back door as a black Bentley drove into the alley with its lights off. Garza jumped out of the driver’s seat.

Nate ran to help Garza and Calum with Philip. His shirt was sticky, and his hands were covered with blood.

“I don’t know how much blood he’s lost,” Garza said.

Hopefully Philip wouldn’t need a transfusion. They made it to the kitchen and laid him on the counter. Pete was laying out first aid supplies.

“Nate, I need hot water and clean cloths.” Pete nodded toward the bottle of industrial soap and a box of latex gloves near the sink. “Everyone washes hands and puts on gloves.”

Nate came back to the table with the water and dish towels that still smelled like bleach. For as disgusting as the club was, the kitchen was surprisingly clean. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you what fucking happened.” Garza held Philip’s shoulders down on the table while Pete cut away Philip’s blood-soaked shirt. “The Fianna set two diversions, attacked your MPs, and broke Rafe out of jail.”

“That’s what happened to you,” Calum said while washing his hands. “I was almost run over by Balthasar’s guys.”

“Wait.” Nate glanced up. “Balthasar has guys?”

“Yep. At least two.”

“I didn’t see any guys.” Garza washed up, put on a pair of gloves, and went back to securing Philip. “By the time I got outside, I found Calum trying to carry Philip.”

“Shit.” Pete began to clean up Philip’s stomach and muttered, “Shit,” again.

“Is it bad?” Philip asked.

“Some of your sutures ripped. And you have a goose egg on your head. If I can stitch you up and stop the bleeding, you’ll only have to worry about infection and pain and maybe a concussion.”

“I’m good with that.”

“Nate,” Pete said. “I need a suture kit. It’s in the bottom of the first aid box.”

Nate opened the suture kit for Pete while Calum took out his phone and started texting.

“What are you doing?” Nate asked Calum.

“Fixing this.”

“It’s my fault,” Philip groaned from the table.

“Nate!” Pete ordered. “Any pain meds in that case?”

“Tramadol pills and lidocaine cream.”

“No narcotics.” Philip struggled to sit until Garza pressed him down again. “I can’t help her if I’m drugged.”

While Nate cleaned Philip’s wound, Pete laid out the tools he needed to stitch up Philip. “What do you mean by it being your fault?”

Calum’s shoulders sloped over the phone. “Balthasar has Juliet.”

“And I helped get her kidnapped,” Philip said.

Nate took Philip’s jaw and stared into his eyes. “Juliet is where?”

“With Deke.”

“With Balthasar,” Calum corrected.

Pete stopped sewing. “Why would she be with either?”

“Because,” Philip said, “I was taking her to someone who wanted to buy her property. Now that Rafe’s left her again, I wanted her to be free.”

“This whole thing is a damn soap opera,” Garza said.

“What about that SUV?” Philip said. “It tried to stop the car, but then a van forced it off the road.”

“I don’t know. I thought…” Calum opened a water bottle he found in the fridge and took a long drink. “Doesn’t matter now.”

Garza sighed. “Rafe is gone. Juliet is kidnapped. And we’ve no idea where she is.”

“She’s probably with Samantha,” Pete said. “We just need to find where Balthasar’s taken them. Except we have no idea where he’s been hiding. Although we do have a map we were hoping to try out.”

Nate handed Pete more gauze. “Arragon might know.”

Garza snorted. “Arragon isn’t helpful. Even if we knew how to contact him.”

“We don’t need to contact Arragon,” Calum said. “Rafe is with Arragon.”

“Does Rafe know about Juliet?” Philip asked.

Calum held up his phone, showing his text. “He does now.”

* * *

Rafe braced himself against the seat as the SUV slammed to a stop. The cops had barricaded the entrance to the interstate. It was the eighth roadblock they’d encountered.

Good.

He’d seen Deke take Juliet. Even worse, Rafe had ID’d Eddie Marigny as the driver before that van forced them off the road. And that’s when everything fell into place. Deke was taking Juliet to Balthasar. “Ditch me here. I’ll find Juliet and meet you wherever you want.”

“No.” Arragon, next to him, leaned forward to speak to Orsino, who held a death grip on the wheel. “Is there another way, Brother?”

Orsino glanced back, his long blond hair and pale-blue eyes betraying his Nordic ancestry. “There may be recourse along the river.”

Rafe tapped his foot. “Balthasar took Juliet. You saw it. Let me find her and Samantha, and I swear I’ll return after I kill him.”

Orsino drove the car into an alley. “Lady Juliet is not your concern.”

“I’m not talking to you.”

“Rudeness is beneath you, Romeo.” Arragon clucked his tongue. An annoying habit Rafe hadn’t missed.

“She’s my wife.”

Orsino caught his gaze in the rearview mirror. “You have no wife.”

Rafe’s heart contracted, and his breathing shortened. “Balthasar knows the only way to get me is through her. It’s the same leverage game the Prince has been using for eight years.”

Arragon checked his watch. “Lennox has been instructed to find the rogue Balthasar and retrieve the vial. If possible, Lennox will retrieve the two women.”

“The deal was I return and Juliet lives. If she doesn’t, I don’t. That’s how leverage works. When the thing a man desires is gone, you no longer control the man.”

Orsino stopped the car near Nate’s motel. Red and blue lights flashed in the distance. The entire lower river area had been blocked off too. “’Tis an impasse.”

“Because the cops have the city on lockdown. Something you should’ve thought about before setting those diversions.”

Arragon started texting.

Rafe grabbed the phone. “You’re not getting out of town with me in the car.”

Arragon held out his hand. “Return it.”

Orsino shifted to stare at them both.

“No.” Rafe dialed. “I need to speak with the Prince. And since you took my cell phone, I’ll use yours.”

“Orsino, find us a refuge.”

Rafe put the phone on speaker. “Head to Liberty Square, between Montgomery and West President Street. It’s under construction.”

The Prince picked up after two rings. “Yes, Arragon?”

“’Tis Romeo. Balthasar has Juliet and the vial. I want to go after him and the men he’s now working with. I need to save her.”

“No.”

“I have information. Something that affects your youngest brother. In exchange, I want to find Juliet. When I know she’s safe, I’ll return with Arragon.”

After a long pause, the Prince said, “I’ll hear you out, and then consider your request.”

Arragon raised an eyebrow, and Orsino frowned in the rearview mirror.

It was more than Rafe had expected. “Balthasar is selling the vial through a law firm in New Orleans. Beaumont, Barclay, and Bray.”

Arragon murmured, “An unscrupulous group of villains.”

“Indeed,” Orsino added.

“I know,” the Prince said.

“The night of Nate Walker’s operation in Afghanistan, Nate’s in-theater commander made a call while Nate’s two A-teams were being ambushed. Instead of helping Nate and Jack’s teams, the commander called this law firm. And that night every team member’s wife received one of Juliet’s lilies.”

“What does this have to do with my brother?”

“Juliet’s lily, the vial, Nate’s ambush—they’re related to one plan. Weaponizing a poison derived from Juliet’s lily. And there’s one man who’s patient enough to do something so complicated and cunning. One man with a connection to Juliet, her lily, and a Special Forces unit. One man who hates Colonel Kells Torridan more than you.”

“I hold no hatred for Torridan. And that man you speak of is dead.”

“What if your brother didn’t kill him? What if that man is alive and playing all of us?”

“It’s not possible—”

“If I can prove that man lives, then your brother could be freed from prison. But I need to do this alone—without the brotherhood.” Rafe clenched the phone until he was sure he’d break it. “I give you my word. I’ll come back once I save Juliet and prove your brother’s innocence. Technically, I’m still a free agent until I return.”

Arragon shook his head. “’Tis a false hope, Romeo.”

Rafe ignored the lack of support. “Balthasar isn’t working alone anymore. This is larger than Kells Torridan’s A-teams.”

“Arragon?” the Prince asked.

“’Tis true, my lord. Balthasar isn’t alone.”

Orsino pulled into Liberty Square and parked between a dump truck and a bulldozer. When he turned off the car, the only light came from the silent phone.

“What say you, my lord?” Maybe switching to formal language would help.

“You’ve twenty-four hours. But you will return, Romeo. Do you understand?”

“That you’ll kill everyone I love? Got it.” Rafe tossed the phone to Arragon. “I need a gun, my cell, and any other weapons you can spare.”

Arragon exhaled loudly while Orsino handed him a nine-mil, two loaded mags, and a knife.

After loading up, Rafe asked Arragon, “Do you know the Prioleau Plantation on the Isle of Hope?”

“Aye.”

“In twenty-four hours, I’ll meet you near the tomb of Noble Jones. You shouldn’t have trouble getting out of town by then.”

Arragon took Rafe’s cell from his back pocket and handed it to Rafe. He had a string of texts from Calum to which he responded Meet you at the club in ten minutes.

Orsino unlocked the door, and Rafe got out. He was about to close the door when Arragon said, “And if Balthasar has killed your joy?”

Rafe pressed his gun against his hip. Then he pounded the top of the car with his other fist. Arragon would know this wasn’t a threat. It was a promise. “This day’s black fate on more days doth depend. This but begins the woe others must end.”

* * *

Rafe met Nate at the club. Rafe had run from Liberty Square, but adrenaline hammered in his veins, and he was barely out of breath. “How’s Philip?”

“Stable.”

Rafe pushed open the door to the kitchen. Philip lay on the table. Calum sat on a counter, his shirt stained with blood. Pete had dark circles under his eyes, and Garza leaned his ass against the sink.

Rafe beelined for his brother. “What happened?”

“It’s my fault.” Philip struggled to sit, and Rafe helped him.

“Yes, it is.” Calum hopped off. Strange since Rafe couldn’t remember Calum ever hopping off anything. “Philip set up a meeting for Juliet to meet with a buyer for her land, and then Deke and Eddie took her.”

Rafe kept a hand on Philip’s shoulder to keep him steady. “I saw that part.”

“Did you see the part where Eddie attacked Philip and I was almost run over?” Calum held up one hand. “Pete stitched Philip up, and, although I’m in pain, I’m told I’ll be fine.”

Philip’s body shook from his erratic breathing, and Rafe asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Philip straightened his shoulders until his face crumpled.

Rafe nodded to Garza, who helped lay Philip back down. “You need to rest.”

“I need to find Juliet.”

“Do you have any idea where Deke took her?”

“We were supposed to meet Delacroix at Prideaux House.” Philip pressed a hand against his side. “Delacroix wants to buy her land.”

“Holy shit.” Nate yanked off his gloves and pulled something out of his back pocket.

A tourist map?

“Did you know about this?” Rafe asked Calum.

Calum scowled. “No.”

Nate smoothed the paper on the table. He’d marked black X’s in the historic district.

“Why would Delacroix want to buy Juliet’s land?” Garza asked.

Philip spoke in short bursts. “For hunting. A getaway. On the Isle.”

“Who the hell is Delacroix?” Rafe asked.

“The second-richest man in town.” Calum took two pills Pete handed him and downed them with a bottle of water. “Didn’t you meet him the night of the explosion?”

“No.” Juliet had talked about him, but they’d never met. “Where does Delacroix come from? Why is he in town?”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Nate muttered, staring at the damn map.

“Delacroix arrived almost a year ago,” Calum said. “Started buying property. Even got the Habersham sisters to recommend him for the preservation society.”

“Delacroix knows the city,” Rafe said.

Nate raised his head. “We met at the gym and have been daily fighting partners.”

Pete scoffed while cleaning up blood-soaked towels. “Delacroix knows your strengths and weaknesses?”

Nate sighed. “Yes.”

Rafe clasped his hands behind his neck and paced. “Dammit, Nate.”

“Delacroix also gave a lot of money to the police,” Garza added.

“Delacroix bought connections.” Rafe fought to keep the exasperation out of his voice. “A rich man comes to town around the time Juliet’s problems started. The same time our family members and a detective were murdered. This man befriends Nate, one of the strongest men in the city. Supports local cops. Endears himself to the gatekeepers of Savannah’s upper crust. And no one thought that was odd?”

Calum put down the water bottle. “I checked Delacroix’s background. His father is from Lyon, his mother from Louisville. They made their money in textiles and railroads. He went to Oxford and speaks six languages.”

Rafe paused his pacing. “Calum? Where does Delacroix bank?”

“RM Financial.”

“That’s strange,” Philip said. “That’s the bank that bought Juliet’s business loan.”

“Fuck.” Rafe pulled out his gun and dropped the magazine. He needed to reassure himself he was fully loaded with a round in the chamber.

“I don’t understand,” Garza said.

Nate pointed to one X on the map. Prideaux House. “This is Balthasar’s safe house.”

“Clarification would be nice,” Calum added. “Before you start shooting things.”

They didn’t have time, and Rafe didn’t have the patience. “Nate, load up every weapon and flashlight we can find.”

“I brought the duffel bag,” Calum said. “With the guns.”

“Good.” Rafe helped Philip sit up again. Rafe wasn’t leaving Philip behind. “Garza, figure out a way to drive us across those police barricades.”

Garza helped Pete wipe down the table. “Where are we going?”

“Prideaux House. Then, if the women aren’t there, the Isle. Calum, call Sheriff Boudreaux and have him grab every armed man he can—except for the Marignys—and meet us at Pops’s house. Just in case.”

Calum, Pete, Garza, and Philip asked at the same time, “Why?”

Rafe shared a long look with Nate. “Because it’s likely that Balthasar has taken Juliet to the manor to find the other vial.”