trip, my butt,” Sierra said under her breath.
“You haven’t shown your face at any of your companies in six months,” Chase said. “Just a few conference calls. So where have you been?”
That they’d infiltrated the careful web he and Crystal had set up gave him pause. He had some major shoring up to do once he figured a way out of this mess.
Mitch settled next to Emily, clasping her hand while he bounced Joshua on his knee. “We get that you like your privacy, Noah. You’ve always preferred hiding off in your lab with your electronics and computers, but this is different. No word. Not even an answer to the calls and emails when Dad was in the hospital.”
Truth was, they didn’t know him at all. Noah had never wanted to disappear, but he hadn’t fit in. He’d never fit in. Mitch and Chase were the athletes and Sierra was the perfect daughter. They hadn’t understood him. Noah kneaded his neck. That’s why he’d joined the Marines, hoping to find a place in the family. But then the secrets just got worse. He couldn’t talk about his job. Or the Falcon.
So, most of the time, he didn’t talk. He just listened. Even now, how could he tell his family that he’d spent the past six months dealing with one crisis after another for Covert Technology Confidential based in the middle-of-nowhere Carder, Texas?
He’d backed off the government intel jobs, but CTC kept him busy, and truth be known, not a lot safer.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He slipped it from his coat and glanced at the number. A number he hadn’t seen in a very long time. “We’ll have to talk about this later,” he said. “There’s an emergency in Phoenix...” He let his voice trail off, too tired to lie. He sighed. “There’s an emergency. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Someday you’ll have to trust us with what’s going on in your life, son,” Paul said quietly. “We’re your family. We love you. We want to know you.”
Noah looked at them. They did love him. He knew that. He just...he didn’t know if they’d like him very much after the choices he’d been forced to make. Even with his brother Mitch and his dad as cops, would his family understand what the Falcon had been forced to do to save his own life and, more importantly, the lives of his men. Not knowing was better.
“See you soon,” he said. Emily struggled to her feet and hugged him close. “Be careful,” she said softly.
His throat constricted and he walked out to the front porch, the brisk winter air freezing his ears. He flicked on the receiver. “I’m surprised to hear from you, Reid. It’s been almost eighteen months. What happened to incommunicado?”
“I’ll call you back,” his old marine buddy said. “Stand by.”
He’d known Reid since basic training, and only twice had his voice held that much tension. Noah’s posture went rigid. This couldn’t be good.
The phone rang again. This time the screen showed an unknown number. Noah flicked a switch on the side of the phone. A Washington, D.C., number popped onto the screen. “What the hell’s going on?”
“Archimedes found her,” Reid said.
Reid didn’t have to say any more. Noah closed his eyes. Jack’s fiancée, Alessandra Cummings. The moment Jack had introduced her, Noah had been in awe. She was open, transparent and full of joy. She’d accepted Jack for who he was, for what he’d done. What would it feel like to be loved as much as Alessandra had loved Jack? Not a day went by when Noah hadn’t wondered. Damn, Jack had been lucky. For a year or so, he and Alessandra had lived a fairy tale. Until Archimedes.
It had been two years since Jack’s death. Noah didn’t know what name she used now. He’d promised Reid he wouldn’t track her after Archimedes had found her just a few months into hiding. To keep her safe, Noah had agreed.
“Is she...” He didn’t want to finish the question.
“She’s still alive as of an hour ago.” Reid paused. “This is the third time he’s located her, Noah. She should be dead. For whatever reason, he hasn’t killed her, but I have a leak at Justice. I need your help.”
Noah glanced at his watch. “I can leave within the hour. Where is she?”
“We placed her in Chicago. She’s ditched her phone. She’ll call me at noon. She’s scared, but it’s more than that. I don’t like the sound of her voice. She’s on the edge.”
“Has she given up?”
“I don’t think so, but she’s tired of waiting. Hell, so am I. The guy’s a damn ghost.” Noah could hear the fatigue in his friend’s voice. “I should have called last night, but I’d hoped the news would be better.”
“How close are you to catching him?” Noah asked. “Straight up.”
“No closer than the night Jack died.”
Noah ground his teeth together. He should have insisted he stay on the case.
“Archimedes is better than good. I reviewed the current status of the investigation after she called last night. They can’t nail him down. He doesn’t leave evidence behind when he kills. Hell, half the time I think they’re pinning all unsolved murders with little or no evidence on him.”
Noah tugged the keys from his jeans and strode to his SUV. “We both owe Jack our lives. This time, we protect her. And we find Archimedes.”
* * *
LYSSA SAT INSIDE the public library hidden by some shelves but with a clear view of the front entrance. She clutched her new phone in her hand. She’d transferred from train to train all night long, switching lines and directions. She couldn’t keep up this pace much longer. Plus she didn’t have an unlimited supply of funds, just the one thousand dollars she’d scrimped and saved and placed in the pocket of her ready bag.
She hated to admit she’d been stupid yesterday. She’d been thinking about the moment Archimedes would find her for a year, and when it happened, panic had won. She’d run.
In the clear light of day—and without Gil’s body on the floor—logic ruled. She sat here, watching people go about their everyday lives, and realized this was the answer. The strategy.
Go on with her life. Keep doing what she’d been doing.
Let Archimedes find her.
It was a good plan. She couldn’t go on any longer waiting to die. Archimedes was too smart, too deadly. She had too much to protect, and if he ever discovered that her true vulnerability wasn’t fear...she couldn’t bear the thought.
A shiver of awareness registered at the back of her neck. She swallowed. Had he found her already?
Her attention shifted to the entrance of the library. She peered at a tall figure pushing through the double doors. He wore jeans, a leather bomber jacket and cowboy boots. He didn’t belong in a library.
But she recognized the shape of his face, the color of his hair, and surprisingly enough, the fit of his jeans.
Where had that come from? She’d only met him three times. Once at a barbecue
