Page 65 of Deceive Me
“Hate what?” Fionn asked. Deacon leaned closer to hear her reply.
“Hate when you call me that.”
The grin that tugged at his lips felt obscene in light of what had just happened.
“So sorry.”
Fionn frowned down at her. “Sorry about what?”
A wave of her hand toward the far end of the hall, the area where the explosion had occurred. “Sorry. Couldn’t stop it.”
“Of course you couldn’t, sweetheart.” Fionn glanced at Deacon, his gaze beseeching. Deacon tensed, ready to blast the hovering security guard with a barrage of “where the hell are they’s?” He turned in time to see the first EMT jog into the hall.
“Never would’ve hurt anyone. Tried,” Sheppard was saying. “Had no choice.”
“What?”
“The bomb…had no choice…”
Fionn jerked back onto his heels. Ugly certainty congealed in Deacon’s chest as he moved out of the way to allow the EMTs to take over Sheppard’s care. Fionn sat motionless, eyes wide and unbelieving, until one of the medics barked at him to move.
“Deacon.” Fionn joined him farther down the hall, stumbling like a drunk, hand rubbing hard at his chest. Reeling to a stop against the wall, he bent over double. “Deacon…”
There was really no response. For the second time in two days, they’d uncovered a betrayal that shook the foundation of everything they’d held to be true. Only this time it wasn’t just about a connection to their enemy. This time, it was about doing the enemy’s bidding. Setting a bomb.
Trapper could’ve died. A helluva lot of people could’ve died, including Deacon and Fionn.
A dull roar came out of nowhere. Deacon jerked his head up in time to see Fionn’s fist shoot out and slam into the drywall, punching right through, a primal shout tearing from his lungs.
Deacon stood and bore witness—it was all he could do. They’d felt safe here, felt in control. But they’d been compromised, again, this time by one of their own.
25
They’d heard the bomb, even four buildings away, felt the shaking, saw the windows rattle. For a moment Elliot had been thrown back in time to another bomb, a car, and a little girl without the safety of multiple concrete walls between her and danger. That’s when the realization set in.
This couldn’t be a coincidence, not right now.
GFS personnel wouldn’t allow her team near the scene, wouldn’t tell them anything more than that Deacon and Fionn were alive. Dain relayed every word through Elliot’s earpiece. As much as she needed to see Deacon, to know he was safe, she refused to leave Sydney with anyone else. Deacon would want them together. Deacon would want…
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck! She couldn’t imagine her life without him in it. Didn’t want to.
He’s fine.
But for how long? Her father had done this; she didn’t know how, but she knew it was the truth. And he’d failed, which meant it wouldn’t be long before he tried again, and again, until he either succeeded or died. How long would Deacon be safe? How could she keep him alive when her opponent was a phantom she couldn’t find?
The question consumed her, the tightness in her chest strangling her even more when Sydney came to snuggle in her lap. So trusting, so affectionate. Nothing would change that, nothing. Elliot vowed it even as fear grew in her mind.
A couple of hours after the explosion they were taken to a large conference room in the central building, the one where they’d met Amelia, the woman assigned to escort them on arrival. Elliot made herself look around, assess the location when all she really wanted to do was run to Deacon, touch him, assure herself that he truly was all right. She couldn’t, not now. If she did, there was no way she could hide the emotions breaking her apart inside, and there were too many people here watching. People who could read her too well.
And so she set Sydney on the ground and let her go instead. The child threw herself across the room. “Daddy!”
From the corner of her eye Elliot caught a glimpse of Deacon scooping his child into his arms, the slight grimace of pain he couldn’t quite control. The knot in her gut twisted even tighter.
“Going in?”
She moved to let Fionn by, her gaze traveling up his body. “Oh.”
“Mm.” Fionn’s grin was halfhearted and didn’t reach his green eyes. “Oh.”
