Page 55 of Deadly Alliance

Chapter Twenty-One

Packingthe last of her clothes into the case, Emme sat on the edge of the bed she had shared with Shane. Why did it hurt so much? Why couldn’t he have loved her as she loved him? All the questions in her head were giving her a headache.

Standing, she moved into the bathroom and looked through the cabinet for some painkillers. Taking them out she popped two and chased them down with some cold water. That should sort the pain in her head but what about the pain in her heart? Would that ever leave her?

She caught sight of the deep, claw foot bath in the mirror. Maybe one final night in the place she had been happiest would give her some closure. She knew she was meant to be at the Estate. But it was over, and she had locked all the doors and windows and set the alarm. There was no reason to think she wasn’t safe.

The woman who had murdered Beatrice and James was probably long gone, happy in the knowledge that she had done what she’d intended. A knot of pain lodged in her chest as she thought of the woman she had known for such a short time. She liked to believe that they would have become friends. Bea had a sharp wit and was highly intelligent apart from being deadly. But she had also shown Emme a softer side that she was sure most people hadn’t seen.

Grabbing a towel from the airing cupboard, she began to run the bath, pouring in some lavender bubbles in the hope it would soothe the aches in her body. As steam from the hot water filled the room, she stripped off her clothes and shoved them in her packed suitcase before pulling out some clean sleep shorts and a towel and leaving them on the side. Pressing play on her iPhone she let the sound of Coldplay soothe her mind.

Stepping into the warm water, she sank down and let the heat relax her muscles and ease her body.

If only it could ease everything else in her life. She felt so disjointed as if she was out on an island adrift from everything. She didn’t know what to think about anything anymore. Meeting Shane had changed everything. She had gained so much from working with him, confidence in herself and her abilities as well as knowledge from a different perspective.

Yes, she was now nursing a broken heart, but she didn’t regret any of it. As she thought about the time they had spent together in the last few weeks, she let the hot tears pour down her cheeks unchecked.

She cried for the loss of Beatrice and James, and she cried for herself and the man she loved and would forever miss. She cried for the pain she knew he was feeling even now. He had said he didn’t care about her, but she knew he had felt something. Maybe it hadn’t been as strong as what she felt, but he had felt it. He was hurting with losing his friend and boss, and she also knew he would take it personally as he had the murder of his best friend’s sister.

That was just who Shane was. If anything, he felt too much, and that was why he tried to fight what they had. She sat forward, allowing the water to splash over the sides slightly. Was that it? Was he pushing her away to protect her? Not feeling like sitting still, she stood and grabbed the towel before wrapping it around her body and stepping out.

Moving through to the bedroom she towelled off as her mind whirled. Should she give it one last shot at trying to convince him? She loved him, and if it didn’t work, she would have lost nothing and be no more broken-hearted than she was now. Sitting on the bed, she dried her legs and pulled on her sleep shorts and top.

Yes, tomorrow she would talk to him and convince him they should be together and if it didn’t work then at least she’d know in her heart she had tried. Love was not for the faint-hearted.

Feeling pleased and more relaxed, she went to the bedside table to pick up her phone and shot off a text to Lucy. Her anxiety rose when she saw it wasn’t where she had left it. Moving to the edge of the bed, she stilled when she saw her gun was missing. A noise behind her made her spin just as pain exploded in her head.

Barely holding on to consciousness, she fought to see her attacker and made out the blurred face of a woman. Staggering back, Emme tried to block the pain and nausea and stay on her feet. The woman pointed the barrel of a P1 handgun at her.

“Move,” she snarled waving the gun towards the door.

Emme did as she said knowing that after what had happened earlier the woman would have no compunction about shooting her like she had Bea. The woman grabbed her arm and forced it behind her as she guided her down the stairs and into the lounge.

A kitchen chair had been set up in the middle of the room, and Emme wondered how she had done so much without her hearing it.

“Sit,” the woman said, looking more agitated by the minute.

“Okay.” Emme slowly sat on the chair.

“Don’t move or I will blow your pretty little brains out like I did that bitch from Purgatory.”

Emme felt her jaw clench and the desire to swipe the snarl off the bitch’s face was high. But she used every single piece of training Lucy and Daniel had ever given her and even some breathing techniques Zin had shown her to calm herself and keep herself from panicking. Nobody knew what was going on, so she was on her own.

* * *

“Pick up the damn phone, Emme,”Shane growled as they sped around the corner. They were three miles out from the house, and she had not picked up once. His heart was pounding like mad as he thought of her in danger or worse. He should never have left her like that. All because he was a pussy and couldn’t admit his feelings. Now he could lose the only good thing that happened to him in years.

“Get out of your head, Shane. She needs you to hold your shit together now. Save the recriminations for later,” Jace said calmly.

His phone rang and stopped him from replying.

“Tell me something good,” he said into the phone to Dee.

“She still has the watch on that all the Fortis operatives wear, and it is transmitting. Will is pulling the data from it, and it seems she’s alive, but her heart rate is up, and her blood pressure has peaked showing signs that her pain receptors are being used. He is also hacking into the watch to activate the mic and see if we can get ears on the situation.”

“Fine, we’re nearly on site and will keep the comms open on our end, just let me know through them what’s happening as I don’t want to spook this bitch.”

“I agree. Owen is two minutes from your position, and Nate is with him.”