Protecting His Kidnapped Family - Leslie North Page 0,46
the opposite end of the hall from the elevators. “You should go talk to Serena. We can handle this here.”
He nodded. It was true that she needed to know. But what the hell was he going to say to her? Well, whatever it was, Noah needed to figure it out quick, before the story broke in the news. The last thing he wanted was for her to hear it from someone other than him. He owed her that much. God, he owed her so much more, wanted to give her so much more, but now wasn’t the time, and Lord knew she deserved better than him. She and Gracie both did.
“I’m, uh, going to head back to the house, then,” Noah said, walking away, distracted. “See you later.”
“See you,” Levon called. “Be careful.”
Noah took the stairs down to the first floor, holstering his Glock on the way and fishing out his car keys, the Kevlar vest tight around his chest. Too bad he didn’t have something bulletproof to protect his heart from the agony of saying goodbye to Serena and Gracie that was surely to come.
By the time Noah finished up at police headquarters and was able to get back to the house, the news had already leaked out on the local TV stations about the takedown at the hotel. Thankfully, that was the extent of the story so far. He parked his car at the curb in front of Levon and Olive’s house and tried to think of a good way to tell Serena that her own brother was behind the plot to take her out.
He was used to talking to suspects, informants, other military personnel. He wasn’t used to giving horrible news to people he loved.
Shit. Just shit.
On the one hand, he was glad to finally know the mastermind behind it all. But on the other hand, he couldn’t imagine how Serena was going to feel when she discovered someone she’d trusted had betrayed her.
This. This was exactly why he’d worked so hard all these years to keep his heart out of the equation. Because once you cared too much, things got hard. Way, way harder than anything he’d ever dealt with as a SEAL. Back then, he could rely on his strength and his skills as a trained warrior to get him through. Now, he was walking in there blind without a clue about what he was doing or how she’d react.
After a few more moments of gathering his thoughts, Noah got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Levon and Clint were still with the police on their way to arrest Serena’s brother, Nate Carson, so it would just be him and Serena and Olive. He steeled his courage and walked inside to find the two women’s attention glued to the TV screen in the living room.
“Hey,” he said, for lack of a better greeting, as he shut the door behind him.
“Noah!” Serena jumped up and rushed over to him to throw her arms around his waist and hug him, a big grin on her face. “You got the guy!”
“Yeah,” he said, patting her back awkwardly while looking over at Olive. Whatever showed on his face must have been enough to convince the other woman to clear out, because she unfolded her legs from beneath her and stood.
“I’m going to go check on Allie and Gracie,” Olive said, hurrying upstairs. “Be back in a little while.”
Noah just stood there for a moment, holding Serena, enjoying how good she felt in his arms. He knew this might be the last time it would happen. Finally he kissed the top of her head, inhaling her fragrance, then stepped back to let her go. “Sit down for a minute. There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Is it about the mercenary? Did he put up a fight? I bet you kicked his ass good,” she chattered on as she took his hand and led him over to the sofa to sit beside her. “I wish I’d been there. I’d have liked to punch him again too.”
“Listen, Serena,” Noah said, swiping his hand through his hair. “The mercenary—Spencer—had his cell phone with him. That was how he’d been contacted about the job. We got it off him and Clint was able to trace the text messages on his SIM card back to the person who’d hired him. The police are already making plans to bring that man into custody.”
Serena’s eyes widened and she gasped. “Oh. My. God!