Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,73

put down the juice and ticked off the points on his fingers.

“I was certain he’d snatch Emmy. It was the obvious move, and we deliberately left her wide open. And I knew he wouldn’t kill her, not right away in cold blood. He needed her as leverage. As a distraction. Remember, he knew me too, and he was well aware that if he harmed her, I’d hunt him down and gut him like a pig.”

“But he did try to kill her.”

“Only with provocation.” Black shook his head and tutted. “Ridley never could control his temper. And I’ll admit, that reaction was the part I was fifty-fifty on. I thought maybe he’d take the hood off before he pulled the trigger. But the rest…perfectly foreseeable.”

“How? You didn’t know he’d even put a hood on Emmy. Or that his men would stop for gas.”

“Beg to differ. When we had to transport POWs in the Navy, Ridley insisted on hooding them every single time because he was a sadistic motherfucker who’d never pass up a chance to breach the Geneva Conventions. He said war shouldn’t have rules. And that’s what he considered Kyla’s campaign—a battle. So it stood to reason that he’d hood Emmy. Don’t look at me like that—you know damn well she trains for these eventualities.”

Yes, Alaric did know. He’d accidentally witnessed a session of theirs once, the torture of the woman Black claimed to love.

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“Merely necessary. And of course they were going to stop for gas—Ridley doesn’t have strong links to Kentucky, and the safest place to stash Emmy was out of state. Plus he wanted to get us all well away from the election circus. After we retrieved Emmy, it was just a case of pushing the right buttons. Ridley’s vain, and he values his reputation, even if he does his utmost to trash it. Once he saw the negative news coverage, he was always going to snap. I was the obvious culprit for the leak, and therefore he’d want to punish me by hurting the thing I hold dearest.”

“Emmy’s not a thing.”

“It was a turn of phrase. Anyhow, the job’s done now. You should stop living in the past.”

Oh, Alaric should, should he? Perhaps if the past hadn’t had such an impact on his life, he’d be able to move on. Speaking of which…

“Funny you should bring up the past, because you know what today’s escapade reminded me of? The stop I made at the gas station with Emerald. Strange how the cash and diamonds disappeared right around that time, wasn’t it?”

Black squared up to Alaric, arms folded. His tone remained mild, but his eyes were two glittering chips of granite.

“Are you accusing me of something?”

“I’m just saying the similarities were rather striking.”

“That’s because I used your screw-up as inspiration. Perhaps if you’d been focusing on your job instead of fucking my wife, you wouldn’t have lost track of the cash.”

“Well, she had to get what she needed from somewhere, and you weren’t giving it to her.”

“Deflecting, are we?”

Alaric drew himself up to full height, which was unfortunately six or seven inches shorter than Charles Black.

“I’m saying your priorities are messed up.”

“That’s rich coming from the man who left Emmy without a word eight years ago.”

“Enough!”

Emmy’s voice was soft, but there was no mistaking her annoyance. Alaric and Black both stepped towards her at the same moment, then glared at each other.

She held up a hand. “Can we all agree I feel like shit tonight? Good. Then stop bloody arguing.”

“Sorry,” both men said in unison.

How much of the disagreement had she heard?

“Alaric, I took a calculated risk today, and that was my choice. But I trust Black’s judgement, and I trust him to have my back. We’ve been at this together for almost two decades now. All the training, all the challenges I face, that’s my choice too. Sure, I could retire, but even though I might keep breathing, I’d be dead inside.” She touched Alaric gently on the shoulder, almost a caress. “But I appreciate you caring.”

“I just want you to be happy.”

“And I am. You deserve happiness too, Prince. Black’s right—forget the past and look to the future.”

“I’m not giving up on Emerald.”

“You know what I think? I think Emerald will be found when she wants to be found. In the meantime, don’t sacrifice tomorrow for a ghost.” She linked her arm through Black’s. “Get some sleep. I know I need to.”

Alaric hated to admit it, but what Emmy said made sense.