Interesting. Very interesting indeed.
"Was she ever found?" Gabriel asked.
"The missing person's file has remained open," Zac replied. "Though police turned up no trace of her. After her husband died there was little impetus to keep searching."
"Wonderful," Honor said dryly. "What about her family?"
"She had none. In fact … where was it … " The sound of papers being shuffled came down the line. "Ah, yes. She was an only child and her parents died when she was in her teens. Same with Archer. His parents died soon after he was killed in the car accident."
"Grim." Alex folded his arms again. "So basically his wife disappeared and then from the looks of it, he faked his own death."
Gabriel released Honor and sat forward, going back over his meeting with the cold-eyed, scarred man once more. "Revenge," he said slowly. "He's after revenge."
Honor turned to him. "He said that specifically?"
They'd already talked about it after he'd gotten back from the meeting, but it was worth repeating for the others. "No. He wouldn't admit to anything. Like a fucking locked box. But I know when a man's looking to kill and Elijah Hunt sure wanted to kill someone."
"He wanted Fitzgerald's head." Zac's voice was flat, certain. "And he was pretty fucking upset when Eva shot him instead. It sounds to me as if he's still on the revenge track, he's just had to change his target."
"To who?" Honor's blue gaze moved from Gabriel to Alex then back again. "And why?"
"I know why." Gabriel glanced at his friend standing near the fire, because he suspected Alex knew why too. And sure enough, there was understanding in the other man's eyes.
"His wife," Zac said, confirming it. "He wants revenge for something that happened to his wife."
"Fucking love," Alex muttered. "Gets you every goddamn time." He looked impatiently down at his watch then let out a breath.
Gabriel didn't need to ask what he was checking for. Katya was out on a fact-finding mission about Eva's traitorous driver, Temple, who'd disappeared after they'd come back from confronting Fitzgerald. And clearly, judging from Alex's restlessness, she was late getting back.
"I don't give a shit why he wants revenge," Gabriel growled, Alex's impatience suddenly getting to him. "I want know to who the fuck his target is. And why he needs Violet for it."
Sounds came from the phone on the table. A door closing and footsteps, Zac murmuring something.
"I have an idea why." It was Eva. "A woman mysteriously vanishes and then her husband turns up working for Fitzgerald and wanting revenge? I'm sure you can work it out yourselves too."
"Ah, fuck." Alex's voice was full of disgust.
"Yeah," Eva said. "Fitzgerald took her for his little business."
"Oh God." Honor shook her head and reached for the tumbler on the table.
It made sense, that was for sure. Gabriel felt an unwanted sympathy for the man turn over inside him, which was just fucking annoying. Because regardless of the whys, Elijah or Kane or whatever the hell his name was still had Violet.
"We need to know who he's after," he said flatly. "He said it was more complicated than revenge, that if it was as simple as that, he'd have have killed Fitzgerald years ago. But he didn't."
The fire leapt in the grate, a shower of sparks erupting from it.
"If his wife was taken by Fitzgerald, then I know what he wants," Eva said.
But Gabriel had already worked it out for himself. "He doesn't just want the guy dead, he wants to take down the whole fucking empire too."
A small silence fell, the implications of that slowly sinking in. Because they all knew how twisted that empire was, how complicated. And that was only what they'd seen of it in the States. Evelyn Fitzgerald's little crime industry went beyond this country, had tendrils that snaked into other parts of the world, linking to other crime syndicates in China, the Middle East, and Europe just for a start. Who knew how deep it went? How far?
"He can't do it alone," Eva said finally. "He'll need help."
Gabriel glared at the phone. "What the fuck? Getting Violet away does not involve helping the prick who took her. We leave that shit to the authorities."
"Seriously?" Eva sounded annoyed. "Since when did you ever want to involve the authorities, Gabe?"
Unfortunately, Eva had a point. He must be getting soft in his old age. "Okay," he said reluctantly. "No authorities. But I'm not helping that motherfucker. He's lucky I didn't shoot him when I had the chance."
"If he's bent on taking down Fitzgerald's human trafficking ring then I don't give a shit what you want." Eva's voice was hard. "I'm going to give him any help he needs."
Of course she would, and he'd probably do the same if he had Eva's history. Still, there was a life at stake here. "And if taking that down means Violet gets hurt?" he asked harshly.
There was a silence this time.
"We need more information," Honor said, her voice abrupt. "We don't know anything about Elijah Hunt or his motives, and what we have now is just guesswork. Eva, have you made any progress with Violet's cell phone signal?"
"It's not broadcasting now so it's either off or destroyed, but yeah, I have a last known position for it," Eva answered. "It's in the West Village, where Gabe met Elijah, so that kind of confirms where she might be. Whether she's still there or not is another thing."
Impatient, Gabriel rose to his feet. "Give me the address, Eva. I'll get over there now."
"Wait." Zac this time, his tone flat with command. "We need a plan, Gabe."
But Gabriel was done waiting. This shit-all of this shit-had been going on for far too long and he was sick of it. He wanted Honor happy, wanted his family safe, and if that meant taking out one bastard who kept getting in the way, then he was all for it.
Reaching over to the phone, Gabriel picked it up. "I go get Violet and maybe I'll let Hunt live. That's the motherfucking plan, asshole." Then he ended the call and tossed the phone to Alex, who caught it, the look on his face enigmatic.
Honor had risen to her feet, turning to face him. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I think Zac might have a point. Sitting down and working out a plan isn't wrong."
"No, but the longer we chat about plans and shit, the longer that gives Hunt to go find somewhere else to keep Violet. We need to move now before he moves her." He reached out, settling his hands on her hips and tugging her close, looking down into her pale, pretty face. "It'll be okay, baby. I'll get her back."
Honor's dark brows pulled down. "Be careful, Gabe."
"Always." He bent and kissed her. Hard.
Violet stared down into Elijah's dark gaze and felt something inside her crack apart. Her mouth opened and she started to say something, though she wasn't really conscious of what it was-probably something trite and ridiculous since her brain was still reeling from what he'd just revealed.
But before she could get the words out, the sound of his phone ringing came from out in the lounge.
Abruptly, he pushed her away and got to his feet, striding out of the bathroom without a word.
Violet just stood there, staring down at the white porcelain of the bath where he'd been sitting only seconds before. Broad shouldered and massive, all that bare tanned skin smooth and hot to the touch.
He'd had a wife. A wife her father had killed.
She had no doubt he was telling her the truth-he had no reason to lie.
Her vision wavered, tears filling her eyes. Which was stupid and wrong, because what right had she to cry for a woman she didn't even know? And why did she feel so responsible? She hadn't been the one to kill her after all.
Nevertheless, she felt the weight of it rest on her chest like a boulder, heavy and inescapable.
Now she knew why he wanted to use her. Why he looked at her with such fury.
He must see his wife's killer every time he looked at her.
We're all monsters, Violet. Even you …
Violet wiped the back of her hand over her face, scrubbing away the ridiculous tears, a cold hard splinter of ice settling deep into her soul. No, that wasn't right. It was her father who'd done it, not her. But maybe what had happened to her was a kind of karma. Perhaps she shouldn't fight him, let him use her however he wanted, make up for what her father had taken from him. Because how else could she make it better?
Why do you want to? After what he's done to you?
So he was a killer, a criminal. But he was also … grieving. She'd sensed the pain of his loss even though she hadn't quite known it for what it was or why. She knew now though. He was a man with a wound that went deeper than the one on his shoulder. A wound that still ached and bled and hurt. He had a hole inside him, just as she did. Except the hole inside Elijah could never be filled, because the woman he needed to fill it with was dead.