Midnight's Captive(29)

But he hadn’t been looking for it, so it was a possibility.

“Bloody hell,” he murmured when the call ended.

Phelan wanted to stay with Ben and see what was next, but by Jason’s words, Phelan couldn’t chance it. For whatever reason, Jason was focused on Charon now, and it was up to Phelan to make sure his friend made it out of this cluster fuck alive.

With one last look at Ben, Phelan turned and started back to Charon.



Charon sat in the dark, watching Laura sleep. He’d taken the chair beside the bed since he couldn’t climb in with her, nor could he go into the next room because of his worry.

She had taken a long time in the shower. So long, Charon almost went in after her. When she finally came out, she immediately climbed into his bed, where she had been ever since.

For hours, he had been going over everything she told him about Ben and then the attack. Something wasn’t adding up. From what Laura had told him, Ben was a stand-up guy with a good job. Why turn into a lunatic so suddenly?

Charon ran a hand down his face. He leaned up and braced his elbows on his knees and looked at Laura. She was on her stomach, one arm tucked beneath the pillow and one long, lean leg out of the covers.

She wore the faded denim button-down he’d tossed her, and the hem was hiked up to where her leg met her buttocks. His hands itched to smooth up her thigh and cup her arse.

But he wanted to do so much more than that.

He smoothed a lock of hair away from her face and saw the bruise. Once more, rage consumed him. He never understood why some men felt the need to hit women, but Ben would pay for what he’d done.

Charon was also going to make sure Laura could defend herself from now on. She’d done a good job, but with some training, she could have set Ben on his ass with one or two good punches.

It was the sound of someone on the deck outside that had Charon on his feet, releasing his god, and in the living room in the space of a breath.

As soon as he saw Phelan, he tamped down his god and motioned his friend inside. Charon had been prepared for bad news, but by the look on Phelan’s face, it was worse than he expected.

And then the full impact hit him.

“Wallace.”

Phelan gave a nod as he shut the sliding glass door behind him.

“Shite. How did this happen?”

Phelan leaned a shoulder against the wall and folded his arms over his chest. “He’s had you followed for months. He has photos of you and Laura, and God only knows who else.”

“How could I no’ have known?”

Phelan shrugged. “We can no’ do anything about that now. I did, however, take a look around the village. The guards you have set up are still patrolling, but I did find one of Wallace’s men who had a spot on the roof opposite this building.”

“Then I need to have a word with him,” Charon said, and started for the stairs.

“There’s no need.”

Phelan’s words halted him. Charon whirled around and glared at his friend. “I need to hit someone. You wouldna let me go after Ben, and now you take care of the weasel who is watching me and Laura.”

Phelan gave him a crooked grin. “You were no’ the only one in need of a battle, though the man watching you was no’ much of anything. He passed out when he saw what I was. I woke him up and learned he had been hired to watch you. That’s all he knew. He didna even know his employer, just sent the photos to an e-mail address.”

“And you believed him?”

“I saw the proof. No’ to mention, the man was scared shitless. He pissed himself. Twice. He was telling the truth.”

Charon began to pace the length of his home. Laura’s life had been put in danger because of him. He’d feared this, which was one of many reasons he had never shown her any interest.

But what had he done to make Wallace take notice of Laura? He didn’t want to even think about what Wallace would have done to her just to get his attention.

“I knew something was no’ right about the entire situation with Ben and then the attack. Now it’s all coming together.” He stopped and looked at Phelan. “Tell me you didna kill Ben?”

“Nay, but I left him alone. There’s more, Charon.”

“Fuck,” he ground out, and raked a hand through his hair as his mind went through possibilities. “Let me guess. Jason is pissed that his plot to kidnap Laura didna work?”

“Aye. He has something else planned. Jason didna say what it was, only that Ben needs to be ready.”

Charon blew out a harsh breath. “They’re coming here.”

“That’s my thought as well. With your men, and both of us, we can hold them off.”

Charon was shaking his head before Phelan finished talking.