Soon, he would be there, too. He’d drive straight through. If his brothers were here, they’d say he was exhausted but hell, he was long past that.
Who needed sleep, when you were racing on adrenaline?
He’d find Mia. Ask questions. And if she didn’t have the right answers…
If she didn’t…
His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
He wasn’t going to think about that now.
It was completely dark when he pulled off the main road and headed down the dirt track toward the house.
No lights shone in its windows.
The first bit of doubt crept into his mind. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she wasn’t here…
No. She was. She had to be. He knew it.
Matthew shut off his headlights. He drove a little farther, then pulled the SUV over and got out. He’d do the last half mile on foot. He was dressed for it, still wearing the black clothing he’d worn on the raid at Hamilton’s place in Cartagena.
Something flew by his face; he felt the brush of its wings against his hair. Only the creatures of the night were out now; it was a time when hungry predators stalked unsuspecting prey.
His heart was beating fast. His breathing was shallow. This was how he’d always felt on night raids, excitement pumping through him, every sense alert.
He went up the steps quietly. Inserted his key in the front door. Slipped inside and quickly punched in the security code.
There was a flashlight in the desk in the library. He switched it on, kept the beam low, but there was no sign of her.
Wait. There was. Her scent was here. The aroma that always reminded him of a field of white flowers.
But she wasn’t in the house. He checked all the rooms.
And then, he understood.
It wasn’t the house where she’d felt safe. It was the forest clearing. The place where they’d made love so many times, where he’d realized he loved her…
Where he’d imagined he loved her.
A coldness crept into his bones. He turned off the flashlight, went out the sliding door to the deck and down the steps to the path that led through the trees.
Soon, he’d see Mia.
He’d ask her for the truth.
And then—God, and then, if he had to, he’d end this.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE FOREST was dark.
The only sound was the roar of the waterfall.
The moon had risen, a fat, ivory globe that seemed suspended in the leafy branches of the tr
ees. Its light illuminated the clearing and the jewel-like pool.
Illuminated Mia, standing naked under the frothy liquid veil of the waterfall.