Rory: Finding His Match (Big 3 Security Book 4)

by Pj Fiala

  Ty opened the file in front of him and just as Ty opened his mouth to start, Rory's phone rang. Reaching for it, Rory saw the readout said "Captain". Holding his finger up to let them know he had to take this, he tapped the answer icon on his phone.

  "Captain, how can I help you?"

  "Rory, we found a body behind building B at the apartment complex where you were chasing your perp last night. Bring a team with you, this is a bloody mess."

  "For fuck's sake, what in the hell is going on here?" Remembering who he was speaking to, he continued. "We'll be right there."

  Quickly standing, he said, "This has to wait, we have a dead body and it's a mess. Let's go, all hands-on deck."

  Files closed and chairs rolled back as they all stood and headed to the door. He left before all of them eager to get to the scene and see what they were dealing with. Not really eager, it sounded a fright, but maybe this one would lead them to the information they needed to figure this shit out.

  "Mind if I ride with you, Ace?"

  He turned to see Alice staring at him her face serious, her posture straight and tall. She'd always been gorgeous, but just now, with dark-blue dress slacks and a nice white blouse, her red hair flowing over her shoulders, she was stunning. She scooped her trench coat from the chair in his office where she'd left it, he was irritated that she'd called him by the nickname she'd given him oh so many years ago.

  "Sure." He walked past her and headed to the backdoor. She wore sensible shoes, but he could hear them behind him, not exactly trying to keep up, but in a hurry.

  Pushing the backdoor open he didn't bother to hold it for her. He decided anger was a bit of what he needed at the moment to keep his mind on the task at hand.

  As he neared his cool sleek black Charger, he smiled. He always did when he looked at this car. It had been his dream for a long time, and he loved every minute of owning it. Using the fob in his hand he tapped the unlock button and smiled again as the car lit up, taillights, dome light inside. She was a thing of beauty.

  "Fantastic car, Rory. For some reason I pegged you as a truck kinda guy."

  Opening his door, he sarcastically said, "That wouldn't be the first time you've pegged me wrong, Beggs."

  6

  The drive was quiet. Too quiet.

  "Look, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. But you hurt mine."

  His head turned and she could see his jaw clench. Those piercing blue eyes landed on her and held, then he shook his head and looked at the road.

  "And how's that?"

  Taking in a deep breath, she swallowed. Knowing this conversation would come up, but not at all ready to hear that she'd been easily forgotten, she forged on.

  "I was transferred to another base. You said you'd call and we'd stay in touch. You didn't. We didn't. Then, within six months you were married to someone else." She stared straight ahead, watching as the trees and shrubs breezed past the windows of the car. The sun was now high in the sky and the day seemed bright, though the air was chilly. It didn’t seem possible that they were on their way to a gruesome murder scene.

  "We were young."

  "You still married someone else."

  She watched his chest, which all these years later, was massively impressive. He'd continued to work out after getting out of the Marines. He'd always been impressive, but now, he was filled out and mature. He had a confidence about him he hadn't had back when they were stationed together.

  "You could have stayed, Alice, but you didn’t. I heard the position you took was volunteer, you could have refused.”

  "But then I’d be staying in a place, career wise, that didn’t offer me the opportunities I got when I left."

  His jaw clenched again but instead of answering, he turned into the apartment complex parking lot where they'd first seen each other last night. The place was teaming with police cruisers, an ambulance, the medical examiner's van and on-lookers standing behind the yellow police tape trying to see what was happening. A news truck was parked in the corner, the large antennas raised high and a reporter with long dark hair and a cute little cream-colored pea coat could be seen talking into the camera pointed in her direction.

  Rory drove to a parking area blocked off for police personnel, a young officer guarding the area from unauthorized persons stepped aside when Rory pulled up, a smile on his face. He clearly admired the sleek black Charger as they rolled past him. Pulling in next to a cruiser, he put the car in Park, turned it off, and grabbed his keys from the ignition. Without another word, he opened his car door and exited the vehicle.

  Taking in a deep, cleansing breath, first, because she didn't have the patience to deal with a surly co-worker, and second, because once they got close to the body, there would be no clean breaths for a while.

  Opening the car door and exiting, the doors locked, and she saw Rory pointing the key fob at the car, then turn and walked to an officer on the fringe of the roped off area.

  Following Rory's path, she heard the officer as he pointed to an area behind him. "The Captain's between those two buildings. Medical Examiner is there, too."

  Al moved on past them to the area the officer had mentioned, stealing herself for the scene. She hated looking at dead bodies. Sometimes it took a while to get the images out of her head and to erase the smells from her memories.

  Refusing to wear high heels, even in dress clothes, she was once again grateful for what some would call sensible shoes, as she plodded across the uneven ground easily in her high-topped sneaker type shoes. Nearing the corner of the building the odor of death hit her before she saw anything, and she quickly pulled a scarf from her coat pocket to cover her nose and mouth should she begin to gag.

  The scene that met her when she turned the corner was primarily the backs of a large man and a smaller man talking and pointing. As she stepped close to them, she finally made herself look at the ground. A male body lay on the ground, his face covered in blood, blank eyes staring up at the sky. One of his arms lay across his stomach, one lay out at a 45-degree angle. A red blob lay next to his face, in a pool of blood.

  She heard Rory's steps quicken as she stared at the body on the ground, and then the steps of others as they neared the scene. There was an area marked off for them where the forensic technicians had already collected evidence, documented what they found, and taken photographs. They were now photographing the area around them, taking notes, and continuing to gather evidence. No one was permitted on the part of the scene that had not been processed.

  "Captain, this is Al Tucker." Rory introduced her. The taller of the two men turned to look at her, reached his hand out to shake hers, then motioned to the man alongside him.

  "This is Medical Examiner Thomson."

  The Medical Examiner nodded at her. "What do you have for us?", Alice asked.

  "His throat was slit from jaw to jaw, and his tongue cut out."

  She looked at the blob lying next to his face, then looked closer at the face staring up. The word snitch was carved into his forehead.

  The Medical Examiner pointed to a forensic technician’s evidence tote where she could see evidence paraphernalia and plastic bags containing various evidence. "A wallet found on the victim identifies him as Sergio Mancuoso."

  Her head snapped up as she stared at the Medical Examiner. But at that moment, her stomach quelled, and she stepped back in case she lost the coffee she'd consumed earlier. Rory followed her a few steps back.

  "Do you know him?"

  Breathing in slow and deep and letting her breath out slowly, she swallowed the moisture that had gathered in her mouth. Her heart hammered in her chest as her mind reeled with what this might mean. The only thing that came to mind right now was that she might very well be in more danger than she’s ever been at this juncture, and she needed some time to think and call her SAC for his thoughts on the matter.

  "Beggs? Do you know him?" Rory asked again.

  She looked into his concerned face and, for the first time since last night, s
he was happy he was here.

  "Yes."

  7

  "Who is he to you?"

  "He's my informant. The instant I got to this spot last night, which is where he told me I'd find a major drug drop going down and possibly one of the organizers, ‘The Big Guy’ of this drug operation I've been trying to shut down, I was shot at. I thought he set me up because back home in Indianapolis there was a major bust last night. When I found out about it, I assumed he wanted me out of the area so I wouldn't break it up, and then have me killed because someone was waiting for me. But he didn't set me up, he was found out."

  "Are you in danger, Beggs?"

  He watched her face and the myriad of emotions that flashed across it. The slight furrow between her brows told him she was worried.

  "I don't know, but they may have gotten him to talk. It would explain why I was being shot at last night. I thought I'd gotten too close."

  "Why were you here without backup?" He was bouncing between being pissed and being scared at her willingness to put herself in danger.

  "I wanted to sneak up on the drug drop and record it so I had evidence. I wasn't going to bust anyone until I had recorded evidence and names. This case has been getting to me. I’ve spent countless hours researching, investigating, examining and I keep coming up with nothing. I realize I shouldn’t have come alone, but my partner was working another angle at home.

  "You still put yourself in dang..." Seeing her shut down, he stopped his forthcoming tirade and changed his tone of voice.

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I think we need to get you to safety right now until we get the evidence back at the station and we know if your snitch gave the killers details about you. What did he know about you? How did he contact you?"

  "He only knew my phone number and that I worked in Indianapolis."

  "And that you were going to be here last night."

  Her voice softened. "Yes."

  "What did he call you?"

  "Why does that matter?"

  His gut twisted in several directions. The killing was getting more gruesome and now it felt very personal.

  "I don't know."

  "He called me sneakers."

  Watching as she raised her pant leg, her sensible shoes were Rag & Bone Army high top sneakers. He had a pair of his own.

  Inhaling deeply, he felt relief for some strange reason that he hadn’t called her Red. Which, considering what they were facing, was stupid.

  He looked back at the Captain, who was now approaching them, the look of confusion clear on his face.

  "Everything alright here?"

  He looked at Beggs but it appeared she wasn't going to say anything, so he did. "That's Beggs' informant."

  Captain Peters was a large man, 6 foot 3 and he was muscular. Built like a brick shithouse should have his name on it in the dictionary, ‘cause he was a solid wall of strength, both physically and mentally. His jet-black hair and dark chocolate eyes, which normally were serious now looked worried.

  "Are you in danger, Tucker?"

  Beggs cleared her throat lightly, squared her shoulders and looked Captain Peters in the eyes, which wasn't that easy to do, she had to look up close to a foot.

  "I don't know, sir."

  The Captain stared at Beggs for a long time and to her credit, she never looked away.

  "Richards, get Tucker back to the station and figure out where she's going to stay while she's here. The motel isn't safe enough."

  "I can go back to Indy." She offered.

  Captain shook his head. "Nope. We might be on to something. If they're here because you're here, we have them close. That's a far cry better than having them scatter. As long as they know you're still here, we have a better chance of catching these fuckers and that's what we're going to do. I’ll call your SAC to see if he agrees with the plan."

  The Captain started to walk away. "Richards, on second thought, your place is secured with the latest and greatest, isn't it? Take Tucker there."

  What? No fucking way. This wasn't a good idea at all. "Captain, maybe we could..."

  "Take her to your place and lockdown until we have this scene processed. I'll call you in a while."

  Then his massive back was turned, and he walked back to the body and his crime scene investigators.

  "He can't make me stay at your place. That is un-fucking-real. Besides, likely unethical. And to top it off, how fucking dare he. He’ll call my SAC." Beggs seethed, though quietly. The Captain couldn't hear her and if he could, he didn't acknowledge it.

  Taking a deep breath, more to fortify himself than anything else against her quick temper. " Beggs, let’s get you out of sight for right now, then we can talk about what to do."

  She faced him and crossed her arms in front of her. Totally protective move. He lowered his voice and tried again.

  "Hey, I know you feel irritated with the way things have worked out today, but let's get out of sight and settled in, at least for tonight, and then we can talk. I'll talk about anything you want to talk about and if you need to scream and yell, you can scream and yell at me. But, right now, we don't know there isn't a sniper somewhere with his sights set on you."

  She shook her beautiful head quickly as if she just realized she was in danger, then nodded her head and uncrossed her arms. At least for now, the temper had subsided. Now if she took him up on his offer to scream and yell, he'd have to deal with it, but at least he knew that would come out of frustration, and not so much about him. Maybe.

  He turned and began walking to his car, turning only once to make sure she was following. After rounding the corner of the building at the apartment complex, he could see the crowd was still large and it made his stomach roll. Their perp could be in the crowd out there for all they knew. Or in one of the apartments above them. Everything was a crap shoot right now.

  He heard a phone ring, it wasn't his ring tone, but he turned as he heard Beggs dig for her phone in her coat pocket.

  "Tucker."

  "Who is this?" she demanded.

  He stopped to see why she had stopped, her eyes looking all around. Seeing the absolute fear on her face, he walked back the few steps and took her free hand, grateful she didn't fight or argue. Pulling her along, he hurried his pace.

  "Come out so I can see you or are you too cowardly?"

  He squeezed her hand and looked back at her.

  "Don't taunt him," he whispered.

  She shushed him with a quick shake of her head as she listened to the person on the other end of the phone. He could only hear one side of the conversation, but what he surmised from that was that the killer could see them and that meant he needed to get Beggs out of here and fast. He quickened his pace and continued to tug her along, though she slowed a couple of times.

  "I'll find you. I will. I'll get you."

  She practically hissed. "Oh, I won't kill you. I'd much rather watch them walk you into prison knowing what your life will be like in there. Death would be a blessing for you. I have no intention of blessing you."

  8

  She allowed herself to be pulled along but only because her mind was moving in a thousand different directions, not the least of which was that a murderer or murderers was watching. What that also meant, was he or they knew for sure what she looked like, knew she was with Rory, and what he looked like. They were only minimally protected by the small police force in Lynyrd Station, but cops were killed all the time, so it was possibly a false hope that they were safe anywhere.

  Rory walked her to the passenger side of his car and opened the door for her, almost pushing her inside. The fact that he seemed scared began to freak her out, but she focused on her breathing, one minute at a time. Maybe after a good stiff drink, she could calm down and focus her thoughts on what she knew about this operation and her safety moving forward. She thought about the number of times her life had been in danger as a DEA Special Agent. She could handle this. She didn't want to stay at Rory's, not forever anyway.
>
  He slid into the driver's seat and locked the doors. Immediately pulling his seatbelt on, he glanced over at her. "Buckle up, Red."

  The inside of the car was warm and cozy, Rory's aftershave filled the air, he called her by his old nickname for her and she suddenly felt better. Pulling her seatbelt on, he started the car, its low rumble, a sexy growl that gave her goosebumps, as he pulled from their parking space.

  The young officer who'd let them pass by, stepped aside once again, that same grin as before, on his face.

  "He has a crush on your car."

  Rory glanced up at the young officer and nodded. "So do I."

  He then left the parking lot, tapped the Bluetooth button on his dash, and upon doing so, the robotic female voice asked him what he wanted; he said, "Call Ford Montgomery."

  "Calling Ford Montgomery on cell," came her reply.

  The phone rang only twice before a deep, smoky male voice answered, "Yeah."

  Rory chuckled before responding, "I have a situation."

  "Yeah."

  "Are you on a mission?"

  "No. I'm in town."

  "I have DEA Special Agent Alice Tucker in my car, and we've been ordered by the Captain to stay at my house. We're not sure if she's in danger, her informant was just found dead."

  A long pause left her wondering if they'd been disconnected before Ford responded, "That's some situation."

  "Right," Rory turned onto another road, leading them out of town, she tried running all of the scenarios through her head about what had happened last night, but wasn't totally successful. "My security system is in place and good, but I wonder if you can give it a once over, beef it up if need be?"

  A baby cried in the background and Ford muttered something under his breath. "Yeah. I've got to help Megan get Shelby settled first; it's my turn to get her down for nap time, but I can be down in an hour."

  Rory laughed, "You really are domesticated."

  "Fuck you." Then the line went dead and Rory laughed again.