Hearts and Aces (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 7)

by Kaylie Hunter

  “If it gets to be too much, holler. One of us can take over. Do you need an escort back to the house?”

  She shook her head. “Tyler’s waiting for us downstairs. I’ll take one of the pizzas with us if no one minds. Saves me from having to cook.”

  “I think we’re about done,” I said, tossing the crust of my third slice onto a paper plate. “I’m stuffed.” I stood and grabbed the bottom pizza boxes which hadn’t been opened. “Want me to carry these downstairs for you?”

  “If you could, dear,” Hattie said. “The stairs are a bit steep.”

  “I’ll take them,” Bridget said, glancing up at the clock. “It’s almost time for Casey to call back. Beth and Carl, let’s grab Tweedle and go back to the house.”

  “We’re being kicked out, aren’t we?” Carl asked, pouting.

  “Yup,” Bridget said, pulling him along. “It’s always best to have fewer witnesses.”

  Beth looked like she wanted to argue but followed Bridget.

  I moved around the table and gathered the paper plates and napkins, throwing everything in the trash. Tech moved the partial box of pizza to his workstation and picked up another slice. He’d already eaten half a pizza himself.

  My phone rang. Seeing it was Reggie, I answered, “What’s up?”

  “Well…,” Reggie drawled out. “You know how I’m the cute, adorable one?”

  “What did you do?” I asked as I walked out of the war room and looked around the gym.

  “It didn’t seem fair that Blake spent all those years looking for Allie and then he was locked out of the investigation.”

  “Reggie? Where the hell are you?”

  “We booked an air taxi to fly to Indiana. Now we're in a car rental about ten minutes from Milo Sprigston’s place.”

  “Damn you, Reggie! What the hell is wrong with you!”

  I could hear Blake in the background. “I told you she’d be pissed.”

  Reggie put a hand over the phone, but I could still hear him. “She’ll calm down. She loves me.”

  “I can hear you, idiot!”

  Wayne, Jerry, and a few other guys came running up the stairs. I motioned them into the war room. I put the phone on speaker before setting it on the table.

  “What’s the worst that could happen?” Reggie asked.

  “Blake could lose his shit—and kill the guy!”

  “Oh.” There was a pause followed by Reggie whispering into the phone, “You think he’d do that?”

  “Jesus, Reggie,” Wayne said. “Kelsey’s right; you’re an idiot.”

  “I’m tracing Reggie’s phone,” Tech said. “Reggie, take the next left, then in two miles take a right. I’ve already texted Casey to wait until you get there. They’re prepping for a reconnaissance mission.”

  “Sweet,” Reggie said.

  “I’m going to beat the snot out of you when I see you,” I hissed toward the phone as I fisted my hands. “How the hell can you even afford an air taxi? They cost a small fortune.”

  “I might’ve put it on your charge card,” Reggie admitted. “It was worth it, though. We got to Lafayette in less than an hour.”

  “You are paying the bill.”

  “But, sis, you’re rich,” Reggie said. “You won’t even notice the money gone.”

  “Not the point! It wasn’t your money to spend!”

  “Now you’re just being mean.”

  “Just get to the rendezvous point to meet up with Trigger and Casey. We’ll discuss the rest later.”

  Wayne leaned over and disconnect the phone. “Blake’s only worked protection duty, and Reggie, well,” Wayne shrugged, “Reggie is Reggie. We don’t let him go on ops without supervision.”

  “Red Dog to base,” Casey’s voice called over the conference room speaker.

  “This is base. We hear you loud and clear, Red Dog,” Tech said.

  “What’s the deal? Why are Reggie and Blake on their way?”

  “The better question is, how many tranquilizer guns do you have?” I asked.

  “Uh… Got two rifles, two handguns, and fifteen tranq cartridges.”

  “I was sort of kidding, but…” I looked over at Wayne to see what he thought of the idea.

  “It would be safer,” Wayne agreed, nodding. “Donovan put me in charge while he was out of the country. I’ll back your decision.”

  “Are you two serious?” Casey asked. “You want me to shoot Reggie and Blake?”

  “Affirmative, Red Dog,” I said, grinning toward the phone. “Drop them into dreamland.”

  “Man… I don’t think I can do that. What happens the next time I need one of them to cover my six?”

  “I’ll shoot them,” Trigger said. “No problem. They know I work for Kelsey and have to follow her orders.”

  “You sure?” Casey asked him.

  “Kelsey?” Trigger asked. “I need final confirmation. I see their SUV approaching. Are you ordering me to shoot them with tranquilizers?”

  “Yes. Do it. Be sure to shoot them in the lower body, though. We don’t want anyone losing an eye.”

  “Consider it done,” Trigger said, sounding excited.

  “Red Dog, turn on your body camera,” Tech said as he laughed. “You too, Trigger.”

  The far left and center TV screens sparked to life. Casey and Trigger were standing behind their SUV with the hatch open. We watched on the center screen, labeled Red Dog’s cam, as Reggie and Blake got out of their rental. As they started walking forward, Trigger stepped out from behind the SUV and shot a dart into Blake’s leg. Reggie’s eyes got large before he turned to run in the other direction. Trigger nailed him with a dart in the ass. Both men dropped to the ground.

  “I can’t believe that shit just happened,” Casey said, laughing. “Now what?”

  “Handcuff them in the backseat of one of the SUVs and get the keys for the rental.”

  As Trigger walked toward Reggie, he turned toward Casey with a huge smile on his face. This was the crazy shit I hired him to do. In Trigger’s cam we watched Casey shake his head and laugh.

  I picked up the remote and hit mute. “Tech? Do we have anything else on Milo? Any special training? Hunting skills?”

  “Nothing we know of. Kemp’s been sending everything he can find, but so far everything’s come back odd but non-threatening. Milo only has twenty Facebook friends, most of which are family members, and his profile picture shows him fishing.”

  “Current employment?”

  “Last paycheck was from a temp agency. Not sure if he’s working today or not.”

  “Give me the number,” Wayne said. “I’ll call on my burner phone and ask if he’s available to work today?”

  Tech wrote the number down, and Wayne stepped out of the room. I unmuted the phone as Casey and Trigger finished loading Reggie and Blake in the back of the rental.

  “Make sure Blake doesn’t have handcuff keys on him. Reggie doesn’t think that far ahead, but Blake might.”

  A minute later Trigger held a handcuff key in front of his body cam. “He had it taped to the inside of his belt.”

  After they closed the back door, Casey asked, “What now, base?”

  Wayne stepped back into the war room and shook his head. He didn’t have a location on Milo.

  “You have a green light to proceed. Be aware, we do not know the location of the mark. He could be on the property. We also have no knowledge if he has dogs or guns.”

  “Do we know anything, base?” Casey asked, looking at Trigger’s body camera.

  “Kelsey,” Trigger said before I could answer Casey. “What do you want to happen if we run into this guy?”

  “I’d say it’s fifty-fifty at this point that he’s our guy so don’t kill him. Secure him. Don’t tranq him unless you have to. We’ll want to ask him a few questions. I’m having Tech send his DMV photo to your phones. He’s five foot eight inches, weighs three hundred and forty pounds, but it’s mostly fat from what I can tell. As long as he doesn’t shoot you or si
t on you, you should be safe.”

  “Is this the norm when working these investigations?” Casey asked Trigger as they moved into the woods.

  “Yup,” Trigger said. “We go off script a lot. The only rule is that you do whatever the fuck Kelsey says, which could be just about anything.”

  “Lucky bastard,” Casey mumbled before starting a slow jog to the south.

  Chapter Seven

  Ten minutes later, the trailer came into view on the body cams. They split up, circling the trailer in a wide radius.

  “Hold your position,” I ordered before muting the phone. “Tech, zoom in on Trigger’s camera.”

  Tech zoomed in on what appeared to be a storm shelter, half concealed under trash bags on the back side of the trailer.

  I nodded to Tech to return to normal view as I unmuted the conference phone. “Okay. You can continue.”

  Wayne leaned over and muted the phone again. “What was that?”

  “Could be nothing,” I said, shaking my head. The chill zipping down my back told me otherwise, though. I glanced at Tech who was watching me. I shook my head again before concentrating on the cameras.

  “Perimeter is clear. Orders, base?” Casey asked.

  I unmuted the speaker. “Proceed to the trailer. Two-man entry from the front. Be careful.”

  “Windows on the trailer are blacked out,” Trigger whispered as they approached the front.

  “There are a lot of reasons people black out windows.” What I didn’t say was that all the reasons I could think of were nefarious. Better to keep that to myself. “Stay focused, Trig.”

  Trigger moved up the porch steps to the left side, his hand on the door handle. Casey crouched toward the right of the door and nodded to Trigger when he was ready. Casey swept in first with Trigger following close behind him. Within five steps inside, they confirmed the trailer was empty.

  “Trigger, close the door and stand ready in case our guy comes home. Casey, move to the front of the trailer and walk slowly toward the back so I can get a good view.”

  Casey moved to the front window, unclipping his body cam to hold it in the air and slowly scan the front section which consisted of a small couch under the window. The couch was old, but a tear along the arm had been neatly stitched. Turning, Casey walked a few steps, sweeping the camera from side to side. The trailer was at least four decades old, needing new flooring and cabinets, but appeared to be kept in spotless condition.

  I shook my hands, my palms sweating. “Open a few cupboards and the fridge, Red Dog.”

  In the cabinets, the dishes were perfectly aligned. The canned food all faced with their labels forward in neat rows. The ancient avocado green refrigerator was bright white inside, filled with fresh food. Casey moved to the closet-sized bathroom, then to the curtained bedroom space at the far end of the trailer.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I whispered, feeling my stomach lurch as Casey swept the camera around the bedroom.

  “What is it?” Casey asked.

  On Trigger’s cam we saw a flash of sunlight as the back door of the trailer opened. Trigger’s body had been turned toward Casey as he stood guard at the front door. Hearing the noise, Trigger turned around and came face to face with Milo. They stood shocked, staring at each other in surprise. After a brief pause, Milo fled down the back stairs. Trigger tossed his tranq gun and threw himself off the porch at Milo, tackling him to the ground.

  “Start the clock!” I yelled at Tech, slapping him on the shoulder.

  The far-right TV screen lit up with a stopwatch. We watched Trigger snag both Milo’s arms behind his back, whirling rope through them. He captured one of the legs, but it kept popping out of his hold. Finally, he secured it with a rope, then the other, before bundling all the appendages together with a center rope.

  “Time!” Trigger said, jumping up and lifting his hands into the air as he panted to catch his breath.

  “Three minutes, forty-two seconds. You’ve done better,” Tech said.

  We watched Trigger shrug on Casey’s body cam. “He’s a doughy bastard. Makes it harder.”

  Casey handed Trigger his tranq gun. “Why didn’t you just shoot him?”

  “That wasn’t our order. Besides, I didn’t want to have to wait around for him to wake up. This is the part where one of us asks him a few questions.”

  “Let’s hold off on the interrogation,” I said. “Casey, turn around and look behind you.”

  Casey turned—gun first. When he confirmed no one was behind him, he lowered his gun. “What is that?”

  “I believe it’s a cellar door or storm shelter.” I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans. “We need to know what’s in there.”

  “What do you think is in there?” Casey asked.

  I placed my palms flat on the table and closed my eyes.

  “Kelsey?” Tech asked. “Tell me you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.”

  I sighed. “Fuck, I don’t know.”

  “Fill me in here, guys,” Casey said. “What’s your best guess for what I’m going to find when I open these doors?”

  “I think…” I looked at Tech. He nodded, encouraging me to answer. “…Allie Jacobs is in there.”

  “I thought she was dead,” Casey said, taking a step back. “You said she was dead.”

  “Either I was wrong this morning, or I’m wrong now. I won’t know until you open the door.” I took a step away from the table and exhaled slowly. “There’s trash dumped all over his property, but the inside of that trailer is spotless. And then there’s the bedroom.”

  “What about the bedroom?” Casey asked.

  “There was a floor bolt where a chain could be secured.”

  “Fuck,” Casey said, making the sign of the cross before he started removing the trash bags that covered the cellar doors.

  An old padlock hung from the latch. Trigger moved forward, picking the lock and tossing it into the grass. They both stood back a moment, mentally preparing themselves.

  I watched them closely on the screens, reading their body language. “Guys, if she’s in there, you might need to tranquilize her. She might not be stable.”

  Casey took a deep breath, nodding, before pulling the door open. The sun lit only as far as the last step. Everything beyond the stairs was pitch black. Trigger made to move forward.

  “Wait,” I ordered.

  We all waited in silence until a bare foot shuffled into the light. Then another. Then with another step, Allie Jacobs stepped into view at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Your parents sent us,” Trigger said, keeping his tone low and holding out his hand, palm up. “Milo can’t hurt you anymore.”

  She looked from Trigger to Casey, then back to Trigger. Tears started spilling as she climbed the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she cringed away from Trigger’s offered hand. He stepped back, so she had room to step away from the cellar.

  Something behind them startled Casey, and he spun around to face the woods.

  Blake stood frozen, staring at Allie before one foot stumbled in front of the other, moving him across the open dirt yard. “Allie!”

  Allie’s body shook as she cried. “Blake?” She dove toward him when he was within reach, wrapping her arms tight around his neck.

  Blake fell to his knees as he held her, smoothing her hair out of her face.

  “Now what, boss?” Trigger asked, sounding bored.

  “Disarm Blake before he decides to shoot Milo.”

  This time Casey didn’t hesitate. He pulled Blake’s Glock while Trigger leaned over to check for an ankle holster. None of us had anticipated Allie snagging Trigger’s gun, though. Before they could stop her, she fired three rounds into a hogtied Milo.

  Casey yanked the gun out of her hand, and Trigger ran over to pull the darts. Everyone was silent for about five seconds before we broke out laughing.

  When I could stop laughing, I leaned closer to the phone. “Best if you untie Milo now, Trigger, and hide
the ropes. We’ll have to call this in to the local police.”

  Trigger snorted. “Sure thing, boss.”

  “Tech, call the parents and tell them the good news. I’ll call the cops.”

  The first call to the police was short and easy. The return call from the sheriff himself wasn’t as pleasant. He screamed in my ear for nearly twenty minutes about jurisdiction before I reminded him that without us, he wouldn’t have a child abductor in custody. He then threatened to arrest Blake, Casey, and Trigger. I told him I’d be glad to reciprocate by calling the media and ensuring he wasn’t re-elected as sheriff. Thankfully, he hung up on me. Trigger called ten minutes later and said they were released. Blake was driving to the hospital. Reggie was sleeping in the backseat on his way back to Michigan with Casey and Trigger.

  I picked up my phone to call one more person.

  “Hello,” Kristyn answered.

  “Kristyn, it’s Kelsey Harrison. Are you still at work?”

  “Yes, just wrapping up a few to-dos before I head to class. Did you have another question?”

  “Can you sit? It’s important.”

  Kristyn exhaled slowly. “I’m sitting, but give me a moment. I’ve been waiting for this call for five years.”

  “It’s not what you think. She’s alive. We found Allie. Your uncle was keeping her prisoner behind his trailer in an old cellar.”

  “What? How? Why?” she cried. “I don’t understand.”

  “Breathe, Kristyn,” I said in a slow calm voice. “Slow your breathing down.” I waited a moment before I heard her gasps for air retreat. “She’s going to be okay. She’s at St. Francis hospital in Lafayette, and her parents are already on their way. Blake Foster is also with her. He was part of the rescue team who found her.”

  “I can’t believe this. I thought she was dead.”

  “We all did. I’ve been working these cases for a long time, and everything indicated she was dead.” A laugh escaped me. “I’m sure as hell glad I was wrong.”

  “It’s her? You’re sure?”

  “Hang on,” I said, pausing to look at my phone and forward a picture. “You tell me. I just sent a photo.”

  There was a brief pause before Kristyn gasped, followed by shrieking. “It’s her! She’s alive! I have to go. I need to get to the hospital.”