I looked at my watch. 2:38. The event ended at five. Blaze called and I took a break outside so I could hear him.
“Wallace and his guys are fully armed, and so are we,” he said.
I let my head drop, squeezing my eyes shut. “God, I owe you guys.”
“Nonsense. Family, remember?”
My chest expanded with warmth. “Yeah.”
“Can you get away? I need someone to take a couple of their guys into the tunnel. The plan is for them to hide in the shadows and follow Karl and his people out.”
Spotting Halifax having a smoke outside the B-Natural store, I said, “Okay, I’ll head that way now.”
I strolled over to Halifax. “I need to do something. Take over at the first booth.” He nodded and took a final drag off his cigarette before throwing it in a nearby bin and heading inside. I sent a quick text to let Tony know where I was going. Then I headed for where I’d parked my motorcycle.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Tony
“How’d it go with Bruder?” I asked Nick when he joined me a good hour after he’d left me and Cane.
“The man’s a regular octopus. Even in a crowd, I couldn’t keep his hands off me.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Ew. He felt you up?”
“Tried his damned best. I finally had to slip away when he wasn’t looking.”
We walked together to the water cooler in the hallway.
Nick looked at his cell phone. “Royce is going to be here soon.”
“Nervous?” I asked, and when Nick nodded, I said, “I know this is scary. Royce is doing a really brave thing, especially without police backup. But he’ll be okay. Bruder has no reason to suspect him, and all he’s got to do down there is let us know how many men Bruder’s got, what weapons, and what the situation is with the prisoners.” I drained the paper cone of water before wadding it up and throwing it in the trash.
“I know. I’ll just be glad when this is over.” Nick looked around. “I haven’t seen Cane in a while. Where is he?”
“He texted me that he’s gone to the pier to meet the Pistons.”
“Oh, my God, it sounds like a movie. What do we do in the meantime?”
“Just wait it out.”
Nick shuddered. “Just think of all those poor people who would be shipped off somewhere if we weren’t going to save them.”
“And the others going home with people who bought them,” I added. “It’s disgusting. This has got to work.”
Nick nodded.
We stuck together for a while, and the crowd slowly began to thin out.
“There’s Bruno talking to Bruder,” I said looking to where the two men stood in front of the last B-Natural booth. A moment later Bruder spotted us, and Nick groaned.
“Oh, hell. Here comes The Groper.”
“What time is it?” I asked, watching Bruder make his way toward where we stood near the snack table.
“Four-twenty-seven,” Nick said, checking his phone.
“I’m going to the bathroom real quick before things start happening. Wanna come?”
“He’ll just follow us. You go ahead. Maybe I can delay him. Get him flustered enough to make mistakes.”
“Don’t get carried away. This is not a movie, and the guy’s dangerous.”
“Will do.” But Nick was already plastering on his flirtatious smile. I slipped away into the hall. All around me, people were milling out of the main event room and making their way toward the front exit.
I used the bathroom and washed my hands, taking a moment to rinse off my face. I wanted to call Cane, but I knew he had to concentrate on what he was doing. I probably couldn’t reach him in the tunnel anyway. I could call Blaze though. Maybe he knew something by now. As I passed the event room on my way to the front lobby, I peered in, saw Nick chatting up Bruder, running his finger down the man’s bulging forearm, and decided to make the call to Blaze in the lobby. But I couldn’t get a signal there, so I stepped outside. Groups of people walked past me as I made my way down the concrete stairs, trying to get a good signal.
“Tony,” a voice stopped me on the sidewalk just as I was dialing Blaze.
I turned and was surprised to see Greer sitting at the bottom of the steps where I had walked right past him without seeing him. He wore jeans and a blue sweater and was smoking a cigarette.
“Hi,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
Greer shrugged. “I wasn’t going to come—not after Shika went into a rage and called me a whore with a gaping asshole the other day. But Karl suddenly wanted me to meet him at his store.”
“What for?” I asked, wondering why he’d need Greer there so close to time to move the captives.
“No idea, but it sounded important.” He took a deep drag and blew out smoke. “As the man just bought me a Maserati, I thought I’d better do what he wants. What are you doing here?”
“After all the work I did for Mr. Bruder, I was curious. I’ve always been into health food,” I lied.
“Me too!” Greer’s sullen demeanor perked up, and he looked at me like he’d found his new best friend. “Too bad we can’t check out some of it together now that the crowd’s thinning out in there. I couldn’t get close to any booths earlier, so I was having a smoke. Damn, I don’t have time now. In a few minutes I’ve got to meet Karl.” He took another drag off his cigarette before scrunching it on the step.
Suddenly wondering if Bruder had found himself short on merchandise and had decided to offer up Greer to one of the buyers, I panicked.
“Listen, if I were you, I’d just go on home.”
Greer looked at me suspiciously. “Why? You have a thing for Karl?”
“No!”
“I’ll bet you do. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Well, you can’t have him.”
“He’s a very dangerous man, Greer.”
Greer snorted. “What do you think makes him so sexy?”
I groaned in frustration. “He’s into some illegal shit.”
“Like what?”
I cleared my throat. As annoying and dense as Greer seemed to be, I couldn’t let him walk into a lethal situation like this.
I leaned in close to him. “Like selling people.”
Greer frowned and then his eyes widened. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Bruder’s into sex trafficking. He’s about to meet some clients, so the only reason I can think he would ask you to meet him is because he wants to sell you too.”
Greer’s face went white. “No. No way. You’re lying.”
“I swear to you I’m not.”
He studied my face, and I could see the moment when he believed me. “Oh, my God.” He looked around. “What do I do? You’ve got to help me!”
Sending a quick look toward the building to check for any of Bruder’s men, I took Greer by the arm and led him toward the parking lot. “What you do is you leave.”
“But I took a cab here.” Greer twisted around to look toward the building. “Are his men watching me?”
“I don’t see any,” I said. “Look, just hail a cab or call an Uber.”
“I feel sick. To think I came so close…” Greer gripped my arm. “Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you.” He hugged me.
“It’s fine,” I said, trying to disentangle myself and hurry him along. “A close call, but you’ll be okay. Just get as far away from here as possible.”
He took a deep breath. “I can do that. My sister lives about ten minutes away.” Greer’s bottom lip trembled. Wrapping his arms around his middle, he bent over at the waist. “Oh, God. I feel sick. I can’t believe this is happening.”
We were just yards from the street. I tried to help Greer to his feet, but he resisted, hand over his mouth as though to hold back vomit as he crouched in the grass, shaking.
“Greer, man, it’s going to be fine,” I said. “Get up, and I’ll help you signal a cab.”
Greer suddenly gasped and pointed
, and I looked behind me, horrified to see Bruno striding from the building, eyes on us. Now he’d seen me with Greer, I had no choice but to run too. “Oh, shit. Come on!”
Greer shot to his feet, and we both started running.
“Where’s your car? Tell me you drove here! Oh, fuck.” Greer’s voice squeaked in fear. “Why’d I wear these shoes? I’m getting a blister!”
“My bike’s around back. Too far.”
Bruno yelled at us to stop. I grabbed Greer’s hand and ran faster.
“Hey!” Greer squeezed my fingers and tugged me in another direction toward the side of the building. “I see Karl’s Jaguar!”
In the shade, parked across two spaces, a red luxury car gleamed in the occasional slashes of sunlight through the trees.
“What the fuck good does that do us?” I asked, heart beating hard as my eyes darted around for another possible escape.
“I might have grabbed the extra key last time I slept with him. Never know when you might need to borrow a car.” Greer flashed me a smile and held up a fob. The guy was crazy, but right then it worked for me. Bruno’s footfalls pounded on the concrete behind us, getting closer by the second, and we increased our speed, barreling toward the red car. The Jag’s lights flashed when Greer hit the button on the fob, and I held my breath, thinking we just might make it if we were really lucky.
By the time I reached the passenger door and jerked it open, my chest hurt from running. I stumbled as I climbed in, and Greer circled the car. Instead of getting in beside me, he stopped, and I heard the locks engage.
I turned to see Bruno slowing to a casual walk. He came to a stop beside Greer and said something to him. Greer pressed a button on the fob, cracking the driver’s side window.
“What the fuck?” I stared at him. It was very warm in the car as though the heater had been running full blast just moments before, and I loosened the collar of my shirt.
Bruno shook his head. “You really aren’t very smart, are you?” A cascade of shivers went down my spine. Greer looked smug, and I realized I’d been had by the little prick.
“You should be a fucking actor,” I told him as I reached behind me to open the passenger door. It wouldn’t budge.
Bruno leaned his ugly face close to the crack in the window. “Could say the same about you. Mr. Bruder doesn’t like being played for a fool.”
I swallowed, mouth dry. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I think you do. He said to tell you he recognized your little friend right away, and it didn’t take long for him to connect him and the man who brought him cash yesterday for a pickup.”
Fuck. How could I have forgotten Bruder had seen Nick and Royce together at Lux the night I’d been there with them? Dammit. I hoped Nick was all right. “Let me out of here!” I yelled, leaning over and hitting my palm against the window in front of Bruno’s face. “Why the fuck have you got me locked in here?” I reached over and tried to honk the horn, but the damn thing remained silent.
The big asshole smiled. “Mr. Bruder wants to make sure he knows where you are. Oh, and I’d be still if I were you.” His gaze moved from my face to the backseat of the car. “Greer and I have to go, but don’t worry; we didn’t leave you all alone.”
I jerked my head toward the backseat, expecting to see someone rising from the floorboard holding a gun to my face. When I didn’t, I looked back toward Bruno and Greer in confusion.
“Not very observant, is he?” Bruno said to Greer. “Goodbye, Mr. Sarto.” He put both hands on the hood of the car and rocked it back and forth a couple of times before walking away, Greer at his side. I froze when a hissing sound started up from the backseat. Sweat pooled at my temples as I slowly turned my head to again look behind me.
What I saw sent sheer terror skating down my spine.
The snake was easily seven feet long. I hadn’t seen it before because it was a similar shade as the dark leather seats, and I had been looking for a human, but now it was standing on its tail, a wide hood expanded around its head, and its mouth open. Tawny eyes stared back at me, watching my every move.
“Holy shit,” I whispered, trying to remember everything I’d ever heard about cobras. Didn’t they spit? They could blind you. Or some could. I remained very still. Snakes detected heat. Or movement. Or both. Dammit! I couldn’t get out of the fucking car, and Bruno had agitated the snake. It hissed again, turning my blood cold, but on the exterior, I was burning up. It had to be ninety fucking degrees in there.
While one part of my mind worried about the venomous snake so close to me, the other worried about Cane and the others. Bruder knew we were onto him. He would be ready. Would he kill Royce as soon as he saw him? Had he already done something to Nick?
My eyes darted toward the building before going back to the snake. The expo was ending, and more and more people were pouring out. I knelt in the seat, staring at the snake. Goddamn, I couldn’t believe I’d trusted fucking Greer, who deserved a fucking Emmy for his fucking performance.
“Calm down, big boy,” I said to the snake, lips so dry they were sticking together.
The snake hissed. God, I hoped I was out of striking distance. I doubted it. Couldn’t snakes strike half their body length or something like that? Why hadn’t I watched more nature shows growing up?
A voice sounded outside the car, and I almost pissed myself. I was afraid to turn my head and look.
I moistened my lips with my tongue, and I swear the snake followed the movement with its angry little eyes. Its tongue flickered at the air.
“Tony, be very still.” The voice was female. I recognized it. “Sh-Shika?”
“Yeah. Well, Sheila, actually.” She sounded different. Less meek. “The snake is angry. Try to remain calm.”
“Easy for you to say. What are you doing here? I-I thought you left Bruder.”
“My name is Special Agent Sheila Carter. I’m with the FBI.”
My heart jumped. Thank God.
Something occurred to me, and in my nervous state, my mouth worked without connecting to my brain. “You mean to tell me you’ve been sleeping with Bruder for the job?”
“You gotta do what you gotta do. Hope you enjoyed the peep show while painting me.”
“Lady, I’m gay.”
She chuckled. “I figured that out pretty quickly. The way you looked at Karl’s cousin was a dead giveaway.”
I hadn’t taken my eyes off the cobra, but I frowned at her words. “I don’t look at him any certain—hell, what am I doing? Get me out of here!”
“I’ve got someone on the way.”
“You know about what’s happening in the tunnel?” I asked, sweat rolling down my face.
“Yep. Got it covered.”
“Listen, Cane’s got nothing to do with it. I know he’s Bruder’s cousin, but Bruder’s been blackmailing him for years, and Cane really didn’t know about the human trafficking.”
“We know. Karl likes to talk after sex, and he’s bragged enough about having Cane under his thumb.”
I heard feet pounding on pavement.
“Here comes the cavalry. We’ll have you out of there in no time. Just stay quiet and still.”
The cobra continued to hover, eyes always on me.
“Tony?”
That was Hung’s voice.
“Jeo! What are you doing here?”
“Fuck, Tony, just don’t move. They’re working on getting you out.”
“I’m not fucking moving,” I said. “This damn snake is staring at me. Why won’t it calm down?”
I sat like a statue. A sweating, panicking statue.
More footsteps on the pavement, and then the sound of the passenger door handle being tried. I turned my eyes to the side where I could see Jeo and part of Shika—Sheila. Radio static filled the air.
“I can’t get it opened,” a male voice said. I could tell when he spotted the snake because he drew in his breath and swore.
Panic welled in my chest at the rea
lization that the people there to rescue me weren’t particularly snake-savvy. It fueled my terror and made me sweat even harder.
“Are you all right, sir?” a security guard asked me, taking Jeo’s place by the window.
I wasn’t taking my eyes off the snake. “Fuck no! Do I look like I’m all right? Shouldn’t the snake be getting tired, sitting up like that?” Every muscle in my body remained tensed and ready to jump out of the way should the cobra strike.
“We’re working on getting you out of there. Just hang tight.”
My breaths were coming short, making me lightheaded. I was going to pass out, and when I did, the snake would strike, and I’d die right there in asshole Bruder’s car.
And Cane? Had Bruder discovered him at the pier? I fought to stay alert. I could faintly hear Dallas Jeo shooting questions at the security guard as time stretched out like a rubber band.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Cane
We circled the building Tony and I had visited before, coming around from the side not visible from the pier. Right now it was me, the Pistons, and Tease, Dante, and Zeke. Blaze and the others were on their way to the pier. Dante had been prepared to pick the lock to the building, but reported that the door was already unlocked, most likely by one of Karl’s men. They’d sent Foghorn in to keep a lookout and Axel to B-Natural to jam the elevator after everyone had gone down.
“There’s a large van parked behind some dumpsters near the pier,” Dante told me.
“Karl would have to have a way to transport his clients and their merchandise to their cars, so that makes sense,” I muttered, doubly glad we’d all been extremely careful not to be seen. “What about the ship? You see anyone near it?”
“We’ve only spotted one guy occasionally circling the deck.”
I nodded. Good thing Karl was so damned sure of himself; he was going to make it a lot easier on us.
Wallace and the other guy who’d volunteered to take a position inside the tunnel stepped up, and I motioned for them to follow me into the building, leaving the rest of the men outside. I kept a sharp ear for any sounds but heard nothing. Gun drawn, I was the first to step over the boards and into the tunnel.
The Hacker and his Heart's Desire Page 18
