It just pissed him off that Brea was only eager to crawl into bed with him in order to save Bryant.
“That’s why I’m on it. Stay here.”
“Cage and Mama Sweeney are waiting for me back at—”
“No.” He pinned her with a glare. “If you want this done, stay here.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, but she nodded. “All right.”
Fuck, he wasn’t trying to scare her, but he also didn’t need anyone except him and the cops to know what he had planned—if they even agreed to let him try.
“I’ll be back.” One-Mile turned for the door.
Brea grabbed his arm, folding one hand in his. “Please be careful.”
Was she saying that because she actually cared or simply because she didn’t want his blood on her conscience?
“The gunman will never know I’m there until I put a bullet in his brain.”
She flinched but grabbed him tighter. “Will you keep me posted? I’ll text you my number.”
She really had no idea who she was dealing with. If she was never going to want him, maybe it was time to scare the hell out of her so she’d give him a wide berth. Because if he didn’t get distance between them, he didn’t know how much longer he could stop himself from tasting the sweet pink bow of her lips. And once he got his mouth on her…
Fuck.
One-Mile leaned into her personal space and braced himself against the doorjamb above her head, glaring down. “I already know it. I know everything about you because I made it my business. I’ll call when there’s something to say.”
She swallowed and glanced up at him nervously. “Thank you.”
He raised a brow. “You can thank me later.”
By staying the hell away.
He left his bedroom and the house, dragging his phone out of his pocket as he launched himself into his Jeep. Time to compartmentalize all this destructive touchy-feely shit and get down to business. Which of his three bosses would listen without losing his head and pave the way for him to get busy?
One-Mile finally settled on Hunter, dialing the former SEAL’s number as he turned down the main drag out of his neighborhood. Logan seemed to think he spoke the same language as his older brother. So far, he and the elder Edgington sibling had circled each other. Now he had to hope the younger Edgington hadn’t been blowing smoke up his ass.
“What do you want, Walker? It’s a Saturday. I’m spending it with my wife and son.”
“Unfortunately, unhinged gunmen with an ax to grind don’t work Monday through Friday. And your golden boy, Bryant, didn’t waste any time playing the hero and offering himself up as the sacrificial lamb.”
“What the…” Hunter sounded blazingly pissed as he swallowed a curse. “Kata, take the baby.” After some rustling, heavy footsteps clapped across the hardwood floors. “That goddamn son of a bitch. How long do we have?”
“Less than two hours before time’s up on the gunman’s demands.”
“And the shit hits the fan. Why the hell did the police clue you and not me?”
“They never said dick to me. Brea asked me to intervene.”
“Fuck.” A hundred questions hovered in his expletive, but to Hunter’s credit, he didn’t ask those now. He just cut to the chase. “You think there’s a kill shot to get?”
“I’m on my way to find out. Can you make a few calls, take care of some red tape for me?”
Hunter hesitated. “I could try, but I know who will succeed.”
One-Mile knew exactly who he meant. “Your dad.”
“Bingo. Everyone respects the hell out of the colonel.”
Since One-Mile was in that camp, too, he totally understood Hunter’s reasoning. “Good thought. I’m heading to the scene. Let me know.”
“I’ll have my dad get in touch with you after he’s reached out and touched the right people. Thank God he knows everyone in this damn town.”
And was at the top of the good ol’ boys’ food chain.
“Thanks.”
“I appreciate you intervening, especially when Brea’s request puts you in an awkward-as-fuck position.”
Did everyone fucking know he had a hard-on for her? “Your point?”
“Logan and I knew Cage in high school. I know you don’t like Cutter much, but…rough childhood. His mom and his brother are good people.”
And Cutter was also everyone’s favorite at EM. “I got it. I’ll take care of it.”
Then he hung up. What more was there to say? He’d been tasked with saving the hero before he slunk back to the dark corners of humanity because no one liked to admit that people like him were a necessary evil.
When he reached the scene, the police had cordoned off all entrances to the strip mall that housed the grocery store. Caleb Edgington had apparently worked fast, because the beat cops keeping the parking lot secure let him through right away.
He didn’t have to wander through the pandemonium to find the person in charge. A short, forty-something balding guy approached him, eyed him up and down, then stuck out his hand. “You must be Walker. I’m Major John Gaines, the precinct commander.”
One-Mile shook his hand. “Tell me what you know.”
“Sure. First, we’re glad you came. Our SWAT unit is very qualified but…”
None with his credentials. “I’m sure they are.”
“You’re a little bit of a celebrity among the ranks. A one-mile kill shot is… Well, I don’t need to tell you how rare that is.”
Fewer than fifteen people in the world had ever actually managed one, but he wasn’t here to discuss that. “Any further contact from Bryant or the gunman? Does he have a name?”
Gaines finally got the picture that he wasn’t up for a trip down memory lane. “No additional communication. The gunman is Richard Schading. He and his wife, Emily, have been married four years. She’s a checker here. Apparently, their relationship has been rocky, and she filed for divorce after he got fired from his last job. She’s pregnant, and Richard is convinced another guy knocked her up. I think he went into the store with a murder-suicide plan. Mr. Bryant talked him out of it.”
“Is the wife free now?” If he could talk to her, she could give him the scoop, especially her husband’s habits and what he might be planning next.
“Not yet, just the others. Schading swears that once we meet his demands, he’ll let her go.”
So he was intending to use Bryant as a human shield in his getaway. And once they cleared the area, Brea’s boyfriend would be a defenseless duck who’d get a quick bullet to the brain. It was also possible the gunman would kill both Cutter and the wife, then turn the gun on himself. Offenders like this were emotional, which made them as unpredictable as they were crazy.
“Where and how are you supposed to make good on his demands?”
“There’s a back door. He wants us to leave the Camaro with a full tank of gas running there, money and the booze in the back seat before five.”
One-Mile glanced at his phone. He had time, not a ton…but it would have to be enough. “I need to scope the area back there.” He gave a visual sweep around the parking lot. “I’m assuming you have the building surrounded?”
“Yes, and we’ve advised him of that. We’ve also evacuated the rest of the businesses in this strip mall.”
That was a plus. “Once I’m in position, you need to clear everyone out from behind the building.”
“And leave you alone?” Gaines’s scowl said that wasn’t happening. “I don’t think—”
“If Schading sees your men surrounding him with weapons drawn, we don’t know how he’ll respond. If he doesn’t feel hemmed in and threatened, he’ll be more predictable. And I’ll stand a better chance of getting off a clean shot.”
“What if you miss?”
“I don’t. But if you think you’ve got this under control, I can leave.”
Gaines gritted his teeth as they exchanged numbers. “When you’re in place, give me the word. I’ll tell
everyone back there to clear out.”
“Perfect.”
The other man scowled. “You’re every bit the arrogant asshole I heard you were.”
As the precinct commander turned away, he heard a familiar laugh behind him. “Look at you, making friends wherever you go.”
One-Mile couldn’t not smile back as he turned to find Caleb Edgington. He stuck out his hand. “Good to see you, sir.”
“You, too,” the tall man with silvery temples said. “Don’t mind Gaines. He has short-man’s disease.”
“I know his type.”
“I’ll soothe his little feelings,” the colonel promised. “What are you thinking here?”
“I need to scout out back.”
“Want me to walk it with you?”
“Yeah.” He welcomed the colonel’s seasoned opinion.
“Happy to.” Caleb kept pace beside him as they used the nail salon beside the grocery store as a thruway to the back of the strip mall. “How have you been getting along with my sons since my retirement?”
One-Mile hesitated. “You want the truth?”
“I don’t want bullshit.”
Fair enough. “They’re all right. But I hired on expecting to work for you.”
“I know. I’m sorry that didn’t happen.”
“I get it. Things change. People move on.”
“But you depended on me—all of you—and I let you down. That’s bugged the hell out of me.” He hesitated. “Did you know Bryant felt the same?”
“No.”
“The evening after I delivered the news in our team meeting, he called to ream me a new asshole.”
Finally, something he respected Bryant for. “I wanted to.”
“I figured you would, so I kept you busy with another job.” Caleb winked.
“Sly dog.”
“I’ve learned a few tricks over the years, but give my sons a fair shake. They’re all-around badasses and good men.”
“Yes, but they’re not you, sir.”
“I appreciate that, but they’ll win you over in time. I’m sure of it. They’re just not used to handling someone who scares them.”
None of them seemed to be shaking in his boots. “Come again?”
“Not literally, but you’re a different breed than their SEAL teammates.”
Those guys were like brothers. Hell, closer than family in some cases. Snipers like him tended to be loners. “You’re saying they don’t know how to relate.”
“Logan is trying. Hunter and Joaquin are watching how you shake out. Bryant is easy for them to understand. He’s damn good at what he does, and he has a noble streak a mile wide…”
While One-Mile himself was morally gray. “Got it.”
“You don’t. They know you’re important. Special. They just don’t know how to take you. And it’s not like any of them are well known for their interpersonal skills.”
One-Mile smiled. “So you’re asking me to be patient?”
“I’d appreciate it. They only took over the business a few months ago. A lot of this is new for them, but especially someone like you.”
One-Mile wasn’t dumb; the colonel was buttering him up, but he understood the basic message. He wasn’t a team player since that wasn’t his role, and that made relating to him difficult. He also had a chip on his shoulder because Bryant had Brea, and he wanted her way more than he should. The colonel’s sons were running a security firm, not overseeing a daytime drama. Hence, Logan’s warning to keep his angst out of the office.
“I’m reserving judgment, doing my job, and keeping my nose clean. Speaking of which…” He scanned the alley behind the grocery store.
It looked typical. A lot of concrete, a couple of dumpsters, painted brick topped by a flat industrial roof. A retaining wall blocked off access to the street behind the strip mall. A residential development lay directly beyond that, leaving the gunman’s easy path of escape an adjacent highway that led straight out of town. It also limited the places One-Mile could set up a shot in the immediate vicinity.
But across from the cookie-cutter neighborhood, he saw possibilities.
“Give me a minute.”
At the colonel’s nod, he jumped and grabbed the top of the eight-foot retaining wall, then hoisted himself up for a look-see over the whole vicinity. To his left, he saw a bank, but he didn’t like the pitch of its roof or close proximity to the grocery store. If Schading was observant enough, he’d be spotted up there. Behind that stood a doctor’s office, but that roofline was also too sloped to provide the proper stability for his setup. He could see rooflines beyond that but didn’t know this part of town well enough to know what businesses they housed.
One-Mile whipped out his phone, found a satellite map, and answered his own question in the next thirty seconds.
He jumped down to join the colonel in the alley once more. “There’s a two-story storage facility across the street about four buildings back. I’d like to set up there.”
The colonel gawked over the wall at the building he’d indicated. “I won’t ask you if you’re crazy. I know the answer.”
One-Mile shrugged. “Not the first time I’ve been accused of that.”
“You know that’s over a thousand feet away.”
He nodded. “I’ve hit double that.”
The colonel sighed, then slapped him on the back. “Which is why I hired you. I respect that you’re not arrogant, just factual.”
“I do my best, sir. Sure there’s no chance you’ll take over the business again?”
“The boys have already renamed it Edgington-Muñoz, so no. I’m out.” He shrugged. “Carlotta and I have decided to travel instead. We’re taking a cruise.”
“I can’t picture you at the buffet before shuffleboard.”
The older man closed his eyes. “It sounds horrible, doesn’t it? But still better than this high-stress, life-and-death shit.” He clapped One-Mile on the back. “I’ll talk to Gaines and get you on that roof. How long do you need to set up?”
“As much time as you can buy me. The good news is, I’ll be shooting to the northeast, so Schading will have the sun in his eyes, not me. I need a weather report. Not the hotter-than-fuck part; I know that. But I could use a thorough wind forecast. I need to know if I can expect the current conditions to hold.”
“Get your gear, and I’ll have a chat with the powers that be. I’ll meet you back at your Jeep in a few.”
One-Mile headed back to his vehicle, struck by the stillness of what must be a typically busy parking lot. Beyond that, motorists rubbernecked, trying to see what all the fuss in the strip mall was about. Their lives went on as soon as the light turned green. Someone’s was going to end today, and he would be the one pulling the trigger.
He just hoped Schading was the only person on the scene who met his end.
As much as One-Mile disliked Bryant, his squeaky-clean heroics, and his hold on Brea Bell, he didn’t wish death on the guy. He’d tried to do the right thing, and One-Mile respected that. Besides, his passing would destroy the pretty preacher’s daughter. And if she thought he was killing for any reason other than to please her, she was fooling herself.
It didn’t take long for the colonel to approach, Gaines in tow.
The precinct commander eyed him. “You sure about that location?”
The guy who had never been a sniper was going to question his strategy? “It’s the best balance between getting the right angle and being difficult for the gunman to spot.”
“Our SWAT guys think we’d do better to put someone on the roof of the grocery store, so that when Schading walks out with the wife and Bryant, the car will be in front of him. He’ll get distracted by his getaway and leave you a really easy shot from behind.”
One-Mile shook his head. “Or he sees the obvious plan coming a mile away and looks on the roof, spots me, then kills someone to prove a goddamn point.”
“That’s the risk we take.”
He shook his head. “Maybe that
’s the risk you take when you don’t have someone who can hit this shot. But since I can and I’m probably the person he kills to make that point, I vote we do it my way.”
“Let him do his job, John,” the colonel encouraged in knowledgeable tones. “He’s the best. I hired him myself.”
Gaines cursed. “I need to make a few phone calls. We’ll have to clear out as many civilians as we can.”
One-Mile shrugged. “If that makes you feel better… I’m not going to miss and hit any of them, but if you’re worried Schading will fire back, I promise he’ll be dead before he even realizes he’s taken a bullet.”
“We’ll see,” the commander grumbled, then walked away.
“He’s got to cover his ass. If anything goes wrong, the department could have the shit sued out of them, and the optics would be horrible around the community.”
“Valid points.” One-Mile wasn’t used to worrying about shit like that, just about getting the damn job done.
“He’ll come through.”
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Gaines ambled back with a scowl. “You got your way. The police chief isn’t thrilled, but he’s on board. The bank is closing now. The doctor was having a staff meeting that he’s wrapping up, and the light industrial offices behind that are already closed. The storage facility only has one employee on shift. He’s scheduled to leave at five, so he’s going to slide out early. You’ll have a clear shot.”
He could set up and get to work now. Best news he’d heard all day.
After that, shit happened quickly, which suited One-Mile just fine. To the police’s credit, they cleared all traffic from the vicinity with minimal disruption. If Schading had any accomplices outside the store—and they’d seen no indication of that—it would simply appear as if all of these businesses had gone dark for the rest of the weekend. They’d also managed to block off the alley to the east and the street access, as if the city intended to bring in a road crew to fill some potholes.
Thirty minutes later, he’d set up his tripod, positioned his weapon, and gotten his scope in place. Then he did what snipers had to learn to do if they wanted to be any fucking good: he waited. He refined the shot, felt the wind and heaviness of the air, factored that into his mental calculations, then texted Caleb to let them know he was ready, along with a host of other instructions to make sure no one spooked Schading or blocked his shot.
Wicked as Sin Page 8
