Expired Game (Last Chance County Book 5)

by Lisa Phillips

  “There’s nothing here,” Basuto told him. Then he turned to her. “Have you heard anything new from Ted?”

  She didn’t even want to think, or talk, about Ted. Despite everything that connected them, he hadn’t even suggested they work together. And then Conroy had sent her out here with Basuto.

  She shook her head. “Nothing new. Let’s get out of here. This warehouse is a bust.”

  An understanding look crossed Basuto’s face. “One more place we didn’t find them is one step closer to finding where they are.”

  That sounded like something Ted would have said just a few months ago. These days it seemed as though he was nothing like the guy she had been falling for.

  Jess was ready to hit the next place on the list now. The quicker they got on with this, the better. “Let’s roll out.”

  Searching for her sister and Dean was a good distraction from thinking about her non-relationship with Ted. Even if redirecting the two men with her made it clear to them that she just wanted to avoid all conversation.

  Besides, he was busy anyway. What was the point in bothering him? Ted would call them if he found something in any of the computers or phones they had confiscated so far.

  Special Agent Jenkins nodded. “I talked with our undercover here in town. He’s with a group of West’s men right now. He’ll keep eyes and ears open for your sister and her boyfriend.”

  She nodded.

  As they descended the stairs, Basuto said, “What I can’t believe is that someone got the drop on Dean.” He shook his head, in the lead as he pushed out into the ground floor space. “I kind of figured that guy could do anything.”

  The special agent said, “He hasn’t been a SEAL for a while, right? Plus, he was with his girlfriend. Maybe he was distracted and not paying attention.”

  Jess shot him a look he should have felt, there was so much fire in it. “Dean isn’t losing his skills. He lives and trains with a private security team.” Sure, he might be an unofficial EMT and working on his therapy license, but it wasn’t like the man didn’t keep up with his workouts.

  She also knew for a fact that Ted trained with them on occasion. He wasn’t muscled like the rest of them, but it was clear he didn’t maintain his lean build by sitting behind his desk all day.

  And that was the end of that discussion. She ignored the special agent from then on, right up until they stopped at the front doors to see two big trucks pull up outside.

  Basuto put out a hand in front of her. “Hold up. We need to find out if these guys are friendly, or if we need to head out the back way.”

  She was right there with him. Neither wanted to waste time on a confrontation.

  Behind them, the special agent snorted. “We’re cops. These guys don’t have a choice except to let us through.”

  “Unless they’re here to cause trouble, or even take us with them at gunpoint.” Jess didn’t want to sound pessimistic. Unfortunately, that exact thing had happened several times in the last few days. They’d managed to escape, but now her sister and Dean had not.

  Were they West’s new target or just more leverage for him to use to get the police department in Last Chance to do whatever he wanted?

  “How did they know we were here?” She backed up from the door, thinking through the situation, even while she looked for a way out. They’d have to circle the building to get back to their cars. But she was pretty sure the police forensic scientists who’d been here had shut the back door with a padlock. It hadn’t affected her the other day, coming in the side, but it might prevent them from getting out now considering the lock was on the outside.

  She turned to Basuto. “Is there another side door?” These guys would see them come out of the entrance she used.

  “If there is, we need to find it fast.”

  They both turned to the special agent. “Are you coming?” she asked Jenkins. “Or do you want to throw your ‘cop’ weight around and see what happens against a bunch of armed men?”

  They were almost at the door now. At least six of them, all carrying heavy weapons.

  Jess said, “Either way, we should call for backup.”

  The special agent snorted again at her assessment of the situation. But what did she care what this guy thought? Cops backed up other cops, and in their department, that counted for everything. Too many times recently had someone been hurt or put in danger. They weren’t going to let each other down now.

  Basuto got on his radio and confirmed with the on-duty dispatcher what they needed. It struck a pang in her that it wasn’t Bill on the other end, but she couldn’t think about that now either.

  All Jess could think was one thing.

  Between the two men with her, one of them had told West where she was.

  Jess turned and headed for the hallway. Basuto jogged right behind her. She said, “The door at the end of this hall, around the corner, is padlocked from the outside. We’ll have to find another way out.”

  “Take a left at the end instead. Go through the offices on the north corner. I think there’s another fire exit out there.”

  She nodded and pushed through the door, glancing back once before stepping into the office. Special Agent Jenkins was coming after them. Not so determined to face all those men by himself.

  At the end of the hall, glass shattered. Gunshots sang down the hall. The special agent yelped and ducked his head as he ran toward them.

  Jess could hear multiple pairs of boots pounding their way. She turned to the office and raced through, using the flashlight on her gun to light her way. Even so, her hip clipped the corner of the desk, and she nearly went down.

  The door swung open and slammed against the wall. Another gunshot rang out. The special agent yelped and went down, sprawling to the floor. He’d been shot.

  “Stop!”

  Multiple gunmen repeated that word. But Basuto and Jess didn’t even slow down. Everything in her wanted to go back and try and help the special agent, even if Jenkins had been irritated with them. That didn’t mean he needed to be left behind where he could be shot again and killed. She hadn’t seen any blood, but he could be bleeding out.

  In the hesitation where she considered turning back, Basuto slammed into her. They almost went down but both caught themselves on the next desk.

  “Go.” Her sergeant’s order was unnecessary but welcome. He agreed with her assessment of the inherent risk in going back to try to help the special agent.

  Another bullet whizzed past them. She dived behind the closest desk, came up, and fired two shots. Both hit a gunman square in the chest.

  A bullet slammed into the desk in front of her face. Jess ducked back down and saw Basuto crouched by the desk across from her. “How long until backup?”

  “Too long.”

  She lifted and fired two more shots. Soon enough she would run out of bullets, making her wonder if she had enough to take them all out.

  “I’ll cover. You get out of here.”

  She was already shaking her head before Basuto finished talking. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “That is an order from your sergeant.”

  Jess gritted her teeth. All she was going to do was go outside, meet their backup at the front door, and bring them back in straight away so they could help Basuto and the special agent. Just that. Out and back in. Still, she didn’t like it. It might get the job done, but she would be leaving the sergeant alone.

  “Go.” Basuto lifted and started firing.

  Jess used the cover of gunshots to head for the fire exit at this corner of the building. She reached the doorway and ducked behind cover, turning back to get one last look at her sergeant.

  Just as he took a bullet to the chest and flew back onto the ground.

  Jess screamed.

  Twenty-eight

  The spot where his father had told him they would meet was half a mile past the end of a road that dead ended in the foothills. That was Ted’s first red flag. But what else was he supposed to do? Stuart
was out of town protecting his wife. Dean had been captured with Ellie. The team was off on a mission.

  He had no choice except pack the gun Zander had given him for his last birthday and go by himself.

  He wasn’t going to trust his father. But Ted would do everything he could to get his brother back.

  The cops couldn’t help him. No one could.

  A breeze ruffled the trees, carrying with it the scent of some musty mountain animal. Ted didn’t want to think about the kinds of creatures that roamed these mountains. The four-legged as well as the two-legged kind. Threats were everywhere, and he’d never been more aware of that fact as he walked alone up the trail.

  To meet his father, a man who had terrorized so many.

  Help me be brave.

  Ted knew how his brother and Ellie felt about their relationship with God. Maybe he would get there as well, someday. He figured their faith meant even if God wasn’t willing to accept everything he’d done, He might help Ted anyway. The kind of God he wanted to believe in helped those who were close to Him. Even vicariously.

  He got to the clearing a few minutes later where his dad was already waiting for him. Despite the fact his father was sitting alone on a tree stump, Ted was never going to be fooled that the man wasn’t cunning and dangerous.

  “Where is he holding Dean and Ellie?”

  His dad glanced aside, up at the trees. Sitting like this, he almost seemed like a regular guy, but maybe that was the point. Get people to let their guard down—assume he wasn’t as dangerous as he was.

  “I don’t have time for the runaround right now. This is about saving their lives, not about anything that needs to be said between you and me.”

  For too long he had allowed his father to dictate his actions and view of himself. Ted wasn’t willing to allow that to distract him from his mission here.

  His father sighed.

  “Am I keeping you from something more important than saving your son’s life?”

  “You have no clue what’s even going on in this town, do you?” His father sounded almost wistful. “Blind. All of you.”

  Ted didn’t care about that, because he thought they did have a decent handle on it. He was only here right now for one thing. “Why did you even come back to Last Chance?”

  Why ask Ted to meet him if Pierce had no intention of helping get his family back? Unless this was just another game.

  Ted pulled his phone out and glanced at the screen. No signal? That was less than helpful. “If you’re not planning to help, I’m leaving.” He turned away.

  His father’s clothing rustled. “This is bigger than you. It’s always been bigger than you.”

  “You think I don’t know that?” Ted twisted back around.

  Given the way his jacket hung, he figured his father had a gun as well. Ted shouldn’t have been surprised, but a pang of grief shot through him anyway. Why couldn’t they be a normal father and son? All he’d ever wanted was to be raised by a man he could look up to. Not a man he hated. One he would always resent.

  It turned out the man he could look up to was Dean.

  “Just tell me where West is holding them, and I’ll go.” Ted lifted his hands, then let them fall back to his sides. “You won’t have to see me again.” And he would get his brother back.

  “You think that’s what I want?”

  “Why wouldn’t I think that?” The last thing he wanted right now was to get into a conversation about why his father was the way he was, or why he’d never loved Ted as he should have. Or even if he was capable of that kind of love. The old man should’ve just handed him over to child services years ago. Instead, he’d packed Ted along with him. Just another tool to be used for his own ends.

  Ted studied the old man’s face. Despite the lines and shadows, he wasn’t going to feel empathy for a man like this. Not ever. “Tell me why you came here. Because I don’t buy that you want something from West, or that you’re under his thumb.”

  His dad almost looked proud. “All part of the plan.”

  The old man only ever had one plan, and he stuck to it religiously.

  Ted studied him. “So you keep the cops looking elsewhere. Or, if they get too close, you convince them the threat level is too high. Not worth going after, too risky to try to take you down.”

  “So you do remember.”

  “As much as I’ve tried for years to forget everything about you.” Ted couldn’t get off track though. “What have you got going on with West?”

  Ted figured he was here for the money. A way to run—forever. But that didn’t seem like his dad. Nothing about this jived. He should be on a beach somewhere, hiding out in a hut where the authorities would never find him.

  Instead, he was here. The FBI was here. And his dad didn’t seem too interested in running.

  So why stay? To tie up loose ends or pick up what he needed to get going?

  Not knowing the answer to that question was enough to drive Ted insane. Perhaps he would plead that way when the cops brought him in for shooting the man in front of him.

  He looked at his phone again. Still no signal.

  “Technical problems?”

  Ted’s head snapped up to survey the look on his dad’s face. Amusement stared back at him. A signal jammer.

  He was in over his head, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He needed a result. Ted pulled the gun from his waistband and held it on his father, effectively shifting the balance of power in his favor.

  Until his dad laughed.

  “Tell me where West has them.” Ted gritted his teeth. “Or I leave you here to bleed out while I walk away, call the FBI, and tell them exactly where to find you.”

  Something flashed across his dad’s face. Not exactly fear, just a healthy acknowledgment that Ted could do that. Good. His dad would be back in federal custody. Not where he wanted to be, but where he belonged.

  The old man’s face rumpled as he scrunched his nose for a second. “Doesn’t matter. I’d escape again.”

  “Then I’ll kill you right here, right now.”

  “That would accelerate things. Unfortunately, for West.” The old man frowned. “And then you’d never find them.”

  “Tell me where they are, and I’ll walk away.” He held the gun steady, as though everything in him wasn’t shaking at the thought of taking a life. His first kill; his own father.

  Then it would be Ted who walked away. Living anonymously, hiding from the authorities. Or they would give him a medal. He wasn’t sure how it would play out.

  Just so long as it got Dean and Ellie back.

  Ted heard an accelerated movement behind him. He let his focus slip to assess who it was. A crackle sounded a split second before the effects of a stun gun rolled through him. One knee hit the ground, but, miraculously, he kept himself from collapsing.

  Ted’s gun tumbled from his fingers onto the dirt of the trail. His father swiped it up while Ted just tried to breathe through the pain.

  Finally, he was able to stand. Behind him, two men dragged a woman toward them. Jess.

  A gun pressed against his spine. “You want to know where your brother is? Don’t worry. You’ll be finding out soon enough.”

  A myriad of thoughts swept through his mind, most too fast to catch hold of. Except one. “You’re handing us over to him?”

  Before his father could respond, Jess let out a long moan. The two men dropped her face down on the ground, then turned to him. He braced to fight them off, but the gun dug deeper into his back. “This will be much harder if you’re bleeding out.”

  They taped his hands, stuffed a rag in his mouth, and tied something like a strip of cloth around his head so that it held his mouth open. He couldn’t speak, only make muffled sounds that meant nothing.

  The gun jabbed at him. “Everything is ready?” That was his father.

  “Yes, sir.” One of the men nodded, his body taut. He was scared of Pierce Cartwright. Like Keeley was, or even Stuart. Was he one of Ted’s fathe
r’s mercenaries?

  You don’t have to do what he says. Yet the guy clearly didn’t share Ted’s thoughts.

  What was going on? Ted spun, wishing he could ask all the questions rolling around in his mind. But he had no power here. Why had he ever thought he did?

  Help us. The two men watched Ted’s father walk away. Until he disappeared into the trees. Ted wanted to run, but he couldn’t leave Jess. He moved to her.

  Both men reacted. One shoved him back. Ted fell to the ground. Jess was hoisted up over one guy’s shoulder. The other man grabbed his hands, lifted him, and stood back up. He carried Ted much the same way. They bumped and jolted through the trees until they reached a clearing and a couple of ATVs.

  Ted flopped onto the ground. His head hit a rock, and he moaned. Never mind the pain in his wrist. He wanted to pass out like Jess. But if he did that, then he would never see where these guys were taking them.

  Some kind of final destination. Where the four of them—Ted and Jess, Dean and Ellie—would be killed. West would dispose of them. His dad would walk away clean.

  Was that why he’d come home? To bargain with West and walk away to a fresh start; his sons, dead? Nausea twisted in his stomach, and Ted tasted bile in the back of his throat. Just another asset at the end of its usable life. His father had no feelings at all. Let alone any care for his offspring. It was a wonder he’d ever managed to stay with a woman long enough to have made the two of them.

  Ted had long ago figured they were step brothers and not full brothers. Maybe his father had killed both women after they birthed him a son, and now he planned to be done with them too.

  Using West to achieve that aim.

  It was complicated enough that Ted was having a hard time trying to reconcile it all in his head.

  The ATV engines roared to life. Ted was loaded on the back of one, and it set off through the foothills. He couldn’t tell where they were going. Just that night was ticking on, the temperature falling. His skin chilled, raising those bumps. Sweat gathered at his hairline.

  Someone called out. The man driving the vehicle he was in answered, “Just up ahead.”

  They turned left, the trees parting to a clearing. Ted heard a familiar sound but couldn’t place it. Then he smelled algae.