Love Inspired Suspense December 2015, Box Set 2 of 2

by Margaret Daley

  Tony laughed. “What do you think I want? What I’ve been looking for ever since I had to kill that two-timing Kyle Lockhart.” He glanced down at the gym bag in Lucas’s hand. “And I think you’ve just brought it to me.”

  Lucas glanced down at the bag he was holding. “All right. If that’s what you want, let my mother and Mia go, and you can have the bag.”

  The corner of Tony’s mouth lifted in a smirk. “Oh, I’m going to get it, but I’m not sure yet what’s going to happen to these two lovely ladies you seem to care so much about.” His face dissolved into a grim mask of hatred as he glared at Mia. He turned his head so that Lucas could get a good look at the red burns that streaked the side of his face. “Especially the one who did this to me. I have a score to settle with her.”

  Lucas’s stomach clenched, and he held out the bag. “You can have this. Just let them go.”

  Tony glanced down at the gym bag again. “I don’t think you’re in a position to bargain. Now drop your gun to the floor and place the bag on the table.”

  Fear flashed across his mother’s face, and she tried to rise from the chair. Tony grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back into the seat. “Lucas, no,” she whispered. “Don’t give up your gun. You know he’s going to kill all of us.”

  Lucas hesitated a moment, unsure of what to do. He’d faced death many times when he was a navy SEAL, but he’d always had his band of brothers there with him. Now he was alone, and Chapman and Miller were threatening the lives of the two women he loved most in this world. Did he risk all their lives by giving up his gun, or did he take his chance that he might be able to get at least one shot off before Chapman or Miller could react?

  Tony pressed the gun harder against his mother’s head, and in the end Lucas did the only thing he could. He pulled his gun from its holster, dropped it to the floor and set the bag on the kitchen table. His mother looked up at him, a sad smile on her lips.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  He could see tears shining in her eyes. “Don’t worry, son,” she said. “I understand.”

  Behind him he heard movement, and he turned to see Donnie holding on to Mia’s arm. He pushed her past Lucas and propelled her across the room. They came to a stop next to the others. Lucas let his gaze drift over the group now facing him—Chapman with a gun to his mother’s head and Miller holding one on Mia.

  Donnie slipped his gun back in the waistband of his pants and glanced at Chapman. “Hold on to her while I check to see if everything’s there.”

  Chapman reached out and wrapped his left hand around Mia’s arm but still aimed the gun in his right hand at Lucas’s mother. Lucas watched as Donnie unzipped the bag and threw the clothes on top to the floor. When he peered into the bottom of the bag, a big grin covered his face. The smile grew larger by the second when he reached inside and began to take inventory.

  After a few minutes he nodded to Tony. “It looks like it’s all here. Now take care of them and let’s get out of here.”

  Donnie’s words sent panic racing through Lucas, and his eyes grew wide. “Wait,” he said. “You two have already committed enough crimes to keep you in jail for the rest of your lives. You don’t need to add more to it.”

  “We may not need to add more to it, but we’re going to,” Tony seethed. “This deal wasn’t supposed to take this long or have so many problems with it.” He glanced at Mia. “We wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for Lockhart double-crossing us. We had a nice business going, and we were all getting rich when he decided he wanted it all. He and that Abbott woman thought they could fake a robbery of this shipment, and we wouldn’t be any wiser. Too bad they were wrong.”

  Lucas glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. If he could keep Chapman talking, he might be able to stall them until his father arrived home, and together they might be able to take down Chapman and Miller. He licked his lips, searched his mind for how to play for time and took a deep breath. “So it’s true that you and Kyle were smuggling artifacts into the country and selling them off the books through Shackleford’s Imports. How long had you been doing that?”

  Tony shrugged. “Since right after old man Shackleford got sick and Kyle took over the business. I met Donnie about five years ago when we were both knocking around Europe. We ended up working for some guys in Paris who hooked us up with a smuggling ring. They set us up with a cartel that wanted access to my contacts down in New Orleans and could get the goods into the country and up the Mississippi River to Memphis. All we needed was someone in the import business who had clients that would pay top money for one-of-a-kind artifacts.”

  “And that’s where Kyle came in.” The angry tone of Mia’s voice made Lucas’s breath hitch in his throat. What was she doing? She didn’t need to make Chapman angrier.

  “Mia…” he began, but Chapman was quicker.

  He wrapped his fingers around Mia’s neck and pulled upward until she was standing on her tiptoes. Her face turned red, and Lucas took a step toward her.

  “Back off,” Chapman ordered, “unless you want me to blow her brains out right here.”

  Lucas held up his hands. “Calm down. There’s no need to get excited. Let go of her neck.” Tony squeezed harder and then laughed as he released his hold on Mia’s throat. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief and then continued. “So Kyle was your front man and sold the stolen artifacts for you. And Donnie was there at Shackleford’s to help make sure that nothing showed up in the official records. You were all working together until Kyle went behind your back and…what was it you said? He pretended the shipment had been robbed?”

  Donnie looked up from inventorying the contents of the bag and zipped it closed. “That’s right. Lockhart and his girlfriend planned to sell it on their own. We couldn’t let them do that.”

  Lucas glanced at the clock again. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep them talking. “So you killed Christine, too?”

  Chapman nodded. “I took Donnie and Clyde to her house to use her boat so Clyde wouldn’t have to drive up to the front door of Lockhart’s house. We didn’t expect the two of you to show up. At first, it seemed like the perfect chance to grab our little troublemaker here.” He gave Mia an evil grin. “But when you caught Clyde, and he decided to make a deal, I had to take care of him, too. Then I went back to meet up with Donnie at Christine’s.”

  Donnie chuckled. “Yeah, it was kind of funny that I was holding a gun on her the whole time she stood at the door talking to the police about her boat being stolen. When they were gone, I paid her back for double-crossing us.”

  Lucas shook his head. “How do you guys live with yourselves? I suppose you shot Janet, too.”

  Donnie nodded. “Yeah, once I overheard her talking to you and realized she knew about the jewelry, she had to be taken care of. I didn’t shoot to kill, just to hurt her bad enough to shut her up. By the time she’s able to talk to the police, we’ll be long gone. So I guess she got off lucky.”

  “Lucky?” Mia shouted. “The woman is badly hurt and may die, and you say she’s lucky. What kind of men are you?” Lucas took a step forward as Donnie started to raise his gun.

  “The kind who are about to do the same to you if you don’t shut up,” Donnie snarled.

  Lucas held up his hands. “Calm down. There’s one thing I don’t understand, though. How did you guess we were going to the gym to look for the artifacts today?”

  Donnie and Tony exchanged knowing glances before Tony looked at Lucas. “We figured this was the only place you’d feel safe bringing your girlfriend, and we watched until we were sure she was staying here. Then a few days ago while everybody was out, I disabled the security system and picked the lock on the back door so I could leave some bugs all over the house. We’ve been listening to your conversations ever since. Today we knew it had paid off because it made sense that Lockhart had stashed the loot at his gym.”

  Donnie pointed to the bag. “And there it is. And now it’s time for us to be going.” He turned to
Chapman. “I’ll leave the girl to you since you have a score to settle with her. I’ll get the other two.”

  Perspiration popped out on Lucas’s forehead, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He had to do something. Then he blinked as Donnie raised his gun and aimed it at him. A movement caught his eye, and his stomach lurched. A strangled cry escaped his lips as his mother pushed up from her chair.

  Before he could warn her off, she launched herself at him just as Donnie pulled the trigger. He heard Mia’s scream, but it sounded as if it came from far away. He was only conscious of his mother’s body jerking at the impact of the bullet ripping through her. With a muffled cry she collapsed against Lucas. He wrapped his arms around her and cradled her body against his. With a thud they tumbled to the floor.

  The sound of the bullet still ringing in his ears, time stood still for him, and he felt himself spiraling into the mind-set of the well-trained combat SEAL he’d once been. Before he had time to think, once again he was on the battlefield, and the survival of those around him depended on what he did next. In one swift movement he scooped up his gun, which lay a few feet away, and fired off two rounds.

  Donnie’s eyes opened in shock as the two bullets found their mark, and the gun dropped from his hand. His eyes glazed, and then he fell to the floor.

  Lucas turned the gun on Chapman, but Chapman held Mia in front of him. His left arm circled Mia’s waist with the gym bag dangling from his hand. The right one still held the gun next to Mia’s head.

  “I’m leaving now, Knight, and if you come after me, I’ll kill her.”

  Mia’s frightened eyes appeared locked on his mother’s figure, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Take care of your mother, Lucas,” she said.

  And then Chapman pulled her backward, and she was gone.

  Lucas heard the front door burst open and running footsteps. He’d just pulled out his cell phone when his father ran through the kitchen door. His mouth gaped open, and he dropped to his knees next to his wife.

  “What happened?”

  Lucas shoved the phone in his hand. “Call 911. We need an ambulance and the police. Tony Chapman has taken Mia.”

  He knelt beside his mother and laid her on the floor. “Mom,” he whispered. “You’re going to be okay.”

  She opened her eyes and smiled. “Go after Mia.” Her voice was so weak he could hardly hear her, and tears filled his eyes. His mother frowned. “Go, before he gets away,” she murmured. Then she closed her eyes and drifted into unconsciousness.

  Tears stung his eyes, and Lucas leaned over and kissed her forehead before he jumped to his feet and ran to the back door. He looked back at his mother once before running outside. His dad was with his mom, and he had to hurry. Mia’s life depended on it.

  *

  The moment Tony Chapman pulled her out the back door, he stuck the gun to her head again. “My car is parked at the end of the street in the cul-de-sac,” he muttered. “Don’t make a sound or I’ll kill you before we get there. And then I’ll go back inside and kill your boyfriend.”

  Mia’s heart pounded as if it was about to burst, and all she could do was stare at him wildly and nod. He tightened his grip on her arm and started around the house to the street, but he ducked against the house and yanked her to him when a car pulled into the driveway.

  Muttering under his breath, Tony dragged her back the way they had come and headed behind the home. “This way. We’ll go through the backyards to get to my car,” he whispered as he propelled her toward the house next door.

  As they ran behind the neighbor’s house, Mia blinked at how brightly lit the backyards were from the Christmas lights on all the neighborhood houses. In the distance she heard sirens, and she knew Lucas had been able to call 911. She stared up into the sky as Tony half dragged her across the yard and prayed that help would reach Lucas’s mother before it was too late.

  Suddenly a large German shepherd dog ran off the back porch of the neighboring house and rushed at them, his teeth bared and his bark splitting the air. Mia gasped in horror as she saw Tony raising the gun at the approaching dog. She screamed and slammed her body against his before he could pull the trigger. The impact knocked him off balance, and he fell to the ground. The gym bag that he’d been holding flew from his grasp and landed a few feet away from him. The dog came to a stop and stood nearby growling, his hackles raised as if daring Tony to rise.

  Tony didn’t take his eyes off the dog as he slowly pushed to his feet. His face contorted with rage as he turned to Mia and raised the gun. “You’ve gotten away from me for the last time.” She held up her hands in front of her face as if that could ward off the bullet he was about to fire. Before he could, a voice yelled out.

  “Mia! Where are you?”

  She whirled around in relief. “Lucas! I’m over here.”

  The sound of Lucas’s voice startled Tony, and he paused as if unsure what to do. He glanced at Mia and the dog standing beside her and then to the gym bag he’d dropped. Then he scooped up the bag and ran in the direction of his car. Mia caught a glimpse of Lucas as he charged by her in pursuit of Tony, who had just discovered that a six-foot chain-link fence separated the house with the dog from its next-door neighbor.

  When he was about two or three feet away, Tony threw the bag over the fence and took a flying leap toward it. His fingers latched on to the wire, and he stuck his foot about halfway up in one of the links. Then, grabbing the top of the fence with one hand, he pulled himself into a half squat on the bar at the top and prepared to jump.

  “Stop, Chapman!” Lucas yelled. “You can’t get away. The police are all over the neighborhood.”

  Tony hesitated only for a moment before he glanced over his shoulder, raised his gun and pointed it at Lucas. Mia screamed as a gunshot echoed in the night air, and she watched in horror as Tony Chapman’s hands slipped from the top of the fence and he fell to the ground.

  Two policemen ran by her toward Lucas, and the three of them walked over to Tony. Mia sank down on the ground, and the German shepherd lay down beside her, his head resting on his paws. She reached over and patted him.

  Finally Lucas turned and walked toward her. She stood and waited for him to approach, unsure of what she should do. “Is Tony dead?” she asked.

  He stopped and stared at her. “No. The officers have called for an ambulance.”

  She didn’t know whether to walk toward him or wait for him to come to her. At the same time they both took a step, and he wrapped her in his arms and crushed her to him as if he never wanted to let her go.

  She buried her face in his chest, and after a moment he placed his fingertip underneath her chin and tilted it up. “Did he hurt you?” The hoarse words sounded as if they’d been ripped from his throat.

  “No,” she murmured and cupped his jaw in her palm. “Are you all right?”

  “I was so scared. First my mother with a gun pointed at her, and then you. I felt like I’d been stabbed through the heart,” he whispered as he turned his mouth to her palm and brushed his lips across it.

  She smiled. “But you came for me anyway. That’s just one more reason why you are the best man I’ve ever known.”

  Then his gaze raked her face as if trying to convince himself she was really unhurt, and he groaned before he pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that seemed an attempt to purge all the regret, hurt and anger of the years they’d been separated.

  When they finally pulled apart, she stared up at him. “How’s your mother?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Dad is with her. Let’s go see.”

  Beside them, the dog whined, and Lucas reached down to pat him. “Good boy, Brutus. The neighborhood always feels safer when you’re on duty.”

  The back door of the house where Brutus had run from opened, and a woman hurried onto the back porch. She pulled the sash of the robe she wore tighter and stopped in shock at the sight of the police in her backyard. Her frightened gaze landed on Lucas. “Lucas, what’s
going on out here?”

  “It’s okay, Mary,” he called out to her. “Brutus just helped stop a murder in your backyard.”

  Brutus licked Lucas’s hand and then ran toward the woman on the back porch. She knelt when he bounded up the steps and wrapped her arms around the dog. “Sounds like you’re a hero,” she said.

  Lucas smiled and nodded in agreement, then put his arm around Mia’s waist and held her close as they turned and hurried back to his parents’ house. The first thing Mia saw when they walked in the back door was Lucas’s sister, Jessica, standing in the middle of the kitchen. Ryan was holding her in his arms while tears streamed down her face. When she saw Lucas, she pulled away from her husband and, with a squeal of relief, launched herself at her brother.

  Lucas released Mia and grabbed Jessica as the two wrapped their arms around each other and rocked back and forth in a tight embrace. After a moment Lucas looked down at her. His gaze raked the kitchen. “Where’s Mom?”

  “They just left with her.”

  He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “How is she?”

  Jessica’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t think it’s good, Lucas. Dad went in the ambulance with her. Ryan and I arrived right after Dad, and he told us you had just run out the back door after Tony Chapman. One of the officers came by a few minutes ago and told us what happened. I was so worried about you.”

  He smiled down at her. “Well, I’m okay. Where are Adam and Claire?”

  “They’re meeting us at the hospital. Ryan and I were waiting for you to come back.”

  He glanced at Mia and held out his hand. “Then we need to get going.” Mia stepped up beside him, and he wrapped her hand in his.

  Jessica glanced down at their clasped hands, wiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks and smiled. “Mia, you’ve been through a bad time these past few days. I’m glad it’s over for you.”

  Mia shook her head and blinked back tears. “It won’t be over until I know your mother is going to be all right.”