Hudson laughed, stepped to one side, and beckoned to someone out of sight in the passageway.
‘No need,’ he said, as Larry pushed Kyle into the kitchen, the FBI agent’s guns in his hands.
Nina staggered backwards and gasped.
A black eye had begun to bruise the left side of Kyle’s face, the socket swollen. Blood seeped from his shoulder, the stab wound open and raw.
Hudson spun back to face Nina, his lip curling as he advanced on her. ‘So, this is the truck stop owner’s daughter, is it?’
Nina felt heat flush her face as he stepped closer, appraising her. He reached out and ran his hand down her cheek.
Nina fought down bile and kept her gaze trained on the opposite wall, gritting her teeth as his hand moved lower until he was cupping her breast.
‘Don’t ignore me,’ he murmured, his voice sending a chill through her body. ‘We’re only just getting started.’
He squeezed her breast, and she yelped, jerking her body away from him.
Kyle lurched forward, cursing loudly as two of Hudson’s henchmen dragged him back, away from Nina.
Hudson laughed. ‘I see. That’s how it is, is it?’
He nodded to the smaller man, who stepped forward and punched Kyle in the stomach again.
The FBI agent emitted a pained grunt and collapsed to the floor.
Hudson moved across to the special agent, bending down until his face was level with Kyle’s. He reached out and forced his thumb into the bleeding knife wound, twisting the broken skin, until the FBI agent writhed in agony.
He screamed, and Nina closed her eyes, trying to block out the primitive sound.
As his scream ebbed away to a muffled curse, she turned to see a satisfied smile on Hudson’s face. He leaned closer to Kyle.
‘Listen to me, traitor,’ he said. ‘Do you know what we’re going to do? Do you?’ He chuckled. ‘Me and the boys are going to have some fun with your woman. And you’re going to watch.’ He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes gleaming.
Nina staggered, her legs almost giving way, and an uncontrollable shake began in her hands.
Hudson turned back to Kyle. ‘Thought you were better than me, didn’t you?’ His hand shot out, back-handing the special agent across his cheek.
Kyle fell back with the force of the blow, blood spattering across the floor once more.
He steadied himself, then glared at Hudson, working his jaw. Seconds passed, then he spat out a broken tooth.
The older man laughed. ‘You’ll be losing a few more of those by the time we’ve finished with you,’ he said. ‘As well as a few other parts.’ He stepped back and signalled to his men. ‘Search him,’ he said, and crossed his arms over his chest as two of his men brushed past him. ‘See what else he’s hiding on him.’
The large man held Kyle’s arms behind him as they approached him, and Nina cried out as one took a swing at the FBI agent.
Kyle staggered at the blow to his stomach, his breath hissing between his teeth. He slumped over, wheezing until the man holding him hauled him upright, and then the two thugs began to search his clothing.
One of them reached round and pulled Kyle’s jacket open, tearing the seams.
The taller of the two glanced over his shoulder at Hudson and raised an eyebrow.
‘What have you got?’ he asked, and stepped closer.
The man pulled on the lining of the jacket, and the satellite phone fell into his hand.
Nina’s eyes opened wide. Kyle gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head, and she lowered her gaze.
‘Satellite phone, eh?’ said Hudson, turning the small plastic-covered device in his hand. ‘Thinking of calling for back-up, were you?’
His gaze shifted to the smaller man standing next to Kyle, and he nodded.
The man spun on his heel and back-handed the FBI agent hard across his face.
Nina fought down the urge to be sick as the sound of breaking cartilage filled the small space and blood spattered across the floor.
Kyle cursed, then rubbed his face against his shoulder and glared at Hudson, blood trickling from his nose.
‘Actually, I figured I could deal with you myself, if this is the best you can do,’ he said, staring at each of the men in turn before his glare rested on Hudson.
The older man laughed before he began to cough, a deep wracking noise that consumed his body.
He reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, put it to his face, and closed his eyes while the choking noises subsided, then removed the cloth and hawked on the floor.
He pushed the handkerchief away and pointed at the smaller man when he spoke.
‘Be careful, FBI man. Frank here was a welter weight boxer – quite successful until he got banned for killing an opponent.’
‘It was an accident,’ said the man, holding his palms upwards.
A ripple of laughter filled the room.
Nina edged backwards, trying to put as much distance between herself and the small crowd of men, her thoughts spinning.
Hudson held up his hand to silence his men, then dropped the phone to the floor, stepped forward, and drove his heel through the device.
Splinters of plastic and metal spat across the concrete surface.
Kyle shrugged. ‘It doesn’t matter Hudson,’ he said, wiping his sleeve across his mouth, smearing blood over his face. ‘I radioed my team from the Flanagan property over three hours ago. They’ve got the licence plate of the truck. They’ll have the entire resources of the Division and the San Francisco Police Department hunting it.’
He frowned, and Nina stared at Hudson as he began to convulse with laughter.
‘Oh, really?’ he sneered. ‘Is that what you think?’ He clicked his fingers signalling to one of his men in the hallway outside. ‘Go and get our other guest.’
Nina tried to remain still, desperate to avoid drawing attention to herself while Kyle and Hudson glared at each other, the seconds ticking past.
Why wasn’t Hudson concerned about the truck being intercepted? Was there more to his twisted plans than Kyle had managed to uncover?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a commotion in the hallway, and she stumbled forward as she realised who the second of the voices belonged to. A familiar figure was pushed into the room.
‘Jeff?’
She spun away from Ross’s father to Hudson, her mouth open in shock, bewildered. ‘What’s going on?’
Jeff had paled when she’d called out. ‘Nina? What are you doing here? Ross was meant to keep you away.’
Nina staggered backwards, and Peter’s hand shot out to steady her.
‘Keep me away? What do you mean?’ She turned to Kyle. ‘What the hell is going on around here?’
Hudson’s cackle of laughter filled the room, and he clapped his hands. ‘Well, isn’t this nice?’ He beamed. ‘A reunion.’
He strolled over to Jeff and slapped him on the back, then pushed him towards Nina. ‘Why don’t you explain to the lovely Miss O’Brien what you’ve been up to in her absence, hmm? Bring her up to speed?’ He checked his watch, and the mirth left his features. ‘Quickly now. You’re running out of time.’
Nina noticed how the farmer’s hands shook as he used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow, and then rubbed at his eyes before he took a shaking breath.
‘Your radio signal didn’t get through,’ he mumbled, keeping his head bowed, his eyes lowered, staring at the floor.
‘What?’ Kyle took a step towards the older man before Larry put a restraining hand against his chest, earning a glare from the FBI agent. ‘What did you say?’
Jeff sighed. ‘I disabled it so your signal wouldn’t be strong enough to reach one of the repeater transceivers up on the range,’ he said. ‘It could only transmit shortwave.’
He lifted his gaze to Nina, pain etched in his eyes. ‘It was picked up by Peter,’ he explained, pointing at the man next to her.
‘Jeff? What have you done?’ Nina covered
her mouth in horror.
‘So, you see Kyle, my truck is still on schedule.’ Hudson grinned indulgently.
‘How could you?’ Nina demanded. ‘I’ve known you all my life, Jeff – why would you help this madman?’
‘You stupid bastard,’ hissed Kyle. ‘Do you realise how many people you’ll help to kill?’
Jeff’s hands trembled, and he scratched absently at his earlobe. ‘He said he’d kill Tim if I didn’t help him,’ he mumbled, then stared at Kyle. ‘I didn’t have a choice.’
‘Shit.’ The FBI agent’s shoulders sagged.
Hudson spat out a laugh. ‘Wonderful sob story, Jeff,’ he sneered. ‘You almost sounded like a victim for a moment there.’
‘Please,’ said Jeff, his gaze nervously darting to Nina, then back. ‘She doesn’t need to know.’
‘Oh, I think she does,’ grinned Hudson. ‘You see, Miss O’Brien, your old neighbour here isn’t only responsible for the trick with the radio.’
‘What the hell do you mean?’
Hudson’s eyes gleamed. ‘Jeff here has been very good at ensuring our drug operation here has remained undetected for the past year, haven’t you?’
Jeff held up his hands in protest. ‘I needed the money, Nina! You’ve seen what the drought has done to the Valley – I had no idea he was making a poison as well, I swear!’
‘Oh, great,’ said Nina sarcastically. ‘Drugs are fine, but poison isn’t? Suzanne would be ashamed of you,’ she snapped. Her heart skipped a beat. ‘Oh my God, is Ross involved as well?’
‘No.’ Kyle spoke, his calm voice cutting through the tension in the room. ‘He and Tim had no idea until they stumbled across Hudson’s drug operation by accident six months ago.’ He looked at Jeff. ‘It’s kind of ironic that your own sons exposed the same operation that’s been keeping your farm going, isn’t it?’
‘Enough,’ snapped Hudson. He snatched Kyle’s gun from Larry’s hand and pointed it at Jeff. ‘You’ve served your purpose,’ he said, and pulled the trigger.
Nina shrieked, shutting her eyes and covering her ears with her hands as the gunshot reverberated off the walls of the kitchen.
Rough hands grabbed her, forcing her to open her eyes so she didn’t stumble.
She whimpered at the sight of Ross’s father crumpled on the tiled floor, blood pouring from a gaping wound in his chest.
His mouth opened and closed soundlessly, his eyes open wide, until a shudder wracked his body and he lay still.
Nina wiped angrily at the tears in her eyes.
‘You bastard,’ hissed Kyle.
Hudson’s head jerked round until he was glaring directly at Kyle.
‘Now no-one will come and rescue you,’ he snarled.
He raised himself up to his full height and turned to Larry.
‘How much longer?’
‘Twenty minutes, max. Once the charges are laid, we’ll clear out. Make sure we’re out of here before they blow.’
‘You’ll never make it,’ Kyle wheezed, bending over. ‘The creek is flooded going west, and there’s a landslide blocking the highway through the mountains. You’re trapped.’
Nina watched as a look of disbelief crossed Hudson’s face
A deep chuckle shook his shoulders before he couldn’t contain himself any more, and a raucous laughter rocked the confines of the small room.
His men joined in, leering at Nina and throwing abuse towards Kyle.
Hudson gained control of his laughter and raised his hand, the noise level dropping to a murmur.
‘See, Kyle, I had my suspicions about you,’ he said, waggling his finger at the special agent as he paced in front of him. ‘Which is why I decided you weren’t going to know about the whole plan.’ Hudson shivered. ‘When that poison gets released during the commuter rush later this morning, I’m going to make sure I’m miles away.’
‘Coward.’ The words left Nina’s lips before she could stop them, her fury erupting.
Kyle’s eyes flashed in warning, and she took a step backwards as Hudson spun round to face her.
‘What did you say?’
Nina was saved from having to respond as Hudson’s attention was drawn towards movement at the door.
‘Where the hell have you two been?’ he spat.
34
Nina’s skin prickled at the sight of the diminutive blonde, anger still surging through her body.
‘Cleaning up,’ said Dani, and flicked her freshly washed hair over her shoulder. ‘It’s disgusting out there.’ She finished fluffing her hair and looked at Nina, a cold stare that appraised the younger woman and made her look away. ‘Running out on your friend, were you?’
Nina bit her lip and tried to ignore the hot sting in her eyes.
Sean entered the room, his clothes clean. He sneered at Nina. ‘Well, well, well,’ he said. ‘Guess your little plan to escape failed, then?’
Nina’s head shot up, and she opened her mouth to speak before Kyle coughed and shot her a warning look. She clenched her fists, her jagged nails digging into her palms.
‘I told you to make sure he was dead,’ said Hudson, pointing at Kyle, his face close to Dani’s. ‘Which part of that order didn’t you understand?’
Dani shrugged, a petulant expression on her face.
‘They escaped,’ she said. ‘We nearly caught up with them by the creek, but they’d disappeared by the time we got there.’
‘They’re here now, Hudson,’ said Sean. ‘At least we can deal with them here.’
Hudson snorted. ‘Are there any more loose ends you want to tell me about?’ He spun round to face Sean. ‘Well?’
Sean cleared his throat and glanced at Dani. ‘There was a man – at the truck stop. I shot him – got him in the leg, as well as gut shot.’ He shrugged. ‘We didn’t have any spare ammunition, so we figured he’d die anyway.’
Nina tried to fight down the panic rising in her. When they’d left Ross, the only injury he’d sustained was the gunshot wound to his leg.
‘W-what?’ she managed. ‘I thought he was just shot in the leg?’
Dani swung round to face her. ‘Maybe if you’d stuck around to help him instead of running with your tail between your legs, he wouldn’t have been shot trying to save you,’ she said, and shrugged her shoulders.
Nina struggled against the hands that held her.
Hudson ignored her, and paced the floor, rubbing his chin with his hand.
‘Who was he?’ he asked. ‘Anyone on our radar?’
‘I think he was your neighbour’s older son,’ Sean replied. ‘He didn’t recognise me, but I’d seen him a couple of months ago when we were out this way.’
Hudson stopped pacing, turned to Larry, and held out his hand. ‘Give me one of those.’
Larry grinned and handed him one of Kyle’s guns. Hudson checked it and handed it to Sean.
‘Take this. Go back to the truck stop. Make sure he’s dead this time.’
‘No!’ Nina screamed. Her gaze darted between the two men. ‘You can’t do that!’
‘I can go back,’ said Dani, ignoring her and stepping forward to take the weapon.
‘No.’ Hudson put out his arm to stop her. ‘Sean goes.’ An evil grin split his mouth open. ‘He needs the target practice.’
‘True.’ Dani joined in his laughter.
Hudson turned back to Sean. ‘Why are you still here?’
Nina glared at him as Sean left the room. ‘Please, don’t make him do it,’ she pleaded.
A smile curled his lips. ‘I’ll do whatever I like,’ he said. ‘I don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate, do you?’
Dani moved closer to Hudson, an eager look in her eyes. ‘What do you want me to do? I could take care of her.’
Her hand slipped to the gun strapped to her hip, and in one smooth movement she had it pointed in Nina’s face, her finger covering the trigger.
Hudson rubbed his chin and looked sideways at Nina. ‘Yes,’ he mused. ‘We still need to deal with thi
s member of the O’Brien family.’ He cursed. ‘I thought getting rid of her father would solve the problem of us being watched.’
Nina blinked. ‘What do you mean, ‘getting rid of” my father?’
Dani laughed and lowered the gun a little, although she still kept it trained on Nina’s chest.
‘Dani here is an exceptional actress,’ said Hudson, ‘as well as having the dubious honour of being the most cold-blooded killer I’ve ever known.’
Nina looked from one to the other, confused.
‘What he means,’ said Dani, once she stopped laughing, ‘is that it would have attracted too much attention if I’d simply shot your father to get him out of our way.’
‘What?’ Nina looked across the room to Kyle, who was trying to avoid her gaze.
‘Instead, we had to make sure he left of his own accord,’ Dani continued. ‘Or made it look like he was too incompetent to run his own business.’
Nina’s jaw dropped open as the implications of Dani’s words sunk in.
‘Y-you mean, he’s not sick?’
‘Homesick, maybe,’ said Dani, grinning.
Nina stepped back, stumbled against the man that held her, and gasped. ‘You bitch.’
Dani cackled. ‘Thank you,’ she said, and executed a small bow. ‘I aim to please.’
Hudson smiled. ‘Like I said – cold blooded.’ He leaned forward and used the palm of his hand to lower Dani’s arm before he stepped in front of Nina.
‘Dani here has been very busy the past month getting to know your father’s business,’ he crowed. ‘Little things went missing to start off with, just to make him feel forgetful.’ His face darkened. ‘Then she put the pressure on. People started talking in town about how Clint O’Brien was getting confused. Making mistakes.’
Nina groaned. She recalled the phone calls from local businesses – when her father couldn’t remember where he’d parked his car, only to find it two blocks over from where he insisted he’d left it, or opening the truck stop late in the morning because all the clocks in the building were running an hour late.
‘You did all that?’ she whispered.
Dani nodded, a gleam in her eyes.
Two FBI thrillers: Before Nightfall and Mistake Creek Page 38
