by Debra Webb
But for Shane…his world was coming apart.
What the hell was going on with this son of a bitch? Why hadn’t he called or showed?
Matt. His chest constricted. He had to be all right.
At least Mary Jane was safe. She and Ann were at the lake house. He was thankful for that.
But Matt…Anguish tore through him again. Who the hell could hurt a little kid? What kind of monster did this crap?
Simon Ruhl’s voice sounded in the earpiece Shane wore. “Ian has a visual on Anthony Chambers. David just reported that Mitchell and Bolton have arrived at Sharon’s place.”
Damn it. “Sharon won’t be able to keep this from them,” Shane muttered. If Mitchell or Bolton did anything to screw this up…
“I’ve asked David to intercede if necessary.”
That should go over like a lead balloon. Shane could think of at least two laws that tactic would break. “Copy that.” As long as Matt was okay when this was said and done, nothing else mattered.
One thing was certain—if Mitchell and Bolton were with Sharon, that basically ruled out either of them as suspects.
Unless someone was doing the dirty work for them.
No way. This was something that would be handled personally. It was too important. No one in their right mind, except maybe Anthony Chambers, would risk allowing just anyone to take care of this sensitive matter.
“What about LeMire?” Shane asked as he studied the crowd moving around him as if he didn’t even exist. Ian’s wife, Nicole, had LeMire and his partner, Farmer, under surveillance. Nicole was former FBI; she knew how these guys operated.
Where the hell was his contact? Shane glanced at his watch. This wasn’t right.
“LeMire hasn’t made a move,” Ruhl advised. “He and Farmer are having lunch. Nicole is two tables away, munching on shrimp cocktail.”
This didn’t make sense. Rebecca Brooks had been so sure it was one of them…that someone assigned to her case was dirty. If it wasn’t Mitchell or Bolton, or LeMire or Farmer, then that left no one but Chambers. Bailen was dead.
Who the hell was doing this?
There was nothing Shane could do but hold his position…and pray.
Ten, then twenty minutes passed and nothing.
No contact whatsoever.
Nothing.
Either he’d been given the wrong information or—
“Allen, we have a problem.”
The hair on the back of Shane’s neck bristled. “What’ve you got?”
“We have a distress signal from Martin. She and Ms. Brooks have left the lake house.”
The blood drained into Shane’s boots. The realization of what those words meant roared through him. “We’ve been had. This was a decoy.” Fury blasted through him, sending the blood barreling through his veins once more. He headed for the closest exit. Not only was Matt in danger, but now Mary Jane was, as well.
Shane had screwed up. He should have seen this coming.
“Stay put, Allen,” Ruhl ordered. “I repeat, hold your position. Until we have confirmation on the nature of the problem with Martin you stay right where you are.”
Was he kidding?
Before Shane could argue, Ruhl said, “We can’t take the risk, man. We have to play this hand the way it was dealt.”
Desperation sucked the fury out of Shane’s bones. Ruhl was right.
He had no choice but to stay right here…and wait. Ann and Mary Jane were adults…Matt was a child. The risk was too great.
“Stand by,” Ruhl said, then paused. “I just received word from Ian that Chambers is on the move.”
That was it. “I can’t hold this position,” Shane argued. Something was going down, and it sure as hell wasn’t doing it here.
“Ian is on this, Allen,” Ruhl countered. “You have your orders. You’re going to have to trust me on this.”
Shane hadn’t trusted anyone on this level—deeply personal—in more than a year. He wasn’t sure he could now…
“WE CAN’T DO THIS WITHOUT notifying Simon or Ian.”
Mary Jane ignored Ann’s protests and kept driving toward the rendezvous location she had been given. They had to hurry. Time was running out.
Rebecca had called.
There was no question. It was Rebecca. Not some recording. Not someone pretending. No matter what the voice analysis had said, Mary Jane knew. They had to reach that cabin. It was well outside Chicago, close to Crystal Lake. She didn’t know the area that well, but she knew how to read road signs. Two turns. That was all it would take once they left the interstate.
“This is a mistake,” Ann tacked on for emphasis.
“If that child dies,” Mary Jane argued with a pointed glance in the other woman’s direction, “because we failed to follow instructions, how do you plan to live with that?” Every time her mind replayed that little boy’s voice calling for Shane, an ache pierced her straight through the heart. The man holding Rebecca had put him on the line, too. He had them both, Rebecca and Matt.
Mary Jane couldn’t worry about how any of this was possible right now or why it was happening. She just had to do what she had to do. No questions, no hesitation. Just do it.
When the call had first come, Ann had refused to allow Mary Jane to go. Mary Jane had called her bluff. “Shoot me then,” she’d said. Ann hadn’t argued the point any further.
After leaving the Colby safe house, their first stop had been the bank. Mary Jane had taken the CD from the safety deposit box. The one Shane was using was a fake made with the files he’d snapped digital images of with his cell phone. Somehow this scumbag had known Shane would try to avoid giving him the original CD, and he wanted the original. Or so he had said. Rebecca had passed along his instructions, fear and desperation in her trembling voice. That part didn’t make sense to Mary Jane, but then what was sensible about kidnapping and murder?
“This isn’t about the CD,” Ann warned. “You have to know it isn’t. We could have made a thousand copies of those documents, any one of which would stand up in court every bit as well as the original. This is about getting you to a remote location.”
Mary Jane wasn’t so naïve that she didn’t see that. But what choice did she have? It was either go or risk that little boy’s life. And her sister’s.
Rebecca was alive.
Mary Jane’s heart reacted to another surge of adrenaline. She wasn’t sure she would really believe it until she saw Rebecca with her own eyes, but she couldn’t deny the voice…the call.
Mary Jane parked twenty yards or so from their final turn. They were here, finally.
Ann shifted in her seat to look directly at Mary Jane. “We should wait for backup. I sent a distress signal. They know where we are. One of my colleagues will be close behind us. We could have plenty of support within minutes.”
Uncertainty crowded into Mary Jane’s throat as she surveyed the long desolate road behind them. She wasn’t sure. But she should have anticipated Ann would do something like that. Protecting Mary Jane was her job. As much as she appreciated that, she wasn’t sure this could wait.
“What if they don’t get here in time?” Now she was hesitating. Oh, God. What should she do? She was just a school teacher. She wasn’t trained for this kind of thing, but she had her orders. “Come quickly. Don’t wait! We need you,” Rebecca had urged . “He’s going to kill us if you don’t hurry!”
Mary Jane’s cell rang, causing her heart to practically stop. She stared at the display, then at Ann. “It’s her.” Mary Jane moistened her lips. “Hello.”
“Are you here?”
Rebecca.
Mary Jane swallowed back the emotion. “Almost.”
“Oh, MJ, you have to hurry.” She lowered her voice to a barely discernible whisper. “He’s going to kill us both. Please hurry. I don’t know—”
The call ended.
Mary Jane dropped her phone and reached for the door handle.
“Wait,” Ann urged as she grabbed Mary Jane�
�s arm. “If sending Allen to the Navy Pier was a decoy, then this is the real thing, Mary Jane. We have to go in strategically, not emotionally. Let me go first. I want you to stay behind me at all times.”
She sounded like Shane. Mary Jane managed a stiff nod. Were all Colby Agency investigators trained to act as human shields to protect their clients, paying or not? Was Mary Jane’s decision to act on Rebecca’s call about to get this woman killed?
It was too late for second thoughts now.
Too terrified to do anything but follow, Mary Jane stayed close behind Ann. They made their way through the trees and underbrush along the narrow dirt road that led from the main highway to where a cabin stood well hidden from view.
Anthony Chambers’s cabin, according to the information Rebecca had provided.
Mary Jane didn’t know what kind of car he drove, but she would bet that the luxury SUV stationed next to the cabin was his.
“If we can get close enough on this side,” Ann said quietly as she pointed to the east end of the cabin, “we may be able to get a look inside or be able to hear conversation without being spotted. We need to ascertain how many we’re up against.”
There was no sign of any other vehicles in the area. Just the one SUV. But that didn’t mean there weren’t a dozen of Chambers’s men in there.
Mary Jane nodded. “Let’s try.” Her side burned like fire and she was sore as all get-out, but she kept pace with Ann’s swift movements.
The cold November air stung Mary Jane’s face, made her eyes water. Her sister was in that cabin. Alive. Her heart thudded hard. Where had Rebecca been all this time? Why hadn’t she tried to contact Mary Jane before now?
Ann paused to survey the clearing before breaking from the cover of the trees. They reached the end of the cabin and listened. Voices. Too muffled to comprehend but there was no question that the discussion inside was a full-scale argument or debate.
Then one voice, female, sounded louder than the other.
“Rebecca.” Mary Jane’s gaze collided with Ann’s. “She’s here. I have to go in there now. She and Matt—”
“Wait,” Ann urged in a harsh whisper. “Let me go first. We have to maintain the element of surprise. It’s the only thing we have going for us right now.”
Mary Jane started to argue, but movement at the rear corner of the house snapped her gaze in that direction. Ann’s weapon leveled.
Ian Michaels.
Mary Jane’s heart slid back down into her chest and started to beat once more. Ann lowered the bead she had on Ian. He did the same.
“I followed Chambers here,” he explained.
Chambers was in there with Matt…with Rebecca. Fear filled Mary Jane’s chest with pure ice.
“I have to get in there,” she said, dividing her attention between the two Colby Agency investigators. Didn’t they get it? She couldn’t keep putting this off, or someone was going to die.
“You’re right,” Ian agreed.
“What?” Ann stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “If she goes in there—”
“There’s only one way to do this,” Ian cut her off. “We need Chambers distracted while we get into place to take control of the situation.”
“What if he has one or more of his buddies in there?” Ann argued. “I don’t like this.”
“He came alone,” Ian advised.
That news stunned Mary Jane almost as much as it did Ann. “But there is someone else in there,” Mary Jane reminded them. “Whoever held my sister and Matt hostage until Chambers got here. That person is in there.”
“We can handle those odds,” Ian said without hesitation. “But we have to use the right strategy to ensure that no one gets hurt.”
Ann didn’t argue with her superior, but she was obviously skeptical. Mary Jane just wanted this over.
About three minutes later, she made her way through the trees, taking the path she and Ann had used previously to the bend in the dirt road. Then she headed back toward the cabin to make it look as if she had just come from the road. If anyone was watching that was, hopefully, what they would think.
Mary Jane climbed the steps, her heart thumping so hard she was certain it would fail anytime, and crossed the porch. She took a breath, raised her fist and banged on the door.
The door swung open and Anthony Chambers stared at her. She, conversely, stared at the gun in his hand.
He grabbed her by the lapel of her jacket and yanked her inside. Pain shot through her side, making her stomach churn dangerously. She was pretty sure he wouldn’t be too happy if she barfed on him. She’d been doing a lot of that lately.
“Give him the CD,” Rebecca cried.
That was when the world stopped for Mary Jane.
She could only stare at her sister. Her strawberry-blond hair was shorter…but otherwise she looked exactly the same. Blue eyes round with fear, pale skin flushed with the same.
Rebecca was alive. She clutched a little boy in her arms. Matt. Shane’s stepson.
“I should have killed you when I had the chance,” Chambers threatened, his furious gaze burning up the air between him and Rebecca.
Mary Jane experienced a moment of panic. “The CD,” she said to Chambers. “It’s in my coat pocket.” Please let this distract his fury away from Rebecca long enough for Ian and Ann to get in place.
Chambers glowered at Mary Jane. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t listen to him,” Rebecca cried. “Just give him the CD!”
Matt wailed in fear.
Mary Jane’s heart shattered. The child was scared to death. Chambers was still glowering at her as if he was startled or confused.
“He’s up to something,” Rebecca warned, tears flowing down her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy from hours of crying. Her voice was hoarse from the pleading or shouting or both.
But where was the other man? The one who had been holding Rebecca and Matt here until Chambers arrived.
Chambers shoved Mary Jane toward her sister. Pain knifed through her and she had to breathe long and deeply through her nose to ride out the agony. She had to focus, couldn’t let him see the weakness.
“You waited all this time,” Chambers said savagely, “to try and finish the job. Well, it’s not going to work. It didn’t work before and it won’t work now. You can’t possibly believe you’re smarter than me!”
This was Mary Jane’s chance. She stepped in front of Rebecca and Matt. It took every ounce of courage she possessed to look into the man’s eye and speak calmly. “You should put the gun down, Mr. Chambers.”
He stared at Mary Jane, the fury contorting his face turning to confusion again. “What the hell are you doing?”
She reached into her pocket, hesitated when the business end of his gun shifted fully on her. “I have the CD.” She withdrew the CD and he visibly relaxed as if he’d feared she was carrying a weapon. “This is what you want. Take it and go. No one else needs to die.”
If she could convince him to leave, Ann and Ian would nail him outside. Mary Jane could keep Rebecca and Matt safe in here. It could work.
“This is insane!” The gun in his hand shook.
That was the moment when Mary Jane understood that something was terribly wrong. All those months ago, she had watched a cool, seemingly unaffected man in the news as he had denied the accusations against him. She had watched him walk away from all charges since the FBI’s key witness had disappeared. She had hated him, had been certain he had done something to harm her sister. But now…here, there was something in the man’s eyes…in his expression that didn’t fit.
“Watch out, Mary Jane!”
A body slammed into Mary Jane’s back, forcing her forward. What the…?
The weapon in Chambers’s hand leveled on her once more.
The door burst open.
“Drop your weapon, Chambers!”
Ian Michaels stood in the open doorway. He had a bead on the man.
“Do as he says, Chambers.” Ann M
artin’s voice came from somewhere behind Mary Jane, but she didn’t dare turn around to look.
That cornered-animal look seized Chambers’s face.
Mary Jane knew he was going to act.
“Drop it,” Ian repeated, “or I will shoot you where you stand.”
Where was the other man?
As much as she wanted to see for herself, Mary Jane couldn’t risk taking her eyes off Chambers, but she sensed that there was no one behind her except Rebecca, Matt and Ann. Otherwise Ann would have been ordering around the other guy. But then, who had barreled into her?
Mary Jane spotted the panic in Chambers’s eyes a split second before he made his decision.
She had to do something.
“Wait!” she shouted.
The weapon Chambers would have swung in Ian’s direction held steady on her.
“Something’s wrong,” she announced to all listening, uncertainty and fear twisting inside her. “This is…not right.”
“You’re damned right there’s something wrong,” Chambers snapped. “That crazy sister of yours—”
“Oh, God, Mary Jane!” Rebecca wailed. “Don’t you see he’s playing you? Someone needs to stop him!”
Mary Jane didn’t take her eyes off the man. With every fiber of her being she knew…she knew her sister was lying.
“You,” Chambers said to her, “come with me!”
“Stay right where you are, Ms. Brooks,” Ian ordered.
“Don’t move, Mary Jane,” Ann cautioned.
“MJ? What’re you doing?” Rebecca shrieked. “He’ll kill you!”
This had to end. Mary Jane stepped forward, allowed Chambers to drag her against his chest with one muscled arm wrapped around her throat. He shoved the gun against her head. “Back off,” he shouted to the room at large. “I’ll let her go as soon as I’m back in the city as long as nobody tries to follow me.”
