“You really need funnel cake,” Laird said.
“I really don’t,” Liam gave his friend the look of death. Apparently the sunglasses muted it because Laird continued to lead him toward the food tents.
“It’s good for you.”
“It’s amazing you don’t weigh five-hundred-pounds with your sweet tooth,” Liam glowered at Laird.
“I work out every day at the compound.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s with you having a compound? Are you planning on marrying a bunch of sister wives?”
Laird laughed as they got in the long line.
Liam was pretty damned happy when a text came through his phone, then he saw what it said.
Anders has Stacy. Crossing Charles Porter Avenue toward Nimitz Hall.
He shoved his phone to Laird so he could see the text. “Dumbass should have used our group text,” Laird muttered as they stepped out of line. He looked at his watch. “Still not due to meet for twenty minutes.”
“Gather the men, have them follow me to Nimitz Hall,” Liam said as he took back his phone and headed after Brannon. He couldn’t run while near the festivities, he didn’t want to bring that much attention to himself. As soon as he was off Ault field and the people, he went all out. He tried getting Brannon on the phone, but no luck. Made sense, the man was probably in stealth mode.
As he saw the Hall coming up, he slowed to a walk. Just another visitor. He went around the South side. He knew there was parking on the West side, and thought it likely they were heading for the cars there. It’s the only thing that made any sense to him.
He heard a muffled scream.
Liam turned the corner and found Brannon lying on the sidewalk with his gun up. He had it trained on the blue car as it was skidding down the street. He was taking wild shots. Anders was lying on the ground in the street.
What the hell had happened?
Liam ignored Brannon for the moment, if he was good enough to shoot, he was good. He kept his gun trained on Anders. As he got closer he could see that the man’s intestines were spilling out.
Gut shot.
“Help me,” he gasped as his bloody fingers worked frantically to staunch the spill of blood and entrails onto the pavement. It was a wasted effort. He was going to die.
“Who took Stacy?”
“Help me, McAllister,” he wailed.
“I know you were selling weapons,” Liam said conversationally. “How many women did you kill in total? How many, Isaac?”
“I didn’t kill any of them. I swear it.”
Liam squatted down beside him. He knew the man would pass out soon. He needed to get him to confess.
“Where are the bodies?”
“I didn’t do it,” Anders sobbed. Snot and tears mingled together on his face, then blood began to drip from his lips.
“Who did it? Who killed the women?”
“Fine,” he sighed. “You’re not going to help me? He’s going after your women. They’ll die. They’ll be raped and tortured.” Blood dripped from his teeth as he gave his last smile before his eyes closed.
“You really hate losing, don’t you?” Caroline asked sweetly. She had her chin propped up in her hand, with her other hand she twirled the tip of the bishops hat on the table like a top. It was annoying as hell. Probably because she had a lot of Addison’s pieces to play with.
“You have a really good move,” Caroline said. “I don’t think you’re heads in the game.”
“Nobody ever plays chess with you, do they?” Addison asked. “You gloat.”
“They loved playing with me in the Philippines.”
Addison heard a hint of longing in the younger girls voice. “Is that where you learned to play?”
“No, my grandmother taught me. Granny Cici was a hoot. She was five feet nothing, but everybody in the neighborhood knew you shouldn’t mess with her, but at the same time they knew you could come to her for help and she’d drop everything and be there for you.”
“What happened to your parents? Why was it your granny who raised you?”
“I knew that my mom had gotten pregnant by some man who was just passing through. It was a scandal there on Rose Street in Kodiak. Even though Granny didn’t talk about it, there were others who were more than happy to fill me in as I grew up. Mama got pregnant the year after she graduated from high school and she never said who the father was. Everybody assumed it was some married man.”
Caroline grinned. “I know what you’re doing.”
“What?”
“You’re stalling for time while you figure out what your good move is.” Caroline pushed up from the table and ambled into the kitchen. She came back with a bag of fresh cut vegetables.
“Where’s the dip?” Addison asked.
“Make your move and I’ll get you some dip.”
Addison moved her rook forward and took one of Caroline’s pawns.
“Uh-oh. Wrong move.” Addison sighed as Caroline’s queen took her other bishop.
“So how did your grandmother end up being your primary caretaker.”
Caroline snickered. “You talk like a professor or a social worker. Granny ended up stuck with me because my mom just up and disappeared in the middle of the night when I was a month old. Occasionally someone in the neighborhood would say she was spotted in Fairbanks or Anchorage, but she never once called.”
“I’m sorry. That had to have sucked.”
“There you go,” Caroline grinned. “That didn’t sound all social workery.”
Addison moved her queen and took Caroline’s knight.
“Tsk, tsk.” Caroline swooped in with her bishop and snatched Addison’s queen. “Check mate.”
Addison grabbed the bag of vegetables and shook it until a baby carrot came to the surface. She grabbed it and took a satisfying bite.
“Congratulations. Your granny would be proud.”
The young woman’s face lit up. “I hope she would be. I haven’t always made the best decisions, but I’ve tried.”
“From where I’m sitting, I think you’re incredible Caroline.”
Addison got up to get the dip. “What would you like to drink with your veggies before we set up for a new game?”
“You still want to play with me?”
“Damn right I do. This time I’m going to win.”
“I just want water,” Caroline said.
Addison brought over the drinks, dip and a couple of ibuprofen.
“I don’t need this,” Caroline protested.
“You’re walking like a little old lady. We already have one of those here.”
Caroline burst out laughing. “Yeah sure you are, that’s why the Silver SEAL gets all hot and bothered every time he looks at you.” Caroline swallowed the tablets and started setting up the chess board.
Addison looked over her shoulder to the long driveway. She saw a familiar blue car pulling up. It took a moment for her to place it.
Stacy Johnson.
She should not know their new location!
Addison’s eyes flew to the shoulder holster that was hanging off the chair in the den with her Sig Sauer P226 in it. She shot out of her seat and went to the kitchen counter and grabbed the Glock. She came back and pressed it into Caroline’s hands.
Caroline didn’t ask a single question, just immediately checked to make sure it was loaded and ready to be fired. She followed Addison into the den as she got her gun.
“Stacy Johnson from Whidbey Island NAS Security is here. She’s supposed to be one of the good guys. We never told her this location. At least I think it’s her. It’s her car.”
Caroline assimilated the information and nodded. “Got it.”
Addison went to the window in the den and peeked through the blinds. The car was stopping. Nobody got out.
They waited.
After five minutes Addison got her phone and called Stacy’s number.
“Hello, is this a friend of the Chief Petty Officer’s?” Like the
car, Addison recognized the voice. Was it Anders? She’d only heard him say a few words. She couldn’t be sure.
“Answer me!”
“What do you want?” Addison asked.
“Look out the window.”
The passenger door opened and something fell out of the car. It took a moment for Addison to recognize that it was Stacy. “Your friend needs medical attention. If you’re foolish enough to call the authorities, I’ll either shoot her in the head. Cut her throat. Wait, I know. I’ll run her over with the car, and then back over her. Anything I do I’ll make sure that she knows pain.”
Addison heard the sick glee in the man’s voice.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Give me Caroline.”
“No. Stacy wouldn’t want me to do that.”
A shot rang out. Blood splattered on Stacy’s knee as an inhuman cry rent the air.
“He shot her kneecap!” Caroline screeched. She broke the glass of the window and took a shot at the car.
Another shot went out. More blood bloomed on Stacy’s leg.
“Don’t take another shot, Caroline. You’re not helping.” Addison begged.
“Send me Caroline,” the man on the phone rasped. It was like an audio worm had bored its way into Addison’s ear.
“Don’t hurt Stacy again,” Addison said. She put her phone on speaker so that Caroline would know what they were up against.
“Stacy is going to bleed out and die. Her only hope is if you send me Caroline,” the voice said.
“I’m coming Asslick,” Caroline yelled.
“No you’re not,” Addison said.
“I don’t like that name. It’s disrespectful.”
Caroline reached over and put the phone on mute. “I’m going to hide the gun. I’ll take it with me. I can’t let that woman die. As soon as I get out the door. Disconnect the phone, call the cops, call the Navy and call Big Red!”
She pressed the mute button again. “I’m yours Asslick.”
“I’ve changed my mind,” he purred.
“No! Don’t hurt her.” Addison cried out.
“That’s up to you, Ms. Sanders. It’s all up to you.”
“Take me. I was in the Navy. I was Chief Petty Officer First Class. I’m right up your alley,” Addison begged.
Caroline shoved her into the desk, and Addison gasped with pain as her hip caught the corner. “Shut up Addison. He wants me.”
“I want both of you now.”
“You’re just going to kill us. We won’t come.”
“I know how you women think. You think you’ll be rescued. And who knows, you might be. But for sure, Stacy’s only chance to stay alive is if you come out of the house, put down your weapons and get into this car.”
Addison looked at Caroline who nodded. They both saw the pool of blood around Stacy’s writhing body getting wider.
“We’re coming.” Addison said as she hung up. Caroline ran out of the den. Addison dialed Liam’s phone. It went to voicemail. “Ander’s is here. He’s going to kill Stacy if Caroline and I don’t give ourselves up. We’re walking into his hands voluntarily. I’m taking my phone. Trace it.”
She hung up. Then group texted the team her iCloud username and password. Conroy would know how to track her that way. She turned off the sound on her phone and shoved it into the bottom of her bra. Only good thing about having gained weight is her boobs got bigger over the years, hopefully he wouldn’t notice the phone.
She watched as Caroline came back pulling on a one of the guy’s flannel shirts, she shoved one at Addison. “Put this on, it’ll cover your gun holster.” Caroline shoved her gun into the back of her pants after she checked to make sure the safety was on.
Everything they’d done had taken less than two minutes. They hustled down the stairs of the split level towards the front door. Addison opened the door and was shoved against the frame by a powerful shoulder as Caroline made a high pitched squeal. Addison turned to look at her friend as she saw a man holding a taser gun to her neck.
Addison reached for her gun as Caroline slumped to the porch, before she could reach her weapon she felt a huge surge of electricity surge through her body before everything went black.
15
Liam looked up. Declan was beside Brannon. He had his phone out. Probably calling for an ambulance. Conroy was striding over to him, his phone held out like an offering.
“What?” Liam barked out as he met him halfway in the street.
“I’m tracking Addison’s phone. She’s on the move. Hold this.”
Liam looked around the street, seeing it for the first time. “No, you hold it.” Hell, he wasn’t even sure that he could. How in the hell had he lost Addison? “Coop, you stay with Brannon,” Liam yelled out.
He looked up and down the street until he saw what he needed. A Honda Accord. Thank God. It had a vulnerable bypass switch and ignition. He could do this.
Liam had the thing running in under three minutes. Fuck, should have had that done in two minutes. Were his hands shaking? “Get into the car,” he yelled to Declan, Conroy and Laird.
Nobody said a word as he stayed in the driver’s seat and Conroy took shotgun. In a good team everybody knew their positions, and everyone knew he was the best driver and Conroy was navigation.
“Do you have them?” Liam bit out as he pulled onto Charles Porter Avenue.
“They’ve already stopped.” Conroy answered. “It couldn’t get any easier.”
“Shut up, don’t say shit like that, are you stupid?” Laird yelled from the backseat.
“What?”
“They could have found the phone and thrown it somewhere at that’s why they’re stationary, you don’t ever tempt the God’s that way. Are you daft?”
Liam silently agreed with his friend as Conroy told him to head North on Highway Two towards Deception Pass.
“They’re not going to another forest are they?” Liam asked Conroy tensely.
“No, from what I can see they’re in a house that’s in a high end residential district. It’s one of those houses that has a lot of privacy.”
“Good, no forests.” Laird sounded as relieved as Liam felt.
Liam drove balls out, but it still took twenty more minutes for them to get to the house that was actually more of an estate. It had a gate and the end of the drive. Liam drove on by as he noticed that there was a security camera that went along with the gate.
He went about a half a mile down the road and took a right down the next street.
He turned off the ignition. Then he turned in his seat to be able to look at all three of the men in the small car.
Every man looked grim. It was late afternoon, so they didn’t have the luxury of darkness to cover their approach.
“Conroy, what do you have for us on Google Earth?” Liam asked.
“The property is entirely fenced off, but it’s four or five acres, so the perimeter is far away from the house. It’s anybody’s guess whether the whole thing is monitored or not, we’ll just have to be on the lookout for it as we approach and go in.”
“I’d use dogs,” Declan said.
“I’d use mortars,” Laird disagreed.
“This isn’t a compound in Oklahoma,” Declan reminded the big Scotsman.
“Shut up.” Nobody flinched when he said it. They all understood his anguish.
“Okay, let’s get this done,” Liam gritted out. He wanted Addison back in his arms.
Neville.
Rear Admiral Neville.
His minion.
What the hell had her world come to?
For a brief second she just wanted Liam to come and ride to her rescue. Sure she wanted to be rescued, but more because she wanted to feel his arms around her one more time before she died.
Stop that! No pity party!
Women rescue themselves!
Be a Caroline!
Addison wanted to twist and turn and try to get herself off of the damn hook where she was dangli
ng from the ceiling, but she knew it was a waste of effort. Her flannel shirt was gone and so was her gun holster. But she could still feel the press of metal where her iPhone was pressed against the bottom of her right breast.
Addison just barely opened her eyes so that she could take in her surroundings. She was in some kind of man-cave. Across from her was Caroline. Her head was lolled to the side, she looked as out of it as she had felt twenty minutes before. But when she looked closer she saw Caroline’s fingers straining. Her knuckles were white with exertion. That beautiful, wonderful sailor was attempting to lift her wrists off of the hook!
Addison continued to look around the room. There was the obligatory pool table, dart board, more dead animal heads littered the walls than she wanted to contemplate and then there was a cheesy tiki bar with a neon Captain Morgan’s sign plugged in behind it.
Shouldn’t Neville’s minion be mixing one of his cocktail creations? Addison wasn’t able to totally suppress the scared hysterical laugh that accompanied that thought.
“You’re awake,” Neville smiled.
Well, she might as well make the most of her mistake. She needed to divert their attention away from what Caroline was doing.
“Where’s your bald cat?” Addison asked huskily. Her throat was raw. “Shouldn’t you have one to stroke?”
God, she was sounding like Caroline. Well good for her.
Minion boy laughed. “I love that movie. Mike Meyers is great as Dr. Evil.”
Neville looked over at him, and minion’s laughter abruptly cut off. Apparently he was Dr. Evil.
“You know, I don’t normally hang my ladies up. This is my associate Eduardo’s tactic,” Neville said as he paced over to her. He was two inches from her body, his nose was parallel to her waist.
“Now I understand the appeal.”
He unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, watching her carefully.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Wait for it.
When the blouse was finally unbuttoned, he put his nose against her navel, and sniffed. He had his hand on her hips, holding her in place.
SEAL at Sunrise (Silver SEALs Book 12) Page 15
