The Naughty Nine: Where Danger and Passion Collide

by Nina Bruhns

  Thirty minutes later he steered the truck onto the highway. “Okay, we’re clear.”

  Mallory sat and buckled up. Her stomach growled.

  Gage glanced at her. “There’s a rest stop coming up, but I’d rather forego it and get you to the Bureau.”

  “I agree. My stomach can wait. I want to get to the office as soon as possible.”

  The interstate had been cleared of snow. She focused on the traffic outside her window, willing them to reach the Bureau office quickly. The old truck’s heater provided little warmth. She was glad of Gage’s parka and huddled into it.

  They drove without speaking for the most part but the drive was far from quiet. The wind whistled. The engine hummed and traffic whooshed as it sped by.

  Gage, she was sure, had more on his mind than idle banter. His features were strained and his body was tense. Several times, she’d observed him checking the view behind them or glancing in her direction. Clearly, he was alert should another threat present itself.

  When they entered the small city of Bradley, Mallory gave Gage directions to the Bureau office. He pulled to a stop in front of the door to the building.

  Mallory removed her seat belt. “York, my boss, will want to speak with you too.”

  “I expected that. I’ll park and meet you inside.”

  In the small building, she led Gage to the office of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey York. York was a sturdy man, built like a bull with close cropped gray hair and a trim moustache. Mallory made the introductions and the men shook hands. York listened intently as Mallory updated him on the situation, then Gage added details of his own.

  Mallory shifted in the seat. She wanted to get to the warehouse and it was taking a force of will for her to sit through this briefing.

  When Gage finished speaking, York picked up the phone and punched numbers. “I’m getting a team together to go into that warehouse.”

  Mallory leaned forward on the chair. “I want to be part of that team.”

  York nodded. “We’ll meet in the briefing room.” He turned to Gage. “Appreciate your help on this Captain Broderick. If you could wait here, I’d like to speak with you again.”

  Gage agreed.

  With all that had happened, Mallory hadn’t had a chance to contemplate saying goodbye, but Gage’s agreement brought on a release of tension and, for some reason, a profound relief.

  In the briefing room, the team leader laid out strategy for the strike. Mallory dressed in her gear and joined the other agents in a truck. Nerves were riding her hard. The lives of twelve women depended on everything going right.

  They arrived at the warehouse a short time later. The proximity of it, to the city, to the Bureau office struck her, along with Considine’s audacity to keep these women so close with no fear of detection.

  All was quiet outside the warehouse. Though Mallory was straining to get inside, she recognized the team leader’s prudence in observing the scene before proceeding. When more time passed without movement, the leader gave the signal to “Go”.

  Mallory took up her assigned position by the door. On another signal from the leader, she entered the warehouse.

  The building was dark and cold. Her breath puffed out with each exhalation. The women would need heat if they were to survive. Considine would not be careless with what he considered his merchandise and her stomach churned with the fear they were too late and the women were no longer here.

  Weapon drawn, she moved deeper into the warehouse. A rodent scurried out of her path.

  She turned a corner and came to a door. Flattening herself against the wall, she put her gloved hand on the knob and yanked the door open. Her fear was confirmed. The room was empty.

  The team leader came up behind her. “We’ve finished checking out the rest of the place, Burke. Empty and clean. There’s nothing to suggest anyone was here. We’re packing it in.”

  * * *

  Once Mallory went with the team to converge on the warehouse, York had asked Gage to go over what had taken place at the cabin again. After, Gage had declined York’s offer to wait in his office for Mallory’s return and had opted to wait in the hall. A door opened. Gage wheeled toward it. A redhead, heels tapping a staccato beat, crossed the tile and entered one of the offices. Gage rolled his shoulders to relieve a knot of tension there, but it remained. Another door opened. But it was only a man pushing a mail cart.

  Gage needed to call Mitch and let him know what went down at the cabin. The thought flitted through his mind but was dismissed as he focused once again on the exit door.

  He was pacing the length of the hallway when the rumble of the elevators at the far end drew his attention. He spun toward them. A soft ding heralded the opening of the double doors. A tall man in combat gear stepped out and after him—Mallory.

  Without blinking, Gage marked her passage down the hall until she entered York’s office. He rolled his shoulders and this time felt a release of the tension.

  A phone was on a table in the reception area, along with a scattering of magazines. He dropped onto one of the padded chairs and called Mitch.

  Two rings later, Mitch came on the line. “Mitch,” Gage said.

  “Hey. Where you calling from?”

  “Bradley.”

  “I caught a weather report out your way. Hell of a day for a drive.”

  “Yeah. Mitch, I’m calling to let you know that you can expect to hear from the PD out here.” Mitch was also a cop. They’d met when they’d both been at the academy. Twelve years later, they were still tight. Mitch was now police chief of a district. Gage told him what went down at the cabin.

  Mitch’s voice tensed. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Fine.”

  “What’s the status of the investigation? How deeply are you involved?”

  “Investigation is ongoing. Now that Agent Burke is back at the Bureau office, my part in this is done. I’ll be driving back up to the cabin later today.”

  Mitch was quiet for a beat. “I was hoping you were going to say you had enough of the place.”

  Gage didn’t have an answer for that, so he said nothing.

  “I was hoping you were going to tell me you’re going back to the job,” Mitch added quietly.

  No, Gage couldn’t do that. He wasn’t fit to command. He didn’t expect he ever would be again.

  When again, Gage offered no response, Mitch said, “If you need anything.”

  “Just the cabin.”

  “It’s yours for as long as you want it, you know that.”

  “Appreciate it.”

  “Gage—”

  “I gotta go. Give my love to Shelby.” Shelby was Mitch’s fiancée.

  “She worries about you, you know.”

  Though Gage did know that Shelby worried about him, that was Mitch’s way of saying he worried.

  “Take care of yourself,” Mitch said.

  “You, too.”

  * * *

  While the rest of the team changed out of their gear, Mallory accompanied the team leader to York’s office. Inside, the leader updated their superior on what had gone down at the warehouse.

  “. . . and there’s nothing there to show that the women were ever there.” The team leader concluded. “Sorry, Burke.”

  Mallory acknowledged the sympathy with a nod.

  York pressed his lips together. “Then there certainly isn’t anything to show us where they might have been moved.”

  “No.”

  After the team leader left, Mallory remained in York’s office. “Sir, we need to get Billy Wilder, the owner of the club, in here and sweat him. He abducted a federal agent. To save himself, he’ll give up the location of the women and then his boss, Considine.”

  York drummed his fingers on his desk. “I’m already on it. Our people are on the way to round him up. I’ll call you when we have him.”

  “I’d like to be in on the interrogation.”

  York nodded. “You’ve earned that. I’ll be in touch. For
now, go home.”

  Mallory left York’s office. She found Gage in the reception area.

  “The women?” he said.

  She shook her head. “Considine moved them.”

  Gage cursed under his breath.

  “Yeah,” she agreed.

  “You okay?”

  “Far from it,” Mallory said. “Not only were the women moved, but it looks like they were never there. “York’s having Billy picked up in connection with my abduction.”

  “Once Wilder is in custody, the Bureau will have a shot at Considine. From what you’ve told me, the first real shot. You know Wilder. Is he likely to flip on his boss?”

  She sneered. “Wilder will talk. He’ll have no choice. Once he’s picked up, Considine will mark him and Billy’s hours will be numbered. Billy knows that. He’ll be terrified to turn against Considine, but he’ll realize that we’re his only chance to stay alive.”

  “Things will happen fast then once Wilder is apprehended.”

  “Can’t happen fast enough for me.” She tapped her leg in a gesture of impatience. “York said he’d call when Wilder’s in custody. Nothing more I can do here.”

  “I’ll drive you home.”

  Snowbound: Chapter Six

  Gage hadn’t planned on remaining with Mallory after he drove her to the Bureau office. As he’d told Mitch on the phone, he’d planned to turn right around and drive back up to the cabin today. If York hadn’t had a chance to explain the situation at the cabin to local law enforcement, Gage imagined the sheriff’s office would have questions for him.

  But then he’d learned from Mallory that the women had not been found and that Billy Wilder was still at large. As long as he was, Mallory was still a target. Her fight, as important as it was, wasn’t his. He’d lost his fight six months ago. But the thought of Mallory in danger had his gut clenching and he hadn’t been able to walk away.

  “Can we make a stop on the way to my place?”

  Mallory’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Sure. We should take you to a hospital. Have you checked out. I doubt you told York about the car accident or your injured ankle so he wouldn’t stop you from going on that raid.”

  “You’re right. I didn’t mention any of that to York. There’s a clinic not far from my place. We’ll make a stop there, but I need to go somewhere else first.”

  Gage narrowed his eyes at her urgent tone. “Where?”

  “It’s silly. Beyond silly, but I want to go back to the warehouse. I want to take one more look inside.”

  “You think something might have been overlooked?”

  “No. Maybe. I said it’s silly, but it’s something I need to do.”

  He saw it was gnawing at her. “Which way?”

  She gave him directions and shortly after, he parked the truck in front of the warehouse. It was situated at the end of a dirt road with no other buildings on it. Anyone traveling on this road would be destined for the warehouse.

  Any trace of the FBI raid a couple of hours earlier was gone and the building appeared deserted. His truck was the only vehicle on the lot.

  Still, appearances could deceive and according to Mallory’s information, until recently, this warehouse had been used in the commission of a crime. Until he knew for sure that Considine’s people hadn’t returned, Gage wasn’t taking any chances. When Mallory opened her door, he put a hand on her arm and detained her. “Someone may have come back here since you and the team cleared out. Did you get your service weapon replaced?”

  “Yes.”

  “Keep it handy.”

  Mallory took her gun from her purse and Gage saw the purse now also held a new cell phone. Along with his own weapon, Gage added a police-issue flashlight from the glove box and they left the truck.

  The air outside was cold but inside, the warehouse was only slightly warmer than out. The day was overcast with low hanging clouds and only scant light filtered in through the pair of windows set high in the walls. A panel on one wall held the circuit breakers that would turn on the lights. Gage saw no harm in lighting the place. Even if anyone did arrive, his truck parked outside would give notice that someone was at the warehouse. But when he flicked one of the breakers up, no light came on.

  Mallory glanced up at the unlit fluorescents in the ceiling. “No heat. No lights, either.”

  Gage flicked on the flashlight. “Who is the warehouse registered to? Obviously not Wilder or anyone that could be traced back to Considine.”

  “York will check it out, but it’s likely linked to some dummy corporation in some part of the world that no one has ever heard of.”

  Mallory took the lead and Gage followed her to the back of the warehouse. Outside light decreased as they went deeper, but enough light remained for them to see where they were walking. Mallory’s steps were sure-footed with purpose. She came to a thick steel door. It opened into a twelve by twelve cell with concrete walls and floors. This room, cut off from all sunlight, was dark as a grave and just as cold.

  “This is where I think they were being kept.” Mallory’s voice echoed.

  She wrapped her arms around herself in a tight hug. Gage didn’t believe it was the cold she was attempting to stave off since she still wore her combat gear with insulation that would keep more than the cold from reaching her.

  She took a turn around the room. “Can you shine some light in here?”

  Gage swept the beam in a slow arc.

  Mallory’s eyes followed the path of the light. “I was all over this place—this room— with the team.” Her voice lowered as she took herself back. “I don’t know what I was expecting to accomplish by coming here again. What I expected to find that might give us a clue to where they were taken. Maybe I was expecting that they would be here hidden somewhere.” She shook her head. “I’ve seen enough, Gage. I’m ready to go.”

  “Maybe it was just simply a matter of you needing to do something rather than sitting around waiting for something to happen.”

  She looked up at him. “Thanks for not calling me crazy.”

  “You care. Nothing crazy about that.”

  Though the depth of her interest went beyond that of a job. At the cabin, Gage had noted that she was vested in the outcome.

  Gage drove next to the Bradley Clinic. After Mallory spoke with the secretary and filled out the necessary forms, they took seats in the waiting room.

  She checked her cell phone for messages. “A bunch. None from York. Most from my brother, John.”

  While Mallory called her brother, Gage got up to stretch his legs. He returned as she ended the call and resumed his seat beside her.

  Mallory returned the phone to her purse. “John’s been trying to get in touch with me for weeks.”

  She grew pensive. Gage reached over and tipped up her chin so he could look into her eyes. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. John and I try not to go too long without contact but with his job and my job, it’s not always possible to stay in regular touch.”

  Her brother was obviously important to her. “Your brother also with the Bureau?”

  “CIA.”

  “You sound worried.”

  “I always worry. Just as I know he worries about me. But it’s what he does. What we do. We both live with that.” She chuckled. “He told me he’s met someone. Wants me to meet her the first chance we get. Sounds serious.”

  “Why is that funny?”

  “It’s hard to picture my brother in love. Sometimes John can be, well, like you.” Her eyes twinkled. “Stubborn. Grumpy. Set in his ways.”

  Gage scowled. “Whoa. Stop. My ego can’t take all this praise.”

  Mallory’s name was called. As she got to her feet, she glanced back at Gage and grinned. “Remind me where I left off with that list. There’s more.”

  “Can’t wait to hear it.” Gage’s dry tone prompted another laugh from her.

  The doctor found nothing more damaging in Mallory than an assortment of bruises, abrasions, and a spraine
d ankle, all at various stages of healing. As Gage drove them away from the clinic, she called York. Her conversation was brief. Agents had gone to Wilder’s residence and his place of business. He wasn’t at either location. York had issued a nation wide alert to law enforcement.

  When her conversation with York ended, Mallory sat clutching her phone. Frustration was coming off her in waves. “Billy’s holed up somewhere. By now he may be out of the country. We may never find him.” She made a sound of disgust. “York has the search warrants. He’s sending a team over to the club. I want to meet them.”

  * * *

  They grabbed a quick takeout meal and ate as Gage drove to The Wild Club.

  He dropped a food wrapper into the now empty take out bag. “I’ll do a drive-by first in case anyone other than your team is there.”

  In the seat beside him, Mallory surveyed their surroundings. No cars were on the lot and no lights were on inside. Only the marquee with a gyrating figure of a woman glowed against the night sky. “The place looks abandoned.”

  “Yeah.” Gage parked across the street from the club. “We’ll wait here for your team to arrive.”

  “Shouldn’t be too long.” Mallory’s voice trailed off and she squinted into the darkness. “Did you see that? A light went on for an instant. On the main floor.”

  “Yeah, I did. This place have a silent alarm?”

  “No. Billy, and more Considine, wouldn’t want police coming in here.” Her heart rate accelerated. “Maybe it’s Billy in there. I can’t wait for the team to get here, Gage. I have to check this out.”

  He picked up the flashlight. “Let’s go.”

  The air was cold. Mallory hunched deeper into her jacket. The side door of the club was unlocked. They drew their weapons. She exchanged a nod with Gage and they went inside.

  Streetlights and the blinking light from the marquee lit their path. Mallory knew the layout and the location of furniture and other items. The light they’d seen had come from somewhere down here. They worked their way through the main floor. Nothing was disturbed and no one else was there.