Targeted (Firebrand Book 1)
Page 7
Her heart leaped into her throat, and for a moment she couldn’t move. The she dashed after him and skidded to a stop at the den door where she looked in horror at the scene unfolding before her. What looked like a shoe box wrapped in brown paper sat on her desk. Max had just pulled the tape loose from one sealed end of the package and looked up in surprise as Ash ran into the room. Even above the sound of Ash’s footsteps she could hear the loud ticking and knew a bomb lay inside the box.
“No!” she screamed.
With a fierce growl, Ash leaped across the room like a panther, grabbed Max in his arms, and cradled his head with his hands as he whirled to run from the room. He was about half-way to the door when a loud ringing sounded inside the box. With a terrified look on his face, he charged into Lainey, knocked her to the floor, and dived on top of her with Max sandwiched between them.
His arms came up to cover her head, and she had a fleeting thought that the three of them would die together on the den floor. They lay that way for a few moments, the room now eerily silent. The ticking had stopped.
Ash listened for several seconds before he closed his eyes in relief and sighed. “It’s okay now.”
“What was that?” she whispered.
“It sounded like an alarm clock,” he muttered.
Before she could ask another question, Ash had pulled her and Max to their feet. Wrapping an arm around each of them, he hurried them from the room. Lainey’s legs wobbled as he pulled them down the hallway, and she stubbed her toe as they entered the kitchen. Ash’s hold on her tightened, and instead of stopping he propelled her and Max to the back door and out into the yard. Her eyes widened in surprise when men dressed in camouflage and carrying rifles converged around them.
She stared at each of the men and shivered at the way they clutched their weapons and the somber expressions on their faces. It was as if they had suddenly materialized out of thin air to stand around them.
“What’s up?” one of them asked.
Ash gave a terse nod toward the man as he pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped in a number. “Lainey, this is my friend Phillip Tyler.” She was about to ask who he was calling, but he held up his hand to silence her and spoke into the phone. “Reese, we’ve had a problem here. Thought we had a bomb, but it didn’t go off.”
He nodded as he listened to whatever Reese was saying before he spoke again. “I haven’t touched it, but it needs to be checked out. Can you send our EOD squad over?” He hesitated for a moment. “Okay. I’ll be expecting them. I’ll keep Lainey and Max out of the house until they’ve had a chance to inspect it.”
“Have you talked to John yet?” He listened for a moment and then nodded. “In a meeting, huh? Well, keep trying. I’ll talk with you later.”
He ended the call and shoved the phone back in his pocket. Lainey swallowed and stared up at him. “EOD squad? What’s that?”
A surprised look flashed across Phillip Tyler’s face, and he muttered something under his breath as he glanced at the house. “You’ve called for the EOD squad? What happened in there?”
Ash quickly related the events and then turned back to Lainey. He frowned as his gaze raked her and Max. “Are you two okay? We landed hard on that floor.”
Lainey had her arm around Max’s shoulders, and she drew him closer. “We’re fine, thanks to you. But what is an EOD squad?”
Ash chewed on his bottom lip a moment before he answered. “That’s our Explosive Ordnance Disposal team. They’ve had some of the most extensive training available, and they’re going to instruct the classes for law enforcement bomb squads when the new facility gets going. I want them to check out our box.”
Lainey’s chin quivered, and she glanced back in the direction of the house. “But this one wasn’t a real bomb.”
Ash exhaled and rubbed his hand over his eyes. “It appears it wasn’t, but we can’t take any chances. I want you and Max to stay outside until our guys check out the package and make sure it’s safe for us to reenter the house.” He put a hand on Max’s shoulder and stared down at him. “Max, where did that package come from?”
Tears stood in Max’s eyes, and he looked first at Ash and then at his mother. “I was in the den looking out the window and saw two men with guns come out from behind some trees and walk around the house.” He cast a sidelong glance at the men standing around them. “They had on green uniforms like these men.”
Ash’s mouth twitched as if he was trying to keep from smiling. He nodded toward Phillip. “These are some of my friends from Firebrand, Max.”
Max’s eyes grew wide as he stared at each of the men. “For real? You’re all with Firebrand?”
The men smiled, and Ash nodded. “Yes, Max. Now tell me more about the box. What happened after you saw the soldiers come out of hiding?”
“Well, they walked around to the back of the house. Then I saw a man at the front gate. He must have known the password because he punched the buttons, and the gate swung open. Then he ran up to the house. He set a package on the front porch and ran back through the gate and closed it. So I went and got it and brought it inside.”
Lainey frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a package on the porch?”
A tear ran out of the corner of his eye, and his lips quivered. “I knew you were in the kitchen, and I came to tell you.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Max eyes darkened, and he shot a hostile glare at her. “Because I heard you and Uncle Ash yelling at each other, and I was afraid to come in.”
Phillip straightened to his full height and gave a curt nod to the other men standing with him. “Okay, guys, let’s go back to our positions.” He turned to leave and called over his shoulder. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
Lainey cast an embarrassed glance at Ash as the men retreated to their positions around the back yard and then turned to Max. She gripped him by the shoulders and stared down into his eyes. “Why were you afraid to come in the kitchen?”
Max jerked away from her and clenched his fists at his side. “I heard you tell Uncle Ash that you didn’t know what kind of person he was anymore. And I was afraid you were going to make him go away, and I would never see him again.”
Lainey’s mouth gaped open. “I would never make him go away, Max.”
Tears rolled from Max’s eyes, and he gave his cheeks an angry swipe. “Then why were you being so mean to him? Aren’t you glad he came to see us?”
“Of course I’m glad. . .”
“Max,” Ash interrupted before she could finish. “Your mother and I were having a difference of opinion. I was at fault as much as she was.” He put his hand on Max’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “But don’t you worry. I’m not going anywhere for a while.”
Max looked up at him and tilted his head to one side. “Do you promise?”
“I do.”
“And will you go to my school musical tomorrow?”
“If you want me there, nothing could keep me away.”
Almost before he’d finished speaking, Max hurled himself at Ash and grabbed him around the waist. He pressed his cheek against Ash and hugged. “Thank you, Uncle Ash. I’m glad you came.”
Ash waited a moment before he put his arms around Max and pulled him close. Then he held him at arms’ length and put his finger under Max’s chin to tip his face up. “But about this package, is there anything else you can tell me? Did you get a good look at the man who left it there.”
Max shook his head. “No, it all happened really quick.” He stared up at Lainey. “I’m sorry, Mom. I won’t do it again.”
She wanted to say something, but she was afraid she’d burst into tears if she tried. Instead she took a deep breath and tried to smile. “It’s okay. Now since we’re going to be outside for a while why don’t you take your uncle to the pool house and see if he can keep up with you on the new dance mat machine we just bought.”
Max grinned and shook his head. “Aw, he couldn’t do it.”
Max laughed and ran toward the pool house. When he had disappeared inside, Ash took Lainey by the arm and looked down into her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“No.” The word was a strangled sob, and the dam that had been holding back her tears cracked. She buried her face in her hands as her body began to shake with sobs. Then she felt Ash’s arm go around her shoulders.
He pulled her closer. His hand touched the back of her head in what felt like a tender caress. “Somebody must have come onto the grounds when I was in the back yard talking with the two details. Nobody was in place at the time. I’m sorry, Lainey.”
She looked up at him and shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t argued with you, Max wouldn’t have gone outside.”
His dark eyes clouded. “You can’t blame yourself for this. It wasn’t your fault. We both need to watch what we say. I don’t want Max upset like this again.”
“Neither do I.” She hiccoughed and stared into the face of the man she’d thought minutes ago she would die with, and new tears rolled down her cheeks. “Thank you, Ash. You didn’t know the bomb wasn’t real when you went after Max. I’ll never forget that.”
His arm tightened around her, and she leaned forward until her cheek was resting on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat, and she sighed in pleasure. It had been so long since they’d stood like this.
The sudden chime of his cell phone brought her back to reality, and he released his hold on her and as he pulled the phone to his ear. “DeHan, here.”
His grim expression told her the conversation wasn’t to his liking. He listened for a few seconds before he ended the call and stared at his phone.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
She frowned. “What did he say?”
He wrinkled his brow as if trying to recall the words and then spoke. “He said. ‘Hello, Mr. DeHan. I wanted to make sure the gift I sent had been delivered. Sorry about the joke, but I couldn’t resist. Next time it will be the real thing.’”
She squared her shoulders and tried to project the determined expression she used when confronting problems at DeHan Enterprises. She wasn’t sure she’d succeeded and cleared her throat to dislodge the words that didn’t want to come. “In addition to two men holding me at knifepoint and threatening my son and me. . .” She swallowed before going on. “We’ve had two phone calls and a bomb scare in less than twenty-four hours. I think it’s time you told me what’s going on.”
“Lainey, I’m not sure. . .” He stopped and sighed in resignation as his eyes took in her quivering chin and the fear she felt must show on her face. After a moment he shook his head in resignation. “I think this may be payback for a Firebrand mission I conducted down in Mexico. I helped raid a drug cartel’s operation in a small village. Although he wasn’t there, we knew the drug lord was a man named Eduardo Diaz. I think he may be behind this.”
She’d heard news reports and read articles about what happened to people who dared to defy a cartel. She tried to stifle a groan, but it was no use? “”Oh, Ash, th-they’re g-going to kill us, aren’t they?”
He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “No, Lainey. That’s not going to happen. I will protect you and Max.”
She shrugged free of him and took a step back. Anger welled up in her, and she wanted to reach out and strike him, to take out her rage on him because his dedication to Firebrand had been stronger than his love for her. And it had brought them to this moment where she and Max would suffer because of his choice.
The men who’d attacked her last night had left no illusions that they meant what they said. It hadn’t been an empty threat. Because of what Ash had done in a remote area of the world, they intended not only to kill him but to wipe out the entire remaining DeHan family.
She clenched her fists at her side and glared at him. “Why should I believe you, Ash? You made promises to me in the past and broke them. I don’t expect it to be any different now.”
The muscle in his jaw flexed, and he bit down on his lip as if he was trying to keep from answering her. His dark eyes narrowed as his gaze drifted over her. Then after a few moments the hooded look in his eyes she’d known so well in the past returned to block out whatever emotion he was feeling. He exhaled, turned toward the pool house, and walked inside.
<><><>
Victor leaned back in the seat of the car he’d rented in Las Vegas and chuckled as he disconnected his call to Ash DeHan. He slipped the throw-away cell phone back in his pocket and wished he could catch a glimpse at what was going on at the house that DeHan thought he had so well guarded. Little did he know.
Still smiling, he turned the ignition and pulled out of the truck stop where he’d grabbed a bite to eat before continuing on his trip to meet his employer. As he turned on the highway and headed west, he let his gaze drift over the barren landscape that surrounded him. Yesterday he had been in Nevada experiencing a late-season snowstorm. Today the only thing in sight was the seemingly endless stretch of desert along I-40 that ended at Barstow, California.
The hope that his scheduled meeting with El Jefe would take place in Barstow in someplace with air conditioning had died when he’d been given his instructions. His destination wasn’t one he would have chosen, but the choice hadn’t been his. You didn’t disobey cartel orders. You followed them, or else.
He spotted the exit up ahead and slowed as he turned off the interstate onto the road that stretched north toward Ft. Erwin. He straightened in his seat, glanced down at the odometer, and repeated his instructions in his head. Turn off the interstate at the Ft. Erwin exit and drive twenty miles into the desert. Take a left on a road marked by a rusted, bullet-riddled mailbox sitting atop a post and drive to a dilapidated desert rat shack near the base of the mountains that loomed on the horizon. That was where they’d meet. In a remote area that was free of traffic and nosy neighbors who might later remember seeing strangers in the area.
As he drove through the desert, his gaze drifted over the scrub brush that dotted the landscape as far as he could see. There had to be living creatures out there somewhere, but none were visible today, not even a bird in the sky.
After thirty minutes he spotted the road he was to take and turned left onto the bumpy path that led him closer to the mountains. Tumbleweeds blew across his path, and he came to a complete stop several times before he rounded a corner and spotted a Jeep, its motor running, in front of the skeleton of a shack. The two bodyguards who always accompanied El Jefe when he crossed the border stood beside the car.
He pulled to a stop, turned off the engine, and stared at the ramshackle structure in front of him. It resembled a farm house that had probably been built to shelter a family. Now all that was left was a house with a sagging roof and a piece of tattered cloth hanging over an opening where the front window had once been.
Taking a last deep breath of the cool air inside the car, he opened the door and stepped into the sweltering heat. The two bodyguards studied him with apathetic stares as he walked toward them. When he stopped beside the car, one of them reached over and opened its back door. El Jefe stepped from the cool interior and faced him.
The somber expression of El Jefe’s dark, olive complexion matched that of his bodyguards as he regarded Victor. “How long have you been in the states?” Victor asked.
“We came through one of the tunnels last night, and there was a car waiting for us on the American side.”
“Are you staying until this job with DeHan is finished?”
El Jefe shook his head. “No. I go back tonight, but I want to be here when DeHan dies. Until then do you have good news to report?”
“I do. Last night went off without a hitch in Nor
th Carolina and in Colorado. DeHan is back home. I talked to him a while ago after the package was delivered. He didn’t have much to say, though.”
El Jefe laughed, and the sound echoed in the dry, desert air. “That’s because he’s getting a taste of what it’s like to have people you love in danger. Before this is over, he’ll wish he’d never heard of my cartel.”
Victor hesitated a moment and inhaled. “ I don’t understand. Why are we going to such lengths to taunt DeHan?”
El Jefe’s eyes grew wide. “You are one of my most valuable hit men, but never forget you work for me. I don’t have to explain to you why I do things.”
Victor saw anger flash in his eyes, and swallowed the fear that swept over him. “I understand that, but I’m the best at what I do. I just wondered why we were participating in this elaborate scheme when we could have killed him and the woman and the boy and been finished with this job by now.”
El Jefe stared at him, and his lips curled down in a sneer. “As I said I don’t have to explain myself, but this time I will make an exception. I want him to suffer wondering how and when I’m going to strike. When I’m ready, I want his son to die just as mine did when he killed him. And I want to be there so he will know who made it happen.”
Victor tilted his head to one side and stared at El Jefe. “But you told me DeHan doesn’t know he has a son. How can you know that?”
“It doesn’t matter how I know it. What matters is that he learns how high the stakes are in this game. It isn’t just his nephew and brother’s wife he’s protecting. It’s his son and the mother of his child. When he sees them die, I want him to feel the pain that I do every day. You are being paid well to make that moment happen. Don’t disappoint me.”
The meaning of his words were clear to Victor. Failure wasn’t allowed in the cartel. If anything went wrong on this job, neither he nor Sophia would live to regret it. “You don’t have to worry. It will all go as planned.”