by Dana Volney
“I’ve been asking him about it. I believe him.”
“Me too,” Eddie said on a breath.
Alex’s instincts were usually on point. Eddie had his own doubts about Leo’s guilt. He hadn’t found anything to exonerate Leo yet but nothing that would convict him either. He couldn’t let Leo go away for life.
“Are you having one of the ladies bring food?” Alex asked.
“No. Why?”
“There’s someone at the door.”
Eddie stopped typing.
It was never great when a knock came on a door that was supposed to be hidden. He heard the sling back of a gun and waited, trying to picture what was going on.
A clink. “Oh shit. Leo, take cover!” Alex shouted and then the phone crashed to the ground.
Eddie, still with his phone to his ear, grabbed his bag with his gun and headed for the front door.
“What happened?” Hannah called after him.
“They’re under attack.” He hustled down the hall and hit the elevator button before the line went dead. There wasn’t much else he could make out. Hannah squeezed in at the last second, hopping on one foot while she slipped her boot on her left foot and zipped up the side.
“Did they give a description?”
“No.” He dialed 911 with the address and possible officer down. Now wasn’t the time to keep a safe house quiet. He called Alex’s number again and again, but it went to voice mail.
Shit. Shit. They ran through the lobby and hopped in the same car they’d returned only a couple of hours ago. Apparently no one missed a Corolla.
He drove as fast as he could through the traffic. Hannah made her own calls—her authoritative tone back in action as she spoke to her junior agents.
Would Redburn take Leo to one of his warehouses and beat the crap out of him like they had Hannah’s brother? Shit. How long could Leo not talk? Nausea coated his throat before he could swallow it down.
Maybe he should call Winter, too. His boss always picked up by the second ring. Today, it was three.
“How’s the task force going?”
“All to shit. The safe house was just attacked. I’m headed there now. Alex and Leo were there. I can’t get ahold of Alex. Police are on the way.”
“I’m on my way.” She disconnected. There wasn’t any major midday traffic, but Winter was already south and would probably beat them there. That’s why he’d called. And because he needed his team. Hannah might be happy with only the two of them on the case, but the fight just changed.
They were no longer out to build a case. They had to get his brother back, and that could mean bloodshed, would mean bloodshed if Alex or Leo was harmed. Eddie’s focus narrowed as he wove in and out of the various cars, flooring the gas pedal, letting up only as the front began to shake.
Three police cars, Winter’s SUV, and an ambulance were already on the scene when he pulled up and flew out of the car. If a coroner’s van had been there, he would’ve puked. Hopefully, that was a reliable sign that no one was dead.
Winter emerged from the small, two-bedroom, first floor apartment, followed by a gurney. Alex. Eddie jogged up alongside them.
“What happened?”
Alex’s face was pale and his clothes stained with blood. There weren’t limbs missing, and he was breathing on his own. All good signs.
Leo was absent. A thick brick sank his gut, and he swallowed, focusing on Alex and the blood on the side of his body as they wheeled him to the ambulance.
“He was shot. Leg and arm.” Apparently guns weren’t the only weapons on the scene. Winter’s glare sliced a few layers off Eddie’s right kidney.
The paramedics called out orders to each other on hospital preference and medication and loaded Alex in the back of the ambulance.
“Who was it?” Eddie stayed on the ground, Winter by his side.
“I don’t know.” Alex tried to lift his head but winced in pain. “They were on a mission though. I emptied my clip and didn’t have time to reach for another.”
“Did they shoot him or take him alive?” Eddie couldn’t say his name. His life had come down to asking if his brother was dead or alive.
“Alive. Kicking and screaming.” There was pain in Alex’s stare.
“Did they say why? Anything to indicate where they were going?”
“We need to go. He’s losing too much blood.” The paramedic looked serious.
“Only that he had a date to talk to the boss.”
Eddie grabbed one door, and Winter shut the other.
“Stay alive,” Eddie managed before closing the door and tapping it twice. Loud sirens screamed down the street until the ambulance turned into the city at the light.
There was no time to feel sorry for the shitty operator he was. Finding Leo would be the only way to make this nightmare go away and right the wrong of Alex being shot. Fuck. Also something Eddie hadn’t planned in his week.
“Anything else?” he asked Winter as they walked back inside. Hannah was on the sidelines on her cell.
“Three-man team. One shot Alex and held him at bay while the other two grabbed Leo. He didn’t see what they sped off in, but he thinks it was a truck or SUV, not a car.”
“Identifiable?”
“Yup. Not wearing masks.” Winter crossed her arms. “He’s lucky to be alive, Eddie.”
He rubbed his palms down his face. In-con-fucking-ceivable goat fuck of a fucking plan. My nuts have been kicked down my fucking throat. “Some fucking week. I’m hanging it up after this.”
“Like hell you are. Get your shit together and find these assholes.”
“How’s Amelia?”
“She’s out of the hospital and doing fine. She’s going to take a week off”—Winter held up a hand to stave off his interruption—“because I’m making her. It wasn’t doctor’s orders. And that situation wasn’t your fault. Stuff happens in the field, and we react as best we can.”
“Why’d you pawn me off on the task force?”
“Because it would be a good change of pace and would keep you busy. And Agent Malone asked for you by name. All of this is unexpected.”
“It’s got to all be connected.”
“No shit.” Winter’s phone chirped, and she pulled it out of her back pocket.
He turned away. God, what a mess. The frame of the front door was broken, pieces hanging down. Alex’s bloodstained the couch and carpet, and there was a smear on the turned over coffee table he probably tried to use as a shield. The bathroom doorjamb and door had been completely demolished. There were also random holes in the drywall where he’d guess Leo put up a struggle.
Eddie walked to the bathroom where Leo had failed to barricade himself in. He put his hands on his hips and hung his head. There wasn’t any proof it was Redburn. Leo had a special knack for pissing off a lot of people. Shit.
Is Leo a killer?
His mind spiraled. Focus on the facts. Focus on what’s important.
Eddie turned to leave when something blue caught his attention—the letters REDB written in Aquafresh toothpaste in the bottom of the white ceramic tub.
That motherfucking asshole. Warren Redburn had messed with the wrong family. First Hannah’s brother and now his.
Eddie heard colors.
Every muscle and fiber of his being tensed. Redburn would be lucky if he saw the sun rise in the morning. Eddie slapped the wall on his way out of the bathroom.
Winter returned her phone to her back pocket and her brows knitted together.
“It’s Redburn all right. And I’m going to kill him.” He brushed past her and unlocked his phone. He was going to get access to Redburn’s cell numbers, all of them, and track them. Then he was going to stop in at the office and grab his rifle. They’d been on many missions together; today it would help him take care of business once again.
“I said take care of it. Not get into trouble you can’t get out of. You hear me?”
“I’ll take care of it, all right.”
&
nbsp; “Call if you need backup,” Winter yelled after him.
He would. After he found the bastard, he would call if he needed help holding down the asswipe. He didn’t want the cops or the FBI around to witness how he planned to get Leo back.
The FBI would be an issue. What was he going to do with Hannah? She probably wouldn’t mind him killing Redburn, but he didn’t want this on her record. He wasn’t about to let her in on his real plans.
Fuck. Everything was coming down on him, the control he held on to so tightly slipping through his grip.
His jaw tight, he headed toward the stolen vehicle he’d been driving around Seattle all day. He’d return it, retrieve his truck from the hotel, and get his rifle.
“I need to talk to you.” Hannah’s face was apprehensive, but she should be mad. He’d convinced her that leaving Leo here would be safe. Now they weren’t going to make their meeting with Redburn and Leo was gone. She’d probably be upset if she knew Alex, too; he was good people.
Eddie followed as she led him away from the group.
His entire body buzzed with adrenaline as he tried to prioritize a plan. A plan that wasn’t forming easily because he could barely see straight let alone use his mind. Snap out of it. You know what to do. Alex was going to live; Leo was a survivor. He was like a cat, always landing on his feet. This was a recovery mission.
He didn’t know what to blame first: thinking he could keep his brother safe, thinking he really was good at his job, or not putting a bullet in Redburn when he’d had the chance. Twice.
Eddie knew his failings. But there were many more hanging over Redburn’s head from all the lives he’d ruined. There was plenty of blame to go around, and he was going to place it in Redburn’s lap. Personally.
Chapter Fourteen
How many ways could one case go sideways? Hannah rubbed her hands together, trying to find the right words to use. Eddie was amped up, and now she had to add to that. She steadied her breathing and looked him in the eye. He wasn’t going to understand right now. Someday he would. Hopefully. She couldn’t keep her secret any longer. His brother had been kidnapped because he was her informant, and Eddie needed the full story so he could find his brother. She needed to get in the first word before Malcom Waters blew her secret ten minutes from now and Eddie got the wrong impression about what she’d done.
A deep hurricane of adrenaline started in her gut and swirled outward. I’m going to lose him forever.
“What is it?” Eddie was distracted by his phone. “I have another way to find out where Redburn is, since he left the worthless fucking phone we bugged at his home.”
“It’s about Leo.”
Penetrating green eyes met hers, and she bit down on her lower lip, if only she could go back and change the past. “Did you find him?”
“I’m afraid not. But I need to tell you something.” She caught sight of his biceps as he crossed his arms. He’d been so comforting when he’d wrapped them around her. So freeing. So right. She’d gone too far—with Leo, with the lies, with Eddie—and now had to atone for ... what? Was she hoping Eddie would forgive her or still help her get Redburn? Shit. She needed professional help.
She cleared her throat to try again. Directness. Factual. No emotion. Go. “Leo didn’t murder Marty. He’s been an informant for the FBI for the last year. Leo got spooked when Marty was killed because Marty had agreed to flip and found out Leo was also feeding the FBI information. He was paranoid that Marty had been murdered by Redburn and, before his death, had told Redburn that Leo was a snitch, too. Leo asked to be pulled out.” She broke eye contact; the line of his jaw tensed with every sentence. “Marty died of natural causes. With unfortunate timing.” She slipped her hands into her pockets to avoid readjusting her hair or chewing her thumbnail or ... squeezing Eddie’s arm. She should walk away, get her team information, and start tracking Redburn on her own, but her feet wouldn’t move. If they were going to fix this, if she were to make things right with Eddie, she had to answer his questions.
“Leo was your informant, not just the FBI’s.” He barked the question as a statement, blank, carefully devoid of emotion, eyes staring her down.
She nodded, keeping her face straight. The coldness in his tone put them back to being barely coworkers. She’d tried to prepare herself for his anger, but experiencing the cold daggers he was throwing at her was making her heart beat faster. The rest of the answers she had for him weren’t going to be any more pleasant.
“You asked for me by name.” The bite in his words, in his face, dried her throat.
She nodded again. No way was she going to add to her already crappy admission and get herself in hotter water.
“This entire time you’ve been manipulating me into helping you. One step at a time.” His stare burned lines from her head all the way to the tip of her black shoes, leaving scathing marks behind.
She should say words like “it’s not like that” or “I have feelings for you. I know, I’m surprised, too, and I think you feel the same about me” or, really, “my rage blinded me, and I did con you into this, but I regret not asking and giving you a choice.” But she said nothing. She just tried to breathe through his anger and frustration rolling over her.
“My brother is in the hands of that monster now because you weren’t straight with me. Robert’s death wasn’t your fault. But if my brother dies, his blood is on you.”
She sucked in air as he quickly turned on the balls of his feet, got in their stolen car, and squealed the tires on his exit.
He wasn’t wrong. Leo’s death would be on her if she couldn’t fix it.
She called up her agent to put a tap and trace on Eddie’s phone. Yes, Eddie had tech and smarts. But she was the FBI.
She headed for a police car. She needed a ride back to her office.
“Malone.” A woman’s voice came from behind her. “Wait up.”
Hannah whirled around to see Winter Wyn strutting straight for her.
“Eddie is going after Leo.” Winter planted a hand on her hip and cocked it.
“I know.”
Winter arched a brow. “Are you going to help him?”
“I don’t think he wants to see me right now.” Hannah’s stomach turned. She deserved all of this.
“Hannah,” Winter stepped closer, “go to the Wyn office—I’m sure he’s stopping there—and fix this. Stay with him. Help him.”
She bit her lower lip. The office was a good lead, but she didn’t need Winter’s advice or interference or opinion to egg her on. She would help Eddie, no matter what. This was her fight—one she brought to his doorstep. One she was going to fix, and get Eddie his brother back.
• • •
Eddie could handle breaking his brother free on his own. Redburn’s men weren’t formally trained; they were mainly iron-pumping thug wannabes. When he got eyes on Leo and Redburn, maybe he’d call Winter and have the Wyn Security force come over for backup.
Felix was on his way to the scene, and Arabella was on some easy detail with Meiko.
He had the office to himself. He headed straight for the supply room. He needed guns, flash bangs, and a bulletproof vest.
Eddie looked up from loading the single, lead-tipped rounds in his case. He had a method, and this was no time to get sloppy. He’d line up his shots and pick them off one by one, take Leo, and get the hell out of there. Then they’d skip to plan G, which had been to get Leo out of Dodge, except now Eddie would have to go with him. He had a passport guy, so they could lie low for a day and then be out of the country with no problem.
“Gearing up for a fight?” Hannah was leaning up against the door to the weapons room.
Like a virus that just won’t go away. The sick part was that he didn’t hate that she’d followed him. She’d also not abandoned him.
“A state I should constantly be in around you.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
A chuckle that held no humor escaped his lips, and he loaded a round into the c
hamber and racked it, the metal noise loud in the strained silence.
“I don’t care what it was like.”
She wore her knee-high boots over tight jeans that showed the muscles in her thighs and hugged her ass. He wished he still didn’t like her ass.
“Well, I do, and I have some things to say.”
“I’m busy.”
“You can’t face Redburn alone. You don’t know what you’re up against.”
“I’ve always managed. By myself. Today is no different.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that anymore.”
“Yes, I’d like the liar, the manipulator, and the user to help me out.”
“I’m sorry.”
He took a beat and placed his hands on the high counter in the middle of the room.
“It’s easy to be sorry now. You’re getting everything you want.” He zipped up the bag.
He’d changed into the spare set of tactical clothes he kept at the office: black cargo pants, long-sleeved black shirt, and combat boots. He grabbed a bulletproof vest off the rack behind him.
“You know where he is, don’t you?”
“You can’t stop me from going, and I’m not telling you where he is.”
“I’ll just show up then. I’m not letting you go. How do you think I knew you were here?”
“Educated guess.”
“I have my own tricks.”
Dammit, she’d tracked his phone. Rookie mistake on his part. That was the only way she’d know his exact locations. He hefted the bag full of rampage toys over his shoulder and headed toward the door. She stepped in front of him, and he stopped right before plowing into her. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone. He was going to turn it off right under her smug little nose. Until it started to vibrate.
A blocked caller.
He glanced at Hannah out of habit more than because he wanted to see her face right now.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“It seems we have more in common than a love of Alonzo’s.” He’d recognize Redburn’s stern voice in his sleep at this point.
“I’m not sure what you mean. Are you calling to change the meeting?” He had to play it cool—except, shit, yep, Redburn wasn’t calling on the Huntington cell, he was calling on Eddie’s, which meant he had made the connection.
