Wyn Security

by Dana Volney

  “Welcome to my home.” Redburn sat behind a big cherrywood desk and puffed on a cigar while he held a match up to light the end.

  “I’d love a tour.” Eddie felt Hannah’s arm rub his beside him.

  “And who would be joining you on this tour, Mr. Dever?” Redburn turned his gaze to Hannah.

  “Just the girlfriend.” Eddie shrugged to sell the lie. Leo looked worse for the wear, so there was no telling what he’d told them already. Redburn already knew they weren’t the Huntingtons. What was one more lie? If they got caught, it’d be no big deal.

  “Hannah.” Her strong tone reassured him. She was a trained FBI agent. She could hold her own.

  Redburn seemed satisfied with Hannah’s title as his gaze shifted to Leo. “Do you know what kind of traitor your brother is?”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “This daft fool,” Redburn swung his cigar toward Leo, who still hadn’t said one word since they arrived, “was trying to double-cross me.”

  “Sounds about right.” If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

  “You knew about this?”

  “Nope. But that’s par for the course.” What in the fuck had Leo done? Everyone around Eddie was lying about something or another. Motherfucking suck bag. “Enlighten me.”

  “Leo here thought it would be in his best interest to find out who my sellers were and offer our meet times to the highest bidder so my product could be intercepted.” Spit sprayed from Redburn’s thin lips. “Going behind my back didn’t end up so well for Marty, did it, Leo?”

  You’ve got to be kidding me. Nope. I’m not even surprised. His brother had perpetuated the cycle of his life. Eddie couldn’t stop himself from meeting Leo’s wide eyes. So Marty had been murdered. He felt the air thin around Hannah but refused to look directly at her lest he give away her status.

  Chapter Sixteen

  You have got to be kidding me. Hannah clenched her jaw, not wanting to throw daggers at Leo, though the irritation was boiling her blood. Leo had known the information about the Huntingtons for God only knew how long, and Marty’s death was, in fact, murder.

  Some informant he’d turned out to be. Some revenge-bent agent she’d turned out to be.

  Still, Leo didn’t deserve to be in this spot, and she could see the stress lines etched into the sides of Eddie’s eyes. Shit, she wished she’d been better at her job instead of blinded by her need to settle a score.

  “You killed Marty?” The shock in Leo’s eyes—well the eye that could sort of open—was real.

  “I have ears everywhere. That should be a given at this point.”

  “How’d you find out about Leo?” Hannah found her voice, her curiosity getting the better of her. Was there a leak in her office or the DA’s?

  “He was arrested for a murder that had left no evidence of a murder being committed. My guy is careful that way.” A sinister smile crept up his old, reddened skin. “That’s when the dominos fell into place.”

  “No one else showed up at our meetings though,” Hannah continued. Eddie sidestepped into her, causing her to sway. She got it. He didn’t want her to give herself away or make Redburn mad. They needed to make the deal and get out. But, come on, the betrayal of a sworn government worker was also important.

  “According to Leo, he couldn’t finalize anything because he’s been locked up and stowed away without a way to contact the interested parties.” Redburn puffed on his cigar.

  That might be true. She’d not given Leo access to any computers, and the only person he’d called while in lockup had been Eddie. She’d checked.

  “No harm done then, yeah?” Heat radiated off of Eddie. He was amped.

  “Did you bring what I asked for?” Redburn stood, and his guards jostled each other.

  If this had been a real handoff, there’d be no way Eddie would’ve actually brought their one and only bargaining chip with them, but he and Hannah still needed to make the exchange to catch Redburn. The bastard admitting to having a hand in Marty’s death was icing on the cake.

  “Of course.” Eddie reached his free hand into his pocket and left it there. “Untie Leo.”

  “Let me see the little disks that are going to make me richer.”

  “Untie Leo.”

  Hannah glanced at Eddie. Impressive. His clear command still managed to sound like he wasn’t bothered by anything.

  Redburn nodded to the short man on his left, and that guy started fiddling with the knots behind Leo’s back.

  “Here’s what we had left.” Eddie produced a small, black felt bag dangling from his thumb and index finger.

  “Whatever happened to the real Huntingtons?”

  “They’ve been taken care of,” Eddie shot back.

  A hearty chuckle filled the large room and chilled her to the core.

  The bigger guy to Redburn’s left came around the desk from his post and yanked the bag out of Eddie’s hand.

  “What about the program to run it?” Redburn opened the bag and poured three little disks into his palm.

  “We’ll be taking Leo now and leaving.”

  “Where’s the program to run them?” The guy who was supposed to be freeing Leo stepped closer to them, and Leo struggled against the ropes. He wasn’t untied after all.

  “After we are on our way, I’ll let you know how to access it.” Hannah could feel Eddie sway a tad side to side. He was getting ready for a fight. There’d been only the two guards with Redburn the entire time.

  “I don’t think so.”

  The two men came at them while Redburn stayed behind the desk and Leo struggled in his chair to break free.

  Eddie side-eyed her, and a silent nod passed between them. He was going to set off the devices they’d planted earlier.

  The big guy had his sights set on her and was quick. Right before his hands reached her, the windows blew out, and he stumbled from the shock. She bobbed to get out of his path, but he was still quick.

  He backed her to the wall, and she tried to duck away, but she was too slow. She swiveled, her back was to him, but he caught her, wrapping his arms around her and clasping them tightly. She planted her feet on the wall and pushed, trying to elbow him in the gut as he stumbled back, taking them both with him. She used his weight against him and kept pushing backward. He tripped and brought them both down to the ground. He landed with a thud, and Hannah thrust her head back to hit him on the nose, a searing pain on the back of her skull blurring her vision for a second. The pressure around her chest lightened as the guy cried out.

  She scrambled to her feet, blood covering the big guy’s face. But he was fast back to his feet. Hannah went for the guy’s gun, grabbing it from the holster on his hip. She gripped it firmly in her hand, then kicked his knee. Hard. He yelled and fell to the floor, writhing. He wouldn’t be walking anytime soon.

  She reached for Redburn, her grip not tight enough on his sweater to hold him back. He rushed toward a side door, and she dived toward him with everything she had, taking them both to the ground. He groaned, and she scrambled to her knees, flipping him over and connecting her fist with his face. She grunted as she hurried to her feet and hauled him up with her, shoving him back into his oversized chair. “Sit down.” She pointed the muzzle of the .40 caliber pistol at Redburn’s chest.

  Her gaze traveled over the black gun metal, down the sights, and hazed when Redburn’s red forehead was in her crosshairs. What was she doing? Could she claim self-defense? Robert’s battered and bruised body flashed in her mind. She gripped the Glock tighter. Who cared if shooting this piece of shit now would be justifiable in the eyes of the law? It was to her. He’d caused her pain. He’d taken away the one person in the world she had. Robert was gone, and Warren Fucking Redburn was exactly who was to blame for her anguish. For her sleepless nights. For her loneliness.

  Five and a half pounds of pressure. That’s all she needed to put on the trigger; then her revenge would officially be fulfilled. Robert avenged. She’d have peace.
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br />   “Listen—” Redburn started.

  “Shut up!” She pursed her lips.

  Scuffling caught her attention. Eddie should’ve been able to take care of the small guy already. She glanced over her shoulder just as Eddie landed a knockout blow. He’d put two guys down. She hadn’t seen the other come in. Were there more on the way? She didn’t have time.

  Hannah set her glare on the piss-poor excuse for a man in front of her. “You killed my brother. Robert.” She spoke as calmly as she could.

  “I don’t know any Roberts.” His gray eyes tried to bore holes in her head.

  “Yes, you do!” She stepped closer to him, feeling the need deep in her throat to press the cold metal against his temple and pull the trigger. One second. One second would take all her pain away.

  “Robert Malone.” She made sure to enunciate her brother’s name clearly. “He was a gambler you preyed on.”

  “I have various associates that take care of my business.” Redburn’s anger didn’t soften.

  Good. She didn’t need to see remorse; she knew he was guilty. Whether he’d pulled the trigger or not.

  “One year ago. You had him beaten and killed and dumped on the sidewalk like trash.” A tear slid down her cheek, the trail leaving behind heat.

  “There are so many degenerate gamblers in this area. There’s no way to remember them all.”

  “You are a smug son of a bitch.” Another tear burned her cheek. She wanted him to say he remembered Robert. She wanted to see all the pain he’d caused Robert, caused her, inflicted on him so she could watch him suffer.

  “If he didn’t make good on his loan, I’m sure he deserved it.” The words were red and hanging in the air between them. “I’m a businessman.”

  Her index finger tightened on the trigger. A little more pressure and this would all be over.

  “Hannah.” She could feel Eddie’s hip on her side. “We need to take a breath here.”

  “I don’t want to take a breath, Eddie. I want him to pay for what he did to Robert. To me.”

  “Then he wins. He wins all over again.” Eddie slid his hand across the lower part of her back, cupping his palm around her hip and pulling her to him. His lips touched the softness of her outer ear, sending a jolt down her neck. His hot breath steadied her breathing as she focused on the hateful, unblinking eyes staring back at her. “You don’t really want to do this, or you would’ve shot him already.”

  “Stop it. I want him to suffer,” she whispered, a tremble starting deep in her gut.

  “He will. You’ll make sure of it. Legally.” The way Eddie said it made her arms heavy. The gun she held suddenly weighed fifty pounds.

  She was better than this. Robert’s life was more than the way he died. She sure as shit was better than Warren Redburn and his lackeys. So was Robert.

  She’d done what she promised Robert when he laid on the morgue table—bring whoever was responsible to justice. And now she’d do what she’d sworn to do—uphold the law.

  She dropped the gun to her side. This was a war for her soul now, and she would choose life. Warren Redburn wouldn’t mar her future, whatever it may hold.

  Eddie’s long, tanned arm extended to wrap his palm around hers, and he slowly pulled the gun out of her grip and down to his side.

  Redburn was going to rot in prison with all the evidence and confessions they had on him. And prison was just as good as hell.

  The pounding was faint, and it took her a moment to realize it was coming from the front door. Thuds and shouts of “FBI” became louder as a team made their way into the house and eventually the office.

  She threw Eddie a questioning glance.

  “I alerted them. I knew we’d win one way or another.”

  She stood there as the people with FBI bulletproof vests rounded up everyone and Eddie alerted the team captain to the evidence they’d collected. As long as everything they had was admissible in court, Redburn would be going away for a long time. And they’d uncovered new technology that was set to hit the terrorist market. That case would be handed off, probably to the CIA, but she didn’t care. They could deal with the Huntingtons and whoever Redburn’s buyers were.

  She’d finally done right by Robert. And herself.

  The last of the men were rounded up and taken out in handcuffs, leaving just her and Eddie standing in a disheveled office with Leo’s blood on a very expensive-looking rug.

  “It’s over.” The green in his eyes was darker, assessing.

  She nodded.

  She was tired of hate running her life. That long chapter was over.

  She searched Eddie’s face to find something that wasn’t there. Love, maybe? She’d wanted her new chapter to involve Eddie, maybe even use the word us when not talking about a case.

  On some level, he cared for her; she’d felt that since the beginning. Now ... she couldn’t tell. She’d taken the trust he’d given to her and stomped all over it. Twice.

  Her feet were frozen to the floor, and the moment was turning awkward. Someone was going to have to do something. Anything.

  Eddie glanced at the door. Yeah, it was time to leave this mess behind. A sinking feeling tightened her chest. He took one step toward the door, but instead of walking past her, he stopped, their bodies so close she could feel the heat from his arms.

  Before she could say anything, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

  “Thank you,” she whispered into his chest.

  • • •

  He couldn’t walk out of the room, leave her, without knowing she was okay, that she was done punishing herself for the past.

  Advice he should take. Amelia getting shot would forever be in the back of his mind. It would drive him to do better. But he wouldn’t dwell on it.

  “Always.” Hannah’s sweet scent washed over him, and he closed his eyes as he pressed her firmly against him, aware that she fit perfectly into him.

  “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “Happens to the best of us, Pixie Stix.”

  He wished they could stay like this forever, but they couldn’t. Too much had happened in such a short amount of time. He’d fallen head over heels for Hannah, and she’d looked at him with her big blue eyes and pink lips and lied right through them. More than once. Lies hurt. Lies got you killed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Eddie palmed a stuffed bear as the hospital elevator dinged on the inpatient floor. Alex was being released today.

  “Yo.” Eddie rapped his knuckles on the hospital room door and walked into the sterile-smelling area. Alex sat on the bed, buttoning the top of his crisp white shirt. “Do you sleep in a suit?”

  “Only on days that end in Y.”

  “Glad you’re alive.” Eddie threw the tan bear on the bed, and it banked off Alex’s thigh before he picked it up. “Duck next time, man.” As if it were that easy to get away from a bullet.

  “Advice to live by.” Alex raised his brows as he checked out the teddy bear that held a balloon saying “Get Well Soon.”

  “What?” Eddie shoved his hands in his pockets and sat in the chair next to the bed “They were all out of beer at the gift shop.”

  “I think we’re at the beers-on-you-forever stage of our relationship.”

  “Fair enough.” Beer for life would never be enough to repay Alex. But it was a start.

  “How’s Leo doing?”

  “He’s on his way to somewhere far away from all things Seattle. He’ll come back to testify.”

  “Glad it all worked out.”

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate you watching over him.”

  “All in a day’s work. And an endless amount of no-questions-asked favors in addition to the beer deal.” Alex grabbed his bag as a nurse came in with a wheelchair. “You’re kidding me.”

  “Hospital rules.” She nodded.

  Eddie checked out the cute nurse’s nametag. “Oh, pretty please, Darlene, let me push him out. I’ll make sure his butt doesn’t leave the
chair until he is out the door.”

  A buzzer started ringing down the hall. “Okay, sure, but I will hunt you down if I find out differently.” She winked at him and bolted to her next patient.

  Eddie smiled, but it faded way too quickly. It’d been two days since he’d last seen Hannah. Last witnessed her smile. Felt her warmth. Touched her skin. Teased her with a candy name. He was going to figure out which candy she smelled like if it took him the rest of his life.

  Darlene wasn’t Hannah.

  “You were lying to the pretty nurse, right?”

  “Nope. Sit.” Eddie rolled the wheelchair back and forth.

  “Spill on this Agent Malone.” Alex took a seat, favoring his shoulder. “She sounds like a looker.”

  “Looker? What are you, two hundred years old?” Eddie pushed Alex into the elevator and hit the button for the first floor.

  “That’s beside the point. Where is she? Figured you two would still be joined at the hip.”

  “You would be wrong.”

  “How’s that? My sources tell me you were pretty,” he fake coughed, “close.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” Eddie didn’t have anything to say. Not that he wanted to discuss this with Alex or anyone else. He was mad that he missed Hannah. He shouldn’t. He shouldn’t care about what she was thinking about right now, or if she was at work, or what kind of trouble or promotion she’d gotten because of her rogue mission, or if she was thinking about him at all. She hadn’t reached out, not even about the case. He’d sent all the information they’d been gathering to the agent in charge who made the arrests that night and copied Hannah, but she hadn’t replied with a “thank you” or “got it.” She’d used him for what she’d needed. That was it. Everything else he’d fabricated.

  “That’s a first. Don’t make me pull the I-got-shot-while-doing-you-a-favor card.”

  Eddie let out a long breath. “Drop it. We were working a case together.”