“Sam,” Xander whispered, urgency in his hushed voice. “You have to get Kyle out of here. Can you wake him up—”
Suddenly a hailstorm of bullets began to bore through the opposite side of the Escalade. Blasts from fully automatic weapons echoed through the cold night air. Through the tinted windows, Xander could see flashes of yellow fire coming from both sides of a large vehicle on the road above them.
A Humvee.
Not the production style H2 Hummer, but the army-issued Alpha Humvee. When Allison said the word Humvee on the phone, he had assumed she meant the civilian version. These guys, whoever they were, were ready for war. As the gunfire continued to rain down on them, Xander moved Sam behind the wheel well of the rear quarter to keep her from catching a stray bullet that might make it under the truck. He put Kyle in her arms, racked the slide on his Glock 19, chambering a round. At that moment, the gunfire came to a halt.
A man’s voice broke the silence. “Come on out, Xander. It’s preferred we take you alive. Me? I don’t give a shit either way, so this will go how you want it to go.”
“I know it will,” Xander said without hesitation. In Sam’s arms, Kyle let out a slight groan of pain as he began to come around. Xander put his finger to his lips. Sam nodded, turned Kyle’s back toward the SUV, and sat him down in the cold puddled water, propping him against the chrome wheel. Kyle was still mostly out of it; not even the chill of the water was enough to bring him around.
The man beside the Humvee laughed. “He knows it will,” he said to his three men, and then laughed out loud again. “That’s cute. Anything else profound you have to say before we blow you away, asshole?”
“Sure. You want to tell me now who sent you? Or do you want to wait until I’m standing over you with the freezing-cold bottom of my boot pressed firmly and painfully against your throat?”
The man said something inaudible to his men, and gunfire once again erupted and poured into the side of their vehicle. The man must not have thought Xander’s comment profound. Beside him, Sam readied her pistol. Over the clatter of gunfire, he spoke only loud enough for Sam to hear.
“Scream until they stop shooting, then follow my lead.”
Sam nodded. Then she let out what no one on the planet would consider a scream. It sounded more like a mentally challenged rooster that hadn’t figured out how to wake the farmer. Xander gave her a look as if to say, Really? She shrugged her shoulders to let him know she had no idea how to scream.
Xander and Sam did this a lot, spoke to each other without speaking. As partners, they were that much in sync. That’s why he knew that if she could actually manage a real scream, the next ten seconds would go off without a hitch.
He waved his hand and motioned with his fist against his gut, urging her to give it some oomph. Finally, Sam arched her back and let out scream that rattled the windows of the Escalade, as well as silenced the shooting from the road in front of them. Xander raised his eyebrows and curled his lips as if to say, Impressive, then immediately walked around the front of the Escalade. He found the two men standing on the left side of the Humvee in the glow of a streetlight, and with two squeezes of the trigger they were lying dead on the ground. Before the other two men could shoot, and before Xander could train his gun on them, Sam had come around the back of the Cadillac with two shots of her own, bringing the remaining two men to the ground. Xander walked up the bank of muddy grass that was now covered by a thin layer of snow. The two men he had shot were dead. He walked around the back of the Humvee to join Sam and found her kneeling over the man from the driver’s seat. Sam gave him a shake of the head to let him know the man was dead. Not that he couldn’t have figured that out by the display of brains on the pavement. Red and pink really stand out over a dusting of white snow.
“You couldn’t have left one of them alive?” Xander asked.
“I suppose the two you shot are ready for some tea?”
“Touché.”
Sam stood and tucked her pistol behind her back. “I don’t suppose either one of us were trained to shoot to harm,” she asked rhetorically.
Xander walked over to the man lying at Sam’s feet. “What do you think?”
“All of them are American, none of them have probably had more than some training out back shooting at hay stacks.”
Xander tucked his Glock in his jeans. “This makes no sense. Why would they be coming after me? And how would they know we were here?”
Sam thought about it for a moment. “Have you shagged anyone else connected to this? Bowker’s sister? Brancati’s mum?”
“Very funny, Sam. The only person who knew we were here, at this very moment, was Jerry.”
“You think the sheriff would do something like this? Try to have you murdered? Because of some foot race gone wrong?”
“Maybe he blames me for ruining a relationship with his father? I don’t know. Who else could it have been? Unless Bowker or Brancati got it out of her that she called me.”
Sam wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t know, Xander, but standing out here in the freezing cold over these dead bodies as cars go by isn’t going to help us figure it out. I’ll call Melanie and have her bring us a car. She can have someone follow her and take her and Kyle back to the house while we figure this out. He needs to rest. I’ll have her call this in anonymously. While she is on her way, let’s make some calls. Maybe we’ll find someone who can shed some light on something.
Xander sighed and a warm puff of white cloud wafted into the sky, mixing with the falling snow.
“We might as well be looking for Santa Claus.”
5
You Can’t Save the Entire World
Melanie, Xander’s assistant, pulled away in the Mercedes sedan, a still-out-of-it Kyle lying in the back seat. Carl, a man Xander kept on the payroll for various odds-and-ends jobs pulled away in the Escalade. He had brought Sam and Xander the black Range Rover, and before he left, he helped Sam and Xander get the Escalade out of the ditch. The police finding Xander’s vehicle at the crime scene wouldn’t have gone over so well. Before Melanie drove away, she explained to them that she had just ended a call with the police. She had reported that she had heard gunshots, and they explained that a patrol car was on its way. Sam and Xander pulled away from the carnage, no worse for the wear. Sam’s attitude was frostbitten, but that was normal.
“Let’s head downtown,” Xander said. “I’m not sure it’ll bring us any information, but at least it’s somewhere to go.”
Sam fiddled with the heat as she turned right on Nicholasville Road. As they headed toward downtown, blue and red lights approached on the opposite side of the road, passed them, and made a left on the street where their run-in had just taken place.
“They were Brancati’s men, weren’t they?” Xander asked Sam. There weren’t many cars at all on the road. If Christmas Eve wasn’t enough to keep people inside, the snow probably sealed the deal. Other than the few religious functions that were going on in town, most everyone else was tucked inside by the fire, roasting marshmallows and singing Christmas carols. While Xander loved those things, something about being on the hunt was far more of a present for him.
Sam answered, “I’m not sure who else it could have been. You’re sure you didn’t screw Brancati’s sister or something?”
Xander and Sam exchanged a wry smile.
“Pretty sure.” Xander laughed. “But I do love Italian women.”
“Yes, Xander, only Italian women strike your fancy,” Sam said sarcastically.
“Hey, I’m not Kyle.”
“No, thank God. But you are becoming more like him every day. Idle hands and all.”
Just as Xander was about to protest further, his phone lit up in his lap. It was his sister.
He answered the phone. “I’m so sorry, sis—”
“Xander,” Helen started, concern in her voice, “are you all right?”
He knew that Melanie hadn’t had time to make it back to the house, so Helen’s
concern couldn’t have been because Kyle showed up bruised and battered. This concerned Xander.
“Of course, why?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“I guess not,” Xander answered. He had no clue what she could be talking about. There was no way that the dead bodies he had left behind had already made the news, so he knew whatever she was about to say, it was about Bowker and Brancati. He braced himself, hoping it wouldn’t be about Allison.
“I flipped over to the news. Xander, there is a hostage situation at St. Paul’s Cathedral downtown. A hostage situation in Lexington! Is this a terrorist thing?”
Xander’s mind began to race, but for the moment he reeled it in. He could hear the fear in Helen’s voice. “No, Helen. Turn off the TV and put in a movie for Kaley. Everything will be fine.”
“How do you know? You’re on your way back here, aren’t you?”
“I can’t come back just yet.”
“Why?” Helen didn’t understand. “You’re—you’re not going down there, are you?”
“Helen, everything will be fine. Lock the doors and get ready for Santa. I’ll be home in no time.”
There was silence on Helen’s end.
“What?” Xander asked.
“This has to do with that lawyer woman, doesn’t it? You’re going down there, aren’t you? I swear, Xander, just because you couldn’t save Mom and Dad doesn’t mean you have to try to save the entire world.”
Helen’s words hurt. She wasn’t trying to do so, but she was trying to get his attention. She knew mentioning their parents would do it. This wasn’t the first time this had come up. Helen never understood why Xander ran off and joined the navy. And she didn’t understand why he had to have revenge. She had told him a thousand times that it wouldn’t bring them back, and a thousand times he had gone once again on another mission, which to her was a one-way ticket to joining his parents in the afterlife.
“I’m not trying to save the world, Helen. Just Allison. What would you suggest I do?”
“Let the police handle it, like a normal human being.”
“Well, we both know I’m far from normal.”
Xander hoped his smile had come through in his voice. Helen wasn’t having it.
“Just be careful, okay? Kaley expects to have her uncle handing her Christmas gifts from Santa bright and early in the morning.”
“I know. I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Xander didn’t know what was going to happen after he ended the call with his sister, but he meant those words, as much as a man could mean anything. Sam gave him a moment after he hung up. They were almost downtown, almost to the church, but they were nowhere near having a plan. Xander assumed the hostage situation at St. Paul’s Cathedral was related to Allison’s kidnapping, but he didn’t know for sure. And he certainly didn’t know why.
Xander put away his phone and shifted in the passenger seat to face Sam. The bluish glow of the electronic dash lit up Sam’s face. He could see her jaws chewing away at a thought.
“You figured this out yet?”
Sam dove right in. “Bowker got busted out of prison. We assume that Brancati is the one who assisted him in doing so. Forget Allison’s involvement for a moment. We have to start with not only why Brancati would get involved but why he would cause such a scene. There must be a reason.”
“Agreed,” said Xander.
“I read a few weeks back in the Herald-Leader that police officers were concerned with an influx of drugs coming into the area. That may have nothing to do with this. However, it very well could.”
“Okay.” Xander was following along.
“If an influx of drugs is coming into town, one would assume that with Brancati already working here, fixing races and running drugs already, he would be involved. Or—”
“Or,” Xander cut in, “someone else has decided to set up shop here and Brancati doesn’t like it.”
“A drug war,” Sam said.
“That’s a little over the top, but okay, what if it is? Why take hostages at a church, why draw attention to yourself, and why involve us?”
“Well, if I knew all of that, we wouldn’t be trying to Sherlock Holmes our way through this.”
Xander nodded. They were close to the church now. “Maybe we should just let the police handle this.”
Sam whipped her head to get a look at Xander. “What? Well, of course we should, but I didn’t think you could do such a thing. Damsel in distress and all.”
“Normally I would have to help, but how can we? This place will be crawling with cops. Protocol will be a perimeter around the church, and they’ll be trying to negotiate. We show up, Sheriff Chip-on-His-Shoulder Jerry Thompson is just going to keep us from being of any use anyway.”
Sam had turned onto Broadway, only a couple of blocks from the church. She began to slow the Range Rover and pulled to the side of the road next to Pies and Pints on the corner of Main. Through the gaps in the buildings, off in the distance they could see police car lights bouncing off the surrounding concrete walls. Sam put the SUV in park and turned toward Xander.
“Listen, go with your gut here. I know you want to help Allison, and so do I. But I think you are correct in thinking they won’t let us help. Besides, we do have to consider what we’ve been doing with our time over the last couple of years. The last thing we need to do is draw attention to ourselves.”
Xander didn’t immediately answer. He turned his attention out the front windshield and watched the hundreds of large, thick snowflakes dance their way to the ground in front of the flashing blue-and-red backdrop. Sam was referring to the vigilante work that she and Xander had been doing in the shadows. While searching for the people, or person, responsible for the murder of his parents, they had been keeping their skills sharp by taking out some of the nastiest humans on the planet—several of whom were on the FBI’s most wanted list. With Sam’s extensive background in MI6 in London and Xander’s unmatched tactical skill that he had honed with the SEALs, they were a match made in “take out the bad guys” heaven. She was right: if Xander wanted to continue his life as an underground assassin, showing up and stealing the show tonight would paint an unwanted “look at me” target on their backs.
“Damn it,” Xander said in disgust.
“I know it goes against every fiber of your being not to help. Especially when you know you are far more qualified than any of these officers to get Allison to safety.”
“It does, but you’re right. It would put a spotlight on us. Even just showing up, whether they let us help or not.”
“I’m sorry, Xander.”
“Let’s go get some sleep. I’m playing Xander Claus in the morning.”
“I cannot wait to see that.” Sam smiled. Then she pulled a U-turn on the empty, snow-covered road and began to drive back to Xander’s home.
6
Only One Way to Find Out
No sooner than Xander had made the decision to let the authorities handle things, and only about a half mile after Sam pulled the U-turn, Xander’s phone began to ring.
“I don’t recognize the number, but it’s local,” Xander said to Sam.
Sam didn’t hesitate, as if she knew what was coming. “You answer that phone, we are in this.”
Xander took a moment, the phone still vibrating in his lap. “If I don’t?”
Sam didn’t answer. She knew the question was rhetorical.
“Shit,” Xander said aloud as he picked up the phone and swiped to answer. “Hello?”
“Xander! Xander, thank God you answered!” It was Allison, and she was panicked. “I’ve been kidnapped!”
“I know, where are you?” He knew he had not time to waste.
“I don’t have time to talk. They must not have known there was a phone in here. Thank God I found it! And I could only think to call you. I’m not sure where I am, Xander, but you have to help me!”
Xander hated hearing the fear in her voice. “Tell me wha
t you see,” he told her, doing his best to keep a calm and even tone. He hoped it would help her slow down long enough to see things more clearly.
“I’m—I’m in some sort of basement or something. That’s it! I don’t know where I am! Please, Xander, they are going to hurt me, and I don’t know why.”
“Allison, do you see or hear anything that can help me find you?”
“I told you, a basement or something. I don’t know! It’s just a concrete room!”
“Do you hear anything? Anything at all?”
“I think maybe I heard a siren of some sort a few minutes ago, but—”
The line went dead.
“They have her in the church. Probably in the basement,” Xander said to Sam as he clicked off his phone.
Sam immediately made another U-turn. The SUV’s tires squalled as she whipped it around, back in the direction of the church. “How do you know?”
“She said she heard sirens.”
“Well, we can’t go through the front door. Any suggestions?” Sam pressed the gas pedal to the floor.
“We need more information.”
“You’re Mister Kentucky, isn’t there someone you can call?”
“In case you forgot, I’ve been a bit busy in the military over the last ten years. They didn’t leave me much time to hang out here. Kyle would know more than me.”
As if Xander and his best friend Kyle were linked in some sort of ethereal dimension, Xander’s phone once again began to vibrate, the contact picture of his friend making a goofy face staring up at him.
“Feeling better?”
“Hey, X. Yeah, I’m okay. What the hell happened back there?” Kyle still seemed in a fog.
“I’ll explain later. Right now I really need to talk to someone who might know some details about St. Paul’s Cathedral.”
“Really? That’s weird. That is why I’m calling you. I just got off the phone with Kate. They are evacuating Rupp Arena because there is—”
“A hostage situation at St. Paul’s. I know, we are on our way there now. They have Allison there.”
Xander King BoxSet Page 75
