Beyond the Call of Duty

by Wendy Stone

  “What about the rules of conduct? Aren’t they breaking, like, eighteen of those?”

  “Not that I’ve been able to see. She’s helping him in the kitchen, Luke. That’s all we need to know. Okay?”

  Toby looked thoughtful. “Has this ever happened before with Lexi?”

  “No, she’s always been someone who ran by the rules as closely as she could. She works sixteen-hour days and longer and puts her life on the line for every case she has. I think this one time we could cut her some slack. I think both Gabe and Lexi deserve a bit of slack.”

  Toby threw his hands up. “Whatever you say. Just consider me the wall when it comes to those two.” He took another two steps beside Luke. “I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed.”

  Luke turned and looked at the ungainly man walking next to him. “Wait, no way, you’re kidding aren’t you? You thought you had a chance at Lexi?” He began to laugh, barely able to catch his breath. It took a few moments for him to get somewhat under control until he looked at Toby’s face once more. “Oh, God! You and Lexi.” Then he was off again.

  Toby began to stomp away from the guffawing man. He turned around only once. “I’ll have you know, women think I’m cute and love my sense of humor.” When he said that it only gave Luke more to laugh about, and he went into the back yard of the house, muttering furiously to himself.

  He never saw the two men dressed in black as they came out of the shadows at him or the butt of the gun that struck his forehead, leaving him out for the count. The man that hit Toby grabbed him as he began to go down. He dragged him back further into the shadows, hiding him in the brush.

  “One down, one to go.” The two men stepped back into their hiding places as Luke came rushing into the back yard calling Toby’s name.

  “Where the Sam Hill did he get to? Toby, come on out. I’ll quit picking on you. You’ve just got to realize that almost all of us had those thoughts about Lexi. Gabe is the first guy she’s shown any interest in. Tob...”

  Luke stared at the two men who came toward him. They were dressed in black from their toes to the top of their heads, their eyes the only thing that was really visible; those and the guns. “What did you do to my partner?” He slid his hand toward his head, managing to flick the button on his walkie-talkie. There was a base model on the kitchen table, so maybe he could give Lexi a head’s up. “What did you do with Toby?”

  “Same thing we are about to do to you.” The man nodded at someone behind Luke and then stepped forward and slammed the butt of his gun against Luke’s temple. He was dragged back, handcuffed to Toby’s back and left in the bushes.

  “In the kitchen.” The two men slid against the rough brick of the back of the house, staying below the window line where they might have been seen. Checking the back door to the garage, neither man was surprised to find it locked.

  “I got it.” One man pulled out a black case, opening it to select the metal tools sitting inside. The lock was no big barrier to the two men, and soon they were in the garage. It was almost pitch black inside, the only light coming from the half-opened outside door.

  They started walking to where they knew the door into the house had to be. The first man stepped a little less hesitantly than his partner and knocked over a pyramid of mostly empty paint cans. “Dammit! Move!”

  They rushed the door, hitting it with their shoulders. The locks might have been state of the art, but the door frame wasn’t reinforced in any way. The door slammed open, hitting the wall before rebounding back. “That way!” the first man yelled, heading toward the swinging door to the kitchen.

  * * * *

  Lexi had been laughing at something Gabe said, watching as he flipped eggs and pancakes with a steady hand. When she heard the paint cans fall in the garage, she grabbed his arm. “Come on,” she hissed, pulling her Sig. “We’ve got company.”

  Gabe didn’t even drop the heavy cast-iron fry pan he was holding. He pushed through the swinging door, watching as she followed. “Go upstairs, Gabe. Lock yourself in the bathroom and lay in the bath tub. That thing’s thick iron and should protect you from any flying bullets.”

  “What’s going to protect you?” he growled, resisting her attempt to get rid of him.

  “This,” she said, patting her Sig. “Now go. I don’t need to worry where you are while this is going down. You stay there and don’t come out unless you hear me call, understand?”

  He nodded, and then reached out and grabbed her chin. “I love you, Lexi.”

  She took just an instant to look into his eyes. “I love you too, now go, Gabe.” She grabbed the couch from the end and pulled it over so it would make a thicker bullet block. Sinking down behind it, she cast one look at the stairwell, seeing the bottom of Gabe’s shoes disappearing. With a growl, she pressed her finger against the communication link she wore in her ear. “Luke! Toby! Where the fuck are you?”

  She didn’t have long to wait. Two men came bursting into the living room. They were big men, dressed all in black. She saw only a bit of skin color around their hard-looking eyes. They weren’t playing around. This was a kill-or-be-killed situation.

  That was good. She had no problems killing scumbags like these. “Who the fuck are you? What the fuck have you done with my men?”

  “Who do you think we are, girlie? Give up the wise-guy, and we’ll let this all be a big bad dream.”

  “Hmmm,” Lexi answered. “Well, I don’t see any cookies, so I don’t think you’re girl scouts. I guess I’ll just stick with my pat answer.” She sent off two shots, one that grazed the arm of one of the men as they both tried to take cover.

  “This doesn’t have to go down that way. Come on, Agent Hunter. Is a scumbag like Gabe Elliott worth your life?”

  “Maybe you should be asking that question to yourselves,” she called and sent two more slugs their way. “He’s my witness, and I will do what I have to for his protection.”

  “Do you think she gives all her witnesses the same kind of protection?” asked one of the men to the other. “I might even think about turning the Traegers in if she’ll clean my cock the same way she’s been cleaning off Elliott’s.”

  “Is that true, Agent Hunter? Do you clean the cocks of every witness you handle?”

  She took a deep breath. She knew what they were trying to do. They wanted to get her upset, to make her do something stupid. She wasn’t that green. “Why don’t you toss down those nasty old guns and find out?” She heard them laughing and one of the men moving. He had the gait of a charging rhino, and she rose just far enough to pop off another couple of shots. The sound of his cry let her feel a bit better about the odds.

  “Fuck, Dick! She hit me!”

  “No names, shit-head,” Dick shouted.

  “Hey, Dick, why don’t you bring your partner over here so I can get him some medical help? I’d hate to see him die of blood loss, or later of gangrene because you don’t get him proper medical care. Just toss out your guns and we can put this whole thing behind us.”

  “You toss out your gun so that we don’t have to kill you, bitch!”

  “Such language. Do you kiss your moms with those mouths?”

  The man who’d been calling the shots was getting antsy. He probably knew the second shift of agents would be here soon and wanted Gabe Elliott in the car and on his way down to the Traeger’s property right now. He got his partner’s attention, waving him forward and indicating he would jump out at the girl before she would have a chance to get a shot off. He waved at him to do as he was told when the injured man vehemently shook his head.

  Finally, he did move, giving Lexi a target she could barely say no to. She popped out and saw the trap, but saw it just a second too late. The bullet aimed her way was true, and she felt herself falling to the ground, and then that was it. She lay without moving.

  The first man walked over and kicked her in the back. He raised his pistol and was just about to put a double tap into her head when the sound of glass crashing above had
the intruders heading to the stairs.

  Busting open the locked door to the bedroom, they hit the door to the bathroom as well. Above the large tub, an inset window was busted out. The first man gazed out the window, watching as Gabe ran past the tied-up agents and headed off the property.

  “Get after him!” he yelled, running out the door and down the stairs. He didn’t even bother looking at Lexi’s body, lying so still on the floor of the living room. Instead, he took off the way Gabe had gone.

  * * * *

  If Gabe had been fully healed, he might have stood a chance, but with the broken ribs, barely healed, the slices in his stomach and the gunshot wound, he was running a losing race. He ran without looking back, hoping if they were coming after him they’d leave Lexi and the rest of them alone. He made it down two streets and through a deserted lot, heading down an alley he knew would lead him to the police station. Before he’d taken two steps down the alley, three slugs flew past him, kicking up shards of brick as they struck the side of the building.

  One ricocheted, striking his cheek and leaving a bloody strip. His head flew back, and he slapped his hand on the cut, cursing.

  “Next one’s going in your gut, Elliott.”

  Gabe stopped running, turning to face the two men. “Okay, you’ve got me. Now what?”

  “You’ve pissed off some people who don’t like being pissed off. They sent us to bring you to them. Now step over here slowly.”

  He did as he was told and put his hands on top of his head while his captor held him at gun point and his partner frisked him.

  “Ain’t that the way of it. You get dames involved, and they take away your piece, make you go citified.” The man chuckled harshly, and Gabe would have killed for the feel of his Taurus, for the heavy weight of it in the palm of his hand.

  “Loan me a piece, and I’ll show you exactly how citified she’s made me,” he growled.

  “Yeah, like that’s going to happen. Mr. Traeger and his son Caleb, they want to speak to you.” He nodded at the man who was with him, the man who had blood running down from the shoulder of his white shirt. He lifted his gun and, using the butt, knocked Gabe to the floor.

  Gabe slumped down. His last thought was of Lexi and her amber eyes.

  * * * *

  “Lexi!”

  She turned her head, trying to sink back into the blackness, back into the thickness where no pain could live, but the voice was insistent. Hands were shaking her gently.

  “You’ve got to wake up, Lex. Come on, you can do it.”

  Her eyes fluttered and opened, and she squinted, not able to handle the bright sunshine coming through one of the curtains. “Joe?”

  “Oh, thank God. Yes, Lexi, it’s me. Joe. Gerald is out looking for Luke and Toby. What happened here?”

  She suddenly remembered and tried to force herself up, flinching and moaning at the sudden pain. “Traeger’s men,” she said in a raspy voice. “Gabe?”

  “Gone,” Joe said softly.

  “They’ve got him.” She grabbed hold of his shirt, using it to her brace herself up. She moaned, and her stomach took that moment to roil. She let her head drop against his shirt-covered chest, grabbing a fistful to keep him close. “We’ve got to go after him.”

  “Lexi, you aren’t going anywhere but the hospital. You might have a concussion, boss. Don’t be an idiot.” Joe grabbed hold of her elbows, letting her lean against him. “You aren’t up to anything else.”

  She took a deep breath and forced herself to take a step back. With a low growl, she stared at him. “Go outside and help Gerald find Toby and Luke, then report back with me. I have to call Jack.”

  “Boss...”

  “Do it, Joe, please. Just do it.” She watched him as he walked away, and then picked up her cell phone where she left it on one of the end tables. It rang three times before she heard Jack’s gruff voice.

  “Yeah, Harris.”

  “Jack, it’s Lexi. We’ve got a problem.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gabe struggled against the ropes that tightly bound his hands behind his back, but all he did was rub his wrists raw. The blood made them slippery, and he kept struggling as he heard the car, in whose trunk he now resided, come to a stop. If he couldn’t get free, he knew he would have very few minutes left to live.

  The Traegers had a reputation for taking care of their own problems; they didn’t hire private muscle. Frankie Traeger was always worried about someone flipping on him, and if he took care of his own dirty work he had a clearer mind.

  The trunk lid opened, and the two men reached in, dragging Gabe out. He was barely allowed time to get his feet on the ground before they began towing him into the Traeger mansion. He stumbled to his feet as he was taken through an opulent hallway and through a set of heavy oak doors into a beautifully appointed library. There was a fire in the wide fireplace, lending the room an air of autumn though it was still midsummer.

  Frankie Traeger rose from where he was sitting behind a massive dark oak desk. He trailed his hand over the fine grain of the wood and smiled genially at Gabe, waving him toward a red leather stuffed chair that matched the one he’d risen from. “Mr. Elliott, it’s a pleasure.”

  “Considering my hands are tied, and I arrived in the trunk of a car, I’m sure you’ll understand I don’t share the sentiment.” Gabe settled back into the leather, knowing Traeger had no intention of cutting his bonds. “What did your men do to Agent Hunter?”

  Frankie glanced at his two men, one of which ran his hand through the side of his hair. “She is alive, though out of commission for the moment, Mr. Elliott, but you and I have something to discuss.”

  There was a knock on the door of the library, which Traeger’s two henchmen had closed behind them. “Yes?” Traeger called.

  The door opened, and Gabe stiffened as a tall, leggy brunette entered the library. “Teri?”

  She ignored Gabe and walked right up to Frankie, running her hand up his chest. “Hi, baby.”

  Frankie grabbed her hand and plucked it off his chest. “Where’s Caleb?”

  “He’s coming; he’s parking the car.”

  “Then go and wait in the salon, Theresa.”

  “But...”

  “You heard me.” He turned his back on her, going back around the edge of his desk as if he needed something between the two of them.

  Teri’s face turned red, and she glanced over at Gabe. He stared at her, looking for some kind of emotion that would tell him she was the same woman he used to flirt with, the one who seemed so happy with Tony, but she turned away without a word and went to the door. When she opened it, Caleb stood on the other side.

  “Go on into the salon, love. Mom is there already. You girls can talk about the wedding.”

  “What are you going to do with Gabe?” she asked quietly, glancing over her shoulder at him.

  “That’s not your concern, Teri. Go on, now!” Frankie answered the question, ignoring the look on his son’s face. He waited until Teri left, closing the door behind her. “Caleb, you need to get a leash on her.”

  “What, you can’t control a little girl like Teri?” Gabe asked, laughing wryly as both Traegers stared at him. “She always did what Tony said.”

  “Yeah, she did exactly what Tony said up until the day we had him shot.”

  Gabe kept the relaxed look upon his face even though he wanted to rush Caleb Traeger. “Yeah, that’s always kind of bugged me, Cal. You and your father have this reputation for handling everything yourself. You never hire anyone to do your dirty work, so why did you with the Blandons? Were you afraid Tony would kick your ass and hand it back to you in a grocery bag? Why the fuck did you two chicken-out there?”

  Caleb stomped toward Gabe and drew his hand back, letting it swing forward hard and strike him a terrible blow to the face. “Tony Blandon was nothing more than a two-bit dealer, Elliott. The man had more skank on the leash than any I knew. If it hadn’t been for Caitlyn...” He quit talking, realizing he
’d said too much.

  “What about Caitlyn Blandon, Caleb? What was she to you?”

  “She was a whore and a slut!” Frankie shouted. “She lied to you, Caleb.”

  “She was just barely sixteen. What the fuck did she do to deserve dying like she did?” Gabe glared into Caleb’s brown eyes, seeing them flinch and the sadness that seemed predominant in them. “You...loved...her.” He answered his own question. “You loved Caitlyn. Why did that bring about her death?” Caitlyn had been a girl like any other sixteen-year-old; a little giggly and self-contained, but not selfish or mean natured. Then Gabe remembered the date, the one Tony had asked him to be at the house for to help intimidate her date. “Did she dump you?”

  “That’s none of your―” Frankie began, only to be interrupted by Caleb.

  “She was my life. I would have given her the world if she’d agreed to marry me. She was carrying my child, did you know that?”

  Gabe tried to remember the last time he’d spent any time in Caitlyn’s presence. Had there been something in her eyes, a sadness that wasn’t easily explainable? “No, Caleb, I didn’t know that. So by having Caitlyn and her whole family killed, you killed off your own child as well.”

  “No!” he screamed, spittle flying from his lips to strike Gabe in the face. “No! She had it killed. She did. Her mother took her, and they had it ripped from her body!”

  Gabe was shaking his head. “No, Tony and Greta wouldn’t have done that. Tony wouldn’t have let Caitlyn or his wife in that section of town alone. He would have asked me to go with them, and he didn’t. Caitlyn was still pregnant when you had her killed!”

  Caleb sank down to his knees in front of Gabe, his face buried in his hands as the reality of what Gabe was saying shook him to his very soul. “No, you’re lying. You have to be lying. She told me she hated me; she didn’t want anything to do with a child that would have been conceived with me.” His eyes were haunted as he looked up at Gabe. “Tell me you’re lying, please.”