Endings and Beginnings (Death and Destruction Book 8)

by Patricia Logan

  “Sit your ass down, Rios,” the guard growled.

  Rios glanced at them and silently complied, lowering his bulk into the chair across from them. He stared at them both, seeming to search their features for something—fear, perhaps. This man wanted the upper hand any way he could get it. He had massive hands with eight tattooed knuckles—one letter on each finger. They spelled out M-U-R-D-E-R-E-R.

  At least he wasn’t shy about who he was. Sarah realized he could probably crush her throat if he wanted to. When the guard moved toward the door, the butterflies in her stomach threatened to come spilling out of her mouth in a wave of vomit. She didn’t know why but she’d never felt this way when facing a prisoner before. She’d participated in hundreds of interrogations of scum in her twelve years on the job, a lot of them like this guy, but she realized she’d never been locked in a room with one without her weapon. What the fuck had her boss been thinking sending her and Dev into this situation? She was going to kick Stanger’s ass when she got back home.

  “Knock on the door when you’re done,” the guard said. He pointed up at the corner of the room. “We’re watching.”

  The presence of cameras in the room didn’t help to mitigate any of Sarah’s apprehension and when she glanced at her partner, Dev’s eyes were wary. The guard banged out of the room, setting Sarah’s teeth on edge as she turned to look at Rios. He was watching her with a dangerous sneer on his face. Barely-restrained lust glittered in his black eyes. He dragged his gaze over to Dev and then licked his lips.

  “What did I do to deserve two such tempting gashes? Chocolate and vanilla. Hmm. My lucky day,” Rios growled. He reached down under the table as if grabbing his groin. “Wanna beat it just looking at you.”

  “I’m Special Agent Connor and this is my partner, Special Agent King. We’re from the ATF and we have a few questions, Mr. Rios,” Sarah said, steeling herself so her voice wouldn’t squeak. The guy made her jumpy.

  “Well, Federals. Haven’t talked to Federals in a long time.” Rios smiled and leaned back in the chair, stretching his long legs under the table as he watched them. He raised his shackled hands and waved one at them. The thick chains clattered. “And look at the ambassadors they sent me.” He suddenly lurched forward and sniffed the air, swinging his head side to side. Sarah and Dev both scooted back, nearly toppling their chairs as Rios laughed loudly. He sat back in his chair. “Just wanted to smell me some federal pussy. Never smelled that before.”

  Sarah had known it was coming but it still made her want to be sick. She braced herself, trying to calm her racing heart and not throw up on the table in front of her, though come to think of it, that might be just the trick to make this guy back off.

  “Rios… Captain, Rios… we’re pretty sure you have some information which might be helpful to your country,” Dev began. She was cut off when Rios began laughing. After a minute, he was wiping at his eyes.

  “Captain. That’s rich. I ain’t been called that since my days in the Corps.”

  “You mean your days working for Stryker-Dunn, right?” Sarah asked. “They also called you Captain, didn’t they?”

  Rios sobered, looking back and forth between them. “That’s what this is about then? Stryker-Dunn? What do you want to know about them fuckers?”

  Sarah felt hope blooming in her chest. Maybe Rios had a grudge against Archer and the company that would make him feel like he was in a sharing mood.

  “We need to know what you know about personnel at the company. We are trying to gain information about who is working in the top tiers of the company because we’re building a case against them,” Dev said, obviously going for truth. She must have picked up on the same thing Sarah had. Rios disliked his former employer and intended on capitalizing on it.

  “Their board of directors is easy enough to find,” Rios said, sounding matter of fact. He leaned forward and Sarah’s heart pounded even more as he frowned deeply. “Tell me what the ATF wants with Stryker-Dunn and maybe I’ll help you for a trade.”

  “What do you want, Rios?” Dev asked. Her voice was cold and all business and Sarah appreciated the steadiness in it. She wasn’t sure her own voice wouldn’t come out with another squeak.

  “I want a transfer to a federal institution. High security is fine.” He glanced around the room and then back at them. His eyes were cold as ice, any flirtatious teasing long gone. “Don’t like these four walls no more. No interaction with my fellow inmates.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice until it came out like a purr. “It’s so cold in here. I need some friends. You can understand that.” The request sounded so reasonable but Sarah knew they were being played.

  Besides that, Sarah and Dev had no power to make deals. Rios didn’t know that though. They needed to know what he knew about Stryker-Dunn’s personnel. She wasn’t above lying to get what they needed but for some damned reason, the murderer had gotten into her head and she wasn’t thinking straight. Scratch that. She’d been off balance from the moment they’d walked into the prison. Having to give up her gun at the door had really rattled her.

  “We’ll talk to the boss about getting you that transfer, Rios,” Dev said, suddenly breaking the silence. “If… the information we get proves to be correct.”

  Rios frowned. “I need my deal first.”

  “That’s not gonna happen until we know you have something to offer,” Dev said.

  Rios thinned his lips, pausing and looking between the two of them. He sat back and relaxed in the chair.

  “Tell me why you want to know the personnel at Stryker-Dunn. You already have the board of directors and if you’re the ATF, you can hack into their data base to see who’s on payroll.” He stopped and then smiled as he must have realized why they were there. “Oh, shit. You know about Archer’s disks. That’s why you’re here.” He frowned. “But why the ATF and not the FBI? I know you all suck each other’s dicks but why ATF?”

  They were finally getting somewhere, though Sarah was surprised Rios knew that Archer kept his files on Minnow disks. She wasn’t about to speculate how at the moment because all she wanted to do was get the fuck out of there with whatever information he decided to give.

  “The ATF and FBI are working together on this one, Rios,” Sarah said. “We believe Stryker-Dunn is a threat to national security and we are trying to gather as much information as we can about the company’s personnel in an effort to build a case for that. That’s why we came to a former Marine captain who worked for them. We know how you feel about this country.”

  Rios bristled. “Fuck that. You don’t know how I feel about this country. I served in the Corps for nearly fifteen years. Killed a hundred of the enemy with my bare hands and bled for them. They discharged me dishonorably so don’t think you can come in here and tell me you know me,” he sneered. “You don’t know me at all.”

  “You also worked for Miguel Garcia,” Dev said, “importing drugs for the Los Lobos cartel. Don’t act like some Boy Scout because you’re nothing of the kind, Rios.”

  Rios cocked his head to the side. “The reason I started working for Garcia was because the Corps didn’t want me no more. I loved my country so don’t throw my patriotism at me. I stopped working for Los Lobos when I got fingered as a traitor inside the cartel. Miguel put a contract out on me. That’s why I went to work for Drake Archer. Stryker-Dunn and companies like it, provide a service to the good old USA. They get rich doing it and they provided jobs for men like me. After the Corps kicked me out, what choice did I have?”

  “You’re a murderer,” Dev said. She waved a hand at his knuckles.

  Sarah held out her hands and glared at her partner. “We’re getting off track here. We need to know if you’ll name names if we can arrange a transfer to a high security prison within the federal system, Rios, that’s all. Can you help us or not?”

  “National security you say?” Rios asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Sarah nodded. A second later a loud claxon began to sound in the room. The deafe
ning sound of the intermittent alarm was immediately followed by the lights going off. Fear shot through Sarah as the room was plunged into darkness. She stood and reached out for Dev. Two strong hands clamped down on her forearms and as her heart thundered in her ears, she realized it was Dev, clinging to her as if her life depended on it. The rattle of chains in the room was distinct and then the sudden shout sent shivers down her spine.

  “Sarah!” Dev’s words were cut off with a sudden gasp as her hands were ripped from Sarah’s forearms. In the darkness, Sarah heard one of their chairs tumble to the ground and then much larger hands were around her throat, cutting off her air as she was slammed back against a hard surface behind her. Her head banged against the wall as stars burst in her skull.

  “Hold still, federal cunt,” Rios whispered. Spittle coated her face as the words hissed from his lips. The lights above them blinked on and off as the claxon thundered in her ears, blaring out over and over again. Something was happening at the prison but Sarah refused to imagine what would set off the alarm. High Desert State Prison was a supermax facility. The inmates in this block of the prison were kept in individually locked cells. No one could escape. That’s why they kept the worst of the worst here. It was built to house the most depraved of society. She squirmed in Rios’s hold, trying to gasp and take in breath.

  Sarah reached up and grabbed the hands holding her by the throat. She desperately tried to pry Rios’s fingers from her neck as he pinned her to the wall. Her earlier thoughts of having her throat crushed came crashing back as the room lit up. She began to see stars flickering around the edges of her vision but she rolled her eyes to the side, searching for her partner, all the while praying Dev could somehow effect a rescue. She felt herself beginning to black out. Dev was lying unconscious in one corner, a smear of blood staining the wall where Rios had managed to toss her like a bag of garbage, even with his shackled wrists and ankles. Sarah’s stomach heaved. Rios’s putrid breath sickened her as he stared into her eyes.

  “Let me go. Can’t breathe,” she gasped, clawing at his hands. The hold he had on her neck was so tight, she could feel the blood pooling in her face. A few more seconds and she was going to pass out, that was certain. His chains rattled, his grip loosened, and she coughed, dragging precious air into her lungs. She could feel the bruises on her throat already.

  The sounds of chaos echoed in the hallway outside the door as she became aware of what was going on. Running boots echoed in the halls and then the sound of several bursts of gunfire, set her teeth on edge. Prison break. Holy fuck. Nothing else accounted for the sounds Sarah was hearing. She stared into Rios’s reptilian eyes, wondering if he’d known it was coming or if their timing had just been shitty. Whatever was happening, she and her injured—maybe dead—partner, were right in the middle of it. They were surrounded by vicious, depraved killers who’d probably not seen two women in more years than she could count.

  And they were well and truly fucked.

  ****

  The speaker on the console in front of Jarrett and Thayne suddenly boomed in the room. Jarrett was dragged out of his musings. It was nearing five in the evening and after their quick trip back to the apartment to change into their other black suits, he and his husband had returned the SUV to the lot, handing the keys back to the attendant with the hopes that leaving the windows open on the way back from Santa Monica had aired the scent of their come out of the car. Jarrett was pretty sure the scent of sex would be recognizable to the next FBI team to check the vehicle out of the lot and the last thing they needed was to be found out. It had been good for Thayne though. He’d returned to the SCIF with a spring in his step and that was worth any embarrassment they could possibly endure if they were found out.

  Thayne reached forward and pressed the button on the console and Snow’s grim face appeared on one of the screens on the wall.

  “Evans, you and Wolfe need to get to the airport right now. There’s been a riot at the prison,” Lincoln said. The man was vibrating with an intensity Jarrett hadn’t seen before. His own stomach was doing flip-flops. He couldn’t imagine how Lincoln was feeling at the moment, knowing Sarah was in peril.

  “With Sarah and Dev inside?” Thayne asked, practically shouting. He was already getting to his feet.

  “They’d just begun talking to Rios when one of the prisoners broke free,” Lincoln said.

  “How’s that even possible?” Jarrett shouted.

  “I’ll call you on your cell, Jarrett. Get going now. It’s gonna take time for you to get there and the prison officials have been ordered to wait to go in until you’re there.”

  Jarrett and Thayne grabbed their suit coats off their chairs as the screen darkened. They began running for the door as Jarrett’s phone rang. Thayne pushed open the door as Jarrett fished his phone out of his suit coat looking down at the picture of Sarah and Snow dressed in the attire they’d worn to their wedding months before. The picture of them was one of Jarrett’s favorites. He swiped the phone, jogging after Thayne as he dashed for the elevators.

  “We’re getting in the elevators, Lincoln. I’ll call you back if we get cut off.” He put the phone on speaker as they made it to the door. Thayne slammed the button with one finger as panic and adrenaline raced through Jarrett’s veins. “What happened?”

  “One of the prisoners was being escorted to see his lawyer when he turned and attacked the guard. We think the lawyer was in on the breakout attempt. The warden said that within minutes, all twelve prisoners in the same block where Rios was housed had been let out of their cells. They have Sarah and Dev as hostages and are making demands.”

  “What the fuck?” Thayne shouted as the elevator arrived. They climbed in and he hit the button to the parking garage. As the doors swished shut, the call dropped. The expression on Thayne’s face was one of abject fear. Jarrett hadn’t seen that expression for a long time. He reached out and put a hand on Thayne’s bicep, squeezing it to try to ground his partner.

  “We’ll get them, darlin’.”

  “How the hell are we going to get through airport security fast enough to do that, Jarrett? Do you think the FBI has a private plane or something? Shit, we still have to go through security, don’t we? We should have been the ones sent to talk to Rios. I’m gonna kill Stanger for sending Sarah and Dev. At the very least, one or both of us should have gone up there with the women instead of sitting in that fucking SCIF and doing nothing all day.”

  Jarrett could hear the heartbreak in his husband’s tight voice as he rambled on. He knew that was the way Thayne worked things out at times—talking them through out loud. He felt much the same way, and Thayne had a point. There had to be a better way to get up to Reno than going through Burbank or LAX. That would take hours. A solution occurred to him and he nodded to Thayne.

  “Call Lincoln back on your phone. I have a call to make.” The elevator doors opened as they stepped out and began jogging toward the Mustang. Thayne pulled out his phone and dialed Lincoln. The phone rang only a second before Snow answered. Thayne began speaking to him as Jarrett scrolled through his contacts. Thayne clicked the key fob for the Mustang and they piled into the car with Thayne in the driver’s seat. He found the number he’d been looking for and was relieved when Tate Heston answered, still listening to Thayne’s side of the conversation with Lincoln on his phone. After a brief conversation with Heston, Jarrett hung up and directed Thayne to put his call on speaker. Thayne complied.

  “Galvez made your reservations, Thayne. Go to Southwest. You’ll be on flight…”

  “We ain’t travelin’ on Southwest or any other commercial airline, Snow,” Jarrett said, cutting him off.

  “What?” Lincoln asked.

  “What?” Thayne asked, turning to stare at Jarrett as he started the Mustang with a roar. The look on his face was shocked.

  “I arranged some private transportation,” Jarrett said, turning to Thayne. “Go to LAX. Heston will be waiting.”

  “Tate Heston? Your friend
from the Marine Corps?”

  “Yeah, you met him.” He smirked. “The Marine’s got this.”

  “You’d better tell me what is going on right now, Jarrett,” Snow barked through the phone line.

  “A buddy of mine from the Corps arranged for private transportation.”

  “Your friend has a private plane at LAX?” Snow asked.

  “My friend has a faster way out of the city than any damned commercial airline and we don’t have to go through fuckin’ security, Lincoln,” Jarrett said. “We’ll be in Reno in an hour.”

  Jarrett could hear the rapid release of breath as Snow seemed to relax with his words.

  “Okay, good.”

  “Now, anything you need to add to what you were sayin’ before the elevator cut us off?” Jarrett asked.

  “Not much. I was telling Thayne that the warden isn’t happy about having to wait for you before doing anything but the governor has already told him that what we need from Rios is a matter of national security,” Lincoln said. “He agreed to sit on his hands but you know what kind of scum Sarah and Dev are locked in there with, right?”

  “We’re aware, my friend,” Thayne answered.

  His lover looked as grim as Jarrett had ever seen him and he reached over, squeezing Thayne’s shoulder as he drove out onto Wilshire while he spoke. Jarrett really wished they had a siren or something like it at the moment. Traffic was heavy at this time of the evening. It would take them ten minutes to drive the few miles to LAX at this rate. Sometimes he fucking hated living in LA.