by AJ Nuest
“Yeah.” He gritted his teeth as the telltale crash of the car wreck his character was just in shattered through the speakers. “Aw, man.”
One…two…three… An icy gust of wind sent a few strands tickling across her lips, and Tanner hooked them on her finger to tuck her hair behind her ear. “Doesn’t sound like it’s going very well.”
“I got five stars and zero cars.” A frustrated breath blurted past his lips, and he twisted the remote to the side. “Can’t talk now.”
“Okay. Hold tight and I should be up in just a bit.” She tapped again and the green mute display reappeared as the video continued to play. “He’s your son.”
She faced forward and satisfaction settled like a warm blanket on her shoulders as Casper’s brow twitched in surprise.
Yes. Her shot in the dark had paid off. Hopefully, in more ways than one.
Casper jerked his chin at one of his attack dogs, and the guy lifted his hand to his ear and muttered something she couldn’t quite catch.
But if she had to guess, several of Casper’s men were heading for the manor to confirm whether or not Trey was still here. With Molly and the DeFrancos hidden inside the safe room, they wouldn’t find anything. But they’d sure have a mess on their hands once they pulled back and ran smack-dab into Byrne’s federal agents. Especially when it came to floundering around for an excuse about what they were doing breaking into a Chicago residence armed for war.
Boosting her chin, Tanner met Casper’s hard stare with one of her own. Bile crawled up the back of her throat, and she internally sneered at the man before her in comparison to Ben.
It was completely unreal. Based on the way Casper was acting, suggesting something crazy like…oh, she didn’t know…go check on your son, ya dumbass! would be a waste of air. Apparently, he was more than happy to sacrifice a few men to complete his mission.
Not that it mattered. The more important question was… “How long have you known?”
She’d made a huge mistake that day in Xander’s office, dismissing the aggravation written all over Casper’s face as anything other than recognition. The second he’d scrolled through the police report to find a picture of Trey standing in front of his mom and dad, she should’ve known he had ulterior motives for agreeing to help her with Trey’s case.
Casper huffed, though whether not he understood just how much her next move hinged on his response, she couldn’t tell. “Long enough.”
Bingo. Anger fizzed and popped along her nerve endings. Jaw cranked tight, she fisted her hands at her sides. God, he really was a slimy son of a bitch.
There was no rule that said the morning he’d shown up at the manor was his first visit to Chicago. For all she knew, he’d been watching Trey for months prior to his parents’ murder, and who better to take them out than the one guy who stood to benefit from their deaths?
But it hadn’t been that easy, had it? And as for the reason Casper hadn’t immediately brought Trey into the fold?
Well. There was really only one explanation fit.
And she was sick with it. The idea Casper would’ve gone to such lengths to protect his identity clung to her skin like a clammy flu she couldn’t shake.
“Switch completed.” The relief in Xander’s voice hit her bloodstream like much-needed dose of courage, and Tanner glanced toward the guy on Casper’s right as, yet again, he brought his hand to his ear. “Mocha, hold your position until we’re clear. Ben, give the unit some breathing room. I have a feeling this won’t take long.”
“Roger, that. The SWAT team’s tracking your position and is ready to close in on my mark.”
If everything went according to plan, within the next few minutes, any recruits Casper had converted to the dark side were about to find themselves in a world of hurt.
Casper’s underling leaned in, and he turned, the two of them conversing low enough their words stayed muffled by the wind. A sly smile curved the corner of his lips, and Tanner’s heart rate spiked at the thought the jig was up and everything they’d been working for had just piled straight into a brick wall.
Take the bait… Come on, come on, take the bait.
Nodding toward his crony, he returned to his original spot. “I don’t need to justify my actions to you, Tanner. Or to anyone at Dirty Deeds, for that matter.”
Oh-h-h, no. The anger morphed, a scaly hand that scrabbled for a hold around her throat.
Now that’s where he was wrong. Dead wrong.
“Really? That’s all ya got, huh?” Crossing her arms, she camped her weight on one hip. “I hate to break it to ya but, actually, you do, Casper. You need to justify a lot.”
Twisted as it seemed, he could’ve easily gotten away with murdering Trey’s mom and the man he’d come to love as a father. Casper could’ve given the order or even pulled the trigger himself and no one would’ve been the wiser about what he’d done.
Except for one minor problem, of course.
“Never go in without finding out everything you can, right?” Dropping her arms, she paused the video of Trey and pulled out the keyboard Xander had networked to the mainframe and placed on a retractable shelf. “Never set up a scheme unless you’re sure you can disappear without leaving a trace?”
Fingers flying over the keys, she logged onto the hard drive and pulled up the split image Molly had created of an aged Casper Addison beside a fourteen-year-old Trey.
In any respectable investigation, the similarities alone wouldn’t be enough to convict him. But Casper didn’t know how much evidence they’d collected while he’d been yukking it up with his pals. And, even better, it was a picture. Something Ben had told her Vaheed Shahzar had worked long and hard to ensure no one would ever be able to produce.
She turned and her stomach flipped a triple axle at the brutal rage stamped on Casper’s face. A muscle spasmed in his jaw, his shoulders so tight they hovered near his ears.
“Sucks, doesn’t it?” She pointed at the monitor. “You left a loose thread, Casper. And unfortunately, for you, we found it.” Narrowing her gaze, she chewed the inside of her cheek as if mulling over the past couple weeks. “Hmmm… I wonder if there’s anything else you may have missed.”
“You think you’re so goddamn smart.” The hostility in his voice lifted the hair on her arms and, at the same time, it took everything in her not to toss her head back with a laugh.
She’d picked at his worst scab, all right. But he could kiss her ass before she gave in.
Let him stand there and sweat. None of this needed to happen, and yet he’d come here and put everyone on the defense. If she was wrong then, for God’s sake, say something. At the very least, cough up a weak rationalization to defend what he’d done.
“We got movement at the back door.” Molly’s whisper brushed Tanner’s ear, and she resisted the urge to glance toward the ceiling. “Five men just entered the kitchen. I’m alerting the Feds now.”
Five less guns pointed in her direction. Five less chances everyone she cared about would be at risk…if she could keep Casper preoccupied until Ben got back.
“Yes, I do. In fact, I think I’m very smart.” Staring at the resentment swirling in Casper’s green gaze, Tanner ticked off each point on her fingers as if any idiot could’ve figured out how the pieces fit. “Several months ago, you received word a woman you’d once spent time with was walking around the old neighborhood with a kid who bore a striking resemblance to you, and the thought you might have an illegitimate son sent you into a panic. After all, you couldn’t have that, could you, Casper? Not with your face being such a hot commodity, and not with the government threatening to topple an empire you’d spent the past decade building. So you returned to Chicago, decided to see this lookalike for yourself. And when you found out Valentina Fernández never told you she was pregnant and then married someone else, you got pissed. Not only had she left an opening that could lead straight back to you, she suspected exactly who you are, and my guess is, once you confronted her, she told you she d
idn’t want you having anything to do with Trey.”
“That bitch had no right to order me around.” Casper stomped forward and the two guards behind him shifted in their boots. “Trey is mine. He belongs to me, not her.”
“So you had them erased. Both her and that worthless asshole pretending to be Trey’s dad.” Matching Casper’s stride, Tanner closed the distance. “But you didn’t think about the problems that might cause, did you? What you were supposed to do with Trey once you had him. Whether carting him around was worth the gamble if he ever got it in his head to talk to the wrong person or run away.”
“She’d ruined him. Made him weak.” Lowering his chin, Casper aimed a hard finger at the ground. “If I wanted Trey to take over for me, he needed to know just how hard life could be.”
“And the quickest way to do that was to give him to one of your lapdogs. Let them toughen Trey up and see if he was even worthy of your consideration.” Goddamn it, the idea anyone could’ve done that to an innocent kid was enough to level her to the ground.
Tears born of rage and frustration rushed her eyes, and Tanner eased forward another slow step. Jesus, what she wouldn’t have given to know where her brother and sisters were so she could make that same choice.
“You left him in the most horrid conditions imaginable and never once thought about what you’d done.” Arms shaking, she pointed a trembling finger at his face. “But you got cocky, didn’t you? Thinking you could just go about your business. And when Ben busted up that drug ring and brought Trey into the precinct, you realized how bad you were screwed.”
There was no way Casper could claim Trey was his once that happened. Not with the same face that belonged to Vaheed Shahzar.
“We got flashers in our back window.” Xander brought her back to the present, and Tanner blinked the moisture from her eyes. “The squad from the convenience store is pulling us over, white van hot on their tail. Look alive, Ben. You’re up.”
“About time. SWAT team moving in.”
“There was only one option.” Tanner lowered her hand to her side. “And when Eden contacted you about Malcolm’s funeral, you knew she’d provided the perfect opportunity for you to strike. After all, it had been over ten years since any of the old gang had seen you, and what’s a little facial reconstruction surgery among friends?”
Casper hadn’t spent time in a Syrian refugee camp, and the bullshit he’d fed them about being rescued from that pit was nothing but a bunch of lies piled on top of all the never-ending lies he’d told since the moment he’d shown up at the front door.
“Phase one completed. We got ʼem locked down tight.”
Thank God. Hearing those words from Ben, the only thing Tanner could think of was jumping into his arms so she could smother him with kisses.
Trey was safe. For now, he was safe and hidden at a secure location with Mocha.
“Second package received and we’re heading back to the manor.” Ben paused, his voice low. “Hang on, baby. I’m coming as fast as I can.”
She knew he was. But more than that, she knew the rest of the team would be behind him as soon as the arrests had been made.
The moment Xander and Charlie had left the manor with Trey, they’d known Casper would send in whatever recruits he’d strong-armed into joining him from the Chicago PD. If a squad rolled up behind Xander and hit the lights, he’d have no choice but to pull over or become a fugitive from the law.
But Tanner would’ve given anything to see the shock on their faces once Ben arrived on the scene with that SWAT team at his back. A complete bummer for whatever dirty cops had been trying to smuggle Trey into that white van. She couldn’t think of anything that would cramp their style like being caught in the midst of kidnapping red-handed.
The dude on Casper’s right stepped forward and tapped his shoulder to deliver whatever message he’d received. Tipping her head, Tanner studied Casper’s motions, his smile and nod as if he’d just gotten a wonderful piece of news.
Then again, he sure had. From Ben. Masquerading as one of Casper’s men through the com link he’d commandeered, reporting their mission had been successful and he was bringing Trey in.
“Well, Tanner, this has been fun.” Adrenaline jabbed her stomach as Casper withdrew his sidearm and seated a bullet in the chamber with a chest-hollowing click of the slide. “Sadly, though, our time here is done.”
She quickly lifted her hands, holding them near her shoulders despite how doing so wasn’t gonna stop him from killing her on the spot. She knew too much. Had laid out Casper’s activities the past few months in a way that hit too close to home.
Leaving her alive would not be in his best interest by a long shot. Hell, she’d known there was every chance her life would be forfeit going in. “Tell me one thing first.”
He hesitated, cocking a brow.
She took a breath to speak. Released it.
Funny. She frowned. Even though getting Casper to reveal his identity was the missing link Byrne and all his Feds were waiting on before they stormed the castle, she wasn’t really sure the answer mattered any more.
When it came right down to it, there wasn’t an enemy alive she wouldn’t face to standby her friends. No danger on Earth that would make her look back at this moment with regret or a wish she’d made difference choices.
Because for the first time in what seemed like forever, she wasn’t alone. Truly hadn’t been since they day she’d joined Dirty Deeds, even though it had taken her until the past several weeks to realize how much everyone cared.
For her.
For each other.
For doing what was right and standing up for those like Trey who didn’t have a voice.
Being a part of that was worth more to her than the sum of any events that had led to her this place. And the fact Casper had traded those invaluable things for wealth, power or his screwed-up idea of respect was the final nail in the coffin to drive the point home.
“You’re not anyone, are you?”
Confusion creased his forehead, and he shifted his eyes side to side as if she’d fallen off her rocker.
Hell, maybe she had.
“Casper Addison, Vaheed Shahzar…” She dropped her arms. Blinked, and then laughed. God, it was so pathetic, she almost felt sorry for the guy. “Whatever you call yourself, you’re not really anyone at all.”
How could he be? He had zero attachments to anything. Not his son, his friends…not even his own damn face. Unlike her and everyone else at Dirty Deeds, the sum of any events that had brought him here didn’t add up to squat.
He gritted his teeth. “Where did you hear that name?”
“What difference does it make?” Honestly, what was the difference? He wasn’t walking out of here a free man. Not after connecting him to the murder of Trey’s parents. Not once every recruit who’d been working for him sang like a pigeon about they’d done to Ben at the preserve.
And once he was behind bars, if Vaheed Shahzar suddenly disappeared off the government’s radar, they would finally have their answer about who he truly was. “You’ve got nothing, Casper. Not one damn thing.”
A set of headlights turned up the drive, and he pivoted as a white service van pulled alongside the sedan and parked. “And you’re not that smart.”
Her pulse skyrocketed, and she turned her head to study Casper out of the corner of her eye. Something about the delivery of those words hit her wrong. As if he knew something she didn’t and had been one step ahead from the very beginning.
Shit. The driver’s side door popped open, and she scrambled to review the past few minutes as a hulking figure climbed from behind the wheel. Had she missed something? Made an incorrect assumption along the way? Dammit, if someone would just update her on coms, maybe she’d have a frickin’ clue about what she was supposed to do next.
Standing with his back to the light, the driver opened the sliding side door, reached inside the van and jerked a hooded form out onto the blacktop.
Yes. T
hat was according to plan, and at the same time, she couldn’t deny the guy’s movements were off. Too clumsy and awkward to be associated with Ben.
Leaning forward, she squinted to gauge the width of his shoulders, the size of his arms or the length of his stride. But with the way she stood under the glare of the fluorescents, she couldn’t tell if she’d come down with a serious case of wishful thinking or another of Casper’s errand boys had shown up to join in the fun.
Didn’t matter. Either way, she was stuck in this garage until she could find out for sure.
Inching toward the nearest bulletproof partition, Tanner crossed one ankle over the next. Whether or not everything was still a go, her best bet was to err on the side of caution.
Casper spun and took aim at her chest, and she froze with a breath trapped in her lungs.
Dammit. If she ever got out of here, the first item on her agenda was to swap out her boots for a quieter pair of shoes.
“I do have something, Tanner.” Replacing his sidearm in the holster, Casper jerked his chin at the massive brute who approached, and her heart sank with an internal whimper as the guy dragged his hostage forward by the upper arm.
A black ski mask and dark glasses covered his face. Again, just like they’d planned. The problem was, he didn’t walk like Ben. Instead of his thundering gait or the raw energy that accompanied his presence, the guy lumbered into the garage as if he’d been born with a pair of two left feet.
Unless… Shaking her head, Tanner glanced between the four bodies standing at the opposite end of the room. She zeroed in on the left hand of their latest arrival and sweet awareness coursed through her body at the leather cords tied around his wrist.
That was Ben, all right. Her Ben.
The man she loved in a way that completed her soul. The guy who would do everything humanly possible to give her as many moments as they could get.
She resisted the urge to chuckle all while sending up thanks to Almighty God. She should’ve known nothing would stop him from being here. Even if he had to fake it so he could get close without being recognized by Casper or his men. Even if he had to mow down every crooked cop in the city so he could fulfill his promise to do whatever was necessary to return to her side.
