Twisted Truths

by Rebecca Zanetti

  Noni secured her seat belt. “Where are we going?”

  “There’s a motel on the outskirts of town.” Denver maneuvered through the subdivision and reached the quiet main road before flipping on the light above the mirror. He unfolded the paper the man had given him. “Or maybe not.”

  A male voice suddenly came over the speaker. “You get the present?”

  Noni yelped and shoved back in her seat. Her heart sped up. She put her hand to her chest. “What in the world?”

  Denver sighed. “Noni, meet Ryker, my brother. Apparently he hacked into the vehicle’s phone system.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Ryker said, his voice deep.

  Noni blinked. “It’s like Knight Rider,” she murmured.

  Ryker laughed. “Good one. Did you get the paper?”

  “Affirmative,” Denver said. “Figured it was from Jory, though.”

  “We coordinated through the night. The messenger was one of his guys, though. We found a different safe house in Coeur d’Alene. We bought it, and it’s now registered to a shell corporation that can’t be traced to any of us,” Ryker said.

  Noni’s mouth gaped. “You managed a land exchange in the middle of the night from somewhere else. Just what kind of connections do you guys have?”

  “The owner was motivated to sell,” Ryker said dryly. “He’s had three deals fall through, and he has already relocated to the Florida sunshine. It wasn’t that difficult.”

  Sure it wasn’t.

  Denver took a left turn around a series of commercial businesses that were still closed. “I’m not going to ask how you found the money. Did you get the e-mail I sent?”

  “Yes. What do you need?”

  “I don’t know. When I do, I’ll call.” Denver scanned the roads and the few vehicles already out and about on the dismal morning. “Thanks, Ry.” He hung up.

  Noni turned toward him. “What’s going on? What was in the e-mail?” She was finally waking up completely, and he looked seriously tense. A vein pulsed down his neck, and his hands were anything but relaxed on the steering wheel. He held it so tightly his knuckles were turning white. “You need to talk to me,” she said, her heart thundering.

  He took another turn, glancing at the GPS in the dash. “I found the auction site for the gang on the dark web. They’re auctioning off the baby, and the bids are up to three hundred thousand dollars.”

  Noni’s stomach cramped as if she’d been punched, and she leaned over. “Oh God. Who is bidding?”

  “No clue, and the gang doesn’t care.” Denver took another turn down a quiet, icy road.

  Noni swallowed several times. “Are you sure it’s Talia?”

  “I’m sure,” he said grimly. “Her picture is up, and it’s the same baby. She looks okay.”

  “Wait a minute. That’s illegal. Nobody can auction off a baby, especially a known drug gang. This is proof that Richie is still a bad guy. Should we call the FBI?” Noni clasped her hands together. What the hell should they do?

  Denver nodded. “That’s one route. We could call the cops.”

  Noni tried to wet her too-dry lips. “But?”

  “How are they going to get to Richie? You can’t find bidders on the dark web, and whoever wins will be contacted directly.” Denver took another turn out of the main Snowville downtown area.

  “So we bid,” she said softly. “Don’t you need special virtual money?”

  “Not for this,” Denver said. “They’ll want real cash.”

  She didn’t know how to do this. “I don’t have any.”

  “I have some but not nearly enough.” Brightly decorated storefronts bracketed them right before he opened the throttle and burst onto the interstate. “We’ll have to bluff and just take them out at the drop point.”

  “What if they don’t bring the baby until they see the cash?” she breathed.

  His mouth tightened. “Good point. Okay. We’ll have to figure something else out. Maybe I can get that kind of cash. If not, it’ll be the bluff of the century.”

  “When is the auction finished?” she asked, her head aching. How was this possible? Where was the baby?

  “Tomorrow evening at five, PST,” Denver said, his voice hoarse. “As soon as we get to the safe house, I’ll set up a bidding profile. Well, after I create an identity or two.” He scrubbed a rough hand through his thick hair.

  A black sports car whipped by them on the right, fishtailing several times.

  “Idiot,” Denver muttered, slowing down. He glanced in the rearview mirror and tensed.

  “What?” Noni gasped, twisting to see behind them. A couple of trucks followed them, their lights cutting through the early morning.

  Denver’s shoulders settled down, and an odd calmness permeated the vehicle. For some reason that pricked every nerve in Noni’s body to life. Her palms grew sweaty. “What’s happening?” Something definitely was going on.

  “Baby? I need you to make sure your seat belt is fastened securely,” Denver said calmly.

  She fumbled and double checked the strap across her chest. She gulped. “Okay.”

  “Now I need you to plant both feet on the floor and set your spine against the seat. Face forward, don’t twist, and try to somehow relax your body. No tenseness,” he said, his grip visibly loosening on the steering wheel.

  How was he so focused? The calmer he became, the more she wanted to jump out of the car screaming like a wild woman. She tried to relax her body and instead tightened every muscle.

  “Relax,” he murmured, flicking his blinker and moving over into the slow lane.

  She scrunched down a little to see in the side mirror. The trucks behind them remained in the fast and middle lanes, abreast of each other and not speeding. They looked like well-equipped working trucks complete with thick grilles. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

  “I’m not sure.” He punched in a series of buttons on the GPS in the dash. “Get ready to hold on to something, but try to keep your body aligned forward, okay?”

  She could barely breathe. Was he losing his mind? The trucks hadn’t changed speed or trajectory at all. They weren’t even in the slow lane. “I think you might be paranoid.”

  He shook his arms out. “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not coming for you.” While his voice remained light, a thread of tension wove just beneath the surface of each word. He reached for a gun in his waistband and pulled it out. They drove past an exit.

  At the sight of the weapon, her mind fuzzed. “Wait a minute. Just—”

  Denver yanked the steering wheel and they crashed down a snowy embankment, swerving at the last second to catch the side of the exit.

  Noni screamed, slamming her hands onto the dash. Her neck snapped to the side, and she scrambled to remain in position, facing forward. If they crashed, she would be safer not twisting.

  The SUV bumped and jumped down the hill, throwing its back end up. Pain ricocheted up her spine as they slid and hopped toward the off-ramp.

  Denver barreled down the exit and ignored the stoplight at the bottom. He made a hard right through the red light, and the SUV skidded on the ice, spinning out in a full circle. A car honked and shot out of the way. Denver slammed the SUV into reverse and whipped it around, his foot pressing the pedal.

  Noni panted and turned to see the two trucks sliding down the hill and catching the exit. “They’re coming.”

  “I know,” Denver said. “We need to lose them, and then we’ll get to the safe house.”

  She reached for the gun in his hand. “I can shoot them out the window.” Could she? She’d never shot at anybody before. Her stomach lurched.

  “I’m driving too fast.”

  She swallowed rapidly. “I’m sorry I got you into this. It has to be the Kingdom Boys and Richie.”

  He frowned into the rearview mirror. “I don’t think so. These guys are too good.”

  Pings echoed off the metal body of the SUV.

  “Get down.” Denver g
rasped the nape of her neck and pushed her face down.

  She struggled to breathe as the seat belt tightened across her torso. “They’re shooting?” Adrenaline ripped through her veins, bringing everything into way too sharp of a focus. Her breathing. The tick of the heater. Denver’s total sense of calm. “Oh God.”

  Something crashed into the back of the SUV, throwing it into a wide tailspin. The seat belt across her lap constricted her, shooting pain through her abdomen. “No airbags?”

  “Any SUV left by my family would’ve been modified in case of, well, this,” Denver muttered, pulling on the steering wheel and trying to correct. The driver’s side door smashed into a blue postal mailbox, and he instantly hit the gas pedal, spiraling them back onto the street. “They rammed us.” He drove up onto the sidewalk and whipped around a building into a dark alley. They flew by garbage cans and metal doors.

  “If not the gang, then Cobb and Madison?” she asked, her hands shaking.

  “It would make sense. I have a bad feeling Cobb has been watching Malloy just in case we contacted the cop again.” Denver took another turn onto a street and nearly smashed into one of the trucks. “This has nothing to do with you.” He clipped the truck’s back bumper and swerved.

  A man jumped from the back of the truck, landing on the roof of the SUV. His body thumped hard above them, and the metal protested.

  Noni’s mouth gaped, and she turned toward Denver. “Who are these guys?”

  The man on the roof leaned over the passenger side and punched her window. Glass flew inward. She ducked and screamed as a piece sliced into her neck. Pain slashed down to her collarbone.

  Denver swore and aimed his gun up at the roof, firing rapidly. The percussion exploded in the SUV, and Noni clapped her hands over her ears. Her entire head rang.

  The man on the roof rolled to her side and kept on falling, leaving a smear of blood on the jagged remainder of her window. Snow and ice blew in with the blood. She tried to stifle a scream and covered her mouth with her hand. Tears filled her eyes. “You shot him,” she said numbly.

  “Yeah.” Denver angled his head toward the back window. Blood dripped from a cut above his cheek.

  The sight of his blood shot the entire scene into focus. Those men were trying to kill them. Noni shook her head.

  Denver coughed. “Good. One truck is picking him up, so they’ve slowed down.”

  Was the guy dead? She hadn’t been able to tell. Cold air blasted inside and forced her away from the numbness shock provided. She turned to look out the back. Both trucks were now speeding toward them.

  Denver swung the SUV in an arc. “Duck,” he yelled.

  She yelped and pressed her head to her knees. Gunshots echoed above her head, and she shut her eyes, trying not to scream again.

  Bullets plowed into the SUV, and the back window shattered. Something hissed.

  The vehicle rocked back into motion.

  Sucking in air, she slowly lifted her head and looked around. Pain filled her neck. Denver had shot out the front windshields of both trucks. Blood covered the front hood of one truck. A man leaped from the other truck, already firing with what looked like a fully automatic weapon. She’d seen one on television.

  Denver pushed her down again and took a sharp turn around a brick building.

  Noni struggled to breathe and her body started to shake. “A guy jumped on the roof,” she said, almost in a daze. “The people after you are crazy. Are these genetically altered soldiers?”

  “Maybe.” Denver sped through town way too fast for the conditions. “Genetically altered or not, these guys are trained, and they have to be from Cobb and Madison. They’re on me, not you.” He swung the SUV in another circle and spun into the empty parking lot of a sewing shop. The car had barely stopped when he shoved open his door and stepped outside. “Stay here.”

  She shook her head, trying to grasp reality. Her fingers fumbled with the belt, and she finally removed it. So now not only was the gang after them but Denver’s past had finally caught up? It was all too much at once. Way too much.

  Denver strode forward in complete control, his gun pointed at the quiet road.

  One of the trucks turned the corner wide and lifted onto two tires, coming down with a hard thump. Denver aimed his gun and fired. Low-pitched pings filled the air, a front tire blew, and the truck flew almost in slow motion through the air, flipping onto its roof and sliding several yards down the icy road.

  Noni gasped and pushed herself over to the driver’s side to see better. Almost as an afterthought, she yanked her gun out of her pack and pointed it toward the hissing truck.

  The second truck careened around the corner, this one closer.

  Denver dropped to one knee, aimed, and fired rapidly. His bullets sprayed across the grille toward the gaping hole where the windshield had been. The driver’s body recoiled as if he was shot, and he turned the wheel, bashing the truck into a telephone pole on the other side of the street. Denver calmly shot out both front tires while the driver’s body hung out the front. The passenger fired back, and ice spit up all around Denver. He returned fire, and the other guy went down.

  Without missing a beat, Denver turned and strode toward her.

  Noni gasped and scrambled back into her seat, her ears ringing. Denver closed his door and set the SUV into motion. “Hold on, Noni.” Without another word, he drove into the darkened night, the snow and freezing air pouring through the broken windows and bullet holes.

  Chapter

  13

  Goddamn motherfucking soldiers.” Sheriff Elton Cobb kicked a chair out of his way as he stomped into his love’s office.

  She looked up from behind her glass-topped desk, her blue eyes clear, her black hair pulled back into an intricate braid. “Really, Elton.”

  He slammed the door and moved the brocade chair back into place, taking several deep breaths to keep from losing his mind. “Really? How can you be so calm? Your damn soldiers missed Denver. Again. We had the motherfucker. We had two trucks, four men, and we lost him.” To have finally been so close, to have had a visual on the target. Cobb’s hands clenched into beefy fists.

  “I find emotion unnecessary.” Isobel Madison was the epitome of class and sophistication in her blue silk blouse and gray pencil skirt. Her ever-present white lab coat hung on an antique coat hanger over in the corner. Stunning oil paintings of the Old West covered the walls, and delicate trinkets lined glass shelves behind her. Her numerous framed diplomas and awards took up the wall to the west. “The good news is that we’ve found Denver as well as the woman who put that picture on the Internet.”

  Cobb dropped heavily into the chair. “Why didn’t we also post that woman’s picture when I had the press conference?”

  Isobel sighed, her red lips pursing. “Because we didn’t want Denver to know we’d found her. However, I told you keeping an eye on Detective Malloy would be useful.” Her fine eyebrows angled down. “I also told you the press conference was a bad idea, but you wouldn’t listen.”

  Bad idea? Bullshit. Finally the entire law enforcement community was looking for Denver, Heath, and Ryker. Oh, he’d get to them first, or he’d end up with them, but either way, he was going to strip the skin from their bodies. After he destroyed everything and anything they loved. “Tell me about the girl.”

  Isobel nudged a manila file across the desk. “Her name is Noni Yuka. Inuit for ‘bright star.’”

  Cobb flipped the file open. The woman had dark eyes, even darker hair, and pretty pink lips. “She’s stunning.”

  “Yes.” Isobel leaned back in her chair. “Yet she has no backbone. Trying to track Denver down in such an obvious manner since he deserted her a year ago.”

  Elton stiffened. “You’ve traced his past year?”

  “Yes. He had a job in Anchorage, where this woman runs some lotion and candle business. Apparently there was a brief affair, he did his job as a lowly private detective, and then he left.” Isobel sniffed. “She posted all over
the Internet to find him.”

  “Yet he found his way back to her.” Cobb rubbed his cleanly shaven jaw. “There must be a reason. Either he cares for her or there’s something else going on.”

  “Obviously he cares for her,” Isobel said, her pert nose in the air. “That’s why he left in the first place. But you’re correct. I need to do more digging into what’s going on now. He wouldn’t be with her unless there was a compelling reason.” Her voice had risen.

  Cobb glanced her way. She’d always had a soft spot for Denver, the little asshole. He turned back to the photos.

  The next picture he found was of Denver. The boy had grown into a large man with angry blue eyes. At least Cobb saw anger. “I wondered if he would grow into those feet.” Oh, Cobb would make that bastard pay for killing his brother. In ways that made even him sick to his stomach. “He outfought your soldiers, Isobel.” Something nearly impossible to do.

  She clicked her tongue. “I’m aware.”

  Was that pride in her voice? Cobb’s gaze narrowed as he now watched her.

  Her eyes darkened as she took in the picture. “He looks strong. And smart. I made him that way, you know. I made every one of my soldiers that way.”

  All of the science crap made Cobb queasy. “You enjoyed yourself.” The woman liked to play God.

  “Yes,” she said, pulling the picture toward her to study. “Many of my records were destroyed, as you know. But I remember making Denver. He’s special.”

  Her possessive tone straightened Cobb’s spine. “You can have all the pride you want, but never forget. Denver, that little fucker, is all mine.” They had come to an agreement.

  She sighed. “After I take his genetic material, you can have him.” Then she smiled, the look feral. “If you can take him.”

  Cobb sat back. Fire lanced through him, and he bit it back. He refused to feel jealousy for a man who was as good as dead. The woman was always challenging him, and he usually liked it. Not right now, however. “I’m going to kill him, Isobel.”

  She pushed the photo back toward the pile. “Noni is going to lead us to Denver, and then you’ll have your chance.”