by Angi Morgan
“You would rather I hurt this beautiful little girl and her father? Come on, Sissy. Just hand over the key.”
“The keys I had to that car were in the ignition. I don’t know anything else about keys or secret safes. I took half a bottle of whiskey from the glove compartment and—”
Bryce heard the slap. Open palm flesh hitting her cheek.
“Beating me, or any of us, won’t change the facts. If there’s a lock, can’t one of your thugs pick it?”
Bryce inched around the corner.
He had a side view of what was going on. Rosco had father and daughter off to the side. They’d faced the girl against the wall, wearing headphones and playing a game. Her father was taped to a chair next to her. Kylie was leaning against the open car trunk.
He wanted to rush in, guns blazing...okay, gun, he only had one, which wouldn’t go far.
Plain and simple...the hostages would be killed.
A confrontation before backup got here...he’d be overpowered, they’d search him, they’d find the drive and he’d be left with no bargaining power.
There was no way to let Kylie know he was there. No way to warn her or the others. Maybe that was Fenley’s phone his daughter was playing on. The headphones would keep any notification sound silent. But what if it wasn’t?
Rosco turned and opened his palm. Wordlessly, a gun was placed in it. He swiveled and pointed it at Kylie’s forehead. Bryce gripped the edge of the corner, ready to spring forward. He’d never get there in time. He raised his Sig and took aim.
* * *
KYLIE DIDN’T REMEMBER Daniel Rosco. She searched her memory but couldn’t come up with anything. A friend of the Tenorenos or maybe even an enemy. Whoever he was, there was something dead in his eyes that was more frightening than she’d ever experienced.
His gun was about three inches from her eyes. She’d never stared down a gun barrel before. It took a lot of willpower to stand there and not move. One of his men stood next to her ready to keep her in place.
“I don’t have it. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied.
“Say I believe you. Someone has checked that car. It’s been polished, vacuumed. Who?” Rosco asked, shrugging and dropping the barrel to point at her toes. “Bring him. Take the girl to my car.”
Once Darla was outside, he turned the gun toward Grant. She didn’t doubt that Rosco would pull the trigger. He inched closer and closer.
“All right. Stop. It’s me. I’m the only one that knew about the extra key.” She held her hands up as Rosco’s gun pointed at her face again. “I hid it under the driver’s seat just before I was abducted by those monsters.”
Don’t antagonize them. She could hear Bryce’s voice in her head even though she was certain he’d never said those exact words before. She didn’t really have a choice. She couldn’t let him hurt Grant or Darla.
“That’s closer to the truth. Get the key.” Rosco used the barrel as a pointing stick toward the car.
“Mr. Rosco, you want us to check around the building? Make sure everything’s secure?” The one who had ridden in the back asked, shifting from foot to foot.
“Stay put. I don’t want to draw any attention to this place. No one knows where we are or even who we are.”
Except Grant, Darla and me.
She took her time, not about to rush anything. The slower she moved the more time Bryce had to find them. She stroked the Cadillac’s fin-shaped fender. “So when did we meet, Daniel? It couldn’t have been at the Tenoreno Christmas party. They only invited friends to that.”
“We were invited, but didn’t attend. Xander and I ran into each other at a club opening. He had you draped on his arm.”
Kylie took a deep breath seeking a calm place before she opened the passenger door and stretched across the seat to find the key. She knew exactly where it was, but stalled a little and took her time.
“Kylie?” Grant sounded frightened.
She looked over the edge of the car, scooting to her knees. The gun was back against Grant’s temple. She held the key up. “I found it.”
“Let’s get something straight, Sissy. I’ve had some restless nights recently and I’m ready to head home. No more delays.”
She tossed the key at his feet. “What incentive do I have to comply? Aren’t you going to kill us anyway?”
“Oh, God, not Darla! You can’t—” Grant got a face full of metal for his outburst. He fell to the warehouse floor.
Kylie searched the room for a possible place to run. And that’s when she saw Bryce. He’d found them. He signaled to keep stalling. Hopefully that meant there were more officers coming. She had to trust him and get close to Grant so she could let him know. She hurried to her neighbor’s side.
“Open the safe, Sissy. Don’t play games,” Rosco said, kicking the key toward her. “I know you’ve already been inside.”
He really believed there was no one following his men to this place. “Are you okay, Grant?” She leaned closer, checking his head. He tried to rise, she pushed him back down. “That’s a deep cut.” She lowered her voice. “Help is here. Stay low and take cover when the rescue happens.” Then louder, “Are you okay to sit?”
“I’m just a little woozy.”
They worked together, moving him closer to the wheel of the car. He could roll under it or even make it to the semitrailer. It would make it easier on their rescuers if they stayed together.
“Now that you’ve taken care of your boyfriend—open my safe.”
Should she keep up the pretense? She tried not to look toward Bryce, but she did anyway. She wouldn’t climb into the back of that car and potentially be caught inside—or even locked inside.
She held up the key and leaned over the edge. She found the keyhole with her fingertip and guided the key inside. Then she felt around for the magnetic hide-a-key, freed it and tossed it to Rosco.
“That’s what you wanted. I don’t know why I had to retrieve it for you.”
“Don’t you?” He slid the compartment open and removed a flash drive. It looked close to what he’d put there five years ago.
Kylie prayed that he couldn’t remember the differences. “No.” But she did. “If you’re afraid that I shared the information with the police, the fact that I’m not under their protection is proof that I didn’t. They let me go. And getting involved now is the furthest thing from my mind. I haven’t plugged it in or looked at any part of it.”
“On the other hand, she did give me the real one.” Bryce swaggered around the corner like he was walking down Pecan Street trying to get her attention. Hands toward the ceiling, no weapon in sight, no sign of a bulletproof vest...he tossed a flash drive—hopefully not the flash drive—in the air. “I don’t know what’s on that thing you’ve got, but I do know what’s on this.”
He stopped when all the guns in the room turned toward him.
“Now, do you think I’d waltz in here without backup?” Bryce tossed the flash drive into the air like a ball, caught it and shoved it in his pocket. “You’re done, Rosco. So are your friends, including Xander Tenoreno.”
Rosco tipped his head toward his men.
She stood next to a seated Grant urging Bryce to start moving.
Two smoke grenades bounced across the concrete floor, leaving a trail of gray mist in their wake. Bryce darted behind a wooden crate as the guns close to her began firing.
In other words, all hell broke loose.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chaos. A man ran past him, but that wasn’t his objective. The hostages were. There was a plan in place and he had his role. He wasn’t physically prepared for the tear gas, although he knew it was coming. Bryce didn’t have time to cover his mouth and nose. He held his breath and waited for the cover of smoke before heading to the Cadillac.
Trent shouldn’t have fired the gas into the warehouse until they had the little girl out of harm’s way. The Dublin police, Fred and Richard were waiting outside to grab the five men he
lping Rosco. Bryce needed to find Fenley and Kylie.
“Run!” she shouted.
It wasn’t to him, so she must be instructing Fenley. He ran toward her voice, toward the door at the loading dock. Someone, severely coughing, staggered through the opening and then down the first couple of steps. Fred was there and lowering his shotgun.
“Grant, where’s Kylie?” Fred asked, burying his face in the crook of his elbow.
“He got her. She told me to run. I couldn’t see. I came to find Darla—I thought you were still in there to help her.” Grant Fenley looked at Bryce with his explanation for leaving Kylie.
“Two men unaccounted for, Bryce!” Fred yelled after him as he re-entered the building.
He instinctively knew that Rosco was the snake who had Kylie. He pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth to avoid the smoke now rising and clearing. Something moved in the direction he’d come through earlier. He followed, gun at the ready.
Bryce approached and rounded the corner he’d hidden behind. No one was there, but he heard something crash. He followed through the front and out the door, ducking back when shots ricocheted off the solid door and hit the glass window.
“Rosco! All I want is Kylie.” Bryce couldn’t tell where the shots had been fired from. He ducked to the ground and belly-crawled through the door.
He listened, trying to hear anything other than the shouts on the other side of the building. Then he heard it, scuffling, gravel hitting the steps to his right.
Staying low, then smashing himself against the building, he got closer into position. He turned ready to fire. But Rosco had Kylie in front of him, covering his body like the kidnappers had used the little girl.
“Ranger, I swear I’ll put a bullet in her brain. I want a car to take me back to my plane. Then...”
Rosco talked. Bryce’s gaze met Kylie’s. She spread four fingers across Rosco’s forearm that held her captive around her neck. Then three. Bryce barely nodded acknowledging that he understood. She was going to do something at the end of the countdown. He just didn’t know what.
“Tell me this, Daniel,” she said. “Was it you or Xander who shot my friends?”
Rosco’s gun was aiming at him, then at Kylie. “You aren’t calling for a car, Ranger.”
Down to two fingers as the gun moved. Now he had the timing.
“Answer her question.” Bryce pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Fred. “Might as well let her know it was you.”
Rosco took small steps back. Bryce couldn’t tell if he was dragging Kylie along or if she was forcing him onto the gravel where he could lose his footing. One finger.
Bryce was ready. The gun swung away from him and he moved forward at the same time Kylie bent the fingers around her neck toward his wrist and made Rosco tilt back and away from her.
She fell to the ground, hitting Rosco’s knees together.
It didn’t work. She stared into eyes that looked prepared for her attack or defense. But Bryce was there. She flattened herself to the ground, ready to roll out of the way.
Bryce sent a double punch to the man’s gut, then another to his jaw. The gun flew. Kylie scrambled to her knees to capture the gun and keep it from Rosco’s hands. Bryce took a couple of punches to his body, but sent an uppercut to the other man’s jaw. Rosco fell backward hitting the gravel.
Fred came running around the corner. Kylie was in the older man’s embrace while Bryce rolled Rosco to his stomach and yanked his arm behind him, pinning him to the ground.
“That didn’t look like much of a fight,” Fred stated.
“Not much of an opponent. That’s what happens when they get arrogant.” Kylie sniffed and wiped her eyes from the tear gas.
“Good enough to put bullets in you,” Rosco spit into the gravel.
“Want me to take him off your hands?” Fred asked.
They exchanged places and Bryce took Kylie around the corner. The adrenaline wore off and she broke down in his arms for a couple of minutes. Real tears on top of the watering eyes from the tear gas.
“It wasn’t Xander. I won’t wonder anymore who killed my friends. It’s over. Really over.”
“Everything except the paperwork.” He grinned at her and gave her a brief kiss. “It’s going to get crowded around here with all the law enforcement headed this direction, but I don’t want you out of my sight.”
“Yes, sir. Ranger, sir.” She playfully saluted. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan to leave your side.”
* * *
“COME WITH ME.” Bryce tugged a little on her elbow to get her moving. The sun was sinking and he wanted to slip away without a lot of questions.
“Don’t I need to hang around or be whisked off for a more formal interrogation? I know they’re going to accuse me of something else.”
He looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was following. “That’s what I’m trying to avoid.”
“Okay, I was joking, but you clearly aren’t. Are they going to accuse me of knowing about that flash drive? You were with me. You know that—”
He spun her around and sealed her lips with his. “You scared me to death, woman. I thought I’d be identifying your dead remains somewhere. Try not to come to anybody’s rescue except mine. Will ya?”
Their lips tangled in a deep kiss that would have lasted longer but was interrupted by someone clearing his throat.
“Want me to come back later?”
“Dad!”
“That would be me. Nice to see you again.” His father took Kylie’s hand between his.
“My dad’s taking you to his ranch until most of this blows over. You’ll be safe there while I get things straightened out.” Bryce wanted to move them along, but he didn’t know which direction his dad had come from.
“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“Thing is, if you stay here, you’ll probably have to and there won’t be anything I can do about it. Trust me on this.”
“You’re in just as much trouble as me.” She crossed her arms and he knew she was stubborn enough to go to jail if need be.
“She has a point, son. I can fly you to Waco tomorrow. Just tell them you’ll be back.” His dad shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Yeah, tell them you’ll be back, Bryce,” Kylie echoed.
He could swear he could hear her toe tapping on the road. “What are you driving, Dad?”
“Hickson let me borrow his Chevy at the airport.” He pointed to an old brown rust bucket. “Got me here. Should get me back.”
“I’ll meet you around the corner in ten. If I’m not there...” He gave his father a look that meant he was to take Kylie with him no matter what.
“Be there.” She pulled his face toward hers and kissed him. She looped her arm with his dad’s and they strolled down the street. “Did you know your son, the big bad Gunslinger, took down the bad guy without firing a shot?”
Bryce wanted to hear the rest of that conversation. Instead, he found Fred and Richard to make arrangements for his truck. He found Major Parker who was inside the warehouse accepting the appreciation of the police chief for loaning a Texas Ranger to his team.
“More than happy to be of service,” Parker answered, shaking hands with all around him. When they’d walked away, he turned to Bryce. “You managed to get everybody out of this alive. Good thing I never put your suspension papers through.”
“Yes, sir.” The surprise probably made him look like a wide-eyed rookie. “We got the flash drive open. It’s full of old border crossing maps and has some photographic evidence that the Rosco family was involved in exactly what we thought. You name it, they smuggled it. I think it’ll help the state’s case against Tenoreno if we can prove they worked together.”
“You know you were lucky you came out of this unscathed,” his boss said.
“One riot, one ranger. Right, sir?” Bryce hesitated waiting for a shoe or handcuff to drop somewhere. “So I’m going to head out then. See you tomorrow?”
“Why don’t you take vacation? I’ve already called headquarters. They’re going to interview Miss Scott next week. Then you won’t have to look so guilty about hiding her.”
“Yes, sir. That should work out great.”
“Yeah, I bet it will.” Parker stuck out his hand. “Good job, Bryce. Thanks for keeping our word to the lady.”
Bryce shook his major’s hand and ran to catch his father and their flight to the Rockin’ J.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Less than two hours ago, they’d been involved in an abduction and shoot-out. Kylie had to take a moment to breathe.
Bryce had whisked her off to a private airfield where they’d climbed into his father’s tiny airplane. The ride had almost been straight up and straight down, arriving faster than Bryce could explain why they were coming. He didn’t really have to. She knew. She needed to be stashed someplace safe until all the hoopla had blown over and the Austin state lawyers decided how important she was or wasn’t.
This visit, Bryce’s mom was unusually quiet as they entered the house and showed Kylie to the same bedroom she’d slept in before. Instead of following her into the kitchen, she spread out on the bed with a wet cloth across her eyes to help with the stinging from the tear gas. The door opened and Bryce leaned against it.
“Do you really think my ex-husband had nothing to do with this?”
“If he does, we’ll find the connection. But my gut tells me that Rosco tried to kill you for his own perverted reasons. Maybe vengeance? Or even to get into Tenoreno’s good graces. I think if your ex had any knowledge, Rosco would have brought him down when he bragged about it to us.”
“You’re probably right.”
“You doing okay, Kylie?”
“Honestly, I don’t know how I should feel. For five years I’ve thought Xander hated me enough to kill me.” Kylie dropped her arm over her eyes, shutting out the ceiling, the bloodstained gravel and the confession of her friends’ murderer.
“There’ll be an investigation that might take a while. We have time to find out the truth.” He left the door, standing next to the bed. “Hey, my parents turned in early. Let’s go stick our feet in the pool.”
