Rob thought of Cassie. He knew that because of his drinking problem, Dom wasn't involved in any cartel business. He felt bad for the doctor and his wife. Hopefully, Gerard would spare Cassie's life and let her off with a warning not to cross him in the future. However, knowing Gerard's penchant for brutality, that scenario wasn't going to be very likely.
Leaving the marble-encased shower, stepping out onto the heated stone floors, Rob wrapped an expensive silk robe around his body. Though he had given up the hard drugs, every now and then Rob smoked a little weed to calm his nerves. He went to his little stash which was hidden inside an old sneaker in his walk-in closet.
Sitting on the deck on the back of his condo, Rob thought he would watch the sunrise. His feet propped up on a step stool Rob lounged in his chair, letting the marijuana take him away from his troubles. A slight knock at his front door snatched his attention away from his high.
"Can I help you?" Rob asked, sticking his head out the door. Some angry-looking, muscle-bound guy was darkening his doorstep.
Through the local DMV records, Aiden had tracked down the man who had owned the truck that hauled away Alejandro's body. It was registered to a Lisa Grady, who he assumed was the man's wife. The two occupied a condominium in a subdivision not too far from the Wolfe residence.
He flashed his shield. "Agent Stone, FBI." He nodded, indicating the SUV parked in the driveway. "That your truck?"
Oh shit, Rob thought. He hadn't yet had time to get the vehicle detailed as Gerard had instructed. "Uh, yeah, that's my truck." Rob weakly admitted.
Rob's front door burst open, and in a fury Aiden charged through. With his hand around the smaller man's neck, he didn't stop moving until Rob's back slammed against the living room wall.
"What are you doing man? Have you lost your mind?" Rob rasped, his fingers trying to pry his hand from around his neck.
"You're going to help me locate Gerard Wolfe." He informed him, his eyes blazing right into Rob's face.
Aiden's worry for Danny's safety had transformed into an inconsolable rage overnight. Not only had the bastard abducted her, he had murdered his partner. The kid had survived the hell in Afghanistan just to have his life snuffed out by that murdering sonofabitch. When he found Wolfe he was going to tear him limb from limb with his bare hands. Gerard had taken him to a dark place, and he wasn't sure if he was going to be making a return trip.
While he was searching for Danny, he could have sworn he heard her voice calling out for him. He got an impression of her being in pain which frightened him like nothing else in the world. Where she was concerned, he was feeling an ache, a pain he couldn't even describe. He had known she had gotten her hooks in him, but he didn't realize how deep until she was in danger. He would get no rest until he found her, and heaven help any fool who got in his way. He was ready and willing to take his frustrations out on Wolfe's accomplice.
"Wolfe's not here, man. I don't know anything." Rob lied, still fighting Aiden’s iron grip.
For emphasis he pulled Rob away from the wall, before slamming his back into it again. Several pictures dropped to the floor, and Rob was sure the foundation of his condo shifted a little. Hairline fractures started to appear in the drywall, the cracks coughing dust with the indentation of Rob's body in the wall.
"I know for a fact that you helped Wolfe move an FBI Agent's dead body, and you also took a blonde woman with you. Where is the woman?" He figured that perhaps Danny was being kept with the woman. He prayed that the woman and Danny were unharmed.
"Man, you're tripping." In panic, Rob slipped into street slang. "I don't know anything. You've got the wrong guy."
Aiden moved his face in front of Rob's until they were face to face. He could smell the marijuana scent adhering to the man's skin. "You're lying to me, and I know it." His tone brooked no nonsense.
"I wouldn't lie to an FBI Agent, I swear." Rob was more afraid of crossing Gerard than crossing this FBI Agent. If Gerard found that he had double crossed him, Rob knew he would find himself in a shallow grave.
Enraged at the man's lies, he pulled his pistol and put it to Grady's forehead.
His voice was deep and threatening, like something born from the darkest abyss. "I am giving you till the count of three. If you don't tell me where Wolfe is holed up, I'm going to send your worthless ass to the next world."
"I can't tell you." Rob said, tears running down his cheeks.
"One!"
"He'll kill me! You don't understand how evil he is! Please!" Rob begged.
"Two."
"He will!"
"Rob! Oh my God! What's going on?!"Lisa suddenly entered the room, her eyes wide in terror.
Aiden slammed his Glock back into his holster, releasing Rob from his grip. His wife had literally saved him from great bodily harm. Even if his bluff with the gun didn't work, he was prepared to beat the truth out of the man.
"We'll be in touch." Aiden uttered threateningly, leaving Rob and his wife to themselves.
He took the Crown Vic around the block out of Rob's sight and booted up his laptop. Before he had confronted Dr. Grady, he had installed a portable GPS tracking unit on the doctor's SUV. He wouldn't be going anywhere without him knowing about it first. The only trouble was that he had to do something he wasn't very good at, being patient.
However, Aiden's patience paid off early that afternoon when Rob left his condo. Following the man's trail on his computer's map, he made a point of staying several cars behind him, for fear of being noticed.
Rob's first stop was a do-it-yourself car wash where the man meticulously erased the evidence of Alejandro's existence from his vehicle. Watching from a nearby parking lot, he observed the man thoroughly vacuuming the vehicle, shampooing the rugs, and obsessively cleaning the outside. He felt like stopping him in the act of destroying the proof of his partner's murder, but there was nothing he could do for Alejandro now. Any hopes of rescuing Danny lay with Rob Grady and locating where Wolfe was holed up.
After leaving the car wash, Rob took a leisurely drive around Phoenix, apparently while smoking more marijuana. The man's SUV nearly skidded into another car when he pulled in front of the Beautiful Image Spa late that afternoon.
True to his word, Agent Johnson had raided the spa earlier in the day. Swarms of government-issued vans and cars chaotically filled the parking lot, mixed in with the luxury vehicles of the patrons and staff. Agents in ugly navy blue windbreakers with FBI written across the back in yellow were either carrying out boxes containing paperwork belonging to the spa or were escorting out the doctors in handcuffs. Vans belonging to local news agencies waited in the background, biding their time until they could get a quote from a Bureau representative. Obviously terrified, Rob made a U-turn in the parking lot and burned rubber getting back into traffic.
Aiden was a little closer behind Rob this time, and he could see that he was talking frantically to someone on his cell, barely staying within the lanes. Rob Grady was speeding, racing through traffic like he was trying to escape from evil spirits. The SUV descended from the upscale champagne life of Phoenix's suburbs to the everyday hustle and grind of the inner city.
Rob's journey ended in the yet unpaved parking lot of a still under construction building. Using the nose of his truck he pushed open the chain link fence surrounding the new construction site and parked. Running, Rob unlocked the glass door of the structure with a key before disappearing inside.
As stealthily as he could on the unpaved gravel, Aiden pulled his car into the lot. Rob had parked his truck alongside Dr. Wolfe's Bentley. The sumptuous vehicle was definitely out of place in a neighborhood like this. Danny was here and he could feel it.
Before leaving his car, he placed a call to Agent Johnson who promised to arrive with the Hostage Rescue Team within the next ten minutes. He opened the trunk and strapped on a bullet proof vest and grabbed his SPAS-12 pump action shotgun, loading it with shells.
Armed, ready and dangerous he followed Grady's path into the fa
cility.
Chapter 21
Hurrying through the unfinished interior of the future medical clinic, Rob was on the hunt for Gerard. Since the discovery of the Fed's investigation of their operation, Gerard had decided to relocate his headquarters to this newest future off the books clinic. Before things fell apart, the cartel was working to bring a fresh shipment of product out to Phoenix's slums. Being the control freak he was, Wolfe wanted to supervise things personally, thus his big move to Phoenix to work at the Beautiful Image Spa. They had started construction on the newest clinic a few short months ago, and the project was nearing completion. However, that was before things all went to hell.
Since their phones might be tapped Rob had planned on catching Gerard at the spa to tell him about his visit with the FBI agent that morning. Finding the facility on lockdown, he figured he would try finding Gerard at the new clinic. Along the way he'd also sent a message to his wife. In the contingency that things went afoul with the human trafficking/prostitution operation, he and Lisa had established a special code. Rob had called her telling her that she ought to pay her sister a visit. Hopefully Lisa had packed a bag and was on her way out of town.
"Gerard! Gerard!" Rob yelled, bumping his shoulder into a wall.
"What the hell are you yelling for?" A sleepy-eyed Gerard asked, coming out of one of the offices. He scratched his new stubble absently, having just been roused from sleep. His clothes uncharacteristically were wrinkled.
"The Feds!"Rob exhaled catching his breath. "The Feds hit the spa. They're everywhere. They're arresting the doctors and taking files. I didn't want to call you because my phone might be tapped. I had a run-in with an FBI agent this morning."
As Gerard calmly headed downstairs to where the women were being held, Rob continued chattering. "This huge FBI Agent forced his way into my house. He put a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me if I didn't tell him where you were."
"You didn't reveal my location did you?" Gerard asked, opening the door where Danny and Cassie were held captive.
"Of course not. You know I would never betray you, boss."
Gerard vindictively stared down at the two women huddled in the corner. He roughly yanked Danny out, leaving Cassie alone in the room. Holding her by the neck, he violently threw her to the floor.
Gerard made a show of unbuttoning the sleeves of his shirt and rolling them up. "Rob! Find me some plastic because after I've taken my time with my ex-fiancé and her new best friend here, we're going to bury these two bitches."
He punctuated his statement by mercilessly kicking Danny in the abdomen. Walking a slow circle around her crouched like a predator, he punched her in the face continuing the assault.
Danny did her best to defend against his barrage of blows, but with the drugs in her system and her prior injuries she was unsteady on her feet. Every time she tried to stand up, Gerard was there to knock her back down.
Rob felt a little déjà vu helping Gerard with the disposal of two more female victims. He was hurriedly searching through the construction crew's supplies for a plastic tarp or even black garbage bags. He was so busy he didn't see the hulking shadow fall over him before it was too late.
"You conniving little bitch!"Gerard snarled, grabbing Danny by her hair as she crawled away from him. "I give you everything and you betray me like this? You think when the Feds get here it's gonna be happy ending? No, sweetheart. When I'm done with you, I'm going to mail pieces of you to 'em."
He rolled her over and battered her body with more punches. Reaching into the pocket of her jeans, Danny grabbed the screwdriver and jammed it deep into Gerard's belly.
"Ahhh!" he yelled as he fell off of her, clutching at the screwdriver submerged in his gut.
"Just for that I'm gonna take it nice and slow! I know how you really like it." He threatened, looking at his own blood on the instrument. He reached down to grab another hunk of her hair.
"Motherfucker! You put another hand on her and I'm gonna rip your arm out of the socket and beat you with it." Aiden’s voice called from the bottom of the stairs. He pounded on his chest with a heavy fist. "You like hitting on defenseless women? How 'bout you try hitting a man for a change, braddah."
"Who the fuck areyou?" Gerard spat.
Aiden ignored the question, his eyes trained on the battered Danny desperately crawling away from Gerard. His tone of voice softened relieved at seeing her alive, even though she had been badly beaten. "It's alright, Nani. I'm here."
"Nani?"Gerard looked between Danny and Stone, the synapses in his brain starting to fire as he produced a blade and pointed it at Aiden. "Well I believe I may have killed the wrong agent after all. You're the fucker that's been fooling around with my fiancé. You're just in time to watch me fillet this treacherous bitch!"
The big man rotated his shoulders. Ready for a physical fight, he put his gun down. This was personal, and he couldn't wait to get his hands on Wolfe. "You're the bad ass, bring it. Give me a reason to put your ass down for good. I'll save the taxpayers the expense of a trial and kill you right here."
Hollering, Gerard charged at Stone blade first. Aiden expertly deflected the blade, sending it skittering into a forgotten corner.
Wolfe was a dirty fighter going for low blows, shots to his knees, and eye gouges which Aiden successfully parried. Wolfe's fingernails tore a gash in Aiden's forearm which he barely noticed. After being tossed across the room by Aiden like a bag of garbage, Gerard came back with the screwdriver Danny had stabbed him with. His movements frenzied, he took aim with the screwdriver and rushed at him. However, the FBI Agent stopped him dead in his tracks with a solid boot to the face.
Though Wolfe was stronger than he looked, made up of wiry muscles, the former marine was much stronger and a better fighter. Gerard was rocked by brutal blows from Aiden who was exacting cruel punishment. After doubling the doctor over with a punch to the midsection, his elbow met the back of Gerard's head. Grabbing Wolfe's arm, he forced the man to the floor, his knee between his shoulder blades. He jerked the doctor's arm until he was satisfied with an appalling crunch.
"Try operating with that arm now you sick sonofabitch." He taunted, before punting the doctor's head like a football. Gerard was out cold.
His wrath sated for the moment, Aiden picked up his gun and carefully walked over to Danny. She had since passed out; her limp form sprawled across the cold concrete floor. He brushed her hair back, sickened by the cuts and bruises inflicted on her beautiful face.
"Baby, it's alright I'm here." Like she was made of porcelain, he scooped her up in the safety of his arms. He breathed a much needed sigh of relief.
"Help me, please, help me!" Cassie cried from the closet.
"Stand back." He ordered.
In one swift move he kicked the door, nearly knocking it off the hinges.
"Oh my God, Danny!"Tears started to well up in her eyes at the condition of her friend. "Is she gonna be OK?"
"I think so." He said, gathering Danny closer to his chest. "But we need to get the two of you to the hospital. Can you walk?"
Cassie nodded.
Together, they ascended the stairs, with Cassie giving the unconscious Gerard a kick in the face for good measure. Armed with submachine guns, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team was already in motion. They were escorting a handcuffed and newly conscious Rob out of the building. Danny and Cassie were hustled into the lobby where Lucius was waiting. Spotlights shone from the outside into the building illuminating the entire space.
"Is she--?" Lucius began, appalled at Danny's condition.
"She's hurt bad." Aiden answered. "We need to get her to the hospital."
"The ambulance is outside." Lucius pointed to where the ambulance was waiting and turned to Cassie. "Are you OK, Miss?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said.
"This way."He offered his arm and she took it.
An inhuman howl filled the building. The FBI agents immediately drew their guns and pointed them toward the center of the building.
His right arm hanging limply at his side, Gerard shuffled into the lobby. His face was blood splattered and beaten up, his eyes crazed. In his left hand he clutched his pistol in a death grip.
"Get the women out of here!" Lucius ordered Stone. He complied, taking Danny and Cassie tothe waiting ambulance.
"Put your weapon down!" the HRT Sergeant bellowed.
The HRT Squad surrounded Gerard with their weapons at the ready, red laser sights dancing over Gerard's body.
"You think you can stop me!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'll kill you all."
To show that he meant it he shot one of the Agents in the neck, causing a fountain of arterial blood to spurt all over the unfinished lobby floor.
Before the team could react, one solitary shot rang out and Wolfe went down hard. Gasping for breath, he couldn't quite catch; Gerard lay on the floor with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
His just fired Glock still locked in his hand, Lucius walked up to Gerard's sprawled form.
"Get him out of my sight!" He ordered.
Chapter 22
Stephania sat next to Danny in the reclining chair the hospital provided for her to sleep in. It was well after midnight and Danny had been rushed to the hospital hours before for her injuries. She had suffered multiple contusions over her face and body at Gerard's hands, and several of her ribs were bruised. The good news was that the doctors had successfully determined that she didn't have a concussion, any broken bones or internal bleeding. They had taken samples of her blood to the lab to determine if Gerard had injected her with any harmful drugs. To ease her discomfort, the doctors had her on a pain medication regimen, and as a result she was in and out of consciousness. Danny abruptly awoke to her best friend hovering over her intently, stroking her hair.
The Body Hunters Page 24
