by Kimbra Swain
I kissed Pierre on both cheeks and promised to return soon. He watched with sad eyes as we started to exit the building. Jamey wrapped his left arm around my waist, placing his right inside his jacket on his gun. Sebastian reached inside his jacket and led us into the sunny December day.
A few photographers took pictures of us as we headed out of the cafe. I smiled as Jamey stayed close to me. His hand rested on my lower back.
A bright red Mercedes AMG GLE Coupe sat flanked by two black Mercedes GLS SUVs. The entourage looked impressive. Jamey guided me to the vehicle as six men appeared around us to escort all of us to the motorcade. I climbed in and across the back seat, so Jamey didn’t have to step out into the street.
Sebastian waited for us both to get in before circling the car to get into the driver’s position.
He gave the order and the motorcade proceeded toward downtown Atlanta. As we drove, Jamey watched around us intently. Mostly watching behind us to see if we were followed.
“I called Shep this morning. I’m not sure what all he can do for us at this point, but he’s working on something,” Sebastian said as he drove. I had a pretty good idea what he was working on considering the information I had passed to him.
I thought once we got in the car I’d be able to breathe, but I had to focus on my breathing to suppress the anxiety. Jamey flicked his eyes to me worriedly. He picked up my hand, squeezing it.
No matter how bold or ruthless I could be, the deep seeded anxiety and apprehension of dealing with Ryland LeBlanc scared me. I’d faced my issues with him by destroying Pyramid, but I’d never personally addressed him. I should have. It would have been therapeutic. I worried now that it was too late to do such a thing, and the anxiety that rippled through me would never go away no matter how all of this ended up. I closed my eyes and focused on the tasks at hand. I needed to get into Malone. Re-establish the network under my control. Then seek out Javier and Charity.
We pulled up in front of the building instead of into the parking deck. Sebastian said if there was going to be an attack, he guessed they would be less likely to do it on the busy streets of downtown Atlanta.
“Stay with Jamey. I will lead us in. Our men have the entire block covered. I even have people on the roofs. We are at full deployment,” he explained.
He exited the SUV, then circled around to open the door for Jamey.
“I’ll walk behind you. You own this,” Jamey said.
“No way. Are you chickening out on me now?” I said.
“I can’t believe you just called me a chicken,” he teased.
“I did. Walk with me or I’ll continue to do it,” I said.
“I’ve been called worse,” he quipped.
“No sex for chickens,” I added.
“You play dirty. Alright. Stay on my left,” he sighed, but the smile flirted with the edges of his mouth.
I narrowed my eyes. “You like it dirty,” I said.
“Damn straight, I do,” he said.
“You both are going to make me gag,” Sebastian said, waiting for Jamey to exit the vehicle.
I took his hand and stepped out in front of the high rise with the Malone logo shining brightly above the entrance. This was my business. My legacy. I’d be damned if I was going to let it slip away now.
We marched in like we owned it because we did. As I crossed the lobby, Megan’s eyes grew wide as I narrowed mine on her.
“Megan, no impromptu visits today, please. If anyone wants to speak to me, they can make an appointment,” I said.
“Yes, ma’am,” she stared as we all piled into the elevator.
On the top floor, I exited the elevator with Jamey and Sebastian on my heels. Walking past the offices of the executives in the building I got some strange looks. I moved quickly to my office. As I set the laptop down on the desk, I nodded for Sebastian to shut the door. Jamey passed me to check my small side room to make sure no one was there. He knew we didn’t monitor that room.
“Clear?” I asked.
“Clear,” he replied.
“That was rather uneventful,” I said as the phone on my desk rang.
“Malone,” I answered.
“Um, boss. I need you to come to the dungeon,” Humphrey said.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“We have visitors,” he said. I snapped at Sebastian who pulled up the security feed on my desktop.
In the basement, there were two figures tied to chairs. Humphrey stood at his desk with a gun to his head. Standing in the back of the room near the main servers, Ryland LeBlanc stood with his hands behind him. His back was to the camera, but I knew exactly who it was.
“Making his play early,” I said hanging up the phone.
“You stay here. I’ll take care of this,” Sebastian said.
“He’s not going to let that happen,” I said.
“Who was in the chairs?” Jamey asked.
“I couldn’t tell. It was dark. We have to speculate that it’s Javier, Charity or maybe even Damien,” I said. “Where is Shep?”
“He’s in the lobby. Want him to get involved?” he asked.
“Ask him if he wants to be involved,” I said.
Sebastian dialed Shep from his cell phone. I walked over to opposite side of the room. Placing my hand on the security panel inside the door of my office triggered a sliding door on the plain wall across from my desk. A panic room that I had installed several years ago opened up to us.
“Are you going in there?” Jamey asked.
“No, the laptop is,” I said. “Sebastian and I are the only ones that can open the door. I can’t program it to accept you in there right now or I would.”
“You should stay here. Let us handle it, Alexa,” Jamey begged.
“No,” I replied.
“Alexa,” he began again.
“No!” I said with force.
I took the laptop into the room and enacted a few programs that I’d saved for an emergency. The laptop would relinquish control to another that I had stored in my parent’s home. It, too, was housed in a panic room. No one knew it existed besides Sebastian and me. We never told Damien about it. We felt no one else needed to know. I plugged it into the power hoping that Ryland didn’t intend on cutting the power in the building. If he did, the control would shift to the other laptop when this one’s battery ran down. It was dangerous to run the connection between the two laptops. I hoped I could do it without anyone picking up on it. If Javier was one of the people tied up in the basement, then I didn’t think I had anything to worry about.
“How do you want to play this?” Sebastian asked over my shoulder.
“The three of us go down there with your guys flanking the other entrances to the server room. I only want the three of us facing these guys though. I want your guys to stay back unless there are shots fired. What did Shep say?” I asked.
“He’s on the way up,” he said.
“I’m here,” Shep called from my office. I stepped out of the panic room and sealed it off by the keypad.
“Shep, are you here as a detective for the Atlanta Police Department or are you here on your own?” I asked.
“Both,” he replied. “I have permission from my supervisor to involve myself in this matter on behalf of the city of Atlanta.”
“Interesting. Alright. Let’s not do anything illegal with this city representative here,” I smirked.
“Jokes?” Sebastian said.
“Why not?” I shrugged. “Can I have a gun now?”
“No!” all three of them shouted.
“Fuck all of you,” I said. Jamey grunted. “Jokes, Mr. Elliot.” He smiled.
“Let’s go,” Sebastian said.
Forty-One
JAMEY
This scenario scared me for Alexa. She intended to march in there and face LeBlanc head on. I could only do so much to protect her. We didn’t know exactly how many people he had down there. Sebastian said he counted eight on the security feeds plus LeBlanc. Alexa hoped
Shepherd’s presence would deter LeBlanc from doing anything too crazy. He would already be in trouble for holding people hostage in the basement.
“Alexa, are you leading this?” Sebastian asked in the elevator ride down.
“Yes,” she said. She removed the jacket that I bought to go with the dress while we were still upstairs. I’d used my trust fund credit card to buy the clothes for us this morning. She looked strong and lovely. Inside I knew she was trembling. Something subtle with the way she moved made me realize that she was scared. I intertwined my hand with hers at least for the ride down. After that, she would want to do this on her own in appearance. She knew we had her back.
The elevator stopped. Just before the doors slid open, I squeezed her hand and released it. She stepped out of the elevator and approached the server room at the end of the short hall. Two men that we didn’t recognize stood at the door. Both held long black rifles.
“Automatic?” she asked.
“No,” Sebastian replied. He held one almost identical. I knew that his was. He would be able to fire shots faster than either of them. Shep walked behind us. He kept his gun on his hip, but his hand hovered over the hilt. I held my 9mm in my hand, but down as not to threaten either of them. Alexa didn’t hesitate. She walked right past them as if they didn’t exist. As we stepped through the door, two thumps came through the door. Sebastian’s men had taken out the two guards without a shot being fired. I wasn’t in the minor leagues anymore.
“Mr. LeBlanc, you are trespassing. I kindly request that you leave my building,” Alexa ordered.
Ryland LeBlanc turned to us with a smirk on his face. I could make out the faces of the two people tied to the chairs. It was Charity and Damien. Both were gagged. Charity’s cheeks were streaked with tear tracks. Damien narrowed his eyes at his brother in some freaky twin communication.
“Miss Malone, it is very good to see you again,” he waved his hand to the side calling someone into our view.
A man who looked like the two guards at the door dragged Humphrey to the middle of the room and placed a gun to his head.
“Release my employee,” Alexa said.
“I’ve got three of them,” he said.
“No. Charity and Damien’s employment has been terminated,” she said. Charity whined behind her gag.
Ryland walked up behind her and stroked her hair. “Shh. She didn’t mean it, Miss Rimmel. I promise she didn’t. Alexa believes in redemption. She wants to forgive you.”
“I suggest you let all of them go,” Shepherd said behind us. Alexa tensed. She didn’t want any of us speaking, but Shepherd interjected himself into the conversation.
“Detective Shepherd, are you here in an official capacity?” Leblanc asked.
“I am here in the interests of the city of Atlanta. Please turn this hostage situation into a misunderstanding between business rivals. The city of Atlanta would like to see this situation diffused,” Shepherd continued.
LeBlanc looked at Shepherd then back to Alexa. “He’s still trying to speak for you,” he said trying to get under Alexa’s skin.
“I asked him not to come, but you know Garrett, he’s tenacious,” she said.
“I know he wasn’t tenacious enough to keep you which brings me to Mr. Elliot. I told you she was a good fuck,” LeBlanc said to me.
I stared at him willing myself not to respond to him. He laughed when I didn’t respond.
“What’s it like being castrated by a woman? All three of you are pathetic. If you want a woman, you take her by force if necessary,” LeBlanc said, jerking Charity’s head back by her hair. Damien struggled against his bonds as Charity whimpered. The tears renewed their travel down her face. Fear shivered through her body, shaking the whole chair. Alexa didn’t flinch or move with the spectacle.
“You don’t care about her at all?” LeBlanc asked her.
“Not in the least. She betrayed me. I don’t take that lightly,” Alexa said.
Charity’s eyes rolled back in her head, and the sobbing increased. “Shut-up,” LeBlanc demanded. Damien gradually became more agitated. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll release all three of them in exchange for you.”
“Deal,” Alexa said immediately.
“What?!” I panicked.
“Shut-up, Jamey,” she growled at me.
LeBlanc died laughing. I grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t do this,” I begged.
“Get your hand off me, Mr. Elliot,” she said. “I told you I was doing this my way.”
LeBlanc motioned for her to come to him. She jerked her arm away from my grip. I cringed. She was playing this too dangerously. I saw it in her eyes. She fully expected the three of us to end this before LeBlanc took her.
As I watched her walk across the room to him. My insides churned. Sebastian tensed. I looked around us as four other men entered holding rifles, along with LeBlanc they made six total. I was sure I could take out the two on the right before they could move. I would have to rely on Sebastian and Shepard to take out the others. My goal was Alexa.
“I suggest to the three of you, that you don’t move,” LeBlanc warned. “I’ll kill all of them.” He didn’t mean Alexa. He wanted her alive. If she were dead, none of this would mean anything. He would have to kill me too, before I let him leave this room with her. I took deep breaths and focused on the two men on my right.
Alexa stopped before she reached him. Just outside his grip. He stepped forward quickly latching on to her wrist. She sank to her knees. My insides raged, but I held back. If she was on her knees, they couldn’t leave the room. She was still in control. I kept telling myself that she was.
“This is how a woman should respond to a man. Damn, Alexandra, you are beautiful,” he smiled at her. He still held her wrist. “Stand up, my dear, we are leaving.” The four men moved closer to him as he pulled her to her feet. She didn’t willingly move, and he tried to pull her off her knees. She was fighting him for us to make a move.
Sebastian struck first hitting the first man closest to him on the left. The second one squared on him, and Shepard put him down. I trained my gun on the two on my right. The first one fell quickly, but the second one got off a shot. As it struck Sebastian in the arm, he flinched falling to his knees.
“Get her,” he groaned as the blood ran down his arm.
Alexa still fought LeBlanc by refusing to get off the floor. He released her wrist and slapped her across the face. She hit the floor. Her blonde hair spread across his feet. He reached down to jerk her off the floor. The final man hit the floor with a thud as Shepherd put him down.
The door behind us opened and four other men came in the room. Not ours because a fifth person entered. Fucking Kelly.
“Kill them,” she ordered. I fired at two of them quickly. One of them I only hit in the leg as I dove away. The other I missed completely. Kelly marched up to Shepherd and put a gun to his head. Stupid move. Shepherd immediately disarmed her. She hit the floor with a thud. He’d graciously knocked her out instead of killing her. He moved quickly to the other gunmen. Our reinforcements came from the back side of the server room.
Humphrey hit the floor on his stomach as the man holding a gun on him turned toward me. As he leveled his weapon at me, I tried to dive away from his shot. He missed, because Damien had worked his way out of his bonds, and kicked the knee of the man causing him to buckle to the floor. With two punches, Damien knocked him out. Picking up his gun, he shot at the men at the door. Our men moved toward theirs at the door. LeBlanc had made his way across the room dragging Alexa by the hair. He was almost to the door when several other men entered to protect him.
Sebastian fired his gun as they retreated out into the hallway. I rushed forward toward them. As I did, our men stopped firing to avoid hitting me.
“Elliot, don’t be stupid,” Sebastian yelled.
“I will not let him take her!” I shouted back at him. I reached in my pocket and reloaded my weapon. I wasn’t sure how many shots I fired, but I wanted a full l
oad for going after them in the hallway. The only way out was the stairs at the end of the hall which was next to the elevator.
Shepherd moved along with me. Damien directed our men back to the back of the room where the fire escape led to the main floor above us. They moved to cut them off that way. I looked back at him. He nodded at me as he followed the men out of the room.
Shep stood across from me at the doorway. Neither one of us wanted to look around the corner. I could hear LeBlanc cussing Alexa for fighting him. Sebastian stood up behind Shepherd barely holding on to the automatic rifle.
“We push them to the main level. Damien and security will cut them off. That’s their only escape now,” Sebastian said. “This is what we will do.”
“Stop fighting me, Bitch,” LeBlanc yelled at Alexa. “Fine. Have it your way.”
Alexa screamed, but it was cut short. Then I heard a thud. I turned the corner not waiting on Sebastian’s instructions. Alexa lay motionless at his feet. He held a pistol in his hand, but it was backward. He’d pistol-whipped her.
I walked toward him with the 9mm held up. His men, one by one, turned their weapons on me. I shot the closest one to me in the head. I pointed all my shots at their heads. I couldn’t take the chance of hitting her.
LeBlanc crouched to pick up Alexa’s limp body, then he hurried to the elevator which was opening up behind him. Waiting for the elevator, Javier Salida waved him toward him.
Shots rang out behind me as Sebastian and Shep moved toward the men flanking LeBlanc’s retreat. Each one of them fell, but it was too late. LeBlanc stepped into the elevator with Alexa in his arms. He laughed as the doors closed.
I sprinted to the stairwell. Taking the steps two at a time, I heard Shepherd following me. Sebastian was struggling, but he followed, too.
I bounded into the lobby which was full of men who waited on the elevator doors to open. I watched the lights above the doors. They flicked from the “M” for the main floor to 2.
“Fuck!” I said as I ran back to the stairs. I heard Damien ordering the other men to get in the other elevator. The rest followed me into the stairwell. There was no way I could beat them to the roof. I just hoped that somewhere along the way Alexa would wake up and stall them.
