Leverage (The Brannock Siblings)

by Wilde, Jessica

  "So how is this going to help us see where Rains is?"

  "That's the thing. He told me he needed a guinea pig to make sure the software was working. Rains had left his badge on his desk that night while he was finishing up some paperwork with Theresa. Convenient, huh?"

  Lucas nodded in agreement and glanced at Gus who was looking more and more anxious. "Yeah. Did he test it out?"

  Gibbs nodded, "It worked great. He told me to go home while he played around with it a little more, so that was that. He wanted to get one on yours, too. I was planning on talking to him about it the next morning, but…"

  Montgomery suddenly shot out of his chair and stalked across the room to the open doorway. They watched him turn the corner before they heard him shout, "Hey, Theresa. Come here for a second would ya?"

  He heard Gus sigh in relief at the sound of Theresa's name, but Lucas got a churning in his gut. She was here, so Rains should be, too, but when she walked into the room, she was alone. He stood and tried to ignore the need to run out of there and get to Ash. Something didn't feel right. "You already go out with Rains?" he asked steadily.

  She shook her head and looked a little confused, "No, Shade. He cancelled on me." Her voice was laced with bitterness and she cocked her hip out and started tapping her high heeled foot. "What are you doing here? I thought you were…"

  "Long story," he said quickly. "Why did he cancel?"

  She shrugged and folded her arms over her chest, "Got a weird call on your phone, said something about you to whoever it was. I had been walking away at that point. Then he told me something came up, but he wouldn't say what it was. I guess he just didn't want to take me out."

  Lucas didn't have to say anything as he ran toward the captain's office, the men followed him. Gibbs immediately sat in the chair in front of the computer and started clicking, pulling up the tracking program he had just been telling them about.

  "What's going on?" Theresa asked from the office door.

  Montgomery led her out of the room and told her not to worry about anything and to head home for the night. She hesitated, but did what she was told.

  Lucas had his cell in his hands and dialed his home number to talk to Ash.

  No answer.

  He looked at Gus who was already white as a ghost and shook his head, letting him know that she hadn't picked up.

  "She… she could be in the shower… right? She could just be in the shower and didn't hear the phone," Gus said frantically.

  "Who?" Gibbs asked, but didn't press while he continued to load the program.

  Lucas dialed again, and again.

  Nothing.

  "She called me a few times… while we were… I should have just answered it," he said and tugged nervously on his hair, praying she was just in the shower.

  Gus nodded in understanding. He knew why Lucas hadn't answered his phone. "She called me, too."

  "Here it is. Shit, Brannock must have gotten one on yours. There are three trackers set up. Yeah, look here," he said, pointing at the list on the screen. "Rains, Shade, and a no name. Not sure who that one is."

  Lucas looked at the numbers on the screen and watched as it switched over to a picture of a map with a red blip in the middle of it.

  "This is Rains. Looks like he's at home."

  Lucas sighed in relief, but still felt the heavy weight of worry on his shoulders. Something still didn't feel right. If something came up that made him cancel his date with Theresa, why was he at home?

  Gibbs clicked a few more times. "Here is the no name… wait… isn't that the captain's house?"

  "Yeah, it is," Lucas replied, then smiled. The captain must have put his own tracker on. "My badge is in Rains' glove box. Left it there this afternoon. Thought it would be more dramatic."

  Gibbs nodded, "It was. He had spoken to a few of the guys about it this afternoon. Said he thought you might be dropping the case. It convinced him and everyone else." He clicked a few times before saying, "I'll pull all three trackers up."

  The screen switched back to the list of numbers and Lucas glanced over them wondering why they looked so familiar.

  111300.

  "Wait a minute." He pointed at the screen and looked at Gibbs. "What's that number for?"

  Gibbs read the number and shrugged, "Must be the assigned number for the tracker, a way to identify each one."

  He didn't wait for him to finish, he ran towards his desk and ripped open the top drawer, pulling out the envelope where he had put the tiny piece of paper he and Aislinn had found in her locket. He had tried to figure out what it could mean, but hadn't gotten anywhere with it, so he had put it away and all but forgotten about it.

  Keep this close. 111301.

  Brannock had put a tracker on the locket, he must have known there was a chance she would be discovered. He ran back to Gibbs who was watching him curiously. "What are the other numbers on there?"

  Gibbs clicked the mouse and the screen changed, 111300 was at the top of the list next to his name, 111302 was at the bottom next to Rains, and the only other number… 111301.

  "Pull them all up," he ordered firmly, but his voice didn't come out steady that time. He knew damn well what he would find.

  He clicked again and the screen changed back to the map with three red blips blinking furiously and a white box next to each one with their label and location written inside. His badge and Ash's locket were at the captain's house, and now… both were leaving it.

  His head snapped over to Gus who looked like he wanted to shoot someone. "It's Rains. He's got Ash. Liam put a tracker in her locket, she hasn't taken it off since..."

  "What the hell are you -" Gibbs started to ask, but the crash just outside the office pulled all of their attention away from him.

  "Luke!" Conall shouted just before bursting into the office with his phone to his ear. "It's Ash! She called my phone a few minutes ago from her cell," he was breathing hard and looked more terrified than he had ever seen his friend before. "The voicemail… there was a crash and a scream…"

  Lucas didn't wait another second before he ran out of the office. "Gibbs, stay here and watch the trackers. Tell me where they are going," he shouted, Conall and Fergus following after him with Montgomery on their heels asking what the hell was going on.

  "Ash has been in town this whole time. We've been trying to keep her invisible," Gus answered him.

  Lucas ran right passed the elevator to the stairs. He didn't have time to wait, he had to get to Ash. When they got out to the cars, he didn't slow down and ripped open the driver's side door to his car. He was seeing red, not thinking straight, not even considering that he might be doing something stupid. He had put Ash in danger when he promised her he wouldn't.

  "Luke, wait! We can't just go barging into whatever place they take her," Montgomery shouted, making him pause. "Think for a minute. He won't be taking her anywhere that he doesn't have back up. He'll be taking her to Banetti. We go in there blind…"

  The fury that Lucas had been feeling since he saw that blip on the screen next to the one on Ash's locket, doubled. Banetti wouldn't just use Ash as leverage for them to drop the case, he would use Ash. Period.

  "I'm not going to let that fucker touch her!"

  "Then stop and think, Shade," Ray demanded. "We need firepower, we need to know the layout of where she is taken, otherwise, we're all dead men. We need back up, you know that better than anyone."

  "We need to go to my dad's, Luke," Gus said firmly. "He's got firepower. Enough for each of us. Gibbs will keep an eye on them. We have a little time." His face said otherwise, he didn't want to wait either, but he had been following in his father's footsteps for long enough to know what needed to be done.

  Conall nodded in agreement even though his scowl said otherwise. Apparently, they were both still capable of actually thinking.

  Lucas raked a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go."

  They all piled into the car and Conall sped through the c
ity. Gibbs called just before they turned down his street and Lucas didn't get a word out before the man spoke quickly.

  "These two trackers have separated, Shade. Your badge is stopped near the edge of town, but the no name is on the move again. Fast, too. Definitely not on foot so…."

  "They must have switched cars. The no name is Aislinn Brannock."

  "I figured from the way you tore out of here. I didn't think she was in town."

  "Has been this whole time. We found that tracker number in a locket she used to wear, she hasn't taken it off since. I had no idea what it was until I saw those numbers."

  Gibbs cursed, "Why the hell didn't you idiots send her home?"

  "She's been here for weeks, Jon. Got here the night before the threat. She was moving back for a while. Brannock and I both thought it would be better if she wasn't alone," Lucas said through clenched teeth.

  There was a pause, then a grunt, "Guess that was the safest option."

  They screeched to a halt in front of the Brannock's and every one of them shot out of the car and ran towards the front door, which Lucas could now see had been kicked in. No! His racing heart picked up speed and he felt lightheaded.

  "Son of a bitch! Gibbs, stay on her. I'll call you back."

  He drew his gun as Conall and Gus started through the house with each of their 9mm's in hand.

  "Clear!" Gus yelled from the kitchen.

  "Clear!" Conall called from the office.

  Lucas went straight to the stairs and ran towards Ash's room, Montgomery on his heels. He didn't stop to check any of the other rooms, there was no need for him, he needed to see what had happened. Montgomery burst through each of the doors and was in the process of clearing the additional bedrooms when Lucas ran into her room.

  What he saw made his chest tighten, like a fist was clamped around his heart and twisting it violently. The tiny bit of hope he had that she hadn't been hurt was immediately destroyed.

  "No," he whispered.

  The closet door had been torn off, her clothes were scattered on the floor along with all the hangers, and there was a hole in the back wall. The small door that Ash still fit through had been ripped off the wall and her cell phone was lying just inside.

  How the hell did he find her?

  His mind flashed back to the night of the captain's murder and the shadow he thought he saw when he was gathering up the possessions that had been so important to her. Rains had been watching him, he had no doubt about that now.

  Lucas whipped around in search of any other clues that would tell him something… anything important. One of her shoes was lying by the open door, one of the shoes he knew she had worn while she was at his house these last several days. The bastard must have dragged her out of there.

  Had she fought back? Had he done more than take her away from him?

  He felt his face flame red with anger and his fists clenched, ready to punch them through whatever he could find. He had worked with Justin for a long time and never suspected he would be capable of something like this. The man was so genuine and incredibly introverted most of the time. Lucas had been ready to just dismiss him as the leak completely tonight. He had practically already dismissed the idea, not pushing for any of them to keep an eye on him when he knew better. He should have known not to trust the man at all when every time he started to tell him about Ash, he stopped himself, getting that sick feeling in his stomach.

  He wanted to rip the man apart. For Ash, for himself, but also for his role in Liam Brannock's death. Taking him from his family, the family he himself had spent his whole life a part of. He wasn't sure yet if Justin had been the one to pull the trigger, but it wouldn't have made a difference.

  Montgomery strode into the room then and cleared his throat after seeing the mess that was left behind. "Umm, you need to come downstairs, there's something you gotta see."

  He hurried out of the room, not sure if he would be able to control his anger if he saw any other signs that Ash had been hurt somehow. She had trusted him to protect her and he had failed her miserably.

  They followed the voices that were coming from the kitchen and he trailed after Montgomery with his eyes on the ground, scolding himself for leaving the woman he loved more than anything alone at all, even if he thought it had been safe to do so. He would never make that mistake again.

  Everything went silent when he stepped over the threshold of the kitchen doorway and he lifted his head to see what was going on and his heart stopped altogether.

  "What the hell?"

  Chapter 12

  Ash

  The first thing I noticed when I started to wake up, was the smell of dust and ocean, a musty briny smell, and it did nothing for the stabbing pain in my head. I cringed as I tried to turn my neck and felt a sudden rush of nausea.

  Deep breaths. In. Out.

  I tried again. "Oh God."

  My mouth was dry as a desert and my chest hurt, making the breaths I was taking feel like knives cutting through my lungs. I attempted to open my eyes, but something was tied around my head, blindfolding me. I tried to raise my hands to remove it and realized that they were bound, the cold metal of handcuffs cutting into my skin. I was leaning against a hard beam with my arms stretched back and connected on the other side. My shoulders ached from the strain and I wanted to cry.

  Just this once.

  Cry my eyes out until I passed out again.

  I took inventory on the rest of my body. Everything ached, but nothing was too awful to consider damaged. My ankles were bound tight with what I assumed were zip ties and I was missing a shoe.

  I remembered how I had lost that shoe.

  Justin had dragged me out of my hiding spot and I had kicked and screamed as much as I could in the few seconds before his hand clamped over my mouth. He pulled me to a stand by my hair and my eyes had watered from the pain. When he moved to cuff me, I swung my leg back and kicked his knee, making him howl in pain. He didn't release me like I thought he would though, and he gripped my leg and yanked it between his, holding it there so I couldn't balance on my own until the handcuffs were locked in place. I had been trying to pull my leg out from the iron hold he had on it and my shoe had slipped off just as I yanked it free, but it had been too late.

  I was shoved to my stomach, face planting into my carpet before my head exploded in pain and I blacked out.

  I had been surprised no neighbors had come to my aid, but then, after my father had been killed, a lot of people took off, worried that being close by would put them in danger. I hadn't known that until the day before when Lucas had pointed it out.

  Lucas.

  I should have trusted him more and not made such a rash decision and called the station. If something had gone wrong with his little mission, he would have found a way to reach me. I knew that now. Not hearing from him should have made me feel better, but it had made me so nervous that I lost my head.

  I wouldn't doubt him or my brothers ever again.

  I knew it was irrational to think that way. Technically, I hadn't done anything wrong, but I needed someone to put the blame on.

  A rustling sound behind me halted my thoughts and made my body stiffen. My ears strained to hear anything that might indicate whether I was alone or not. I doubted I would be, but a girl can hope, right? I didn't hear anything else and I wondered if there was any way out of this. If I could find a way to get free… but I couldn't.

  Justin Rains had made it clear that I wasn't going to get away until his boss gets his way. That was just before he had hit me with the butt of his gun. I wasn't sure how long I had been unconscious, but it must have been a while. We were definitely at a port of some kind, inside of a warehouse. I could smell enough of the ocean and hear enough from outside to know that. The sound of boats, gulls, and waves almost drowned out everything else.

  Another rustling behind me, closer this time, told me what I had already known. Justin hadn't left me to myself. Not that it mattered. I was completely screwed. I just h
oped that he killed me before he got any leverage on Lucas or my brothers. It would be better that way.

  I moaned in pain as my shoulder pulled against my restraints. I tried to relax my muscles, but the adrenaline running through me wouldn't allow it. Footsteps came closer and my heart raced in fear.

  What was he going to do to me first?

  "She's awake. It's about time. Thought I hit you a little too hard, wouldn't have been good for me at all."

  Justin.

  He shuffled out from behind me and came to a stop at my outstretched legs and when I didn't respond, he kicked my legs, hard.

  "I know you're awake, Aislinn. It's time to get down to business."

  "You might as well just kill me, fucknut. I'm not going to be very cooperative."

  There was a moment of silence, then a grunt, and all of a sudden, light. He ripped the blindfold off of me, taking some of my hair with it and I cringed at the bright white light that was directly above me, buzzing with energy.

  The tall shadow in front of me started to form into a man and I blinked a few times before his image was clear.

  "You aren't the one that has to cooperate," he sneered and his straight white teeth were exposed as his lips turned up into an even bigger smile. "And I think we will finally have the right kind of cooperation this time."

  I didn't respond to him and he started laughing. "Oh I wish I could see the look on his face when he realizes you aren't at home. Priceless."

  "What the hell do you want?"

  He took a few steps toward me and crouched down until his eyes were level with mine. "I want lots of things, Aislinn, but only after the boss is done with you." He winked as he stood back up and my stomach roiled, the nausea from before rising up my throat but not pressing forward. I held it back, not wanting to seem any more vulnerable than I already was.

  "How long have you been working for Banetti?" I asked, feeling my face heat with anger. Lucas had been working closely with the man for a long time. That kind of betrayal would make it hard for him to trust anyone in the future and that pissed me off. Just goes to show that people are capable of anything, even the ones who seem the most genuine.