Ricochet's Rogue (Agent of Mercy, Book Three)

by Miller, Robin Leigh

  “I take it you’re the one in charge.”

  This was a hostage situation, as far as he was concerned, and the first rule was give no information. Kong crossed his arms over his chest and continued to stare.

  “We can do this the hard way. I have no problems with that. I’ll be a hero no matter what the outcome is.”

  “How’d ya figure that?” Kong snickered.

  “There’s a dead United States Congressman and presidential candidate over there. No one will question the fact that I shot the only men holding guns.”

  “Where’d ya take the woman?” Kong asked.

  “Who do you work for?”

  “Who do you work for?” Kong countered.

  “I’m the one asking the questions.”

  “I don’t give any info until I know who I’m talking to.”

  “It seems we’re at a stand-off.”

  “It would seem so.” Where the hell was Cannon’s help?

  “Then you leave me no choice.”

  The man gave a simple nod of his head. Every suited drone under him pulled his gun and aimed at his team. Boomer, Gunner and Dragon responded in kind. There wouldn’t be any real fight, they were severely outnumbered, but the show was good.

  “You really think we’d go down without a fight?” Kong’s tone was cool and calm even though his insides quaked. Sam’s face floated to the front of his mind. If he was going to die, he’d die next to the brave men on his team. Slowly he backed up.

  “Don’t move,” the burly leader ordered.

  Kong continued until he stood next to Boomer.

  “Separate them.”

  Five men moved forward. Kong tightened his grip on his gun, narrowed his gaze and prayed like he never prayed before. Sweat gushed from every pore on his body as his heart hammered a tribal war cadence. Being taken out by his own government was the last way he thought he’d go.

  He wasn’t the only one preparing for the fight. The men instructed to take them obviously knew it wouldn’t be easy. They too glistened in the light with sweat. Jaws clenched until the muscles quivered under the pressure. A touch of fear in the eyes gave Kong a small amount of satisfaction.

  Only an arm’s length away from certain death, the head suit’s phone sang out a snazzy jazz tune, an odd sound to the ear when the smell of death was so close. Kong shifted his gaze to the man and noticed a small frown pass over his face.

  “Hold,” he ordered before answering.

  Kong didn’t allow himself to be relieved. The situation didn’t allow it. A dead presidential candidate, his minions either dead or bound and one of his own team kidnapped.

  The guy listened, hung up the phone and slid it back in his pocket. “Back off. Put your weapons away.”

  Without question his men obeyed, falling behind him. Kong’s men however remained armed and ready for combat. Until he gave the word they would remain so.

  “You have friends in high places. You can lower your weapons.”

  “If it’s all the same to you, we’ll wait until I know more about you, what’s going on and what you did with my team member.”

  “You have a man down. You really want to play twenty questions now?”

  Ricochet was in desperate need of medical attention, but handing him over to this man didn’t sit well. Could he trust them? His phone vibrated in his pocket. Without shifting his gaze he reached in his pocket, removed the phone and hoped like hell it was Cannon.

  “Yeah.”

  “The threat should be gone,” Cannon answered.

  “Talk to me.”

  “Short story. They need to clean up the Grear mess and we want them to. As far as Ronnie is concerned, more than likely they’ll question her and release her with a warning about keeping her mouth shut.”

  “But you aren’t sure about that?”

  “My sources say we’re free and clear.” After a few seconds of silence he continued. “Keep your eyes sharp and don’t turn your back. You’re the one there, it’s your call.”

  “Copy that.” He understood what Cannon wasn’t saying. This was the secret side of government and trusting them could get you killed. He disconnected, slid his phone back in his pocket and lowered his gun.

  “All better now?” his counterpart asked.

  “I’ll be better when I have my team member back, safe and breathing.”

  “Have your men lower their weapons and we can discuss that.”

  Kong eyed him suspiciously.

  “I’ve shown good faith,” he said motioning toward his men.

  “Put ’em away, team.” Kong still wasn’t completely at ease with the situation, but they weren’t going to get anywhere playing biggest bully on the playground.

  “We can take you to the woman and help your man there. Henley, go get the van.”

  “Wait,” Kong jumped in. “We’ll follow you in our own vehicles.” He wasn’t at the point of trust where he’d allow his team to ride anywhere with them yet.

  “Fair enough.” He turned and nodded at a young man who all but ran from the barn. “Now that we’re on the some sort of level of understanding, I think names are in order. You can call me Dan.”

  Kong heard a snicker from behind him. What Boomer found amusing he wasn’t sure. “Dan huh? Call me Kong.”

  “Kong. Okay, let’s look at the problem we have here. A dead presidential candidate.”

  “I don’t see it that way. I see a racist who was free to organize a militia which terrorized and murdered innocent people obviously under the nose of our government. A man who sought out and kidnapped the daughter of his first victim with the intent of murdering her as well. I don’t give a damn if he was running to be God, he was scum and the world is better off without him.”

  “I agree,” Dan responded.

  “Then why the hell wasn’t he stopped before now?”

  “Because we weren’t sure how deep and far his touch ran.” The conversation halted when his man returned and announced that they were ready. “If you’ll follow us, we’ll take you to the woman and get some medical help for your man.”

  Kong waited for the suits to head out first before he turned to his team. “Cannon says we’re in the clear, but it came with a warning to watch our backs. Keep your eyes open. If you see something that doesn’t look right, feel right or smells like shit open your mouth and let me know. They’ve got a real mess on their hands and they’re gonna look for someone to pin it on.”

  “One of ’em got away.” Boomer informed him.

  “What?”

  “One his men high tailed it out when Ronnie got her hands on Grear.”

  “Fuck. Just what we need.”

  Ricochet moaned, waking.

  “Let’s get him up and don’t say anything to him about the guy who got away.”

  Gunner and Dragon carefully lifted Ricochet off the ground. Each flopped an arm over their shoulders, wrapped their arms around his waist and dragged him out of the barn. Dan had one of their cars brought up to the door. Boomer opened up a door and waited as Gunner and Dragon slid Ricochet inside.

  “How far you figure we’re gonna drive?” Boomer asked.

  “Not sure. They came by helicopter and car. Can’t be that far. If they’ve been watching all of this go down, my guess is they have a base of operations close by.”

  “Why’d they take Rogue?” Gunner asked from the back seat.

  “She’s up to her neck in this mess, a loose end. Loose ends need to be tied up.” Boomer said in a grim tone.

  “If she keeps her mouth shut until we get there we might be able to get her out alive.”

  “We’re fucked,” Ricochet slurred.

  “Why’s that buddy?” Kong asked.

  “Cause she can’t keep her mouth shut for nothin’.”

  Boomer chuckled. “She’s not fighting with you, man, she’ll be fine.”

  Kong pulled behind the black van and followed them down the dirt road as laughter filled the car.

  The drive to wh
at Kong assumed was their local base took nearly two hours. Except for the occasional moan of pain from Ricochet, the ride was silent. The van ahead slowed, turned off the main road and slipped behind a two story brick building. Kong followed, anticipation and apprehension twisting his stomach into knots.

  “Keep alert,” he told his team before they exited the car.

  Dan waited until they approached and then opened a door that led to a dark, long hallway. Kong and Boomer rested their hands on their weapons, ready for any type of situation. Suddenly, a faint light flickered to life, barely illuminating the passage.

  Dan led the way down the dim hall, half his men in front of them, half bringing up the rear. After climbing two flights of steps they entered a large, well-lit room. Computers, printers, fax machines, anything an organization would need to operate filled tables and desks.

  “I’ll check on the status of your teammate. My men will take your man to the medic.”

  Kong and Boomer stepped up in front of Ricochet. “I want one of my guys with him at all times,” Kong insisted.

  “Not a problem.”

  Kong let Boomer pick which of the rookies he’d send. Boomer nodded to Dragon and then stepped out of the way as Ricochet was taken out. Kong didn’t like them being separated, but Ricochet’s condition demanded it. Dan left two men outside the open door when he left.

  “I don’t like this, man. We have no fucking idea how to get out of this building if they decide to pull something.”

  Kong agreed by nodding his head. “One step at a time.”

  Dan returned followed by four men escorting Ronnie. As she stepped toward them, Gunner pushed past him and Boomer, wrapping his arm around her and leading her away from her captors. She was pale, severely bruised all over her face and shaky. But her eyes were alert. Alert enough to notice Ricochet wasn’t with them.

  “It’s okay. He’s getting medical attention,” Gunner whispered.

  Kong turned, placing himself between her and Dan. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. They checked me over, cleaned up my wounds gave me something to eat and then locked me in a room.”

  “Did they question you?”

  “No, they haven’t asked me a thing.”

  “Why don’t you sit down, you look like you’re gonna drop.”

  “I’ll stand,” she said raising her stubborn chin.

  Kong gave her a brief smile and nodded. Damn strong woman he thought to himself, almost as strong as mine, then he turned back to Dan.

  “Okay, Dan. What stage of the game are we in now?”

  “As I said before, we weren’t sure how far Grear’s reach went and I’m afraid we’ll never know now. It’s taken us three years to uncover only half of his organization. I’m confident in saying he held several congressmen, senators, representatives, aides, mailroom workers, maintenance men and most likely Whitehouse staff under his thumb. Ninety-five percent of those people worked for him unwillingly. Grear was a master at blackmail. Those who stood up to him and dared him to carry through disappeared.”

  “I could have told you all this years ago,” Ronnie snapped.

  “You were of particular interest to him weren’t you? The only living link to his first murder by his own hands. We should thank you, Ms. Holter, it’s because of you this operation started.”

  “What’s that mean?” Kong questioned.

  “She brought this to the attention of the CIA when she began her private investigation while working for the FBI. I was brought on the case the night she tried to take him out herself, the very same night she lost her badge.”

  “You’ve known about him since then and you allowed him to continue attacking people?” Ronnie pulled away from Gunner and took two long strides forward. “You sat and watched when his men abducted a young girl and brutalized her? What kind of outfit is this? You’re just as bad as he is,” she spat.

  “Regretfully, Ms. Holter, we were not aware of that incident. Grear himself wasn’t a part of it. We became aware when his lackeys notified him that it was done. Our ears and eyes were solely on him. The night your apartment burned, we had a man there. He went in to get you out and found you gone. You managed to elude our people. Tell me, where have you been?”

  “None of your damn business.”

  Dan’s stern face never faltered, he merely nodded. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. You seem to be the only loose end we have. What exactly do you think we should do about that?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “She’s not the only loose end you have.” Ricochet sauntered into the room followed by Dragon and two of the suits.

  Ronnie’s eyes widened and filled with tears. Her heart skipped several beats at the sheer joy it brought her to see him still alive. Then she noticed how glassy his eyes were, and how they seemed to bobble around in the sockets as if he had no control over them. Dragon stayed very close, he didn’t touch him but didn’t leave two inches between them.

  “You okay?” Kong asked.

  “Fine.”

  Dragon rolled his eyes and shook his head. “They did the best they could with him.”

  A man dressed in the same drab suit as the others stepped through the door. “He’s got a concussion, a rather severe one. His vision is doubled, if not tripled, and he could use about two weeks worth of sleep so his bruised brain can heal.”

  Ronnie never shifted her gaze away from him, nor he her as he approached his team and stood next to her, leaning in just so their arms were touching. That small amount of contact sent chills of relief racing through her body. He was alive. Somehow they had all come through this alive, at least for now.

  “How many loose ends do we have?” Dan asked.

  “Well, you have all of us. We know what went down, who and what he was. And then you have the one that got away,” Ricochet said.

  Kong and Boomer snapped their heads around with surprised looks. If it didn’t hurt so damn bad he’d have laughed at the expressions on their faces. It may not have seemed it at the time, but he was aware enough in that barn to know what was being said.

  “What are you talking about?” Dan asked curiously.

  Since he wasn’t really sure, he looked to Boomer.

  “One of his men skipped during the scuffle.”

  Dan pulled his phone from his pocket and placed a call. “We got ’em all accounted for?”

  From the look of disgust on his face it was clear the answer was no.

  “It seems his right-hand man, the one who takes care of the dirty business, is the one missing. That complicates things.”

  “We could help you with that.” God he hoped this worked.

  “How so?”

  “He’s gonna be looking for Veronica. He’ll see her as a threat to his freedom. As long as she’s alive, he’ll be on the run. Take her out of the picture, he’s free and clear.”

  “Use me as bait,” Ronnie spoke up. “When he shows up to take me out, you’ve got him.”

  Ricochet turned and looked her in the eye. She’d been through hell and back and still she stood tall, ready for a fight. He was so damn proud of his woman he could explode, if it didn’t happen from this superb headache first.

  “He’d see it as a last offering to his commander as well. That could work.” Dan crossed his thick arms over his chest. “And I suppose in return you’d want what? Money?”

  Ricochet nearly laughed out loud. Was he serious?

  “All I want is to be able to walk away from all of this and continue my life. You’ll have nothing to worry about. I won’t talk, even if I did, who’d believe me? I’m sure with all of your resources you’ll have it tied up in a neat little package with an explanation no one will question.”

  Ricochet held his breath as Dan decided on her fate. If the answer was no, then he’d fight to the death to get her out of the country where they could live quietly and no one could find them. It would mean leaving the family he’d grown accustomed to over the past year, but she was worth it. He
felt her lean against him a little bit harder.

  “And if he doesn’t come for you?”

  “You really think she’s gonna sell a story about all of this?” Kong snapped.

  “No, I don’t. She could have sold it years ago when he started talking about running for office. It would have hurt him, badly. But you didn’t, why?”

  “I don’t much like people knowing my business, Dan,” she said accenting his name. “Besides, being labeled a crook isn’t what I was after and that’s exactly what would have happened. What will happen. I’m satisfied knowing he won’t take another breath and innocent people can sleep better tonight. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

  “Your mother’s death will never be solved as far as the police are concerned.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I know it has been.”

  Ricochet hoped what she was saying was true. She’d have to live the rest of her life knowing that the record was open and her mother’s killer was never named. Right now she could deal with it, but ten years down the road, would she begin to regret the decision? His heart sank a little in his chest. If it was him, could he live with it?

  Dan unfolded his arms and stretched them out. “Okay then, we have some details to hammer out.”

  He heard her expel a long breath and felt her body sag just a bit. God he wanted to wrap her in his arms right now and not let go. Just to feel her heart beat against his chest so he knew for sure she was all right. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time for that. There was still a risk of danger in her life and that needed to be taken out.

  Kong, Boomer and Dan settled at one of the tables to hash out the details. Ricochet knew he needed to be involved, but he wanted to speak to Veronica first. It wasn’t going to be easy, Gunner and Dragon stood around her like a shield.

  “Excuse me, rookies, I’d like to talk to her a moment.”

  “You need to sit down, man. You look like you’re going to pass out.” Dragon said, stepping aside.

  Yeah, he needed to sit down. Every so often the room spun like a top and he thought his head would roll right off his shoulders and across the floor. “I’m fine.”