by Diane Capri
Before she realized she’d uttered the words aloud, she heard gunshots from the interior of the greenhouse.
Question answered.
The shooter was definitely inside.
And so were his victims.
Kim recognized the psychological effects of tachypsychia, which gave her the sense that time was slowing down as she ran across the open space and approached the threat.
Before she reached the greenhouse, the door opened and a man stepped outside. He closed the door quickly behind him, propped something against the lock to keep it closed, fell onto the artificial turf, and rolled away from the gunfire.
Was he a victim? Or a killer?
More gunshots were fired inside the greenhouse.
Kim continued running toward the man. He glanced up and saw her.
He jumped up, holding his belly, and bolted toward the elevators.
“Stop! Stop!” she yelled as she sprinted behind him.
He ignored her warnings and kept going. If he made it to the stairwell in the elevator lobby, she might lose him.
“Stop! FBI!” She fired a warning shot into the air.
He glanced over his shoulder. She was close enough to hit him and she had a weapon.
He stopped, turned, placed his feet firmly on the hard surface shoulder-width apart, and prepared to fight. His hands were straight with his forearms facing her. Elbows out slightly and hips facing forward.
Even within the shadows, Kim recognized the square stance of a Muay Thai boxer. She’d trained in the sport and learned enough to defend herself in a street fight against sloppy thieves and clueless muggers.
But this guy was something else altogether.
This fighter was skilled and focused. Prepared to shift his weight to deliver kicks, knees, elbows, punches, and clinches. He wasn’t breathing heavily. The sprint across the roof hadn’t winded him at all.
She raised her weapon and pointed the barrel at his chest. “FBI. You’re under arrest,” she said.
“For what? I haven’t done anything. That guy’s shooting at me. Go arrest him.”
She steadied her aim. “Who is he and why is he shooting at you?”
“His name’s Rossi. He kidnapped my sisters. Now he wants to kill me.” His sentences were short and clipped and came quickly as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough.
“Why did he kidnap them?”
“Go ask Rossi. Make him tell you where they are,” he said quickly, eyes totally focused on Kim.
“Tell me their names.” Kim’s breathing had returned to normal, but she didn’t lower her weapon.
“Jade Chen. GiGi Chen.” He glanced toward the greenhouse and returned his gaze to her. “He abducted them in Denver. He’s hiding them somewhere here in Vegas. That’s a federal crime, isn’t it?”
“Okay. Let’s go talk to Rossi,” she said, tilting her head toward the greenhouse.
But she’d barely uttered the words when he rushed her, hands and feet flying faster than should be humanly possible.
He kicked the gun from her hand, giving her an extra moment to move out of the way of his next blow, which caught him slightly off balance.
She kicked him in the belly. Hard.
When the blow connected, he howled like a wounded animal. Blood gushed from an open gash in his torso that she hadn’t noticed before.
She looked closer into the moonlight’s shadows. His torso was covered in blood. At least one of the shots fired inside the greenhouse must have hit him. Maybe more than one.
“You’re wounded. We need to get you to a hospital,” she said.
Without speaking, he came at her again, this time delivering a swift but weakened kick to her left thigh. She fell onto the roof. While she was down, he turned and ran.
Kim pushed herself onto her knees. She scrambled to grab her gun off the ground and gave chase again.
A half-dozen steps before he reached the elevator shaft, Kim was ten strides away from grabbing him when she heard a single deafening explosion behind her.
“Take cover!” she yelled an instant before she opened her mouth, crouched, and raised her arms to shield her head, seeking to protect herself from fragments that become missiles after a blast.
The roar of the explosion muffled her hearing like noise-canceling headphones.
Pieces of pebbled glass, dirt, plants, and shards of plastic and wood pelted her body.
When the falling debris storm subsided, she looked back over her shoulder.
The greenhouse had burst apart from the inside, flinging glass and remnants of the destruction everywhere.
The contents that weren’t blasted away were now consumed by a giant ball of fire.
No way anyone still inside the greenhouse when the bomb detonated had survived that blast.
Kim pushed herself up off the artificial grass and hurried over to the man she’d been chasing. He lay on his back, lifeless eyes open.
His torso was bloodier than the rest of his body. But what had probably killed him was the sharp metal rod gigging the left side of his chest, penetrating his heart and pinning him to the roof.
Kim’s muffled hearing discerned sirens twenty-one stories below from what seemed like a great distance but definitely coming closer. She rushed over to the pile of burning rubble that had been the greenhouse, but the fire was too hot. She couldn’t get close enough to rescue anyone that might have been still alive.
She pulled The Boss’s cell phone from her pocket and pressed the redial. He picked up, for a change.
She cleared her throat and rasped, “Can you handle this?”
“Send me a close-up photo of the boxer. Nothing more for you to do. I’ll deal with the fallout and locate the abducted sisters. Go now. Before you get caught in more red tape than either of us wants to handle,” he replied.
“Where am I supposed to go?”
“Burke needs help. I’ll text you the address.”
“Copy that.” She hung up, snapped a few photos of the dead man, and sent them off to The Boss.
She stood for a short while and took one last look as she shot a video of the devastation. She sent the video to Gaspar.
Then she holstered her weapon, hurried over to the emergency stairs, and headed down.
CHAPTER 43
Wednesday, May 18
Las Vegas, Nevada
9:15 p.m.
Jade had called Amarin for help two hours ago, but she didn’t know her exact location. Amarin said he’d find out. Then he’d come for them. They only had to wait until he arrived.
Eleanor was skeptical. “Amarin might be your brother, but he’s also Rossi’s man. You can’t trust him. Anyone connected to Rossi is bad news.”
Jade had no illusions about Rossi. Eleanor was simply voicing the fears Jade and GiGi tried to ignore.
“What alternative do we have? You saw that fence outside. We can’t climb it or break through it,” Jade said, “We need a way to get out of here. Once we’re free, we can figure out what to do. But for now, Amarin is our only option.”
“Jade is right,” GiGi had nodded her agreement. “Mika is alone. No one else knows she exists. No one will rescue her. If we don’t escape…”
GiGi’s voice trailed off. She’d been petrified since she awakened in the limo hours ago. Jade had tried to reassure her sister, but they both understood the situation all too well.
If Jade and GiGi didn’t escape, Mika would never be okay again. GiGi couldn’t deny the truth but dwelling on it wouldn’t help.
“Trust me, there is no escape,” Eleanor shrugged, defeated. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with. Even if we get away again, Rossi will hunt us down and kill us. He already has good reasons. Not that he needs a reason to do exactly as he pleases.”
“We have to be ready. We can’t do that from inside this room,” GiGi said, looking around again as if she might have missed something before. “We have no windows to climb through, and the only door leads into the main part of the safe h
ouse, where the men are waiting.”
“They’ll offer us dinner. When they do, we’ll go into the main room. Remain alert for a chance to escape,” Jade said. Gigi and Eleanor nodded.
After an eternity, Big Tony knocked on the door and invited them to eat pizza at the big table in the kitchen. Jade and GiGi readily agreed. Eleanor reluctantly came along.
The other women were still locked in their rooms in the back of the safe house. Jade had not seen them since they’d all arrived.
Big Tony and Little Tony were watching an excessively violent movie on television with the volume turned up so loud that conversation was impossible. Something about a guy with a dead dog and a lot of gunfire and explosions at ear-splitting decibels followed by screaming victims.
The noise reverberated off the metal walls and ceilings and rumbled through her body, defeating all attempts at conversation.
Jade sat with her back to the sink, facing the front door. The television was to her right. The men were seated facing the screen.
The front door was directly opposite her chair. She found herself wondering if she could simply sprint out quietly. How long would it take them to notice? Probably the length of the movie, at least, if she could bring herself to pull off the brazen move. Which she couldn’t.
Eleanor and GiGi were seated at opposite ends of the table. GiGi’s back was to the television. Eleanor had a clear view of the screen and the front door.
Jade picked at the pizza, eating the vegetables off the top like a child, thinking about how to escape. She wasn’t the least bit hungry, but if one of the men noticed she wasn’t eating, they might lock her in the other room again.
At this point, Jade feared Eleanor was right. But instinctively, she felt they had a better chance of escape if they stayed in the common areas.
She worried that Amarin wouldn’t be able to fight off three big gangsters at once when he arrived. The women needed to be ready to help.
Jade glanced at the clock on the wall above the refrigerator. Amarin should be here soon.
She pulled a few mushrooms off the pizza and stuffed them into her mouth, chewing each piece as long as possible. Every moment seemed to last another lifetime.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting crash, like a wrecking ball hitting the big fence out front, filled the room.
The steel gate, if that’s what it was, screeched like a banshee for a long time.
GiGi looked up from her pizza, eyes wide and questioning. Eleanor’s expression was wild as she whipped her head from side to side, seeking the source of the sound.
Jade shook her head, cautioning them to remain calm.
She thought the screaming had come from outside, but it could have been generated by the surround sound speakers on the television. The various sound effects from the movie reverberated off the metal walls and ceiling and so much that she’d given up trying to separate them from reality.
Finally, the ear-splitting noise stopped. The absence of the screeching afterward was almost worse than the noise.
The men remained engrossed in the movie. They never even looked up.
Jade waited, fingers crossed under the table, hoping Amarin had found a way to destroy the gate and get them out of here.
She didn’t wait long.
Under cover of the movie’s overwhelmingly loud sound effects, the front door burst open and Petey Burns rushed inside.
His eyes were rounded and his face was flushed with excitement or fear or both.
He hopped around like a wild rabbit.
Jade’s mouth opened wide. Fervently, she hoped Reacher wasn’t far away.
Petey was charming and clever, but they’d need Reacher to supply the brawn required to handle Big Tony and Little Tony.
Petey gave Eleanor a meaningful look and tossed his shaggy blond head toward the doorway. Eleanor nodded and rose from her seat.
Petey shared the same look with GiGi and Jade.
Big Tony was the first to glance up and notice the commotion. When he saw Burns, he stood abruptly, dropping his empty beer bottle on the concrete floor. It shattered silently and shot pieces of brown glass in every direction.
“Who the hell are you?” Little Tony demanded.
“Joey Prime’s outside. He’s hurt. Come on!” Petey said, waving his arm toward the open front door.
“Go check it out,” Little Tony said to his cousin.
“Damned Joey. Always screwing up.” Big Tony said as he followed orders.
His footsteps pounded the floor, making the kitchen table and the chairs bounce with every step. He walked through the open door, leaving Little Tony and Petey Burns inside with the women.
“Again, who the hell are you?” Little Tony asked.
Petey stuffed his hands into his pockets and ducked his head shyly, but he didn’t answer the question. He glanced toward Eleanor and gave her another wink. Then he turned and dashed through the open doorway, following Big Tony.
Little Tony pulled a pistol from his belt and ran after Petey, who was at least fifty pounds lighter, ten years younger, and a lot more nimble. Little Tony didn’t stand a chance in hell of catching the intruder.
When the men were all outside, Eleanor said, “GiGi, get the others. We need to hurry.”
GiGi ran down the hallway to release the women locked in their rooms and led them to the front of the building.
Eleanor headed toward the front door.
Jade said, “Is Reacher out there?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” Eleanor shook her head. “But now’s our chance. Look outside. The gate was destroyed. The van is out front.”
Jade shouted over the movie’s volume, shaking her head. “We must wait for Amarin.”
Eleanor yelled back. “Let’s get out of here while we can.”
Gunfire sounded from somewhere. Maybe it was the raucously violent film blasting through the surround sound and reverberating against the metal walls, bouncing back from the metal ceiling to ricochet again.
Or the gunshots could have come from outside. All the noises were jumbled up. Jade couldn’t tell them apart anymore.
GiGi had released the other women from their rooms and they ran into the kitchen and toward the exit.
Jade held back for a moment, but then she realized Eleanor was right.
She wiped the pizza grease off her hands, took a deep breath, and sprinted outside.
CHAPTER 44
Wednesday, May 18
Las Vegas, Nevada
9:20 p.m.
Kim stopped the driver when she saw the Navigator parked two blocks from the safe house.
The driver turned around in his seat, pocketed her cash, and offered her a business card. “Call me if you need a ride back to your hotel. You won’t get a taxi in this area tonight.”
“I’m meeting a friend, so I should be okay.” She tucked the card into her pocket. Always good to have a plan B. “But thanks.”
Kim stepped out of the sedan and closed the door behind her. He turned around and headed back toward the strip. When his red tail lights were far enough away, she approached the Navigator and glanced inside.
She went around to the passenger side and opened the door. The interior lights came on. She scanned the cabin, half expecting to see Burke’s body battered and broken. Because that would have been a good reason to explain his absence.
But he wasn’t there.
Kim popped the hatch and hustled to the back to look in the cargo compartment. No body there, either.
Which didn’t necessarily mean Burke was still alive. But where the hell was he?
She closed the hatch and scanned the area more closely.
The warehouse district resembled hundreds of others she’d seen in other cities. It had probably been built on spec and then sold or leased.
A row of generic warehouses was set back on both sides of the road and separated from each other by open space. A chain link fence along each property line created an equal amount of available land on both sides of e
ach building.
The road between was wide enough for big rigs to pass each other, entering and exiting.
The driveways were blocked with gates on wheels, wide enough to accommodate a big rig. At each entrance, a steel pole with a speaker box mounted on it probably required some sort of entry code to open the gates.
Street numbers were attached to each warehouse. Some also had company signs posted at their entrances, but most did not.
Rentals. Smallish storage for newer, startup businesses, probably. If the business survived and outgrew the starter warehouse, they’d move on to something larger.
All of the warehouses seemed closed up for the night. No lights or vehicles or other activity, at least on the sides facing the road. She couldn’t see the back sides from where she stood.
Gaspar said Burke had followed the black SUV here from Denver because he’d guessed that Reacher was also following the black SUV.
He’d set up a stakeout.
Not long afterward, he’d gone dark.
Kim had assumed Burke’s stakeout position was inside the Navigator. Which would have been okay. But he wasn’t here now and she had no clue where to look for him. Which was definitely not okay.
Even with the bright cone of light cast by the tall floods at each driveway, there were too many dark places around here to hide.
If Burke had been conducting a stakeout from the Navigator, something must have enticed him to leave the relative comforts of the roomy vehicle.
She opened the driver’s side door and slid into the driver’s seat.
“What did you see, Burke?” she murmured. “What lured you out there?”
Her gaze scanned the area. Without binoculars, she could see four warehouses on each side of the street. From this vantage point, he’d probably been watching the opposite side.
And he’d have hung back.
Which meant the place to start was two warehouses ahead, on the left.
She stepped onto the running board, which raised her eyes about fifteen inches, to get a better view. Nothing unusual seemed to be happening at the moment.
