“How do I know you won’t kill him anyway?”
Rosenthal smiled a thin, unfriendly smile. “You don’t.” He checked his watch. “I really don’t have time for this.”
“Meeting your partner with the manmade diamonds and the High Energy Lasers? What do you get in return?”
“I see you’ve done your research, Mr. Stone. Too bad it will do you no good. But to answer your question, I get real diamonds and payment for the artillery.”
“Blood diamonds?”
“Hardly. The diamonds come from the third largest Canadian diamond mine.”
“Who’s your partner?”
Rosenthal grinned and shook his head. “Nice try, Mr. Stone. I believe I have told you enough. I must conclude our business. Either put your weapon down and hand over my property or watch your brother end up like poor Samantha. Truly a pity to see such a beautiful woman end up dead.”
But Samantha wasn’t dead. She was very much alive, breathing, and sticking her hands in Max’s pants.
He nodded, bent at the knees and placed his Glock on the ground in front of him.
“Good. Now, hand over what’s mine.”
Gun trained on Kevin, the man held out his empty palm, waited for Max to give him his diamonds.
“They’re in my pants pocket. You want to get them yourself?”
Rosenthal wrinkled his nose. “Just get them.”
Following his terse order, Max stuck both hands in his pockets and proceeded to struggle in his effort. “Sorry, tight pants.”
“Hurry it up.”
Max nodded, jiggled his hands in his pockets a little, and moved his body to the side, shielding Sam’s hands from their captor’s view. When he felt the tug, and then the tap, he turned back. “Sorry, man. I can’t get my hands all the way in. Do you mind if I put her down?”
He didn’t wait for a response. “Down, Kevin!”
Max spun so Sam faced forward and felt the jolt as she pulled the trigger. The bullet entered Rosenthal’s left eye, ripped through his brain, and made a mess of the back of his head. His Sig Sauer dropped, hitting the carpeted floor before his body.
Air whooshed from Sam’s lungs, and she slumped against him. “Put me down.”
As ordered, he set Samantha on her feet, and pulled her in for a bear hug.
“Ow! Are you trying to kill me?” She slapped him on the back.
Releasing her, he held her at arm’s length and looked at her. She was pale, but alive. Thank you. Thank you! He bent and retrieved his Glock, checked his brother’s status. Kevin appeared to be holding his own. He even managed to pick up the gun that had dropped.
There was no time to rest or celebrate. “Let’s get out of here.”
* * * *
“Follow me.”
Sam picked up the keys from what was left of Paul Butler. She felt sorry for her loss of a friend but not the loss of the man. Not knowing who would be on their tail, the three of them got out of that building and headed to where Sam remembered them dropping her off, where Paul’s truck should still be.
When they reached the vehicle, Sam tossed Kevin the keys and turned to Max. “Where’s the meet Rosenthal talked about?”
“Emerald Junction. Jake is going in as my decoy on snowmobile.”
“Then let’s go.” She turned to the truck where Kevin sat behind the steering wheel. “Can you drive? We can take the mountain if you take the road.”
Strong fingers grabbed her arm and spun her around. Wincing in pain, Samantha met Max nose-to-nose. The angry set of his jaw forewarned her of the tirade to come.
“What are you talking about? You cannot go traipsing down the mountain. You’re injured. And not some kitten scratch. You were shot.”
She reached up and touched her shoulder. “Gee, thanks for that reminder. I’m fine. I’ll survive. In the meantime, the man or men responsible for this disaster are about to meet Jake, and possibly kill him.” She crawled into the pickup bed and straddled one of the snowmobiles. “I’m not willing to let them get away. Are you?”
Max climbed up into the truck mumbling. “Damn, stupid, stubborn, pigheaded…”
“Wait!” Kevin yelled. They both turned to look at him. He held up his hands. “Whoa. Didn’t you say the weapons were still in the tunnel?” He directed his question to Max.
Max nodded. “Last I saw, yes.”
“With Rosenthal and his cop friend out of the picture.”
Sam realized where Kevin was going. “And his hired thugs tied up.”
“Then who’s going to deliver the goods?” Kevin finished, grinning ear to puffy-cheeked ear.
Kevin’s mind was certainly functioning on all tracks.
“I like your brother,” she told Max, smiling, and crawled back out of the pickup bed and into the cab with Kevin. Max followed suit, shutting the door behind him.
Piled into the front of the truck, the three of them quickly devised a plan. Once they located the delivery vehicle, a black, military-grade HUM-V, Max called Jake and gave him the heads up as to what was about to go down, asked him to do reconnaissance and make sure there were no surprises.
“I should ride in the front,” she argued as Max maneuvered the forklift with the first of two crated laser weapon things into the back of the Hummer.
“No,” he stepped off the lift. “You should stay behind and let the pros take it from here.”
She helped secure the crate to the floor of the vehicle. “Former pro, you jackass. Kevin is the only pro here, and he should stay behind.” She flung her arm outward in Kevin’s direction. “He’s the one who was severely beaten.”
“And you were shot.”
“Flesh wound. Besides, you already bandaged it.”
Max got up in her face and she had to tip her head back to see into his pissed off whiskey eyes. “If you’re not going to stay behind then you stay in the back. Locked up tight.”
“Guys, can we please get this done. You’re giving me a headache worse than any beating.”
Sam shot Kevin a piercing look. “You’re lucky I like you.” She smiled and Kevin tried to grin back, his bruised face looking like a prune when he did.
In silence, Max went back to the forklift and picked up the second crate. She and Kevin secured it, and they were ready to go. Dusting off her hands, she jumped down, headed for the HUM-V cab. She crawled in. Max and Kevin flanked her in the middle, Max behind the wheel, his face flushed with anger.
“Fine.” He spoke between clenched teeth, not making eye contact with her. “You wait in the front seat until we need you.” Sam watched him inhale and flex his hands before continuing. “Please.”
She touched one of his cold hands. “When you put it so nicely, how could I not do as you ask?”
Max pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head, and she smiled. On her right, Kevin gave a low rumble of laughter, whispered in her ear. “He’s got it bad for you, and you have him wrapped around your finger.” Then Kevin surprised her and kissed her as Max keyed the ignition, and pulled out.
Turning into Emerald Junction, Max saw an idling white, military HUM-V already waiting. He reacted.
“Hey!” Sam fought him but his grip did not loosen, he continued to push her head down to his lap.
“Shut up. There’s a vehicle up ahead and I don’t want them to see you.” He spoke out of the side of his mouth in case whoever sat in the HUM-V had binoculars and could read his lips. “You agreed to stay here and be safe. If we need you, you’ll be a surprise attack. You and Jake.”
Kevin spoke his agreement through bruised lips.
He pulled up and parked the vehicle about ten feet from the white Hummer. He cut the engine and spoke to Kevin. “You sure you’re up for this? You can wait here with Sam and cover me.”
Kevin shook his head. “I’m with you.”
Max gave a crooked grin. He knew Kevin would tag along, he always did. “Let’s rock and roll.”
When he reached for the handle, Sam cleared her throat fr
om the foot well on the passenger side. Glancing down he saw her smile. “Be safe.”
He winked. “I intend to be. Don’t go anywhere.” Lifting the handle, he opened the driver’s door, tugged his hat low on his head, and stepped down into the snow. Whacking his arms with his hands, he walked to the back of the truck. It was freaking cold out.
When he and Kevin got to the back of the truck, Kevin slid the door open and pulled himself into the back where they had the lasers secured. And waited.
After a few minutes of dancing foot-to-foot in the cold wind and blowing snow, the driver of the white HUM-V and his passenger dressed in full winter gear with heavy jackets, boots, and hoods covering their faces, finally got out. Max’s eyes widened, his body stiffened, and he had to fight the natural urge to reach for his weapon when he saw the artillery the passenger carried. Normally, he would have thought they were ballsy walking around with an AK-47 strapped across his body, but when you have the police in your pocket, why wouldn’t you?
“Stay behind the crate,” he mumbled to Kevin. Behind the crate, Kevin kept his weapon out, but hidden.
The passenger stopped and stood in front of his HUM-V, holding his AK-47. Guard dog, Max thought. The driver kept coming.
“Where’s Rosenthal?” the driver, dressed in all black asked, his right hand holding a 9-millimeter loosely at his side.
Shit! He should have seen that, but the blowing snow obscured his visibility. If not for the glint of the stainless steel off what sunlight there was, he would have missed it all together.
“He had a labor issue he had to resolve.” Not exactly a lie, all his labor was pretty much useless, either dead or tied up. “He said to go ahead without him.” Max blew his breath into his hands, trying to get them as well as the lower half of his face warm.
The driver stopped, took a shooter’s stance. The hair on the back of Max’s neck stood at attention. Something was wrong. When the driver lowered his hood, he realized how deadly wrong things were.
“Oh, fuck!”
“Yes, I’d say you are, Agent Stone. Max.” David Murphy aimed his 9-millimeter at him. “How apropos. The man who destroyed my FBI career thinks he can destroy my new business.”
“David Murphy, Lucy’s murderer, I thought you had fallen off the face of the earth, more like wished.”
“I never killed Lucy and you never had any proof that I did.”
“You didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger yourself. You took the chicken shit way out and set her up.”
“If you could have proved it, I’d be in jail.”
Max shrugged. “I had enough to force you out. I should have killed you.” His lip curled. He hated this man. But right now, his only concern was keeping Sam safe.
Sam. Silently, he pleaded she wouldn’t move, she wouldn’t do anything stupid. Stay safe.
Sam did not listen to all of Max’s instructions. She didn’t stay on the floor of the truck, she got up, crawled across the seat, and cracked the door open to listen. How was she going to be any help if she didn’t know what was happening?
The sound of two doors closing carried to her in the winter wind. Checking the rearview mirrors, she made out two men, one armed with an AK-47 and the other man trying to conceal a stainless steel handgun.
Through the cracked doors, she heard the smuggler ask about Rosenthal and Max’s response. Then Sam’s heart dropped to her stomach. The man walking toward Max, the seeming leader of the two, addressed Max by his name. He knew his name! Holy shit! He was Max’s FBI boss, Lucy’s murderer.
Then the very distinct sound of an AK-47 being racked echoed in her ears. Her heart jumped back up and beat out of control. Max! Kevin! With one weapon tucked in the front of her pants, and a second she picked up off the dead Rosenthal tucked in the back, she slid out the cab of the Hummer.
Her body pressed up against the side of the truck, she made her way to the rear. Taking a deep breath, she boldly stepped out, drawing the shooter’s attention, her hand on the weapon at her waist.
“What the hell is taking so long?”
“Sam! Damn it! Get back!”
All hell broke loose. The man holding the 9-millimeter pivoted in her direction and fired. Max leapt in front of her taking the bullet meant for her.
“Max!” She screamed his name again, “Max!” In the back of her mind, she registered Kevin’s screams and his shots, followed by shrieks of pain.
Seeing the blood spread over the front of Max’s jacket, her vision blurred then cleared. As if on automatic pilot, she pulled the weapon from her pants, whipped around in the direction of the shooter, aimed it up and out, and pulled the trigger, not once but twice. He dropped like a stone and Sam let her weapon slide from her fingers as she fell to her knees next to Max.
She ripped open his jacket and found the bullet hole. Removing her hat, she pressed it against the hole, attempting to staunch the flow of blood that turned the pristine white snow into a red snow cone. Max moaned as she applied more pressure. Tears swam in her eyes.
“Hang on you asshole. Now that I’ve found you, I am not going to lose you. Do you hear me Max Stone? I love you. There. I said it. I love you. Satisfied?”
She hugged him close, keeping him warm and pressure applied. In the background, she heard the whine of a snowmobile, and the whup-whup-whup of incoming helicopters. Kevin laid a hand on her shoulder.
“The cavalry is on its way.”
Sam could not answer, too choked up to speak. She nodded.
In Max’s ear, she whispered. “I love you, Max Stone. Wake up so I can tell you. I love you.”
THIRTY-SIX
With her own wound bandaged, Sam sat in Max’s hospital room holding his hand waiting for him to wake up. The door pushed inward and she glanced up to see Jake saunter in. There was no other way to describe the way Jake moved, she thought, as her lips lifted up at the corner. He took off his hat and swiped at his hair, which only made it worse, standing on end.
“Kevin is a chip off his brother’s block. Stubborn and tough. The nurses and doc got him all cleaned up and now he’s in a private room reading the riot act to his FED buddies, explaining the whole manmade diamonds and laser weapons trade between Rosenthal and Murphy.” Jake hissed through his teeth. “His bark has a definite bite to it.” He cleared his throat. “By the way, the FBI sends their thanks for not killing David Murphy. They appear to be looking forward to incarcerating him for the rest of his life. They’re even going to try to accomplish what Max couldn’t. They’re going to find the evidence to get him on Lucy’s murder.”
Sam nodded, grateful that Max could put that behind him.
“Looks like you’re keeping that one.” He indicated Max with a flick of his hat in the direction of the hospital bed. “He’s one lucky guy. How is he?”
She felt her cheeks flush. “The doctor says he should be waking any time.”
Jake nodded. “Good. Well, I just stopped in to say I’m taking off.”
Sam’s heart skipped. “Oh.” She stood and walked over to him. Leaning up on tiptoes, she kissed his cheek. “Thanks for everything.”
Now Jake’s cheeks turned a shade of pink. “Aw, shucks,” he said in his exaggerated drawl. Bending, he kissed her back then put his hat back on. “Just remember, if he doesn’t work out I’ll be waitin’ in the wings.” He pivoted on a cowboy booted heel and headed to the door.
“Quit flirting with my woman.”
“Max!” she squealed. Sam slid over to the bed on stocking feet, grabbed his hand, and looked into his beautiful whiskey eyes. “You’re awake.”
“Just in time.” He managed a slight grin. “Gotta keep the wolves at bay.”
Jake howled and left the room.
She ran her hands across his face, touching every curve, every line. Alive. She closed her eyes in relief and thanks.
“So?”
“Sew buttons.”
He reached up, snaked an arm around her neck and pulled her face even closer. “Did you mean
it, or was that just something to say in the heat of the moment?”
Sam swallowed. “I meant it.”
“Say it.”
“Damn. You’re awfully demanding.”
“Say it.”
“I love you. I love you, Max Stone.”
He tugged her until their lips were a breath away. “I love you, Samantha Spenser. Snow Bunny.”
Then he kissed her.
* * * *
A Sneak Peek at Charley and Jake’s story, Connect The Dots!
Following the directions the GPS spoke to her, Charley made a left hand turn then slid to the right, hit a bump and couldn’t move. She pressed her foot against the accelerator and all that managed to do was make the tire spin and spit up mud.
“Stuck!” She slammed her fist against the steering wheel.
Like she needed this. First, somebody breaks into her condominium, and then she discovered someone had bugged it. Heck, her place had been infested with bugs. Then, breathing through her nose trying to keep from vomiting, she found the photo of Kyle, murdered. She shivered just thinking about it.
For the last thirty minutes, she contended with dark clouds pouring buckets of rain and the rapid swishing of wipers just so she could see out the SUV’s window. Off the major roads, the only illuminating lights were the glow of her headlamps and the intermittent lightning strikes.
Now, thanks to the combination of rain making mud on dirt roads and poor visibility, her tires spun and refused to take hold. In defeat, she laid her head against the wheel and turned off the ignition. Too afraid to call anyone for help, she sat up and readied herself to go out in the pouring rain and see what she could do to get unstuck.
Just as she reached for the door handle, headlights whipped up behind her. She braced her arms against the steering column and waited for the car to crash into her. It didn’t. No sooner had she exhaled a relieved breath than Charley saw someone getting out of the car. Her eyes flared wide. Without looking, she stretched out her right arm and felt her way along the passenger seat until her hand encountered her Sig-Sauer.
If you missed it, Denise’s first novel, It Happens in Threes is another one you’ll want to dive into.
Killer Bunny Hill Page 23