by Anna Blakely
“A report?” Matt raised a brow.
“Eyewitness places you at the residence. Said they knew who you were and described you to a T. They also said you and Marsh were involved in a pretty heated argument.”
Matt didn’t react, but his memory was working overtime. He didn’t recall seeing anyone else in the house that day, other than Kat’s dad. The only other person he’d spoken to was the guy who’d answered the intercom.
The house was large, however, so it was possible that man had been around, in the home’s shadows. He could’ve been someone who worked for Marsh back in the day.
Matt should’ve been more aware of his surroundings, but he hadn’t been thinking of that at the time. His total focus on confronting Marsh had overridden everything else that day.
Matt had been a man on a mission, determined to put the guy in his place and not the voice on the other end of the speaker.
“I don’t understand what’s happening right now.” Tears fell from Kat’s eyes, her voice sounding as desperate as he felt.
“Miss Marsh, your boyfriend is the last known person to see your father alive. It’s standard policy for us to question him in a case like this.”
“And since you’re the sole heir to his estate, Miss Marsh, we need to speak to you as well.”
“You think I killed my own father?” Her voice raised into a high-pitched tone that had the handful of guests still in attendance glancing in their direction.
“You son of a bitch.” Matt covered several inches of ground.
As they’d been trained, the detectives took a cautionary step back, their hands immediately going to the butt of their guns.
“I’d advise you to keep your distance, Mr. Turner,” Holloway warned.
“And I’d advise you to kiss my ass, Detective.”
“Everyone stop! Please.” Kat stepped between them all and put a hand up. With a weary sigh, she set her gaze on Casey and Holloway. “Look, Detectives. I know you have a job to do, but Matt did not kill my father, and neither did I.”
“If that’s true, you two should have no problem coming to the station to talk with us.”
Though he could tell it was the last thing she wanted, Kat nodded hesitantly. “Fine. We’ll go. You can ask your questions, and we’ll answer them. After that, you can quit wasting your time with us and find the real killer.”
Damn. Not only was she smart, she was tough. As tough as they come.
“I’ll go to the station, but you’re not putting her in a goddamn interrogation room like some fucking criminal. You want to question Katherine, you can do it at her father’s house.” Not waiting for their response, Matt turned to Zade.
“I want you to drive Kat and…” He looked to the two detectives. “Which one of you will be questioning Katherine?”
It was clear neither one was happy about the way Matt had taken over, but he didn’t give a flying fuck. If they wanted answers to their pointless questions, this was how they were going to get them.
“I’ll go with Miss Marsh,” Holloway told his partner. “You drive Turner to the station. When you’re done with him, you can come by the Marsh estate and pick me up.”
Still hesitant to concede to Matt’s plan, Casey finally gave the other man a curt nod. “Fine. I’ll text you when we’re on our way.”
Kat’s eyes rose to meet his, her grief and anxiety-driven fear prevalent. Matt hated being separated from her, but knowing Zade had her covered helped some. Plus, even though he thought the guy was a dick, having Detective Holloway as an additional escort didn’t hurt, either.
“I don’t want to leave you,” Kat told him softly.
“I know you don’t, sweetheart.” Matt cupped her cheek. “It’s going to be okay. Zade will be with you the entire time, and I’ll be back with you before you know it.”
“They shouldn’t be doing this to you.” He caught a tear with his thumb. “I know you didn’t hurt Dad.”
That she trusted him so completely after everything they’d been through floored him. “You’re right. Thank you for believing me. They will, too, as soon as I do their little dance.” Wanting to end this shit show as soon as possible, he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Go. Be as open and honest as you can be with them. I’ll be with you again, soon.”
With a squeeze to his wrist, Kat worried her brow but nodded. “Okay.”
Pressing his lips against hers in a brief but meaningful kiss, Matt watched as she, Zade, and Detective Holloway walked away.
The second they were out of earshot, Matt looked down at Casey and said, “He upsets her any more than she already is, it’ll be both your badges.” Then, using his height to his advantage, he moved even closer to the pretty detective before adding, “And since you’re so…familiar with what me and my team are capable of, I’m confident you know I can make that happen.”
A slight twitch of her hazel eyes was the only sign his intimidation tactic had worked. It was enough.
“Follow me.”
Detective Casey lifted her chin as she led Matt to her department-issued sedan. Within minutes they were on the road and headed to her district’s station house.
They’d been on the road about ten minutes when the mounted police scanner crackled through the car’s tense air.
“All units be advised, we have a ten-thirty-eight in progress. I repeat, we have a ten-thirty-eight in progress. Officer needs assistance, traveling northbound highway two-forty-one, west of Loma Ridge. Officer reports two vehicles attempting to force them off the highway. The vehicle the officer is in contains two civilians. All available units in the vicinity report to the scene, post haste.”
Matt’s stomach dropped as his head swung to face the detective. “Two-forty-one is the way to Marsh’s estate. An officer and two civilians? It has to be them.”
Thankfully, she didn’t try to placate him by acting as though it could be someone else. Instead, she grabbed her phone from her pocket, he assumed so she could call her partner. The phone began to ring before she got the chance.
She shot him a look. “It’s Holloway.”
“Put it on speaker.”
Fully aware he’d barked the order, Matt was more than grateful she hadn’t started bitching about him not being in charge. Thankfully, she did as he asked.
“David? Are you guys all right? We heard the—”
“We’re under attack!” the man’s loud voice boomed through the phone’s speakers. “Twin SUV’s, black, no license plates. The windows are heavily tinted, so I can’t tell how many suspects we’re dealing with.”
Casey’s eyes widened slightly before becoming laser focused. Flipping a switch to activate her lights and sirens, she asked Holloway, “Where are you? Exactly?”
“Northbound Two-forty-one. At the northern edge of Loma Ridge, coming up on the Two-sixty-one overpass. King’s doing his best to evade them, but they’re boxing us in.”
While her partner gave her their general location, Matt was already pulling up the tracker app he and every other R.I.S.C. operative had access to. It allowed them to locate each other’s phones at any given time, in case of emergencies such as this.
“I’ve got ’em,” he practically yelled. “According to this, they’re ten miles ahead of us.”
Because of the different routes they’d taken, Zade had hit the interstate a couple of minutes after leaving the cemetery, whereas Matt and Detective Casey had been stuck going through stop signs and stoplights on their way to the precinct. They’d been forced to make a U-turn and weave in and out of traffic, putting them even further behind the others.
Before Detective Casey could respond, a loud crashing sound like metal hitting metal came through her phone. It was immediately followed by a quick, high-pitched yelp.
“Katherine!” Matt yelled, terrified she’d been hurt.
“She’s okay,” Holloway hollered back. “Bastard slammed into us.”
Though it was somewhat muffled, they could hear Zade’s angry voice in th
e background.
“Fuck this defensive shit. I’m taking the shot!”
Matt held his breath as he heard several loud pops, tires squeal, and Zade’s triumphant, “One down, one to go!”
Come on, Zade. Keep her safe, man.
A few silent, torturous moments passed before Holloway announced, “I think the other one’s pulling back.” The man sounded relieved. “Jesus. That was close.”
“Take the next exit and get to the nearest public place.” Matt thought of the tinted windows Holloway had described. “These guys aren’t going to be seen.”
He no more got the words out when Kat screamed again. “Zade, look out!”
A second crashing sound echoed from the other end of the phone, this one sharper. Louder. And then…nothing.
“David!” Detective Casey yelled for her partner, her face falling when she looked down at the screen and up at him. “The line just went dead.”
“Call him back!” Shoving his hand into his pocket, Matt immediately tried Zade’s phone. A powerful, tight pressure began pressing down his chest, right above his heart when his teammate didn’t pick up.
“No one’s answering,” Detective Casey’s eyes began to well.
He could barely breathe. “Fuck!” Matt slammed his hand down onto the dash. He checked the app again. “We’re still seven miles out. Get us the fuck there, now!”
As she drove, the detective radioed dispatch to give them an update. Matt kept his focus on the flashing red dot on his phone. Before, it had been moving along the highway at higher-than-normal speeds. Now, it was showing Zade’s phone off the road’s shoulder, several yards away, in the grass.
For the first time in a very long time, Matt found himself praying.
Please, God. Let them be okay.
That last mile was the longest of his life.
“There!” His heart rate kicked into high gear as he pointed to a set of flashing lights. The responding patrolman had stopped near a portion of railing that had been damaged.
The metal was bent away from the road, as if it had been struck by a vehicle, and there were large ruts in the grass from where a set of tires had ripped it from its roots. Matt’s blood turned cold when he spotted the car he’d rented in the grass, several yards away.
“Shit!” Detective Casey cursed as she slid to the shoulder before bringing the car to a skidding stop behind the other emergency vehicle.
Guns drawn, both she and Matt gave the area a quick scan, both re-holstering their weapons when they found no trace of the black SUV Holloway had described.
“Kat! Zade!” Matt took off on a sprint. Neither responded.
The car had evidently spun around, its front now facing the direction opposite the flow of traffic. The officer on scene was leaning down by the driver’s door. He glance up at them from over his shoulder.
Matt opened his mouth to identify himself when Casey beat him to the punch.
“Detective Laurie Casey, Long Beach P.D. My partner, Detective Holloway is in that car!”
“He’s…on the other side,” the officer said hesitantly. “I’m sorry.”
“What the hell do you mean, you’re sorry?” The woman rushed around the car to the side her partner was on. From the loud cry of denial, Matt knew the man was already gone.
Focused on getting to his own people, his dress shoes slipping in the grass as he went. The other officer moved out of the way, and the second Matt saw Zade, he knew something was wrong. Very wrong.
“K-Kat…gone,” his injured teammate stuttered, his voice strained with obvious pain. “Took her. C-couldn’t…s-stop.”
“He was more alert when I got here,” the officer explained from behind where Matt was now standing. “Said they were forced off the road, the car rolled. A man approached them when they came to a stop. Shot the officer in the head, shot your guy in the shoulder, and pulled a woman out of the back seat and took her. I tried getting him out, but the door’s jammed shut. Fire’s gonna have to pry it open.”
Ah, Jesus. They took her.
Matt’s legs damn near went out from beneath him. His world began to spin, but as hard as it was, he forced himself to remain focused. He had to stay strong. For Zade. For Kat.
Reaching inside the car, he put pressure on his teammate’s wound to help stop the bleeding. Zade groaned loudly, the sound escaping through his clenched teeth.
From what he could tell, the bullet appeared to have missed anything major, but that didn’t mean his teammate wasn’t at risk for bleeding out.
“Sorry, man. But we need you to quit losing so much blood.”
“S’okay,” Zade whispered weakly. The man was pale and beginning to fade. Fast.
Tuning out Detective Casey’s quiet sobs, Matt shot a look at the other officer and growled, “Where the hell is that ambulance?”
Just as he said it, they heard sirens approaching. While waiting for the paramedics to get the stretcher to them, he tried to get as much information as he could.
“Okay, man. The medics are here. They’re gonna get you fixed up, good as new, but I need to know as much as you can remember before they take you. Did you see the man who shot you or who took Kat?”
The other man nodded, sweat beading on his creased forehead. “W-walk…er.”
It took Matt a second to realize what Zade had meant. Once it clicked, his blood turned to ice. “Adrian Walker? He’s the one who shot you and took Kat?”
Zade’s eyes closed, but he gave another slight nod. “B-bastard said…tell…you…h-hi.”
Matt felt like he was going to be sick.
“S-sorry.” A tear fell from the corner of Zade’s eye. “Tried…s-stop.”
Wanting to cry himself, he held back for his teammate’s sake. “Hey,” Matt said sternly. “Not your fault, man. We’re going to find her. You just worry about getting better.”
“Okay,” his teammate whispered. He closed his eyes again, having lost the battle to stay conscious.
Matt moved out of the way so Fire and EMS could work to get Zade extracted from the car and onto the stretcher. As they loaded him into one ambulance, Detective Holloway’s body was transported in another.
At the top of the hill, a distraught Casey quickly gave her statement to a different detective who’d arrived on the scene. When she was finished, she slid a glance to Matt before climbing into the back to be with her partner as they took him to the county morgue.
In his own statement, Matt told the questioning detective how he and Zade had been hired to protect Katherine. Though he didn’t go into specifics, only that she’d felt threatened after the break-in at her apartment, he shared everything he knew about Marsh’s death—which was pretty much nothing. And Matt also told the man the cliff notes version of what he knew about Adrian Walker.
After giving the man Jason Ryker’s direct extension at Homeland and instructing him to call for further questions regarding Walker, Matt was driven to the hospital by yet another detective.
Every cell in his body burned with the need to be out there, searching for Kat. But as much as his heart screamed for him to do just that, Matt knew he couldn’t find her on his own. Not without more intel.
Knowing exactly who could help with that, he’d called Jake on the way to the hospital and filled him in on what had happened. Since the company jet was still here, in California, Jake promised he and the others would be on the next flight out.
For the rest of the evening, while he waited for the doctor to come out with news on Zade, Matt plotted his revenge. Adrian Walker was a no-good fucking traitor to his country. Not long ago, he’d shot and damn near killed Nate, Matt’s other friend and teammate. Walker had also kidnapped Gracie, the woman Nate was protecting—now his wife—and the bastard had delivered her to an even worse man for a profit.
Now the motherfucker had done it again. Only this time, Walker had taken Matt’s woman. Where and why, he didn’t know yet, but he would. And when he did…when he finally got his hands on Walker…
I’m going to fucking kill him.
Chapter 12
Kat sat in one corner of the cold, empty room. With her knees pulled to her chest, she kept her arms wrapped tightly around her legs as she continued to pray.
Her head was pounding, from both the stress of the situation and the fact that she’d banged it pretty hard when they’d wrecked. The bleeding had finally stopped, the hair on the right side of her head caked with dried blood.
She couldn’t see it, obviously, but Kat was pretty sure she could feel a nice gash hiding in the swollen flesh beneath her matted hair.
Her butt had gone numb long ago, which was the least of her concerns. She was too afraid to move. Afraid they’d hear her and know she was awake.
She had no idea what the man who’d taken her wanted. Did it have to do with the formula? Her father’s death? Both?
The only thing she knew for certain was his name was Walker. And he was a ruthless, cold-blooded killer.
Blinking, Kat sent another tear down her already damp cheek. It seemed as if she’d done nothing but cry since she’d regained consciousness, and she hated it. Hated feeling so weak. But the tears didn’t care. They simply kept coming.
As she held herself even tighter, Kat cried for her father. She’d been so confused by the detectives’ claims that he’d been murdered. Still was. Now that she’d been brought to this place by that horrible, awful man, Kat understood she may never find the answers, she desperately needed.
More tears fell for Detective Holloway. The poor man had been completely defenseless when he’d been brutally gunned down. He wasn’t even the slightest threat to the man who’d shot him. Who’d then taken and drugged her before shooting Zade.
It was a memory she knew would last a lifetime, however long that lifetime may be.
The metallic smell of blood continued to fill her nostrils as the horrific scene played over and over in her mind. Like a sadistic video set on loop.
They were all forced to sit there, trapped in the crushed and mangled car. Holloway’s gun had flown out the window when they’d rolled, and he’d clearly become injured in the crash. None of that mattered. Not to the guy named Walker.