“You hired him to follow Annie,” Deegan said calmly.
Max stood and went to the window, leaning against the frame and looking out. “I suspected something wasn’t quite right with her although I didn’t want to believe it. She was hiding something. Demanding that I leave Lisa.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. “She didn’t understand how this could ruin me. I’ll admit I loved her, but I love my life with Lisa more.”
“You asked Evans to kill her?” Unable to sit any longer, Deegan stood. How did he miss this from the beginning?
Max swung around, his brows scrunched. “No, I didn’t ask him to kill her.”
“He owed you his life, didn’t he? He followed her, took the pictures, and you put two and two together. She was hired to spy on your re-election campaign. I’m sure that made you angry, and Evans, the loyal soldier, wanted to help a friend.”
“I didn’t have to put two and two together. She admitted the truth to me. She swore she stopped taking the money because she loved me and wanted the baby.”
“You knew Evans would do anything. You made him think you wanted her dead. Maybe you mentioned in front of him that you wished she was no longer in the picture.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t want him to kill her,” he said quietly, tearing a hand through his hair. “Why aren’t you arresting me? You did know, right?”
“I saw you and I knew. I’d had my suspicions, but was hoping it wasn’t true. You’ve connected the dots for me.”
Max chuckled but it was raw. “What do you plan to do now?”
“You know what I’ll do. I’m a Federal Agent. I’ll do my job,” Deegan said stiffly.
“I’m your friend, Deegan.”
“Do you even care how much human carnage your puppet has left behind? I can see why you think the two homeless kids aren’t worth your time because you didn’t see their faces, but Annie was pregnant. What low down bastard kills a woman he cares for, along with his unborn child? This wasn’t who you were once. Has this life changed you so much?”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I swear, I didn’t. I brought you here to hand over Evans.” His confidence was slipping. There was a new hitch to his voice.
“You brought me here because you knew I was getting close. Sending you the picture yesterday of Annie sitting in the restaurant must have turned your stomach. Sweat bullets. I knew it was only a matter of time before you made a move if you were involved. I know you. That was always your downfall, even in the military. You were always impulsive and trigger happy.”
“Does your friend, the Cade woman, know your suspicions?”
“Does it matter? You have to face the fire one way or another.”
Max moved to the desk and pressed his hands to the top and lowered his head. “I’m sorry, buddy. You saved my life once.”
Deegan reached for his gun and aimed it, but he was too late. Evans was already standing in the doorway, gun drawn and aimed at his head. A snake-like grin spread his lips. “It’s time we finally met, Agent Bronx. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Keeping his gun raised and pointed between the other man’s eyes, Deegan was steady and calm. “Lower your weapon. This is all going to end right now.”
“You’re right,” he smiled smugly. “It is. A man should always back his friends. You’re a disgrace. You don’t deserve to call yourself a veteran.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Backing a man who won’t remember who you are after he’s re-elected?”
“He won’t remember either of us.”
Hearing a rustling sound behind him, Deegan turned his cheek slightly, seeing another armed man step out from a doorway. “So, it took two of you?”
“Go quietly and we may let the Fed woman live. Maybe…,” Evans slurred.
“Touch her and even death wouldn’t keep me from tearing you apart, limb from limb,” Deegan growled.
“That’s enough,” Max said shakily. “I told you to make this clean. No more dead bodies. This is it.”
“Getting nervous, Max?” Deegan bit out.
“The plan didn’t work. You were supposed to find out that she was working for Peter Clay and the heat would be pointed in his direction. Once he was in the public’s target, all of his personal life would come to light.”
“The spotlight would be off you, people would forgive you for the affair, almost feeling sorry for you and making you the victim because you were seduced. Is that how it was supposed to go down?” Deegan didn’t take his eyes off Evans.
“He doesn’t have to answer to you. He’s making a difference. One day he’ll be at the very top and the world will see what a great nation we are.” Evans didn’t bat an eye.
“By killing people? That’s not a difference our country needs.”
Max took several steps so he could look at Deegan. “Annie wasn’t innocent. She chose to betray me and then thought I could forgive her? And the homeless kids? They chose to be criminals. If they’d been doing right, they would be alive. They thwarted the plan and I can’t allow anyone to stop me from my goal. Not even you, my friend.”
“You’ll never get away with this,” Deegan forced through tight lips.
“Enough talk,” Evans said in a calm voice. “Put the gun down. There are two of us and only one of you. You’ll never get out alive.”
“And neither will you,” Deegan said confidently.
“I think you’ll want to see this.” Evans reached into his pocket and withdrew a phone, tossing it to Deegan.
He caught it with one hand. “I don’t have any desire to see anything, Evans.”
“Oh, but you don’t care about the woman? Her name is Cade, right?”
At the mention of Kiersten, his heart slammed into his boots. He clicked the phone, holding it up so he could view the screen while keeping Evans on his radar. A picture came up on the screen and his throat constricted. It was Kiersten. She had her hand up over her squinted eyes against the bright light. There was a drop of blood on her nose. The video ended.
“What have you done?” He could barely get the words out.
Max looked at Evans. “I told you. No more bloodshed.”
“And you just thought he’d go with us without leverage?” Evans gritted out. “I told you I would handle this. Clay will look like he killed the aide to keep her from talking. You’ll go on to do great things, sir. I will see this mission come full circle.”
Deegan could have crushed the phone in his grip, but he wanted it to be the necks of the three men who surrounded him. “Leave her alone. I brought her into this and she has no clue what you’ve done.”
“She’s alive, unless you make this difficult.”
“I want proof.” Deegan could barely breathe, but he needed to stay calm and his head in the game. Kiersten’s life could depend upon it. He’d save her, no matter what he had to do. Even if that meant surrendering to these goons.
“I figured you would.” Evans smirked. “On the phone, hit one.”
Deegan pushed the key pad and pressed the phone to his ear. It was answered on the second ring. He heard a female voice say, “Speak.”
“Deegan…is that you?”
He felt like he’d been sliced with a knife. It was Kiersten. “Are you okay?”
“It’s Max. This was all his plan—”
The phone went dead.
“Shit” Max bit out.
Evans smiled. “Just as I said. She’s fine, for now. This can go one of two ways. You can lower your weapon and go with us, or when I don’t show up or call my partner, she’ll burn everything with Cade inside. It’s your choice. But I’m prepared to meet my maker. How about you?”
The man wasn’t rational and that made him dangerous. Beyond dangerous. It made him lethal. Deegan understood his only choice was to hope these men took him to the same location where Kiersten was being held. Once he was there, he’d do whatever it took to protect her.
Lowering his gun, he dropped it to the floor and gave it a small kick.
He immediately felt a void.
“Now place my phone on the floor along with yours.”
Slowly, Deegan did as the bastard commanded. He heard the man behind him, then felt his gun pressed against his head. “You won’t get away with this, Max. Mark my words. And if anything happens to Kiersten I’ll slap my cuffs on your wrists myself. I will be back. Just chew on that while you’re plastering a fake smile on your face for the public.”
19
Her brain hurt.
That was her first thought.
The second was she had no idea where she’d been taken.
She had woken on a concrete floor in a bare room. The events came back to her one by grueling one. The accident. A bright light. Then a hit on her head that must have knocked her out.
There were no windows. The walls were block and the breeze came through the cracks.
Where was Deegan?
She paced back and forth, trying to work through the fuzzy paths of her brain. She’d left him several messages, telling him what she knew about Kline, but did he get them? The Department would try to find her once they realized she was missing. Deegan would find her…unless he wasn’t safe either.
Stopping midstride, she looked at the metal door across the short space, feeling her chest tighten. There was no door on the inside and it was bolted from the outside. She twirled, looking for any way out. Looking for any weakness in the wall. There was nothing, no flaw or imperfection that could be used to get out.
The killer had brought her here. He had made sure she’d be trapped.
She sat down in the corner and waited until finally she heard a key in the lock, a click, and then the door came open. Kiersten wasn’t expecting a woman. She was tall, wearing a tank top that showed off buff arms with sleeve tattoos.
“Well, well, well. We finally meet,” she said in a thick German accent.
Standing, Kiersten kept her distance. “Who are you?”
The woman stepped into the room. “I’m your worst nightmare, sweetheart.”
Kiersten slanted her gaze. “I’ve seen a lot and trust me, you’re not my worst.”
“Get ready, Polizist!” She took out a phone. “This should be fun.”
The phone rang and the woman handed it over.
Kiersten stared for a long second. Unsure if this was a trick.
“Go on, sweetheart. It’s your Geliebter Junge.” When Kiersten didn’t take the phone, the woman snorted. “Lover boy. Take it,” she hissed.
Barely getting a sentence out, the phone was jerked from her hand.
“There, that should keep the Fed happy for now.”
“What is happening? Why are you doing this? You must know you won’t get away with this,” Kiersten said in a low voice.
The woman stood and walked out, slamming the door behind her.
Unsure of how much time had passed, when she came back, she had a scarf in one hand and her gun in the other. “It’s time.”
Kiersten took a sidestep. “Time for what?”
“For this to be over.” She reached around, took her gun out from the waist of her pants and held it aimed at Kiersten. “Turn around.”
“No.”
“I’ll shoot you. That would be my choice, but I’m not running the show,” she slurred. “Now turn around, bitch!”
She spun and the woman roughly pulled Kiersten’s hands behind her back and tied the scarf around her wrists, so tight that the blood flow was blocked. With a jerk, she twisted Kiersten around and roughly dragged her toward the door and into a semi-dark corridor that resembled the dreariness of room. Cold and dank.
“That way,” the woman said and gave Kiersten a hard shove.
Paying close attention to every detail, they slowly made her way toward the end of the hallway where a bright window let in the early morning sunrise. So, she’d been here for hours? That made her hopes sink some. What if no one came? But she spoke to Deegan. He knew she was taken. She relied on him.
They came to a closed door with a square window.
The woman shoved Kiersten against the wall, then she reached into her pocket for a set of keys. They jingled as she searched for the right one.
Kiersten had no idea what was on the other side of the door, but she didn’t want to find out. Her instincts warned her that if she stepped across the threshold, the likelihood of her surviving would drop tremendously. They wouldn’t have a reason to keep her alive.
While the woman was distracted, Kiersten saw her one and only opportunity. She jerked against the scarf, tugging and pushing until she finally felt the material loosen some. The German woman couldn’t tie worth a damn, thank goodness.
The key was in the lock.
Sliding home…
Kiersten took a small step back, lifted her foot and kicked the woman’s wrist, sending the gun flinging across the floor. She looked around, a flicker of shock in her expression before she reacted by swinging her fist. Kiersten was quick and dodged the move that came at her face, but she wasn’t so lucky with the booted foot to her knee, sending her wobbling and falling back against the wall. The woman came at her and Kiersten threw a punch, landing it hard against the woman’s cheek. She let out a loud moan, but it didn’t take her long before she was grabbing Kiersten’s hair and pulling her, shoving her into the wall.
With an elbow to the woman’s face, she fell back a step and Kiersten turned, grabbing her around the throat and bringing her down onto her back.
A kick brought Kiersten to the ground too and they grappled, rolling around, throwing swings. The woman tried to reach for her gun, but Kiersten grabbed her ankles and dragged her across the floor, grabbing her hair and shoving her face into the concrete. Standing, she grabbed the woman off the floor and pulled back her fist, hitting her hard enough to knock her out. “Not so tough without your weapon, are you?”
Using the scarf, she tied the woman’s hands behind her back.
Picking up the gun and the keys, Kiersten held the weapon as she unlocked the door, slowly and carefully, listening for any sounds from the other side. Using all her skills, she took a step across the threshold. They weren’t alone. Not when the woman said she wasn’t “running the show”.
*
Deegan fluttered his eyes open, feeling a sharp pain in his temples. Once his blurred vision passed enough that he could make out more than fuzzy images, he examined the room from where he was tied up in the chair situated in the center of the room.
He had no clue where he was and only that Evans had sprayed him in the face with liquid chloroform.
His heart sank, remembering that they had Kiersten too. She had to be here…wherever ‘here’ was.
Pressing against the handcuffs on his wrists, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of them.
The doorknob turned and Deegan waited, planning his next step. Would he fight the person? Or would he wait for the most opportune time to pounce. It wasn’t his life he was thinking about, but Kiersten’s. He got her into this mess and he needed to make sure he got her out, alive.
The door came open slowly.
Kiersten stepped in.
His breath swooshed out of his lungs. Was he imaging that it was her standing before him?
She rushed into the room, dropping to her knees in front of him. “Deegan. I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered as she leaned in and planted kisses over his face.
He was more than happy to be on the receiving side of her affection, but he wasn’t sure when the men would be back and without the use of his hands, he wasn’t much good. “I’m cuffed. We got to find a way to get them loose. I think I can bust the chair, but it won’t help with the handcuffs.”
“I think I can help with that.” She pulled a set of keys from her back pocket and gave them a shake.
“How the hell did you manage to get the keys?” he asked proudly.
“I’ll explain later but at least we won’t have to worry about the woman for a while.” She got up and went to work finding the key
that fit the handcuffs.
Voices billowed from down the hall.
“Hurry, Kiersten,” he whispered.
“I’m trying.”
He heard the jingle of the keys as she searched through the handful.
“Take your time. I’m sure it’s in there.” He had no clue, but he understood nothing good came from feeling frantic.
The voices were drawing closer. “Kiersten, go. They’re coming. Get out of here!”
“I’m not leaving you.” She still worked through the keys. “No way. We’ll get out of here together.”
“Go and get help. You can get away,” he urged.
“Shut up. That’s not going to happen, not without you. Remember, you want to be the father of my child. I can’t take the risk of anything happening to you.”
“Does that mean you want it too?”
“You betcha! Get out of this with me alive and the answer will be a hundred times yes!”
Then he felt the release of the metal from around his wrists about the same time the door came flying open. Deegan was off the chair so fast that it went airborne and he charged Evans, not giving the man a chance to react. Deegan had him against the wall, pounding his fists into his face until he heard…
“I’d stop if I were you.”
Deegan looked over his shoulder. The other man had a gun aimed at Kiersten.
Grabbing Evans by the shirt, Deegan flung him hard to the ground, turning all his attention on the tall muscular man who had his gun dangerously close to her. Deegan held up his hands in surrender mode and didn’t move a muscle. Evans was busy trying to scoop himself up from the floor. He had blood dripping from one nostril.
“I’ve stopped,” Deegan said calmly.
He heard a sound in the distance. Was it a helicopter?
A second later sirens lit the air.
“Shit!” The gunman cocked his chin as if he was trying to listen closer. “What the hell is that, Evans? How the fuck did they find us here?”
Taken by the Lawman (Lawmen of Wyoming Book 6) Page 15