by Lucy Smoke
“Disappearance?” The soft sound of locks being disengaged sounded immediately after that. Texas and I exchanged a look moments before the door cracked open and the rounded face of a middle-aged man appeared on the other side. “Jenna’s missin’?”
I frowned. “You were the last one to see her, Mr. Ollison,” I said, stepping closer into the alcove of his doorway. “You didn’t know?”
He shook his head and then gestured for us to enter the apartment. “No, ‘course I didn’ know,” he replied. “Please, why don’ you come in? Would you like somethin’ to drink?”
“No, thank you, Mr. Ollison,” Texas said. “What can you tell us about the last time you saw Jenan Wiedleman?”
He wrung his hands. “Well, we met at Bean Water—s’near tha downtown stretch,” he said. “She’s a sweet girl, really. American, that one. Speakin’ o’, you have American accents, are you mates of hers?” He stopped and looked at us expectantly.
I nodded. “Yes, and we’re very worried. We haven’t seen or heard from her in a few days and she hasn’t answered her phone or emails and she hasn’t been to her apartment. Do you know where she could’ve gone?”
He grimaced and shook his head. “Last time I saw ‘er, she needed a ride back to ‘er office.”
“You took her back to the office?” Texas demanded.
Startled by the sharp tone in his voice, the man nodded quickly, eyes growing wide. “‘Course, didn’ want ‘er to waste ‘er money on a cab,” he answered.
Texas spun on his heel, reaching out and snatching my wrist as he tugged me behind him. “We have to go,” he said.
“What? Why?” Texas didn’t reply as he yanked me out of the apartment. Thomas Ollison stood in the doorway of his apartment, watching us as we retreated quickly. I sighed and called over my shoulder. “Thank you for the information, we appreciate it.”
He lifted his hand in a half-hearted, confused wave. I would’ve returned the gesture had Texas not slammed through the door into the stairwell, nearly dragging me down the staircase as we went.
“Texas!” I tugged on my wrist. “Slow down, you’re going to make me trip. Tell me what’s going on.”
Texas shook his head and refused to release me, but at least he began to speak. “It was never him,” he said. “If he took her back to the office, then she’s still there.”
“What do you mean?” We pushed out into the apartment complex courtyard. The rain had begun to come down even harder as we rushed from the street to the car.
Texas hurried me to the passenger side door, made sure I was inside before he dashed around to the driver’s side, and slammed himself in, shoving the keys into the ignition as lightning flashed across the sky and thunder rumbled.
“Stover—Bellamy said he didn’t feel right about him and as we were waiting on Ollison to come home, I hacked into the security footage of Bean Water and was reviewing the time when Jenna would have left. I was trying to figure out why the images felt wrong. She was leaving, but—” he broke off and shook his head. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it.”
“See it?” I lifted my brows and tilted my head as he turned the car around and headed back to downtown Sydney, back to the Bricker and Stein office building. “See what? Texas, you’re not making sense. I’m confused.”
“I thought it was odd we couldn’t get anything on the businessman Bricker and Stein are prosecuting,” Texas said. “He seemed too clean for a guy embezzling money. He doesn’t live over his means, isn’t spending money frivolously. I’ve checked his normal accounts. That’s because he wasn’t the man they were prosecuting.”
“I’m sorry what?” I shook my head. “They’re not prosecuting anyone for embezzling money?”
“No, they are,” Texas assured me. “But didn’t you think it was also a little odd that they’d send over a grunt worker like Jenna? She’s just a paralegal. She does background work. But one of the reasons Alex wanted us to come check on her in person, is because Jenna used to work for Iris.”
“She used to be an Iris girl?” Stunned didn’t even cover what I was feeling. I was thoroughly confused and shocked.
“Yes.” Texas took a corner a little sharper than expected and I nearly slid over into his seat. “Why aren’t you wearing your seatbelt?” he snapped, his tone tinged with concern as he let up on the gas
“I’m getting it,” I replied, my hand snapping out to grab at the rope of belt over my shoulder. We had been in such a rush that I’d completely forgotten.
Texas waited until I was securely buckled before he pressed his foot back on the gas. “She came over as a favor to her boss to do some digging. She was never prosecuting some random guy in another business.”
“Then what was she doing?” I asked.
“She was looking for evidence to prosecute someone within Bricker and Stein.”
My lips parted. “Stover…” The name echoed in the dim interior of the car as the rainstorm raged outside.
Texas tipped his jaw in a hard nod. “The guys must have figured it out,” he said, cursing harshly. “I should’ve realized it sooner.”
I reached over touching his arm even as he focused on the road. “It’s not your fault,” I said. “But do you think she found something—Jenna, I mean?”
“She must have,” Texas replied. “Or he must have caught on.”
“She can’t be at the office, though,” I said as he slowed at a light and turned my way with a frown. “He couldn’t have kept her at the office or let us around so much if that was the case,” I explained. “He certainly would have acted more nervous.”
“I don’t think you know men like him, Harlow,” Texas said. “He doesn’t care. If he’s the embezzler, and if he’s embezzling millions of dollars...you’d be surprised what men will do under the power of greed.”
The light turned green and we sped forward. “Do you think he’s going to hurt the guys?” I asked.
Texas’ lips firmed into a straight line. “I don’t know.”
“How can he keep them there? It’s four against one,” I said.
“I guarantee you, he probably has people working with or for him. He’s probably offered them a piece of the money pie if they’ll help him get it.”
I sank into the leather seat. My heart raced in my chest. The image of the guys being held at gunpoint flashed through my mind. My breath hitched and I chanced a glance at Texas. “Can you go any faster?”
He didn’t respond, but I felt the car jolt as he pressed down harder on the gas. I watched the watery roads outside and swore that no matter what happened, we would make it in time.
Chapter 13
“Can you tell what floor they’re on?”
Texas and I rushed into the lobby of the Bricker and Stein building, frowning when we saw that the front desk was deserted.
Texas pulled out his phone and clicked through a few apps, holding the phone out to show me a map of the interior of the building. It was in the same design as the building blueprints Knix often left lying around the house. I took the phone as we rushed through the elevators. I didn’t know how he’d gotten the blueprints, but I didn’t ask. With Texas’ skills, it was often better not to know.
“Fourth floor,” I said. “I think they’re in the meeting room again.”
He hit the button and we waited impatiently for the lift to rise. Texas reached back and slipped the gun out of the small of his back. I stared down at the phone screen. The red dots blinked bright and alive. And though I knew it was nothing more than a collection of cell phones with a signal connecting with the phone in my hand, I prayed that it meant the guys were okay. If they weren’t…I didn’t know what I would do.
“When the doors open,” Texas said as he flicked the safety off on his gun, “we have to move fast. He’ll hear it ding. If they are in the meeting room, I want you to let me go first.”
“You said he might have people working for him, what if there are too many for you?” I asked nervously. “If they’re too
much for the guys then the two of us—”
“You let me worry about the guys,” Texas said, keeping his eyes straight ahead, staring at the line that divided the elevator doors.
“Texas—” The ding of our arrival interrupted me and Texas moved forward, pushing me back as the doors slid open and he moved into the hallway with his arms raised and his gun pointed. Strangely enough, however, there was no one around.
We moved silently into the room, noting the darkened interior. “There’s no one here,” I said, staring down at the phone in my hand. “How—”
“The phones,” Texas stopped at the end of the table and lifted one of the four phones that had been left behind.
“If their phones are here, but they’re not...then where the hell are they?” Fear raced through my system. It clouded over my brain, making the whole room fuzzy. All of the air leaked out of my chest. If Stover did anything to my guys, I would make sure he would regret it. No matter what I had to do. No matter what rules or laws I had to break.
I strode over to Texas and handed him back his phone. I looked at him pointedly. “Find them,” I ordered.
Texas met my stare for a moment before he turned the phone his way. His fingers flew over the screen as I collected the rest of the phones and we made our way back out into the hallway. I led him into the elevator and back down to the lobby. We strode out of the building and went back to where we’d left the car running on the corner. I didn’t even feel the rain as it splattered the side of my face and soaked my hair, making the strands stick to my cheek.
Texas got behind the driver’s seat and tossed the phone in my lap as he cranked the car. “Laptop” he snapped, holding his hand out. I reached beneath the seat and retrieved it.
I glanced down to the phone screen as he clicked open the computer and let his fingers span across the keyboard. I lifted the cell in a shaky grip. It was security footage of the guys as they were led with their hands behind their backs out of the Bricker and Stein building. Every single one of them carried stiff shoulders and stony faces.
“His fucking house!” Texas growled, practically throwing the computer into my lap as he punched in something on the car’s GPS system.
“You found them?” I demanded.
“He took them to his fucking house,” Texas answered. He pressed the green start button on the screen and turned the wheel, steering onto the street. “I can’t believe it. He’s so stupid. I didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough to take hostages to their own house.”
I reached up and buckled in, my hands clenching on the seat as we fishtailed taking a turn too fast. The only way I was going to keep a level head was to keep Texas talking. It distracted me from my surroundings. “Why would he take them to his house?”
Texas shook his head, his focus centered between the road and the GPS. “It’s not his actual house,” he said. “It’s a property he owns—a small vineyard outside of the city.”
“How’d you figure that out?” My knuckles turned white as he ran a red light.
“CCTV,” was all he answered.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Texas, they’re going to be alright.”
“I know that.”
“We’ll get to them in time.”
He jerked a firm nod.
“Texas?” He flicked me a sharp look—one so unlike him that it unnerved me. “Just don’t kill us before we get there.”
Fire danced behind his eyes, the fury in his expression was only growing more and more alarming. I reached over and took the gun from where he had set it in the console. I checked to make sure the safety was still off and then I gave him a meaningful look.
“You’d be really mad if you died before you could kick someone’s ass.”
He followed that with a snort and another slight tilt of his head. “Okay.” He took a breath and let up on the gas. Texas’ normally soulful brown eyes burned like embers in a dark fire. And if Stover hurt my guys, I would unleash that fire. I’d make sure he burned in it.
Vineyards smelled of grapes, I realized. Fruit and flowers. The scent surrounded us as we crept through the rows and rows of grapes. I felt suffocated by all of the smells. It was so heavy in the air that I held a hand over my mouth and nose as we moved towards the house at the top of the hill.
As we approached the back veranda, a swinging sign that read Little Hill Vineyard caught my attention. A golden glow of lights illuminated from within. Texas and I trailed up to the back door and when we found it locked, he handed me the gun and bent down to check it out. After a moment he withdrew a small ring of keys from his pocket. I frowned at them as he slid one partially into the lock, glanced my way, and smacked his hand down hard turning the key at the same time.
The door popped open. “How…?” I whispered as I handed him back the gun and he slipped the ring of keys back in his pocket.
“Bump keys,” he said quietly before putting a finger to his lips and gestured for me to step to the side.
We entered through a kitchen, the sound of voices drifting down from somewhere above. We both looked up as we heard a distinctive shout and a crash. “Stover,” I said, moving towards the stairwell.
“Harlow, no,” Texas hissed, but it was too late, I was already halfway up the stairs. I paused, turned, and gestured for him to follow. “I should go first,” he said, moving past me. “Stay behind me and if any of them have guns, I want you to run.”
“Fat chance,” I whispered.
“What?” He turned and looked back at me.
“You got it,” I lied. There was no way in hell.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I mean it.”
I nodded and nudged him forward. “Let’s go.”
Texas turned and lifted the gun in his hand as we crept up the stairwell. My heart raced against my ribcage, pounding so loud that I swore it was as if the damn organ was hooked up to a speaker. I could hear it in my ears.
“—tell me where the evidence is and you can all go home,” I heard Stover saying as we neared the second floor. Texas paused and put his hand back to keep me from continuing forward as we listened to the response.
“Where do you fucking think it is, you idiot?” I bit my lip at Grayson’s remark. There was a beat of silence before a sharp thump and a responding groan.
“I’ve been incredibly patient with you, Jenna,” Stover continued, “but this is your fault. You got these people involved—”
“You got them involved,” I heard a feminine voice—assumedly Jenna—interrupt. As Texas and I moved closer to the corner, and I leaned past him to peek around the corner, I spotted them through an open doorway into what looked like an office. I was right. It was her. “If you hadn’t embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars, none of this would be happening.”
“It was three million, you little bitch,” Stover snapped with a growl. “A million dollars. Do you know how much it costs to even live in Sydney? I left my life behind in Texas to come here and what do they repay me with? They wanted me out! I took what I was due.”
There was a deep rumble as a man encased in all black—black cargo pants, black shirt, and a black mask covering his whole head—strode by the doorway and said something. I looked to Texas, but it appeared that neither of us could make out whatever was being said by the man.
“They’re what?” Stover screeched. “Get them in here now!”
Texas moved down a step, pushing me back as the man in black appeared in the doorway once more, this time heading in our direction. “Go,” Texas hissed, motioning for me to retreat back down the stairs, but as we turned another man in the same attire—all black everything—appeared at the end of the staircase, effectively trapping us between them.
I could see indecision cross over Texas’ face and then he quickly lifted the gun and took aim. I gasped as the gun went off and covered my ears as they began to ring immediately after. The man at the top collapsed, clutching his leg as he groaned. Texas swung around and pointed the gun at the man from below.
I rushed ahead, moving past Stover with as minimal contact as I could. He scowled at Texas, keeping his eyes trained on him even as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.
“Harlow, what—you shouldn’t—” I rushed to Grayson’s side as he struggled to move away from the wall.
“Don’t worry about that now,” I said, as I shoved him forward and frowned. Reaching into his pockets, I felt it when he stiffened as I brushed against something that was not what I was looking for. “Are you serious?” I said as I found the pocket knife he kept and used it to slice through the zip ties at his wrists.
He shrugged. “Can you really blame me, Doll?” he asked with a rueful grin. “You’re here. The blood is pumping. Texas is holding a gun…” There was a pause. “Why the fuck does Texas have a gun?”
I moved to Marv and cut his restraints next. “It was for emergencies,” Knix said with a sigh as I got to him.
“And this counts as an emergency,” I replied.
I cut through everyone’s zip ties, ending with Jenna who looked a little worse for wear. Her hair was matted against one side of her head, and dark circles lined the creases beneath her eyes. “Thank you,” she muttered when her restraints were finally off. Everyone rubbed at their wrists as they slowly got up from the floor.
Knix took control and moved behind Stover as Texas trained the gun on him. Texas had moved to the side to keep the other men in his sight the entire time. I tossed Marv one of the cells I had kept and he quickly dialed.
“We need to get out of here,” Jenna said.