Code of Valor

by Lynette Eason

  As far as Emily was concerned, she needed to put that out of her mind and let the past stay in the past for now. “Can you two get up for a minute?”

  They stood. Emily examined the bench and gave a satisfied grunt. “That might work,” she whispered to herself.

  “What might work?”

  The bench rocked slightly under her hard shake. “This. As a weapon of some sort. It’s not very sturdy. I think I can pull it apart and use one of the pieces as a weapon.”

  Her mother hadn’t taken her eyes from Emily, tracking her every movement. “A piece of wood against a gun?”

  Emily shot her a hard smile. “I’m counting on the element of surprise.”

  “They used us to get you to come here. Told you they’d hurt us if you didn’t.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you came.”

  Emily blanched. “Of course.”

  Her mother blinked and looked away. Emily’s heart hurt at all the unresolved issues, but she had to focus—and pray there would be time later to talk. She slipped her jacket off and ripped the sleeve of her T-shirt from her unwounded arm.

  Her mother gasped. “What happened?”

  Emily saw she was staring at the bandage around her other arm. Blood had seeped through. Probably from all of her activity.

  “Just a little incident.” Emily strode to the window and gave it a shove. To her surprise, it opened. “Guess they’re not too concerned about us crawling out of here with these bars.”

  “Guess not,” Sophia said. “What are you doing?”

  Emily tied the shirt sleeve around the bar at the lowest point, hoping no one would be able to see it when they opened the door—or notice it on a security camera. She shut the window. “Leaving a signal in case my friend was able to follow me.” She turned to Sophia. “Now, how good are you at climbing and hiding?”

  “Anything at the back?” Brady asked. The drone moved and he narrowed his eyes. “What’s that? In the window?”

  “Not sure. Looks like a piece of material. We need eyes on the inside more than anything,” Linc said. “SWAT—and Derek—are on the way.”

  “Can you take care of the cameras on the back of the building where that piece of cloth is?”

  “Why? You think it’s something significant?”

  “I don’t know, but Emily’s done really well leaving us a trail to follow. She left me the note, then made sure she took a taxi that I could trace. She even managed to get me a text where they were rerouting her to.” He nodded at the window. “And now there’s a piece of material hanging on the bars of the window. I think she’s trying to tell us she’s in that room.”

  Linc pressed a finger to his earpiece. “Cameras are out in the back,” he said. “It’ll cause some concern when someone notices.”

  “I don’t plan for this to take long. Can we get a thermal image of the room?” With that equipment, he’d be able to detect if someone was inside the building in the room signaled by the material tied to the bar on the window. If that was Emily sending him a message, they needed to know—and act. Linc walked over and Brady tucked his phone into the front pocket of his jeans.

  “SWAT’s going to approach,” Linc said. “They’ve got the thermal imaging equipment.”

  Brady shook his head. “I’m going with them.”

  “Your knee—”

  “Is holding up. I’m going.” He rubbed his eyes and sighed. “But I promise, if I think it’s going to interfere or cause a safety issue, I’ll stand down.”

  “Ruthie said you ran out on the MRI.”

  “Didn’t have a choice. She gave me a brace. It’s helping.”

  “Then suit up. You’re not going in without a vest on.”

  By the time Brady slipped on the combat gear, law enforcement had the entire building surrounded. And it was confirmed there were three people inside the room. “Two adults and a kid, right?” Brady said. He shoved the earpiece Linc had provided into his left ear.

  “Yeah. Looks like the kid is in the ceiling,” Linc said. “They can see inside the room with the binoculars, but whoever’s in there is staying to the side.”

  “Smart.” Brady paused. “Don’t breach until I’m in position.”

  “Stand by,” Linc said to the men and women waiting for his command to go. “They’ve got the cameras at the front on a loop too, so it looks like everything is okay out there. Also thermal imaging is picking up five people in the main area. They’re all gathered in a room off the main floor.”

  “So, they’re distracted?”

  “Yeah. For now.”

  “I’m going to knock on the window where I think Emily is.”

  “What if it’s not her in there?”

  “Then I guess I’m going to figure out who it is. But I think it’s her.”

  Brady took one more look at the blueprints and drew in a deep breath. He could let SWAT do this, but for some reason he . . . couldn’t. He’d rescued Emily several times already and he wasn’t going to entrust her safety to people who didn’t know her.

  Which made absolutely no sense and he knew it. The people he worked with were more than skilled in hostage negotiation and rescue.

  But he wanted to be there. He had to be there.

  He held his weapon in his right hand and made his way to the side of the building. Fortunately, the window was low to the ground. Unfortunately, the bars were solid. He had to find a way to get her out of there. If it was her.

  He lifted a hand and knocked.

  Emily heard a yell from outside her door the same time she heard the noise at the window. Her fingers gripped the bench leg she’d yanked off and planned to swing like a bat at the next person who entered the room. “Was that a knock on the window?” she asked.

  Her mother stood in the bathroom doorway, looking at the window. “Yes.”

  Still gripping the wooden leg, Emily moved to the window and stood to the side to peer out. One thing she’d learned on the streets. Don’t be seen until you know who’s looking. “Get in the bathroom, Mom, and shut the door. No matter what you hear, don’t come out unless I yell for you or law enforcement does. Okay?”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll be all right, but you need to protect Sophia. Please?”

  To Emily’s amazement, the woman nodded and obeyed. Emily turned her attention to the window and could see a man in law enforcement gear. Hope leaped. With her free hand, she pushed open the window and recognized the eyes under the baseball cap. “Brady?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is that Sophia in the ceiling?”

  She blinked. “Yes.”

  “Good move.” His eyes traveled the small room. “Where’s your mother?” She’d been in the room just seconds before.

  “In the bathroom guarding Sophia’s hiding place.”

  “We’re going to work on getting these bars off without them realizing it. Then we’ll—”

  The door slammed open. Brady jerked to the side out of sight and Emily spun, the piece of wood hidden behind her.

  The man who’d shoved her into the room stood in the doorway. “Get away from that window!” His eyes flicked around the room. “Where’s the old woman and the kid?”

  Old woman? Her mother was only forty-eight. “In the bathroom.”

  He shut the door behind him and strode toward the bathroom. As he passed her, Emily swung the bench leg with all of her strength. Pain shot through her wounded arm as the wood connected with her captor’s head, but satisfaction flowed when he slumped to the floor.

  She darted to the door, twisted the knob, and opened it a crack. Three of the remaining four men were focused on the front window. Snake Man still sat behind his monitors. “See what’s taking Chico so long,” Snake Man called.

  The man closest to the office headed toward her. “I don’t like this, boss. Something’s going down.”

  “The monitors don’t say anything, but yeah, I think you’re right. Get the Chast
ain woman and kill the other two,” he said. “Dump them in the lake. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Emily shut the door, wishing she had a way to lock it, and ran to the window. “Brady!”

  “I’m here.”

  “They’re coming to get me and I heard one of them say to kill my mom and Sophia and dump them in the lake.” She couldn’t help the edge of hysteria in her voice.

  “Stand to the side of the window,” he told her.

  She stepped aside as the latch clicked on the door.

  “Breach now!” Brady’s sharp whisper came through the window, then the door opened.

  “Chico, what’s going on in—” The man’s eyes fell to his unconscious comrade on the floor, then shot to her. “What’d you do?”

  She hefted the wood and dropped into a defensive stance. “I hit him and I’ll hit you too.”

  “You’re dead.” He lifted his weapon. One shot came from outside the window.

  Her captor dropped. His weapon clattered to the hardwood.

  Emily screamed and jumped back, heart pounding. She ran to the doorframe to peer out in the large area. All she could think was two down, three to go.

  The front door burst open. Law enforcement swarmed the building. Gunfire sounded and Emily slammed the door.

  The bathroom door opened and her mother appeared.

  “Go back,” Emily said. “Shut the door.”

  Her mother’s eyes landed on the man with the bullet hole in his head. She turned and retched but slammed the bathroom door.

  The other door opened and Emily turned to see Brady enter. His gaze went to the two men on the floor and she gestured to the dead man. “Was that you?”

  “No, SWAT.” He hurried to cuff the unconscious man on the floor and pat him down. He removed two more guns.

  “That’s why you wanted me away from the window.”

  “Yes.” He moved to the dead body, cuffed him, checked for a pulse, confiscated another weapon, then stood. “Get Sophia and your mom and stay in the bathroom until I come back for you. It’s the safest place at the moment. They’re not all in custody, but will be soon. Be ready to move fast.” He nodded to the men on the floor. “Cover Sophia’s eyes. She doesn’t need to see that.”

  Emily bolted into the bathroom. Her mother leaned against the sink, rinsing her mouth. Emily stood on the toilet and removed the ceiling tile closest to the wall. In her desperation to find a hiding place for her sister, she’d pushed the tile up and discovered a small “shelf” that jutted from the wall just above the toilet. “Sophia?”

  “I’m here.” The child’s voice wavered and Emily’s heart clenched.

  Her mother stood next to her, arms reaching up. “Come here. Lower yourself down and I’ll help you.”

  “I heard some loud noises,” Sophia said. “Like shooting. I don’t want to come down if someone’s shooting.”

  “The cops are here now,” her mother said. “You’re going to be fine.”

  The girl’s legs swung down and Emily helped her mother lower her to the toilet, then jump down. The little girl looked up at her. “I want to go home.”

  “I know.” She wanted to offer a hug, but Sophia didn’t know her. Not like she should. She was a stranger to the child and she had only herself to blame for that. Yes, her mother had kicked her out, but it had been Emily’s choice to stay away for so long. Sophia ran to her mother and buried her face in the woman’s stomach.

  Shouts, gun blasts, and screams echoed from the outer room.

  “Stay here,” Emily said. She ran out of the bathroom.

  “Emily! Get back here!”

  For a moment she froze. Her mother actually sounded concerned, but she ignored the order, cracked the door, and peered out. Law enforcement swarmed the warehouse floor, weapons raised, shouting orders to the scattering men with the snake tattoos.

  Another shot rang out, followed by three more.

  Emily pressed her back against the wall until the shooting stopped, glanced at the now-closed door of the bathroom, then took another look at the floor.

  Controlled chaos reigned. The man she’d slammed with the piece of wood was awake and in the grip of a SWAT officer, being led from the building.

  Another man lay on the floor, hands cuffed, three dark holes in his chest. An officer held a hand to a bleeding bicep but didn’t look too concerned. Where was Snake Man?

  And where was Brady?

  “Clear!”

  “Clear!”

  “All clear here!”

  The shouts came from all directions. Men and women in their gear, rifles and other weapons held ready.

  And then Brady was in her line of sight. He caught her gaze and frowned at her as he hurried toward her. “Thought I told you to stay back.”

  “You did. Did you get them?”

  “Two of them. There were five in all, right?”

  “Right.”

  “We got all but one. Two are dead and two in custody. Their other buddy escaped somehow, but we’ll get his face off a camera from somewhere and put him through the recognition software. It won’t take us long to find him.”

  He sounded more hopeful than she thought he should. Not everyone was in the system. Although Snake Man didn’t exactly look like he was new to a life of crime, so maybe they’d get a hit. Brady looked over her shoulder. “Everyone okay?”

  Emily turned. Her mother and Sophia stood in the bathroom door, watching wide-eyed and scared. She didn’t blame them. “What now?”

  “Officers will want to get your mother’s statement and talk to Sophia.”

  “Of course. Then what?”

  “Then we make sure your mother and sister are safe while you help us figure out who is so desperate for what you have that they’re willing to pull this kind of stunt.”

  12

  Emily sat on the grass outside the office building with her mother and sister close by. Once the paramedics had checked them out and deemed no hospital visit necessary, they’d left and the medical examiner had arrived shortly thereafter.

  Half an hour ago, Sophia had stretched out, laid a head on her mother’s thigh, and promptly dropped off to sleep. Emily envied her. Neither she nor her mother had spoken in the last twenty minutes and the silence was straining Emily’s nerves to the breaking point. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry about all this,” she said softly, not wanting to disturb the child.

  “I see trouble is still showing up wherever you land. At least this time no one died except the people who deserved it.”

  The jab nearly decimated the fragile hold she had on her emotions, but what could she say? “Yeah,” she whispered. “At least there’s that.” She fell silent again since that seemed to be the least painful option. She refused to revert to her childhood ways of snapping off whatever she thought, regardless of the consequences. It almost surprised her that she had no more desire to cause as much hurt as possible to the woman who’d given birth to her.

  “What happens now?” her mother asked, keeping her voice low while she stroked Sophia’s dark hair.

  Emily’s heart stumbled at the sight. Her mother had never touched her like that. Ever. She cleared her throat and looked away. “They catch the people who did this.” She paused, then nodded to Sophia. “She’s beautiful.”

  “Yes.”

  “She’s happy?”

  “Unlike you as a child, you mean?”

  Why was she even trying? But . . . “Yes.”

  “I think she is. After all, it’s just the two of us.”

  “I know.” Emily swiped a hand across her eyes and refused to let the tears come. It was just the two of them and that was Emily’s fault too. At least in her mother’s eyes.

  “Why did you come?” her mom asked. “Risk your life for us? I never would have—”

  “What?” Emily asked. “Thought I’d do it?”

  “Yes. I even told them you wouldn’t.”

  “Wow.” Of course she’d had no reason to think otherwise
. Old pain became new. “It’s been a long time. Things have changed. I’ve changed. You don’t know who I am now.”

  “I never knew who you were.”

  “Unfortunately, that is very true.” But she wasn’t sure who got the blame for that one. Probably her father. Emily drew in a deep breath and stood. “I’m going to find Brady and ask him what we’re supposed to do now.”

  “I’m sorry, Emily. For a lot of things.”

  She wasn’t going there. Not right now. “I know, Mom. I am too.”

  “Who is Brady to you?” her mother asked.

  What a loaded question. Emily gave a small shrug and shook her head. “I don’t know. A friend.” And that made her sad because while she wanted more, there was no way that was going to happen. The fact that she was sad about that made her mad.

  “He’s a cop.”

  “I’m aware.” She wasn’t getting into this now. “I’ll be back.” As she walked, she took inventory. Her foot throbbed, along with her arm. She had the beginnings of what was shaping up to be a pounding headache, and she was hungry.

  She found Brady near the entrance to the warehouse talking to Linc.

  “. . . secret door that led to an underground tunnel.”

  “What underground tunnel?” Emily asked.

  “It’s how one of them was able to escape. It leads to a basement next door. He simply climbed down and walked away.”

  “So, he let his guys fight it out while he ran?” Emily shook her head. “Nice.”

  “Yeah.”

  “He was the one who broke into Heather’s and my apartment and trashed them.”

  “Did he say what he was looking for?”

  “Just information. Something about a boat that sank. He wasn’t exactly clear, but I’ll fill you in later. When can we go?” she asked. “My mom needs to get Sophia home and get her something to eat.”

  “Soon. We’re going to have to transport them to the station to get their statements. We’ll have someone trained in interviewing children question Sophia to make sure she’s not traumatized further. We’ll also feed them and do our best to make sure they’re as comfortable as possible.”

  “Okay. Who’s we?”

  “Well, law enforcement. I also think we need to put them in a safe house,” Brady said.