Perilous Games (Gray Tower Book 3)

by J. M. Brister

  Well, that statement messed with Paul’s head. It wasn’t quite what he had bargained for. However, Paul did know that some captives bonded with their captors. He wasn’t going to take her word for it just yet.

  “Ashlen, just wait until the ambulance gets here to check you out,” Paul told her. “Then, we can talk about Mercer Cade.”

  “I DON’T…NEED…AN…AMBULANCE…” She told him loudly and firmly as she lifted herself from the floor.

  Then, she stood on her own, pushing Paul away. She bolted across the living space and right out the front door. Paul ran after her, his heart pumping furiously.

  “Ashlen! Stop!” Paul commanded as he ran after her, though he knew she wouldn’t listen.

  She never listened.

  Paul burst through the pushed-in wreckage of the front door and ran full-speed after Ashlen. She was quite fast for someone who had been a captive since Friday night. She had made it all the way to where Rodriguez and Cade were headed.

  “Mercer!” She screamed as she tried to reach toward Cade.

  Paul had been running so closely behind Ashlen that it was easy to grab at her arms and hold her before she could try and dive at the car after Cade.

  “Ashlen, follow their directions,” Cade told her as Rodriguez pushed his head down against the hood of the car.

  Ashlen screamed and flailed and knocked against Paul’s arms, but he held her firmly. After a moment, though, she became subdued, a slight whimper escaping her mouth. She relaxed against Paul’s body.

  “I think you can cancel the ambulance,” Paul told his partner. “She’s physically fine, but we’re going to need to take her in for questioning.”

  Just then, police sirens could be heard. It was only a few moments later that a few cop cars pulled up alongside the Taurus. Three policemen got out, two from one car and one from the other.

  Still with one hand on Ashlen, Paul grabbed his badge and flipped it out to show the officers. They studied it and nodded.

  “What do you need?” One of the officers asked, a male in his late forties to early fifties.

  “Get him in the back of a squad car,” Paul said, pointing to Cade. “After that, we can talk about getting him transported. The nearest FBI office is in Charlotte.”

  The officers did as they were told, pushing Cade in the back of a Ford Escape. Luckily, Cade was complying. Paul knew if Cade wanted to cause a scene, it would get ugly and fast.

  Paul squeezed Ashlen’s arm as she swayed precariously in his grasp. He’d prefer that she be checked out by paramedics, but he bet she’d do alright when they got her to Charlotte.

  He turned to Rodriguez.

  “Let’s get her in the car. We’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us.”

  Paul led the suddenly eerily silent Ashlen to his Taurus and opened one of the back passenger doors. She got in the car without further protest and sat silently.

  The whole “rescue” had not gone down as Paul had planned. Yes, they were able to subdue Cade without any shots fired, but Paul had not pictured Ashlen’s reaction as it had been. Now, Paul was even questioning that it had been a rescue after all. There had always been the possibility that Cade was a hired bodyguard sent by Peter Cole. Now, maybe that was correct after all.

  Regardless, Paul would get a clean-up crew going on the house. That nasty-looking carbine couldn’t be legal to own, so they could get Cade on a weapon’s charge at the very least.

  Rodriguez came over to Paul and asked, “Have you taken a good look at that weapon Cade was carrying?”

  “Yeah, I did,” Paul said in the most sarcastic tone he could muster. “It was pointed right at my head, remember?”

  “Yeah, well…we’ll have to run it through ATF, but I don’t think you can legally carry something like that as a civilian.”

  “So, we may have Cade at least on a gun charge,” Paul said, feeling a little better about the whole ordeal.

  It was still going to be hard to pass off their illegal entry into the house. That could bite them later. Maybe Paul could just say he heard a noise or something? Yeah, that was it.

  “I agree,” Rodriguez said, nodding. “From what we’ve seen, there just isn’t a lot of evidence that she was held here against her will.”

  “Well, we were told that. But still…I’ll talk to Ashlen and see what I can find out now that she’s calmed down a little,” Paul offered. “Why don’t we get Cade moved to the field office for questioning? It’s a two-hour drive to Charlotte. I’ll let the police know where to transport him to. We can drive Ashlen.

  “As for the house, I can call a few agents in and some local police to see what they can dig up.”

  “Sure thing,” Rodriguez nodded. “I’ll go with Cade and keep an eye on him.”

  Paul’s partner turned and got to work organizing the local police.

  Paul sighed and moved around to the other side of his car, realizing that his partner had volunteered to go with Cade so that Paul could spend some time alone with Ashlen. Rodriguez knew how antsy Paul had been. Yeah, the guy knew that Ashlen and Paul had broken up, but it was obvious that Paul still loved her.

  So, Paul opened the driver’s side door, sat in the seat, and shut the door. The saddened eyes that stared back at him made his heart almost stop.

  Chapter 16

  When Paul had slipped into the driver’s seat, there had been a million questions that Ashlen had wanted to ask him.

  The only one she could stammer out was, “Paul, wh-what’s going on?”

  The past twenty minutes had been possibly the wildest of her life, maybe even crazier than when Marino’s thugs had been shooting at her. Mercer was gone now, snatched away from her by what appeared to be federal agents. Her ex-fiancé had shown up in the middle of the chaos, making her head spin. She felt angry and alone and confused.

  “Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing,” Paul replied. Instead of turning around to talk to her, he stared at her through the rearview mirror. “But before we start talking, I need to know if you are honestly okay.”

  Oh no.

  He was talking about her little fainting spell. She had been embarrassed that she had fainted. It was certainly a first for her, but the shock of seeing Paul standing over her in that bathroom had been so utterly surprised that she had lost it. She had never planned on seeing him after their messy break-up, let alone barging into her hiding space.

  Paul Anderson looked a lot different than he had four years ago. He had always been an incredibly attractive man, but a few years had matured his boyish looks. Now, he looked plain sexy. His brown hair was even cut a little different. It made him look more professional.

  And that suit. That was not the typical attire that Paul Anderson wore.

  Paul was much older than her and had many years on the police force when they had first met. Paul had worn his police uniform or jeans, not suits. And he certainly had not worn custom-tailored designer suits. That just didn’t seem to be in his personality, though Ashlen had to admit that she liked the new look.

  Yes, after four years, Ashlen still found Paul very attractive. But attraction had never been the problem with Paul. Him being a cheating scumbag, on the other hand, had been.

  “I’m fine,” she finally said quietly. “I just need to know what’s going on. What are you doing here with the FBI?” She asked.

  “I’m an agent now, Ash,” Paul told her. “I’ve been one since we…”

  He trailed off, but she already could guess what he wanted to say: “Since we broke up.”

  “Good for you,” she snapped. Thinking about their break-up always made her a little snippy and bitter. “But what are you doing here? Why did you take Mercer away?”

  “Okay, look,” Paul started, his voice a little edgy and his eyes looking a tad bit pissed. “Why don’t we talk about what’s going on, and you can fill me in on anything I have wrong, okay?”

  “Sure,” Ashlen said uneasily.

  They talked.

  Ashle
n found out that Paul had been assigned to her case after the FBI had assumed that she had been kidnapped. Mercer had been suspected of not just that but for homicide of one of Marino’s thugs when he had rammed his Tahoe through the barrier of vans early that fateful Saturday morning.

  However, the case had been called off mysteriously. Ashlen had assumed that it was Mercer’s Gray Tower group who had somehow pulled that off. Paul had explained that he was still concerned about her, and after a tip, had come to the cabin for a ‘wellness check.’ She wasn’t sure what that even meant, but she was pissed that he had wrecked everything.

  She said anything and everything she could to make Mercer appear to be completely innocent, which he was. She talked about her uncle and how she had found out about the arms deal that had gone down badly. She talked about how Marino wanted to use her as leverage to force her uncle to go through with the deal.

  At one point in their conversation, Paul got a call which sounded like it might be his boss. From what she could hear, there was a lot of yelling from the other end of the line. Her ex sounded like he was in a lot of trouble. Somehow Ashlen knew that he wasn’t supposed to check on them, especially from what Mercer had told her about Gray Tower and its connections.

  When he finished the phone call, she smirked and said defiantly, “You’re in trouble, aren’t you? Let me guess, you weren’t supposed to be at that cabin?”

  Paul cleared his throat and shook his head.

  “As I said, it was a wellness visit. We just happened to come across Cade and that illegal weapon of his.”

  “You barged in, most likely without a warrant. I can’t wait until this all falls on your head. You’ve always been impulsive.”

  Ashlen said that as a jab at him cheating on her. She noticed him stiffen.

  “I heard a suspicious noise.”

  Ashlen bit her lip and decided not to argue further. It wasn’t going to help. Besides, if Mercer was right about his company, this would be behind them soon. She was still safe. That was all that mattered.

  Paul was oddly quiet after that. They drove back down through the mountains and then got on the highway heading toward Charlotte. Ashlen had never been to this area of the U.S. before, so she attempted to pay attention to the scenery instead of thinking about her current situation.

  Finally, Paul spoke up.

  “Ash, I’m sorry that you have to go through this right now. You shouldn’t have to put up with your uncle’s problems,” he said softly.

  “I’ll survive,” Ashlen mumbled as she flinched in his car’s back seat, wondering how he knew about her uncle and his shady dealings.

  This little comment, however, did not seem to sit well with Paul.

  “Damn it, Ash,” Paul grumbled. “Do you realize how serious your situation has gotten? We’re probably going to have to keep you in protective custody until this whole mess gets figured out.”

  “Oh, I know how serious this is,” Ashlen shot back. “I’ve known how serious it was since Marino’s gang shot at me.”

  “Then why didn’t you contact the authorities?” Paul demanded. “We even had the media running stories to try and get more leads on where you had gone. I have been going out of my mind thinking the worst had happened to you!”

  That last statement took her off guard. She hadn’t expected him to have cared so much about her still, especially since she had been the one who had sent him packing. She had always thought that he hadn’t ever really loved her. If he had loved her, why would he take another woman to his bed?

  “Paul…I…” She stammered. “I honestly didn’t know that the FBI was looking for us. We were so busy trying to avoid running into Marino’s gang.” Also, Mercer had kept her very busy, but she neglected to mention that. “I’m sorry I made you worry.”

  Paul sighed as he looked in his mirrors to change lanes.

  “Don’t feel bad,” he told her. “I’m sure you’ve had a lot on your plate for the last couple of days.”

  There was a long silent pause where the only noise was the low hum of the car’s engine and the whoosh of cars passing by them. Then Paul said something that made Ashlen’s heart skip a beat.

  “I’ve missed you, Ash.”

  Crap.

  Why did he have to start this now? Ashlen tried desperately to think of something to say. She didn’t even know how she felt about him anymore. She had spent a lot of time trying to bury anything that she had ever felt about him so that his betrayal wouldn’t hurt so much.

  “Paul…I…don’t know what to say,” she finally said uneasily.

  “Don’t say anything,” he said. “I just wanted you to know that I still care about you…a lot. Maybe when this is all over, I can show you how I’ve changed.”

  Ashlen, filled with a mix of emotions running all through her at once, had no idea what to say about a bombshell like that, so she decided to take Paul’s advice: she turned to look out the window and said nothing.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Mercer sat in a sterile-looking room with a plain metal table, a few plain metal chairs to match, and an obvious two-way mirror. He was sitting in one of those metal chairs and was still handcuffed behind the back. The FBI agents had left him alone, letting him stew most likely.

  And stewing he was.

  It had been a long ride to Charlotte, which happened to be the only FBI field office in North Carolina. Ironically enough, Mercer wasn’t worried about himself. Gray Tower would bail him out in no time.

  It was Ashlen who he had been worried about. The whole car ride, he had been consumed with concern for her. He had never seen such a desperate look on her face before when she realized that they were taking him away. And he had not liked the way Agent Pretty Boy had manhandled her when she had tried to run out to him. Yeah, Mercer hoped that he would see that man again, so he could share a piece of his mind.

  And maybe a piece of his fists.

  Mercer sat and stewed for a little while longer until finally two agents opened the door and stepped through. One was Pretty Boy. The other was that Rodriguez guy who had been at the cabin. This was going to get interesting.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Cade,” Pretty Boy greeted him. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting for so long.”

  Yeah right, they were sorry. Mercer did not doubt that they had done it on purpose.

  When Mercer only glared at Pretty Boy, the agent continued, “My name is Agent Anderson. This is Agent Rodriguez. We’d like to talk to you about your involvement with Peter Cole.”

  If Mercer could have crossed his arms, he would have.

  “Yeah, sure thing. As soon as I get to talk to Ashlen,” Mercer replied smugly.

  “I don’t think you are in the position to be making demands right now, Mr. Cade,” Pretty Boy said.

  “And what position am I in right now?” Mercer asked, his eyes narrowing. “I haven’t been officially charged with anything. You can either charge me, so I can go ahead and get a lawyer. Or you can let me go. Then, I can go see Ashlen myself.”

  Anderson looked slightly flustered for a moment but kept his cool. He slowly sat down in one of the metal chairs across from Mercer and leaned back casually. The man looked completely ridiculous in that suit of his.

  “Well here’s the thing, Mr. Cade,” Anderson said. “Although Miss Cole has cleared up any implications of kidnapping, you are to be brought up on charges for possessing that M4A1 carbine of yours. You do realize a civilian cannot legally buy one of those, even a former Marine.”

  Mercer sighed.

  “Trust me. I’m allowed to have it. You’re making a huge mistake, and when everything is sorted out, this is all going to rain down heavily right on top of your head.”

  “Look, Mr. Cade,” Rodriguez cut in. “Regardless of what you may think, a civilian cannot own one.”

  Mercer watched as Anderson and Rodriguez looked at each other. Rodriguez whispered something to the very flustered looking Agent Pretty Boy Anderson.

  “Oh, I didn’t tell you
about the other charge you’ll be brought up on and that would be homicide,” Pretty Boy said. “I don’t suppose you remember the guy you ran down in Miss Cole’s driveway?”

  Mercer’s mood grew foul. He knew exactly what Anderson was talking about, but all he had to do was bide his time until someone from Gray Tower showed up—unless, of course, they didn’t know he had been taken by the FBI. This was serious shit, and he was annoyed that it was taking his company so long to do anything about it.

  “You know that was self-defense,” Mercer growled. “And you both know that I’d be dead and Ashlen would have been snatched up or worse.”

  “Well,” Pretty Boy continued, a smile forming on his face that Mercer just wanted to punch off him if he wasn’t handcuffed. “You might be able to plea down to vehicular homicide if you play your cards right.”

  Mercer threw a glare that he hoped burned a hole through Anderson’s skull. Then, he did some quick thinking.

  Choosing his words carefully, he replied, “But you haven’t charged me with anything yet, so you’re waiting on something.”

  “You’re cleverer than you look, Mr. Cade,” Anderson said.

  Yeah, and just wait until I get you alone, asshole, Mercer thought.

  Just then, the door to the interrogation room opened, and Jack Hunter strolled in.

  He was wearing a black leather jacket and jeans, and he looked like he meant business.

  Finally, Mercer thought.

  Then, he looked at Anderson and grinned.

  “Time’s up, motherfucker.”

  Chapter 17

  Jack Hunter strolled through the interrogation room at the FBI office in Charlotte, North Carolina like he owned the place. According to Bryant, he kind of did. Despite assurances from Special Agent in Charge, Allen West, Cade had still been picked up by the feds. Jack had been reassured that this miscommunication would be fixed immediately. He was going to waltz right on out of that office with Cade and the Cole woman with no issue.