Perilous Games (Gray Tower Book 3)

by J. M. Brister

  She didn’t look well either. There was something odd about her eyes. He couldn’t quite figure it out though. He needed to get her out of there as soon as possible.

  “Can you walk?” He asked her gently.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Here,” he said, standing up and grabbing what looked to be her jeans.

  He helped her put them back on. Her shirt had been ripped in half, so she’d just have to go like that. Gray Tower would have blankets for her when he got her the hell out of there.

  Mercer was alarmed, however, when she kept murmuring, “I didn’t think you were coming for me.”

  The only thing he could guess was a possible concussion.

  Damn, damn, damn, he thought to himself.

  He helped her to her feet, although she was having a hard time finding her footing. He finally scooped her up and carried her out of the room. If one of Marino’s guys were to come upon them, they’d be screwed. He moved quickly with her clinging to him in his arms, retracing his steps back through the building.

  It didn’t take long, but finally, they were outside. As soon as they were out, a group of Gray Tower agents surrounded them, guns drawn.

  “Don’t shoot!” Mercer yelled as Ashlen squirmed in his arms. “I need an ambulance. Now!”

  The agents lowered their weapons, realizing who they were.

  “The area is being evacuated immediately,” one of the agents told him.

  “Why?” Mercer demanded.

  “Bomb threat in the warehouse,” another one of the agents said.

  All Mercer could think about was running and taking Ashlen far, far away from there.

  Chapter 25

  Jack could feel his heart pounding through his chest as he and his team rounded a corner and entered the main part of the warehouse. The place where the shipment had been delivered was on the opposite side of the warehouse, but he could plainly see the issue: Cole was surrounded by what looked to be Marino, a white-haired older gentleman, and a group of thugs.

  “Ready?” Jack asked Hale as they drew their rifles.

  “Yep.”

  They fired a couple of shots at the group with their suppressed rifles and dropped three men around the perimeter.

  Then, they hoofed it to where the men were circled around Cole, guns aimed. Marino’s gang had now noticed them and had their backs turned to Cole who had pulled out his handgun.

  “Well, well, well,” the man who appeared to be Bruce Marino said as he and his men turned to see the newcomers. “You called in back up, I see. Maybe I underestimated you after all. Doesn’t look like the type you run with, Cole. But still, the last time I checked, you’re still outnumbered.”

  It was almost true. There were seven more men plus Marino and the white-haired man surrounding Cole. However, Jack had the warehouse surrounded by more Gray Tower men than they probably needed. If they could keep these guys from being trigger happy, Gray Tower could take them all in.

  “I’m sure we can work something out where you all stay alive,” Jack replied through his tactical mask when he got close enough.

  “I’m sorry,” Marino said, an eyebrow raised. “But who the hell are you?”

  “No one in particular,” Jack said. “You are, however, going to put down your weapons and surrender immediately. The whole building is surrounded. You’d best cooperate because there’s no way you are leaving here without consequences.”

  There was a murmur between the thugs within Marino’s gang before Marino finally yelled, “Shut up!”

  He looked visibly flustered. Some of the thugs lowered their weapons, not realizing that Jack technically could be bluffing. However, many kept them raised.

  It was at that moment that all hell broke loose. Gray Tower agents poured into the warehouse from all angles. Red sight dots from the snipers positioned around the building appeared on many of the thugs, including Marino himself. At that point, all of Marino’s men, including Marino, put down their weapons and raised their hands. It only took a few more moments before Marino and his men were being handcuffed.

  The tightness that had been building in Jack’s chest dissipated.

  Moving over to where Cole was standing, Jack asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Never better,” Cole told him and then asked, “Did you guys get Ashlen? I haven’t heard anything.”

  “I…I don’t know,” Jack replied uneasily.

  Now that the rush of securing the warehouse had subsided, he was kicking himself for not immediately checking in on Cade’s progress.

  A voice cut in from Jack’s earpiece saying, “Cade just came out with her. She’s okay—a little banged up—but okay.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Jack breathed.

  Cole asked frantically, “Is she safe? Did they take her out of here?”

  When Jack nodded, Cole’s whole demeanor changed. He heaved out a heavy sigh, and his body shook in relief.

  “I guess everything worked out then,” Cole breathed. “Ashlen is safe. Marino and Shepherd are in custody. Mission accomplished.”

  Jack scratched his chin and said, “Was that the guy with the white hair? I honestly wasn’t paying attention—just trying to not get shot.”

  “Yeah,” Cole confirmed. “He’s the one who ordered the shipment in the first place.”

  “Great,” Jack said. “Now he’s in Gray Tower custody.”

  “You mean FBI custody,” Anderson said, walking their way.

  “Yeah, sure,” Jack replied. “After we’re done with them. That was the deal we made with your boss.”

  Anderson muttered something under his breath but thankfully didn’t push the issue. It was only a few moments later that Jack heard a voice on the comm that he hadn’t heard in months.

  “Get out of there, Jack,” the voice of Gabriel Marshall said.

  Jack turned away from Anderson and said, “Holy shit. What the hell are you doing on our comms? Fuck, what are you doing here in general?”

  Jack was careful not to say Gabe’s name as the whole team could be listening in.

  “No time. Get out of there. I have that trailer wired to blow. I’m taking out that shipment and the entire warehouse with it.”

  “Fuck, man. What do you mean the trailer is wired to blow? We went through the entire thing. There weren’t any explosives.”

  “It’s in one of the inner tires.”

  “Damn it. At least tell me why you’re doing this.”

  “The Black Mark wanted to make sure Marino was the one receiving the shipment. They suspected he was an intermediary, so they had me wire the truck just in case. The Black Mark doesn’t have a problem with Marino. They do have a problem with the Children of the Earth—bunch of crazies moving in on Charlotte territory.”

  “So, you tampered with the weapons just in case it was going to Marino?”

  “Something like that. I know Gray Tower and the FBI have possession of it now, but I have my orders. Now, get the hell out of there.”

  Jack hesitated and then said, “Thanks for tampering with the weapons, man. You saved us valuable time.”

  “Get. Out. Now.”

  It was the only reply Jack got before a bunch of Gray Tower chatter cut through. Everyone had heard the conversation because the tone was frantic.

  “Okay, boys. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Jack said and rounded up his crew.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Mercer had gotten Ashlen to an ambulance that had pulled up at a parking lot across the street from the warehouse. Gray Tower had put one on standby just in case she or another team member was injured on the op.

  He had insisted on traveling with her to the dismay of the EMTs. Outside the ambulance, the place was a zoo: Gray Tower men and women were pulled up everywhere. Police had been notified, though they had been told to stay the hell away and control traffic instead of interfering. FBI vehicles had swarmed the area, which pissed Mercer off to no end. He had the notion that Anderson had called them in to try and swoop in and
take the Marino men into custody.

  Unfortunately, there were also camera crews and gawking bystanders as the warehouse was set back from a busy road, which was now starting to fill with morning rush-hour traffic. An operation this size in a populated area was bound to draw attention. The FBI was going to have to make up something because to the general public, Gray Tower was never here.

  Mercer had also heard about Gabe Marshall and the explosives that he had planted, though he had had to discuss that with Jack privately over the comm when everyone had left the warehouse. The area was being cleared, and Gray Tower had nixed a bomb squad. It would be too late to disarm it, and it would also jeopardize Marshall’s mission. Mercer had mixed feelings on the matter, but he pushed that out of his mind.

  None of that mattered to him right now. The only thing that did matter was taking care of Ashlen. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness since he had scooped her up from that hellhole she had been in. Mercer still shuddered as he thought about what she had already gone through and what could have happened if she hadn’t been able to shoot that bastard.

  The ambulance door had just shut, and the vehicle had started driving down the road away from the warehouse when Mercer felt the earth-shaking blast. The whole ambulance shook from the explosion, though they were putting distance between them and the detonation. Turning around, Mercer peered out the back of the window and saw the fireball through the trees. The EMTs who were in the back with him gasped and started murmuring to themselves.

  Fuck, he thought. I hope to God that no one was in there when it blew.

  He was at least glad that she was currently unconscious. She seemed too fragile right now that she wouldn’t be able to take the tension and worry. Her face was covered in bruises. One nasty bruise was right at the side of her head. He couldn’t imagine how strong she had to be to survive something like that. And it was all his fault that she had been put in that situation. Sure, Anderson had caused a lot of the problem, but Mercer shouldn’t have allowed her to go out in that hallway by herself.

  He hadn’t been able to protect her like he thought that he could. He couldn’t live up to the man that she needed him to be. He wouldn’t be any good as a provider, a husband, or a father. He wasn’t even good at being her protector. She deserved so much more than what he could give her. When he knew she was safe, he would let her go.

  As he looked down at her—strapped to a gurney, body battered—emotion overtook him. For the first time since he had woken up in a military hospital in Afghanistan and learned that he had lost two of his men—his friends—tears filled his eyes. He had to turn to look away so that the EMTs didn’t see him. After the moment had passed, he put up his wall and blocked any emotion out of his soul.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The fallout from Angel’s nasty little surprise in the warehouse had been intense. The whole thing had been a clusterfuck, and since Gray Tower was this shadow organization, that left Paul to clean up the mess. West had flown down to Charlotte to deal with the media mayhem. There were all sorts of speculation over what had happened, and he’d have to coordinate with the FBI on what the hell they were going to make up to smooth this over with the public.

  The only lucky thing was that no casualties had been reported by the blast, and they had captured many Children of the Earth members as well as a bunch of Marino goons. Paul had no idea what Gray Tower was doing with Marino and Shepherd, but he knew that they were given two days for interrogations before they would hand them over to the FBI.

  West had been surprisingly calm when he had gotten to the Charlotte office. Paul had a ton of paperwork to do there, and the only thing he wanted to do was go to the hospital to check on Ashlen.

  However, after several warrants were granted to search Adam Shepherd’s home and several others from the Children of the Earth, things started to look up from at least that angle. After the explosion, the FBI had uncovered some horrific information about the Children of the Earth. They had been planning a domestic terror attack on an unnamed target in Charlotte. It was a huge discovery that got the Department of Homeland Security involved immediately. West had been pleased. He had even allowed Paul to get some sleep that afternoon since it had been more than twenty-four hours since he had gotten any rest.

  With the findings, it was agreed that a press conference would be best, and Paul was going to be put front and center. So, when evening came, Paul found himself standing beside West and the Special Agent in Charge for the Charlotte office, Matthew Green, at a press conference. Picture flashes were going off left and right, practically blinding Paul. Yeah, this hadn’t been his first press conference, but this one was probably going to be one of the most important of his career.

  “I understand that there has been some confusion over what has gone on at the warehouse in Gastonia,” Green began. “I’m going to let the agent in charge of the Gastonia operation, Special Agent Paul Anderson, explain what has happened.”

  Swallowing a lump in his throat and silently cursing Gray Tower for leaving him with this mess, Paul walked up to the microphone stand as Green stood back to his side.

  And so, he began, “This investigation started with the disappearance of a young woman from Cincinnati, Ohio. You are probably aware of her disappearance since it has been on the news since the weekend. However, what you may not know is that Bruce Marino was involved with her disappearance. This information allowed the FBI to discover an arms deal that Ashlen Cole’s uncle, Peter Cole, and Mr. Marino were involved with.

  “The FBI was able to get in contact with Peter Cole who was concerned about his niece. He agreed to help the FBI locate his niece after it was learned that Mr. Marino took Miss Cole hostage. The warehouse in Gastonia was raided and Miss Cole was found.”

  There was a slight buzz in the audience as this information was processed.

  “The FBI was able to apprehend Mr. Marino as well as an associate involved with the deal, Adam Shepherd. They are currently in FBI custody.”

  Lie.

  “Unfortunately, there was a bomb planted in the warehouse which detonated. Four men working for Marino were killed. Their names are being withheld at this time. However, there were no casualties outside of the building and minimal persons wounded.”

  More lies.

  Those men had been killed by Gray Tower.

  “As unfortunate as the explosion may be and the deaths it caused, Gastonia firefighters were able to put out the blaze quickly.

  “The real victory lies in the apprehension of Marino and Shepherd as they will answer for the many crimes they have committed. The FBI has uncovered another set of crimes that go way beyond kidnapping and illegal weapons sales. Working with Mr. Marino was a group who call themselves the Children of the Earth. Many men were caught at the warehouse and brought out safely. They were immediately arrested for their involvement in Miss Cole’s kidnapping and the arms deal. However, after warrants were taken out, the FBI found evidence of domestic terrorism.

  “Plans, drawings, and emails showed the intention of a domestic terror attack in Charlotte.”

  There were murmurs from the reporters, and questions began immediately. Paul ignored them and continued.

  “Their leader, Adam Shepherd, had plans to blow up several prominent skyscrapers around the Charlotte area, including several key banking centers.”

  Now the audience was starting to get riled up. Many of the news organizations were national; however, many were still local Charlotte news stations.

  “We do not know why Mr. Marino was purchasing weapons for this terrorist group at this time.”

  More questions came at Paul. Unfortunately, he couldn’t answer many of them, so he ended the press conference immediately. He didn’t want to talk about Ashlen’s condition. He felt that was none of the public’s business. He also didn’t want to tell what would happen to Peter Cole because he frankly didn’t know. Cole probably would just walk away from this all a free man with the deal he had set up with Gray Towe
r and the FBI.

  The fucker.

  And fuck Gray Tower too.

  He hated the fact that he had to spin so many lies, and he was hating Gray Tower and everything it stood for. Still, they had successfully cleaned up his mess and gotten Ashlen out alive, so he supposed that he would have to be grateful after all.

  Thinking about Ashlen, he suddenly felt like a creep for not going to see her. He promised himself that he would as soon as he got the hell out of there. He desperately needed to see her. Paul needed to make things right with her.

  Chapter 26

  Mercer stared at Ashlen as she slept in her hospital bed. It had only been sixteen hours since she had been rescued, but it felt like a lifetime ago. The bruises on her face were coloring horrifically. He still thought she looked beautiful despite them.

  Sitting in a chair next to her bed, he watched her sleep peacefully. Ashlen was in a private room, guarded by a set of Gray Tower agents on the outside. Mercer had been allowed to shower in the bathroom connected to her room. Fortunately, Hunter had the foresight to send over his bag, which had been left in the hotel room. That seemed like ages ago.

  The change of clothes had done him good, but he still was worried about Ashlen.

  She had a concussion, a bruised cheekbone, dehydration, and other bruises around her body—including around her breasts. At Mercer’s insistence, the doctors had checked for signs of rape, which they found none. With her concussion, he hadn’t trusted her own account of her capture. There was a lot that she might not remember with a head injury. He had to be sure that she hadn’t been violated, though he knew from looking at her that her chest was bruised badly.

  That pissed him off to no end, and he was a little sad that she had killed the guy because he would have otherwise castrated him. Mercer was handy with a knife.

  The doctors were most worried about her concussion and had been waking her up every hour to check on her state. Mercer had barely been able to catch a catnap because he insisted on being by her side when they woke her up. This continued the whole day and night, and then into the next morning. It had frankly been scary when the doctor woke her up. Her speech had been slow when she answered the doctor’s questions, and she had kept asking questions about things that had already been explained to her. At some points, her speech was slurred and was sometimes incoherent. Mercer was so worried that he could hardly sleep. Even when he dozed, he dreamed about Ashlen.