by B. J Daniels
Gabby nodded, looking at Tabitha and Jasmine. Jasmine had Layne’s gun and Tabitha had what looked to be a dagger of some kind that she must have taken off one of the men.
“Scream if you need anything,” Gabby said sternly. “Once we have whatever evidence we can carry, we’ll come get you and lock this place back up, and then we’ll start out.”
Jasmine and Tabitha nodded, and though they’d handled themselves like old pros, everyone seemed a little shaky now. Far too jumpy. She and Alyssa needed to hurry.
They raced down the hall to the door. “Give me one of those knives.”
Alyssa pulled one out of her bra and if Gabby had time she might have marveled at it, but instead she used it to start picking the lock. Turned out Ricky and his ne’er-do-well friends had taught her something.
She got the locks free and pushed on the door. It creaked open only a fraction. Alyssa inspected the crack. “It’s chained on the outside,” she said flatly. “Give me the gun.”
Gabby hesitated. “What if it ricochets?”
Alyssa raised an eyebrow. “It won’t.”
What choice did Gabby have? A butter knife wasn’t cutting through chain any more than anything else, and Alyssa might be losing it, but she was sure. They had to be a team.
Gabby handed over the gun. Alyssa shoved the muzzle through the crack, barely managing to fit it, and then a loud shot rang out.
The chain clanked and then after another quick and overly loud shot, Alyssa was pushing the door open.
Both women stumbled into the bright light of day. It very nearly burned, the bright sunshine, the intense blue overhead. Gabby tried to step forward, but only tripped and fell to her knees in the grass.
“Oh, God. Oh, God,” Alyssa whispered.
Gabby couldn’t see her. Her eyes couldn’t seem to adjust to the bright light, and her heart just imploded.
She could smell the grass. She could feel it under her knees and hands. Hot from the midday sun. Rocky soil underneath. It was real. Real and true. The actual earth. Fresh air. The sun. God, the sun.
The one time they’d been let out it had been a cloudy day, and The Stallion hadn’t allowed for any reaction. Just digging. But today...today the sun beat down on her face as if it hadn’t been missing from her life for eight years.
Gabby tried to hold back the sobs, she had a job to do, after all. A mission, and leaving Tabitha and Jasmine alone with dangerous men no matter how injured or tied up wasn’t fair. She had to act.
But all she could seem to do was suck in air and cry.
Then Alyssa’s arms were pulling her to her feet. “We have to keep moving, Gabby. We’ve got time to cry later. Now, we have to move.”
Gabby finally managed to blink her eyes open. Alyssa’s jaw was set determinedly and she pointed to a fancy shed in the corner of the yard.
Gabby took a deep breath of air—fresh and sun-laden—and looked down at her hands. She’d grasped some grass and pulled it out, and now it fluttered to the patchy ground below.
The Stallion had kept her from this, all of this, for eight long years. It was time to make sure it was his turn to not see daylight for a hell of a lot longer.
Jaime drove the Jeep toward where Cooper’s map said there’d be a ranger station. Once they had access to a phone—The Stallion’s laptop had been too encrypted to be of use—Jaime would call his superiors and Ranger Cooper’s.
Things would be real soon enough, and he still wasn’t back to Gabby.
Still, he answered Cooper’s questions and only occasionally glanced at the woman sandwiched between him and the Texas Ranger.
She was slighter than Gabby, certainly softer, and yet she’d been the one to shoot The Stallion as though it had been nothing at all.
Jaime glanced at Cooper’s crudely bandaged arm wound. It was bleeding through, though he’d looked over it himself and knew, at most, Cooper would need stitches.
There was an awkward silence between every one of Ranger Cooper’s curt questions and every one of Jaime’s succinct answers. Tension and stress seemed to stretch between all of them, no matter that The Stallion was apprehended in the back and would likely survive his injuries.
Unless Jaime slowed down. But it wasn’t an option, not without news on Gabby and the raid. Too many unknowns, too many possibilities.
He finally found a road after driving through mountains and desert, and soon enough a ranger station came into view. Jaime brought the Jeep to a stop, trying to remember himself and his duty.
He pushed the Jeep into Park and looked at Cooper. “If you stay put, I’ll have them call for an ambulance, as well as call your precinct. We’ll see if there’s any word on the raid to Callihan’s house, where your sister was.”
Ranger Cooper nodded stoically, putting his hand on his weapon, his glance falling to the back of the Jeep where Victor Callihan, The Stallion, Jaime’s tormenter, lay still and tied up.
Bleeding.
Hopefully miserable.
Jaime glanced at Gabby’s sister, but she only stared at him. She’d asked no questions about her sister. She’d said almost nothing at all. Jaime figured she was in shock.
“I don’t know what to ask,” she said, her voice weak and thready.
Jaime gave a sharp nod. “Let me see if I can go find out some basics.” He left the Jeep and strode into the station.
A woman behind the counter squeaked, but Jaime held up his hands.
“I’m with the FBI and I need to use your phone.” He realized he didn’t have his badge, and he still had far too many weapons strapped to his body.
He needed to get his crap together and fast. He kept his hands raised and recited his FBI information. The woman shoved a phone at him, but she backed into a corner of her office and Jaime had no doubt she was radioing for help.
It didn’t matter. He called through to his superior, trying to rein in his impatience.
“I’m in a ranger station in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I have Texas Ranger Vaughn Cooper and civilian Natalie Torres with me. The Stallion is hurt and disarmed. We need an ambulance for Callihan and Cooper, and I need an immediate debriefing on what’s happening at The Stallion’s compound in the west.”
“Immediate,” Agent Lucroy repeated, and though it had been years since Jaime had seen the man in charge of his undercover investigation, he could imagine clearly the man’s raised eyebrow. “That’s quite the demand.”
“Sir,” Jaime said, biting back a million things he wanted to yell. “There are four women in that compound, whom I left with armed and dangerous men. It is my duty and my utmost concern that they are safe.”
There was a long silence on the line.
“Sir?” Jaime repeated, fearing the worst.
“The raid has been initiated per your message. Our agents are on the ground at the compound...”
“And Ga—the women?”
“Well... Let me get off the phone and contact the necessary authorities to get you out of there. We’ll do a proper debriefing when you’re back in San Antonio.”
Jaime nearly doubled over, fear turning into a nauseating sickness in his gut. Oh, God, he hadn’t saved her. She wasn’t safe at all.
“What happened to the women?” he demanded. “One of the captives... Natalie Torres, the woman Ranger Cooper has been protecting, she’s the sister of one of the captives. She deserves to know...” She deserved to know how horribly he’d failed.
Agent Lucroy sighed. “Let’s just say there’s a slight...situation at the El Paso compound.”
Chapter 16
“Do you think we can carry a computer as far as we need to walk?” Gabby asked, looking dubiously down at the hard drive Alyssa was unhooking from a million monitors.
Alyssa shrugged. “We can get it as far as we need to. Then it’s got just as much a chance of being found by
whatever cops we can find as any Stallion idiots.”
It was a good point. In fact, Alyssa had made quite a few. Though Gabby still didn’t trust Alyssa not to go off and do something drastic or dangerous, the woman was very effective under pressure.
They hadn’t found any bags or things they could haul evidence in, so they’d shoved any important-looking papers into their pockets. Gabby had come across a map with markings on it, and she thought with enough time she’d be able to figure it out. She’d taken a page out of Alyssa’s book and shoved it into her bra.
Gabby went through a shelf of tech gadgets and picked up anything she thought might have memory on it. Anything that could make sure this was over for good.
It’s not over until you’re out of here.
She tried to ignore the panic beating in her chest and focus. “That should be good, don’t you think?” When she turned to face Alyssa, the woman was staring at a shelf of dolls. They all looked like variations of the same. Dark hair, unseeing eyes, frilly dresses.
A heavy sense of unease settled over the adrenaline coursing through Gabby. She understood now, completely, why the dolls had weighed so heavily on Jaime. She tried to look away, but it felt as if the dolls were just...staring at—
The shot that rang out made Gabby scream, the doll’s head exploding made her wince, but when she wildly looked over at Alyssa, the woman was simply holding the gun up, vaguely smiling.
“Think I have enough bullets to shoot all of them?” she asked conversationally.
“No,” Gabby said emphatically. “Let’s go. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Alyssa nodded, grabbing the computer hard drive and hefting it underneath her arm. She kept the gun in her other hand, but before either of them could make another move, the door burst open.
Gabby dropped to the ground, trying to hide behind the desk that dominated the shed, but Alyssa only turned, gun aimed at the invasion of men.
Men in uniform.
“FBI. Put down your weapons,” they yelled in chorus.
Gabby scrambled back to her feet, blinking a few times, just to make sure... But there it was in big bold letters.
FBI.
Oh, God. She searched the men’s faces, but none of them was Jaime.
“Drop your weapon, ma’am,” one of them intoned, his voice flat and commanding.
Alyssa stared at the man and most decidedly did not drop her weapon.
“Alyssa,” Gabby hissed.
“I’m not going to be a prisoner for another second,” Alyssa said, her voice deadly calm.
“It’s the FBI. Look at his uniform, Alyssa. Do what he says.” Gabby held up her hands, hoping that with her cooperating the men wouldn’t shoot.
But Alyssa didn’t move. She eyed the FBI agent, both with their weapons raised at each other.
“Ma’am, if you do not lower the weapon, I will be forced to shoot. You have to the count of three. One, two—”
“Ugh, fine,” Alyssa relented, lowering her arm. She didn’t drop the weapon and she stared at the men with nothing but a scowl.
“They’re here to save us,” Gabby said, feeling a bubble of hysteria try to break free. She wanted to cry. She wanted to throw herself at these men’s feet. She wanted Jaime and to know for sure...
“It’s over, isn’t it?” she asked, a tear slipping down her cheek.
“Ma’am, you have to drop your weapon. We cannot escort you out of here until you do,” he said to Alyssa, ignoring Gabby completely.
“There are two other women inside the house. Did you—?” Gabby had started to step forward, but one of the men held up his hand and she stopped on a dime.
“We will not be discussing anything until she drops her damn weapon,” the man said through gritted teeth.
There were four of them, three with their weapons trained on Alyssa, a fourth one behind the three on a phone, maybe relaying information to someone.
Alyssa had her grip on the gun so tight her knuckles were white and Gabby didn’t know how to fix this.
“What are you doing?” Gabby demanded. She wanted to go over and shake Alyssa till some sense got through that hard head of hers, but she was afraid to move. They were finally free and Alyssa was going to get them both killed.
That made her a different kind of angry. “Why are you treating us like the criminals?” she demanded of the four men, soldier-stiff and stoic.
“Why won’t you drop your weapon?” the agent retorted.
Gabby didn’t know how long they stood there. It seemed like forever. Alyssa neither dropped her weapon, nor did the men lower theirs. Seconds ticked on, dolls watching from above, and all Gabby could do was stand there.
Stand there in limbo between prison and freedom. Stand there with the threat of this woman who’d become an ally and a friend dying when they’d come this far.
“Please, Alyssa. Please,” Gabby whispered after she didn’t know how long. Gabby had spent eight years trying to be strong. Beating any emotion out of herself, but all strength did in this moment was make this standoff continue.
She looked at Alyssa, letting the tears fall from her eyes, letting the emotion shake her voice. “Please, put down the gun,” she whispered. “I want you safe when we get out of here. I don’t want to have to watch you get hurt. Please, Alyssa, put down the gun.”
Alyssa swallowed. She didn’t drop the gun, though her grip loosened incrementally.
“We all want this to be over,” Gabby said, pushing her advantage as hard as she could. “We all want to go home.”
“I don’t,” Alyssa muttered, but she dropped the gun all the same.
* * *
Jaime supposed that someday in the future it would be a point of pride that he’d yelled at his superior over the phone and had to be restrained by three fellow agents, and still retained his job.
But when Agent Lucroy had explained there’d been a standoff—a standoff—with two women who had been captives, no matter how dangerous he’d felt Alyssa could be, Jaime had lost it.
He’d sworn at his boss. He’d thrown the phone across the ranger station. The only thing that had kept his temper on a leash as they’d waited for the ambulance was the fact that Natalie was Gabby’s sister.
She didn’t need to be as sick with fear and as stuck as he was.
The being restrained by three fellow agents had come later. When they’d had to forcibly put him on a flight to the field office in San Antonio instead of to Austin with Ranger Cooper and Natalie.
There had been a slight altercation once getting off the plane when he’d demanded his car and been refused. In the end, a guy he’d once counted as a friend had had to pull a gun on him.
He’d gotten himself together after that. Mostly. He’d met with his boss and had agreed to go through the mandatory debriefing, psych eval and the like. Sure, maybe only after Agent Lucroy had threatened to have him admitted to a psych ward if he didn’t comply.
Semantics.
He was held overnight in the hospital, being poked and prodded and mentally evaluated. When he’d been released, he was supposed to go home. He was supposed to meet his superiors at noon and inform them of everything.
Instead he’d gotten in his car and driven in the opposite direction. He very possibly was risking his job and he didn’t give a damn. He should go see his parents, his sister. They were in California, but if he was really going to take a break with reality, shouldn’t it be to have them in his sight?
When he’d spoken to Mom on the phone, she’d begged him to come home, and when he’d said he couldn’t, she’d said she’d be heading to San Antonio as soon as she could. He’d begged her off. Work. Debriefing.
The truth was... He wasn’t ready to be Jaime Alessandro quite yet. He’d neither cut his hair nor shaved his beard. He was neither FBI agent nor Stallion lackey, he was something
in between, and no amount of FBI shrinks poking at him would give him the key to step back into his old life.
Not until he saw Gabby. So he drove to Austin. Thanks to Ranger Cooper apparently being unaware that he wasn’t supposed to know, Jaime had the information that Gabby was still in the hospital and had yet to be reunited with her family.
When Ranger Cooper had relayed that information, Jaime may have broken a few traffic laws to get to the hospital.
All he needed was to see her, to maybe touch her. Then he could breathe again. Maybe then he could find himself again.
Maybe then he’d forgive her for not getting out when he’d wanted her to.
He did some fast talking, but either the hospital staff was exceptionally good or they’d been forewarned. No amount of flashing his badge or trying to sneak around corners worked.
Eventually security had been called. When one security guard appeared, Jaime laughed. Then another had appeared behind him and he figured they were probably serious.
He wasn’t armed, but there were ways he could easily incapacitate these men. He could imagine breaking the one in front’s nose, the one in back’s arm. This middle-aged, not-in-the-best-of-shape security guard and his burly partner. Bam, bam, quick and easy.
It was that uncomfortable realization—that he was pushing too hard, pressing against people who didn’t deserve it—that had him softening.
So, when the guards grabbed him by the arms, he let them. He let them push him out the doors and into the waiting room.
“What the hell is your problem, man?” the one guy asked, clearly questioning the truth of his FBI claims.
That was a good enough question. He was acting like a lunatic. Not at all like the FBI agent who had been assigned and willfully taken on the deep undercover operation that had just aided in busting a crime organization that had been hurting the people of this state—and others—for over a decade.
“You come through these doors again, the police will be taking your ass to jail. FBI agent or not.”
Jaime inclined his head, straightening his shoulders and then his shirt. “I apologize,” he managed to rasp, turning away from the guards only to come face-to-face with two women frowning at him.