by Lori Foster
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ONE OF THE MANY precautions they’d taken as partners was that Logan had a key to Reese’s apartment, and Reese had one for his home. As it turned out, he didn’t need the key to get in.
Someone—probably Andrews—had left it slightly ajar, no doubt so he could sneak in on Reese without risk of being heard when the door closed. Logan followed suit and left it slightly open.
After scanning the entryway and finding it empty, he followed the drone of conversation in a back room. On silent feet, the gun now in his hand, he inched forward.
“You won’t get away with this,” Peterson said. What was she doing here?
Andrews laughed. “Of course I will. I didn’t become a powerful man by being ineffectual. But I’m not in a rush, so we’ll just bide our time until I have word that Pepper is under wraps.”
Logan didn’t let the sick threat affect him. Pepper was safe; Andrews couldn’t threaten her now.
Reese gave a huff of scorn. “With the club shut down and you playing a zombie, you don’t have the resources needed to go after Pepper.”
“You have no idea how my operation has grown. But as it turns out…you’re right. It’s tough to build a large entourage of truly trustworthy, capable gunmen. That’s why I’m utilizing new contacts.”
“The traffickers?” Peterson asked.
“Exactly. After the untimely assassination of their boss—”
Reese interrupted to ask, “Were you the sniper, by chance?”
Peterson curled her lip with disdain. “I wish I could take the credit. But I’m guessing that was Morton.”
Apparently they’d worked out their differences. Logan was careful not to cast a shadow, not to bump anything.
Was Andrews here alone?
And where was Rowdy? Please, God, don’t let him be hurt. It would devastate Pepper.
Andrews laughed. “He brought me the bomb to use but I couldn’t very well fake my own death and leave behind a witness, now could I? That’s not smart business. He knew too much, and I decided his dealings would be more profitable for me without him taking a cut.”
Finally he heard Rowdy say, “You are such a cowardly fraud.”
It relieved Logan that no one sounded hurt or even too fearful. Rowdy and Reese were both cool and analytical. Peterson sounded outright pissed.
He took a small step forward.
“By now,” Andrews said, “the traffickers will be closing in on your sister.”
Glacial with defiance, Rowdy said, “Fuck you. She’s safe.”
“Logan Riske has a brother. The brother owns property,” Andrews stated. “These things are easy enough to know when you have police contacts.”
Logan peeked around the door and saw Andrews and another, bigger man, both armed. Rowdy stood at the foot of the bed, Reese and Peterson on it.
In that split second of time, he saw Reese staring at Peterson with accusation.
Judging by her tone, it infuriated her. “Say it and I’ll beg him to shoot you first!”
“Then how?” Reese asked.
“I thought it was you,” she told him.
“You’re the one who’s been suspicious. You’re the one who met with the bastard.”
“Oh, please,” Andrews said. “The conniving bitch only wanted to know the other cops who are on my payroll. Isn’t that right, Lieutenant?”
“Yes. And they have been uncovered. I have a full report ready to go. Whether you kill me or not, I’ve accomplished that much.”
So neither Peterson nor Reese was dirty? They’d only been suspicious of each other? Later, after he had Andrews locked away, he’d allow himself to feel relief.
But right now, with menace throbbing in the air, he didn’t lessen his focus.
Reese said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t…didn’t…trust you,” Peterson snapped.
“But you do now?”
“Well…yes.”
“Great.” Irony dripped from Reese’s tone. “At least I can die knowing I eventually won you over.”
“And you think I feel any differently, you impudent ass?”
Logan understood their ploy. Stall, distract, redirect the attention. He appreciated their efforts because it gave him a chance to peek in again, to better formulate a plan.
Andrews kept his gun loose at his side, but his goon maintained a dead aim on Rowdy.
Proving he had a streak of cruelty a mile wide, Morton spoke with sick anticipation. “Your sister will go missing, you know. No one will ever see her again, but believe me, she’ll be put to good use.”
Instead of going into a fury, Rowdy grew calmer. “No, I don’t think so. She’s safe—and you’re pathetic.”
Did Rowdy want to enrage Andrews? If they started shooting, Reese and Peterson were sitting ducks. Or…had Rowdy noticed him? Was he drawing their fire to save the others?
Logan couldn’t let that happen.
He only needed to distract the men for a single second. He knew, given any opportunity, Rowdy would react. Between the two of them, they’d make it work.
If he shot Andrews, the goon might kill Rowdy.
If he shot the goon, Andrews could take aim on Peterson or Reese.
The room was small enough that, if anyone started shooting, they’d all be eating bullets. Best to avoid that if at all possible.
With that decision made, he put the gun back in his waistband and slowly inched into the door frame.
Proving a keen awareness, Rowdy’s gaze went right on past Logan so that he wouldn’t give away his position.
Reese flattened his expression and leaned a little in front of Peterson.
To assist him, Rowdy frowned and looked at the closet. He widened his eyes.
Taking the bait, Andrews jerked around to face the new threat, and Logan was on him. He caught Andrews’s wrist and pressed his gun hand down, squeezing hard until the weapon fell from his hand.
Rowdy and the other man crashed into them, and Logan heard a whispered pop, pop, pop.
The silencers made the shots barely detectable, but a searing burn cut through his right upper arm. Damn it.
Refusing to let any injury slow him down, Logan brought his left elbow up and into Andrews’s face and smashed his nose. The bastard howled in fury and grabbed for him. Logan drove him forward until they fell into the dresser, then landed hard on the floor in a tangle.
As he reared back to demolish Andrews, he saw the odd twist of his neck, the wide sightless eyes and slack mouth.
Morton Andrews had broken his neck and faded away with little fanfare.
Disbelief obliterated the pain in his shoulder.
Reese shouted, “Damn it, Rowdy, stop it!” He rattled the entire bed with his objections. “You’re going to kill him!”
Logan saw the gunman sprawled under Rowdy, unmoving, his face bloodied and battered. “Rowdy.” He got to his feet and clasped Rowdy’s shoulder. “That’s enough.”
Breathing hard, fist cocked, Rowdy pulled back, paused and then shoved to his feet. He stood heaving for only a moment before bending to go through the man’s pockets.
After finding the key to the cuffs, he turned to Logan and flattened his mouth. “Sit down, why don’t you?”
Logan ignored that to collect the guns now strewn every fucking place. He tossed them on the bed near the lieutenant’s feet, and in the process, managed to get blood everywhere. Shit.
Rowdy stepped in front of him. “Seriously, Logan. Sit.”
He glanced at his arm, at the slow oozing of blood and blackened flesh, the swelling. Disgusted, he said, “I’ll ruin the bedding.”
“Damn you, Logan,” Reese snarled as he struggled with the key. “I can buy new bedding!”
“You’re sounding hysterical,” Logan told him.
Reese drew a deep, strained breath. “No.” He drew another. “I’m perfectly fine. Please sit down before I get free and kick your ass!”
Now that the others kept p
ointing it out, his arm went from numb to screaming pain. “Yeah, all right.” But rather than join Reese and Peterson on the crowded mattress, he went to the wall and slid down to the floor.
Rowdy crouched down in front of him to check the wound. “Damn, man. I’m sorry. I tried to control his gun hand, but he—”
“You’re not hurt?”
Rowdy gave him a comical look and laughed. “Bruised head to toe, but otherwise fine—thanks to you.” Gingerly, he lifted Logan’s arm. “It looks like the bullet passed through. Do you think it hit bone? Does anything feel broken?”
“No. It’ll be fine.” It had to be; with Andrews out of the way, he wanted time with Pepper. He did not want to be incapacitated.
“Sucks that it’s your right arm.”
Done discussing it, Logan said, “Dash is outside keeping an eye on one of Andrews’s men.”
While continuing to poke and prod like a damned doctor, Rowdy asked, “My sister?”
It astounded Logan that Rowdy didn’t seem more concerned for her. “In the apartment with Alice.”
“Ah. Good. I was counting on you keeping her safe, and you did. I owe you for that.”
“You don’t owe me a damned thing.” Majorly pissed off at himself, Logan put his back to the wall and stretched out one leg. “I don’t fucking believe this.”
Peterson said, “I’m calling it in.”
Reese flipped over the fallen thug, now coherent and groaning in pain. He pulled his arms behind his back and fastened the cuffs to his wrists. Taking his gun from the bed, he said, “I’ll let the ladies know we’re in the clear, then take our third man off Dash’s hands.”
Rowdy walked out—but surprised Logan again by coming right back with two towels from Reese’s bathroom. They’d really done a number on the apartment. Blood, bodies and bullet holes… Reese would need a damn cleaning and repair crew.
“Maybe you should lie down,” Rowdy said as he pressed one towel to his arm.
Logan eyed him, snorted and shook his head. “Not happening.”
That made him grin. “Yeah, I’d probably fight it, too.” He held the towel against Logan and spoke quietly. “Morton had bad plans for Pepper. He was going to—”
Logan cut him off. “I heard. But he’s dead now. And she’s safe.”
“She’s…free,” Rowdy agreed. He held silent a moment. “He told us where the traffickers are set up.”
Peterson covered the phone and scowled at him. “You will not get involved, Rowdy Yates, do you understand me?”
He readjusted the towel. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I mean it. I’m already preparing a team to go there. We’ll handle it—”
“Yeah, sure. No problem.”
Peterson stalked away while barking orders into her phone.
Logan couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re a miserable liar, Rowdy Yates, and a worse nurse.” He took the towel from him. “Go fetch your sister. You know you’re dying to.”
“She’s going to kick my ass when she sees you got shot.”
“I don’t know about that. But if you got shot, she’d probably kill me herself.”
Rowdy gave him a funny look, then laughed. “Boy, are you in for a surprise.” He left to find Pepper.
So Rowdy thought she cared about him? That’d be nice, Logan decided. Better than nice, and worth a bullet.
Less than a minute later, the dog barked, and Pepper hurried in with her long-legged gait—until she saw him sitting on the floor.
Logan got caught in her mesmerizing gaze. He smiled to put her at ease. “Hey.”
Fury straightened her backbone and squared her shoulders. “You’re shot.”
“I’m fine.” And he was. Yeah, he hated it that Andrews had gotten off so easily, especially after the verbal threats toward Pepper. But…it was over.
He’d now be free to put all his considerable concentration into winning her heart. Anticipation started a slow burn that all but blocked the pain of his injury.
When she just stood there, staring at him in horror, Rowdy gave her a nudge. “It’s just his arm, sis. He won’t expire on you.”
“Don’t be a jerk!” She shoved away from him to step over and around Andrews, then came down beside Logan. She took the towel from him and lifted it. “Ohmigod.”
She didn’t mention his declaration of love, but she must care for him, given her reaction. Logan pressed the towel back to his arm. “Kiss me. It’ll make me feel better.”
Rowdy snorted.
“You’re both insane,” she complained, but she did kiss him.
Peterson finished her call, took in their cozy position, and rolled her eyes. “Ambulance should be here any minute.”
That got his attention off Pepper. “I don’t need a damned ambulance.”
“Tough. You’re getting it anyway.”
Alice stood there, stoic and silent, holding the dog’s leash. He whined and lurched this way and that, unsure what to do, still uncertain of the situation.
Probably smelling the blood.
Sitting on the side of the bed, Rowdy held out a hand, and the dog came to him like a long-lost friend.
Reese strode back in with Dash but froze when he saw Alice. It was only then that Logan realized she still held the gun loosely in her hand.
Without taking his gaze off her, Reese said to Logan, “A couple of units showed up. They have a handle on things.”
“Good.”
“Paramedics will swarm in soon, probably along with a half dozen uniformed cops.” They both spoke quietly.
He nodded toward Alice. “You want to deal with that before they do?”
“Yeah.” Reese moved closer to her. “Alice?”
Eerily mute, she freed her finger from the trigger, turned the gun around, and offered it to him.
He took it with alacrity. “You were going to shoot someone?”
“If it came to that, of course I would.” She couldn’t seem to pull her gaze off Andrews. “Dead?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Why is it unfortunate?”
The men all shared a look. Logan said, “I wanted to take him in.”
Hands locked in fists, Peterson agreed. “I wanted him to stand trial. I wanted—”
“Sometimes,” Alice interrupted, “it’s better when they’re dead.”
“Whoa.” Pepper leaned into Logan’s good side.
Sharing that sentiment, he hugged her with his uninjured arm. Better when they’re dead. So who else had Alice tangled with? And who were they?
“Alice?” Reese touched her chin and brought her face around toward him. “Any second now I’m going to have my hands full. Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
Pepper glanced at Logan with sharp worry. He understood her concern, but he didn’t know what he could do about it.
“You’ll watch my dog?” Reese asked her.
Alice stood there, lost in thought for too many heartbeats until she finally pulled herself together. “Yes, Cash will be safe and waiting for you when you return.”
“I want you to be waiting, as well.”
She lifted her chin. “I’m not running off.”
“Good to know.”
Logan figured there was a whole lot going on there, but now wasn’t the time to ask about it.
“Let’s go.” Reese hauled the other man off the floor and, ignoring his complaints, half dragged him from the room. Alice took the dog’s leash and followed Reese.
“Dash?”
Being a cop’s brother, Dash knew enough to stand just outside the perimeter of destruction. Smart. Logan drew his attention. “Would you mind making sure that no neighbors wander in?”
He scrutinized Logan, glanced at Pepper, and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, sure. No problem.”
Amused, Logan said to Pepper, “My brother is concerned for me, but he’s manning up so he won’t upset you.”
“He’s considerate.” She narrowed her eyes at Rowdy. “Unlike my
brother.”
Rowdy tossed a sheet over Andrews. “How’s that for consideration?”
She shuddered. “It’s morbid but…thank you.”
Logan would have worried about him taking off, except that he knew Rowdy wouldn’t leave his sister.
Pepper was damn good insurance toward a new life for Rowdy. And that pleased Logan, because they both deserved so much.
Pepper gazed in the direction Alice had gone. “I think something very tragic must have happened to that poor woman.”
“Probably.” Logan drew her closer to kiss her brow. “But she’ll be okay.” Reese would see to it…somehow. “What about you?”
She stroked back his hair, touched a bruise on his jaw. “What about me?”
He’d already told her that he loved her; no reason to belabor the point right now. “You’re doing all right?”
“Andrews is gone, thanks to you.” She exchanged the bloody towel for a fresh one and winced. “Where are those damned paramedics, anyway?”
Peterson said, “I’ll check on them.”
Logan struggled to his feet.
“What are you doing?” In a near panic, Pepper scrambled up beside him.
He didn’t want her to be in the same room with a dead body, and beyond that, he had no intention of sitting on his ass while others around him handled things.
Unfortunately, he barely made it out of the room before the paramedics were on him. He clasped Pepper’s hand. “I want you with me tonight.”
“Ha!” She kissed him again, quick and hard. “Just try getting rid of me.”
*
IN THE PREDAWN HOURS of the following day, after a lengthy stint at the hospital, too many questions and far too much time away from Pepper, Logan finally got into his own bed, in his own home. Peterson had called just a few minutes ago to update him on the progress with the human trafficking ring.
They’d busted a lot of people and were now en route to intercept a transfer…of women.
Over and over, Logan had to remind himself that Morton Andrews was dead, and Pepper was no longer in any danger.
He sank into the mattress with a great sigh of relief.
“Okay?” she asked while touching his jaw.
“Yeah.”
“Do you want something to drink?” She smoothed back his hair. “To eat?”
This was a quirky mood for her, being so touchy-feely while pampering him. “No, I’m fine.”