Audrey’s Inn

by Aycart, Elle

  “We injured the sheriff during the last one,” Rebecca explained.

  “Technically, that wasn’t the last one,” Greta jumped in. “The last incident was with the self-defense flashlight. We blinded one of Rachel’s delinquents, and he got beaten by the baddies. We were pointing the thing at the baddies, of course, but our eye-hand coordination is a bit lacking.”

  Would now be a good moment to tell them that Audrey was probably one of the few people in Texas who didn’t own a gun and barely knew how to operate one? Not a good morale boost. The four of them, armed, were a huge security risk, and not necessarily for the enemy. “We can always leave them here. Or you could keep the safety on. As long as it’s on, the gun won’t fire.” Then she showed them how to release it.

  “Oh, we know that,” Rebecca said. “We went to a shooting range. It was on our bucket list.”

  “Connor didn’t mention it,” Audrey said, surprised.

  “Connor doesn’t know. Neither do Rachel or Mike,” Greta explained. “We went shooting twice, but the recoil was a killer with the bigger weapons and Wilma fell backward once. Thank God for the guy she landed on. The owner said that unless we each brought someone ready to catch us when we went flying, we couldn’t shoot anymore. We considered inflatable mattresses, but we realized those would be difficult to explain to Mike and Rachel, so we quit. Yeah. Being old sucks.”

  Audrey smiled and felt a pang of regret for the real Audrey. For all that she had missed. She would have so loved these grandmas if she had gotten to meet them in person, even more than she’d loved them from afar. And they would have got her out of her shell, something not even Nicky had managed to accomplish. “So what do you want to do?”

  Rebecca and Greta each grabbed a pistol. Wilma shook her head. “I have a very bad record with those things. I’ve been responsible for all the misfires. I’d rather not take a gun. Rachel would kill me, and my future grandson-in-law is a sheriff. I’m supposed to be a law-abiding citizen now,” she finished with a grumble, not looking pleased.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll cover you,” Greta said and then squeaked in happiness. “Ha! I’ve always wanted to say that!”

  “We better put on our glasses,” Rebecca mumbled, already rummaging through her purse.

  Greta followed suit. “Long or short sight ones?”

  There was a pause. “Short sight glasses, I guess. Let’s make sure we don’t shoot each other.”

  Audrey took the radio and plugged the earbud in her ear. Although the volume was low, she could hear men talking here and there. What they said was a mystery, something about perimeters and numbers and code names. She had no clue how to decipher that, but she figured that if their absence was spotted, she would hear about it right away, which would give them a certain advantage.

  “Rebecca and I will shoot,” Greta offered. “You guys make sure to grab us if we fly back.”

  Right. Audrey really hoped they wouldn’t run into any of their captors while they were trying to escape. For everyone’s sakes.

  She remembered Greta’s cell and grabbed it. Checked their location. It was time to call the cops. She ignored the OGs’ pleas to wait for Connor and Mike. She already had Audrey’s death on her conscience; she didn’t want to add the grannies and their grandchildren to it. She loved Connor too much to put him at risk. If she survived this, she’d come clean with the law and let the chips fall wherever.

  After telling the dispatcher they’d been kidnapped by Andy Trat and giving the address, she was instructed to hide and stay on the line. Audrey gave the phone to Wilma, the only one unarmed. “You take it.”

  They left the room in a single line, Audrey at the front and Rebecca at the end. There were no sounds around. It seemed they were alone on the second floor, but Audrey couldn’t spot a place to hide. There were four of them, and it wasn’t as if she could ask the grandmas to pull a contortionist act and cram into a closet. Assuming she could find a closet.

  They sneaked down to the ground floor, and still no one. Almost too easy. Maybe all the guards were outside? They should get to a window. It was dark, but maybe they could get an idea of their situation.

  “Ladies, where are you going?” came suddenly from behind them.

  Fuck. Too late.

  “So there was someone after all,” Rebecca mused. “I’ve been wondering for a while.”

  Audrey heard footsteps, and several men appeared in front of them. “Drop your weapons.”

  They were surrounded by armed men. Nothing else to do but damage control. Audrey nodded to the OGs and dropped her gun.

  “Yeah, son. Please take it,” Rebecca said, handing her gun to the guy behind them. “And get us some water. We’re several hours late in taking our evening pills.”

  Audrey glanced at Wilma. Wherever she’d hidden the cell, it wasn’t in plain sight. Good.

  After picking up all the weapons and taking the radio from Audrey, the men led them to a downstairs room. Andy was there, standing by a fireplace. “Ladies, out for a walk?” They were pushed toward the asshole. “Where are the guards who were posted by your door?”

  Audrey shrugged.

  Andy nodded toward a man who seemed to be in charge of the gunmen. “Check upstairs,” he ordered.

  Crap. As soon as they found them and propped them up, Andy would know their hideout was compromised.

  “Let them go,” Audrey said. “You don’t need them. You’ve got me.”

  Andy sat on the couch. “I don’t think so. They could identify me.”

  “They’re legally blind. They can hardly tell the difference between you and any other blond white guy.”

  “Sure, and they didn’t hear my name,” Andy said, laughing. “Forget about the old ladies. You have bigger problems yourself.”

  “Why aren’t you in prison?”

  “I wouldn’t have had to step foot in prison if my dad hadn’t been pissed at me and wanted to teach me a lesson. Once he cooled off, he bailed me out. It looks like the charges against me will be dismissed. They didn’t have much on me to begin with, not without your testimony. The girls never saw me before. You know how these things go; money talks.”

  “What do you want?” she asked, trying to calm her nerves. She needed to play for time.

  “What do I want? What about a little retribution, bitch? You got me shot, arrested, and in the shit with my father. Our entire operation in Houston went to hell because you couldn’t keep your nose out of my business.”

  “And that’s why you killed Audrey, you bastard?”

  Andy chuckled, shaking his head. “Oh, no, no, no. That was on you. It was you my men were after. You and my money. What the fuck were you planning to do, run away to some lost beach in the Caribbean?”

  Not exactly, no. Some place much colder, as it turned out. “It was an accident. I never intended to take it. I grabbed my purse and jacket and the stupid bag at the same time. I didn’t mean to.”

  Andy poured himself a drink. “Don’t sweat it. I would have ordered you killed regardless. When you called the cops to the warehouse, you cost me a shitload of money. Much, much more than the measly contents of that bag. Which brings me back to retribution. We’re going to wait for the next shipment of new associates, and then you’re going to start paying off your debt—on your back. You’re getting fucked by men day and night for the next, I don’t know, ten years? If you last that long. Until not even the dregs of society will pay a dime to stick their cocks in you. Then we’ll cut you up in pieces. How does that plan sound?”

  Terrifying. She cleared her throat and did her damnedest to keep her voice steady. “You are worse than the dregs of society, and I already let you stick your tiny, pathetic dick in me. It can’t be worse than that.” She wasn’t sure whether making him mad was a good strategy, but if this was it for her, she was going to say her piece. Besides, angry people made mistakes. Con had told her that a million times.

  Con. Just the thought of him brought tears to her eyes and a lump in her th
roat. “Fuck you. I don’t want you back.” Those had been the last words she uttered to him face-to-face. She’d told him on the phone that she loved him, but that had in no way erased their last encounter.

  She blinked back tears. No, she wasn’t going to crumble now. She had to stay sharp, especially now that Andy was walking toward her.

  Andy chuckled some more and flashed her the smile that had dazzled her when they first met. Now it did squat for her. The other way around—it made him look creepier. “Feisty, aren’t we?”

  At close range, she wondered what she’d seen in him.

  It was probably thanks to Con that she saw the incoming punch as if it were in slow motion. For a split second, she considered her options. There were four armed men in the room. Andy had always fancied himself a cowboy and aside from the gun he had on the table where the liquor bottle was, out of her reach, he was sporting a holstered knife in his belt.

  They’d never discussed weapons, she and Connor, but she was pretty sure she shouldn’t bring a knife to a gun fight. Too bad she didn’t have another option.

  * * *

  “The guards covering the outer perimeter are neutralized,” Adrian said over the com link.

  “Copy that,” Mike said from his position, south of Connor’s. “There’s only two men left by the front entrance.”

  They had made it to the location Rachel had shared with them in less than half an hour, and they’d managed to breach the perimeter without being spotted. With the first line of guards out of commission, their window of opportunity was open but small. At any second, someone from the house could try to contact the exterior, and the surprise factor would go to hell.

  “Con, have you found them?” Mike asked.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Connor spat while looking through the binoculars. “Andy and his men are with them. First floor. Living room.” He’d told Audrey to lie low and not to make the gang nervous, but things looked rather tense inside. He couldn’t see their lips properly, so he wasn’t sure what they were saying, but Andy looked mighty pissed.

  Suddenly, Andy threw a punch at Audrey and Con’s heart fucking stopped. He watched, unable to even breathe, as she dodged the blow. Pushing Andy off-balance, she grabbed the holstered knife he had on his belt. Then she twisted him into a stranglehold, using him as a shield as his men lifted their guns and pointed them at her.

  Connor’s heart pumped like crazy, blood roaring through his ears. She was holding the knife against Andy’s jugular vein, and she’d moved to face the gunmen, keeping the OGs behind her.

  “Oh hell,” Mike grunted. “I don’t have a clear shot from here. You?”

  Neither did Con. Besides, it was highly probable that one of Andy’s security men would get gun-happy before he and Mike could drop the four of them. The thugs likely wouldn’t shoot their boss, but they’d only need one small slip from Audrey. The second his body wasn’t shielding her, she was toast. Con couldn’t allow that to happen. “Going in.”

  Ignoring Mike’s warning to stay low and wait for Mike to reach him, Connor left their cover and ran toward the front entrance, surprising one of the two guards there from behind. His training kicked in. He dropped one and injured the other before the man could call for help. After disarming him, Connor hauled him to his feet and, pointing a gun at his head, forced him into the house.

  Connor tried to steady his pulse. His breathing was heavy and he was getting tunnel vision. Fuck. He hadn’t been around guns or violence since his rescue, and his body was going into overdrive. He’d known combat situations would be a trigger. He’d known this was going to happen, but he had to risk it. Audrey was in danger, as were the OGs, so he took a slow, deep breath and, with new resolve, forged ahead.

  Connor needed the attention of those four gunmen on him, not on Audrey. That was the only scenario in which Audrey and the OGs had a chance to make it out of there in one piece.

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. PTSD attack or not, he was seeing this through.

  Andy’s personal guard were professionals. The second he entered the living room, two of them turned their guns on Connor while the other two stayed on Audrey.

  “Let’s remain calm,” Connor said. “I only want the women. I take them with me, you take back your boss and this associate of yours, and everyone walks away.”

  Connor knew there wasn’t a chance in hell they’d agree to that, but he had to buy time and above all, divert their attention to him and away from the women.

  “No deal,” Andy said, nodding at the gunman with the earbud and the radio. The designated thug pointed his gun at the man Connor was using as shield and shot him in the head. As the man fell down on the floor, dead, Connor pointed his own weapon at Andy. Connor had a bulletproof vest on, but at this distance, it wouldn’t help. Bodyguards in criminal families didn’t shoot to injure. They’d aim for his head. Whatever. He’d run out of time anyway. That gunshot had alerted all the guards who weren’t unconscious.

  “Anyone moves and I kill Andy,” Audrey screamed, getting the gunmen to still. She pressed the tip of the blade into the bastard’s neck, piercing his skin. Then she spoke to Andy. “Call your men off or I’ll keep going. If I press even a little, you’ll bleed out like a pig in less than a minute.”

  Andy lifted his hand, halting his men. “I’ll call them off if you let me go.”

  “Don’t,” Con warned her. The second she didn’t have Andy as shield, she was dead meat.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Mike crossing the threshold. Adrian was behind him.

  Then a blast from a police siren caught them all by surprise, and hell broke loose.

  Con didn’t see where the shots came from, but a light must have been hit because the room abruptly went dark. He reached for the gunman closest to him while Mike charged toward another one of the guards.

  From the corner of his eye, Con saw Audrey and Andy were wrestling. Before Con could reach her, there was a gunshot, and both Audrey and Andy tumbled to the floor.

  Calling her name, Con ran to her. Andy was lying on top of her. Frantic, Con pushed him aside. She was white, unresponsive, and covered in blood. “Audrey? Baby, talk to me,” he said in panic, shaking her. Fuck, she wasn’t waking up. “An ambulance. Fast. We need an ambulance!”

  Then the police knocked him facedown on the floor, handcuffing him as he thrashed.

  He called for Audrey all the way to the police car.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Audrey opened her eyes, disoriented, and glanced around. She was in bed in a hospital. Connor was sitting by her side, holding her hand and looking the worse for wear, white as a sheet.

  “Thank fuck you’re awake,” Connor let out with a sigh and pressed the call button on the headboard. “How are you feeling? You okay?”

  She nodded and tried straightening up. Aside from some stiffness, she felt fine. “Why am I in a hospital bed?” Then it came to her. The kidnapping. The shooting. Oh God. Her heart shot to her throat. “The OGs?”

  “Safe. You were wrestling with Andy when he was shot and fell on top of you. You hit your head and lost consciousness. You’ve been out for almost twenty-four hours. You scared the shit out of me, little girl.”

  Who cared about her? Connor’s eyes were bloodshot and the creases in his face seemed to have deepened. She reached for him, checking him for injuries. “And you? Are you okay?” He’d come to her rescue, risked his life for her.

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  How couldn’t she? She hugged him. “Thank God. You came for me.”

  “Of course, baby.”

  At that moment a nurse opened the door of the room. “Not yet, gentlemen,” she said to someone waiting outside. “You can’t interrogate her yet.”

  “The police, right?” Audrey asked, resigned. She’d known this was coming. She had to talk to Con and tell him about the baby before she was dragged off to jail. “Connor—”

  He squeezed her hand.
“Don’t worry. They just want to take your statement. Adrian’s explained everything. And they recorded your conversation with Andy.”

  Recorded? Wilma had managed to keep the line with the dispatcher open all the time?

  “I’m sorry,” the nurse interrupted, looking to Connor. “You have to leave the room while I check the patient.”

  “Don’t. Stay,” she begged, grabbing his hand.

  “I’ll be right outside.”

  “It will only be a minute,” the nurse reassured her. “Lie down.”

  The nurse examined the wound at the back of her head and bandaged it again. She tested Audrey’s response, checked her temperature and blood pressure, and then adjusted the IV drip. Was that antibiotics of some kind? Crap, the baby. “I was unconscious when I was brought in, so I couldn’t warn you I’m pregnant. Is this safe?”

  “The young man who left just now told the doctors about your pregnancy when you were admitted. You’re all set. The baby is safe.”

  The nurse might have said something more, but Audrey didn’t hear it. Connor knew about the baby. Since when? Had the OGs told him?

  The second the nurse left, she sat up, expecting Con to enter, but he didn’t. She ripped out the IV drip and dashed to the door, not caring that she was barefoot and wearing a hospital gown.

  Connor was in the corridor, walking away.

  “Connor!” she called out, running after him.

  He turned around. “Audrey, babe. What—”

  She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest, tears rolling down. “Are you leaving me again?”

  “Of course not. I was going to pick up some toiletries for you. Hey, you’re bleeding!”

  She looked down, realizing for the first time that blood was flowing from her arm and marring the floor. “It’s nothing. The IV bag was slowing me down.”

  He lifted her in his arms. “Come on, baby girl. Back to bed. We’ll have to call the nurse and get that IV put back in,” he said, placing her on the bed. “What were you thinking, pulling it out?”