by Police
Glen shrugged. “When I’m done, Alan.” He gestured to the table. “Sloane should know that if she fails to sign the contracts that she won’t be the one to suffer.”
Pilar swore under her breath. “He’s supposed to be your uncle?”
Glen pulled the chair away from the table, dragging the legs on the concrete. The din drilled through Sloane’s head. “It’s an honorary title.”
“Honor, my ass.”
Standing off to the side, Alan winked at her. “If that’s an invitation…”
“Don’t goad him on.” Sloane turned to Pilar with a harsh tone in her voice. She saw Pilar’s confusion written plainly on her face but continued on. She needed just a little bit of time. Curling into herself, Sloane folded her arms around herself and managed to dislodge the burner phone from her bra. “I can’t believe we’re in this mess.”
She could feel Pilar watching her, but she couldn’t explain, not right then. She just had to hope that Pilar would catch on. There would be one window of opportunity.
And she had to make sure they could take advantage of it.
The marked SAPD SUV with lights on pushed through the crowd and a call on Vicente’s radio pushed him in the car’s direction. Before it stopped completely the back-passenger door opened and Sloane’s friend, Hildie, jumped out and she rushed toward Vicente.
“Have you found her?”
“Not yet, but we will.” Vicente took her by the arm and started walking her toward her car. “We found your car on the street. So, we know she brought it here. We popped the locks, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, goodness, do whatever you have to. I’m just sorry I didn’t know she’d taken it and then I didn’t know what to do.”
“Don’t worry,” he said the words even as his inside twisted even tighter. “We need all the information we can pull together as fast as we can get it. I need you to look in the car and tell me if she took anything with her.”
Nodding, Hildie started over to her car, a uniformed officer following her the short distance. He wasn’t going to lose anyone else. He had half a mind to follow her but he saw a familiar face come out of the crowd.
“Hey, Bravo, I think I found something you need.” Texas Ranger Daxton Chambers held out an evidence bag.
Before he took hold of it he knew what it was. “Pilar’s phone.”
Daxton nodded. “Screen is smashed. I’d say it was the heel of someone’s shoe. It was in the street. I’ve got others searching, but I think you know what we’ll find.”
Vicente registered the hard lines of Daxton’s face and the set of his jaw. “They’ll have dumped Sloane’s phone somewhere too.”
Biting into his bottom lip, Vicente swore a blue streak in his head.
He felt Daxton’s hand clamp down on his shoulder. “Hey… listen to me.”
Vicente looked up at his old friend.
“Don’t borrow trouble. Men like us,” he gave Vicente a smile, “we don’t fall for weak women. We fall for the women we don’t deserve, women who are far too resourceful for our own peace of mind.”
Vicente gave him a hard look. “Fall for? What makes you think I’ve fallen for Sloane?”
Daxton gave him a smile. “I’d recognize that look anywhere. When I fell, I fell hard and it took me awhile to make sense of it, but it’s written plainly on your face if people know what to look for.”
Vicente couldn’t talk about that, not right then. He had to focus on what happened to her first. “Why did Sloane come down here? She put herself in danger. When I find her-”
“There!” Daxton gave his shoulder a squeeze. “That’s the mindset you need to have.”
Vicente nodded in return but could only force his words through clenched teeth. “Even if I’ve half a mind to throttle the woman when I find her?”
Daxton shook his head. “I’m thinking you should probably stick to reading her the riot act and then make up sex. Much more fun.”
Vicente felt a good portion of his anxiety ease up for just a moment, and that cleared his mind, sharpened his focus. “Thanks, Dax, I needed that.”
And the Ranger agreed. “Now let’s focus on finding them.”
“Here, here!” Hildie pushed her way through the group with the officer struggling to keep up. Even in her stylish heels, Hildie could move like a linebacker when she needed to. “I found something.”
Vicente met her a few steps away. “What do you have?”
“It’s what I don’t have,” she told him. Holding up the box she gestured to the two charging stations and the one remaining phone. “We give these to women in difficult situations. When their relationships get beyond their own abilities to handle them, we give them these phones. When we move them around from shelter to sanctuary houses, they take this phone with them. Their abusive family member or spouse doesn’t know about the phone so they can safely communicate with us and other helpers in the community. I had two phones in here.”
Vicente grabbed onto the hope in her voice. “You think she took the other phone.”
Hildie shoved the box into the officer’s hands and grabbed the front of Vicente’s shirt with her hands. “I know she did. Sloane’s running on fear and instinct right now. Whatever made her come down here looking for your sister is from her gut. The same gut that she didn’t follow the night Kimberly died.”
“Her sister?” The question came from Daxton. “What does that have to do with-”
“She had a feeling that something horrible was going to happen to her sister, but her uncle told her she was just over reacting. She didn’t go to see her sister that night and a few days later, Kimberly was found dead.
“I think she had the same feeling about your sister today. She was on edge, more so than usual. I think she came here to help Pilar. I’m sure she took the phone.”
Digging into her pocket, Hildie pulled her own cell phone out of her pocket and opened the app with phone numbers in it. “Here,” she handed the phone over to Vicente, pointing out the number at the bottom of the list. “Track that number. I think you’ll find her.”
Vicente nodded. “We had officers out looking to find Sloane’s phone. The men dumped Pilar’s phone on the street.”
The officer standing beside Hildie shrugged. “If they took the phones from the women, how did Miss King expect to keep hold of the other cell? Wouldn’t they search her just in case?”
Hildie stared down the officer, her chin lifted in indignant anger. “You have no idea where women hide things, do you? Unless these guys get all up close and personal with my girl, they’ll miss the phone.” She turned back to Vicente.
He was already calling the TARU office. “Trace this number.”
Chapter 15
They’d been close enough on the floor that when the phone fell out of the bottom of Sloane’s oversized sweater it barely made a noise, sliding from the fabric to the floor.
And when Sloane got to her feet, trembling with fear, she managed to shush the phone over to Pilar, to where it was nestled against her leg on the far side from the prying eyes of her uncle and his men.
“I’ll sign,” she told him and watched as his immediate smile faltered a bit. “I just don’t want this to keep coming between us.”
She hesitated a few steps away from the table and looked Glen straight in the eye. “I’ve been fighting you so long on this, I just didn’t realize what it was doing to our relationship.” Meek and mild, she told herself. Be meek and mild.
He didn’t speak. He just stood there by the table, waiting.
She looked at the men that had come after them. The men that had picked them up off the street and thrown them both in the van. They watched her too, and she couldn’t help but feel like they were staring at her like prey.
Sloane supposed she was. After all, they had all the advantages. They had weapons and numbers and muscle.
But what they didn’t have was a need to get home like she did.
So, when Sloane took a seat at the table, she did e
verything she could to keep their eyes on her.
She didn’t want to give them a reason to hurt Pilar. Not now. Not like this.
The man with the briefcase set a pen down on the table. “Miss King. Would you like me to explain what’s in the documents?”
Her first instinct was to tell him no, that she’d sign no matter what it said. The last thing she cared about in that moment was money or her inheritance. Lives were at stake.
But she knew, just like Pilar did, that once the papers were signed, once she’d done everything her uncle- everything that Glen wanted, they would just get rid of her and Pilar too. Two of them had lost their masks and they’d both seen Glen. If they were set free, they could testify against him.
And Glen may have been a jerk of an uncle, but he knew how to level companies and men’s legacies.
What would he care about two women in the grand scheme of things?
Without looking at Glen, she could see the gleam in his eye. He didn’t care for her one bit. He’d likely never cared about her.
She had to give Vicente time to come to them. Even if Pilar had her hands available, they outnumbered three to one, and only the other side had weapons.
“Miss King?”
Startled out of her thoughts, she tried to keep the pliant look of confusion on her face. There seemed to be hundreds of tabs on the sides of the documents. That would keep her busy for awhile.
“No, I’ll sign. Just show me where.” She picked up the first of the many thick document folders. “Let’s start with this one.”
As he began to explain she noticed the man reaching into his briefcase. She tensed hoping that this wasn’t a ruse on their part and he wasn’t about to shoot her right there. Instead he withdrew a leather-bound volume and an embosser.
The lawyer was also a notary.
Just great.
When her uncle decided to put the screws to her he didn’t miss a thing.
Cruz rushed over and shoved a tablet into Vicente’s hands. “Here. It’s from TARU.”
Vicente stared at the image before him and held onto it like a lifeline.
“We’ve got cars ready and everyone’s in on this.”
It took a real effort not to run blindly into the street and grab the first car he came to. Keys? Who needed keys at a time like this.
He followed Cruz and the two of them climbed into the back of a department-issued SUV and started to pull on their Kevlar vests. The vehicle pulled away from the curb and Vicente looked over at Cruz. “You’ve got the plan?”
Cruz nodded slowly. “I know this is tough for you, letting me take the lead.”
Vicente looked up as he fastened the side flaps of his vest. “Not tough at all.” He let go of a pent-up breath. “You’re the one I want to plan this. I’m too close.” He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling of the car. “Sloane and my sister? My heart is going a million miles an hour, my blood pressure is a degree under boiling. I’d be ready to walk us into an ambush to get them back.”
“And we’ll get them back.”
“I know.” Vicente held out his hand to his friend. “I know you’ll make it happen. I just want to be there to see these men go down for this.”
Cruz reached out and grabbed his friend’s forearm and Vicente mirrored the hold. “We’ll get them back, my friend. I’m going to do everything I can. You’d do the same for me.”
“Any day,” Vicente agreed with his friend, “every day.”
They shook on it and Cruz gave Vicente’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “And twice on Sunday.”
The driver turned back to speak. “We’re two minutes out.”
Cruz leaned forward leaning his arm against the back of the shotgun seat. “Headlights off.”
The lights in front of the SUV shuttered and they continued by the moonlight and whatever ambient light they could catch. The Com in Vicente’s ear flared to life and he heard Cruz in stereo.
“Everyone has their assignments?”
All the groups replied to the affirmative.
“EMTs standing by.” More replies.
“First Priority is the recovery of the victims. Second is neutralizing the threat.”
Another voice came onto the line. It only took a second to recognize Hayden. “I’ll be with all of you in spirit, but I’m thinking by the time you get there, Pilar will have all of them hogtied and begging for mercy.”
Vicente couldn’t help the smug smile that tugged at his lips. “Then we’ll be there to clean up after her. Thanks, Hayden. Take care of yourself.”
“We’ll be fine, Bravo. Now go bring my friends home.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Sloane looked at the documents and picked up the pen in her hand. Biting into her lower lip she turned to look at the man she’d wanted to be close to. She saw the venom in his eyes and seething anger just beneath the surface.
How she’d missed it before, she just didn’t know.
She’d missed so much.
What had she missed with Kimberly?
She set the pen down and set her hand over it. “Let Pilar go.”
The room which had already seemed too quiet by half went as silent as the grave.
Every head in the room turned to Glen McKinnon and waited.
The silence stretched on until it felt like a cramp, tightening by degrees.
Sloane felt like she was walking the line between dread and the slightest bit of irrational hope.
Until the man who she’d thought of as family walked right up to the table where she was sitting, planted his hands on the top of the table, and leaned down into her face.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve stuck your prissy little nose into?”
She didn’t speak. She didn’t dare.
She’d seen that look before, just not directed at her, and now it chilled her to the bone.
“I’ve made a pretty penny selling off bitches like you.”
Sloane felt the color drain from her face and all she could do was blink, as stunned as she was.
“Imagine my surprise,” he smiled at her and she waited for him to bare his teeth like the jackal he was, “when my philanthropic little niece decided to spend her time and her family’s money trying to save the same worthless people that I was using as merchandise. You’ve always been a thorn in my side.
“I thought after your parents died, you’ve be as easy to control as your sister. You were the youngest. But you were the most willful child. Why Kimberly tried to protect you, I just don’t know.”
“Kimberly?” Sloane stood and set a hand on the table top as she swayed, a little dizzy. “What are you talking about?”
“Your sister was… a good girl. She did everything I asked of her. And when I was going to punish you for misbehaving, she took your punishment.
“Who knows,” he shrugged, a throwaway of movement that made her stomach turn, “she might have lived longer if you hadn’t worn her down.”
Sloane moved closer. “What are you talking about?”
“Sloane, stay back.”
She heard Pilar’s warning, but she couldn’t listen, not now.
“What do you know? What happened to Kimberly?”
“Sloane, stop!”
Her feet planted on the concrete, but she kept her focus on her uncle, less than a foot away. “Tell me.”
“She took pills to dull the pain.” His words were short, pointed, and jabbed like a stick. “But she took what I gave her and thanked me for it.”
Sloane lifted a hand to her throat, trying to quell the turmoil roiling in her gut.
“And when you’d mouth off to me, she’d take even more, smiling through the pain because she knew how much it pissed me off.
“Your sister became my personal whipping post to save your hide.”
Bile rose in Sloane’s throat and she barely kept it in. “You’re a monster.”
“You’re the one that made her suffer. When you told Kimberly you didn’t want to live with me, s
he got me to agree to let you go.”
Sloane’s vision started to darken at the edges.
“You’re remembering now, aren’t you? Those nights she spent at my house? The long weekends? That was all in payment for your willful behavior, little girl.”
Her knees went weak and her heart stuttered in her chest. “No. No. She would have told me.”
“Really?” His laughter rang off the walls. “Remember who had control of the estate? That was me, baby. I owned the both of you. She wasn’t going to say a thing, because if she told…”
Everything went to hell a moment later. The doors on both sides of the building burst inward and suddenly the air was filled with noise.
She couldn’t hear much more than the rush of blood through her ears, but she managed to raise her head and see that the men around her were standing, stock still, their guns trained on the people rushing into the room.
FBI, SAPD, RANGER- the bright white letters stamped on their vests read like a Bible verse of salvation, but Sloane couldn’t help but think it wasn’t over.
Not yet.
Cruz. She heard his voice ring out as the rest of the noise died down. “That’s right, fingers off the triggers. Pilar, Sloane, walk to me.”
It took a moment for Sloane’s brain to register the words and then she had to make her feet move. She still had the weight of his words on her shoulders.
“Sloane.”
She heard her name whispered under his breath and she looked up into his face, waiting to hear what he had to say.
“I wanted you to die.”
“Sloane,” it was Cruz this time, “step away from him.”
“I was going to give you a taste of what Kimberly enjoyed for years, and then I was going to let you take your own life like she did.”
Her eyes widened ever so slightly, and her heart sped up in her chest. “You’re never going to hurt another woman ever again.”
His whole expression changed. His eyes changed from stormy to cold and cruel and she realized that he’d heard a challenge in her voice.
It was too late to take it back, but she was almost relieved. She’d heard too much and knew too much to play the good girl for him. Not when he’d used her to hurt her sister.