Expired Hero

by Lisa Phillips

  Zander shot him a pointed look.

  “I didn’t do this.” But it was too late to plead his innocence.

  Zander would never believe him.

  Thirty

  It was a trap. Kaylee glanced at Stuart, then at Zander, and finally at the two men in turn. Moving that much made her nose throb. She wanted to go back to the hugging part of the reunion they’d just had. The fact he was the one who’d saved her.

  He hadn’t traded her for the flash drive. He’d rescued her instead.

  Stuart reached across his body, creating a barrier with his arm before nudging her behind him. He had a gun. So did Zander. And yet, somehow, the two men approaching seemed much more formidable. Maybe it was the body armor. Or the looks on their faces.

  “Edmond.” Stuart glanced from the man on their right to the one on the left. “Martin.”

  “You know them?” Edmond and Martin were coming from opposite directions. Even the way they walked was menacing.

  “Co-workers.” Stuart said, “Brad trained both of them.”

  Zander lifted one eyebrow. “Not you?”

  “I don’t do teams.”

  “Could’ve fooled me.”

  Zander’s comment confused her. Kaylee didn’t know if it was supposed to be a compliment or a dig at something. None of this made any sense. She was so far out of her element, and she needed an ice pack.

  “Give it up, Leland.”

  Stuart angled slightly toward the one he’d called Edmond. “Give up what? You’re going to have to be more specific than that. It’s been a long day.”

  Kaylee figured his comment was the understatement of the year.

  Zander shifted very slightly. Out the corner of her eye she saw him reach back and crack the car door handle, disengaging the mechanism without actually opening the door. The interior light didn’t even come on. That would’ve caused way too much attention in the dark of night.

  Stuart braced. She felt it in his body despite the fact they weren’t touching.

  Immediately, she spotted the second the guy to her left noted Zander’s movement. Kaylee stuck her hand on her hip. “What are you lookin’ at?” She tried to sound as confident as someone she had only ever been in her dreams—one of those fierce ladies who seemed so put together and stylish. Kaylee pretended she was one of them. “What do you even want, anyway?”

  If Zander was trying to do something, then she would support that even if meant their attention was on her.

  They were trained. But that didn’t rule her out as being useful.

  “I’ve been tied up all day. I’m hungry.” She was determined to continue her performance. “Can we wrap this up and get on with our lives?”

  She saw the edge of a smile on Zander’s face, though he said nothing and didn’t draw attention to himself again.

  Stuart said, “She’s right. What do you want?”

  “They want the flash drive.” Kaylee figured he knew that. He must be purposely withholding what he knew to try and get them to share too much. Huh. She should probably back off and let him take the lead. Stuart was far more skilled than her, and if anyone was going to get them out of this situation, then it was likely him.

  She pressed her lips together.

  This did need to be over soon. Her emotions were so all over the place, she didn’t know how to feel. She was exhausted. And hungry.

  Edmond said, “Your friend here is free to go.”

  “No can do.” Zander shook his head. “Not till I get my guys back.”

  “Oh. Those were your guys? So sorry.”

  Zander’s whole body shifted. It was like he’d suddenly morphed into a guy ready an apex predator, though impressively relaxed. “What did you say?”

  Kaylee glanced around. Where were the guys? Dead, or subdued as she’d been, or—? And weren’t they professionals? How good were Edmond and Martin if they’d taken down guys of such high caliber? A shudder rolled through her. She could pretend to be a stylish, confident woman—with blood all down her front—but she was so far out of her league, it didn’t even begin to sound like a joke.

  Edmond chuckled. “Get me the flash drive, and you can have your guys back.”

  “No more bargains.” Stuart’s body stiffened. “This ends now.” Stuart grabbed her other hand and held it. Why would he do that when he might need his hand free? She tried to wiggle her fingers from his.

  “Give me the flash drive.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  Edmond lifted his gun and pointed it at her. “She dies first.”

  Stuart whipped her behind him, out of view of Edmond. She stumbled, aware the other guy, Martin, from where he was positioned to her left and in full view of her, could still kill her.

  This was bad.

  They were like the four points of a diamond, and the first to cross into the middle would get shot.

  Stuart said, “The flash drive isn’t here. We came here to find Kaylee, that’s all.”

  Edmond was hidden from view, but he didn’t sound pleased when he said, “We can all go get it. I’m sure the rest of my guys want to leave their mark on this town.”

  “I’m not leading you to it if you hurt anyone. I’ll order my guy to destroy the flash drive before that happens.”

  She wondered if Stuart was talking about Ted, and whether or not he would follow through with that threat. Could be he had made a bunch of copies of the information found on the flash drive. If she’d been able to access it without the code word Stuart told her, she’d have done exactly that. Hidden a bunch of versions all over town. Sent one to a newspaper, one to the FBI, one to the White House. Everyone would’ve known who set up Brad and Stuart.

  Take away the leverage.

  Give these guys no reason to bother her—and no reason to leave her alive. Okay, maybe not. If she got out of this alive, she was going to find some books about survival. This face-off-with-each-other, guns-pointed-at-each-other, no one-wanting-to-make-the first-move thing, was driving her crazy.

  She was so nervous.

  Her whole body shivered, and she didn’t know if it was the night air or her nose or if it was because she just wanted someone to do something already. Brad would’ve shot someone by now. Effective, but not what she wanted to see. Hearing Silas get hit from the trunk had been bad enough. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Edmond shifted, not nerves as such. Probably adrenaline.

  She was certainly feeling it too. Now that she knew these trained men had the same issue with nerves, it made her feel better.

  But it didn’t get them out of this.

  Zander’s full focus was on Stuart. She wasn’t sure that was wise until she saw a tiny nod of his chin. Barely a movement at all. She wouldn’t have thought it meant anything…until he whipped his gun out and shot Martin.

  And then Edmond also dropped to the ground, Stuart’s gun reflexes sharp and in sync with Zander’s. At the same moment, with both men down and her brain struggling to catch up with what had just happened, his free hand grasped hers tightly and flung her toward Zander. “Go.”

  She slammed into Zander, who shifted her against the car. He covered her with his body while she pulled the door all the way open.

  “In. In.” Zander crowded her against the car.

  A gunshot went off. Stuart cried out. Zander fired a shot. She turned to see what had happened, but Zander shoved the top of her head down. “Go.”

  Boots pounded concrete in their direction.

  Kaylee scrambled over the seat to the passenger side. Zander dove in, started the engine, and hit the gas. “Let’s go, Leland!”

  She peered out the side window. After a painfully long two seconds, the door swung open and Stuart hauled his body onto the backseat.

  “Report in.” Zander’s yelled command made her flinch. He glanced over but said nothing. Just hit the gas and peeled out, turning the car in a wide arc. “Report in.”

  Someone running across the parking lot caught her attention. “Look out!�
�

  Zander didn’t slow, though. It was Martin, now back on his feet and lifting his hands, his gun pointed directly at them. “Get down!”

  Automatic gunfire sprayed the front end of the car. Kaylee screamed. She ducked her head, covering it with her arms as the car swayed. She hit the door and her nose brushed her knee. Pain sparked like fireworks had been let off right in front of her.

  The car skidded and then a loud thunk sounded. They bumped over something—or someone.

  But the tires never caught. They had no traction.

  She looked up to find Zander desperately fighting with the steering wheel. He had blood on his shoulder. The windshield was shattered. She could barely see out.

  “Hold on!”

  Kaylee grasped the door handle. The car swerved, and the tires on the right side lifted off the ground, rolling them so far that the driver’s side hit the pavement. Metal scraped across the ground. Zander flung about in his seat like a rag doll in the dryer.

  Kaylee realized she was screaming and closed her mouth. She had to cough, and her nose thudded with pain to the rhythm of her heartbeat.

  Seconds ticked by as the engine made that sound, smoking as it cooled. And then she heard more than one man roar. The car tipped and then slammed back down onto the ground, righted onto all fours by more than one man.

  Edmond stood beside her door with blood on his arm, and his gun pointed at her. He shifted his stance, only putting weight on one leg.

  “Get out.”

  Kaylee shoved the door open. She twisted and set her feet on the floor and chanced a look at Stuart. He lay in the backseat, blood on his T-shirt by his left side. Eyes closed. Was he dead, or unconscious? “Stuart.”

  A huge hand with a punishing grip squeezed her arm, and she was hauled out of the car.

  Kaylee stumbled but didn’t go down. “People need to stop doing that.” She was sick of being everyone else’s bargaining chip.

  “Give me what I want, and I’m gone.” Edmond held his gun loose in front of his body, like he had all the time in the world. Not at all like he’d just been in a gunfight.

  She was never going to get away from him. Zander and Stuart were both out of commission. It would be up to her to finish this, and she had no clue what she was doing. All she had was her wits and her brain.

  “Let’s make a deal.”

  Edmond grinned. “Brad said you were somethin’ special.”

  She lifted her chin. “You want the flash drive? I want you gone.”

  “That’s not the mission.”

  If he was supposed to kill her, or Stuart, she figured he’d have already done it himself and then found the flash drive after the fact. While everyone was still reeling.

  “What is?”

  “You and Stuart come in. The bosses see both of you, and I get paid for that,” Edmond said. “And I’ll bring the flash drive as well when I deliver the two of you. Double payment.”

  “Why do they want us?” Why did he not need to bring in Brad, as well?

  “Reconditioning.”

  Whatever it was, it sounded awful. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “No? Brad seemed to think you could do it.” Edmond tipped his head to the side. “You don’t?”

  “My brother—”

  “He sold you out.” Edmond shrugged. “His freedom, for you and Stuart and the drive. So get over it.”

  She stared at him. “He…what?”

  Thirty-one

  “Are you sure that’s even going to work?” Stuart kept the words low, underneath his breath. Pretending to be unconscious in the backseat of the car—when what he really wanted to do was dive out and tackle Edmond—was infuriating.

  “Yes.” A second after Zander spoke, the cigarette lighter popped out. “Go.”

  They dove for the left side doors. Stuart prayed it would open instead of being smashed tight in a way the door wouldn’t work. He had to kick it.

  “What?”

  Stuart ignored Edmond’s exclamation. Zander already had the hot cigarette lighter in his hand, stretched out underneath the car. He touched it to the spilled gasoline that had puddled. Inevitable, after a crash like they’d been in.

  What Zander hadn’t anticipated? Stuart was lying in the pool of gasoline. “Roll!”

  Flames whipped across the surface of the liquid. Both of them rolled away from the car as heat gathered, and the whole car exploded.

  The boom was deafening.

  Stuart kept his gun close to his chest as the car flipped into the air by the sheer force of the fireball.

  As soon as he saw Martin, he brought the weapon up and fired. Martin already had a gunshot wound in his thigh. He was limping now.

  Stuart fired two rounds into Martin’s bulletproof vest. The second bullet hit where he was not protected. Blood spurted from Martin’s neck. He cried out and went down, bullets spraying in an arc from his gun.

  Stuart scrambled to his feet. He rounded the car and spotted Edmond and Kaylee running toward a side street.

  He chased after them, unwilling to allow Kaylee out of his sight again. That had happened far too many times already. They needed another deep conversation—this one about relationships. Specifically, theirs. After that, they’d both have the chance to rest and recuperate.

  But not if Edmond took her away.

  The only saving grace? Edmond still needed the flash drive.

  And he still needed—

  Two hundred pounds of muscle tackled Stuart to the ground. His chin hit the asphalt and he cried out. Not good. He rolled, kicked out, and found purchase on a shin. The man on him grunted. Another of Edmond’s team, hidden out of sight until now.

  He brought the gun around.

  The man on him shoved his wrist against the ground. Someone else stood on his hand. Stuart’s fingers were now mashed between the sole of the man’s boot and the asphalt, the metal of the gun making up the middle of this inconvenient sandwich. He gritted his teeth.

  “Stop messing around and just get him up.”

  They rolled him to his front, taped his hands behind his back, and stood him up.

  “Let’s go.”

  Stuart was loaded into the back of a vehicle. Before the car door shut, there were two gunshots. The man by the door dropped.

  Another two shots.

  The second man fell to the ground.

  “Why do I have to keep saving you?” Zander reached in and cut his hands free. “You’re supposed to be skilled.”

  At least he didn’t say, skilled like these guys. “I might have worked for the same company, but I don’t do teams.”

  Zander sighed. “Good. Because I’m not hiring.”

  “They would’ve taken me to Kaylee.”

  “Eventually, maybe. After you were both sent to a compound and retrained. Isn’t that what he said?”

  Stuart shoved Zander against the car. “I don’t care what he said. It’s not happening to her.” He roared the words in Zander’s face and just about managed to not let spit fly.

  “You’re gonna want to let go of me.” Zander’s words were low. “Friend.”

  Stuart backed up. “I’m not your friend.”

  He kicked both dead men out of the way, shut the rear door, and climbed in the front seat. He drove to the police station with his foot pressing the gas to the floor until he saw the needle climb to sixty. On main streets in town. Didn’t matter what happened, as long as he got Kaylee back. These people would forgive him. And if they didn’t? He wouldn’t be here to hear about it.

  The police station was dark. Stuart drove around to the rear parking lot, trying to figure out where Edmond had gone, and if he could even get inside.

  The back door was open.

  He dove out, leaving the driver’s door ajar and nearly falling on the asphalt. His side stung. He’d been grazed by a bullet. Not that he’d looked at it, he was just assuming that’s what it was. Didn’t matter.

  He stepped inside, gun first. Fear settled on him l
ike an ice-cold climate. He preferred to work those types of missions when he was prepared for it. The right equipment could make or break an operation. Kind of like how the right companion could make any journey seem less like toil and a whole lot more like an enjoyable time. Life was that way, and Kaylee was the kind of woman he wanted to spend time with.

  Not going to happen, though, if you don’t find her.

  The hall door at the end was open, a rubber door stopper holding the door ajar. All the lights turned off. It was never left like that. There was always someone here working, or at least manning the phones. Why was everyone suddenly gone?

  Unless they’d known who was coming.

  Zander might have alerted Ted. Though, it had to have been done earlier than when Stuart left to come here. Otherwise, they’d never have had the time.

  Basuto had to have ordered everyone cleared out. But why? They should be laying a trap, like this team led by Edmond had done. Or lying in wait, as they’d done. Either way, Edmond would be captured and Kaylee would be safe.

  Stuart ducked into Ted’s office.

  Empty, also. Dark and quiet, like the deadliest surprise party he’d never been invited to.

  He found the flash drive in a port on Ted’s computer tower. Stuart pulled it out, wincing because he hadn’t disconnected it properly, and stuck it in his back pocket.

  Where was everyone?

  The cops had left the flash drive unprotected? The men who wanted it so badly hadn’t retrieved it? Nothing about this made any sense.

  Stuart listened at the door and thought he heard faint voices. He followed the sound through to the main office, and then to another hallway—the other wing of the building that housed interview rooms and holding cells.

  Kaylee.

  He waited nearly two minutes until they came out. Edmond, with Kaylee in front of him to shield his own body from any attack.

  The sniper who had shot Conroy.

  Trina.

  All three had guns.

  Stuart’s body flinched toward Kaylee. He wanted to grab her and run, but blood wet the side of his shirt now. More than he’d thought possible. Unless it wasn’t a graze.

  Your brother. Edmonds words about Brad rolled through his head as though he was hearing them all over again. He sold you out. For freedom.