Deadly Alliances

by Candle Sutton

  Crack!

  The truth slammed into her as lines webbed across the window on the other side of the car. They were under fire!

  Twenty-Three

  “Everyone down!” Alex’s words echoed those darting through Lana’s head.

  Outside, the guards scrambled into the booth. One of them already had a walkie-talkie in hand, lips flailing as he scanned the surrounding terrain.

  Young. He’d found them.

  Please don’t let him have armor piercing rounds. If he did, their bulletproof vehicle wouldn’t shield them for long.

  She held out little hope that he’d be using standard ammo.

  Alex wrestled a shield from the cargo space, positioned it in front of Reilly. “Chow! Get us outta here!”

  “We are blocked in.”

  Lana strained to see out the back window.

  The grill on a large refrigerated truck filled the view.

  “Tell ‘em to open the gate!”

  In response to Alex’s command, Chow signaled the guards, but they didn’t see him. Or maybe just had no inclination to cooperate.

  More gunshots sliced through the morning. Alex got on her phone and yelled for backup.

  Backup would take too long.

  They had to stop him.

  Now.

  Before he hit someone.

  Thoughts clicked through Lana’s mind. The guards inside were likely mobilizing. But they’d be penned in. Young probably had a rooftop vantage point.

  Local law enforcement would get here. But would it be soon enough?

  She couldn’t take the chance.

  She pulled out her Glock and backed up to the door.

  Lord, shield me.

  Young was located somewhere on the other side of the vehicle. If she could get around the refrigerator truck, she might be able to take him by surprise.

  It’d only work if someone distracted him.

  “Chow.” Her fingers closed around the door handle. “Count to five. Then draw his fire.”

  Alex whipped her head around. “What’re you–”

  The door gave way behind her and Lana half-rolled, half-fell from the car. She landed in a crouch, eased the door closed.

  “Tanner.” Alex’s crisp tone snapped through the closed door. “In the car. Now.”

  Not going to happen. If she pulled this off, Alex would forgive her.

  If she didn’t, well, dead people didn’t need forgiveness.

  She slid down the side of the car. Paused by the rear tire.

  Okay, Chow. Any time.

  Nothing.

  She knew Alex wasn’t pleased with her actions. Had Alex told Chow to ignore her request?

  That wouldn’t stop her. She’d stick to her plan. With or without support from her team.

  Come on, back me up.

  A few seconds passed before two gunshots sounded. From the vehicle, this time.

  She’d have to remember to thank Alex later.

  Without stopping to think about it any further, she ran in a half-crouch toward the truck.

  More shots. Nothing seemed to hit nearby. Maybe Young hadn’t seen her.

  She skimmed the side of the truck to peek around the back.

  Movement atop a warehouse caught her eye.

  A long barrel. A shape. The barrel jerked about the same time she heard the next shot.

  Something smacked into the metal next to her face.

  So much for not being seen.

  She flitted back, positioned herself by the tire. The last thing she needed was him shooting out her legs.

  What to do?

  Crawl under the vehicle? She could use the tires for cover, maybe get off a shot before he saw her new position.

  Risky. What if the truck’s driver suddenly floored it?

  Too bad she couldn’t communicate with the team. Get them to draw his fire.

  She glanced back at the SUV. Rodriguez gave a half wave from where he knelt by the rear tires.

  Okay, now she really owed Alex a thank you. Maybe even lunch.

  All she had to do was get Rodriguez to understand. She pointed at him, his gun, and the sniper.

  A nod. Man, she hoped he got the message.

  Turning, he edged down the vehicle, paused by the front tires. He nodded at her. When she returned the gesture, he held up three fingers. Dropped to two. Then one.

  Go time.

  He rose.

  As she hurried to the rear of the truck, she heard several shots. Some from the building, some from Rodriguez.

  She brought up her gun. Peered around the edge and sighted on the figure.

  The recoil jolted up her arm as she pulled the trigger.

  The rifle fell back and the figure disappeared from sight. She got him. With any luck, she did enough damage that he’d have to back down.

  Sirens wailed in the distance.

  No sign of movement from the roof. Five seconds turned to ten. She faced Rodriguez. “I’m going in.”

  He jogged to join her. “Let’s do it.”

  They tore across the street. Man, was she going to get a lecture from Alex after this. Not to mention what Reilly would say.

  A clattering sound. From somewhere close. Young making his escape?

  “Alley.” Rodriguez’s low voice sounded behind her left shoulder.

  She plastered her back against the building and peered around the corner.

  Empty. A fire escape clung to the side of the building.

  That explained the noise they’d heard.

  They darted down the alley. At the corner, she stole a look onto the neighboring road.

  About a block down, a man opened the driver’s door on a small white sedan. She caught a glimpse of something long and black as he pulled it from inside the plaid beige, brown, and pea green raincoat he wore.

  “Freeze! US Marshals!”

  Without giving any indication he heard her, he dropped into the driver’s seat. The engine roared to life.

  Stop him! She brought up her gun and aimed for the tires.

  Rubber protested. The car fishtailed away from the curb.

  She squeezed off a shot. Missed.

  The car flailed across the nearly empty road, oblivious to white or yellow lines on the pavement. Smart. The erratic driving prevented her from getting a clear shot at the tires.

  She lowered her gun as the car screeched around a corner.

  What kind of deputy allowed not one, but two hit men to get away in the span of a week?

  And, once again, she’d failed to get the license plate number.

  Maybe Peters had been right. Maybe she had no business doing this kind of work.

  From beside her, Rodriguez swore softly. “Couldn’t make out the plate from here. You see it?”

  “No.” She bit out the word. “We better get back.”

  “Yeah. S’pose so.”

  As they turned, she noticed something dark on the ground. She knelt.

  Blood. A trail of it.

  “Looks like I hit him.”

  “Good. Serves ‘im right.”

  Maybe his DNA would be in CODIS. And they could track him using it.

  Unlikely, but the glimmer of hope made her feel a little better.

  The blood continued down the alley, stopping in a small pool underneath the fire escape. Looking up, she found the ladder rungs smeared with blood, too. Maybe she’d gotten in a solid hit.

  They continued up the alley to where it spilled into the street opposite the prison.

  Police vehicles packed the area.

  The truck hadn’t moved, but the SUV was nowhere in sight. Knowing Alex, she’d moved Reilly to the security of the prison’s interior as soon as she could.

  She and Rodriguez offered their badges to a dozen high-strung, trigger-happy cops.

  After showing the responding officers the sniper’s perch and the route he’d taken, as well as giving their statements, they were escorted into the prison. Chow let them into a visitation room before resuming hi
s post outside the door.

  Narrowed blue eyes locked on her the second she stepped through the door. Yeah, she knew Alex wouldn’t be happy.

  “Deputy Tanner. A word.” Alex’s voice contained enough ice to chill a penguin.

  Oh, boy. She was in for it.

  Alex led the way outside the room, motioned for Chow to go inside. The door clicked shut behind him.

  “What the heck were you thinking?”

  The fury behind Alex’s words made Lana blink. Had she ever seen Alex this angry?

  Alex didn’t give her a chance to reply. “What part of you being a target do you not understand? Young would just love to take you down, remember? And then you go and do something so incredibly stupid as to get out of the car and go after him yourself!”

  “We were pinned down. It would’ve only been a matter of time before he hit someone.”

  “I oughta report you to Barker. Insubordination.”

  “Calm down, will you? It worked out okay.”

  “But what if it hadn’t? You could’ve been killed! I can’t let that happen, especially not on my watch.”

  The angry façade cracked, giving Lana a glimpse of the fear Alex had hidden beneath it. “I’m sorry. Truth be told, I forgot that Young might be after me, too. I just wanted to get you guys to safety.”

  Heavy footfalls, accompanied by rattling chains, echoed down the concrete hallway. Lana looked up to see a broad man in an orange jumpsuit, flanked by several guards, shuffling toward them. Though too far away to make out any details, the white blond hair confirmed his identity.

  Alex’s slowly released breath whistled through her nose. “Let’s finish this.”

  ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪

  “Rosetti arrested in murder-for-hire scheme.”

  It seemed everywhere Lana turned, she saw the local paper screaming the good news.

  Hard to believe it’d been a week since Garrett had confessed to everything, including the fact that the murder had been ordered by none other than Frank Rosetti. He’d also told them that Rosetti had hired Stevens, followed by Young, the latter of whom had guaranteed that Reilly wouldn’t make it to the jail.

  Good thing the guarantees of criminals weren’t worth the oxygen expelled making them.

  “Good to see you again, Lana.”

  She offered a smile to Tomas, the server she and Reilly always requested when frequenting their favorite restaurant. “Believe me, it’s good to be here.”

  “You guys are big news right now.”

  “One of us is, anyway.” Thank God it was only Reilly’s name in the papers.

  “Ah, but I bet you weren’t far away.”

  “Guilty as charged.”

  “Were you there when they made the arrest?”

  “Unfortunately, no.” But she wished she had been. She would’ve loved to have seen the look on Rosetti’s face when they slapped the cuffs on him.

  Tomas nodded at the two empty chairs across from her. “Still waiting on that brother of yours?”

  “And his fiancée. Some things never change.”

  A rich laugh bubbled from him. “The usual? Peach iced tea and a raspberry lemonade?”

  That he knew her and Reilly’s favorite drinks so well was one of the reasons she requested him. “Absolutely. Better add a diet soda for Des.”

  “You got it.”

  He moved away, greeting Reilly as he approached the table.

  Pulling out the chair across from her, Reilly loosened his tie. “Des should be right behind me. She said yes, by the way.”

  Of course she had. “Was there ever a doubt?”

  “I never know about you women. You can be kind of unpredictable.” Teasing lightened the words.

  “Just like to keep you on your toes.” Speaking of unpredictable…. “What happened to changing your hair? I mean, that is what you said you were going to do, right?”

  While the contacts were long gone and the goatee was history, Reilly’s hair still sported the highlighted style Alex had given it.

  A hint of pink flashed across his cheeks as he offered a sheepish grin. “Des. Somehow she convinced me to leave it. For a while, anyway.”

  Tomas dropped off their drinks before hurrying on to the next table.

  As he walked away, Reilly leaned in. “You all packed?”

  “Just about.”

  In a few days they’d all be flying back to Lincoln City, for a real vacation this time. Her parents, Reilly, and even Des had cleared their schedules for the trip. The top thing on their agenda was to get to know the Lykos family better.

  The top thing on her agenda was to finally level with them about who she was and what she did. No more half-truths or dodging questions.

  Except maybe the one she really wanted to ask – if any of them could possibly be, or know, an international assassin who went by Stevens. Looked like that was one mystery that would remain unsolved.

  For now.

  “What’s in your head?”

  Tracing her finger through the condensation on the outside of her glass of tea, she eased out a breath. “Wondering who Stevens is. If he’s somehow connected to them. To be honest, I don’t know if I want to learn the truth.”

  “Maybe God’s telling you to let this one go.”

  Okay, that was the last thing she would’ve expected from him. “And what about justice? He’s killed a lot of people.”

  “Sometimes God uses us to exact justice, but sometimes He takes care of it Himself. This might be one of those times. Don’t waste time obsessing about something you can’t control.”

  He was right. God was a God of justice and mercy. Whichever He decided to show Stevens was up to Him.

  ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪

  “I thought you were supposed to be good.”

  Young flinched. Partly from the tone, but mostly because the words, spat from Ginger Rosetti’s perfectly painted lips, contained more truth that he wanted to hear.

  She was right. He was supposed to be good. Yet here he sat, a colossal failure.

  “I am. I just didn’t have the time I needed to get the job done.” He hated the defensiveness in his tone almost as much as he hated making excuses.

  “You assured Frank it wouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I was wrong, okay? That what you want to hear?”

  “I want to hear my husband’s voice!” Tears glittered in her eyes like broken glass. “I want all this to be behind us. I want Tanner to suffer as Frank has.”

  Huh.

  He’d have pegged her as a gold digger who only married Frank for the status and money, but she really appeared to love her husband. “Oh, I could make Tanner suffer, all right.”

  She blinked. A tear strayed down her cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away.

  Instead, she studied him for several seconds. “Does he have a brother?”

  Genius.

  Why hadn’t he thought of that before? “A sister. They’re very close.”

  “Really.” Ginger’s lips bunched in a scowl. “And do you think you could actually complete this one?”

  “Better believe it.” It was perfect really. He’d get revenge on the woman who not only made him fail, but shot him in the process. “And I’ll do her for free.”

  Twenty-Four

  Nate closed the internet browser.

  So. Rosetti had been arrested. Reilly Tanner was safe and, more importantly, so was Lana.

  Maybe now he could finally call her.

  Of course, he could’ve called her before, but he hadn’t wanted to do anything to arouse suspicion. Especially after calling and pretending to be Stevens.

  A double knock sounded on his apartment door.

  Matt.

  Swinging open the door, he let his friend inside. “Did you see the news? We did it.”

  He turned to find Matt surveying him soberly.

  Uh-oh. He’d seen that look before.

  “You might hold off on the party,” Matt’s tone was even. Expressionless, really.
r />   “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that your chick shot Young.”

  So? Young had been trying to kill her brother. And her. Not only was shooting him part of her job, it was self-defense. “Good for her.”

  “No. Bad for her.”

  What was he talking about? The confusion must’ve been evident on his face.

  Matt planted his hands on the back of Nate’s brown leather sofa and leaned forward. “She should’ve killed him, but she didn’t. Now Young’s angry. He’s goin’ after her.”

  The moisture vaporized from Nate’s mouth. “H–how do you know?”

  “Got a contact who makes it his business to know. He remembered me askin’ about Young before and thought I might wanna know the latest.”

  “Any chance this guy’s wrong?”

  “Not likely.” Matt straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s what I’d do in his place.”

  Now what? Lana thought this was over. Would she even be on the defensive?

  Probably not.

  He could call her.

  Memories of their last phone conversation flashed through his head. The more he spoke to her as Stevens, the more likely she’d be to recognize his voice.

  Not to mention that he was no longer in Lincoln City, but home in Santa Barbara. Calling her could lead the Feds straight to his home town.

  Out of the question. But what else could he do?

  Go to her. He didn’t know what he’d do when he got there, maybe call in an anonymous tip to the cops or something.

  “I don’t suppose your source told you where Young is right now?”

  “You serious? Dude’s not his travel agent.”

  Of course not.

  Well, he had her number. And he’d been thinking about calling her anyway. It shouldn’t be too hard to get her talking about her present location. “I’ll find out.”

  “You gonna call and warn her again?”

  “No. I’m going to find her and stop Young.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?”

  “I don’t know.” Nate met Matt’s gaze and held it with his own. “I could use your help.”

  Eyes narrowing, Matt’s lips slid into a slit. “Forget it. This obsession has gotta stop, man.”