“Pete, can you wait here with the lady while I call the police?”
He nods, and I begin to pace.
Eric has gone, he’s obviously in trouble.
“Ma’am, you need to calm down,” says Pete in a soothing tone.
“What I need to do is figure out what the fucking hell is going on!”
Eric
They got me into a car as Cherie hit the floor inside the hospital. At first, I thought he’d done something to her, but when he got into the car, he explodes.
“Fucking bitch caused a scene. They’ll be looking at camera footage now, and our faces are going to be everywhere.”
I laugh, and the black guy punches me in the face.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” he roars.
The man who escorted me into the car laughs. “Rio, my man, calm down. So what? We aren’t wanted anywhere. Well, not here in the states, anyway. Be cool. We got who we came for.”
“Yeah, we did. Maddock MacKenny, we’ve been looking for you for a long, long, time. I was starting to think you really were dead.”
“Fellas, you have me confused with someone else. My name is Eric Hill,” I say as I rub my jaw.
Rio pulls out a knife and holds it to my wrist, then he twists it, slicing through my jacket.
“Nah, see this here?” he asks, pointing to my tattoo. “This is how we know it’s you, all you MacKenny boys have one.”
Fuck.
“A lot of people have this tattoo.”
Rio laughs, and so does his scarred friend. “Yeah, sure they do.”
“Doesn’t matter anyway. We’re taking you home. Someone wants to see you in person, your old boss, and if you aren’t Maddock, we’ll kill you anyway,” says the scarred one.
I glare at both of them.
I’m fucked.
I need to buy some time.
“And how are you getting me back to Washington?”
“Funny, if you’re not Maddock, how do you know where you’re from?”
“Look, Scarface, I’m dead either way. So, why pretend?” I growl out.
“Scarface? Is that the best you got? I’m going to enjoy skinning you alive. My name is Louis, and we’re flying you back.”
I still have time.
A plane.
It must be private.
They won’t risk taking me through an airport.
My hands are bound with zip ties at my front, but my feet aren’t.
Cherie
The police came and took me to the station. They showed me footage of the man who tried to take me. I told them about the conversation with the first man and how he called Eric, Maddock MacKenny. I’ve been sitting in an interrogation room by myself for over an hour, but it’s more than six hours since Eric was taken. The door is open, and people look in on me from time to time, and finally, the sheriff comes in, closes the door, and sits down.
“We did some digging. It appears Eric Hill is an alias for Maddock MacKenny.” He searches my face looking for something. “You didn’t know, did you?”
“No, Sheriff, I didn’t. I don’t know him that well. We’ve been out a couple of times. He’s been working at the garage. Do they know anything?” Heat infuses my face as I think about Eric and me in bed.
“Call me, Frank. We’ve spoken to the owner of the garage, and he doesn’t know anything. All we’ve managed to find is this.” He opens a folder and flips over a photograph of Eric. He’s in a suit, smiling, looking happy, standing next to a group of men. “This is Maddock MacKenny, does he look like Eric?”
“Yes, it’s him. A little younger but—”
“Maddock MacKenny is dead. Well, that’s what the feds tell us, which is weird they’d even know.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he’s in witness protection. Well, that’s what we think it means.” Frank runs a hand over his face and looks at me. “Maddock was killed along with his sister in a car bombing three years ago. If this is him, it’s the only explanation.”
“Have you talked to the feds?” I ask.
“We have. So far, we’re getting nowhere. The car Eric… Maddock… whoever the hell he is, got into didn’t have plates. We’re running the faces of those two men through facial recognition, but it takes time. You should go home, Miss Lake. We’ll let you know if we find anything. I can have one of my officers drop you off.”
I stand. “Thank you, Sheriff… I mean Frank. I appreciate it.”
Frank escorts me out the front to a waiting deputy, and he drives me home. I live only a little out of town, so it doesn’t take long. When we pull up, I climb out of the cruiser, and the deputy waits until I’ve unlocked my front door and opened it, then he drives away.
I close the door and lean against it, grateful to be home and surrounded by my things. I take two steps inside the door when I realize I’m not alone. Turning, I open the door, but someone slams it shut.
“Be calm. We aren’t here to hurt you. All we want to know is… is Maddock alive?”
My heart feels like it’s in my throat. Someone turns on a light, and I’m staring at a hand with long fingers and he’s holding the door shut. I close my eyes, scared. If I don’t see their faces, they might let me go.
“I don’t know who that is,” I whisper.
“Right, you know him as Eric. It’s Cherie, right? Cherie, I’m going to show you something, so I need you to open your eyes.”
I shake my head. “No, I haven’t seen your faces. You can leave, I won’t tell anyone.”
“I told you sitting in the dark like this was going to scare her, didn’t I? Jesus, fucking Christ, Angus!”
“And I told you the cops aren’t going to help us get Maddock back. No one is.”
“Who the fuck is Maddock?” I yell as I turn around, causing both of them to stare at me, and I realize I’m staring at them. “Fuck.”
The man, Angus, who’s standing closest to me, takes two steps back and holds up his hands.
“I’m Angus MacKenny, and this ugly fucker is my brother, Sean. We’ve been searching for Maddock and our sister, Heather, for three years.”
Angus is dressed in black and is a little thin. He has a beanie on his head and is wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses. Sean is in jeans, a cut, and a black T-shirt. He has one of those chains that goes from his belt loop to his pocket, and I’m assuming a wallet is attached at the other end.
Sean stands and holds out his hand. “Maddock has great taste in women, always did.”
Slowly, I place my hand in his. The grip is firm but not bone-crunching. As I stare into his eyes, I can see Eric in there. He has the same look to him only he’s a little rougher looking.
“I’m Cherie Lake. Why would your brother be hiding out here under a false name? And who’s Heather? And show me your forearm.”
“Heather is our sister. We’re hoping she’s with Maddock. The closest I can tell is, Mad went into witness protection. Over the years, I’ve found traces of him here and there but nothing on her. It’s possible she died in the explosion, but I know Mad is still alive. I know it,” replies Angus with emphasis as he pulls up his sleeve revealing the same tattoo as Eric. I look at Sean, who simply turns his arm over, and there buried within a sleeve is the cross.
I slowly release a breath and walk around them into the kitchen. Pulling the fridge door open, I grab a bottle of beer, pop the top off, and take a swig.
“Let me get this straight… Eric is Maddock, and you think he’s been in witness protection?” I begin to pace in the kitchen. Talking to myself, I say, “Well, that makes sense. All that crap about starting over and wanting a clean slate. Jesus! I’m such an idiot.”
“I like her, she’s got balls,” says Sean as he grins at Angus.
“Where would they have taken him?” I ask.
Angus shrugs. “I’m not sure. We thought you might be able to help us with that.”
Sean walks toward me and gestures at the bottle. “You got another one of those?”
<
br /> Opening the fridge, I pull one out and hand it to him. He twists off the top and tosses it in the sink.
“Did they say anything to you?” asks Sean.
“Yeah, the guy said I was going for a car ride, then a plane.”
Both men exchange glances.
“Gotta be the private strip outside of town,” says Angus.
“Yeah, man, but it was hours ago. They’d be long gone by now.” Sean pulls out his phone. “You think they’d be stupid enough to take him back to DC?”
“Maybe.” Angus looks over at me. “Can we hang here until we know where we’re going?”
“Sure you—”
“Fuck that. I can’t sit around here and wait. I need to know,” interrupts Sean with frustration in his tone.
“Until we know where he is, it’s stupid to go off galavanting around. Cool your jets. Sit. Let me see what planes flew in and out of the strip.”
“What if they didn’t log a flight plan?” asks Sean.
“Jesus, man, let me look first, okay?” replies Angus as he sits down in front of a laptop and starts clicking away.
“I know someone who works out at the strip. I could make a call?”
Sean looks at me and nods. “Do it.”
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I scroll through my contacts until I find the one I’m looking for.
“This is Dylan.”
“Hey, Dylan, it’s Cherie.”
“Yeah, babe, I know, got your number in my phone. What’s up?”
“Dylan, have any planes left the strip in the last eight hours?”
“Duh! Yeah, of course.”
“I mean, any private planes?”
“Yes, come on, Cherie. What’re you looking for?”
“A white guy with a scar and a big black guy.”
“Oh, yeah, they had the sweet little Cessna Citation CJ4. It was last year’s model. Very nice…” Dylan pauses. “Do you know those guys?”
“Actually, they ripped me off at the diner, didn’t pay their bill. Don’t suppose you know what time they left and where they were going?”
“Fuckers! Sure do, Cherie. People like that suck. They left here a little over seven hours ago and were headed for…” I can hear him flipping through papers, “… Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.”
“Thank you, Dylan, thank you. Next piece of pie is on me.”
Before he can say anything else, I hang up.
“Well?” asks Sean impatiently.
“They’re headed for Washington, Ronald Reagan Airport.”
Sean looks at Angus. “Let’s ride.” Both men stand and head for the door.
“Wait! I’m coming with you.”
“Like fuck you are,” says Sean.
“You don’t know what the men look like. I can help.”
A look passes between the two men.
Angus shrugs and nods.
“Fine, you got wheels?” asks Sean.
“Yeah, I’ve got my truck.”
Angus laughs. “The piece of crap out front? It’ll never keep up. She can ride with you.”
“Why can’t she ride with you?”
“Boys… let’s get going, yeah?” I slip my bag across my body and walk out my front door.
Sean walks out first, and Angus follows, pulling the door shut behind him. I stick close to Sean as he makes his way around to the back of my home where two bikes are parked.
Sean climbs on. “Hop on, princess. We need to get on the road.”
As soon as I’m on, he starts his ride. Angus is sitting astride his but doesn’t start it.
“You coming?” asks Sean.
“I need to contact Kyle. He’s closest.”
Sean nods and takes off.
I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. I’m on the back of a bike with a man I don’t know, heading to God knows where, in search of a man I don’t really know.
And for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m heading in the right direction.
Maddock
I have a hood over my head, and I’m tied to a chair. For the last hour or is it two, I’ve been trying to loosen the ropes but to no avail. I can hear traffic in the distance and voices in another room. They knocked me out before the plane landed, so I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting here.
“Good afternoon, Maddock. How are you?”
The hood is removed, and light floods in, blinding me. I blink several times before I can focus on the man in front of me—my old boss, Colin Lamond.
“I’m fine, thank you, Colin, and you?” I reply with sarcasm.
“Oh, you know, hiring mercenaries to find you, spending a small fortune… but hey, they finally delivered.”
“You’re a fucking piece of shit. You know that, Colin?”
“Is that the best you can do?” Colin laughs. “If you’d only died like you were supposed to, this wouldn’t even have been necessary.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“If only you hadn’t stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong,” sneers Colin.
“And if only you hadn’t been a scum-sucking pig and killed my sister, but we all have our crosses to bear.”
Colin laughs and points at me as he walks back and forth in front of me. “Ah, your sweet sister, Heather, right? That’s on you.”
“I came to you because I thought someone was doing the wrong thing. Instead, you betrayed me. How could you use Zed like that? How could you send those fucking terrorists those components? Do you have any idea what they could do in the wrong hands?” I yell at him.
Colin laughs harder, crosses his arms over his chest, and glares down at me. “You made a good accountant, but a lousy snitch. Where do you think all the extra money came from? How do you think we were able to build all those experimental prototypes? All that takes money, so, yes, I sell the odd component to whomever I need to, to keep Zed Fluid Systems afloat.”
“You did it for money? You killed my sister for money?”
“And to stay out of prison,” Colin states flatly. He stops pacing, and a smile slowly makes its way across his smug face. “But prison is no longer a problem for me now, is it? Tell me, Maddock, before I kill you, tell me what the feds know?”
“Fuck you!”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Colin turns and makes a hand signal to someone behind me. “Time to re-acquaint yourself with Mr. Black.”
Scarface comes into my line of vision, smiling maniacally at me. He blows me a kiss. “Nothing I like better than getting people to talk, and I think I’m going to get you to sing for me, Maddock, like a fucking opera singer.”
Rio walks into the room pushing a cart. He slows down as he gets to me ensuring I get a good look at the assortment of knives and other sharp instruments on there.
“The marshal who was looking after you, Styles? He was a tough cookie, his fucking heart gave out before I could get him to talk.”
“Bullshit. He died in the line of duty,” I say scathingly.
“Is that what they told you?” Laughs Rio.
“Guess the marshals wouldn’t advertise the fact one of their own got taken. Bad for business,” sneers Colin.
“You worthless piece of shit,” I yell at Colin, straining against my restraints. “I will kill you!”
“Good luck. Gentlemen, let me know what you find out.” Colin gives me one last smile and walks from the room.
I glare at my torturers. My heart is pounding, and I know I need to calm down. I have to find a way out of this before they carve me up. Rio and Black are grinning at me with jubilation, clearly excited with what they’re about to do.
“Any last requests?” asks Black as he picks up one blade then another, holding it to the light.
“How about you stab Rio, then kill yourself? It’d make me happy,” I reply with a grin.
“Your bravado is amusing. We shall see how long it lasts,” Black says as he appears to be weighing a knife in his hand. “Mr. Lamond wants to know what you tol
d the feds and if there’s any written proof? He believes he’s scrubbed his company clean, and it’s why you haven’t testified yet. He’s successfully kept them at bay, and let’s face it, without you, they have nothing.”
It explains why I’ve been kept in the dark for so long, Maria’s surprise visit, and the death of Marshal Styles.
Black walks toward me, eyes shining with excitement. “Rio, you may want to leave.”
Rio gives me a sympathetic nod and heads for the door. Black puts the knife against my shoulder and slowly pushes it into me. Pain explodes with ferocity while I grit my teeth together to stop myself from screaming.
Closing my eyes, I let out a growl, and my mind wanders back to Cherie. I see her in her leather outfit with her head tilted to the side as she listens to my lies. I wish I had told her the truth. By now, it doesn’t matter. She probably knows everything.
I feel him twist the knife, and as hard as I try, I’m unable to stop the roar that rips through me.
“They all break eventually,” mutters Black.
I feel sweat build across my forehead. Opening my eyes, I glare at him. “I’m going to kill you!”
“Tut, tut, tut. They all say that, too.” Black does a twirl, his hands held out away from his side. “As you can see, I’m still here.” Chuckling, he picks up another knife and walks toward me. Black’s voice becomes hard. “Tell me what I want to know, and this will end for you.” He looks into my eyes as he plunges a knife into my other shoulder.
The pain is so extreme I feel sick, and blackness washes over me.
Cherie
Sean is going so fast that I find it easier to close my eyes and hang on. We stop once on our journey to fill up with fuel.
“What’s the plan?” I ask.
“We wait here for Angus. Then we head for Holly Airport. There’s a guy there who owes us. He’ll fly us to DC, no questions asked. It’ll take us about three hours to get there, then it’s only a matter of waiting.”
Sean avoids eye contact. “It’ll be too late, won’t it?”
He nods and walks into the service station. When he returns, he hands me a chocolate bar. “Good for energy.”
Spark (MacKenny Brothers Series Book 1) Page 8