“Do what you have to do,” Mathew agreed. “I’ll email you everything you need for the money pickup. Just get them back. Stay in contact with me. I want to know what’s going on. Jessica and I will get there as soon as we can.”
“I’ve got this,” Emmitt assured his brother. There were many things he’d screwed up over the years. But when it came to situations like this, protecting the people he loved, his aim was steady and his track record was solid.
“I know,” Mathew breathed out heavily. “I’m glad you’re there.”
Chapter 27
Evie’s hands were soaked with sweat as she tried to grip the steering wheel. She’d never had to tail a car before, but she was sure she was screwing it up, driving too close then so far behind she almost lost them. The cover of a torrential downpour had probably been the only thing that saved her from being noticed. When the large town car finally came to a stop in front of a large warehouse Evie pulled past and looped around to get a better look.
She’d finally given up trying to call Emmitt. By now the driver would have made it back to the house and relayed the situation to him. Emmitt would not waste a second getting to her. He’d be there with a plan and some help and all of this would work out.
The warehouse looked harmless from the outside. She squinted to see any windows, but the dim lights by the multiple bay doors barely cut through the sheets of falling rain. The two men from the hotel quickly jogged from their car to a side door of the warehouse and disappeared inside. She’d give Emmitt thirty minutes. If there was no sign of him, she’d call the police. Surely they’d be able to help. If they believed her.
Her windshield wipers were working frantically and the rhythmic squeaking seemed to keep time as she checked her watch every two minutes. She’d already entered the nine and the one on her phone, just waiting to push the final number.
When a car rolled slowly behind her and the lights flipped off she considered forcing the car into gear and speeding off. In over her head would be an understatement. Evie’s hand flew quickly to the gear shift as she stared in the side mirror waiting to see who might step out.
Holding her breath, Evie strained to see the large figure that was now out of the car and moving toward her. As he moved below the street lamp she gasped out a frantic cry of relief. “Emmitt,” she whispered to herself as she clicked the lock open and slid quickly into the passenger seat.
He was soaked through as he tossed a bag into the back and fell hard into the driver’s seat. “Evie,” he murmured urgently, “you didn’t have to do this.”
“I tried to call you,” she rushed out. “I was going to try to get you to come to the hotel and then follow them, but I couldn’t reach you.”
“I smashed my phone,” he admitted, looking sheepish for a fleeting moment. “You did good. You did so good, Evie. Thank you.” He leaned across the center console and kissed her, grasping a handful of her damp hair.
“I almost called the police. I wasn’t sure you would be able to find me.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. We don’t need the extra commotion. I’m going to get them now. I’ve got the money he owes.”
“It’s two hundred thousand dollars,” Evie breathed out, certain Emmitt couldn’t possibly be aware it was that much.
“I know,” he replied. “It’s in the bag.”
“And you’ll trade the money for the girls and this will all be over?” she asked hopefully, a tremble in her hands showing the fear that coursed through her.
“My father,” he said through gritted teeth. “They’ll want him too. He’s in the car. I’ve got him cuffed. He’s not going anywhere until I take him in there.”
“Oh Emmitt,” she croaked, finally crumbling under the weight and adrenaline of this high-stakes situation. “There has to be another way.”
“Maybe there is,” he shrugged, “but I’m not willing to risk my sister and nieces’ lives on it. He’s not worth even one hair on their heads being touched. If I do things this way, they get what they want, and I get them back. Any other way and I risk their safety.”
“What about Mathew?” she asked, nibbling frantically on her lips.
“He agrees. It’s the only way. My father crossed them, basically stole from them, and now he’s a liability. They need to make an example out of him. I’m going to walk him and the money in now. You should head back to my mother’s house. It’s safer that way.”
“I’ll wait. I’m not leaving now.”
“You won’t want to be here,” he said, his hand already on the door handle ready to leave.
“I’m waiting,” she insisted.
“When I walk out of there without my father what are you going to do? I’ll have my hands full convincing my sister it’s the only way.”
“If you have to do that much convincing maybe you’re wrong.”
“I can be wrong, Evie. I can be the one to blame. I can be a lot of things. But I can’t be the guy who watched my sister or my nieces get hurt just to try to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.”
“Isn’t there anything I can say to change your mind?” Evie pleaded once more.
“There isn’t. But you should know that the fact that you are trying is the reason I think I love you.” Without another word he was gone.
Chapter 28
Emmitt grabbed his father by the collar and yanked him out of the car. If his thoughts could take on the form of men, there would be a full-out war in his mind right now. He’d always led his life by the philosophy, “you make your bed, you can lie in it.” His father had set fire to his bed; it wasn’t Emmitt’s job to save him from that now. What good would it do anyway? Surely more trouble would be in store for all of them if he found a way to keep his father alive right now.
But it didn’t matter. There was no way. Emmitt had been mixed up with enough men like Marc Azeela to realize once the hole was dug, a body was going in. And Emmitt was going to make sure that, of everyone present, it would be his father and no one else in his family.
“Son,” Charles gasped out, wincing under Emmitt’s tight grip. “Son, please let me explain. I didn’t know they would do this. I had no idea.”
“Save it,” Emmitt whispered as he tugged him along toward the warehouse. There were six large bay doors and one metal door off to the side. Surely there would be lookouts, guards of some kind. But the way the rain was pelting like a waterfall over their heads, he was sure their view would be obscured. A win for Emmitt but still an uphill battle. Marc hadn’t called in a ransom yet. The plan hadn’t been put in motion, and Emmitt would be kicking in the door and disrupting it. That could swing things in his favor, the element of surprise, or it could shock the men into doing something stupid.
“If you do anything to jeopardize Harlan or the girls, I’ll put a bullet in you myself.” He gestured down to the weapon holstered on his hip. He had another on his ankle and a knife in his belt if he got desperate. It was still risky, even being well-armed. He had no idea how many men were behind those doors, whether the money in the duffle bag over his shoulder would truly buy his sister’s freedom, and if any of them would walk out of there tonight.
“Who the fuck are—?” a short dark-haired man was asking as Emmitt burst through the door, shoving his father first like a human shield. If they were going down in a hail of bullets, he’d be damn sure the asshole who’d gotten them into this paid the price first.
“Marc is looking for him. And I’m here for my sister and nieces.” Emmitt, kept one hand by his hip and the other on his father’s shirt.
“Y . . . you,” he stuttered, running a hand over his slicked-back hair. “I mean what are you doing here already? He hasn’t even made the call.”
“I want to see my sister and the kids now.”
“Fuck,” the guy said, looking over his shoulder, clearly more accustomed to being ordered around rather than using his own judgement. “Wait here,” he finally bumbled as he hustled in the other direction. They were caught off-guard
. A good sign.
Emmitt took a quick inventory of the warehouse and put his skills in action. He counted the exits, the security cameras, and the options they’d have if things went sideways fast. There weren’t many. So this needed to go well. There were just a few dusty old crates in each corner and a floor loaded with sawdust and debris. The windows had painted panels covering them, and the lights hummed overhead, casting down only dim light.
He adjusted the bag of money on his shoulder and waited. When a door swung open at the other end of the mostly empty warehouse, he straightened his back and readied a hand over his holstered weapon.
“That was fast.” Marc Azeela chuckled as he strode toward them confidently. It was easy to have confidence when two men with guns were at your side. His jet black hair was gelled to the side and his pock-marked face glowed sickly under the dim lights. “I hadn’t even called to tell you what to do, and here you are.”
“My sister,” Emmitt barked out, knowing the more words that passed between them the more likelihood there would be trouble.
“She and the girls are in the office, watching a movie and eating popcorn. The kids think this is a game; they’re having a ball.” Marc tucked his hands into his pockets casually. He didn’t need to be on edge, he didn’t need a hand hovering over a gun. All he needed to do was order the two dog-faced men to his left and right to do the dirty work.
“Marc,” Charles said anxiously, “please don’t hurt my daughter. My granddaughters. They have nothing to do with this. Just let them go.” The cuffs on his wrists clanked together as he clasped his hands and pleaded.
“You told the same damn story to the last three guys you burned. They all came to me and passed your debt on for me to collect. You promised them that your rich ex-wife or one of your kids would give you the money. Then you skipped out on them. I’m here to collect for all of them with interest, and a nice cut for me. I’m not stupid enough to think a wife you left and a kid you haven’t seen in ten years is going to hand you two hundred thousand dollars. That wouldn’t work.” Marc let out a small snort-like laugh, and the two men at his sides followed suit. “So I took it upon myself to grease the wheels. I figured there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned ransom to get a rich old lady paying.”
Emmitt’s blood boiled at the insults. But his whole body went suddenly cold when he realized something profound. “You didn’t know,” he whispered to his father as he tugged his collar.
“No,” Charles said, dropping his head down.
“Let’s get this over with,” Emmitt demanded. “I’ve got your money and him. Give me my sister and the kids.”
“My money?” Marc asked with a rise of his brows. “You see the price has gone up. Two hundred thousand was yesterday. Today it’s two hundred fifty thousand.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Emmitt cut back quickly. “You’re going to take this money and him and give the girls to me now.”
“This is your father, right?” Marc asked in disbelief, bringing his hand up the large divot in his chin and rubbing it thoughtfully.
“We don’t need to go over my family tree,” Emmitt said. “Bring them out. I want to see them now.”
“As of right now they haven’t seen a single gun, they don’t think we’re bad guys, and they certainly don’t think this is Grandpa’s fault.”
“They don’t know who the fuck Grandpa is,” Emmitt corrected. “And I guarantee my sister isn’t back there watching a movie and eating popcorn without a care in the world.”
“True, your sister has a hell of a poker face when it comes to the kids, but once they were out of earshot she did threaten to slit my throat with a letter opener if I didn’t let them go. The scary thing is she looked completely capable of it.”
“She is,” Emmitt said stone-faced. “How about we don’t give her the chance. Stop fucking around and be done with this.”
“You seem like a smart guy,” Marc said, posing it more as a question. “You know that you have no leverage. You have no card to play. You just walked in, hoped to get the jump on me, and, which I give you some credit, you did. But now what? You were just hoping I’d be a nice guy, and we’d make a fair trade? Hell, no. Any guy who can round up two hundred thousand dollars in a matter of hours can certainly get more. I’d like to test my theory.”
“You aren’t getting another dime out of me. And you’re wrong about leverage. I’ve got plenty of it.”
“So you are more like your father than I thought. I’ll call your bluff then. If it runs in the family, you’re holding a dud, and you’ll owe me just like him.”
Emmitt heard the door that he and his father walked through open and close just as suddenly. As he spun around he saw her, and his heart sank. The shit he was shoveling just got another foot deeper.
Chapter 29
“FBI,” Evie said loudly as she propped her hands up on her hips and glared at the men. Holding her hands there hid the tremble rolling though her body.
“What the fuck?” Marc said, looking her over like she’d just stumbled in there wearing a giant panda suit or something.
“You heard me,” she asserted as she stomped toward the men in the standoff. “I’m fucking FBI, and this shit is done now.” She’d had her ears pressed to the door trying to hear what had been going on inside and, though she missed much of it, she could tell it wasn’t going Emmitt’s way. If she was going to do something, she had to get her shit together and do it now.
“You brought in the Feds?” Marc asked, a cloud of anger overtaking his previously cocky face.
“No, they did.” Evie laughed as she pointed to the two men next to him. “It might be time to tighten up your hiring process. These two idiots waited outside my hotel, looking like a couple goons. I spotted them before I was even out of my car. If you’re going to send idiots to kidnap someone, make sure it isn’t a federal agent, and maybe tell them to shut up and not ramble on about the plan for ten minutes.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Marc asked, slapping the back of the closest man’s head violently. “The fucking girlfriend is a Fed? You couldn’t find that out before we went to pick her up?”
“No way she’s a Fed,” the man argued as he rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head. “Look at her.”
“I tailed them back here like I was following a half-blind grandmother coming home from the grocery store. I parked across the street for God’s sake.” She shook her head as though the incompetence was ridiculous.
“And how much backup do you have?” Marc asked, shoving one of his men forward to go look. “You sure you want to start this war?”
“No backup,” she shrugged. “Not yet. You have exactly eleven minutes to make this deal before I have a trigger word sent via email to the troops. But you’re right, I don’t want that to happen. I’m guessing you have plenty of contacts and inside men. How else could you stay off the radar this long? They’ll get you off on whatever we throw at you.”
“Right,” Marc said, his devilish smile returning.
“Although we’re not talking extortion or anything here. This is kidnapping. We’re talking actual kids, with cute little freckles and loose teeth. They might be a little less willing to stick their neck out for you on this one, wouldn’t you say?”
“I’d be fine,” Marc replied confidently.
“Nine minutes,” Evie said, looking at her watch. “So what’s easiest for both of us right now is you take your money. And we all walk away. I don’t have to do a mountain of paperwork, and you don’t have to find out whether or not your inside guys can help you out of a jam like this.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Marc asked, skeptically.
“You can find out in seven minutes if you want,” she said checking her watch again. “Or we can just get this over with. You end up with your money and everyone walks away.”
“Not everyone,” Marc said, gesturing with his chin over at Charles. “He stays. I can’t go around letting a guy like him walk aw
ay. I have a reputation to protect and he’s crossed me.”
“He comes,” Evie said, stepping forward. “I’m not having that on my conscience. I know what you’ll do to him. He comes or the deal’s off. Take your chances.”
“This piece of shit has fucked over dozens of people who want him dead. I’ve got him right here. He’s not walking away.”
Emmitt looked dumbstruck by Evie’s acting and presence and finally spoke up. “He’ll disappear. You can tell whatever story you want. He’ll be gone. He won’t pop up again.”
“Bullshit. He can’t help himself. He’ll be at a table in Vegas in less than a month. No deal.”
“He’ll disappear,” Emmitt said, shaking his father until he agreed. “You and any of your contacts will never see him again. “It’ll be over.”
Marc bit punishingly at his own lip as he thought it over. “I know where to find your family if he does show up again. You sure you want to take that kind of risk on a guy who can’t keep his word?”
“I don’t give a shit about his word,” Emmitt said. “It’s my word. He won’t be back. He won’t be anywhere that matters to you or anyone else.”
“Three minutes,” Evie said, trying to look frustrated by the time they were all taking.
Emmitt pressed on. “You’re not going to get a better way out of this. You know it. There’s a bag of money at your feet and a Fed willing to look the other way and save you at least a couple nights in jail while this gets swept under the rug. Take it.”
“Fuck,” Marc said angrily, shoving one of the men at his side toward the door behind them. “You get the money and make sure it’s all there. You get the girls and be careful of the mom. She’ll cut you if you give her the chance. Just tell them their ride’s here.”
Marc closed in on Evie, continuing to nibble his lip angrily. “I’m still not convinced you’re FBI. You look way too pretty to be a Fed. He reached up a hand and swept her blond hair back off her shoulder.
Crazy Nights (The Barrington Billionaires Book 3) Page 14