Calculated Risk

by Janie Crouch

  “You keep working. I’ll buy you the time you need.”

  She gave him a tired smile before her eyes and hands were back on the laptop in front of her.

  Tanner turned on the back light of the diner, his signal to Noah that they needed to meet. A few minutes later, Noah showed up. Tanner led him into the kitchen so they could talk without disturbing Bree.

  “Bree says the Organization is onto her. We need to set up a decoy, get her the space and time she needs. And we should deem all cell phones no longer safe.”

  Noah grunted. “We can set something up at the ranch. Make them think she’s there. It would give you and me the tactical advantage since we know it so well. And my team is fully capable.”

  Tanner had made the decision not to bring in law enforcement. Official channels meant too many modes of communication that could be monitored.

  “Yeah, good. I’ve got my federal colleagues in Denver as soon as Bree cracks the system and we’ve got the proof we need that Communication for All is dirty.”

  Noah nodded. “One way or another, it ends today. How are we going to get our bad guys out to the ranch?”

  “They don’t know we’re onto them,” Tanner said. “So we use cell phones against them.”

  Noah smiled. “And then we take them out of commission. My kind of plan.”

  “I’m going to have to bring Ronnie in on it. I’ll leave him here as guard for Bree. She’s not going to notice if either of us are missing anyway. A bomb could go off and I’m not sure she would notice.”

  “I’ll get my team out to the ranch and will be waiting for your call.”

  A moment later, Noah was gone.

  Tanner walked back into the office and crouched down beside Bree. She stopped what she was doing and looked at him.

  “We’re leading them away,” he said. “You keep working. I’ll send Ronnie to guard but will tell him not to disturb you.”

  Her lips pursed. “I know I can do it, but I don’t know if I can do it in time.”

  He reached over and kissed her softly. “You can.”

  This time when his lips met hers, she clung to him. He groaned against her mouth. “There’s nothing I want to do more than stay here and kiss you, but we’ve both got to get to work.”

  “Be careful.” She clutched him closer to her for just a second. “The Organization is dangerous and smart.”

  He smiled. “So are we. We’ll buy you the time you need.”

  She straightened. “I won’t waste it.”

  He pulled her in for a tight embrace and kissed the top of her head. “I know.”

  Her fingers were already flying on the keyboard as he walked briskly out the door.

  Back at the station a few minutes later, he found Ronnie at his desk.

  “Ronnie, can I see you for a second in my office?”

  The deputy nodded and followed him in.

  “I don’t have any further updates about Steele, if that’s what—”

  Tanner cut him off. “I need to borrow your personal phone to make a call.”

  Ronnie eyed both the phone sitting on Tanner’s desk and the one clipped at his waist. Probably just being in the same room with Ronnie’s smartphone meant the Organization was listening, but Tanner wanted to make sure they got this message loud and clear.

  “Um, sure.”

  “You’ll understand in a minute.”

  Ronnie entered his password and handed the phone to Tanner. Tanner immediately punched in his brother’s number.

  “Dempsey.”

  Noah’s greeting was terse. If it hadn’t been for this situation, he probably wouldn’t have answered at all.

  “Noah, it’s Tanner. I’m using Ronnie’s phone because I think mine might be bugged.”

  Right on cue, Noah muttered a curse.

  “Is Bree okay?” Tanner asked.

  “Yeah. I’ve got to admit I never expected to see her face here again. She’s looking pretty tired and hasn’t gotten up from her computer since she arrived.”

  Good job. Give them something to make them nervous.

  “I can’t get home until this evening. Too many people around, and I feel like I’m being watched.”

  “That’s fine. Like I said, she’s busy with her computer stuff here in your kitchen. She’s excited. Talking about bringing down some sort of organization.”

  Tanner winced. They were trying to buy time, not cause the Organization to bomb the ranch.

  Noah was spoiling for a fight. Wanted them to send out the troops.

  That was fine, because so was Tanner.

  “Just keep her in my house until I can get home. Make sure she doesn’t run off again.”

  “Will do, bro. Since nobody knows she’s here, I’ll just be back and forth between my place and yours.”

  “Okay,” Tanner said. “Just keep an eye out. I don’t want her running off again until we get some answers.”

  “Roger that.” Noah disconnected the call.

  Tanner looked at Ronnie but didn’t hand him back his phone.

  “Holy hell, boss. What exactly is going on?”

  “Let’s go out back and have a cigarette.”

  Before Ronnie could respond that neither of them smoked, Tanner held a finger up to his lips in a gesture for quiet.

  He threw the other man’s phone in a drawer and led him outside.

  Ronnie looked all sorts of confused. “Do you really think your phone is bugged?”

  “I think it’s way more than that. And I’m going to need your help.”

  “Providing backup at your ranch? Do you think Steele might make an attempt for Bree?”

  “We’ve got much bigger problems than Bill Steele, or whatever his name is. And Bree is not at my ranch.”

  “But you and Noah just said—”

  “I said that specifically for the ears that were listening. And those ears are listening to any cell phone, off or on. I don’t have time to go into the details right now. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

  Ronnie nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

  Tanner was thankful he and Ronnie had been working together for so long. “Bree is at the Sunrise. I need you to watch over her while Noah and I do some hunting.”

  “Sure, I—”

  They broke off from the conversation as Scott walked outside and saw them.

  “You letting him in on it?” Ronnie muttered softly.

  Tanner gave a short shake of his head. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the kid; as a matter of fact, Scott had been almost more ferocious in the search for Steele than anyone. But Scott was leaving soon, and Tanner didn’t want to put him in any unnecessary danger.

  Scott gave them a friendly smile as he joined them. “Hey, somebody told me you were out here. I’m just about done with everything and will be heading out this afternoon. I’m just missing one laptop to place the final training software on. It’s an older one, and no one seems to quite know where to find it.”

  That would be because Bree was currently using it to try to work her magic. But Tanner didn’t have time to come up with a reasonable lie. He needed to get to the ranch since the plan was already in motion.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure where that thing is. I’ll just install the update myself once it’s located.”

  “Oh, okay.” Scott shrugged and gave a half smile. “Well, then, I guess this is goodbye. I’m moving on to Colorado Springs today.”

  “Thanks for your help this past week. I know I wasn’t the best of company, but I appreciate you trying to help us track down Steele. That went above and beyond what you were here to do.”

  Scott’s chubby face broke into a smile. “It was no problem. Sorry I couldn’t do more to find him. He’s a slippery bastard.”

  Was he one of the people on their wa
y to Tanner’s ranch right now?

  He reached out to shake Scott’s hand. “I visit different departments quite a bit. I’ll try to touch base with you and see if we can go have a beer sometime.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Tanner gave both men a brief nod then hustled toward his SUV.

  It was time to catch some bad guys.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Tanner may have never fought side by side with his brother in battle, but there was damn well no one else he’d rather have at his back right now when it came to protecting Bree. Having three more of Noah’s highly qualified former army team members here was just a bonus.

  Tanner and Noah were currently standing in the tree line, just to the side of Tanner’s house. Noah had binoculars and was scoping everything out around them. Every once in a while, he would use hand gestures to signal to his teammates. None of them were willing to take a chance communicating over phones or radios.

  They would have to do things old-school.

  Just over an hour after Tanner made the fake phone call to Noah, the action began.

  “Looks like we’ve got four coming in on foot from the south. They’re making a stealth approach directly toward the house,” Noah said after looking through his binoculars. The two of them did not have that area in their sights; Noah was reporting back whatever his team was signaling to him.

  The plan was to let them come. To let them get as close as possible and think that Bree was here for as long as possible. Buy her as much time as they could.

  “They’re dressed in suits. Not ready for the terrain.” Noah rolled his eyes. “This is almost too easy.”

  Tanner kept a close eye on the house. “Remember the plan. We string them along, take them down, but nobody gets killed. Make sure your people know that.”

  “They know. If that wasn’t the case, there’d already be four suits on the ground.”

  A couple minutes later, they could hear an engine of a vehicle making an approach down their long driveway. Tanner brought his own binoculars up. “What a surprise. It looks like the power company has chosen today to pay a visit.”

  They both knew that was not the power company coming up their drive.

  “We must’ve forgotten to pay the bill and they’re coming to collect,” Noah said dryly.

  “Bet you five dollars they go with faulty wiring as their excuse. It looks like there’s two guys in the front seat of the van. Possibly more in the back.”

  “The van is probably the signal for those guys in the woods to close in.”

  Tanner nodded. He agreed. That would be the smart play.

  “Have your team take out the people coming in on foot. Make sure they aren’t able to send out a signal or message. If someone gets word out, this is all for nothing.”

  “Roger that.”

  “Noah, remember, no body bags.”

  Noah just grinned. Tanner left him to signal the information to his team, watching the van get closer. It would be up to him and his brother to take down however many power company guys were coming their way.

  Surprise was the best element they had. The Organization was only expecting Noah and Bree to be here, so they weren’t expecting much resistance. They’d also be complacent, thinking backup in the woods was just moments away.

  By the time Noah was finished communicating with his team, Tanner had a plan. “You go out there and talk to them since they’re expecting you. You handle the two in the front seat, and I’ll handle whatever’s in the back.”

  “You sure? Could be a ton of trouble in the back. You’re going in there blind.”

  “Or it could be a half dozen dancing monkeys. I can handle myself.”

  Noah slapped him on the shoulder. “I know it.”

  Noah stepping out of the shadows proved he meant it. There was no going back now. If everybody didn’t hold up their end of the task—if any of these bad guys got a single call out—this was all for nothing.

  As the van got closer, Tanner turned and made his way silently through the trees so that he would be able to approach from the back. He stepped closer as the vehicle pulled to a stop directly in front of Tanner’s house.

  Both men got out of the front in Colorado power company uniforms.

  “Mr. Dempsey? We’re with the power company. We’ve received an urgent report that the wiring in some of the houses in this area is faulty and extremely dangerous.”

  Ha, Noah, you owe me five dollars.

  “Is that so?” Noah replied. “I’ve never had any problems. Not even so much as a single flicker.”

  Tanner made his way closer to the back of the van.

  “It’s good that you’re not inside the house,” the second man said. “We’ve had reports of unexpected fires. There have even been some severe injuries.”

  Tanner recognized that voice. It was the same one who’d called Mr. Jeter in Denver. If Tanner had had any doubt about this not being the real power company, it was completely gone now. Not that he’d had much doubt. In the twelve years he’d owned this house, the power had been out here a grand total of zero times.

  Tanner took a few steps closer. It wouldn’t be long before whoever was in the back came out to provide assistance.

  Tanner wanted to be right at the door when they did.

  “Is there anyone else inside the house, sir?” the first guy asked. “It’s important they come out right now.”

  “Right now? It’s really that dangerous?” Noah played his part well. “I have a friend doing some important work on a computer.”

  “Yes, sir,” Denver guy said. “If you could just call your friend out right now. We can’t let you go back inside. It’s too dangerous.”

  Too dangerous for them to risk letting him out of their sights. Did they have orders to kill the would-be Bree immediately, or take her back into the Organization?

  “Hey, Bree, can you come out here for a second? It’s important,” Noah called out.

  The back van door creaked open. That must have been the cue they were waiting for. Tanner stepped to the side of the van. He and Noah would have to time this perfectly.

  “Can you call her again, sir?”

  “How about if I just go in there and get her. This is ridiculous. The house isn’t going to blow up in the thirty seconds it takes me to get her.”

  “I’m sorry, we can’t let you do that.” Denver’s voice was farther from the van, closer to Noah.

  “Hey, man, get your hands off me. You don’t have any right to tell me whether I can or cannot go into my own house.”

  There was a scuffle, and Tanner didn’t wait any longer. Noah would take care of those guys. Tanner had his own bad guys to worry about. It ended up being three. Not dancing monkeys after all.

  The first two were out of the vehicle and the third was on his way when Tanner rounded the back.

  He immediately slammed the door against the head of the man climbing out, glancing over to make sure he was unconscious before facing the other two men.

  Something jolted hard against the front of the van, and Tanner prayed it wasn’t Noah.

  Tanner didn’t waste any time. He dived for the closest man, being sure to knock the phone out of the hand of the second guy. That bought Tanner a little time, but not much.

  Fighting two men was never easy. Keeping them from using their weapons, phones or even calling out to whatever transmitting devices might pick up their voices was damned near impossible.

  His flying punch connected with the first man’s jaw, and he kicked out backward with his foot to land in that guy’s stomach. Tanner grunted as he took a solid hook to the jaw from the first man, and saw the second man reaching for his gun from the corner of his eye. Tanner brought his elbow up and around into the face of the first man, hearing the unmistakable crack of a breaking nose.

  As that
guy howled, Tanner turned toward the second, diving for him to keep him from getting his weapon out. He knocked the gun from his hand and sent it skittering across the drive.

  Tanner didn’t hesitate. Three quick punches and the second guy was on the ground, unconscious. He jumped up, spun and a roundhouse kick to the first man had him lying next to his buddy.

  The third guy, who was just starting to get his senses back after being knocked on the head by the door, groaned and began crawling toward the back of the van again.

  Tanner just slammed the door against his head again, since it worked so well the first time, and watched him fall.

  Noah came running around the van. “You clear?”

  Tanner nodded, sucking in air to catch his breath, wincing at the blows he’d taken. Noah tossed him some zip ties and bandannas to use as gags, and soon all five men were restrained and sat up against the van. A few minutes later, the other four were dragged in by Noah’s teammates, also tied and gagged.

  Noah and Tanner walked so they could speak freely without the transmitters hearing them, while the rest of the team stood guard.

  “It won’t take the Organization long to figure out that their team is out of commission,” Noah said. “Then they’re going to start the hunt for Bree all over. Wiser this time, because they know we’re onto them.”

  Tanner wiped at a little bit of blood that had formed at the corner of his lip. “I know. But I’ll be leaving with Bree for Denver in a couple of hours. Hopefully it will buy us that long. Once she’s into their system and has the proof we need, Omega Sector can handle the arrests from there.”

  Noah nodded. “I hope it’s enough.”

  Tanner did, too. “I’ve got to get out of here. If not, it will raise too many questions about why I didn’t go through official channels.”

  “Okay, take off. I’ll call this in, in a little while. State that I thought someone was trying to rob me. Maybe that will buy another hour or two.”

  Tanner clapped Noah on the shoulder. “Thank you—to you and your team—for what you did here today.”