She closed her eyes, the safe door at her back, as he took over the space between them. She could smell the stale garlic on his breath. Her stomach turned. He aimed his gun and she prayed that Luke and Rafe protected Brandon. Money twisted people who thought it was the answer to happiness, but it wasn’t. If she died right now, Rafe would take care of Brandon. "Don't shoot."
“Nobody move.” Jose said while he pointed his semi-automatic weapon toward the crowd again. Then he grabbed her hair, tugging her into the main section of the bank. She passed Lily who must have herded the customers and employees together in one spot, though her face was white.
Jessica crawled to her crying son. Elizabeth watched them both from the corner of her eye take cover behind a desk. Jose paid them no attention as he dragged her toward the desk they were at earlier and pointed to the computer. "You made this difficult princess. Now get over here and transfer the money."
"Let everyone else go, Jose." How those words came out of her mouth she had no idea as Lily walked over and placed the computer key board and signing pad at her fingertips.
Lily’s fingers trembled as she hit a button, but then Jose pointed the gun at Liz’s head. "Sign."
A chill raced through her, but somehow she felt better as she typed. If she died, she died. Her son would be safe. Sirens pierced through the air. She typed her passcode into the computer and nodded. "Done. Now please let everyone go."
Jose sneered as he grabbed her hair again and pulled her up. "Maybe that helpless pleading was how you ruined my friend. This way."
Rafe was nothing like Jose. The blue and red lights of the police cars outside filled the bank with pulsing colors. Jose walked her fast toward a back door away from the main parking lot.
Outside the glass door, her gaze met Rafe's. He was here. Her heart pounded as Jose dragged her through the lobby and headed toward the back.
"You won't get out alive." She elbowed him and tried to wiggle free. "The police won't let you out."
Jose breathed his hot disgusting breath on her neck. "Sure they will. I have you."
Rafe looked furious as he pounded on the door. Jose stopped for a moment and Elizabeth tried to jerk free as she said, "Rafe!"
"That looks like a man in love. Things just became more interesting." Jose pulled her out the lobby and away from Rafe.
She reached for the doors, but he dragged her down a hall into a utility room. Cops couldn’t be seen as he led her through a small corridor toward an open armored truck.
Her heart skidded in her chest. He must have planned every detail.
She was thrown in the back of the armored vehicle used to transport money. It lurched forward with her and Jose in the back. He slammed the doors shut leaving them in total darkness.
He’d had an escape plan. Lily had to be the driver. In the dark, all she could smell was Jose’s stale garlic and onion scent. If she didn't get free, she'd be dead. Her life didn't matter though as long as this crazy man never came near Brandon, ever again.
Chapter 23
Rafe's heart twisted as he drove Caro’s two-door Mazda coupe at breakneck speed behind the armored truck. The taillights bounced as the bulky heavy car turned. Anything might have happened in that gray metal box that bullets couldn’t penetrate. Bile rose in his throat as he wondered exactly what Jose was doing to Liz.
He couldn't grasp why his former best friend had done this. How could he be so wrong about the man? Caro had warned him not to befriend her college ex-boyfriend, but the guy worked beside him every day for years.
Jose had to have help inside the bank and an accomplice driving the truck. Someone with training and it was likely someone else he had worked with. The guys at Miami Dade Police were some of the best men he knew, but at the moment he didn't know who he could count on.
Sirens echoed behind him, not too far back. How had Jose escaped the bank while surrounded? He’d had a well-constructed plan, obviously.
Rafe needed someone he could rely on outside the police force and John Morgan came to mind. John was Liz's brother and former FBI. As Jose had his phone, Rafe had borrowed Caro’s and searched his sister's phone contacts, but she didn't have it. The armored truck drove fast toward the airport and he voice-texted “my love” which was likely Luke. Send me John's number.
A moment later the number appeared on screen and he hit dial. John answered before it finished ringing. "Rafe, where are you and Liz?"
Liz and Jose flew onto the highway and he floored the gas on his sister’s small car to stay right behind his wheels. "On 395 East. Jose has Liz in the back of an armored truck." His best guess was they were headed toward the airport.
"Luke called to let me know that Elizabeth had been taken hostage. What’s going on?"
If Jose boarded a plane, he might get away with his bank heist. The money had already been transferred but it might be possible to stop the transaction. Armored trucks carried cash, which would be a sure bet for Jose and whoever helped him in case the funds weren’t transferred online. "I'm following the truck—we’re heading to the airport. I can't let Jose take off." Not with Liz.
The sirens were still clear in the air, and right behind him.
"I'm at the airport,” John said. “I will help you intercept."
Rafe pressed on the accelerator, staying on the truck’s tail. Had he missed something about Jose that even John saw? The armored truck veered right off the exit and he followed. "Why are you at the airport? You're not in the FBI anymore."
"Jose chartered a plane. I had Morgan Enterprises track his activities and this popped up. You know you can trust me. It's why you called."
This was a well thought out plan, but then Jose had always been smart. Too smart? To his surprise, Rafe put his trust in a Morgan. He gripped the wheel as he saw the armored truck steer through a fence. "Jose has professional help. I never saw this coming."
"Doesn't matter as long as we get Elizabeth back. I called the bank. They have over a hundred million dollars on that truck and clearly an escape plan. Peter already put a hold on the transaction Liz sent though Jose won’t realize that for hours."
Rafe drove his sister's little car through the grass and followed the truck. Why had Jose taken Liz hostage? When Rafe had chased Jose and Liz at the bank, he’d seen the poor woman who clutched her son as her shoulder bled from being shot—Jose wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Liz.
Brandon needed a mother, his mother, and Rafe would bring her home. A dagger-like pain traveled up his spine as he thought of the alternative. He raced the car onto the tarmac in pursuit. "I can't let them leave. I will stop them."
"I want my sister and the money returned to the bank." John said, sounding like his father for a moment.
"Liz is my priority." The money was secondary. Under a normal situation, he'd rely on backup and the hostage negotiators, but Rafe didn’t know who he could trust. Who else on the force might be in on this with Jose? He gripped the steering wheel so tight the leather on the steering wheel split.
The armored car veered right. He followed.
"Mine too,” John said. “When we're done here, we'll talk about how you got my sister pregnant."
Rafe's gaze narrowed on the slits of windows for the truck. Really? "I didn't know she was your sister at the time."
"That's so not an excuse for you. You were always Mr. Stand Up for What's Right."
Who he was before Liz had no bearing on him now. She’d changed him and given him a family. "Right now, I'm turning onto the tarmac that's marked private."
"I see the truck. Slow down—I’m going to intercept."
Rafe pressed on the brakes and looked around. "How?"
A Maserati Quattroporte raced toward the driver's side of the armored vehicle and smashed into the door. The designer car split apart, causing the armored truck to spin. Rafe’s car squealed to a stop. Liz could be killed if the truck tipped.
Iciness chilled him to his core as he imagined how he'd explain to Brandon. There were no words. Liz had
only ever been a good person and he'd stupidly held her name and money against her. He was a first class idiot.
His phone went static. Had her brother been in that wreck? He sighed with relief when John tapped on the passenger window holding his cell phone. Rafe rolled down the glass and John slipped the phone in his pocket as he held two guns on his back.
"The car was on automatic. I've been waiting here since Luke called with the news. Here, take one of my semi-assault rifles—let’s go." He took it off his shoulder as an offer.
Rafe opened his door and loaded the weapon with plastic bullets. John nodded. Crouching, Rafe and John crept closer to the armored truck. It had finally stopped spinning after crashing into a concrete building. The female driver was slouched over the steering wheel blood trickling on her face.
The woman wasn’t going anywhere and there was no one in the passenger seat. No sounds came from the back either. As they made their way toward the rear of vehicle, John stood back to cover Rafe.
Rafe knocked on the dented metal door. Liz had to be fine. He swallowed and then shouted, "Come out, Jose."
Something banged inside. Rafe's shoulders tensed as the door was kicked open. Rafe stiffened and held the rifle firm against his chest. Jose and Liz came out of the shadows with Jose holding his handgun to Liz's temple—his arm around her neck.
His heart stirred that she was alive. Thank God.
Jose held her close to him as they stepped out of the truck. "If you shoot me, Liz is dead."
Her blue eyes were wet from tears that she no longer shed, and her skin was pale white. Rafe wanted to hold her in his arms, but he refused to flinch. The soles of his shoes dug into the tarmac. "No one has to die today."
Jose walked backward toward the hangar where private planes were kept. He dug the end of the gun into Liz’s temple and she squealed.
He jerked, and wanted to hold her in his arms and step in front of the bullet.
Jose's glare became cold. "How did the Morgans win your loyalty?"
"Jose, you aren't thinking clearly. None of the children are like Mitch. Liz is innocent."
"Her father paid me to get rid of the brat. Crazy how much folks will pay for a kid of their own, and how much others want to pay to get rid of them. When Mitch died, I lost my side income and you somehow made a fortune."
Mitch had been behind the kidnapping? He’d thought so, but now it was confirmed. His son Brandon was not a brat. Their son was sweet.
Liz's eyes widened as she stared at him. She struggled and he silently begged her to stay still. Somehow she listened as she stilled. Jose took a step back with Liz and Rafe took a step forward, like they were in a twisted dance. "You were on the take?"
"So are you and don't deny it. How else could you afford that apartment?"
Sirens blared. The police were getting closer. If they kept him talking, Jose was more likely to be arrested. Stall. "Indirectly, I suppose. My mother is their maid."
Rafe lost sight of John, but kept his focus on Liz.
Jose lifted his chin as he gritted his teeth. "You hated the family and yet you have never once expressed concern over money."
Rafe followed him. The police cars began to circle around them, judging from the sirens and the blue lights. “I worked every case to the best of my ability. Fairly.”
"There is more to your story,” Jose said. “I don't believe you."
"I don't care what you believe." Jose continued to head toward the private planes, slowly walking backward. A few were on the tarmac. There was no way he'd let him leave with Liz. Rafe stayed close. If Jose talked, they had a chance.
Liz hardly blinked and wasn't saying a word. Rafe's heart sped up as he imagined what might yet happen. "Let Liz go. You know you can't get away with this."
Jose squeezed Liz tighter as a policeman shouted from behind him, "Stop. Put your hands in the air."
Jose came to an abrupt halt near the plane and then he snarled at Rafe as blue and red lights shone on his face. "What did this skinny blonde do to you that made you change?"
Rafe took another step. The answer was none of Jose’s business. He had changed, but he chose to lie. "I'm still the same."
The policeman yelled again, "Freeze."
Liz’s blonde hair wrapped around the end of the gun as Jose pressed his finger into her cheekbone. "No, you and your sister both betrayed me."
Jose’s muscles tensed as the wild look in his eyes grew more crazy. Every instinct said in a second Jose was going to shoot.
Rafe held Liz’s gaze. He refused to let one muscle relax. Sweat formed on his neck as coldness inched up his spine. They had one chance. He swallowed. "Liz, duck now."
She elbowed Jose and lowered her head.
Then explosions echoed from behind him. John must have shot, and his shoulder pinched as he jumped to get to Liz.
Liz hit the ground as Jose jerked back. Rafe cocked his rifle as he met his former best friend's pain-filled gaze. "Liz, run."
Liz's high heels clicked on the tarmac as she dashed toward her brother John. Jose turned the handgun toward Liz, but Rafe stepped in the path so Jose had no shot. "Jose."
Jose’s handgun was aimed at him now as the officers made a line with their cars around the plane. "Rafe, I won't go to prison."
Jose turned the gun toward his own head.
Something stung Rafe as an explosion of guns fired behind him.
One of the officers must have shot.
Jose fell backwards and his weapon went off. Rafe watched everything in slow motion as he fell. His legs felt weak.
Once the bullets stopped, he heard Liz scream his name. "Rafe! You’re bleeding."
Why did she scream that? His shoulder pinched. Her high cheekbones and gorgeous blue eyes hovered over his and she grabbed his hand with trembling fingers. John kneeled beside her. "Liz, the paramedics are on their way."
Rafe reached out and cupped her face. He licked his dry lips as he said, "Liz..."
Everything grew darker. Liz pushed down on his shoulder where it stung. "Rafe, stay with me."
Then everything went quiet as the world became black. Peace released him. Liz and Brandon were safe. No one would harm them. If he died now, he'd be satisfied.
Chapter 24
His body must still be in shock. He'll be fine. Liz hugged her waist as she sat next to Rafe's hospital bed, holding his hand. At least Miami PD hadn't used traditional bullets to apprehend Jose or else Rafe might have been hit with a shot that killed him. The plastic rounds and the taser-like XREP were both fired at Jose, but Rafe had been taken down as collateral with him.
She studied his unconscious body. Rafe could have died if the police had made different choices. The ambulance had arrived within minutes—Liz had demanded to ride with him.
Her brother, Doctor Luke Morgan, waited for them at Miami Jackson, so he could check Rafe out personally. She had believed him that Rafe would be okay, but as the minutes ticked past, she wondered if her brother wanted to appease her. Wake up, Rafe.
She squeezed his hand, then, Rafe squeezed hers back. She inhaled and stared at him. Rafe blinked as he opened his eyes. "Where am I?"
For the rest of her life, she'd believe he was her hero. No one else had ever done anything as brave for her. Those minutes, alone, in the armored car with Jose had been a hell she'd never want to think about again.
Rafe had ended the nightmare just as he’d brought Brandon back. She scooted closer to him on the edge of his bed. "In the hospital. Luke said the plastic bullets knocked you out but did no serious harm."
Rafe patted his body checking for injuries. Once he was satisfied, he reached for her hand again. "That's the point, but that taser machine hurts. Did they get Jose?"
Anything might have happened. "Yes. He's in jail. The woman he shot at the bank is also in this hospital. Jessica."
"Is she okay?"
Always the hero. It was in his blood. She nodded and brushed back his thick, coarse hair similar to their son’s. "Luke said
yes, but he's keeping her overnight to monitor her."
"Good."
She brought her hand to her lap and smiled for the first time, though it was small. "Luke did a complete evaluation of you. He told me you have a hard head."
Rafe's lips curled into a smile as well. "Now that is the complete truth."
Thoughts raced through her mind about what might’ve happened. Her hero could be dead. She glanced at the linoleum floor. "Rafe, I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."
He sat up and tugged at her fingers until she met his gaze. "I'm fine. Where is Brandon?"
Of course. He wanted to see his son. She'd want the same thing. "With our mothers. Brandon needed some exercise. They'll be back shortly."
There was a storm in Rafe's eyes. Why? He couldn't be upset over Brandon not being in the room. “When I saw Jose with you..."
"Don't." The black cloud of what had happened needed to disappear so she could breathe. She whispered what was in her heart. "You saved us."
He cupped her chin. "Liz, at the party..."
"I don't want to think about that either." She shook her head and scooted away from him. If he said he was still in love with Jennifer right now, she'd break apart into a million pieces.
He didn't blink. His dark eyes were hypnotic as he stared at her though his cheeks were red. "Jen kissed me. I leaned forward to kiss her cheek good-bye, nothing more."
She jumped off the bed and hugged her waist. Would it always be about Jennifer? Liz backed toward the door and then heard Luke and Caro in the hallway right outside. "I don't want to discuss that right now. Here comes your sister. I should let you talk to her. "
She went into the hall and pulled Caro into the room so they could switch places. Her heart was racing. Luke and Caro shared a startled look but then Caro joined Rafe by his hospital bed. “Hey, bro. I brought you clothes.”
Liz could hardly breathe as Luke led her toward his office. Her mind swirled as she followed him, but once the door slammed, Luke wrapped his arm around her shoulder and asked, "What's going on Liz? You look like you’re ready to pass out.”
Secret Dad Page 17