by Rebecca Deel
“I don’t think so. The bag looks empty.” She reached inside and wrapped her fingers around the soft cloth. Darcy frowned as she pulled the bag out of the hole. “There’s something in here.” She loosened the drawstring and turned the bag upside down.
A silver coin dropped onto her palm.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Rio pressed the cell phone to his ear as he reached Nate’s porch. “How’s it going, sweetheart?” The feminine laughter drifting through the speaker made him grin. Sounded like the ladies were having a good time.
“Terrific. This is loads of fun, Rio. The taco dip is almost ready. We’ve already eaten the mini-tacos Nate sent with Stella along with queso dip and chips. Ivy’s tossing salad as we speak, and Del is removing the chicken burritos from the oven right now. It smells like a Mexican restaurant in here.”
“Sounds fabulous.” His stomach agreed. “Tell me you have a Mexican wrap on the menu for your deli.”
“Absolutely. Want me to save a sample of dinner for you?”
“If you have enough.” He’d invited both to Nate’s, but with the latest incident at Darcy’s store, neither wanted to leave the women without extra protection.
“Don’t worry. I made plenty.”
“Enjoy your dinner, Darcy. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
He walked into Nate’s place and realized his teammate had cooked a similar menu. On the large television played a pre-recorded football game, one Durango had missed seeing while out of the country on a mission.
Nate walked into the living room, drying his hands on a kitchen towel. “Soft drink, tea, or water, Rio?”
“Tea if it’s green or water.”
Durango’s explosives expert studied him for a moment. “You’re adopting Darcy’s diet.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “It’s a healthy one.”
“Yeah, but that’s not why you’re doing it. Does she know?”
His face burned as Josh, Alex, and Quinn shifted their attention from the pre-game show to him. “Know what?”
“That you’re in love with her.”
Was it that obvious? He’d barely dared acknowledge his feelings to himself much less the woman who had captured his heart. “It’s too soon,” he hedged. But his friend was right. Rio was head-over-heels in love with Darcy St. Claire, and before long she would figure it out if he didn’t tell her outright.
“Not if she’s the right one,” Alex said, his voice soft. “I knew the moment I saw Ivy she was meant for me.”
“And sometimes love grows over a period of time,” Josh added. “Took me a year to realize I loved Del.”
“The point is you changed your diet to match your girlfriend’s,” Nate said. “You don’t make a radical change like that unless the woman is very special.”
“I’ve never met anyone like her,” he admitted.
“Take your coat off and get your drink,” Quinn said. “The Cowboys are getting ready to kick off.”
Rio draped his coat around the back of a kitchen chair, knowing he and his teammates would end up eating in the living room while they watched the game.
“Does Trent know?” Nate asked as he opened the refrigerator and grabbed a pitcher of green tea.
“I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
“I’ll take that as a no.” He handed Rio a filled glass. “And, yeah, it’s green tea. I keep some in the refrigerator for Stella.”
“I need your mother’s cell phone number. Darcy wants to talk to her about supplying tea for her deli.”
“No problem. She supplies it for the restaurant.” He sent Rio a text with the number. “Go watch the game. I’ll bring the appetizers in a minute.”
He retraced his steps and dropped onto the couch beside Quinn. When the Eagles fielded the ball and ran it all the way back for a touchdown, they all groaned.
Nate brought in two trays of mini tacos, then plates. “Dig in, boys. Looks like the Cowboys will need a lot of support to win this game.”
“Does anyone know who won the game?” Quinn asked.
“I do,” Josh said. “Dad forgot I hadn’t seen it yet. He said it was a great game.”
“Don’t say anything more.” Alex loaded his plate. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing this game for a couple weeks.”
In the next hour, Rio and his teammates demolished the mini-tacos plus queso dip and chips. With five minutes left in the half, Nate pulled enchilada casserole out of the oven and refilled drinks.
Josh’s cell phone rang. He checked the screen, frowned. “Ethan, what’s up?” He listened a moment, his face losing all expression.
Quinn grabbed the remote and paused the game.
“We’ll be there in five.” Durango’s leader ended the call and stood. “Let’s roll. Hostage situation at the bank. Three gunmen, twelve hostages, including Dad and Serena. We’ll gear up on site. Quinn, ride with Nate. Alex, Rio, with me.”
Within a minute, Go bags and Rio’s mike bag had been transferred and they were on the move. Otter Creek police officers had blockaded the roads leading into the town square, but one moved his patrol car so the two SUVs could slip through. As soon as the vehicles came to a stop, the members of Durango dived out, grabbed their bags and geared up.
Ethan trotted over, barking out an order for one of the officers to move the civilians beyond the square. “I don’t want anyone in the line of fire.”
“Yes, sir.”
He turned. “I need a special weapons and tactics team. You in?”
“Oh, yeah,” Josh said, face grim. “Sit rep.”
“Four men armed with handguns. Twelve hostages, seven women, five men. Thankfully, no children are in there.” His voice choked off a moment.
No children except for his unborn child. Rio tugged his bulletproof vest down and yanked his shirt on to cover it. “What do they want? Money?”
“They want access to the safety deposit boxes, specifically Gretchen Bond’s box.”
He froze. “Why?”
“They won’t say.”
“Why doesn’t Aaron open the box for them?”
Ethan glanced at Josh. “He can’t. The idiots pistol whipped him and he’s unconscious. The manager is out with pneumonia. The assistant manager left for a doctor’s appointment ten minutes before the perps stormed the place.”
The muscle in Josh’s jaw twitched as he slid his Ka-Bar into the sheath on his leg.
“They need to drill the box,” Quinn said. “If you’re looking for volunteers, I’ll do it.”
“They brought their own.” The police chief glanced at Rio. “I need a medic for Aaron. These guys are skittish enough and I don’t want the EMTs in there. They can’t handle the pressure. I also want someone who can take down a perp if it’s necessary.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You shouldn’t be heading this op, Ethan,” Josh said, worry in his gaze. “The feds have jurisdiction in bank robberies.”
A sharp look from his boss. “One of them has a gun to my wife’s head, Cahill. No one is taking control of this operation but me. Clear?”
“Yes, sir.” He reached into his Go bag. “You’ll need this.” Josh handed Ethan one of the spare comm systems he always carried on missions.
“Thanks.” Once the gear was in place, he said, “I never thought I’d say this, Josh, but I want you and Nate to break into the back of the bank. The door is wired with an alarm. Disable it. Alex, you and Quinn find high ground. The best line of sight is probably on top of Del’s store. Two of the men are in the main part of the bank; the other two are getting ready to drill Bond’s lock box. The loan officer has been stalling as much as she can, but the perps are growing antsy.”
He turned to Quinn. “You as good a shot as Alex?”
“Close.”
“I want your scope on the second perp.” He turned to Alex. “You take the one holding my wife. I’m trusting you with safety of the woman I love.” A nod from the sniper. “Neither of you take a shot unless I give the comma
nd. Clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Josh dug into his pocket and handed his keys to Alex. “The one with the blue covering.”
Durango’s sniper and his spotter grabbed their rifles and Go bags and ran across the square to Otter Creek Books.
Ethan yanked a notebook and pen from his pocket, sketched a rough diagram of the bank. “There are security cameras here and here at the back. We don’t want them to see you breaking in. The camera shots feed into a computer in Aaron’s office. If the perps go into the office, they’ll see activity at the door. Any chance Fortress has someone who can create a loop, fast?”
“Zane can do it,” Josh said. “You have the IP address?”
Ethan grabbed his phone, punched in a code, and scrolled until he found what he was looking for. “Right here. Aaron gave it to me when I moved here in case something like this happened.”
“Text it to me. I’ll send it to Z.” A minute later, his text tone signaled. With a few keystrokes, Josh sent the information to Zane.
Alex’s voice came over the comm system. “In position, Ethan.”
“Wait for my command. I want to talk these clowns into surrendering, but my first priority is the safety of the hostages.”
“Copy that.”
Rod jogged to their group. “Ethan, the perps are demanding to talk to you or they’ll execute the hostages, starting with Aaron.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Darcy held her aching sides. “So then what happened?”
“Spenser gave Alex that ‘who me, I’m innocent,’ look and my tough Delta husband melted.” Ivy sighed while the other women laughed. “Now I need to make another trip to the store for new slippers and this time buy a pair that doesn’t resemble cats. Spenser ripped the head off of each one and tore them apart. I’m still finding bits of stuffing in our bedroom.”
The doorbell rang. “I’ve got it,” Trent called.
“Nice to have your own butler to answer the door,” Stella said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t eat another bite. I say we clean up and go into the living room. Maybe Darcy will play for us.”
“Do you feel up to it, Darcy?” Del asked. “If not, we can wait until the concert.”
“But we really want a preview,” Ivy added with a smile.
“I need to practice anyway.”
Trent came into the room. “Darce, there’s a Paul Cambridge here. He says you gave him permission to take pictures of the house.”
She blinked. “I didn’t expect him to come tonight. It’s fine to let him inside.”
“Do you know anything about him?”
“He’s a history professor at the college,” Ivy said. “He’s fascinated with architecture. The faculty Christmas party was at his house. Where most people have paintings, he has pictures of famous structures.”
“I don’t care who he is. He’s not getting free reign in the house.”
“I’ll go with him as a tour guide,” Stella said.
“Ivy and I will help Darcy clean up.” Del started stacking dishes and carried them to the sink. “We’ll join you in a few minutes, Trent.”
With a nod, he returned to the door to let the professor inside the house. Darcy shook her head slightly. Yeah, she knew her brother had kept the other man locked out on the porch. No one could say her brother wasn’t careful.
“Where’s Mason?” Ivy asked as she rinsed the first plate.
“He mentioned talking to his father. To be honest, I think we overwhelmed him.”
“Must be hard to adjust after so many years out of the general population.”
“I guess Rio told his teammates.”
Del distributed the silverware in the dishwasher’s utensil compartments. “You might as well get used to it. Durango doesn’t keep too many secrets from each other.”
Stella led Paul Cambridge into the kitchen, a camera in his hand. “Thought we’d start here.”
“Hello, ladies. I apologize for intruding, Ms. St. Claire. I was passing by here on the way home and decided to stop in and see if you minded me taking pictures before the renovation began. I had no idea you were hosting a party. I won’t take long.”
“Most of the rooms are clear so you should have an easy time taking pictures of the structure.”
“I’ll be out of your way soon.” He quickly pulled up his camera and started snapping shots of the room.
Darcy noticed the other women made sure their images weren’t captured in any of the shots. Having their pictures taken was a security issue? When he turned to photograph her side of the room, she moved out of camera range. Once he’d finished and moved on to another room, Darcy, Del, and Ivy finished the kitchen.
They traipsed into the living room to wait for Stella. Trent glanced at the three of them and promptly turned the television station to another channel.
“You don’t think we’d be interested in boxing?” Ivy asked, amusement lighting her eyes.
His head whipped their direction. “Are you?”
Del grinned. “Not really, but it’s fine for you to watch the fight until Stella finishes tour guide duty. Darcy agreed to play for us.”
“As long as the sound is off, it’s fine for you to watch the fight while I’m playing, bro.”
He rubbed his hands together briskly. “Fantastic. You rock, Darce.” Trent turned back to the station covering the boxing match. “This is the fight of the century.”
She and the other two women exchanged grins. Darcy couldn’t remember how many times she’d heard those exact words from her brother. How many fights of the century could there be?
Finally, Stella returned with Cambridge. “I’m so glad you didn’t start without me,” she said. “I don’t want to miss a minute. I can’t wait to tell Nate I had a chance to hear you play before he did.”
Del’s eyebrows rose. “Doesn’t he like head-banging rock?”
“When he’s working out.”
“Same with Alex,” Ivy said.
“Before you start to play, Ms. St. Claire, would it be all right if I helped myself to a glass of water?”
“The glasses are in the cabinet to the left of the sink.”
“I’ll get it for you,” Del said. “We put together a tray of soft drinks for everybody anyway.”
“Just relax. I’ll bring the tray in for you.” When he returned, he brought a tray of glasses filled with iced soft drinks. “When I listen to music I enjoy having a drink in my hand.”
Darcy suspected the drink he was talking about was a lot different than the ones he was handing to those in the room. When he brought her drink, she smiled and thanked him, not having the heart to tell him she couldn’t drink it.
“I’d like to take pictures of the wraparound porch at the back of the house if you don’t mind. Then I’ll be on my way.”
“Sure, Mr. Cambridge.”
As soon as he left the room, Ivy sipped her drink and said, “Do you want to drink that now or wait until later?”
“Later.” Once everyone was gone, she would pour it down the drain.
Trent muted the sound on the television and Darcy began to play. Like always, the power of the music swept her away. She chose a suite by Debussy, a particular favorite of hers, the dreamy music perfect for a cold evening with a crackling fire in the stone fireplace. When the last notes died away, she glanced at her silent audience to ask if they wanted to hear more.
Her eyes widened as she looked at each of them in turn. Stella, Del, and Ivy were asleep. Darcy turned to her brother with a grin, sure he’d be enjoying the fact she’d put her new friends to sleep with her music. She stilled. He was asleep as well.
Swallowing hard, she hurried to her brother’s side. Something was definitely wrong. He would never go to sleep while on guard duty. “Trent.” She knelt beside the recliner, shook him. “Trent.”
Nothing. Not good. Even if he was exhausted and had fallen asleep, the military trained him to wake up, fully alert at the slightest sound or t
ouch. It was as if he and the others had been drugged.
Her gaze fell on Trent’s empty glass. She turned, saw the rest of the glasses were also empty. Paul Cambridge? Why? Darcy stood. Was Mason drugged as well? She took two steps and skidded to a halt.
The history professor stepped into the room with a gun in his hand.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Ethan glanced at Rio. “Ready?”
Knife secured in a sheath under his pant leg. Backup weapon on his other ankle. He hitched the mike bag over his shoulder and nodded.
“Josh, go. Alex, Quinn, stand by.” After his orders were acknowledged, Ethan motioned for Rio to follow him.
They stopped next to Rod who handed Ethan the bullhorn.
“This is Blackhawk. You wanted to talk. I’m coming inside with a medic.”
“You stay out there.”
“I want my people safe. I’m willing to listen to what you want.”
“We want safe passage out of here,” came the shouted response.
“We need to talk about how we can make that happen. You want safe passage, I’m coming inside so we can talk.”
“Just you, then. And no weapon.”
Rio snorted. These guys were fooling themselves if they thought the police chief was harmless without a gun in his hand. His close quarters combat skills were lethal, but his best weapon was his brain.
“There’s a civilian down in the bank. He needs medical help. I know you don’t want his death on your conscience. The medic comes in with me or you get nothing.”
“We’re holding all the cards here, Blackhawk.”
“I’m coming inside now.” He shoved the bullhorn into Rod’s hands. “If one of them takes me down, Josh has control of this operation.” He held his hand up when Rod started to protest. “This is a hostage situation, Rod, something Fortress specializes in. I need you out here. If they get past all of us, you do not let these clowns out of Dunlap County.”
“You better not get hurt. Sir.”
“I’m not planning on it. I have a son or daughter I want to hold in a couple months.” A glance at Rio and he strode toward the bank’s front door, hands clearly visible. “Stay behind me, Rio.”