Joss nodded. “And it still feels like they’re holding something back. This Spencer… I can’t get a bead on him. I’m not sure what he’s up to just yet.”
“Then caution is the word of the day.”
Joss smiled. “That’s it exactly.” She sat back and studied my face. “You okay? How are things going now that you’re out?”
I rolled my shoulders a little, thinking about Xavier, about his warm body lying beside mine at night. The only time he didn’t have to explain his whereabouts to anyone was after the club closed at night, so that’s when he came to my place, crawling into bed beside me and just holding me, not asking for more than I was willing to give. I liked that.
“I still think about the girls I left behind. Especially Mercedes. I wish I knew how she was.”
“We’ll look into it after tomorrow. Once that guy’s out and Spencer’s plan unfolds, I don’t see why we can’t finish what we started.”
“You mean take down Rahul Rush?”
“And Case Michaels and anyone else we can convince the LAPD to build a case against.”
I nodded. “Just tell me what you need from me. I’m more than willing to do what it takes.”
“You’ve done so much already. Going undercover like that…” Joss sighed. “I think what I’d like to do is send you up to Wyoming for a few weeks, let you finish the training you were supposed to get before with the rest of the new hires.”
“A vacation on a working ranch might be right up my alley.”
“I’m almost jealous. I wouldn’t mind a week or two to hang out with Kirkland. I kind of miss having him around.”
I just smiled, remembering some of the stories I heard about Kirkland in the old neighborhood. I could see how he and Joss would be good friends. They were both the same sort of crazy.
I drove home, thinking I might take a nap. I wanted to be awake when Xavier arrived tonight. It might be the last night we spent together for a little while since tomorrow afternoon was when Mahoney’s man was supposed to leave prison. The FBI would want to keep close tabs on everyone in the aftermath, make sure no one was up to something they hadn’t already admitted. Besides, Joss would want me with her and it was a long drive up to Folsom. She’d already warned me we’d likely stay the night, maybe more than one.
I wondered if I’d have time to sneak a visit to my brother while we were there. I hadn’t seen him since he’d been sent up three years ago. Might be nice to see a familiar face, even under those circumstances.
I parked my Jeep in front of my house and strolled up to the door, no reason to wonder why there was a BMW parked across the street. I had neighbors who appeared to use their houses as a weekend getaway, wealthy neighbors with nice cars. There was a Mercedes in the neighbor’s drive all night Monday night. It was nothing new.
I should have wondered.
I let myself into the house and opened the fridge, looking for something to snack on before I got settled. I smelled her perfume a split second before I felt the gun pressed into the small of my back.
“You’re not very smart for an undercover cop, or whatever it is you call yourself.”
I stiffened, my eyes immediately seeking out the nearest weapon. I decided my hands were my best weapon at the moment. I twisted, slamming the side of my hand down on her wrist, forcing the gun out of her grip. She got a good punch into the side of my face, but I was already pounding my fist into the side of her abdomen, hitting her just above the hip and below the ribs. She pulled back, trying to get out of my range, but I followed, a swipe of my foot taking out her ankle. She was on the ground and I was over her, poised to slam a hand into her windpipe when someone grabbed me by my hair, yanking me to my feet. A pinprick on my side and the room almost instantly went dark.
The last thing I saw was Selena Mahoney laughing as I collapsed against my attacker.
Chapter 23
Xavier
“Should have been more careful, sweetheart,” Selena said as she moved around my desk, a slight limp in her movements. She was favoring her left side, too, her hand pressed there from time to time. “Never should have deviated from your regular routine.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t think we’ve been watching you? You don’t think I don’t keep track of your comings and goings at your condo?”
I bit the inside of my cheek, aware of exactly what she was talking about. I always thought the doorman at my apartment building paid way too much attention to me.
“Maybe I’m seeing someone. Does that really have anything to do with our arrangement?”
“It does when the person you’re seeing is an undercover cop.”
She leaned over me and pushed a flash drive into the side of my computer. I could only watch as she punched a button on the keyboard to bring up a grainy video I didn’t want to see.
It looked too familiar.
Audra, dressed in slacks and a semi-conservative blouse, was tied to a simple kitchen chair with her head drooped sideways. She was clearly unconscious, but I could see the slow movement of her chest. She was alive, but for how long?
I held so tight to the arms of my chair that my fingers turned white from lack of circulation. I wanted nothing better than to jump out of this chair and wrap my hands around Selena’s throat. How satisfying it would feel to watch the life drain from her eyes. I’d never murdered anyone, but I would be more than happy to make Selena the first.
And then I’d track down Rahul Rush.
“It wasn’t hard to figure out you hadn’t killed her. You smelled like her when you came back that afternoon, her scent oozing from your pores.” She shook her head, disgust in her eyes. “I’ll never understand what it is about men and women like her. The more she fights you, the more you want her, right? Why not just fuck a woman who gives herself over willingly?”
“Jealous much, Selena?”
She shrugged. “Could have avoided a lot of trouble if you’d taken me up on my offer.”
I could imagine that. Selena had made a very clear proposition only a few weeks after I arrived in California, making it clear that she would reciprocate anything I gave her two-fold. I turned her down and she never seemed to get over it. But I’d never regret it.
She touched the computer screen. “She went to the hospital to visit those fools who were protecting her during her time here. It was easy to follow her home from there.”
“You hurt her—“
“What, Xavier? You aren’t exactly in any position to make demands.”
I studied the video, studied the room behind Audra, the fear I felt for her tampered by the fact that it all looked too familiar. It was the same room where they’d taken the videos of my mother.
Did that mean my mother was here in California? Did it mean Audra was close to her?
“You stick to the plan. Do what’s expected tomorrow morning, and we’ll let her go.”
“What about my mom?”
Selena smiled. “Uncle Jack’s not quite done with her yet, Xavier. But soon.” She yanked the thumb drive out of the computer and walked around the desk. She glanced at me, that seductive pucker to her lips despite the dark ooze that continuously slipped from between them. “It’ll all be over eventually. You just have to be patient.”
“I don’t think I can be much more patient than this.”
She blew me a kiss. “Perfect.”
The moment she left the room, I jumped to my feet and began to pace. Where was she? I’d spoken to Audra less than three hours ago. I knew she had an appointment with Joss at two. That meant they couldn’t have had her much longer than an hour. Where could they have taken her that was less than an hour’s drive from her house?
It had to be close. Very close. I knew Rahul had an apartment about four miles from here, but that didn’t make sense. And Selena had a house, but that was all the way on the other side of town, not far from my condo. Audra’s house was out by the beach, which was a twenty-minute driv
e from here, fifteen from Gray Wolf’s offices. Assuming her meeting had lasted half an hour, considering the drive back to her place, and the time Selena arrived at my office, they had a little less than twenty minutes to drive wherever they stashed her and to take the video. It had to be here somewhere close, somewhere within a mile of The Red Door.
But where? Where, damn it!
It would make sense for them to stash her in this building. But there was no basement, nowhere to hide her that I wouldn’t explore at some point in the last year. It couldn’t be here, but somewhere nearby. An empty storefront? God knew there were plenty of those around this area. An empty apartment? There were lots of those, too.
I could see it in my mind’s eye, the buildings that lined the streets here. I’d walked them with Audra not a week ago. There had to be somewhere close.
My mom. Audra. They were so close I could almost feel them. Where the hell—
I could feel the pounding of the music begin playing downstairs. The club was opening for business. I didn’t have time to go on a wild goose chase now.
I tugged my cellphone out of my back pocket, glancing around the room as I once again wondered where all the cameras were. I knew there were at least three set up by the FBI and probably half a dozen more that Selena had access to. I’d never searched for them because I didn’t want to tip my hat to Selena or reveal the FBI’s equipment to her. I wished now that I had.
Free drinks for blondes in little black dresses.
I couldn’t think of anything better. I pressed send and prayed she’d understand what it meant.
Then I tugged at my tie, making sure it was straight before heading downstairs for a final meeting with Mitchell Wallace.
Chapter 24
Audra
I woke up in a small room, completely bare save for the the chair I was sitting in. The walls were a dull gray, the windows covered with what looked like plywood on the outside. Seeing the plywood was familiar to me. It was the same sort of cheap boards we used whenever we were expecting a hurricane in New Orleans.
I tugged at my arms, but they were tied tight behind my back. Zip ties, I thought. Not the kind cops use, but the kind you could buy in bulk at hardware stores. They cut into my wrists, tearing open the cuts that had nearly healed on my one wrist.
My ankles were free. I rocked the chair, planting my feet on the ground, trying to push myself to my feet. If I could move around the room, maybe I could break the chair against the wall. That would give me enough freedom to test the door. The only problem was, the chair was heavy despite the cheap appearance. I couldn’t quite get it to rock enough to tip up on its front legs.
I kept trying, but then the doorknob rattled and someone pushed it open. I tilted my head at the same odd angle it had been in when I woke, a crick coming to life as I did. The pain was tolerable, though, since it gave me a second to observe whoever it was who’d come through the door.
A hand buried its fingers in my hair, yanking my head up the same way someone had done in my house before injecting me with whatever had knocked me out so efficiently. I wondered briefly how Selena was fairing after the beating I gave her, but I imagined she must be fine or else I probably wouldn’t be alive right now, or at least awake and relatively unharmed.
“I know you’re awake, bitch! Open your eyes!”
I peeked under my lashes, focusing on a face I really hadn’t expected to see. I imagined it was Rahul who’d helped out Selena. Or Case Michaels, maybe. But it was neither of them.
It was Brooke, the choreographer from the club.
“Welcome back,” she said with a sneer. “Have a headache?”
I didn’t, but I nodded anyway, faking a wince. The more impaired they thought I was, the better.
Brooke pulled something out of her back pocket and popped the top on it. It looked like an ordinary bottle of water, but there was something floating inside of it. I didn’t want to be drugged again, didn’t want to fog my senses, but she didn’t give me much choice. She grabbed my jaw and forced my mouth open, pouring the water down my throat until I gagged.
“Good girl,” she said.
She walked out without saying anything else. I watched her go, listening closely to the sound of the door locking. But I didn’t hear anything.
Did they think I was that incapable of escaping? Or were they relying that heavily on the drugs they’d put in the water?
I started to rock the chair again, almost desperately, needing to get on my feet before whatever it was kicked in. I was dizzy immediately, but told myself it was my imagination. No drug could go to work that fast, right? But the dizziness persisted as I rocked frantically. I was never going to get on my feet this way. I had to do something else.
I looked around the room, straining against the zip ties as I did. Blood had begun to flow from one particularly deep cut on one wrist, wetting the inside of the cuff. That allowed for a little lubrication, allowing my hand to slip nearly all the way to the first knuckle of my thumb.
I could get out of the ties.
I pulled and twisted, maneuvering the ties with everything I had and ignoring the sharp pain everytime I moved my hand. I tried to work my hand out of the tie, but my thumb proved to be an issue. The dizziness was growing, my vision beginning to turn a little fuzzy. I had to do this before I passed out, had to get out of here before I was too out of it to try. I had to go before they used me to hurt Xavier.
I knew what I needed to do. I’d heard stories in the Army, spoke personally to a guy who’d been held by a group of insurgents. He talked about the ties they’d put on his wrists, the things he’d had to do to get free. I’d thought he was insane at the time. Now I understood what desperation could lead a person to do.
I closed my eyes and counted to four. I don’t know why four, it just seemed better than three. And then I yanked my hand inward and to the side at the same time, twisting it. I felt the joint loosen, felt my thumb dislocate itself. I bit hard on my lip to keep from screaming.
Between the dislocation and the blood, it was enough. My hand pulled free, the tie slipping from my other wrist like a bracelet made much too big. I held my hand against my thigh for a long moment, the pain more intense than anything I’d ever felt. But it was enough to clear my head and for that I was grateful.
I stood and crossed to the door, testing the knob as gingerly as I could, unsure of how close Brooke might be. I peeked through the crack I opened, relieved to see an empty hallway. It was a short hall, just a few dozen feet, one like you might find in a small apartment or office. I pulled the door wider and slipped out, carefully closing the door behind me just in case Brooke should peek up the hall. I couldn’t see any cameras, but I’d learned from the tech at Gray Wolf that that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Cameras could be as small as an earring these days.
I stayed close to the wall, holding my injured hand against my chest to keep the blood that was mostly coagulated now from smearing the wall and leaving any evidence. My heart was pounding and the dizziness was beginning to return. I needed to move fast before I passed out.
There was another door not more than two or three feet from the one I’d come out of. My training told me not to leave an unknown on my back. I tried the doorknob and it opened easily, just as my own door had done. The room was dark, forcing me to wait a moment while my vision adjusted. I saw her right away, but she was only a lump in the darkness before my night vision kicked in. Then I recognized her as a human shape, a woman with long hair.
There was a catheter snaking out from under her skirt, an IV in her arm. She was pale, her skin paper thin. I knelt beside her and touched her wrist, comforted by the steady beat of her pulse. Whoever she was, she was alive.
“How did you get in here?”
I jerked to the side by instinct, my heart racing too fast for the circumstance. The drug… I wished I knew what it was she’d given me.
The wall exploded silently behind me, plaster showering down on my legs. Another explosion
hit the wall slightly higher. Bullets. She was firing at me with a silencer.
“I never liked you,” she said into the darkness. “I would have gotten rid of you weeks ago if Selena had said the word.”
“You and Selena. I would have put you down as more of a Rahul kind of girl.”
Brooke groaned. “Rahul’s an ass who thinks he’s God’s gift to women. Never did understand what anyone would see in him. Don’t understand why Jack doesn’t just have him taken out and shot.”
“He needs him just like he needs you and Xavier.”
“He might need Xavier, but he doesn’t need you, sweetheart.”
“You kill me, Xavier will stop cooperating.”
“I doubt that. We still have Mommy over there.”
I glanced sharply at the unconscious woman. That was Xavier’s mother?
I moved around the chair, the scent of urine growing pungent as I assessed my situation. Brooke was clearly visible in the doorway, her eyes probably still struggling to adjust to the darkness in the room. I had a small window of advantage. If I could charge toward her without her being aware of it until the last second… but the dizziness was descending on me again. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to move quickly enough to avoid her gun.
If she fired and hit Xavier’s mother instead of me…
I went for it, rushing low and quick. As I feared, I wasn’t quite fast enough, but I managed to get my arms around her legs and knock her flat on her ass in the hallway. She cried out, raising the gun to aim it at my head. I grabbed it and we wrestled with it for a moment, my dislocated thumb causing trouble for a moment. But the pain was enough to clear my head again. I crawled up the length of her body, one hand on the gun, the other pulling me up. It was that hand that I slammed into her face, breaking her nose with a sickening crunch. She screamed, dropping the gun. I pushed it out of her reach as I rose above her, slamming my fist into her face three more times before I finally collapsed.
“Fucking bitch,” I whispered as I closed my eyes, the movement of her breathing almost enough to lull me to sleep.
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