It was only as Trevor and Siennon ran past her that she realized her mouth was hanging open.
As the smoke cleared, she could finally make sense of what happened. Trevor’s bright-red Cadillac had been destroyed. Tristan couldn’t have.... It must have been Hunter. He’d set up some kind of car bomb while they’d distracted the men.
The clanging of silverware had her looking over her shoulder in shock at Tristan, who was unabashedly taking a bite of the apple pie he’d had sent to the table. “You’re crazy,” she said in a hushed voice.
He shrugged. “I’m a hundred percent sane.”
She shook her head. “Everything you say really is a lie, isn’t it?” She thought it had been an exaggeration, but the more time she spent with him, the more she realized he wasn’t quite all there.
“Lies make things more fun.”
“Lies make things more complicated. What the hell happened to being subtle?”
He let out a little laugh. “Truth? That was subtle. We’re not here to make anyone bloody. We’re here to scare the shit out of Thurrond.” He pointed to the smoking car out the window. “That explosion sent no shrapnel out and the added gasoline caused a fireball that was visible from all of Main Street. No casualties. The car probably still fucking runs, even if it ain’t as pretty. But we sure as hell have Thurrond’s attention.”
“He’s going to kill you for this.”
Tristan took another bite of pie. “Oh no. I’m shaking in my Italian leather boots.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked back out the window. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“I think what scares you the most is that we know exactly what we’re doing.”
She stayed quiet, because she was pretty sure that was the most truthful thing he’d said to her.
Slade stood in the middle of the road and looked at the fireball that shot into the sky. That better get Thurrond’s attention. He took out his phone and sent Toni a text, asking what her status was. Things were finally coming together.
As expected, people started to file out of all the businesses on Main Street, looking at the carnage he’d caused, and he slowly felt the eyes turn to him. Good. He wanted them to look at him. He wanted them to know he was back. That it was him taking on Thurrond head on. He wanted them to pick up their phones and tell Thurrond exactly what was happening. He wanted Thurrond to come at him with everything he had.
As he walked down the street, his eyes were drawn to Toni stepping out of the Sunshine Bakery. She drew his attention because she was the only one not staring in shock but moving confidently until she was walking down the middle of the road with him. “Do you have it?” he asked.
“Yep. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“You said it was a good idea,” he pointed out.
“Well, yeah. But I don’t have as much to lose as you do.”
“Melissa and Josh are safe.”
“I’m not just talking about them.”
He knew that but was hoping she wouldn’t touch on it. “Liv is with Tristan and Hunter.” They would keep her safe while they got to work.
“What about after?”
“After this, Thurrond won’t be a problem anymore.”
“But what is she going to do? You’re not going to abandon your son again, are you?”
He stopped to glare at Toni. “What the fuck are you getting at? I’d never abandon Josh again. I only left to keep him safe. Now he’ll be safest with me.”
“Okay. So Liv stepped in to be his surrogate dad. Now that you’re back, she’s not needed anymore. Are you going to let her stay in the house? Or if she decides to go back to school full time, are you going to let her go?”
“This isn’t the best time to have this conversation,” he grumbled.
“Maybe not, but we’re alone and not under the immediate threat of gunfire, so this might be our last chance to have it. I’m looking out for you, Slade.”
“Why? You don’t owe me anything.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and tightened her lips. “Sometimes things aren’t about what’s owed. I like you. It’s why Scott and I are here, helping you. We’re starting something. Hart Securities could be something and I want you to be a part of it. Not only as an employee. I want you as a friend. I think, and call me crazy, I think you’d make a good friend.”
“You’re crazy,” he muttered. But he thought about her words. He didn’t have friends. Gage, Hunter, Tristan.... They were the closest to friends, but none of them had chosen to work together. They had been thrown together by a tyrant.
Things were different now, but some things never changed. “I’m not an easy guy to be friends with.”
She snorted. “Have you met Scott? I don’t exactly pick people who are easy to get along with.”
He couldn’t argue with that. But there were more important things to do. Once they reached the end of the walk down Main Street, Slade held the passenger door open for her. “Good talk. Now let’s go steal some shit.”
Slade brought the car to a stop in front of Antonio’s. “Are you sure Thurrond isn’t here?”
“Our little Tiger cub is en route to downtown. Probably to check out the wreckage of Trevor’s car.” Toni looked at her phone, where she was tracking Thurrond’s movements. He was assuming she was pinging his phone, but with Toni he was never sure.
“Good,” said Slade. If Thurrond wasn’t at Antonio’s, that meant Thurrond’s envoy of guards wouldn’t be either. No matter how he normally traveled, with Slade in town, he wasn’t going to go anywhere without a small army of men. Which meant Antonio’s would be mostly empty.
“There’s Scott.” Toni pointed out the window.
Slade turned to look at Hart as he approached. Hart seemed to trust that Toni could take care of herself, but when it came to some of the heavier stuff, he wasn’t willing to let her out of his sight. Considering what she could do with a computer, they had all better make sure to keep her on their good side. Given enough time, Toni would be able to drain all of Thurrond’s accounts without moving from her computer chair, but Slade wanted his fingers on this. He wanted Thurrond to know Slade had done this personally. Because it wouldn’t matter what car he blew up or how many of Thurrond’s guys got killed. The only language Tiger Thurrond spoke was money, and he was going to take that from him.
Hart tapped on the window once he got there, and Slade took out his gun as he jumped out of the car.
“You ready?” he asked Hart.
“About to rob a restaurant. Just like they trained in the police academy. No problem here.”
Slade rolled his eyes. He didn’t have time to assuage Hart’s conscience.
“You’re not robbing a restaurant. You’re robbing a safe at a restaurant that is holding a bunch of dirty money that wasn’t earned by selling meatballs. Does that make you feel better?”
Hart took out his Glock and racked back the slide, loading a bullet in the chamber. “A little. Thanks, hun.”
“Any time,” she said with a smile as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss Scott real quick.
“You two are a special kind of fucked up,” said Slade as he worked on arming himself.
“Ain’t love grand?” Toni winked.
He was sure she was armed too, but she wasn’t making any moves for her gun. Once they got inside, she was handling the safe, so she would be trying to keep her hands clear. He could only hope that whatever gadgets she had in her shoulder bag were enough to get the job done.
“Let’s go,” said Scott as he led the way.
He had led raids like this against some of the biggest players in some of the biggest cities. On some level, the stakes were lower. The soldiers Thurrond recruited were mostly inexperienced. It was one thing to say you’d kill for the guy giving you a paycheck. It was different to point a gun and pull a trigger.
That was something he wouldn’t have to worry about from anyone on his team. But Thurrond’s bought-and-
paid-for loyalty was going to be his downfall.
When they reached the double doors, he and Scott each kicked in one, and they both strode through, Toni coming in the back.
The restaurant, without Thurrond and his men, was almost empty save a few waitresses and the kitchen staff. They were all smart enough to see the guns and stay the hell out of their way as they crossed through the tables and made it to the back office.
If there was any doubt that they were in the right place, it was quelled by the man Thurrond had stationed in front of the office. Slade knew it was Thurrond’s guy because he was wearing a suit that didn’t quite fit and he was pulling his gun.
Slade stepped forward, and before the wannabe thug had a chance to actually unholster the gun, Slade had his pressing against the poor guy’s forehead. “I want you to think very carefully about your future right now,” warned Slade as he looked the kid dead in the eye.
“Slade...” warned Hart.
“This could be one of the guys who tried to take my son,” bit out Slade. “Or were you the one who tried to kill Olivia? Why don’t you speak for yourself? What have you done to fuck with my loved ones?”
“I... I... I wasn’t there for any of that, man. I swear.”
Fuck, the kid seemed so young—his voice was practically still cracking. Slade looked over to Toni and motioned to the safe. “Get on it.”
She didn’t respond. Just knelt on the ground and got to work.
He gave her a few moments of silence to work in as she held various techno gadgets next to the electronic keypad. “Do you need me to just blow it?”
She looked at him and he could tell from the annoyance in her eyes that he’d overstepped. “Do you mind?”
He stayed quiet and looked at his phone. The staff would be calling someone. It was a ten-minute drive from Main Street to here. He was sure Thurrond would have people there in five.
He was about to ask Toni for a progress report once more when the room was filled with a loud beep and the door swung open. Hart gave Toni a smile that was practically beaming with pride. Hell, Slade was pretty proud of her at the moment too. Hacking and safe cracking were adjacent, but they were two very different skills. Like he always said, Toni was a force of nature.
But then she was opening the safe and everyone leaned forward to look inside. Slade held his breath. This is where things could go wrong. Thurrond could’ve moved his cash; he could’ve set up a trap. But no, the safe contained stacks of cash. And not small bills either. Each stack was fifty hundred-dollar bills and the safe was packed full. There must be a few million in there.
“Man, you can’t take that. Thurrond will kill everyone you ever knew,” warned the suddenly helpful guy, where the gun was still pressed against his forehead.
Slade glanced over at him and smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m not taking any of Thurrond’s money.”
Toni let out a snort. “Let’s see how loyal our Tiger cub’s army is when he has no money.” Then she took a small container out of her bag and started to douse the stacks of cash.
The kid’s eyes widened and Slade could feel the tension creep into him. As though he was kind of worried about dying, but the thought of what they were going to do to those hundreds was enough to strike fear in his heart. “No! You can’t—”
Slade whipped the gun back and slammed it into the kid’s face. It would leave a nasty bruise, but at this point, the more marks he had on him the more forgiving Thurrond would be.
“Light it up,” said Slade.
Hart stepped forward with the lighter, and just like that, in a whoosh, he had crossed the point of no return.
“He’s going to be pissed,” said Toni as the orange glow danced across her face.
“Good. Angry people make mistakes. It’s time to get Liv out of town and finish this once and for all.”
“You want me to what?” bit out Liv as Hunter pulled her toward the car.
“Time to get out of town. Here are the keys. We’ll call you when it’s all over.”
A thousand questions flashed through her mind, and she tried to pick out the most important ones because Hunter seemed as if he wanted her to be gone five minutes ago. “When are things going to be over? Did you just blow up that car to start a war? What’s happening?”
Hunter’s brow furrowed and she could tell he was trying to figure out the best way to answer all her questions. But to her chagrin, Tristan pushed him aside, took hold of Liv’s arm, and pulled her closer to the SUV. “We blew up the car to prove a point. That we’re ready for Thurrond. Slade has been back at the house this whole time, making preparations for Thurrond to show up, and when he does, we’ll take care of him. But you know that you’d just be a liability in that fight, don’t you?”
She took a deep gulp but couldn’t argue with him. She would be more than willing to pick up a gun and defend her family, but she wasn’t exactly a good shot. Slade would spend too much time making sure she didn’t get killed and would probably get himself shot in the process.
“I... I want to help.”
“You led us to Trevor. You helped us get his attention. Thurrond knows we have multiple guys here and that we’re not fucking around. You helped. So you can leave knowing that you did your part.”
“I—”
Tristan set a hand on her shoulder and the comforting touch was so unexpected that her gaze jerked up and she met his crystal-blue eyes. “Don’t jump in front of a car this time, Liv. You’re not alone.” Tristan then pressed the keys in her palm and stepped away. “Go down Main Street and don’t look back until you’ve passed state lines, okay?”
She nodded and headed to the SUV in defeat. But when she reached it, she turned back to look at Tristan and Hunter once more. “You’re wrong, though. After this is all over, you’ll leave. Melissa will raise Josh with Slade, and I will be alone.”
“I think it’s cute that you assume Slade isn’t going to try to keep you,” said Tristan.
“Liar,” she accused.
He gave her a knowing wink. “I don’t lie all the time.”
“That’s what a liar would say.”
He shrugged. “Be safe, Olivia. Worry about tomorrow when you get there.”
She nodded and got into the car. She didn’t say any drawn-out good-byes. She didn’t need to. They weren’t friends. She had only met them a night before.
Time seemed to be moving strangely now. She’d only known Slade for a few days, but it seemed like a lifetime. He would be leaving soon and she shouldn’t care. A few days ago, she hadn’t even known he was alive. How could so many things have changed so quickly?
She put the car in drive and started down the road. She glanced out at the now black wreckage of Trevor’s car. A whole army of Thurrond’s guys had shown up to assess the damage, but she, Tristan, and Hunter had all run off to the bookstore across the street when no one was looking. Trevor hadn’t seen what car was Hunter’s, and they had been too distracted to keep tabs on them. The bookstore gave the three of them a good vantage point to look at all the comings and goings, including Thurrond himself. The police came and got a stern talking-to from Thurrond, their true boss. Now things were mostly back to normal. The gawkers had gone back inside and got to work. The gangsters were all formulating ways to get back at Slade. The police were back to pretending to work. Everything looked so normal now.
This was the town she’d called home for so long. Of course, Melissa wouldn’t kick her out. She was too nice for that. But what place would she have in the house? As Slade’s girlfriend? He hadn’t said a single word about commitment, and he had so much baggage, she’d be stupid to get involved with that. Though she supposed she’d already gotten herself involved. It was too late to act as though she wasn’t in over her head.
She hit one of the few lights on Main Street and came to a stop, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. She didn’t feel comfortable. Sitting here in the street, without any of the guys around her, made her feel exposed. She never though
t she’d be the type to want a bodyguard, but she never thought she’d be the type to stop a kidnapping or survive a building shootout either.
But now, while still sitting in Laurie Falls and knowing Thurrond’s guys were all pissed off and could be anywhere, she couldn’t help the feeling of wanting someone with her.
She knew why Tristan and Hunter sent her off. If they were trying to lure Thurrond into some sort of a trap, they needed all hands on deck. Even if each of the members of Slade’s team was a badass in their own right, Thurrond had dozens of little minions he controlled.
Slade just had six. Six people against an army that had established roots in this town that went back decades. The more she thought about it, the more nervous she got. Liv turned the dial on the radio and started to look for a decent station to listen to. Something poppy and distracting.
She was just about past Main Street when she saw it. One of Thurrond’s guys on his phone, looking right at her. Was he telling Thurrond she was leaving? Was he keeping tabs on her? The light in front of her turned yellow, but she hit the gas and made it through.
She wanted to get out of town now. She wasn’t going to stop for any cop or gangster who tried to stop her. Don’t look back until she crossed state lines. That’s what Tristan said and that was what she was going to do.
She finally made it past the downtown area and the speed limit went up to fifty. She hit sixty and let out a sigh of relief. Slade could take care of this. She believed in him. She believed he knew what he was doing. She looked in the rearview mirror and confirmed that no one was behind her. Except when she looked back at the road, she saw the car. It was stopped sideways on the road and two guys stood in front of it. Thurrond had found her.
Fuck. She wasn’t going to stop. There was enough room on the shoulder for her to go around. At this speed, it would be dangerous, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to stop.
And as she hit the gas, that’s when the guys took out their guns and started to shoot.
The Vengeful Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 5) Page 13