Macki had called the man Blake. This changed everything.
He and OPAQUE had run Blake Ransom through the security system. He’d never shown up on any blip of a negative background search. Everything had pointed to him being an upstanding citizen. An officer killed in the line of duty. That meant he had to be high up in CT to have that level of a covered trail.
“This can’t be happening. Lieutenant Grey saw what was left of your body. He said…oh…” As she stepped away from Blake, her arms and hands quivered. She glanced at Grey. “A lie? You lied to me. Set me up for years and lied to me. Why? What would make me so valuable all this time?”
“We figured killing your father wouldn’t stop someone else in the family from taking up the cause. But which one of you would it be? My guess was Drake.” Grey smirked. “Blake narrowed in on you. Looks like I was right.”
Josh saw the moment the reality of the past and present sank into her mind. Saw the questions flow through her thoughts. He had questions of his own. How could OPAQUE have missed this surveillance for all these years? Surveillance of people so close to the organization? Simple. CT had kept OPAQUE plenty busy elsewhere. Busy watching and countering CT’s expansion.
All the while letting Drake and Macki just live their lives. Nothing would have alerted OPAQUE to what might be in their future. Nothing. Because…nothing happened. CT had quietly laid plans for a perfect takeover. And, when Macki had finally been attacked in the alley, she’d missed the clue. Missed the message. Because…she’d just been living her life.
And from the looks of the way this case had all unfolded, CT had had him in their sights all along, too. They’d wanted him here for the end.
For a moment, her eyes saddened, shoulders slumped, then she straightened her stance and took a step in Blake’s direction. “You bastard. You wormed your way into my place. Let me befriend you. And all along you’d killed my parents?”
“Not me personally. Has to be something special for me to get my hands dirty.” Blake smirked. “Too bad you and your uncle didn’t take the hint I gave you in that alley.”
Her expression paled, lips parted. “In the alley…when I was attacked…?”
Blake laughed. “Like I said, it takes something special for me to take care of business. But in your case, I came back personally to handle that message.”
Boiling with a shot of rage from that confession, Josh yanked the grille with his handcuffs until he heard the break of a holding bracket. “You’re a dead man, Blake Ransom. A dead man.”
“The OPAQUE agent speaks.” Blake stepped in his direction. “Slater, isn’t it? Joshua Slater. I’ve heard you’re good. Hope you don’t mind if I take some credit for how you turned out. In fact, my organization could use a man like you, if you’re in the mood to change sides.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m fine where I’m at.” He held out his handcuffed wrists. “Although, I figured a man with your kind of power would want to meet me on equal terms. Not chain me up so I couldn’t fight back.”
“Do you think I’m a fool?” Blake took up a position halfway between the limo and the open elevator doorway.
“Macki, come here.”
“No.”
“I said, come here.”
Grey grabbed her by the arm and slung her across the room toward the man. The fob fell from her hand as she stumbled, bumping her head against a car fender. She yelled in exaggerated pain as she scrambled to run and hide between the cars.
Blake bolted across the garage and seized Grey by the front of his shirt, practically lifting him off his feet. “Don’t you ever touch her again. Do you understand?”
Lieutenant Grey gave a slow nod then turned toward the limo as the muscled man pulled Roxy from the back of the car.
“Why’s she here? We didn’t need her for this,” Grey said.
“Thought she might be a piece of leverage against someone here.” Blake smoothed the front of Grey’s shirt as he let him go. “Say, someone like you.”
Josh processed what having Roxy in the mix might mean. Best case scenario, it might provide answers. Worst case—it might get her killed.
“Me? I couldn’t care less about her.” Grey looked at Roxy like she was an annoying mosquito to be smashed. “She’s nothing but a prostitute.”
“One you used.”
“Maybe you should get your facts right. I’ve used Roxy for CT’s benefit all these years.” Grey patted his pants, scoffing at the group. “Kept her right here in my hip pocket.”
Blake chuckled. “Oh that’s right. The baby.”
“How do you think I got to where I am today in the CT organization?” Grey sneered at the man. “You might do well to learn some of my moves. Otherwise, you may end up being my messenger boy your entire career.”
Blake’s expression flattened, followed by a smirk. His nostrils flared as he sucked in a deep breath through his nose. Evidently the man wasn’t used to being talked down to. Josh didn’t know for sure who Blake was, but he for damn sure wasn’t a messenger boy.
“So how’s that daughter the lieutenant knocked you up with doing nowadays?” Blake moved closer to where his driver still gripped Roxy’s wrist.
Roxy glanced between Grey and the man beside her. She looked confused, frantic, unsure of what to answer. “She’s fine. I’ve done everything Lieutenant Grey has asked, so she’s fine.” Again she shifted her glance between the two men. “She is okay, right?”
Macki’s compassionate expression told Josh her heart was breaking. Didn’t matter that Roxy had put her in harm’s way many times. She still cared about the woman. But sympathy could get you in trouble quick.
“Of course she is. Your daughter is just as well as the day she was born.” Blake patted Roxy’s shoulder, nodding for the guard to release his hold.
“Shut up,” Grey angrily shouted. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop where you are, Blake.”
“Oh, that’s right. Lieutenant Grey never told you how sick your child was when she was born, did he? How she struggled to breathe.” Blake’s tone was emotionless. Bland with a touch of cruel. “How she died within minutes.”
Watching Grey was like watching a boring television rerun—no hint of guilt or compassion or even caring. All Josh saw was a man cold as ice on the inside. Had he always been that way? Or had trying to keep his family alive all these years turned him into what Coercion Ten needed most—nothing but a machine?
Roxy struggled to stay on her feet. She braced her hand against the closest wall as tears streamed down her face. Slowly, she calmed herself, running her fingers up her cheeks as she walked across the garage. Her red hair sparkled like fire in the glow of the halogen lights. Endurance and her three-inch heels held her up, clicking on the concrete with each step she took. Unheeded, the tears continued to spill down her cheeks.
Years of living life on the street had given her strength. Strength to last a lifetime. But life had reached out and stomped her down. Had broken her heart. And she was furious. A dangerous emotion for staying alive.
Roxy stopped in front of Grey. “All these years you let me believe I had a daughter? That I protected her by doing all those horrible things you asked?” She gulped in a breath of air. “All these years.”
“You should never have gotten pregnant in the first place.” Grey shrugged. “But since you did, I just used it to my advantage. You got paid. You got your fancy apartment and anything else you asked for.”
She slapped his face with the vengeance of a mama bear whose den had been disturbed.
He slapped her in return, knocking her to the floor.
Dazed, she crawled to the side and leaned against a pillar then struggled to stand.
“Roxy. Stay where you are.” Josh yanked the handcuffs against the fender again. “Stay down.”
She stared at him as if she’d forgotten anyone else was in the garage. Slowly, she eased back to the floor in defeat.
“Don’t think I forgot about you, Agent Slat
er. But there’s a lot going on here today.” Blake brushed past him and headed toward Grey. “Just give me a minute and I’ll be right back to you and Macki.”
Josh continued his relentless quest of working his hands back and forth along the fender. Surely, somewhere he could find a screw to loosen, a weld to break. Even a piece of loose metal he might be able to use to pick the handcuff’s lock. So far nothing, but he kept searching.
Blake stopped in front of Grey, rolling his fingers as if getting ready to play the piano. Over and over and over.
Shooting Macki a look that said stay out of this one, Josh watched the scene unfold. He’d already figured out who was the CT man in charge of this scene and it wasn’t Grey.
Grey was in trouble. Blake outgunned him, not only in size but also in power and meanness. If the lieutenant were smart, he’d stay quiet. Back down. Josh doubted the man was that smart.
“Just for the record, I’m not your messenger boy.” Blake stretched his fingers. Poked his index finger against the lieutenant’s chest. “Not now. Not ever. Is that understood?”
Grey landed a blow to Blake’s face. “You don’t tell me what to do.” One to his ribs. “I’m in charge here.”
Blake just stood there deflecting the ongoing punches, until finally he nodded and one of the thugs grabbed Grey from behind and pulled the lieutenant across the garage.
Struggling to free himself from the thug, Grey spit in Blake’s direction. “Punk! You’re nothing but a punk.” The thug tightened his hold. Grey spit at Blake one more time. “If you don’t watch out, I’ll make sure you’re on a cold slab for sure this time.”
Blake’s expression changed from bland to enraged. Livid, he wiped his hand down the side of his face. Looked at the blood on his palm. A growl accompanied the flare of his nostrils as he pulled his gun. Letting his arm hang at his side with the heavy weight of metal clasped tight in his grip, he walked across the room toward Grey.
Josh felt the fury in the room crescendo. The situation had deteriorated fast. Hot and fast. He kept his voice low, hoping it would be nothing more than a background sound in the turmoil. “Now, Macki.”
She stepped from between the cars and stomped on the fob where it had fallen, grinding her foot into the plastic. No one took notice of her small movement as they focused on the melee unfolding in the corner.
Josh began his five-minute countdown. That should be all they needed before backup arrived. If it took more than that, then systems hadn’t clicked and chances for survival were dismal.
Five minutes. Just five minutes. Right now, that seemed insurmountable with the rapidly collapsing scenario.
Blake confronted Grey. Pounded his fist to the man’s middle. “You still don’t get it, do you?” He punched again. “I’m the one who’s been giving the orders in this region for the past nine years. First, you botched the job with Slater’s father and I had to finish what you started. Then, you tried to get out of the organization.”
Grey slumped to the floor as the thug let go.
“Did you think CT would let you be in charge of orders after that? Besides, my father had groomed me to take over this region.” Blake released the clip in his gun then reset it. “You were nothing but the face for local CT recruits. The one we figured would take the fall if we were ever found out.”
Josh filed away the words being thrown about. Father? Who was Blake’s father? Was that the top man? OPAQUE had worked on the assumption that each region had a leader. That major decisions were made by a vote.
Josh needed more. But first, he had to keep Macki and himself alive. He was trapped, and she had nowhere to run. Not only did the hulking limo driver block her access to raise the garage door, the other two thugs stood between her and the side exit door. Where was backup?
Blake turned, walking back toward the center of the garage.
As Grey struggled to his feet, his crazy-manic expression portrayed a man out of control. Someone who’d lost all sense of himself, his surroundings, and his situation. As if he were a wounded warrior fighting his last fight, Grey’s battle yell echoed off the concrete walls as he charged Blake from behind.
Quick and easy, Blake turned. Raised his gun. Fired.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Josh watched Grey jerk with the impact from Blake’s shot.
The lieutenant’s body crumpled to the floor. Didn’t move. One bullet had ended all chances of evidence or information dating back to before Macki’s parents were killed in the plane crash.
Once the reverberating sounds ceased, the garage became stone silent except for the evenly paced footsteps of Blake as he took center stage once again. “Before I was interrupted by all the drama, I said come here, Macki. And I meant it. Come. Here.”
She didn’t flinch. “No.”
Blake released the clip in his gun and reloaded again. “Now.”
“No.”
He chambered a round and flicked his gun arm straight out, pointing at Josh. “Now. One. Two…”
“Okay.” She moved to the man’s side.
Josh cringed, not for himself, but for her. If Blake got her in the limo, there was no telling how long it would take him to find her. He yanked the handcuffs against the grille, again and again and again. Sooner or later, he’d rip the damn thing apart.
Blake lowered the gun and laughed. “Looks like Agent Slater’s not much help to you right now. In fact, he’s not much use to me anymore, either. Might as well—”
Macki stepped in front of the gun and he backhanded her, landing her against the limo. He raised the gun in her direction, but Roxy jumped on his back, clawing at his face. He grabbed her hand and hurled her to the ground. Turned and shot twice. Roxy slid to the floor, clutching her arm against her ribs as blood spewed from her side.
“Leave me. Save yourself,” Roxy shouted as Macki rushed toward her.
From the far side of the garage, the exit door burst open as Edward the chauffeur, Cummings, and more uniformed police bolted inside. Gunfire echoed throughout the garage. Bullets pinged off bulletproof windshields of the fake taxi and SUV. Embedded in concrete walls. Ricocheted off pillars, spewing bits and pieces of concrete through the air. Moans testified to the fact some bullets had found their targets.
Something big and powerful rammed the garage door, crashing inward a moment before FBI and SWAT teams rushed through the opening. Rapid-fire shots from both the good and the bad continued to reverberate through the air.
Macki made a break toward Josh, but Blake grabbed her arm and held. Shielding himself with her body, he dragged her to the elevator. Two of his muscled thugs followed them inside, kicking the doorstops loose. The elevator doors closed behind them.
Numbers on the overhead floor-level dial showed the elevator went all the way to the penthouse. Stopped. Stayed.
The garage quieted from the gunshots. All that remained was the continuous clang of Josh yanking and yanking the cuffs against the SUV grille. One captor and the driver lay dead on the floor along with Grey’s body as the FBI and other law enforcement snaked their way inside and around the vehicles.
Edward and Cummings rounded the side panel of the SUV as a man with the SWAT team headed to take care of Roxy.
“Good to see you two.” Josh held up the handcuffs. “Get these damn things off me. I’ve got to get upstairs. Blake’s got Macki.”
“Blake?” Cummings said, unlocking the cuffs.
“Yes, Blake Ransom. Evidently, there was no body to be buried, because the bastard never died.” Josh grabbed the freed cuffs and crashed them into the black limo that Blake’s entourage had arrive in.
Josh was damn pissed and nobody better tell him to watch damaging the evidence.
Edward shouted he’d work at getting the freight elevator to come down from the top floor. Only Macki had the passkey, but he’d work on jerry-rigging the controls.
“I can’t wait.” Josh retrieved his guns, then ran to Macki’s elevator, hoping the door would at least open. No such luck. Des
perate, he edged his fingers in the doors’ closing line. Nothing budged.
“How are you planning to get up there?” Cummings joined him, and together they pried the doors apart, then shoved the door-holders back in place.
Josh pointed at the cables as he checked his guns. “That and climbing the metal studs in the side walls. There’ll be enough room to snake up behind the car. Drop in from the top.”
“I’m coming, too.”
He still wasn’t sure he trusted the man completely, but he had to give Cummings the benefit of the doubt. After all, he and Edward had charged in and risked their lives to save Macki and him. “Okay. But you go out at the door to her office. Take the steps the rest of the way. Pass-code to penthouse floor is home.”
“Good idea. At least one of us should make it through.”
A couple of the SWAT guys tossed their gloves at the two men. Josh jerked the gloves on and jumped for the cables, Cummings close behind. Quietly, hand over hand, the men charged upward.
Josh felt the change in the cable when Cummings jumped out at the office floor. A few seconds later, he grabbed onto the steel of the elevator shaft and started climbing. Squeezed behind the elevator car. Inched across the top. Dropped inside. The metal doors were open, and he was greeted by one of the thugs from the garage, who motioned him to drop the weapons. He had figured the guns would be taken, but at least they were in the area.
He stepped into the living area with one thing in mind. Keep Macki and himself alive until OPAQUE backup crashed into the setting. The sight of her standing behind the kitchen island with a thug’s pistol pointed at her was almost more than he could take. But take it, he did. He needed to be smart. Stall for enough time that the others could catch up.
“Come in, Agent Slater.” Blake lounged in the chair by the balcony’s patio door like he was directing a movie. “Welcome to our little party.”
“You okay, Macki?” Josh asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. He hasn’t hurt me.”
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