“That’s easy. There are plenty of others. The point is to stay in business.”
Keep talking, asshole. “You’re sick.”
“I’m a businessman. Just like you.”
“I don’t kill people.”
“Your shipments paid for weapons.” Ty winked. “So, yeah, you do.”
* * *
—
Justin woke coughing. He rushed to sit up and ended up flat on his back again. He was outside with the sun beating down on him, his back aching on the hard ground. Kamir and Rania loomed over him wearing frowns that spoke to their concern.
He could see blood and smell gasoline.
He was missing the part that mattered the most. This time Justin scrambled to sit up, ignoring his screaming muscles and the banging in his head. “Where is Finn?”
Rania put a hand on his shoulder when he started to get up. “We can track him.”
Justin noticed the other men. Their car sat wrecked and mangled next to him, with the smell of burning tires hanging in the air. But there were two other cars, one of them an SUV, right in front of him. Men with guns stood around as if waiting for orders. They must have been in the two backup cars. Justin had a vague memory of Rania saying something about them.
Still, none of it made a lot of sense to him. “What are you talking about?”
“When Finn got in the car, I put a tracker on him.” Rania used her own body to show where. “A small black dot stuck to his shoulder. Call it a safety measure.”
Of course she did. Smart woman. “Nicely done.”
“Who took him?” Kamir asked as he used his good arm to help Justin to his feet.
“I don’t care so long as we get Finn back unharmed.”
Rania and Kamir looked at each other.
Justin didn’t care to dig any further into whatever their look meant. He had to stay positive.
“We will.” Rania signaled the other men waiting there. “Let’s go.”
* * *
—
The unexpected ringing tore Finn’s attention away from bending the tie and creating a weak spot in the bindings. “There’s service down here?”
Ty slipped a phone out of his back pocket and shook it. “Yours.”
His satellite phone. The one he promised Alec he’d keep on him. It shouldn’t work, but leave it to Alec to have some sort of superpowered satphone.
Score one for big-brother paranoia.
“Your brother is calling.” Ty read the message on the screen. “Looks like he talked with someone on the council and found out someone in your own charity asked that you be pressured to leave the country.”
That didn’t make any sense. “What are you talking about?”
“The request to have you removed from the country will trace back to Justin.” Ty pressed a button and pocketed the phone again. “It was a little precaution. It seemed smart to hand your brothers a reason to doubt Justin.”
“Alec will never buy that.” But, shit, he just might. Who knew what Alec’s response would be? One more reason not to let Ty’s scheme get that far.
“Does he know you and Justin are sleeping together? Interesting, by the way. Justin is the loner type.” Ty made a tsk-tsk sound as he shook his head. “It sucks that just as he started giving a shit about something other than the charity, he’s going to lose it.”
Thinking about Justin took Finn’s mind in the wrong direction. It derailed him when he needed focus. “Alec knows about the missing shipments.”
“He’s going to be too busy back in Germany preparing for your funeral.”
Apparently Ty didn’t know everything. Interesting. “He’s here, dumbass.”
“In Morocco?” Ty swallowed and some of the color left his face. “Well, that doesn’t matter.”
Wrong answer. “You don’t know Alec and Justin.”
* * *
—
It took an hour to get to the medical compound. An hour of wasted time while the sharp pain in Justin’s chest nearly doubled him over.
When the grouping of white tents and water tanks appeared in the distance, it was all Justin could do to keep from yelling at the driver to move it. He could see the high fence and what looked like a series of generators. People milled around inside the gates and guards posted at set intervals.
The truck bumped and shifted over the uneven dirt road. Dust kicked up around them, covering the windows in a thin layer of orange-brown silt.
Finn needed him. Justin could sense it. He’d stay calm and try to talk his way out of trouble, but they were dealing with killers. People who thought getting guns into the hands of people who would kill children and steal medicine from sick people was justified by the back-end paycheck.
It took another fifteen minutes to get through the guard station to Kit. She walked out of the recovery tent still wearing her scrubs.
Justin didn’t wait for introductions and greetings. “Where is Ty?”
“What’s going on?”
“We think he’s with Finn Drummond.” Rania motioned for her men to stay close. “Finn was taken a few hours ago.”
“Taken?”
Justin reached for Kit’s arm. She looked unusually scattered and confused, and he got that. But he didn’t have time for a complete rundown. “Kidnapped from our car and we tracked him here.”
“That can’t be right.” Kit shook her head. “What does Ty have to do with any of this?”
“He’s your boyfriend. I get it, Kit.” But he had to get to Finn. Now.
Rania moved in front of Kit. “We can rip the camp apart or you can make this easier and tell me where he is.”
Kit shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Okay.” Justin held onto his patience but just barely. He suspected yelling at Kit would only make her shut down. As it was, she was sputtering and blinking and looked ready to fall down. “We know they’re here. We need to talk with Ty.”
“He would never hurt Finn. You can’t believe he would.”
“Kit, listen to me.” Justin held her arms and turned her to look only at him. Panic surged through him, making his muscles shake, but he tried to keep his voice steady. “I don’t want to believe it either but the tracker doesn’t lie. Finn is here, or he was. Maybe we get to Ty and there’s a reasonable explanation or it’s not him, but we need to get to him to see what he knows about Finn.”
He almost added “before it’s too late” but couldn’t make his lips form the words. Messing up, not being there when Finn really needed him, was the nightmare that kept rolling in his head. He’d blocked the memory of blood. It was on the door where Finn sat. A trail continued off the road then disappeared.
She nodded then. “Tunnels.”
“What?” Rania asked.
“They used to be used to transport water. They’re right under us.”
Justin couldn’t help but look down. “How do we get there?”
“There’s a small shack at the edge of the property. It’s padlocked, but there are stairs that lead down.” Kit pressed a hand against Justin’s chest. “No one ever goes down there. It’s not safe, or it might not be. I don’t honestly know.”
Justin knew she was wrong about the tunnels being abandoned. From the pain in her eyes, he sensed she knew it, too. “We’ll check.”
Justin pulled away, ready to race over to the shack and rip the chains off the doors with his bare hands, if necessary.
“Justin.” Kit grabbed his arm, stopping him in time. “Please don’t hurt him.”
He couldn’t promise that. When Rania shook her head, Justin knew she got that. But he needed to give Kit hope. Out here, with nothing else, that’s what their jobs were about. “I’ll try.”
Chapter 22
Finn waited for Ty’s reinforcements to show up. Time tic
ked by and he hadn’t seen anyone but Ty. If there were people in the tunnels, they weren’t making a sound. Finn heard dripping water and the general creaks and groans from being underground. That’s it.
He used every second while waiting to stretch the plastic tie and move his hands around. Loosening the rope holding his arms down proved harder. He tensed his arms and tried to pull them away from his sides.
“What’s the plan here?” Finn almost hated to ask the question but sitting there doing nothing played tricks on his mind. Every time Ty shifted his weight from foot to foot, Finn’s senses flipped to high alert.
Adrenaline pumped through Finn. Despite the injuries and the hours without food or water, he had his energy reserves. He had enough to jump to his feet and fight back, but he needed to be ready.
“My people are moving supplies.”
“You mean burying the evidence.”
Ty winked. “You are a smart one.”
Not smart enough to break the rope around his chest. Right now that was the only skill Finn wished he possessed. “Why not ease up on the shipments, let all of this blow over, then get back to business when it’s safer?”
“Because you and Justin would have let that happen.” Ty snorted. “Right.”
But he couldn’t have known what they would do. No, something else was happening here. “You didn’t have a choice, did you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You had to move the weapons.” That made sense. Finn could see it now. Ty wasn’t the head of the operation. He was a cog. An instrumental one. High up, but not the highest. “You couldn’t wait. You’re in trouble.”
“You should save your energy.”
“So I can yell really loud when you kill me?”
“That’s kind of dramatic, but it works for me.” Ty slipped a phone out of his front pocket and glanced at the screen before sliding it back in again.
The signs were right there. The sweat on his forehead. The fidgeting. The stalling. Finn wasn’t sure how to use the information, but this might be his only chance. In a few minutes, his time would run out.
Now or never.
* * *
—
Kamir and one of his men cut the new locks on the building’s door. On cue, they filed down the stairs with Rania in the lead. She’d handed Justin a weapon and he was ready.
At the bottom of the steps one of the guards shifted to stand in front of Justin. It was a protective gesture, one Justin recognized because he’d been trained the same way. But he didn’t need a bodyguard.
Rania motioned for them to fan out. Kit didn’t have any maps of the tunnels or firsthand knowledge, but she warned them about the branches and how some of the tunnels twisted around and extended for miles. She was in her office now with a guard just in case Ty got out…or if it turned out she was a terrific actress and was Ty’s partner in more ways than one.
Following Rania’s orders, the six of them broke into pairs. He and Rania took the tunnel off to the right. Karim, Nabil and the rest of the guards handled the other two branches.
Sliding along the rock wall, Justin ducked at outcroppings of stone and watched his footing. He scanned the area, noting the electricity and the rows of lights tacked to the walls, lighting this tunnel up.
Finn was here. Justin would bet money on it.
They took a few more steps before he heard the ping. Rocks broke from the wall near his head. He ducked, but not before the edge of a stone scraped against his cheek. Another ping and the dirt next to his foot kicked up.
Gunfire. “Rania! Get down.”
She was already spinning around, firing as she moved. The shots rang out. She didn’t have a silencer and there was nothing quiet about her unloading as she hid at the bend in the tunnel. Justin dove to the other side of the opening, looking for cover.
As men ran toward the steps to escape to the shack above, Rania and Justin picked them off. Screams echoed and bullets ricocheted all around them. Karim peeked out of the far tunnel and joined in the attack.
The men on the stairs didn’t move fast enough and became wide-open targets. Nabil never stopped fighting, pressing a hand to his side as blood seeped through his fingers.
When quiet fell over the tunnel and the dust cleared, Karim moved out into the open. “We’ve got Nabil. You two go and we’ll get him to the doctor above.”
Karim didn’t say the rest, but Justin knew. They were out of time. They’d lost the element of surprise, because there was no way Ty hadn’t heard the volley of shots.
“Let’s move.” Justin took off down the far tunnel with Rania right behind him. It wasn’t hard to pick the path. He went for the only one that was lit up.
Rania said something behind him but Justin heard white noise. His brain had started clicking, running through rescue scenarios because thinking about any other option would drop him to his knees.
Finn had to be alive.
* * *
—
Gunfire. To Finn that meant one thing—Justin.
He’d somehow figured out the location. That was the only explanation. Justin might be out of the military, but it was still very much a part of him, and Finn was grateful for that.
At the burst of noise, Ty pushed away from the wall and headed back around the corner. Finn didn’t wait for another chance. He stood up, raising his arms as high as he could with the rope binding his chest, and brought them down, pulling them apart as he went. The tie snapped.
Ty turned around again, but Finn was already moving. He nailed Ty in the side, slamming him into the wall. The unexpected move crunched Ty’s arm against the sharp stones. He yelled as he kneed Finn in the stomach.
The shot landed. Air whooshed right out of Finn and he lost his balance. With his arms still bound, he couldn’t stop his fall. Shifting at the last minute, he crashed into Ty, taking them both down under Finn’s dead weight.
The gun fell and bounced. Finn quickly lost sight of it. He was rolling and shoving, ramming his shoulder deep into Ty’s chest, hoping to inflict damage. They grunted and panted. When Ty flipped him over, Finn’s knees and then his back dug into the hard ground.
Keep on moving. The mantra ran through Finn’s head. Footsteps sounded in the distance, a frenzy of shoes against the rocks and pebbles. Finn blocked the noise and thoughts of what it might mean and tried to turn over but Ty straddled his chest. Ty reached around for the gun but came up empty-handed. In all that movement, he landed a punch. Walloped Finn right in the jaw. Pain shot through him and his vision blinked out.
The footsteps got louder until the thuds matched his thundering heartbeat. Finn bucked his hips, trying to move Ty off him, but he was in a killing rage. When he drew back his fist a second time, Finn curled to the side and Ty’s knuckles slammed into the ground.
He howled in fury as he held his hand. Finn went for his most vulnerable spot. Ignored the bad angle and poor leverage and drove his fist into Ty’s groin. Ty’s eyes widened then his head flew back. He seemed boneless as his body slid to the side before falling in a heap on the ground.
Finn squirmed, trying to free his legs from the tangle with Ty’s. That’s when he saw the hole in Ty’s forehead and the slow stream of blood. The noise rushing through his ears died down and he heard his name. Looking up, Finn saw Justin standing there with his gun still up and Rania by his side.
It had to be a dream. It was too perfect to be real. “Justin?”
He skidded across the stones and landed on his knees next to Finn. “Were you hit?” He patted his hands all over Finn’s chest.
The shock still gripped Finn. He could only sit there, stunned and still half tied up. “I…don’t…”
“Look at me.” Justin ran his fingers down the side of Finn’s face. “The blood.”
“Not mine.” Finn felt his body ro
ck back and forth. He tried to lift his hand to touch Justin but the rope got in the way. He settled for leaning his body against Justin’s.
“Here.” Rania reached across Finn and handed Justin a knife.
A few tugs and a snipping sound and Finn was free. Before he could weigh the damage it could do, his arms went around Justin’s neck. Justin mumbled something but Finn couldn’t pick it up. Random sounds clogged his brain. More footsteps and shouting. Guards he recognized entered the space. Then Kamir.
Finn tried to pull back from Justin’s bruising hold. “How did you—”
Another man turned the corner. He put a gun to the head of one of Rania’s guards and the bang rang out. A second later the guard slipped to the ground.
The attacker was not done. He fired as he walked. Finn saw only flashes as he dropped to the ground with Justin on top of him. Shielding him.
Rania and Kamir both turned and fired. The man yelled as he went down. Then silence descended on the tunnel.
It was over.
Finn’s arms shook and he swallowed a few times before he could speak. When he did, the word came out soft and low, barely above a whisper. “Justin?”
Justin lifted up and stared down at Finn. His gaze searched Finn’s face. “You okay?”
“How did you—”
“Rania.”
Finn couldn’t figure out what that meant. Only one thought filled his head. “You were just in time.”
* * *
—
Two hours later, police and special forces still surrounded the medical complex. One by one the dead bodies were tagged and photographed. Forensic teams scoured the area. The shack looked shaky after crowds of people with guns marched up and down the steps, checking the tunnel and retrieving the dead.
Justin watched it all from his seat on the hood of a random car. He’d been checked out and questioned. Telling Kit what happened had been the worst. No, the second worst. Seeing Finn on the tunnel ground and fending off an attack—the blood, the uncertainty—was the worst.
Dirty Games Page 22