Then again, she wasn’t stupid.
She was pretty sure it was going to be bulletproof. She could see the reflection and it was off.
As Viktor Marchenko began dumping gasoline all over the room, he put blinking devices all around the child.
Oh, shit!
He was going to kill him when he blew the place up.
Yeah, this was bad.
When he left the boy alone, Poppy knew there was no time for the police. She was going to have to save the boy.
And possibly lose her life.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Marshall Cameron
AKA Hunter Dietrich’s
House
When they pulled up to the house, Ivan was driving. Elizabeth and Ethan were in the back, and Heath was riding shotgun.
There was a second car behind them, carrying the team.
Elizabeth turned on her com.
“We’re going to do this as quietly as possible,” she said. “There are neighbors. We don’t want to have every resident filming this, plus, sending it to the news.”
“Copy,” Gamble said. “We’ll follow your lead.”
Elizabeth patted her husband on the chest, and he was wearing his Kevlar. He was sporting jeans and an FBI hat. It was amusing that he was trying to hide his identity.
The hat made you look at his cheekbones and face.
It did the opposite.
“Ivan, watch the deputy director’s ass,” she said. He was sitting behind Ivan, so he would be closer.
“On it.”
“Heath, don’t get in my way.”
“On it, Mrs. B.”
They all opened the doors and hopped out. Elizabeth was focused on the house as she and Heath headed toward the porch. One of the reasons she preferred working with Ivan was he was shorter.
She could see over his head.
Heath was like looking through a wall.
You didn’t.
As they were almost to the porch, it was the snap of a twig that made her look to the side.
That’s when she saw him.
There stood the undercover Fed, and he was holding a gun, pointed right at his own head.
No one moved.
“Son, it’s time to put it down,” Ethan said, holstering his weapon. “We know what’s been going on, Marshall.”
“It’s Hunter. I gave up the FBI.”
Yeah, as he was pulling two paychecks.
“We have Linda. She’s in custody. She told us everything,” Ethan said, lying his ass off. She’d made a break for it. They didn’t have her.
Yet.
“If you come closer, I’ll shoot.”
No one moved.
“Why’d you do it?” Elizabeth asked, watching him.
“For the money.”
“You sold innocent girls to Viktor Marchenko. You helped someone traffic women.”
He didn’t say anything.
Ethan moved closer.
They needed him alive. They needed him to tell them where Harrington was in New Orleans. They needed him to give them Viktor’s location.”
“Come in with us, son. We’ll give you a deal.”
“I’m sorry,” Marshall said. “I’m sorry.”
Ethan held out his hand.
He lowered his gun.
Elizabeth saw the intent before she could even say anything to warn her husband. The man lifted the gun and went to take a shot.
She didn’t give him the chance.
No one was shooting her husband on her watch.
She got the shot off first, and it was so damn close to Ethan’s head that his hair moved in the breeze.
The man fell.
Everyone held their breath.
“Deputy Director!” Ivan shouted, moving toward him. “Are you okay?”
His heart was pounding.
He’d been off the street far too long. He thought he was going to give him the gun.
Blackhawk turned and looked at his wife.
“You’re a menace,” she said. What she wanted to do was weep. That had been too damn close.
“Baby.”
She didn’t care if everyone in the whole city watched. She ran at him and into his body.
As chaos erupted around them, Ethan held his wife.
She’d saved him.
AGAIN.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
When he pulled up, his brother was waiting for him. Dimitri knew it was his last moments in the world. He’d gotten sloppy and wanted revenge. It ended up getting him hurt, and he was too weak to fight Viktor. If he was healed, he’d have a chance.
At that moment, he was dead.
Now, it was about saving Sam.
It was about saving a boy who deserved a long life. Too bad he wouldn't see it happen. In his will, the one he’d had drawn up, he gave full custody to Greyson. He’d raise him to be a man.
Probably a better one than him.
It was sad but true.
“GET OUT!” Viktor shouted, holding up the detonator.
Dimitri did as he asked.
“Hands up and turn around. I want you to lift your shirt so I can see you don’t have a gun.”
Yeah, he wished. His were locked in the gun room inside the house.
That was a pipe dream.
He lifted his shirt and did what he was told.
“He’s not my son,” Dimitri stated. “He’s a Croft. If you hurt him, they’ll come for you. I’m here, so take me. Set him free.”
He laughed.
“Oh, nice one, brother. He cried for his daddy as I beat the hell out of him. He’s such a crybaby. Too bad I can’t have more time with him. I could make him more like me. Maybe I’ll do just that. I’ll make him exactly like me.”
That was horrifying.
Dimitri had to stay calm.
He had to think his way through this.
“You’d be amazed what you can buy on the dark web,” Viktor stated. “I bought all the security codes. I know everything about you, but I didn’t know about your son. Job well done on keeping that one close to the vest.”
Dimitri began moving closer. If he could just get the gun away from…
“I’m going to enjoy hurting him,” he taunted, trying to break his brother.
“You have me. Let him go.”
“Get down on your knees.”
He did.
Dimitri was ill over all of this.
His son was going to pay, and it was all his fault.
“What now?” Dimitri asked.
“Well, let’s begin. Shall we. Let’s talk about our dad. Then I’ll end Sam’s.”
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
She squeezed her ass between the bars on the gate, and it was NO easy task.
Damn her booty.
What wouldn't she give for the body of a teenage boy right about now? At first, she was going to climb it, but she wasn’t sure if there was an alarm and cameras. This was about being fast.
Once she got to the back of the house, she picked the lock, slid the door open, and headed in.
Inside, the boy was there.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m Poppy. I’m a cop,” she said, moving her sweater, so he could see the badge. “I’m going to save you. We have to get you out of here. Let’s escape into the desert.”
Sam shook his head.
“We can’t! He’s going to kill my dad. You have to save him.”
“Who’s your dad?” she asked.
“Dimitri Gideon.”
Well, that was a shock. Poppy didn’t see that one coming. He’d told her plenty, but not about the boy.
Well, that didn’t really matter.
“We have to move,” she said.
Poppy cut him free.
“I need a gun. We are going into the desert around the house. I’ll save your dad that way. I am really good with taking a shot.”
“We have guns!”
&nb
sp; As soon as he was free, he ran into a room off of the kitchen. He came back with a box of bullets and a sniper rifle.
A Dragunov.
Dimitri’s gun.
“Okay, where is he?”
He led her to the screen and pulled up the security. He punched in a code and showed her.
“He’s in front of the house. My dad is on his knees. He’s going to kill him. We have to save him!”
Yeah, that was her plan.
“Let’s go.”
They headed out, and Sam squeezed through the gate first. Poppy handed him the gun and bullets. When he had them, she followed, and together, they raced for the dune across from the house.
They were both out of breath.
Poppy got down and loaded the gun, all the while watching in the distance what was going on. They weren’t too far away. She could see Viktor.
“Do you know how to shoot a rifle?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, again, I’m a cop. I can shoot lots of things.”
“That’s my Dad’s favorite gun. Be careful with it,” Sam warned.
Oh, the irony.
It wasn’t missed on her.
Poppy didn’t say anything more. She got down and set up the stand. She placed the gun in the stand and Sam handed her a bullet.
“Okay, now get down and let me get my target in sight,” she said, picking up both men.
Poppy got to work.
She was going to save the man.
AGAIN.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Dimitri was on his knees, and his brother was taunting him. He knew the purpose of it. He’d been in prison with the KGB captors. He knew how they worked.
This was a play out of their books.
“Right now, he’s tied to a chair, and his day is about to blow,” he said.
“Why are you doing this?” Dimitri asked. He was so tired, exhausted, and he’d accept his fate.
Maybe it was time.
“YOU KILLED MY FATHER!” he raged. “You killed my dad! This is only fitting!”
Dimitri knew that his brother—and he hated using that word—was insane. He could tell by the madness in his eyes.
“He was abusing a child. You get that from him!”
Viktor reared up and hit him in the face—hard. Dimitri fell backward onto his back, and his shoulder sung in pain.
Well, that sucked.
“My mother was alone to raise me. She tried to make me tough, but I needed my dad! You took him away, and for what? So he wouldn’t touch one of our sisters? Who cares? They are only pussy!”
He stared up at his brother. The man had no clue. Since he, Kat, and Nat weren’t insane, he was going to say that Viktor got the crazy gene from his mother.
Then he saw it.
This close, he could see the burn marks on Viktor’s arms and his neck. He took a stab at it. Bad kids weren’t born. They were made by their situation. Emma had once told him that.
“She abused you.”
“She trained me! I’m tough because of her.”
There were scars on his chest.
Shit.
Well, that was why he was sadistic. He was made this way by a horrible mother.
“I’m sorry she hurt you.”
Viktor stared at him.
“What?”
“She was a monster.”
“Don’t you dare talk about her!”
He pushed the button on the box and the whole house exploded in flames. There was gasoline, and Dimitri could see the black smoke.
“SAM!” he screamed, for the second time in two weeks, he’d watched someone he loved being blown up.
Viktor shoved him back to the ground.
“Now, you just lost your sister, your son, and soon your life. Then I’m going after our other sister. When all the Gideon’s are dead, and only then will I be happy.”
He pointed his nine-millimeter at Dimitri’s forehead—right between his eyes.
“Do it,” Dimitri stated. “Kill me. You already took Sam. Unlike your parents, I’ll die with my child. I love him. He’s my son, and he’s my everything!”
He smiled sadistically.
“See you in Hell, brother.”
His finger went to the trigger.
Dimitri sat up and put his head against it. He was willing to die. He’d failed Sam now too. He held his breath, and when he heard the shot, he flinched.
Nothing.
He was still alive.
When Dimitri opened his eyes, his brother, Viktor, was on his back with a single shot between his eyes.
WHAT?
Dimitri got up. He looked around.
That’s when he saw Sam running for him—from the opposite direction of the house and through the gate.
He didn’t die.
“SAM!”
“DAD!”
He picked him up with his good arm and kissed the boy. Sam clung to him. There were tears from both of them.
“How did you get out?”
“The lady saved me. She saved you too!”
“What lady, Sam?” he asked, kissing him on the forehead. He had never been happier to see someone in his life.
“Her!” he said, pointing.
He looked over to see Detective Poppy Wayne heading his way. She was carrying his Dragunov slung over her back.
Well, holy shit.
Dimitri hadn’t seen that one coming.
He’d never seen a more beautiful woman. Her black hair was blowing in the wind, she was wearing a poppy colored sweater, and she was wearing a badge.
“What the hell?”
She tossed him the box of bullets.
“I borrowed your gun.”
Dimitri stared at her.
What did he say to that?
“I suggest you get the hell out of here, Dimitri. Take the gun. I’ll tell the firemen I was driving by and saw the fire. I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”
“Detective.”
She ruffled Sam’s hair.
“Go. I have to clean up this mess. Thank God he’s wanted by the Feds. He is, isn’t he?”
He nodded.
“Go. Hurry, Dimitri. Get out of here. Tell the Blackhawks where to find him. I’ll hold off the police for you.”
He hustled Sam to the car. When he backed out, she stood there, arms crossed.
She was his hero.
As soon as he pulled out, he watched her in the rearview mirror. She turned around, pulled out her phone and made a call.
Jesus.
He was crazy about her.
“She saved us, Dad! She’s amazing. She got through the fence, she picked a lock, cut me out, and then set up your gun. I know you said never touch them, but she’s a cop, so that’s okay, right?”
“It’s okay. She can touch my gun any day.”
And he meant that.
“I like her. She’s pretty too. I can’t believe we were just saved by a babe.”
Yeah, neither could he.
Again.
Epilogue
Three Days
Later
Sky Villa
T he time had come to head home after a wild week in Las Vegas. Elizabeth, Ethan, and Chris were wrapped up, the reports were all filed, and it was finally time to catch that jet back to the East Coast and their normal routine.
Was everything done in Vegas?
No, not everything.
There was still a good deal of mess to clean up, but the Blackhawks couldn’t take care of that for the Crofts. This was their city, and they had to be the ones who put ‘Humpty Dumpty’ back together again.
The law could only do so much.
For the most part, they’d conquered exactly what it was that they needed to handle.
Robert Lee was no longer running the office. In fact, his body had been released by Chris and he was silently put into a grave. There was no pomp. There was no circumstance. It was done on the DL by the family. They didn’t want the attention of Robert Lee’s dirty
deeds, and there were many of them.
Viktor Marchenko had been cremated.
For Dimitri, Ethan Blackhawk had his body expedited through the process, so they could put it away. He, too, was silently dropped into an urn after being scraped out of the bottom of a crematorium fire box.
His death was too easy, and everyone hoped that wherever he was, and if there was a Hell, he was fanning the flames that wanted to consume him.
The rest of the victims were released too. The girls, who Viktor killed, were returned to their families. Elizabeth had made the calls personally, and Greyson Croft sent along enough money to bury their children.
While they didn’t save them, they did at least get to send them home.
In the end, that was all that they could really do, other than let it go and come back to fight the next round against the next evil.
For now, they were the winners.
And they would take it.
As they stood in the condo, Ethan held the keys in his hands. He would be coming back in a couple weeks as he was on the hunt for the new director.
He had one in mind, and all that was left was to make the offer and keep his fingers crossed.
Elizabeth and Chris were packed, ready to go, and all that remained was to pass off the keys.
They were heading home.
When Greyson rolled Emma into the penthouse in a wheelchair, they weren’t alone. They had their family following them.
This family was all that stood between Vegas cleaning up and Vegas falling.
They mattered.
“Thank you for your help,” Greyson said, shaking Ethan’s hand and then hugging Elizabeth. “A week ago…I was ready to quit and run.”
They understood that.
In his position, they would have done the same thing too.
“Now, I’m ready. We’re going after Commissioner Raye. I want him to hang for everything he’s done to my family, the lives of the people he screwed with, and for Vegas.”
“You have this,” Elizabeth stated. “His wife went missing four years ago. It’s never been solved. If you dig deep enough, you will find answers.”
True Justice Page 50