Gunning for Trouble

by HelenKay Dimon

  “Trevor is not the entourage type.”

  “Good morning.” Trevor appeared at the opening, wearing his expensive suit and usual smirk. He waved off the waiter and eyed up his table companions.

  Caleb wanted to stand up and take a swing at the guy. He didn’t think he could manage the former without help, and Luke had specifically forbidden the latter.

  “Caleb, Luke. Good to see you both again, and under better circumstances this time.”

  “Your brother did have quite a showing at his funeral,” Luke said.

  Caleb nodded. “Thanks to us.”

  Trevor’s attention turned to Avery. “And you are?”

  “Avery Walker.” Caleb answered for her. Also nudged her thigh to get her to stop rattling the spoon and fork in her hand.

  “Well, this is a pleasure.” Trevor slid into the U-shaped booth but stayed at the very end.

  “If you say so,” Caleb said.

  “Answer me this, Luke. Exactly how many guns are pointed at me at this particular moment?” Trevor folded and unfolded the napkin in front of him.

  “Two under the table and one from a discreet distance.”

  He turned to Avery. “Did you realize the men you’re with are so bloodthirsty?”

  “I wanted a gun of my own but they said no.”

  When Trevor’s smug smile faded, Caleb wanted to hug Avery for her bravado. She didn’t back down or panic. She recognized Trevor’s test and passed it.

  “We thought you’d like to see Avery and Caleb for yourself.” Luke motioned to them.

  Trevor frowned and managed to look sincere in his confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

  “They are alive.”

  Trevor nodded. “I can see that.”

  Caleb tightened his hold on his gun. It rested on his good knee and he was itching to shoot. “The plan didn’t work.”

  “Ah, I see what’s happening here.” Trevor glanced around the table. “Caleb has gotten into some sort of trouble and you immediately assume I am the cause.”

  The man acted so innocent, yet guilt dripped off him. Other people looked at him and saw a charitable businessman. Caleb saw a lowlife dressed in a big-boy suit. “Something like that.”

  “I assure you I have no problem with Recovery or its agents. I certainly don’t have an issue with Ms. Walker.” Trevor bowed in his seat as he said it.

  Luke shifted in his seat. “We had a deal, Trevor.”

  Trevor did some shifting of his own. He probably thought he was about to be shot. Caleb liked the idea of Trevor losing control.

  “I have honored our agreement,” Trevor said.

  “My information says otherwise.”

  “Then you are being lied to, Luke.”

  Caleb’s patience was about to expire. He wanted to be home, anywhere but there, and for this mess to be over. “Your brother was involved in WitSec and now you are.”

  “I’m a businessman. Nothing more.”

  “I told you what I would do if I found out you were messing with Recovery.” The dead calm to Luke’s voice made Avery jump.

  Trevor didn’t seem to notice the change in tone from neutral to furious. “I can only assume I’m being implicated by someone who wishes to cause trouble. I can assure you—”

  “Russell Ambrose.” They were the first words Avery had spoken, but they had an impact.

  Trevor flinched. “Excuse me?”

  “You know him. Don’t pretend otherwise,” Caleb said.

  Trevor sighed. “Unfortunately, that’s true.”

  “You don’t like him.” Avery phrased it as a statement instead of a question.

  “Not particularly.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “I find him…weak.”

  As far as Caleb was concerned, that was the least offensive of Russell’s qualities. “We believe he’s corrupt.”

  Trevor shrugged. “Wouldn’t surprise me.”

  There it was. The subtle turn in the conversation from verbal maneuvering to information gathering. Trevor had been biding his time, seeing what they knew. Caleb could tell because he and Luke had been doing the same thing. Give away little and try to take much. That was the theory for this sort of meeting.

  “Anything you wish to share?” Luke asked right on cue.

  Trevor rubbed a stiff crease into the middle of the cloth napkin. “Only that I hear he’s come into money recently.”

  Luke nodded. “I hear that, too.”

  Caleb could feel the stillness fall over Avery as she held her breath. Caleb felt the rising tension, too. It was as if all the oxygen got sucked out of this part of the restaurant.

  “Then we know the same information,” Trevor said.

  “I have to wonder if anyone else has come into money.”

  “I couldn’t say.”

  Caleb expected some hesitation, but Trevor dove right in. Didn’t pretend confusion or get up and leave. This was a man who wanted to deal.

  “Anything you can say?” Luke asked.

  “That if someone else is involved in this scheme, assuming there is one, the only way to get him is to lure him out into the open and catch him.” Trevor’s gaze traveled to Avery and stayed there. “Maybe there’s something he wants. A job he hasn’t finished.”

  It took all of Caleb’s control to sit there and not react. As suspected, Russell wanted Avery out of the way.

  “I’d hate to do something and then find out Russell had an army standing behind him.” Luke stopped circling and went right for the deathblow.

  “I can’t speak to his connections, but I can say my men wouldn’t do anything to protect him.”

  Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Even if they were standing right there.”

  “Even then.” Trevor smiled.

  THE CONVERSATION WOUND down right after. When Trevor got up to leave, none of them stood. That was a sign of respect none of them felt he deserved.

  Avery broke the silence as Trevor pushed open the door and hit the street. “I don’t even understand what just happened.”

  Caleb knew and tried to figure out a way to keep it from Avery, but she was a smart woman. If she thought about the conversation, she’d realize the truth. Reason it out and then volunteer to put her body right in the middle of danger.

  “Trevor wants us to use you as a decoy. He’ll make Russell think he has Orion’s backing and then will pull his support.” There, he’d said it. Now he’d spend every ounce of energy talking her out of helping.

  “He wants to set up Russell,” Luke added.

  She ignored the part where her life was in danger. She took the news as if it was the weather report. “So, Trevor is guilty?”

  Luke shrugged. “Of a lot of things, I imagine.”

  “I still—”

  “He wants Russell gone and wants it done before anything happens to you or Maddie,” Luke said.

  Avery looked at both men before saying anything. “You got all of that from the cryptic conversation?”

  Caleb knew it was time to step in and stop this nonsense. Avery was not going to get into the middle of this battle. She was far too involved already. Much more and he’d never sleep again.

  “Yes, but it doesn’t matter what Trevor wants or suggests,” Caleb said, letting her hear the determination in his voice.

  “Why?”

  “Because you are not going anywhere near Russell.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Russell stood at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. “Why the change?”

  It was sunny and bright, the kind of day residents love because the humidity hadn’t rolled in and snow was long gone. Tourists walked around them, taking group pictures and staring in reverent silence at the statue behind the regal columns.

  Trevor didn’t notice any of it. He was too busy laying his trap. It was time for Russell to be terminated and if Trevor could get Recovery to do most of the work, then all the better.

  “Because you are correct,” he said. “Parts of th
is scheme can be traced back to me. That means inaction is not an option.”

  “I can lay all of it on your doorstep if I choose. Don’t forget that.”

  Trevor motioned for them to go down the steps and walk along the reflecting pool. “Understood.”

  He had narrowed down the hiding place for the tape to three locations. Every inch of Russell’s home and office had been searched without success. Mail had been traced. Post office boxes had been checked. That left a box in his sister’s name, the briefcase he always carried and somewhere Trevor hadn’t discovered yet.

  His money was on the briefcase. It made sense. Russell never took a hand off it. Everywhere he went, it went. Something important was in that briefcase. Something he didn’t want out of his sight. Sure, he could have handed it off to someone, but Russell didn’t have close friends and his sister’s house had been searched.

  “I am not willing to lose everything I have over three women in witness protection.” Which wasn’t exactly a lie. Trevor didn’t want to lose everything over anyone, whether that be his ex-wife, Russell or even his dead brother.

  “They aren’t worth your concern. Trust me. I have access to their files and know what they did. If the public knew they financially supported these types of criminals, the outcry would be deafening.”

  Trevor noticed Russell didn’t think of his victims as human. He’d demoted them in his mind to subhuman. “Which is why you were willing to take the money to kill them.”

  “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  The man could not be this simple or have this little understanding about consequences. “Because you didn’t pull the trigger?”

  Russell stopped at the edge of the water. “What is this plan you have?”

  “Avery Walker in her lab.”

  He shook his head. “I tried that already. By now the security has been fixed and neither Avery nor anyone else can get in without new codes.”

  “Your failed attempt was not with my men.”

  “You missed my other point. Gaining an entrance.”

  “I can handle that part.”

  Russell looked up and down the mall. “What makes you so sure she’ll go back there or that she can get in?”

  “She was working on something when she left the lab. If we want her to come back, we make it easier for her to return.” When Russell continued to stare with a look that could be described only as simple, Trevor gave more clues. “I’ll have her boss let her know about the break-in.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  Trevor hid a sigh. “Right now Avery likely believes she can’t go back into the lab. She’s probably worried she’ll be arrested or at the very least detained since the last time she was there people died.”

  “I think she’s right.”

  “If she gets a message that explains what happened while she was on vacation and makes it so she’s in the clear, she’ll feel emboldened to go back in.”

  “And?”

  “You will be there.”

  Russell was even slower than usual today. “You mean your men.”

  “They will back you up, but the real dirty work is yours this time, Russell. If you want to take her, do it. My guys will help you get in and take her out. They won’t, however, do your killing for you.”

  Russell stepped closer. His back teeth were slammed together so that his words came out strained. “I’m not a killer.”

  “And I’m not paying someone to do it for you.”

  That fast, Russell’s anger dissipated. “That’s not much of an offer.”

  “It’s access and backup. That’s all you’re going to get from me.”

  “You still forget who is in charge.”

  Trevor was quite aware who ran this show and it wasn’t Russell. “And you forget which one of us has clout. Take the deal. It’s the best one you’re going to get.”

  LUKE STEPPED UP TO THE conference table and stood across from Caleb and Avery. They were the only three left in the building. They had eaten and fought and now sat in silence from the post-Trevor meeting. No one moved. Neither conceded a point or backed down.

  “I just got the call from Trevor. Everything is in place,” Luke said.

  Caleb didn’t lift his head. He continued to trace a pattern only he could see on the tabletop in front of him. “I don’t care. The answer is still no.”

  Avery had heard every argument. Ever since those failed, Caleb turned to simple orders. In his mind, she was not going to do it and that was that.

  She disagreed. “I’m going to the lab as planned.”

  When he lifted his head, his eyes burned with fury. “You are not sacrificing your life for this assignment. Hell, it’s not even an assignment. We’re working blind, following things we think are leads. We’ve been looking for any sign anywhere of Rod and have come up empty. Adam is the best at what he does and he can’t find a trace of Rod. The whole thing is nuts.”

  She reached out to put her hand over his, but he pulled back before she could touch him. “Caleb—”

  He stood up so fast, he almost fell. He grabbed for the chair next to him and steadied his muscles. “Consider yourself grounded.”

  “No.”

  “Luke, a little help here?” Caleb turned to his friend. “You’ve locked Claire in the house. Whether you want to admit it or not, you know exactly how I feel.”

  Luke shrugged. “That’s a little different.”

  “How?”

  “I’m married to Claire. I love her.”

  The words echoed throughout the two-story space. If Luke wanted to bring the conversation to a halt, he’d found the perfect way. Also ripped her heart out in the process.

  The reminder that Claire meant everything to him was a harsh reality at the moment. Avery wanted that. Yes, Caleb was fighting her on playing the role of decoy. It was in his nature to be protective. It even went further than that. He cared.

  But he heard the word love and his face closed up.

  He stormed out of the room, cheeks puffing and rushing as fast as his injured leg would allow. He grumbled and swore and generally looked ready to fall over at any minute.

  Luke waited until Caleb went into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. “That was an interesting reaction.”

  “You wanted to antagonize him?” She couldn’t hide the shock in her voice.

  Luke ignored her question. “You know, I actually agree with him about the assignment.”

  “I know.”

  “My preference is to leave you both here.”

  “Not possible.”

  Luke stared at the space from where Caleb had just disappeared. “Maybe we could—”

  “Russell is going to keep coming. He’s trying to protect his butt. He can’t let me live. And when he’s done with me, he’ll go after Maddie.” Avery knew Luke understood all of this. He was searching for another way and, like her, not finding it.

  It wasn’t as if she had a death wish. She didn’t. But she had to see this through, for her, for Damon, even for Rod.

  “Adam is ready on Maddie’s end. If there’s a problem there, he’ll step in,” Luke explained.

  Avery knew the WitSec part of the problem could end with Adam taking a bullet or being too late to save Maddie. He wasn’t living with the woman. He couldn’t be there every second. And those scenarios didn’t even cover all the other problems like the corruption in high places and Rod’s unexplained disappearance.

  No, there was nothing controlled about this situation. Avery appreciated that Luke professed to have that much faith in his men, but she could see the worry in his eyes.

  “And what about the next WitSec participant? If Russell gets away with it now, he’ll do it again. The money is a big lure and Adam says Russell needs it. I’m not sure what he’s spending it all on, but he’s running through it.”

  “Adam thinks it’s gambling.”

  The time for arguing was over. She’d heard from Caleb all the awful stories of what could happen to her if
she got trapped or taken or shot. She was resigned to move forward, terror and all. “I have to do this.”

  Luke stared at her for what felt like thirty minutes but probably didn’t amount to more than a few seconds. “Before we go tomorrow, you might want to take a minute and tell Caleb what you need to tell him.”

  The man was too perceptive. “What does that mean?”

  “We both know the story isn’t as simple as you firing him to protect your job.”

  This was part of their acceptance. The group now recognized her history with Caleb as being more than a one-sided tale of a nasty ex-girlfriend. Only Caleb still believed the worst. Oh, he’d convinced himself it was okay now. He never said it, but she could see it written on his face. He’d decided to forgive her. He didn’t even understand that he should ask for forgiveness, as well.

  “Maybe he needs to believe that I’m the bad guy here,” she suggested, wondering if that was true.

  “Or maybe he deserves the truth.”

  FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER she sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Caleb to limp into the room. She was going to try one more time to explain her side, to make him listen.

  “Why did you fire me?” he asked as he moved to stand in front of her.

  He couldn’t have surprised her more if he’d started to sing opera tunes. He’d avoided this topic and everything that passed between them for two years. Now he hit it head-on, throwing off her well-laid plans to tackle the issue.

  “Honestly?”

  “I’m not sure why I’d want you to be dishonest about this.”

  She had to bend her neck back to look up at him. “You didn’t belong there.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  She gave him the party line, the same line she’d been saying over and over as he ignored her. “You broke protocol and threatened cases.”

  “I never—”

  She held up her hand to stop the flow of defensive words. “There was nothing wrong with your skills or your knowledge. You were meant for more than testing in a lab.”

  “You still expect me to believe you fired me to help me.”

  She hadn’t looked at it that way when it happened. She was hoping to scare him straight and get him back in a lab. Then he ran from her, emotionally and physically, and she scrambled.