Endings and Beginnings (Death and Destruction Book 8)

by Patricia Logan

  “You’d better let the FBI do that,” SAC Weston said, holding out his hand for the bullhorn.

  Jones frowned at him. “Let me do my job, Weston.”

  “Well, someone had better ask. Time’s a’wastin’,” Jarrett drawled.

  Thayne hid his smile. His lover certainly knew how to piss people off. It seemed to be his specialty.

  Jones ignored the filthy look Weston shot at Jarrett and walked over to the barricade of police vehicles at the entrance to the cell block. Thayne and Jarrett followed along with the very put out SAC from San Francisco. A prisoner appeared in a window that had been broken out.

  “Don’t come any closer. We’ll kill everyone inside,” the inmate called out.

  Jarrett grabbed Jones’s forearm as he raised the bullhorn to reply. “Tell him we want to speak to Robert Rios.”

  Jones frowned but he nodded as Jarrett let go of his sleeve.

  “I need to speak to Robert Rios,” he yelled into the bullhorn.

  The prisoner turned away from the window and Jones looked side to side. “No one is to shoot unless it’s on my orders. That’s still clear, right?”

  Considering the number of handguns and rifles pointed at the broken window, Thayne was just glad everyone listened. All it would take was one shot to set the prisoners off. A dark-skinned man with long straight dark hair appeared at the window. Thayne looked closer and realized he was Hispanic with a ton of tattoos. When he saw the streaks of blood staining his orange prison jumpsuit, he got ill. A second later, he stepped back and yanked someone in front of him, blocking his body from the guns that were pointing his way. Thayne was horrified to see him holding Sarah by her short blonde hair. She looked concerned but she was alive and that was what mattered. She had spatters of what appeared to be blood on her face but she didn’t seem to be injured. Thayne wondered whose blood he was looking at.

  “Robert Rios. We need you to release the hostages as a show of good faith,” Jones said into the bullhorn.

  Rios sneered. “No way. Can’t lose our leverage. Where are you on getting the money and transportation? We’re gonna start dropping bodies if we don’t get out of here soon,” Rios yelled.

  Thayne watched Sarah cringe as someone inside screamed. It had to be Dev. As far as he knew, there were no female guards assigned to supermax facilities in men’s prisons.

  “Give me the bullhorn,” Jarrett said. “I know I told you I wouldn’t ask for the women but he’ll be expecting that. If I don’t, he’ll become even more agitated.”

  The warden hesitated for a few seconds before finally nodding and handing the bullhorn over. Jarrett lifted it to his lips.

  “You have two female hostages in there. We want them released. That’s a condition of you receiving your money and flight out of here,” Jarrett said.

  Rios shook his head. “Nope. No way. We’ll send out one of the guards though.” The door opened slightly and then a body appeared. He was dressed in a guard’s uniform with a large bloodstain in the center of his chest. A second later, he was shoved through the door and he fell onto the concrete. They watched in horror as blood ran down the pathway and soaked into the ground.

  “Those fuckers,” Jarrett grunted. He lowered the bullhorn and turned his back on Rios to talk to the rest of them. “Let’s get that damned money here so we can show them we’re trying to cooperate and get them to stop killing the guards. Eventually, they’re gonna get to one of the women and believe me, I’m going in there before that happens.”

  “He’s right,” Thayne said. “They’re not gonna release the hostages. If I were Rios, I wouldn’t either. The women are the best hostages they have. They know our first instinct is to protect the women, trained agents or not.”

  “Agreed,” Jarrett said.

  “Fine, but we don’t have twenty-four million dollars at our disposal,” SAC Weston said, “even if we wanted to give it to them. We just don’t have that kind of cash lying around.”

  “Then you get as much as you can and put it on the top of duffels filled with newspaper,” Jarrett said. “I ain’t plannin’ on givin’ it to them. I just want to show them open backpacks with money on top.”

  “That’s probably doable. What about the plane they want?” the warden asked. “Can the FBI arrange that?”

  “I have a helicopter. I can land the Sikorsky in the exercise yard so they see that we mean business,” Jarrett said. “It can carry a pilot and eleven persons with ease.”

  “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but there can’t possibly be enough fuel on a Sikorsky to fly them to an island off the coast of Africa,” SAC Weston grumbled. “I assume you never intend to let them take off.”

  Jarrett gritted his teeth. “Hell no. I gotta have that bird back at LAX by tomorrow morning at 0700 or there’s gonna be a damned pissed Marine Corps captain gunnin’ for me. The last thing I need is the Corps takin’ four million dollars out of my pay for a mistake. I’ll be working for the next five hundred years.”

  Thayne snorted as Jarrett continued.

  “As soon as we get them out of the prison. I’m gonna roll out of the pilot chair and your sharpshooters are gonna get a chance to take their shots,” Jarrett said. “Tell them to take the prisoners holding the hostages out first. You just make sure you don’t hit the women ‘cause that’s who they’re gonna try to take with ‘em. I’ll pull the women out of the chopper and your guys will rush in and grab whatever other hostages they leave behind.”

  “That all sounds incredibly risky but I think we can make that work,” Warden Jones said.

  “This is all shit we could have done without your help,” SAC Weston groused.

  “Yeah? Oh, sorry, I must have missed the Sikorsky y’all have on standby,” Jarrett drawled.

  Thayne grinned at him as Weston frowned.

  Jones slapped SAC Weston on the back. “He makes a point, Lou. C’mon. Let’s see about getting that money together.”

  “Shut up,” Weston growled.

  ****

  Sarah stared at Thayne and Jarrett through the broken window where Rios had dragged her by her hair. She was sweaty, bloody, and terrified. The punishing grip that Rios had in her hair along with the copper scent of spilled blood was making her nauseous. Not only that, Dev’s scream had been terrifying, especially when she couldn’t see what was happening to her partner. When she struggled to get away from Rios, he just tightened his fingers in her hair making her head ache painfully. She knew he was going to leave bruises if he didn’t quit but the thought of something worse happening to her made her even more ill.

  Her eyes swam with tears as she thought of Lincoln’s smiling face when he’d kissed her goodbye that morning. They’d been seeing each other for months but things were about to change drastically for both of them. She’d found out just the week before that she was carrying some very unexpected baggage. Sarah was pregnant and she hadn’t even found a way to tell Linc. She was still trying to figure out what having a baby would do to her career. The baby had been unexpected news but along with such a responsibility came decisions that would change both of their lives. Being caught up in a prison riot certainly hadn’t been in her plans. She knew she should have come clean to Stanger that morning when he’d tapped her to fly up north but since she hadn’t even told Lincoln, she’d hesitated. In hindsight, she realized that had been a terrible mistake.

  “Let me go,” she said. “You’re hurting me.” A tear slipped down her cheek but she couldn’t wipe it away. Her hands were still in flex cuffs behind her back.

  Rios’s fingers loosened almost imperceptibly and when his hot stinking breath was at her ear, she almost gagged.

  “Sorry, darlin’. We’re almost done here. Once we’re on that plane, we’ll have some alone time. For now, just be patient.”

  Sarah shuddered. “Where’s Dev? Where’s my partner?” she shouted. “If they hurt her, you won’t get your demands met. You won’t get your two million and you won’t be able to run anywhere.”

 
“Bitch, you and I both know that’s bullshit. They’re not gonna leave two such sweet pieces of ass in here with all these depraved killers no matter what condition you’re in when they let us out.”

  “You’re filth.”

  Rios laughed and kissed Sarah’s ear. “Been called worse,” he whispered. She shivered again, pissed at herself for not being able to stop doing that. “Come on, let’s watch the fun.” He yanked Sarah away from the window, holding her against his groin with a hand tightly clasped around her waist. Fortunately, the flex cuffs kept her body from pressing fully against him. And if she could just reposition her hand enough, she’d be able to grab his jewels and give them a brutal squeeze. He must have sensed her thoughts though. He turned her in his arms and brought her body flush up against his. His dirty breath wafted down to her nostrils and Sarah felt her stomach heave. He really was going to get a face full of barf if he didn’t let go soon.

  “You look a little green, bitch.” He stared down at her and then his eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, shit.” He let her go and she stumbled back, turning and bending just in time to miss his polyurethane prison slippers with the contents of her stomach.

  Sarah gagged and vomited until her stomach was empty, then went down to her knees. The inmates quieted down, as she felt her face heat. She knew she should be embarrassed but the truth was, she was just relieved she’d been able to get Rios to let her loose. She was suddenly lifted from her kneeling position and yanked back up by the flex cuffs, bending her arms up behind her painfully. She cried out as her biceps protested as she was set back on her feet.

  Sarah glanced up to see Dev, who was sitting sprawled against the wall where they’d been before. Her clothes were filthy and her face was swollen from a beating. One eye was bruised and mostly closed and her lips were battered and bleeding. Her nose looked broken and there was a laceration in her forehead that was dribbling blood over one eyelid. Sarah prayed Dev hadn’t been raped. Her partner couldn’t weigh much more than she did even though she was a tall woman. It was clear as day, however, that at least one of these massive inmates had brutalized her. They were animals and Sarah wanted them all dead.

  Rios let go of the flex cuffs and steered her toward the wall as the inmates screamed and shouted. He pushed her back to her knees and she turned, and sat down hard beside Dev. Her partner looked at her and offered a brave smile, answering her unasked question before it was even out of Sarah’s mouth.

  “I’m okay, Sarah. Just beat up, okay? You doing all right?”

  Sarah looked at Dev’s battered face and wanted to pull her into her arms and hug her. Unable to do anything different, she merely nodded.

  “I’m okay. Jarrett and Thayne are here. I saw them through the window. We just need to hang on and be ready, Dev. When they make their move, we need to be ready.”

  Dev leaned close. “I’m already working on the cuffs.” She glanced up and looked around them. For the moment they were being ignored as the prisoners went through the guard tower, an area which was shaped like an octagon, built into the middle of the cell block with windows on all eight sides. Under normal circumstances, from that vantage point, the guards would be able to see in any direction. They’d be completely insulated inside behind the bullet-proof glass the windows were made of if anything like a riot happened. The sides of the octagon were made of cinderblock and reinforced steel the same as the cells and the prisoners were having a great time tearing apart the inside. Whatever keeps their focus away from us.

  “What did you find to saw through the cuffs?” Sarah asked quietly.

  “A… jagged… shard… of glass,” Dev grunted.

  Sarah knew she was cutting away at the flex cuffs behind her back.

  “Do you think Evans and Wolfe have a plan to get us out of this?” Dev asked. Her face was pinched with pain and Sarah could only imagine the glass cutting into her hands.

  Sarah nodded. “They have a plan all right. I don’t know what it will be but whatever it is, Jarrett is big on creating something spectacular. They’re innovative if nothing else. I can always count on them to be inventive.”

  “How’d they get here so fast?” Dev asked. Perspiration was pouring down her face as she worked on the cuffs.

  “I don’t know. Private transportation of some sort,” Sarah whispered. “It has to be. They never could have gotten here as fast as they did going through security at LAX, even if they went through the law enforcement line.”

  “Okay… almost thru these cuffs…” Dev grunted again and then her shoulders spread. “Got it.”

  Dev shifted and Sarah felt something sharp press into her hands behind her back. The glass shard was about three inches long and Sarah took it, sliding it into the gap between her wrists. She began working on the cuffs, watching the inmates sack the inside of the guard tower. Two of the inmates held automatic rifles and she realized they’d broken into an armory during the riot. She concentrated on getting free, knowing they’d only have one chance to distract the guards when their rescuers decided to storm the prison.

  It was slow going but she finally felt the flex cuff begin to separate as she sawed. The glass shard cut her hands and she groaned at the pain but continued sawing as hard as she could. She estimated she’d nearly cut through the tough plastic when Rios walked over to them. He was holding a pipe and sneering at them. His orange shirt was spattered with blood from the guards he’d tortured. Her stomach rolled.

  “You two gashes look good enough to eat.” He licked his lips.

  Sweat poured down Sarah’s face as she continued to cut, watching his face.

  “Do as they told you and leave us whole or you’ll never get out of here,” Sarah said, trying desperately to sound threatening.

  Rios smiled evilly and bent to lift her off the ground. She suddenly raised her face as the unmistakable sound of a helicopter rang down the hall. Rios heard it too because he straightened, forgetting all about Sarah as he let go of her.

  “Rios! Rios! You won’t believe it!” one of the inmates said. “There’s a helicopter landing in the exercise yard!” He whooped with glee and a chorus of cheers went up from the inmates.

  “They’re gonna fly us out of here just like we asked!” another one shouted.

  Rios turned and ran. There was a handgun stuffed into the back waistband of his orange pants. She glanced at Dev and nodded at it, absently wondering where the hell he’d gotten it.

  “You see that?”

  “Yeah. When I get a chance, I’m going to grab it,” Dev said.

  “Just be careful,” Sarah added, still sawing. Her wrists finally separated as the last of the plastic fell away. She dropped the shard of glass and rubbed her palms together. Both of them were sticky with her own blood.

  “You get through the cuffs?” Dev whispered.

  Sarah glanced over at her and nodded. “Yeah, but my hands are cut all to hell. If I ever get my gun back, I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to hold it.”

  Dev nodded, looking grim. “Same here. Dammit! Those motherfuckers need to be put down like the dogs they are.”

  Sarah heard Rios at the window. “We’re coming out but everyone better stay back! You! Get those guards away from the yard!”

  Sarah waited until none of the inmates were looking their way and wrapped the flex cuffs around her wrists, praying no one would notice they’d been cut. She held the ends together and glanced over at Dev.

  “Pick up your cuffs and stand up. Look like they’re confining you when they come over here,” Sarah whispered. Dev nodded and stood up. Sarah saw her working on something behind her back and then fear shot through her as she glimpsed blood dripping onto the floor behind Dev’s back. She looked down and saw a small pool of her own blood. She met Dev’s gaze and looked down as Rios walked back toward them. The expression on her partner’s face as she cast a glance down and then back up, told Sarah that she’d seen the same thing. Dev kept her gaze locked on Sarah’s as she took a step back, probably covering the
puddle with her shoes. Sarah did the same, afraid to glance back down as Rios grabbed her upper arm, yanking her forward. She glared up at him.

  “What do you want?” she spit.

  “Looks like our ride is here, sugar.” One side of his lip curled upward and Sarah felt her heart pounding.

  “Tell us what we came here for and they’ll grant you leniency. You didn’t start this,” Sarah said, feeling desperation flood through her.

  “That’s right,” Dev added. “Tell us what we need to know about Stryker-Dunn personnel and we’ll make a deal.”

  Rios shook his head emphatically, making his lanky black hair swing side to side. “I’m in here for multiple murder, murder for hire… treason, you name it. After this, I’ll have a needle calling my name. This is my last chance to get out. Your Feds won’t make a deal. Nice try, though. Let’s go.” His fingers dug into Sarah’s arm and he grabbed Dev’s arm with the other hand. Dev exchanged a glance with Sarah, lifting an eyebrow as if to ask… now? Sarah shook her head as Rios yanked them both forward. She stumbled, hanging on to the broken flex cuffs as they threatened to slide out of hands slippery with her own blood.

  They were jostled toward the guards’ entrance to the prison where she’d stood in front of the broken window. The helicopter rotors chugged loudly and her heart rate sped up as she was finally able to get a glimpse of the massive Sikorsky. It was painted in camouflage and Sarah was shocked as she recognized the pilot when he turned to look toward them. The white hair was partially hidden by the large headphones he wore, but Sarah knew that behind those mirrored sunglasses were a pair of ice-blue eyes she trusted with her life. She smiled to herself, grateful not for the first time that there was an insane Marine on her team.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jarrett spotted Sarah’s face in the broken window at the prison guards’ entrance. Robert Rios, or someone who looked strikingly like him, was holding her in front of him as if shielding himself. Coward. Jarrett was wearing full body armor, compliments of the FBI TAC team, and had two automatic pistols tucked into the side pockets of the fatigues he wore over it. He expected to be searched as soon as the prisoners started to board, so the pistols were loaded with blanks.