What was that? Whatever it was couldn’t be good. But the scariest part was that her father seemed to be enjoying his control of the situation. She glanced at Drake and then the other wounded man slouched against the opposite wall. Neither of them appeared to have a clue as to what was happening, either.
Russ glared at her. “I said come here. Now!”
She moved closer. Now that the windows were open to the deck, she hoped someone outside would see what was happening inside the house.
“Showtime in…” Russ pushed a button on the two-button computer then flashed it around for everyone to see a digital number counting down from twenty seconds. A maniacal expression took over his face as he pointed outside.
She stared into the distance. Looked back at the countdown. There was nothing outside except…the beach…the Gulf…the waves…the boat—
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Bomb! Bomb. Don’t do it, Russ!” Mitch yelled. “My guys are still on board!”
Liz gasped, fisting her fingers in front of her.
“Fifteen,” her father said calmly.
Mitch took a step forward, but the long-necked thug grabbed his arm and shoved the barrel of a gun tight against his throat, and Slugger shot a punch to his jaw. No matter how much he struggled, all he could do was stare out the window, mentally counting down the seconds.
“Ten.”
Liz bolted to the deck. Shouting. Screeching. Waving her arms over her head. She stood at the rail jumping up and down. Just as fast, Slugger ran out and grabbed her, slamming her back inside.
Mitch kept his eyes on the boat. Five—four—
She’d tried. Had it been enough? Had Reese or Josh or Stealth seen her?
Three—two— Had there even been time to jump?
One—
Out in the Gulf, a huge, rolling, yellow-red fire blast rocked the horizon a second before the roar of three subsequent explosions pounded his ears. Mitch roared back in anger. What had been the boat moments ago plumed into a raging fire.
Liz screamed as she crumpled to her knees, beating the floor with her fists. “No. No. Nooooo!”
Mitch never blinked. With help from the CIA and Water Patrol, his team had searched the entire boat. Disabled bombs. Ripped duds apart. What had they missed?
Now Reese, Josh, and Stealth were gone, and he hadn’t been able to stop it. Drake still focused on the roaring blaze and the after-explosions. The perimeter man kept looking around the room, likely pinpointing anything that could be used as a weapon if he got a chance.
“I will wipe you off the face of the earth.” Mitch spat in Russ’s direction. “You’ve got my word on that.”
Russ laughed. “Will you now?”
“You won’t be able to take a leak without wondering if I’m going to walk up and blow you away. And, trust me, I won’t make it fast.” Mitch’s words were staggered and staccato just like his breath.
“I don’t think so. I think you’ll do whatever I say because your alternative is Elizabeth’s life.”
She gasped as Slugger hauled her back into the kitchen. Grabbing a coffee cup from the counter, she smashed it against the thug’s head. He backhanded her in return. Mitch grabbed the empty drawer still laying on the floor and flung it toward the man. Slugger sidestepped then moved her in front of him as a shield.
Russ aimed his gun straight at Mitch. “Hold your hands out in front of you, Agent Granger. Now!”
Mitch stared back in defiance.
Russ moved his aim toward Liz.
“You’re going to kill her anyway,” Mitch said. “Whether it’s one bullet or a lifetime of fear. So I might as well crush you into the ground like the bug you are right now.”
“I would never harm Elizabeth. She’s a valuable asset to Coercion Ten. And who knows, one day you might even rescue her.” Russ moved the gun back toward Mitch. “But if you’re dead, there’s no chance of that, now is there?”
Mitch couldn’t dispute that rationale. He held out his hands in front of him.
A trickle of blood from the hit to his forehead trailed down Slugger’s cheek as he pushed a set of disposable handcuffs into Liz’s hands and pushed her toward Mitch.
Russ laughed, sinisterly. “Look at her. She’s already a fighter.”
She laced the handcuffs over Mitch’s wrists, all the time never taking her focus from his face. “I want you to know I didn’t open the door for these guys.” She slipped the locking straps tighter. “They just came in. I got the gun you hid under the bed but couldn’t escape.”
“You did good. We’ll be fine.” Mitch doubted his own words as to the outcome of the situation, but she wasn’t to blame for any of it. “I never thought for a second that you let them in.”
“Ain’t that sweet.” Slugger yanked the straps even tighter.
“That’s right. We just walked right in. After we shot the hell out of your secondary security system, I found Elizabeth hiding in the closet. Old habits are hard to break.” Russ snarled, then looked at Drake. “That’s what I counted on with you, too. Habits. You train your agents and they follow your lead. Always the same system. One step in front of the other, just like clockwork.”
“Screw you.” Drake jerked at his bindings.
“Now, now. Don’t get yourself all worked up. You’re not going to be in charge much longer.” Russ laughed. “Because when I’m done, there won’t be enough of OPAQUE left to even drink a six-pack of beer.”
Shaking his head, Drake glanced at Mitch and Liz before turning his attention back to Russ. “I can’t believe you’d put your own daughter in danger.”
“My daughter? DNA says different. Maybe she’s your daughter. Her mother was such an easy skirt, maybe Elizabeth doesn’t belong to either one of us.”
“Fuck you, Russ.” Drake clenched his fist.
Russ laughed again, a sound that wavered between the echo of an empty room and a screeching lunatic. “Doesn’t matter who her father is; I raised her. Raised her to fall in line with what I want or face the consequences. I doubt she wants to spend time in a small dark room ever again. Hell, this whole charade of my capture was just to scare her enough that she’d join Coercion Ten willingly.”
“So, why send her to me to protect?” Drake struggled to his feet, his hands still bound.
“Counterbalance.” Russ swooped his gun back and forth like a pendulum. “The moment you became OPAQUE’s director three years ago, I started to lay out my plan. Before that, you’d been of little use to me while you were chief of police back in Illinois. But suddenly you took on new importance. All I had to do was take my time…draw you”—Russ pointed at Drake—“in, slow and friendly, and lay on the guilt. Now everything’s in place, I’m able to take you and your whole damn OPAQUE organization down in one operation.”
He swaggered over to Drake and punched him in the gut. Drake went down on one knee, but struggled back up.
Russ yanked the telescope on its stand closer to the doorway to the deck then motioned to the long-necked thug to check the beach, the Gulf. “Make sure we aren’t surprised by any interlopers.”
The thug nodded then positioned himself so he could keep an eye on the outside and also on Drake and the wounded perimeter man.
“You ruined my whole life when you talked me into turning evidence against the mob company I worked for.” Russ turned pale with rage. “But once Coercion Ten showed up on my doorstep, I saw the path to money and revenge. You were an even easier target once I mentioned vacations for Elizabeth and me.”
“All these years. You’ve hated my guts?”
Russ leaned forward, closer and closer to Drake. “You want to know how I pulled all this off with newspapers, dates, and sonar locations? I just tapped into anything you left lying around for even a second during our vacations. Took a few years, but gradually, I had a base of information, and CT did the rest.”
Drake lifted his chin. “Looks like I’ll need to change all the systems and passwords when I get back to the offic
e.”
Russ laughed. Loud. “Still the same cocky bastard you always were. You really think you’re gonna make it out of this alive, don’t you?”
“I’ve got no doubt of it.” Drake’s sneer was a challenge. “In fact, I’ve got a million dollars says you take a bullet before me.”
“I’ll take that bet. You against me, Drake. OPAQUE against Coercion Ten. Your trained agents against my wordy daughter.” He lifted his gun.
“Stop! Stop this now, and I’ll come with you.” Liz shoved free of Slugger then reached toward her father. “Wherever you want to go, I’ll go. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do. Just let them go. That’s all.”
Mitch noticed a brief change in the man’s expression. Maybe she did have some influence with him. If CT took her and left, she’d leave a trail. Leave clues. Wouldn’t take him and the others long to find her…if there were any others left on the Shades of Leverage team.
“What do you want in return?” Russ asked, walking in her direction.
“I want their lives. I want you to let them go right now,” Liz said. “That’s all.”
“You’ll do whatever I want? Whatever Coercion Ten asks you to do?”
Nodding, she glanced at Mitch then exhaled a wobbly breath. “Yes. Whatever you want.”
Russ shoved her back into Slugger’s arms. “Keep hold of her. If you can’t, I’ll find me somebody who can.”
Slugger grabbed her wrist, yanking her to the other end of the counter. Then jabbed his gun against her ribs.
Mitch felt the boil of his blood, but he remained even-keeled as he stared at the thug. “You hurt her, it’s not going to be pretty when I get my hands on you.”
“Agent Granger speaks.” Russ stepped in front of Mitch. “No one’s going to tell him what to do, because he’s the most dangerous kind of fighter you can face. One of them who thinks on the fly. Changes with the wind. Looks you in the eye and calculates how he’ll take you down. How long it’ll take.”
Mitch stared straight ahead. The man was an ass, but he was right about one thing—when the time was right, Mitch planned to take him down hard and fast.
“Tell me, Agent Granger, are you going to miss the men on your team? Maybe they died fast. Didn’t have time to feel the pain. Didn’t have time to realize you’d still be alive when they were dead.” Russ laughed.
Mitch fought to ignore the anger building inside him. If he moved, no telling what the thug holding Liz might do on pure reflex. No telling if he’d be able to take another breath.
“Better them than you, right?” Russ goaded. “You’re better off anyhow. One of them might have betrayed you just like Keith here.”
Mitch heard something in the man’s tone that signaled he was working himself into a self-centered, egotistical CT attitude. Maybe a duel of words would push him over the edge. Anything might happen then.
“I don’t put much stock in Keith’s judgment,” Mitch chose his words carefully. “After all, he followed you. And you’re nothing but a two-bit, spineless traitor. One who slithers like a snake from one pile of money to the next.”
“If I’m a snake, I’m one to be watched.” Russ raised his voice. “’Cause I’ve got one hell of a set of fangs.”
“Is that what you call that stripe up your back?” Mitch spit in his direction again. “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”
“Hey, boss.” The long-necked thug in the living room waved his arm to get Russ’s attention as he looked through the telescope beside the doorway to the deck. “I got two…three men swimming in from where you blew up that boat.”
“Guess we’re tougher than you thought,” Mitch said. “Looks like you’re gonna lose that million-dollar bet.”
Russ quickstepped closer and knocked him upside the head with the butt of his gun, then lowered the barrel and pulled the trigger. Mitch fell. That wasn’t what he’d hoped would happen.
As Liz screamed, his vision blurred, saw her fighting Slugger’s hold on her wrist.
The burn in his shoulder hit him more than the pain. He’d been shot before, but this one was different. Packed a wallop, but from the feel of the wound, the bullet had traveled straight through. He didn’t need to see the blood pouring from his body; he could feel the warmth as it saturated his chest, oozed between his skin and the Neoprene.
Liz clawed at the thug’s face until he slammed her across the room. Rushing to her feet she ran toward Mitch, grabbing dish towels from the counter, but the thug wrapped his arm around her and hauled her against him.
“Get her to the raft before those three agents make it to the beach,” Russ ordered. “I’ll be there in a minute. Once we get to the ranch she won’t be so vocal.”
Fighting with everything she had, Liz grabbed hold of the doorframe, the doorknob. But Slugger hoisted her on his shoulder and walked out the door.
“Cut me loose. Let me help Mitch.” Drake pushed to get past the man guarding him. “If he bleeds out, you’re not going to have any leverage against her.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Russ said. “I’ve decided Agent Granger is too dangerous a man to keep around anyhow.”
Drake charged Long-Neck and knocked him to the floor. Wrestled the man’s gun free. Then shoved Long-Neck into the waiting arms of the wounded perimeter guy who incapacitated the thug with one quick down chop. Drake rolled and jumped to his feet.
“Drop the gun, Russ.” Drake steadied the gun in his handcuffed hands and stepped closer.
Slowly, Russ smiled. “You talk awful tough for a man out of his prime.”
“Out of my prime? I’ve just started cleaning up all the dirt in the world. You’re one of many to come.” A nonnegotiable stare accented Drake’s furious expression. “Now, drop the gun. Or I’ll drop it for you.”
“Come on now. You wouldn’t do that to an old friend.” Russ started to lower his weapon. Turned and aimed at Mitch.
Drake fired one shot.
Russ crumpled to the floor.
“That was your biggest mistake. I’m not your fucking friend, a-hole.” Drake fired again.
Mitch kept sucking in ragged breaths. Russ didn’t.
Snarling, Drake tossed the gun on the counter then knelt by Mitch, packing the shoulder wound with clean dishcloths. “Remind me to call the appropriate authorities. Tell them OPAQUE’s got a delivery for them.”
Silently nodding, Mitch faded in and out of consciousness as Drake cut away his compression shirt then cleaned and packed the bullet wound. Pain shot straight from his shoulder to his spine to his brain.
Noises—voices—louder—and louder. Josh? Stealth? The crash of a door being busted in vibrated in his head.
“You two secure the house. Put restraints on Keith Ayers. He’s a traitor,” Drake shouted as he pressed a clean cloth into Mitch’s hand. “Hold this on your wound. Where do you keep the medical kit?”
“I don’t know…maybe one of the cabinets”—nausea crashed through Mitch’s system—“one of the drawers…”
The slamming of drawers and cabinets solidified that searches were happening, but time was a blur. Finally, Drake knelt back down beside him and pushed his hand aside. Then proceeded to work the gunshot wound with antiseptic and bandages and antibiotic cream. His gentleness lacked finesse, but Mitch had no doubt that he’d survive.
“House cleared.” Josh raced past, pausing for only a second, then headed toward the pool area. “I’ll work on radar.”
Stealth reappeared and crouched beside Mitch. Fisted his grip into his own. “I got you, man. I got you. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Come on keep your eyes open. Stay with me.”
Another five, ten, twenty minutes passed. Minutes that felt like hours. Time that only intensified Mitch’s instincts for finding Liz. And he’d find her. He’d for damn sure find her.
Drake grinned as he finished the bandage. “You’re one lucky SEAL. Clean shot straight through.”
Mitch motioned to the Neoprene jacket laying on the counter. “Get me into that.”
&n
bsp; “Don’t push your luck.” Drake didn’t move. “I don’t think you’re in any shape to—”
“Where? Where is she?” Mitch struggled to get to his feet.
Stealth helped Mitch up and into the Neoprene jacket. “We saw a big guy carry her to a motorized raft, but we were still too far out to stop them.”
“Slugger. His name is Slugger, and he’s gonna wish we’d never met.”
Drake made sure the bandage was still in place as Mitch zipped the jacket.
“CT did a smash and rip job on your Q40,” Stealth said. “Josh is tracking the raft from the computer in the pool area.”
Bracing himself against the furniture, Mitch gradually straightened. Took a deep breath. Barely flinched. Tried to rotate his arm. Cringed. Grunted—loud as hell—and gritted his teeth as he made his way to the closet where CT had tossed his knife, gun, and holster.
Josh was busy clicking on the computer and calling in coordinates with OPAQUE headquarters when Mitch entered the pool area.
“Is she the orange blip on the screen?” he asked, buckling his holster and gun in place.
“That’s them. Looks like there’s Liz and one CT guy.” With his finger, Josh traced the track they’d been taking so far.
Mitch swiped first one side on his knife’s blade against his Neoprene swim shorts, then the other, then slid the blade into the knife holster still strapped to his leg. “Where’s Reese? How long till he catches up with them?”
“He’s still on the beach trying to get the Q40 working,” Stealth said.
Mitch pushed him aside. “Why didn’t you say so?”
Moving faster than even he thought possible after being shot, he raced to the deck and vaulted over the rail. Landed on the sand below and rolled then trudged in the direction of the Q40. Pain tried to make a run for his brain, but adrenaline and his get-the-hell-out-of-my-way attitude threw up a barrier.
Off to the right, Reese slammed the cover on the Q40 back in place. “I just got it finished. Let’s hope it starts. Had to use parts from the other smashed PWC on this one.”
Dangerous Lies (Shades of Leverage) Page 27