Craving Heat

by Adrienne Giordano

  He lifted the gun higher, aiming it directly at Jay’s face. “Inside. Where we can talk.”

  Jay stalled while weighing his options. Bennet had to be done with his search of the cabin. By now he’d be waiting by the path Jay had taken. Jay could yell out, but if this was all part of the training exercise, he’d give away his location and more than likely be eliminated by any Team Blue members—or would-be separatists—in the area. If it wasn’t an exercise, he’d be risking getting Troy shot.

  Or he could go inside with Eli and figure out a way to get that weapon, real or not, out of his hands. All while the clock ran down on this mission.

  Jay started walking.

  * * *

  Maggie roared to a stop on the west side of a clump of trees that, if her memory served, led to a small shack and a cabin. According to Reid’s app, Jay and one of his team members were straight through the trees while the rest of the squad congregated on the higher ground just east of them.

  If her hunch was correct and Paskins was up to no good, she couldn’t risk the other players getting injured.

  Or worse.

  “Reid, let’s radio those men and tell them to stay where they are. If something goes sideways, we don’t want them in the middle of it. If Paskins has a radio, keep it vague so we don’t tip him off.”

  “On it.”

  Maggie hopped off the ATV. Without a path through the woods, they’d have to walk the rest of the way. “Once we get to the other side, we’ll split up and see if we can locate Eli.”

  He held up his phone. “Jay is by the shed, I think, and Bennet near the cabin. He’s on the move.”

  “Well, tell him to hold position, also.”

  Reid spoke into his radio again, but received no response. “Goddammit.”

  “Is he still moving?”

  “Yeah. He probably thinks it’s a trick.”

  What a cluster. Right now, she wasn’t even sure what was simulated and what was real. For all she knew, Bennet could be working with Eli.

  She left Reid messing with his phone and headed for the trees, using the larger ones for cover because God knew who else was out here. This whole thing with Paskins was mind-boggling. Did he have Theo hiding somewhere? And why?

  Reid caught up to her and held a skinny branch back before she got smacked with it. “Nothing from Bennet.”

  “Okay. We’ll assume he thinks it’s part of the exercise.”

  “It might be, Mags. We don’t know.”

  “It’s better than thinking he’s in on this mess with Eli. Either way, something tells me we’re about to find out.”

  * * *

  “Tuck?”

  Bennet’s voice. Outside the shed.

  Crap.

  Jay swung his head to Eli, who still held his gun on Jay but had angled his body so he could easily watch the door and Jay without too much effort. The shed was empty. Just four battered walls illuminated only by light through the small window and open door. The place left Jay nothing to use as a weapon or for cover in case Eli decided to shoot.

  A good jump.

  That’s all Jay needed and he’d be on top of him. He’d wait for Eli’s gaze to shift to the door again and go for it. Come on, come on.

  “Drop that helmet,” Eli said. “Don’t think you’ll get to me when I’m not looking.”

  Jay held on to the helmet and Eli jabbed the gun at him.

  His former boss gritted his teeth. “Goddamnit, I said drop it.”

  “Okay.” Jay set the helmet down. “Relax. Don’t get worked up. Tell me what this is about.”

  “You and your damned sister not staying out of my business.”

  And there it was. Eli was most definitely not a Kurdish separatist. Jay’s heartrate exploded, all that energy firing straight to his head, making it pound. He inhaled, held his breath for a long second and exhaled. Slowly, the pounding gave in enough for him to focus. On Eli and the gun.

  When Jay didn’t respond, Eli shook his head. “You people have no idea what it takes to run a publicly owned team. Every shareholder has an opinion.”

  Well, yeah. That’s why they’re owners. “They’re shareholders, they have a right to protect their investments.”

  “Please. Most of them have zero business knowledge. They own less than a percentage point because they think it’s”—he made air quotes—“cool. Imbeciles. They have no idea.” He shook it off. “Between the bad press and this Celebrate Hope situation, you and your family are in the middle of it and Webb isn’t helping. I never liked that kid.”

  “Now it’s my fault the fans are pissed? You should have handled it better.”

  Eli poked the gun again. “I’ve already had enough of you. Don’t push it. Besides, you can make it up to me.”

  Make it up to him? The man had gone off his goddamned stone. Waving that gun around wasn’t helping either. But Jay would keep him talking, maybe get him on a roll and distract him.

  He held up his hands. “Relax. We’ve always been able to talk. What do you want from me?”

  “You’re gonna back off on that threat to go to the press. I need more time. I’ve worked since I was ten years old. My success is earned. You had money. You don’t understand hustling for a meal or for a pair of shoes. Living with rats crawling around. I’ve worked for everything I have. And I’m not losing it.”

  This couldn’t be about ticket sales. What kind of moron throws his life away over that?

  “This mess is about ticket sales?”

  “Don’t be stupid. Ticket sales is the least of it. Stock prices and cash flow are king.”

  Ah. Now they were getting to it. Jay hadn’t checked the stock prices, but they must have been free-falling to have pushed Paskins this far. “Eli—”

  “Shut up. If you go to the press about Celebrate Hope and the embezzlement, I’m done. The board will remove me faster than I can come up with an argument. I’ll be ruined. And broke. And since I knew about the CFO embezzling and the deal the board made with him, I’ll probably be on my way to prison. Ruined, broke, and locked up. As long as you’ve known me, what makes you think I’d stand for that? Not after I worked to get free of that life.”

  As if any of it were Jay’s fault? Eli already admitted he’d known about the embezzlement; he should have come clean and gone to the authorities immediately. Instead, he’d kept his mouth shut. And here they were. Standoff.

  “All you have to do,” Eli said, “is stay quiet. Protect your team.”

  “My team? Not anymore.”

  “Okay. Fine. Not your team. My team. But I can make this embezzlement go away and clear your sister. I’ll talk to the other owners, get you a nice fat contract to finish out your career. Just keep your mouth shut. Give me a chance to clear it up.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  Paskins snorted and his eyes took on a wild glow. Something feral and crazed. Something on the cusp of coming apart.

  “Jayson, I thought you were smarter. Look what I’m wearing.”

  Jeans. Black sweatshirt. No suit. Which meant, no GPS.

  “Reid Steele thinks I’m sitting in a tree waiting to pick you all off. And no one knows I have this gun. I’m too far in now. Got nothing to lose. I’ll take out you and Bennet, run back to the tree, put the suit on, and wait. Perfect alibi. As far as your sister, she’ll be dealt with.”

  Sam. He’d spent his life protecting her from predators. This time? This situation? Too big for him. Too much.

  “Tuck? Is that you?”

  Bennet’s voice. Closer this time. Jay needed to get rid of him. Clear him out before he got pulled into the middle of Eli’s twisted plan.

  Eli glanced at the door and Jay took a step. The gun came up and he halted.

  “Get rid of him,” Eli said. “Unless you want me to shoot him.”

  That was all Jay needed to head for the door. Eli grabbed the back of his paintball suit and shoved the barrel of the gun into Jay’s back. “Don’t be a hero. We can still work this out and n
o one gets hurt.”

  * * *

  A male voice yelling Jay’s name carried through the trees and Maggie and Reid exchanged a look before checking the GPS app on Reid’s phone. Based on the proximity of Jay’s team members, the one yelling had to be Bennet. Unless someone else was nearby. And not wearing GPS-enabled clothing.

  Nearing the edge of the woods, Maggie spotted the roof of the shed.

  “Bennet, I’m all good here.”

  Jay’s voice. Just yards away. Maggie ducked low in the brush, buying herself a few seconds as relief washed over her. Behind her, Reid dropped to a squat.

  “Bennet,” Jay repeated. “There’s a locked trunk I’m trying to bust open. I don’t think our hostage is in there, but I gotta check it. Go meet up with the team and I’ll catch up.”

  Maggie turned to Reid. “What’s in that shed?”

  “Nothing. I cleaned it out last spring.”

  “Then he’s stalling. Why?”

  “Beats the hell out of me.”

  “If Paskins did ditch the suit, he could be in there with him. Check the app. Make sure Paskins hasn’t moved.”

  Reid checked his phone. “According to this, he’s still nowhere near here.”

  Beyond the trees, the twigs snapped—crap. Someone was right there. Maggie ducked lower.

  “I’m not leaving you,” Bennet called, his voice close enough for Maggie to realize he was the one snapping twigs.

  “Yeah, you are,” Jay said. “We’re losing time here. I’ll search the trunk and catch up. It’s the only way.”

  Maggie needed a better visual. Still squatting, she inched to her left, taking care not to make too much noise. She hid behind a fat oak tree and peered out to where Jay stood in the doorway of the broken-down shed talking to Bennet.

  Reid appeared beside her, his footsteps as light as possible in the middle of heavy woods, where snapping twigs like the ones under Bennet’s feet could betray them.

  “Something is off,” she whispered. “I’ll break away and sneak around the back of the shed. You cover the front.”

  Reid nodded. She’d half expected an argument, but being the more compact of the two of them, Maggie was less likely to be seen.

  “There’s a window around back. Too small to climb through, but you’ll be able to see.”

  Raised voices between Bennet and Jay covered the sounds of her movement as she crept along the tree line. Assuming someone was in the shed with Jay, she’d need to bolt through roughly ten feet of open space to the shed.

  This entire thing seemed…weird. For all she knew, this could be part of the game. A Kurdish separatist holding Jay hostage until time ran down on the exercise.

  Then again, there’d been two attempts on Jay’s life since he’d been in Steele Ridge.

  Focus, Maggie.

  The sun slid behind a cloud and she drew a long pull of late morning air. Rain coming. Her internal divining rod told her.

  “Awright,” Bennet finally said. “I’m going, but I don’t agree with this shit. At all.”

  Maggie watched as Jay jerked backward. What the heck?

  That was unnatural movement. Unless someone had tugged him backward, clearing the doorway.

  Go, go, go.

  An adrenaline burst propelled her forward into the open area while she swept her gaze left and right. Focus.

  That’s all she needed to do. Stay centered on her task and get Jay to safety. And so help her, if this was all part of the training exercise, she’d murder someone.

  Her boot’s edge landed on a rock, sending it crunching against some loose gravel and she one-hopped the last step, pressing her body flush against the side of the cabin while her pulse slammed. Go, go, go. She rested her head back, waiting a few seconds, listening for any movement around the side. Nothing but tweeting birds.

  Still safe.

  She eased out a breath and navigated over loose gravel. She made the turn and there it was. The window. Two steps.

  One.

  Two.

  Muffled voices came from inside. Jay and…who?

  Something about celebrate, but the words trailed off. Had to be Celebrate Hope. Could this be Eli Paskins’s brother? Or, if her guess was correct, maybe Eli himself.

  She had to look. If she knew who Jay was in there with, she might have an idea of what was going on. Was that crazy? Doing a quick peek to see?

  Probably.

  But as the late sheriff used to say, nothing focused the mind like an oncoming train.

  She closed her eyes, pictured that oncoming train, and swung left, peeping in the window. Light poured into the otherwise dark cabin via the open door. Jayson stood in profile, his tall form silhouetted against the far wall, while a much smaller man, also in profile, held a gun on him. Handgun. Real or a paintball gun?

  From this distance, impossible to tell. She focused on the man. Her Internet research on Jayson had gifted her with hundreds of photos of him with various Knights executives. Including the much smaller Eli Paskins.

  Had to be him.

  Her guess that he’d dumped his suit so the signal would show him in another location proved right.

  As if sensing her, Eli’s head moved a fraction. He swiveled and…

  “Maggie!”

  Jay’s voice.

  Whoa. She lunged right, away from the window.

  Pow!

  A bullet pierced the window, its high-speed momentum sending chunks of glass flying. Maggie whirled, protecting her head and eyes from the explosion.

  She charged around the shed. Another gunshot sounded, then another. Both splintering the wood where she’d just been standing.

  Three shots. And all three came through the window and side wall. At least she knew Jay hadn’t gotten shot.

  Another four steps brought her to the front of the building where she turned the corner and spotted Reid, about to bust through the doorway.

  No, sir. She jammed her finger into her chest. That asshole had just taken a shot at her. Three shots. If anyone brought him down, it’d be her.

  Reid shook her off—damned alphas—but she pointed to the rear of the shed. She’d have him cover the window while she went in the front.

  When he didn’t move, she tapped her badge. “Go!” she mouthed.

  Clearly not happy with her, he disappeared around the side. The sun disappeared behind a cloud, eliminating the risk of throwing a shadow, so Maggie did another quick peek in the doorway. Eli stood near the window, his gun still on Jay. Maggie pivoted into the open doorway, bringing her weapon up and aiming center mass at Paskins.

  “Drop it.”

  Jay took a step and Eli’s head snapped around. “Don’t move,” he said. “Either of you.”

  “Jayson,” Maggie said, “I’ve got this.”

  Barely four feet away, Paskins froze, his wild, spooked gaze bouncing between Maggie and Jay. Back and forth, back and forth.

  “I’ll shoot him,” he said. “Then you. I’ve got nothing to lose. Everyone thinks I’m sitting in a tree far from here.”

  If he intended on shooting them, they’d be dead already. At least, that’s what Maggie told herself. He might be scared. Sometimes a scared man was more dangerous—and unpredictable— than an evil one.

  “Eli,” she said, her voice calm but firm, “put the gun down. You’ve already taken a shot—three actually—at me. There’s no way I’m letting you take another at Jayson.”

  The stubborn rat didn’t move and sweat formed on the back of Maggie’s neck. She needed to end this. Fast. All she had was the DNA and the name Theo Paskins. She wasn’t even sure what the relationship between Theo and Eli might be. They might be related, but she didn’t have enough information yet. She had some, though, and she could make it work.

  “Eli, this is over. I know about Theo.”

  That got his attention. “What about him?”

  “He’s a smoker. Made the mistake of dropping one of his cigarette butts in the road after he took that shot at Jay on Sat
urday. DNA, Eli. It’s all the rage with the genealogy sites. We got a paternal match on one Theo Paskins.”

  Eli shook his head. “You’re lying.”

  “If I’m lying, how do I know about Theo? Or that he’s a smoker? I have the evidence. And, like all things, it’s just a matter of who talks first. How good is your relationship with him, Eli? Because one of you will turn on the other. When it comes to life in prison, someone always flips. Who’s it going to be, you or Theo?”

  He stayed quiet, staring at Maggie with eyes that no longer had that shiny, crazed wildness. In the course of her little speech, he’d gone from indignant to…something. Something dark and sad that sagged his cheeks. He flicked a gaze at Jay, the dead last thing Maggie wanted.

  “Please, Eli,” she said, drawing his attention back to her.

  If one of them had to go down, it would be her. It had nothing to do with bravery and everything to do with not seeing a man she was more than likely in love with getting shot.

  Eli lifted his hand. Pointed the gun straight at the ceiling.

  Jesus, God, thank you.

  Then he moved his hand again—no. Brought the gun right under his chin and the explosion of panic filled her again. Insane energy crackled and pulsed in the small shed and Maggie’s skin tingled from head to toe. No way could she let this man kill himself in front of them. No way.

  Focus.

  Her weapon still pointed, she kept her eyes trained on Eli. “Don’t!”

  Jay, his instincts more than likely kicking in, stepped forward.

  “Jay, no!” Maggie yelled.

  Eli faced her, shaking his head hard enough to scramble his already stressed brain.

  The sun decided now would be an exceptional time to reappear from behind the clouds. A beam of sunlight streamed into the cabin, hitting Eli straight on. Blinded, he squinted against the intrusion and, despite her warning, Jayson was on the move, his body flying through the air with the ease of a career athlete.

  At least until the next shot sounded.

  * * *

  The familiar thud of bodies colliding registered in Jay’s mind the split second before the shot went off. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Did he get shot?