Operation Unleashed

by Justine Davis

  It had been a stunning realization for her, and she’d been wrestling with it ever since. And somehow hearing this sleaze make lewd suggestions to her crystallized things so clearly she couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized it before.

  “—too bad you kept the kid. I figured you’d be smart enough to get rid of it, one way or another. But then, I always thought you were smarter than Doug said you were. I mean, coming back here, getting his rich, big-shot, old-school brother to take care of you and the brat? That’s genius.”

  How did he know where she was, that she and Luke were with Doug’s brother? She shivered, her mind racing through possibilities. With Drew’s arm steadying her, she somehow found the cool to come back at him again. “Genius? No, genius is not even being able to pull off a convenience store robbery without getting caught. And getting your partner killed in the process.”

  “Hey, bitch, I didn’t get him killed. He’s the one who drove into that pole on the way to our meet-up. And I only got caught because I trusted him to show up.”

  Trusting Doug had seemed to get a lot of people in trouble, she thought. And realized with a little jolt that her thought was something Drew would say. In fact, was very like what he’d said that had begun the argument that had convinced Luke he should run away. And now here she was thinking the same thing. Had these few minutes on the phone with Doug’s old partner caused that? Had it been what Quinn had shown her? Or had it simply been the years since with Drew, the years of safety, security and tender care that had changed the way she looked at things?

  All of it, she thought. She’d changed, and Baird’s trash talk had sparked the realization.

  She glanced at Quinn, who was still working on the laptop. Hayley, with the phone still at her ear, was leaning over him, occasionally whispering something to him. She tried to keep going.

  “How did you find me, Baird?”

  “Aw, that’s easy enough. They teach us computer skills inside, you know, so we’ll be able to find jobs when we get out. God bless all that social media crap.”

  She frowned. “I don’t do any of that.”

  There had been no reason. Even her parents wouldn’t speak to her, and she surely didn’t want to try and contact any old friends, not after the mess she’d made of her life.

  “But ol’ big brother’s company does. Lots of helpful information there.”

  Drew stiffened again. She knew there was nothing specific about her, and especially not Luke, on the Kiley Construction website, or any of the accompanying social pages. Drew had been very careful. The most personal thing mentioned at all was in the “about us” section, in the story telling how the company had been started by Drew’s grandfather, expanded by his father, and was now being run by a third generation Kiley, Drew, who had grown up in the county, gone away to college at his grandfather’s insistence, but come back home.

  She sucked in a little breath as something struck her. Had Drew done that, kept the personal information skimpy, for just this reason? She’d always thought that since their marriage was just an arrangement, like any other business dealing he had, that he hadn’t bothered to acknowledge them in his professional literature. But now, suddenly and belatedly, she was wondering if this had been why. Had he feared that someday something like this might happen?

  “You’re lying, Baird. There’s nothing about me on any of that.”

  “But lots about big brother. Fine, upstanding businessman that he is, all about customer service, he even gives his cell phone out to his customers so they can reach him any time. All I had to do was ask.”

  There was a sudden tension radiating from Quinn and Hayley. Were they getting close to tracing the call? Keep him talking, she told herself. You know he loves to brag, keep him talking.

  “But that’s still not me. How did you get to me, to my cell phone?”

  “Easy. Once I had Doug’s brother’s, I figured yours would be with the same company, given he’s taking care of you and Doug’s brat. After that it was easy. You know they’re not the most secure databases these days.”

  “How did you even know I was with Drew?”

  “Hell, that was even easier. After I got out, I just played up how worried I was, how guilty I felt about what had happened to you and the baby after Doug died.”

  “Please. You never gave a damn about me. You were the one always after him to leave me behind.”

  “You did cramp his style a bit.” Oh, that was Baird all right. Let nothing get in the way of what he wanted. “I’m not as good an actor as Doug was, but I’m okay. Some sob sister of a social worker looked it up for me. All she’d tell me was that Doug’s brother had stepped in, but that was enough. It’s not like you were in witness protection or something. Easy-peasy. So here I am.”

  Just how close was he, really? “Here?”

  “Of course. You’re really out in the country, aren’t you? I mean you can go for miles without even a stoplight, nothing but damn trees. I can’t imagine you being stuck there all this time. You were all about the bright lights, big city.”

  Her breath caught. Was he really here? She shivered. Drew grabbed her free hand, squeezed it. She steadied herself. Cutter began to pace, clearly unhappy. So am I, dog, she thought.

  “What is it you want, Baird? I know you don’t really give a damn about me, or my son.”

  “Hey, just trying to be polite. I’m rehabilitated, you know.”

  Alyssa believed in redemption. She herself was living proof, was she not, that it was possible? It might take her the rest of her life, but she would make it up to Luke for the rocky start. But Baird Oliver? No. If anything, he sounded more slimy, more conniving than ever.

  “Give it a rest, Baird.”

  “Don’t be that way, honey—”

  “I told you—”

  “All right, all right. Let’s get to business then.”

  Here it came, she thought. “We don’t have any business.”

  “Oh, come on now. You know what I want.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Of course you do. I want my share.”

  “Your share of what?”

  “Of the money.”

  “What mon—”

  She broke off midword. He couldn’t mean what it sounded like.

  “Don’t lie to me. I know you have it.”

  “Are you talking about the robbery money?” Her voice rose slightly, she was so incredulous.

  “Don’t play stupid, either. I’ve waited a long time for this.”

  “I never even saw that money.”

  “That’s bull. I know you have it. They never found it, so Doug must have given it to you. He was probably trying to rip me off, keep it all. If he hadn’t died in that crash, I would have probably killed him myself.”

  “I don’t have it. I never did.”

  There was a moment of silence. Alyssa felt Drew’s tension even as he held her. He was probably the only reason she was still upright. She glanced at Quinn, who nodded and held up a note pad where he’d written “Pinging off a tower north of Seattle.”

  So he wasn’t literally right here. But he was still too close. Across the Sound, yes, but still, too close.

  “Doug owed me seven grand,” he said, “plus interest over all this time. I figure that’s about a nice even ten. That’s how much I want.”

  “I told you, I never even saw that money.”

  “I don’t believe you. If you don’t have it, it’s because you spent it.”

  “I didn’t. I never saw it. I never saw Doug alive again after you left that night.”

  There was a long pause before he spoke again.

  “You’d better get it, then. In fact, this’ll be better. They won’t be tracing money you just give to an old friend.”

  “How do you expect me
to get that kind of money?”

  “Borrow it from the rich brother, Mr. Straight Arrow.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Why not? He can’t be that smart. You conned him into taking care of you.”

  If you only knew, she thought, her hand tightening on the phone. Drew Kiley is the smartest person I’ve ever known. She didn’t, couldn’t acknowledge just now how his accusation that she’d conned him stung.

  “I can’t take more from him.”

  “I’m being generous, I only want my half, what I’ve got coming to me.” He talked as if Doug had stolen hard-earned wages from him, she realized. She truly did not understand how this man thought. She knew how hard Drew worked, the long hours he put in, and yet Baird had felt he could steal from the store owner who had probably worked just as hard, and claim it was his due. “Besides, you owe me.”

  “Owe you? You got Doug killed!”

  “He did that all by himself, honey. But I’m the one who kept them from dragging you into it. I told them you didn’t know about it, or you’d have been in jail right beside me.”

  “But I didn’t know about it. I never would have gone along if I had.”

  “Cops didn’t think so.”

  The memory of the video went through her mind. Of him telling them she hadn’t known about the plan.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Maybe I thought you’d be grateful. Show me a little gratitude. On your knees, maybe.” He laughed. “But mainly because I knew Doug would have left the money with you.”

  “He didn’t.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care if it’s that money, as long as the amount is right. And I don’t care how you get it. But you will.”

  “I—”

  “Listen to me, you little bitch. That money is mine, and I will collect it. I don’t give a damn where you get it, but get it.”

  “And if I do, then what?”

  “Well, if you’re going to turn down my offer to show you what it’s like to be with a real man, then I’ll just be on my way.”

  A real man. Scorn bubbled up in her, but she held back the biting words she wanted to say. She didn’t want him to get mad and hang up. But would he, when he was trying to get something out of her?

  “That’s better. You just be a good, quiet little girl. I’ll give you three days to come up with the cash.”

  “No way I can do that.”

  “You will. Or you’ll be very sorry. And you know I can make good on that promise.”

  “What if I just call the police?”

  Baird laughed. It was a nasty, unpleasant sound. “You so much as breathe in the direction of the cops, you’ll be even sorrier. After all, I’m just an old friend, coming to get something you were keeping for me.”

  “You think they’ll buy that?”

  “Why not? There won’t be anyone left alive to contradict me.”

  Her breath jammed in her throat. She felt Drew move as if to grab the phone. She twisted away, she had to keep him out of this. This was her fault, not his, and it was hers to deal with.

  “I’ll be in touch, Aly-girl,” Baird said cheerfully, as if he hadn’t just threatened her. The use of Doug’s old nickname for her sent a shiver through her. She sat there listening to empty air for a long moment, feeling as if she’d somehow slipped back in time.

  Don’t have too much fun, Aly-girl.

  The last words Doug had ever spoken to her echoed in her mind. She’d always thought the words frighteningly prophetic. But after what Quinn had shown her today, she wondered if they’d been goodbye.

  But it didn’t matter now. What mattered was that her past had crashed in on her, on them.

  And she hadn’t realized just how much she treasured this life she had now, until the threat of losing it had loomed up before her.

  Chapter 11

  “You think he’s been over here?” Drew felt an overpowering urge to get up, to walk, to pace as Cutter had been doing. After recounting the phone call—with admirable accuracy, Drew thought—Alyssa was clearly shaken, and he didn’t want to leave her side until she was steadier.

  “No way to know,” Quinn answered. “We weren’t expecting a call, or we might have been ready for it and better able to pin him down.”

  “I should have been expecting it,” Drew said flatly. “Especially after Lyss said she felt like she was being watched.”

  He heard her gasp, realized she hadn’t connected the feeling she’d had with this yet.

  “You think it was him?” she asked, her eyes wide.

  “We don’t know, but it’s not an unreasonable assumption.” Quinn’s voice was brisk, unrattled, and seemed to help Alyssa calm a little.

  “Even Seattle is too close,” Alyssa said. “But if he’s been over here? Watching me, following me?” She shuddered, stopping it with an effort Drew could see. He supposed it could be worse. She could have been glad to hear from Doug’s old friend. That would have been the icing on his cake.

  Hayley had been busy on the laptop, but now she stood up.

  “Everybody has his picture,” she said.

  “Good. Teague’s on the other side with Laney today, he can keep an eye out.”

  “North of Seattle’s a pretty big cornfield,” Drew said.

  Quinn nodded. “I don’t expect Teague to find him. But he can come back that way, and you never know.”

  “Shall I call Brett?” Hayley asked.

  “Brett?” Drew asked.

  “Detective Dunbar.” Quinn nodded. “Yes, since he’s already partly read in. See if we can send him a picture. Maybe he can get the ferry people to keep an eye open. One of the advantages of living someplace that’s a little hard to get to.”

  “Will he do that?” Drew asked. “I mean, technically Oliver hasn’t done anything yet, except show up in the vicinity and make a threatening phone call.”

  “True enough. And ‘You’ll be sorry’ is a pretty vague threat. But Brett’s a different sort of cop. The fact that Oliver has shown up here at all will make him take notice.”

  “But what if he doesn’t look like that mug shot anymore?” Alyssa asked.

  Good, Drew thought. She was thinking now.

  “I had Ty do a modified one, too, without the buzzed hair,” Hayley answered. “And he may have jail tattoos now.” Is there anything else we could add to the description?”

  “Only if you can figure out how to make it slimy. He was very creepy.”

  “He still is,” Drew said, getting up at last now that she seemed steadier. “He threatened you, Lyss.”

  “I think he was just trying to scare me into getting that money for him. He wouldn’t really hurt me.”

  Drew opened his mouth to tell her she was being naive, but Quinn beat him to it in a much more productive way.

  “Don’t count on that,” he said. “He was arrested for attempted murder of his girlfriend when he was nineteen. They couldn’t prove it, and she was uncooperative, so he skated.”

  At Quinn’s words Drew spun around to look at Alyssa. Her eyes were wide, her lips parted. She hadn’t known that, he could see that clearly.

  “Now do you get it? This isn’t one of Doug’s silly capers, this is serious. Deadly serious.”

  She leapt to her feet. “Of course, I do. My son’s father is dead because of this man. There’s nothing silly about that.”

  And just like that they were at loggerheads again.

  On the edge of his vision Drew saw Hayley and Quinn exchange a look. No doubt regretting they’d gotten involved in this. This was a far cry from simply digging up past history. Drew guessed he should be thankful they’d involved their detective friend, since obviously this was now out of their bailiwick.

  “Let’s go
, Lyss. We need to go get Luke. Then you’re going someplace safe.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “You and Luke. We’ll get you someplace safe, then I’ll deal with Oliver.”

  “Deal with him? Deal with him how? Weren’t you just telling me how dangerous he is?”

  “That’s why I want you and Luke someplace safe.”

  “You want to pull him out of school and for us to go hide somewhere? He’ll be terrified! He’s had enough of that in his life.”

  “Lyss—”

  “He’ll be fine at school, and at home it’s safe enough, with the alarm system.”

  “I’m not taking any chances.”

  “Except with yourself?”

  For a moment he just stared at her. A few minutes ago she was so angry at him she was shouting, now she was worried about him taking chances? Just when he thought he had her figured out, she threw him another curve.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “Pay him off, if that’s what I have to do.”

  She drew back slightly, her brows raised. “You? Pay off an...extortionist? Doesn’t that go against the Boy Scout code?”

  He didn’t even react to the dig. “I’ll do a lot more to keep my family safe.”

  “But ten thousand dollars—”

  “That’s really rather...small, for an extortion,” Quinn said neutrally. “I wonder why.”

  “Maybe he’s got himself convinced he’s really owed it,” Hayley said. “That it’s really his money.”

  “That sounds like him,” Alyssa said, and Drew cringed inwardly at the bitter, broken tone that had crept into her voice. He could only imagine how she must feel, the past she thought she’d fought her way out of hovering again. “He would feel that way, as if robbing that store was as much work as running it.” She glanced at Drew. “Ten thousand might not be much for an extortion, but it’s still a lot—”

  Drew cut her off with a wave. “I’ll manage.”

  He turned to Hayley and Quinn. He wondered how often they’d listened to people argue about their personal problems in front of them. He felt a little embarrassed that they were doing it so often. But that was over now.