by C. P. Smith
Just as coolly as he’d always faced any challenge, Williams scrolled to White’s number and hit call.
“White,” the mercenary answered, all business like it was ten in the morning
“Kingston’s team found something before they left town,” he announced. “It made it into the hands of a Judge who I can’t blackmail. They have Drum’s face on film, so I need him to disappear before they pull him in and he talks.”
“Has an arrest warrant been sworn out for Drum?”
“Not yet, and I want him gone before they do. Whomever this redneck is that Green put in the SA’s office, he is a cowboy, literally and figuratively. He’ll have a warrant out for Drum by tomorrow, I’d bet, so I need Drum dead tonight,” Williams ordered.
***
Kade sat upright when he heard the lock turn on his cell door. He’d lost track of what day it was, let alone the time, thanks to the constant light. However, his body told him it was early morning. He kept his eyes on the small door, expecting his breakfast to be served, but instead of it opening to provide him with his morning meal, the cell door opened and Gerald Daily’s frame filled the space.
“You’ve got a visitor,” the guard announced.
“Who?” Kade asked, confused. He knew until he was out of solitary, his brother’s visits would be denied.
“Don’t know. I was just told to come get you and take you upstairs.”
“What time is it?”
“Seven A.M.”
Kade raised his brows at that news. Visiting hours weren’t until eight. Who in the hell had enough authority to be granted an audience with a prisoner in solitary confinement? Before visiting hours, no less.
Rising to his feet, he put out his arms so Daily could cuff him.
“I trust you,” the guard answered, surprising Kade.
Daily stepped back and waited for him to clear the door, then led Kade down the dank cold halls. They climbed two flights until they made it to a private interrogation room. When Daily stopped and opened the door, Kade hesitated.
“You aren’t settin’ me up, are you?” Kade asked. Two attacks in one week, one where he knew a guard had to be involved, left him cautious.
“Nope.”
Kade took a step forward and looked into the small room, ready to defend himself. There was a table with two chairs in the center and a large window overlooking the grounds. He saw a lean-built man with strawberry-blond hair dressed in jeans and cowboy boots. His clothes were wrinkled, as if he’d slept in them. He had his back turned to the door, looking out at the grounds, so Kade entered, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited. The stranger kept his face turned even though he knew Kade was there. He didn’t say a word while Kade waited until Daily closed the door.
“Did you kill Stan Sutton?” the man asked in a country drawl.
“Jury of my peers said I did.”
The man nodded that he’d heard Kade, but he still didn’t turn around.
“I know they found you guilty. What I want to know from you is, did you kill Stan Sutton.”
“Is there a point to this?” Kade asked, confused.
“What if I told you I didn’t believe you killed Sutton?
Kade sucked air through his nose and held it. A week ago, he would have given anything to hear someone say that.
“I’d say I’m guilty.”
That got the man’s attention enough for him to turn around and stare at Kade.
“Who are you?” Kade asked. “What do you want?”
“Why would you admit to killing Sutton when you denied it during the trial?” the man asked, ignoring Kade’s question.
“I’ve had time to reflect on my actions since I was convicted. It’s time to come clean,” Kade shrugged, not about to admit the truth.
I’m protecting Harley.
“So there weren’t three men in the alley behind the bar?”
“Nope. Sutton pissed me off and I followed him outside. We had words and I killed him just like Greystone said I did.”
“Do you always carry a hunting knife when you have a drink with your brother?” the man drawled sarcastically.
“I’m a SEAL, we’re always prepared. Now, you answer my question. Who are you?”
Chapel still didn’t answer Kade. Instead, he moved from the window and opened his briefcase, pulling out a file. He laid it on the table, then looked Kade straight in the eyes and put out his hand. “Derrick Chapel, acting State’s Attorney.”
Kade stared at his hand as if it were a snake. “What happened to Greystone?” he asked without shaking Chapel’s hand in return.
“He died in a car accident a few weeks back. His brakes failed and he wrapped his car around a tree.”
“All right, that answers that. But why are you here?” Kade asked again, annoyed and tired of the games.
Motioning to the other chair, Chapel said, “Please sit, Mr. Kingston, and I’ll explain.”
Kade uncrossed his arms with a sigh. He knew the man wasn’t going to answer his questions until he cooperated, so he grabbed the metal chair and sat down, glaring. He didn’t know what was going on, but he wasn’t leaving until he knew. Harley’s life depended on it.
Thankfully, Chapel didn’t make him wait long for answers. He opened his file and started placing picture after picture in front of Kade. With a sweeping glance, Kade stiffened when he recognized the back of St. Elmo’s Fire. However, his attention was focused solely on a picture of three men. Two wore masks and one he knew. His hand almost shook as he raised it and picked up the picture.
“Do you still maintain there were no other men behind the bar? That you killed Sutton on your own?”
“Where did you get these?” he hissed. He’d ordered Prez and D to leave town and they’d never disobeyed a direct order.
“You have good friends, Mr. Kingston, that’s where I got them.”
Kade’s eyes cut to Chapel’s and his temper rose.
“They were supposed to let this go, it’s too dangerous,” he gritted out, not catching his words before they left his mouth.
Chapel cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Why would you want them to stop?”
“I’m guilty,” he bit out, all but choking on the lie.
To protect Harley.
“Mr. Kingston, it’s clear to me that your original statement from the night of the murder has been confirmed by this new evidence. What I don’t understand is why you would now, after two years of defending your innocence, start lying?”
Kade rose slowly, dropped the photo of Drum and his accomplices on the table, and took a step back.
“Let it go,” he hissed.
Chapel sat back, stunned. He hadn’t expected this reaction. Why would a man lie and say he committed murder when he didn’t?
“They were supposed to let it go, it’s too dangerous.”
Dangerous to whom? Chapel wondered.
“Are you protecting someone, Mr. Kingston? Your brother? Your grandfather?” He watched Kingston’s face shut down. His dark eyes became black as night and the air between them arced with hostility.
There was the SEAL he’d read so much about. That was the face of a man who knew how to hide a reaction; to control his emotions so the enemy couldn’t find a weakness. Who would he be willing to spend fifteen years in prison for?
Chocolate-brown eyes that had held the same anger the day before came to Chapel. On a hunch, he gambled and threw out, “Harley is a beautiful woman, isn’t she?”
Kingston’s jaw clenched and his hand twitched slightly at the mention of her name. If he hadn’t been watching for the reaction, Chapel would have missed it.
“How do you know Harley?” Kingston finally asked between teeth clenched so hard it was a wonder he didn’t shatter them. If Chapel were a betting man, he would have laid money down that Kingston wanted to put a fist in his jaw for mentioning the woman.
“Where do you think I got this new evidence?” he asked, sweeping his hand across the pic
tures.
Kingston’s control slipped and he took a step forward. “You’re telling me Harley gave it to you?” he asked, confused.
“Yes. Along with a threat that I should conduct my investigation quickly if I didn’t want my life to be a living hell.”
Kingston’s mouth twitched minutely, but he held his blank stare, giving nothing away.
Jesus, this guy has control.
Chapel found it interesting he’d been convicted by a jury of his peers, based on the prosecution's claim he’d lost that ironclad control. Chapel was already convinced of Kingston’s innocence, but if he hadn’t been, this would have sealed it for him. No man who had that much control over his anger could have killed another man over teenage antics.
“Well?” Chapel asked Kingston, hoping the man would confirm his suspicion.
“Well, what?”
“Are you protecting someone? Is it Harley?”
Moments passed as Chapel waited for his reply. Kingston held his eyes, but he could see the wheels turning behind the dark eyes. Just when he thought the man wouldn’t answer, Kingston nodded once.
Chapel rose after Kingston’s confirmation and began putting away the pictures. He had the answers he came for, and now he knew what he needed to do.
“Let it go, Chapel. I can’t protect Harley from the inside of a prison.” Kingston began as he watched Chapel clear the table. “And word will get out, probably already has. I don’t want my freedom at the cost of her life.”
Chapel rounded the table with briefcase in hand and stopped in front of Kade. He saw the dark circles and the weariness the prison had put on his face and cursed silently. The man had put his life on the line to defend his country, and this was how he was thanked for his service to his country. Framed for murder, solitary confinement, and his woman threatened. Somebody was going to pay and he’d be leading the investigation.
“Then I guess I better get you out of here before they find out, don’t you think?” Chapel answered, then reached around Kade and knocked on the door.
***
At the same time Kade was meeting with Chapel, Prez and D were sitting two blocks down from Dirty Harry’s Auto Repair. They were watching with a grin as Harry tried to talk his daughter out of heading to Renault for her dog training class. It was Friday morning and they knew she had a class at nine, so they’d waited for her to leave so they could follow and protect her. But every time Harley tried to load Buck into her Jeep, her father would put out his hand and stop her. Prez and D didn’t know which Dash was more stubborn, but Harley clearly won the argument, since Harry helped her load Buck into the back. When he was done, she kissed her father’s cheek and climbed in, taking off for the interstate. Prez pulled out once she’d passed and kept two car-lengths behind her as she made her way towards Renault.
“Kade’s gonna have his hands full with that one,” D chuckled as he opened a bag of powdered donuts.
“No doubt, my brother. But I’m thinkin’ he won’t care,” Prez smiled.
An hour later, Prez pulled their rental into a parking space on the other side of Renault’s parking lot from Harley. D kept her in his sights as she unloaded Buck from her Jeep. They were still in the dark as to what was happening with the State’s Attorney. Harley had called and told them about her meeting, but said she couldn’t get a read on the man. As of right now, they were flying blind until they heard back from Kyle, who also hadn’t heard from the SA. It was a waiting game; one they would play while they kept eyes on Harley. Wherever she went, they went. At least until Kade was released. They owed him that much and more.
When Harley entered the building with Buck in tow, Prez and D settled back to wait out the class. Thirty minutes later, as they were sipping coffee, D noticed movement from the employee parking lot and caught sight of a guard walking from his car. Raising his binoculars, he watched who he thought was Ian Drum make his way towards the guard’s entrance.
“I think that’s our boy Drum,” D stated. “Looks like the guy in the picture Slater sent us.”
Prez took the glasses and confirmed. “That’s him. Now we don’t have to hunt down his home address. We’ll pick him up at the end of his shift and make him talk before we hand him over to the SA. Between Drum’s confession and the video, that should be all he needs to set Kade free.”
Drum looked back at the parking lot as he made his way towards the door. He had a nagging feeling he was being watched. When he didn’t see anyone, he kept moving towards the guard’s entrance.
He’d overslept the night before—due to a long night of drinking to celebrate the SEALs' departure and then fucking his latest pussy—and was two hours late for his shift. He’d come straight to the prison from her house, dirty uniform and all. He would have called in sick, but the dog trainer had class today and he had to keep an eye on her for White.
After he checked in, he popped a couple of aspirin, then made his way to the IDTP classroom, stepping quietly into position. Gerald Daily raised an eyebrow at him, but he ignored the prick. Daily was a holier-than-thou asshole who never broke the rules. He was a fucking Boy Scout compared to most of the prison guards, and he rubbed Drum the wrong way.
Ignoring Daily, he kept his eyes on the dog trainer’s sweet ass as she called out commands, and then watched as the inmates took their dogs through the rounds of sit, down, stay.
She was laughing at one of the inmates when she happened to look his direction. When she caught sight of Drum, he watched her smile slide away, replaced with hostility, and his hackles rose.
What the fuck was that?
She had never so much as looked at him and, as far as he knew, didn’t know he existed.
She kept her angry eyes pointed in his direction, so he looked away. Daily whistled low as Drum turned his eyes, and followed that with a chuckle.
“If looks could kill, you’d be a dead man walking, Drum. What’d you do to get that look?”
That’s what he’d like to know.
He looked around the room for one of Leroy’s people and found Georgie at the end of the line.
Shoving off the wall, he made a show of sweeping the room, nice and slow, as if he was just checking the security of the room. When he reached Georgie, he stood behind him and crossed his arms. He was just another guard watching the show.
“You got anything for me?” he asked in a low voice while he kept his eyes on the dog trainer.
Without turning, Georgie answered in a whispered voice, “Rumor has it Kingston was pulled from solitary this morning. Some big wig from the State’s Attorney’s office came calling before visiting hours.”
“If he filed an appeal, wouldn’t it have been his attorney that came calling?”
“That’s normally how it works. I ain’t ever heard of the SA’s office pulling an inmate, unless the prisoner turned snitch.”
“Is Kingston back in his cell?”
“Don’t know, but the block is hyped up. Something is definitely going down.”
Drum didn’t wait around to hear if Georgie had anything else to say. He wasn’t a stupid man. Between the dog trainer’s scowl and the news about the SA talking to Kingston, he knew he was on borrowed time.
As quickly as he could, he made his way back across the room. When he reached Daily, he mumbled he was hitting the head and then took off. When he hit the control room, he told them he’d left something in his car. Once he was outside, his pace picked up until he was near his car. Throwing open the door, he jumped in, started the engine, and threw it in reverse, all under watchful eyes.
“Where the hell is he going?” D asked.
“He’s spooked. Fuck, he’s gonna run,” Prez growled.
“We gotta follow him man, he can’t get away,” D bit out.
Prez looked at Harley’s Jeep and hesitated.
“No one is gonna mess with her at a prison and she’ll go straight home because of Buck,” D stated as he watched Drum leave.
“Fuck, I hope you’re right,” Prez rumble
d as he started the car. “Kade will kill us if anything happens to her.”
White sat in his van, watching Drum’s hasty retreat as well. “He’s on the run,” he told Williams over his cell.
“Follow him and shut him up,” Williams hissed.
“Hold on,” White barked. “Negative; the SEALs didn’t leave town like we thought and are now in pursuit.”
“Damn these Flyboys straight to hell,” Williams roared down the line. “I’m tired of all this Hoorah bullshit. Take them out, too, and let’s be done with them.”
“They aren’t Flyboys,” White replied with annoyance. “They’re SEALs and not easy to kill. No way can I take out Drum and those two at the same time.”
“What the fuck am I paying you for if you can’t handle three men?”
“I can handle most men, Williams. But these aren’t most men. One on one, yeah. But two at once? No fucking way.”
“Then figure out a way to tie their hands. All men have a weakness . . . Wait, is the dog trainer at the prison today?”
“Yeah,” White answered.
“Then grab the woman and use her for collateral in exchange for Drum. They’ll do your job for you and you can kill them all when they come for the exchange. Set the exchange where your skills as a sniper give you the advantage.”
“They aren’t gonna hand over Kingston’s freedom that easily. Not for a piece of pussy.”
“They’re fuckin’ White Knights. Of course, they will.”
White considered the merits of his plan. It might just work. If he grabbed Harley first, then contacted the SEALs, that would give them time to grab Drum.
Ten minutes later, he watched Harley head to her Jeep. Awareness shot quickly through his groin and his cock hardened as he watched her bend at the waist. Maybe he’d wait a few hours before contacting the SEALs. He could fuck Harley a few times before he killed them all.