by Dale Mayer
Two voices traveled up the stairs. “Are you sure we should’ve taken her?”
“We didn’t have much choice. They were heading back to the DA’s office. You heard them.”
Rhodes frowned. That meant whoever had taken her had been in that restaurant with them. A couple young punks sat two tables over, but he hadn’t paid them any mind as they’d been sitting there drinking coffee and playing games on their cell phones. They hadn’t shown any interest in her or him. Apparently he’d been wrong. They seemed to know exactly what Rhodes and Sienna’s plans were.
“I still don’t understand what difference it makes.”
“They’re afraid that whatever paperwork she has will implicate one of the bosses,” the other replied.
“So why didn’t we just steal the boxes?”
“Don’t be daft. Everything’s digital nowadays.”
“And so what the hell difference does it make if we have her or not?”
“Leverage.”
“Oh.”
Rhodes watched through the slats of the closet door as two men walked over to Sienna. “Wake up, bitch.”
Sienna didn’t make a sound. The same guy hauled his arm back and smacked her across the face. Her head snapped from one side to the other and then rolled gently until it came to a stop. She never made a sound.
“How hard did you hit her?”
Inside Rhodes’s anger built. They’d knocked her out, and now they couldn’t even wake her up? As soon as he got her out of here, she was heading straight to the hospital. No matter what she said.
“I didn’t touch her. It’s not my fault when I grabbed her that she slammed her head against the window. It made her easy to deal with though.” The two guys backed up slightly. “You think we should tell anybody?”
“Hell, no. Let’s not bring that type of trouble down on our heads just yet.”
The two young men walked out of the bedroom when one of their phones rang. “It’s the boss,” said the kid.
Staring through the slats, Rhodes saw the kid on the phone wore a red shirt and the other a light gray hoodie. Honestly they looked so similar they could be brothers. They were both about five ten, skinny, with jeans that barely hung on their hips. Rhodes shook his head. What the hell had he and Sienna stumbled into?
The one in red spoke into the phone. “No, we’ve got her.” He glanced over at his cohort and held up his hand. They high-fived each other. “No problem. We’ll take her to the rendezvous point.” He looked at his partner as his grin widened. “Sure, no problem.”
He clicked his phone off. “We’re supposed to take her down to the warehouse.”
“Oh, shit. We just hauled her ass up here. Why didn’t he call a few minutes earlier, and we could have just kept on driving,” the hoodie guy said in disgust.
“Doesn’t really matter. What the boss says, we do.”
The hoodie guy looked over at the bed and said, “Shit.”
Rhodes knew that carrying her upstairs had not been easy for these two scrawny teenagers. He watched as they walked over and manhandled Sienna off the bed to the floor, repositioned their hands and picked her up, slowly carrying her down the stairs.
Rhodes stepped out of the closet and waited until they went around the corner. They’d learn soon enough they couldn’t leave without his vehicle being moved. As the guys went to the garage, Rhodes headed out the front door. He called Levi and the cops. He waited until the two had her at the back of the van inside the garage and followed. As soon as they lowered her to the ground, he took out the first one with a headlock. Only there was a brittle snap, and the kid went limp. Checking that he was unconscious, Rhodes dropped him to the floor. The second guy looked at Rhodes in shock.
“Who are you? Where did you come from?” His gaze landed on his partner on the floor, and he screamed. “Oh, my God! Did you kill Joe?”
Rhodes grabbed the kid and slammed him against the van, his arms pinned behind him and his head flattened against the side of the vehicle. “Maybe. Not that I planned it that way. What the hell did you expect when you kidnapped someone? A slap on your wrist?”
The kid started to cry. “You killed my brother.”
He struggled in Rhodes’s arms, but he seriously had no freedom to move and even less strength. No wonder it had taken the two of them to pick up Sienna.
Rhodes again slammed the kid against the van. “And you’ll get the same treatment if you don’t shut up.”
The kid subsided. Rhodes glared at him as he pulled cuffs from his back pocket and quickly clipped the kid’s wrists together. “Jesus. Kidnapping is a federal offense. Did you really think you would get away unscathed?”
“We weren’t really kidnapping her,” the kid said. “The boss just asked us to bring her down, and she didn’t want to go.”
“Hence the term kidnapping, when you pick up people against their will. You’ve tied her up, knocked her unconscious, and hauled her out of that restaurant into your vehicle. Where the hell do you think you are going from there? I believe it’s jail. If you live that long.”
The guy’s eyes widened as he stared at Rhodes in horror. “Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No jail for me. I won’t survive it.”
Rhodes could believe that. “The only way you might cut some of that jail time short, or get into an easier one, is if you cooperate fully.”
Immediately the color drained from the kid’s face. “You might put me in jail,” he said, “but the boss’ll kill me if I tell you anything.” At the sound of sirens he trembled. “Oh, my God! I’m so in trouble.”
“You’ll be in even more when the boss finds out you’ve been picked up by the cops because he’ll assume you turned on him. Your life is now forfeited anyway.”
He stared at Rhodes, the horror in his eyes turning them almost black. “You don’t understand these people. They have very long arms. They can also kill me in jail.”
“Welcome to the criminal world,” Rhodes snapped. Shoving the kid ahead of him, he quickly hit the button to open the double doors of the garage. And that’s when the kid saw Rhodes’s truck. “You were already on to us. You followed us from the restaurant?”
“Yes.” Rhodes nodded. “I certainly did.”
Two black-and-white police cars pulled up behind his truck. Rhodes quickly pulled out his ID and hauled the kid over to one of the men. But he didn’t let him go.
An ambulance pulled up a few minutes later. He waited until Sienna was checked over, then her still form loaded into the ambulance. He hated to leave her, but he also couldn’t trust the cops. Before they could take possession of the prisoner, he phoned the DA’s office and talked to Robert.
After that, things moved at a slightly different pace. Another vehicle arrived, and the DA himself got out. He took one look at the kid and said, “Take him in for questioning. Rhodes, I suggest you come with us.” He glanced at the ambulance, now heading off down the street. “Will she be okay?”
“As for these assholes, he’s the one who knocked her out,” Rhodes said bitterly. “If you could just leave me alone with him for a few minutes …”
The kid screamed, “He killed my brother. You can’t let him anywhere near me.”
The DA looked at Rhodes.
He shrugged. “I didn’t kill him. Just rendered him unconscious.”
The kid stopped and stared at him. “You told me that you killed him.”
Rhodes smiled. “I lied.”
He got into his vehicle and followed close behind the DA and his prisoner. No way was he letting this kid out of his sight. The DA seemed to understand. They drove to the police station and very quickly were in an interrogation room.
The DA said, “We must handle this officially.”
Rhodes nodded. “I agree with that. But I need to know who the hell is after Sienna to put a stop to this fast. Get me a name. I’ll take care of the rest.” His voice was hard, his glare bitter. He wasn’t letting up until he had that name. Sienna had gone missing on his watch, and he�
�d never forgive himself for that.
Only the kid didn’t want to talk. Between the cops and the DA, he just sat there and glared at them. In frustration, the three law enforcement officers got up and walked out.
Rhodes had been watching from the observation window. He said in a low voice, “Let me talk to him.”
The officers immediately protested. Robert smiled and said, “You could scare anybody. Go ahead. You got five minutes. But remember, the entire thing is recorded, so stay on this side of the line. We can’t have this case fall apart.”
Rhodes walked in and headed straight for the kid.
The kid shrieked, jumped up from the chair and ran to the back of the room. “You can’t touch me. The cops will keep me safe.”
“The cops might, but only long enough to get the information we want. I already put word on the street you’re talking.”
“But I haven’t said anything,” he cried out in protest. “You can’t lie like that.”
“What universe do you live in, kid? Do you think this is some punk-ass game you played in high school? People are dying here. And you’ll be one of them if you don’t smarten up.”
And suddenly the kid realized he really was in trouble. “You don’t understand. If they think I’m tattling, they could kill me.”
“And you don’t understand. The minute you were picked up by the cops, they assumed you were, so you’re dead anyway. You and your brother, Joe.”
The kid walked over to the chair and slowly sank back down. “Oh, my God,” he said. “You’re right. I have no way out of this.”
“Only one—cooperate fully with the cops. With any luck you and your brother will get a lighter sentence, and you might actually still have a life after this. If you don’t, well, no promises.”
Rhodes turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him. As he left, the kid yelled, “Wait, wait. I want to talk.”
He nodded to the cops. “That’s your cue.” He stormed over to the side window and glared out at the morning sun. He still wanted to ring the little chickenshit’s neck.
The DA said, “A little brutal but effective.”
That startled a laugh from Rhodes. “Yeah, that’s me, right down the line.” He turned to study the man they’d come to help. “The files and your laptop are in my truck. I’ll get them for you, and then I want to know who ordered the attack on Sienna.”
One of the cops came out and walked over to them. “He wants to make a deal.”
The DA said, “That’s my cue.” He turned back to Rhodes. “If you’ll bring in those materials, that’d be great. I presume you’re heading to the hospital right now?”
Rhodes nodded. “Until we pick up whoever it is that ordered the kidnapping, she’s not safe. Not even there.”
As the DA walked in to make a deal with the punk kid, Rhodes raced to his truck, pulled out the box of information the DA had given him and carried it to the observation room. As he entered the outer room again, the DA was talking with the police officers.
The DA took one look at the box and smiled. “Okay, we got names and addresses. We’re putting together a tactical team to go after them.” He hesitated and said, “I know you’d like to, but I can’t have you take part in that.”
“Damn.” He shrugged. “You do your thing. I’ll go to the hospital and protect Sienna. I let that asshole get at her once. Can’t let that happen a second time.”
“You’re not responsible for this,” the DA called as Rhodes headed to his truck.
“I’m not, but I am.” And Rhodes thought, That’s just the way life is.
Chapter 9
She wished to hell the noise—moaning—would shut up. It was really giving her a headache. She shuddered and tugged the blankets higher up on her shoulders. She had no idea where she was, but everything hurt.
“Sienna?”
A gentle finger stroked across her cheek. She struggled to open her eyes. When she finally did, everything was blurry. But the moaning had stopped. Thank God for that.
As she stared ahead, a fuzzy rendition of Rhodes’s face came into view. A second later, she could actually see him clearly.
“Hey.” He leaned over and kissed her very gently on the temple.
Her eyelids fluttered closed. “What … happened?”
“You went to the washroom in the restaurant and met up with two punks who tried to persuade you to go with them.” His tone was dry. He gingerly sat on the edge of the bed and reached down to gently cradle her hands in his.
She stared at him in surprise as the memories tumbled in and around each other. “One wore a hoodie and the other had a red t-shirt on.”
He nodded. “Brothers. Just young kids. They were ordered to pick you up, if they got a chance, and they took it at the restaurant.”
“And, of course, you rescued me, right?” She gave him a knowing smile. And she was very grateful to have missed the whole damn thing.
“It took me a few minutes,” he said gravely. “I saw them take off and gave chase. But I couldn’t guarantee you were inside the van. I found it in a garage at somebody’s house. When I got inside, you were upstairs tied up on a bed.”
She stared at him in shock. “I don’t remember any of that.”
He bent down and kissed her on the nose. “Good. Another set of nightmares you won’t have to worry about.”
She rolled over and tried to sit up, crying out in pain. Her hand instinctively went to her head. “Did they hit me over the head or something?” She groaned and realized that the moaning she’d heard earlier was probably coming from her. How embarrassing was that?
Using his strong arms, he slowly propped her up against the pillows. She felt slightly better, but it took a moment for the booming in her head to stop. “Did you catch them?”
He gave a half snort.
She smiled with her eyes closed. “Of course you did.” No question about it. She was here with him.
“I captured them. The second I did, I got the police and DA involved. Robert was there when they collected them, to make sure we didn’t lose them to a crooked cop, and now they’re cutting a deal with him.”
“That’s actually the best thing we could’ve hoped for,” she said with a smile. “Does that mean we can go home now?” She tried not to whine, but she didn’t want to stay. “I really don’t want to spend another night in a hotel, worrying someone is breaking in.”
“Since you’re awake, we won’t have to check you into the hospital, I hope. You’re still in the emergency room. As soon as the doctor clears you, I’ll take you to the station to give a statement. Then we can leave.”
Her shoulders sagged a bit. “That sounds horrible. I was thinking maybe you could just pick me up, put me in the truck and drive me home.” Her eyelids slowly lowered again at the thought of all that extra movement. “Everything hurts.”
“The kid says he didn’t hit you, that you slammed into the window. You were probably fighting them.”
“If I did, I must have taken the damn window latch to my brain,” she muttered. “I didn’t even have much time to react. It just seems like my world went black right away. And if they knocked me out, why the hell does everything hurt?”
He grinned. “You really won’t like this part.”
When he didn’t continue speaking, she finally rolled her head slightly to look into his eyes. “What part?”
“They were both very skinny teenagers, not a pound of muscle between them. They had difficulty lifting you.”
She stared at him in outrage.
He laughed. “So I am pretty damn sure they must’ve dropped you on your butt to shift their grip many times. I was there as they tried to carry you from the bedroom and down the stairs. They might’ve bumped a few body parts going around corners too.” He chuckled. “And before you ask, I had no opportunity to get you away from them without putting you in more danger. The last thing I wanted to do was take them out and have you roll down the stairs and break your neck.”
&nbs
p; She gave a tiny shrug. “I can understand that but damn …”
He laughed, bent down and kissed her. This time on the lips. “I’m just so damn glad to see you alive and well,” he said cheerfully. “Although I probably shouldn’t kiss you with you being Jarrod’s sister.”
“Would you stop always shoving Jarrod into my face?” she snapped. “He’s not here, and he’s got nothing to do with us.”
“Are you sure?” He stared at her with a steady gaze. “He’s your big brother, and he cares about you.”
“And you’re his friend, and you care about me too.” She smiled. “You just won’t admit it.”
His eyebrows rose at her words. “Of course I do. You’re Jarrod’s sister.”
He had turned the tables on her very neatly. She glared at him. “Is that all I am to you?”
He frowned, his gaze dropping away.
“Right. I’m not. So drop the excuse. My brother isn’t here, and he’s not my guardian. I’m an adult. I can do what I want with whom I want.”
“And what is it you want to do?” he asked, lowering his head to kiss her again.
“Right now I want to feel better.” When she could, she whispered, “And that means getting the doctor to give me permission to leave, getting to the goddamn police station, giving my statement and going home.”
She shoved the blankets back and slid her feet to the floor. With more bravado than strength, she stood up and clung to the bed rail. “But first I have to make it to the bathroom.”
Instantly he was at her side, holding out a hand. Grudgingly she accepted it, and using him as a crutch, made her way to the bathroom. At the doorway, he stopped and raised an eyebrow, looking down at her. She shook her head ever-so-slightly.
Even that little bit of movement made her wince. “I’ll be fine.”
“You’d be ‘fine’ even if you’re not because no way in hell would you ask for help, right?”
“Right.” And she shut the door in his face.
*
“Stubborn,” he snapped.
From the other side of the door came her response, “Yep, get used to it.”