Betrayed

by Rebecca York

  “Money.”

  “This is costing a lot. I mean, it’s like you’ve taken on a case but you’re not getting paid for it.”

  “Lincoln Kinkead’s going to pay me.”

  “Even though you…” She flapped her hand in a helpless gesture. “Even though you walked out on the job he hired you to do?”

  “I didn’t walk out. I’m still working for him, even if he doesn’t know it. And you’re forgetting that I’m the one who knows where that SIM card is hidden.”

  “At the first safe house,” she breathed.

  He nodded.

  “You think it’s still there?”

  “I put it somewhere nobody’s going to look. Partly because they don’t even know what they’re looking for.”

  She didn’t ask where he’d put it because she didn’t want him to speak the words aloud—just in case someone could hear them. Or maybe she was being paranoid.

  The expression on her face made him shake his head.

  “Don’t worry about it now. And we don’t have time for an argument. Pack some clothes you want to take.”

  “You mean something that will look like I belong at a five-star hotel?”

  He laughed. “You’d be surprised what people wear at top-of-the-line hotels these days. The more money they have, the less they think they have to impress people, and the more casually they tend to dress.”

  “Okay.”

  Still, she hurried upstairs and looked through the women’s clothing she’d found in the safe house, selecting nice slacks and jeans and several nice blouses, and packed them in a suitcase she found in the closet.

  She was ready in twenty minutes. When she came down, Shane was coming up from the basement.

  She gave him a questioning look.

  “Something I had to do. Give me a couple of minutes to pack.” He climbed the stairs while she waited in the great room. She’d felt okay here until he’d started making her nervous with his talk about her brother’s pursuers finding them.

  When he came back downstairs, he was carrying a small bag.

  “I guess I took more clothes than you did,” she blurted.

  “Women always need more clothes than guys.”

  When a call came to his cell phone, she tensed, then waited while he answered. It was the limo driver down at the gate. Shane buzzed him into the compound, and they got into the luxury vehicle, with its wide leather seats, television, and wet bar.

  She was looking back the way they’d come when she saw an SUV slow at the entrance to the property.

  Shane was looking in the same direction.

  “Who is that?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but I think my instincts were correct. We may have gotten out of there just in time.”

  She shuddered. “You think they found where we were staying?”

  “I think if they put enough resources into it, they could do it.”

  “Can they get in there?”

  “The alarms are on, but they might ignore them.”

  “Another safe house compromised,” she whispered.

  “Rockfort will handle it.” Shane moved to the facing jump seat and tapped on the window between the passenger compartment and the front seat. When the driver lowered the window, the two men had a hurried conference.

  “What?” Elena asked when he settled back into his seat.

  “We’re changing cars in Richmond,” he told her. “The driver’s setting it up now.”

  She swallowed, thinking that she’d never been in a situation where she didn’t know if she was going to be safe from one moment to the next. Then she changed that evaluation. It had been true when she’d been a little girl in San Marcos. Her parents had told her and her brother that everything would be fine once they got to North America. She’d believed them, and for her it had been true until the past few weeks—until her brother had messed everything up for the Reyes family.

  She caught her breath.

  Shane instantly picked up on her reaction. “What?”

  “I was thinking that my brother had messed things up for our family. Then I started worrying that the bad hombres could have gone after my parents. I mean, they can’t know anything, but that may not be any protection.”

  Shane still had his phone in his hand. As they sped north, he called Rockfort Security and explained the situation to his friends.

  He looked up and said, “They’re going to make sure your family is all right.”

  “Gracias.”

  He nodded and went back to the conversation with the other Rockfort men. She could only hear his side of it, but she sensed his frustration. Apparently they hadn’t figured out where her brother was and who was holding him. That was bad enough, but the thugs seemed to have put enormous effort into figuring out where she and Shane had gone.

  As she listened to the conversation, a plan began to form in her mind.

  Her brother had gotten her into bad trouble. She’d transferred that trouble to Shane and his partners, and she was thinking it was her responsibility to get them out of it.

  ***

  Jerome Weller shoved his cell phone into his pocket. With his mouth set in a grim line, he got up and wandered onto the flagstone terrace outside his office. He stood in the shade of the awning for a few moments, then walked down a flagstone path to the fishpond that his gardening service had installed for him. The fish glided through the water, completely oblivious to any dangers.

  He took out his phone and stared at the screen. When there was no indication of a call, he put it back and walked farther into the garden.

  He was angry with himself for reacting to this situation. Over the past few days he’d lost weight. And every time he tried to eat a decent meal, it stuck in his throat. He took two antacid pills out of his other pocket, popped them into his mouth, and chewed. He hated the taste, but he found he was eating them like candy.

  When the phone rang, he took it out of his pocket again and looked at the number on the screen. “Well?” he demanded.

  The man on the other end of the line hesitated, the way he had after the failed attempt in St. Stephens, making Jerome’s stomach clench.

  “Spit it out.”

  “I think we just missed them.”

  Jerome responded with a string of curses, yet he couldn’t fault the men he had sent to North Carolina. They’d figured out where Gallagher had landed. Then they’d started searching for secure properties. The whole process had taken a long time. Longer than Jerome would have liked, but there was nothing he could do about it. Not from here. And not from there, either.

  He’d only been able to wait for word, and it hadn’t turned out the way he’d hoped.

  “They were at a safe house, and they left?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you search the property?”

  “It’s wired with explosives.”

  “That’s just great.” He thought for a moment. “I think we have to assume they’re coming back here. Maybe by plane again.”

  “Maybe in a limo. We saw one on the road right outside the gate.”

  “Find it.”

  Chapter 24

  As promised, Shane and Elena stopped outside of Richmond, at a gas station where another car was waiting for them.

  While Elena was using the facilities, Shane spoke to the driver.

  They were on the road again in the new car in a matter of minutes. When they were back on the highway, he opened a refrigerator at the side of the passenger compartment and pulled out a plastic bag from an upscale restaurant.

  “Lunch. I ordered gourmet sandwiches.”

  He unfolded a table in the center of the seating area and set out the meal. “We’ve got shrimp salad, ham and cheese, roast beef, turkey. Sorry, they were too upscale to have tuna.”

  “That’s
okay.”

  She took the shrimp salad and managed to eat a few bites, but she was getting jittery as they approached the D.C. area. Too much had happened on so many levels. The stuff with her brother was enough to set her teeth on edge. But she was thinking about herself, as well.

  She’d wondered if Shane still had a job with S&D. She should also be wondering about herself. Kinkead probably didn’t want to set eyes on her again. And she couldn’t imagine that he would give her a reference so that she could get another job. Maybe with her background, she could end up working at a local computer store.

  Shane hadn’t told her his exact plans, and she was surprised when they stopped at an upscale shopping center in the Virginia suburbs of D.C.

  The limo pulled into a parking space at the far end of the lot near a major department store.

  “What are we doing?” she asked.

  “Changing cars again.”

  They got out, and the limo driver retrieved their luggage and set it beside a luxury SUV that was parked nearby.

  “Anything else, sir?”

  “No. That was great. Thanks.” He gave the man a tip.

  When the limo had pulled away, the driver of the SUV got out, along with another man. Both of them reminded her a lot of Shane. Tough, effective guys who looked like they knew how to handle themselves.

  “Elena Reyes, these are my partners, Jack Brandt and Max Lyon,” Shane said. “Max and Jack, this is Elena.”

  She kept her hands at her sides as they sized her up.

  “Nice to meet you,” both of them said.

  The one named Max turned to Shane. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not bad, considering I got shot in the side.”

  “Is that what happened?”

  “Yeah.” He laughed. “I’m feeling well enough to admit the truth. And Elena did an excellent job of patching me up.”

  As the attention turned to her, Jack said, “Let’s not stand around here jawing.”

  “Right,” Shane agreed.

  Elena and Shane climbed into the back of the SUV, and the two other men took the front, with Max driving.

  As they headed for D.C., Jack got out fake identification for them. She goggled as she looked at what appeared to be a legitimate Maryland driver’s license with her picture on it. The statistics on her height, weight, and eye color were correct, but it said her name was Erica Garcia.

  “How did you do that?” she asked.

  “There’s a very reliable company in the area that can get this stuff at short notice. You’ve also got a credit card, in case you need to buy anything.”

  “Okay.” She looked over at Shane who was examining his own fake ID. He was now Stan Hamilton.

  As the men talked, she gathered that they still hadn’t found out who had her brother—and where. She wanted to jump into the conversation, but she kept her lips pressed together, thinking that it would be better if they were settled before she sprang her plan.

  She’d lived in the area for years, but she’d never been to the Four Seasons Hotel, which was in Georgetown. The driveway of the red-brick building was inside a courtyard. Bellmen rushed to get their luggage and take the car away. And when they stepped into the elegant lobby with its black-and-white marble floor and soft beige-and-gold color scheme, she saw a carafe of lemon water waiting next to a plate of cookies.

  The desk staff made her feel like a queen, and their suite was as luxurious as the lobby, with comfortable couches, thick carpeting, and a dining area. As promised, there were two bedrooms, which was the way Elena wanted it.

  When the bellmen had departed, Jack gestured toward the sitting area. “We’ve got stuff to discuss.”

  He got out an electronic device and moved around the room, taking readings, and she knew he was checking for listening devices. He set another box on the coffee table.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Electronic sweeping and jamming—just in case. We need to be sure no one can listen to us.”

  She nodded and they all sat, she and Shane on the sofa and the other two men in chairs facing them.

  When they were all comfortable, she got to the point. “If you can’t figure out who has my brother, we’re going to have to flush them out.”

  “How?” Max asked.

  “I tell them I’ve got the information they want, and I’ll trade it for Alesandro.”

  “No,” Shane said immediately. “Too dangerous.”

  She pointed to the electronics equipment that Max and Jack had brought. “You can follow me every step of the way.”

  “And if it doesn’t work, you’re dead,” Shane said.

  She winced, knowing why he had put it that way. “I know you don’t want me to do it,” she said, “but I think it’s the only way.”

  “Give us a little more time to find out where your brother is,” he growled.

  She didn’t want to agree, but she understood that she had no choice. She couldn’t do this alone. She needed the Rockfort men to pull off her plan.

  And she was fairly sure they didn’t want her hanging around, watching their efforts.

  “I’m not going to hover,” she said as she stood up and walked to the bedroom.

  “I want to tell you something before you leave,” Max said.

  “Good or bad?” Shane asked.

  “A piece of good news. You know that shoot-out in the garage of your apartment?”

  “Hard to forget,” he answered.

  “It was all caught on tape. The police saw what happened. The man taking Elena hostage. The shooting. It was obviously a case of self-defense on your part.”

  “That’s something,” Shane muttered.

  “More than something. It means you can operate around here without worrying about getting arrested.”

  Elena nodded. “That’s a good place for me to leave you three to talk.”

  ***

  Shane watched Elena leave the room, frustrated and at the same time relieved that she was giving them some space.

  As soon as the door closed behind her, Jack gave him a long look.

  “I guess you’ve fallen for her.”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way,” Shane snapped, then ordered himself not to let his nerves show.

  “How would you put it?”

  “I care about her.”

  “Okay.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Shane asked, fighting to keep the edge out of his voice.

  “I was simply agreeing with you. But if you care about her, maybe we’d better figure out what happened to the brother.”

  Shane sighed. “I’ve been getting bits and pieces of news from you. How about a comprehensive rundown of what you managed to scrape up?”

  “He was doing some part-time jobs for the mob. Car theft. Drug deliveries. Other delivery jobs.”

  “For whom, exactly?”

  “The boss kept himself removed from the assignments. We don’t know who he is.”

  “Dumb of Alesandro to get involved with the mob.”

  “From what I dug up, he never was all that smart,” Jack said. “You can go back and look at his school records. A mostly C student, with an occasional B, if he was lucky. Not like Elena,” he added. “She’s pretty sharp.”

  “Right,” Shane said. “And they used him to get to Elena.”

  Max nodded. “Unfortunately. They wanted a way to get into S&D, and they were willing to use the brother to get it.”

  “Bastards,” Shane muttered. “And do we know how Alesandro got sucked into a life of crime?”

  “Apparently through someone else who worked at the car agency.”

  “And you talked to the guy?”

  “No. He’s dead,” Jack said in a flat voice.

  “Jesus. How?”

  “Hit
and run accident.”

  “That’s not the most reliable way to kill someone.”

  “In this case, it worked.”

  “And there’s no lead on the driver.”

  “Of course not.”

  “Are we going to tell any of this to Lincoln Kinkead?” Jack asked.

  “Not now. Maybe not at all,” Shane answered.

  “Why not?”

  “Because none of that is going to change anything with him. He’s not going to be happy unless we bring him that information that was stolen from S&D.”

  “And if we can’t?” Max asked.

  Shane turned to him and reflexively lowered his voice. “It’s at the safe house on the Eastern Shore. We can’t go back and get it until Mr. Big is taken out.”

  “Mr. Big?” Jack asked.

  “The guy who’s running the show. We do need a name for him.”

  “How about Mr. Big Ass?” Max asked.

  Shane laughed. “I can think of a couple of better ones, but let’s keep it clean since we’ll need to talk about him in front of Elena. Mr. Big will do.”

  They discussed the other leads Jack and Max had tried to follow, but in the end Shane had to agree with his two friends. Everything led to a dead end.

  “So what about Elena’s suggestion?” Max asked.

  Shane dragged in a breath and let it out. “If we can keep her safe.”

  “We’ll do our damnedest,” Max said. “Which means we need to go out and get some equipment.”

  Shane nodded.

  His two partners exited the suite.

  When the main door had closed, the door to the bedroom opened and Elena peered out.

  “Did someone come in?” she asked, looking around the living room.

  “Max and Jack went out to get the equipment we’re going to need.”

  “Then you agree to my plan?”

  “I don’t like it, but I don’t see an alternative.”

  “Okay.”

  He walked toward the doorway where she stood, and she backed up. He kept walking forward into the room, then closed the door behind him.

  She gave him a questioning look.

  “I don’t like it,” he said.

  “I don’t honestly like it either, but I’m not going to leave my brother in the hands of men who have been torturing him. I mean, they haven’t heard from us in days. There’s no telling what they’ve done to him.”