Panting, Lautner looked at Abrianna. “Ahhh. Now I know where I’ve seen you before,” he said to Kadir and smiled, showcasing a rack of bloody teeth. “Cargill has been itching to meet you.” He picked up his gun and crossed over to his desk. “This coup should earn me a nice bonus.” He glanced at his fourth man. “Is she dead?”
He knelt and felt for a pulse. His stony expression collapsed into concern. “Shit.”
Lautner stopped dialing. “What is it?”
“I can’t find a pulse.”
Kadir’s heart dropped. “What?” He sprang forward, but the fourth guy leveled his weapon straight at him. “Ah. Ah. Ah. Back up!”
Kadir stopped on a dime.
The redhead grinned, “All right, Mr. Hero, back up and stand next to your boyfriend over there.”
Chris shook his head. “If she’s dead, then so much for that bonus.” He picked up the phone and referred to his downed man. “Vince, how about Scotty?”
Vince knelt with his gun still trained on Ghost to check his partner.
“Scotty’s gone.”
Chris sighed. “Damn.” He looked at Kadir and Ghost. “I liked Scotty.”
Ghost shrugged. “You shot him.”
Chris’s eyes narrowed. “All right, smartass. Why the fuck are you guys in my uncle’s office? What the hell were you looking for?”
Abrianna moaned, startling the redhead.
“Holy shit!”
Chris perked up. “Well. Looks like that bonus is back on the table.” He looked back to Kadir and Ghost. “Things still don’t look too good for you two, though. But before we kill you, I still want to know what the hell you were looking for. Money or . . . ?”
Neither Ghost nor Kadir responded.
“How about this? If you tell me, I’ll make sure that we kill you quick. If not, Red over there does some really good knife work—and he likes to take his time.”
Silence.
“No?” Chris double-checked. “Too bad. Red?”
Red grinned. “I was hoping to get to carve up a little girl this week, but I guess you two will do.” He reached into his jacket with his free hand and removed a tactical bowie knife.
Kadir gulped, but despite his racing heart, he held onto his stony expression.
Chris said, “Last chance, boys.”
Kadir shook his head and then watched Red grip the blade, a clear indication that he was going to launch it at him. “Bree, if you can hear me, I can really use your help right about now.”
Red frowned and then laughed. “Don’t worry, man. I’ll tell her how you died screaming like a bitch.” He launched the knife.
“Duck,” Ghost yelled, moving to shove Kadir out of the way, but miraculously the knife shifted direction and nailed Vince in the center of his forehead.
Lautner and Red jumped back. “What the fuck?”
Vince remained standing for a few seconds, slow to realize that he was dead. The men marveled, but then finally Vince slammed to the floor.
“Shit.” Chris dropped the phone and rushed toward Vince, but the moment he came around the desk he went flying backward, crashing out of the window.
At the same time, Red flew up toward the ceiling, twice. His neck cracked with a sickening crunch before he flopped onto the floor.
Abrianna sat up and sneered at Red. “Teach you to fucking hit me on the back of the head, bitch.”
Ghost gave her a slow clap while Kadir raced to her side to check on her.
“Are you all right?”
“I think so. Yeah.”
He frowned. “Your nose is bleeding.”
“Huh?” She swiped her nose. “Oh.”
Ghost grabbed their bags. “We got to get out of here. We’re waaay past eight minutes.”
“What happened?” Abrianna asked.
“Apparently, Lautner’s nephew sometimes falls asleep in the office,” Kadir said. “His heavies showed up within minutes of our breaking in to the office. By that time, Lautner already had the jump on us.”
“Did you find the safe?”
“Yeah,” Kadir told her. “But nothing but money and gold bars. We left it. We’re not those kind of thieves.”
The sound of rushing feet drew their attention. Seconds later, Wendell rushed inside, assault weapon in his hand. “What’s going on?” He peeked into the office and saw the three bodies.
“Well, it’s about time,” Ghost said.
“Bree said for us to keep circling. When we saw a body fly out of the window, I figured maybe you needed one more backup.”
“A body out of the window is the universal sign for help.” Kadir chuckled. “Let’s get out of here.”
* * *
“Do you know what time it is, Peter?” Cargill grumbled into the phone while swiping sleep from his eyes. “It’s oh dark thirty. Please tell me you have a damn good reason why you’re calling me at this ridiculous hour.”
“We had a break-in.”
“We?”
Peter grumbled. “I had a break-in, and now I have a dead nephew who’s been thrown out my office window downtown.”
Cargill sat up. “No shit?”
“Would I fucking kid about something like that?”
“What the fuck happened? What did they take?”
“That’s just it. It doesn’t look like they took anything. Whoever they are. Right now this place is crawling with cops.”
“You’re not making any sense. Why the hell do you think that this shit has anything to do with me?”
“Because whoever broke into my law office, they were smart enough to kill the security cameras. And considering the people I pay for this shit, it had to be someone who knows what the fuck they’re doing—which makes me think about that ex-con your daughter is hanging around with lately. If memory serves me correctly, he did time for doing shit like this.”
“Fuck. They’re fishing.”
“Of course they’re fishing. I believe I warned you that Abrianna was unpredictable now that she’s no longer under your thumb.”
Cargill cursed a blue streak as he snatched the covers off and climbed out of bed. “Please tell me that you were not dumb enough to leave any incriminating evidence about me or the Dragons down at that office!”
“Of course not. I’m not a fucking amateur. Right now I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to tell my sister about her kid.”
Cargill sighed. “Focus. I only give a shit about how this mess affects me. If you’re sure nothing was taken . . .”
“Consider this a heads-up. I’m going to reach out to the other members on your behalf and let them know to burn all incriminating evidence from all devices in their possession. If this muthafucka is bold enough to hit your law office, all bets are off on where they’re going to fish next.”
“Right. Right. Smart. Get on that right now. Don’t wait until sunlight. Who knows how many steps behind we are with this unknown wild card.”
60
After Castillo dropped Julian and Draya off at the Agency so that they could part ways, she couldn’t shake a bad feeling settling in her gut. She appreciated Dennis trying to help her out tonight, but she didn’t feel right going home to Netflix and chill while Lovely’s life was in danger.
Cargill Parker was as evil as they came. There was nothing the billionaire wouldn’t do to protect his reputation and his sick lifestyle. “Maybe I should swing back by and double-check on the guys,” she told herself, missing her exit to head toward Dennis’s crib. When she returned to the Belfleurs’ neighborhood, there was no trace of the squad car that had relieved her less than an hour ago.
“Fuck!” Castillo scraped her tires as she pulled up next to a curb. She killed the headlights and climbed out of the car. Crouched low with her weapon gripped firmly in her good hand, she rushed toward the Belfleurs’ to survey the area. The house was quiet. In fact, the entire neighborhood was as silent as a graveyard.
I’m overreacting. It was possible. The guys could’ve checked out for a co
ffee run—or been called to a crime scene. It’s no secret what the recent slash in the city’s budget was doing to the department on manpower. More crime, less cops. What could go wrong?
For a full minute, Castillo debated ringing the doorbell. She was sure that Penny wouldn’t appreciate a midnight scare, especially if Lovely was sound asleep in her bedroom.
A pair of headlights swung onto the quiet street before a car rolled forward doing less than five miles an hour.
Castillo moved toward the hedges lining the side of the Belfleurs’ home. The back doors of the mysterious vehicle were thrown open and two lean characters, dressed head-to-toe in black, sprung out without the car stopping.
Fuck! Castillo’s heart shifted to run on octane and was close to hammering its way out of her chest. She had seconds to decide on a play. The one thing that she knew for sure was that it would be over her dead body that these goons would get their hands back on Lovely. When they were within ten feet of the house, she made her only play.
“Freeze,” she shouted, springing out of the hedge. Not big conversationalists, they opened fired.
Lights clicked on up and down the small neighborhood as Castillo returned fire. The world shifted into slow motion as Castillo felt the Grim Reaper’s scythe hiss behind her neck. Any second now, a voice whispered. How could it not? She was outmanned and outgunned. But was she crazy, or were the bullets just grazing past her as if she was huddled behind some invisible shield? But then her right ankle buckled. As she fell in that same slow motion, she saw another pair of headlights swing onto the road. It belonged to a van.
A van she recognized.
Julian.
More bullets joined the fray.
One of Castillo’s attackers pivoted toward the van only to have his head explode like a watermelon.
Castillo fired off her last bullet just as she crashed to the frozen ground and blew a new hole in her last attacker’s groin. The howl that came out of the man’s throat was loud enough to wake the dead. He hit the ground, his weapon forgotten, as he writhed and begged for help.
The van stopped, and Draya raced from the passenger’s seat with her weapon trained on the dickless gunman. “Gigi? Are you all right?”
“I think so,” Castillo said, panting and rubbing her ankle. “How did you know I was here?”
“Julian had a hunch. Plus, it did seem kind of odd those cops popping up like they did.” Draya looked around. “By the way, where are they?”
That was a damn good question.
* * *
Ghost and his men didn’t know how to behave around Abrianna. None of them had ever seen anything like tonight, and each was at a different stage of processing.
“It’s like having our own real-life superhero in a nice, curvy package,” Roger said, a grin carving his face. “It’s pretty fuckin’ cool.”
Wendell nodded while staring at Abrianna.
Abrianna ignored them. Her head pounded like she had a million jackhammers running wild, not to mention her nose seemed to have sprung a leak. She went through a box of Kleenex before she jumped up and excused herself to the bathroom.
Kadir followed. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I . . . I don’t know.” Abrianna unwound a wad of toilet paper and clogged up her leak. But she bled through the toilet paper.
Kadir ordered, “Put your head back.”
She did as she was told and allowed Kadir to play doctor. By the time the bleeding slowed, Abrianna was curled up against him and light-headed.
“I guess it’s still useless to suggest you see a doctor.”
She smiled. “I’m afraid so.”
Kadir returned a half smile. “I figured as much.” Concern seized his dark gaze.
“Hey, it’s fine. Haven’t you heard? I heal fast.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. It’s been brought to my attention.”
They lapsed into silence, even though it was clear that Kadir had plenty on his mind.
“Thanks for saving my life back there tonight,” he said.
“Don’t mention it. You’ve saved mine a few times, too. It’s what we do.”
“Yeah. It does seem to be that way.”
They drifted back into a strange silence. Abrianna was sure he hadn’t finished all that he had to say.
“What is it? Spit it out.”
“Nothing,” he lied, but then covered. “It’s just that . . . that no pulse thing that you do. I’m not a fan.”
He’d truly been scared, she realized. “Don’t worry. You’re not losing me any time soon.” She kissed him.
When she pulled back, his eyes shimmered. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
Ghost knocked on the open bathroom door.
Abrianna and Kadir looked up.
Ghost jutted a thumb over his shoulder. “Julian and Draya are on the back channel. Said someone made a move on that Belfleur kid tonight.”
“What?” Abrianna and Kadir jumped to their feet and rushed to hear the latest saga in this long nightmare.
* * *
Castillo answered the cop’s questions for the umpteenth time while demanding where the hell the two idiot police officers had been when they were supposed to be watching the Belfleurs’ home. Of course, they thought they could use a donut and coffee run. Both swore they’d only been gone ten minutes, but Castillo wasn’t buying it. And why the hell wasn’t Dennis answering his damn phone?
It was another couple of hours before she’d arrived at his place to give him a piece of her mind. A big piece.
She knocked on the screen door and then grew impatient when he didn’t answer. Maybe he’s asleep. That irritated her even more. While she was out here dodging bullets, he’s flying high in dreamland. Sighing, she grabbed the extra house key hidden underneath the planter on the porch. She was supposed to keep it, but she’d never felt right accepting it from him. It was too much of a commitment.
It turned out that she didn’t need the key. The door wasn’t locked.
Entering the house, Castillo instantly felt that something was wrong. The house was stuffy—hot, which didn’t make sense, since it was in the middle of winter. The living room was a wreck—as usual. She bypassed it and climbed the stairs. However, her steps slowed as the hairs on the back of her neck rose and it grew harder to breathe.
“Dennis?” Her weapon was in her hand without a thought. When there was no answer, her heart clawed into her throat. He could be asleep. It was possible, but intuition said otherwise. At the bedroom door, she used her left foot to push it open instead of using her injured arm. Even before the door swooshed open, Castillo knew. But seeing Dennis lying a pool of blood took her breath away.
* * *
“Is it done?” Dr. Zacher asked.
“Yes, sir,” Ned informed him, closing the doctor’s office door behind him. “A clean hit. I’m sure that he didn’t feel a thing.”
Dr. Zacher nodded and wiped his bloody nose. “Good. And did you see anything in his place about T4S or . . . myself?”
“No, but . . .”
“But?”
“I didn’t get much time to search the place completely. He had a visitor pop up—so I had to cut the search short. But I’m fairly sure that he didn’t have anything about you or the organization.”
“Fairly sure?”
Ned nodded.
“But you are sure that he’s dead?”
“Well, yeah. I shot him.”
Zacher took a deep breath. “People survive gunshots every day.”
Ned blanched.
“Well? Was he dead?”
“I . . . I think so.”
Zacher stared. “You didn’t check?”
“No. Like I said, someone drove up to the house.”
Silence hummed in the space between them before Dr. Zacher growled. “I don’t like a job done half-assed.”
Ned’s eyes bulged when he suddenly couldn’t get air into his windpipe.
Dr. Z stood from his chair and quietly
stalked toward his gasping assistant. “I needed to know exactly why that cop was digging around in my files. Now how am I to know just how bad our exposure is if you didn’t do your job correctly?”
Ned dropped to his knees while his manicured nails clawed at his throat.
“I can’t afford another screwup filtering its way to Spalding.”
Ned stared up at his boss as if he was looking into the eyes of the Grim Reaper.
Zacher didn’t doubt that he looked like him, either. The experimental drugs had broadened his face, thickened his skin, and made the veins in his eyes damn near glow red. “It’s bad enough that you’re sneaking formulas out of my lab so that you and your friends can make that ridiculous street drug Cotton Candy as a side hustle.”
Ned’s face purpled.
“What? You think I’m an idiot?”
Ned shook his head.
“Can’t trust any damn body to do a simple-ass job anymore.” Zacher’s veins throbbed visibly against his temples. “I have zero margin for error. Do you understand that?”
Ned nodded and then toppled over.
“Good.” Zacher released his mental hold around the kid’s neck.
Ned choked on his first drag of oxygen.
“You better hope that nosy cop is the end of it. Now.” Zacher drew a deep breath and reclaimed his composure. “About Ms. Lehane . . .”
61
THE PARKERS: INCEST AT FIRST SIGHT
Kadir’s eyes bugged as he read the headline on his cell phone. “Holy shit!”
Abrianna looked up from her bowl of cereal. “What is it?”
Kadir kept staring at the screen, his jaw dropping lower by the second.
“Hello?” She waved her hand in front of his face, breaking the spell.
“Uh?”
“What are you reading?” she asked, smiling.
He stared at her.
“Okay. Now you’re scaring me.”
Kadir handed over his phone. “I’m sorry.”
Abrianna took the phone and read the digital edition of the Washington Post. Her spoon slipped from her fingers and clanked against the bowl. Her gaze zoomed across the article. There it was in black and white, the other half of the Parkers’ dark secrets for the whole world to see.
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