Because while she had no questions, she had plenty of self-recrimination.
“It’s Tate Greer.”
“That’s what we think,” Emmanuel affirmed.
“I know it is. He couldn’t find me, so he’s gone after the one person he knew could draw me out.”
While the same would be true of any of her siblings, Sadie had no doubt it was deliberate and purposeful to take her twin.
“Are there any leads on where she is? Any traffic or street cams?” Tripp took over the conversation.
“The team’s been scouring anything they can find,” Emmanuel said. “But nothing’s hit yet.”
“We’ll be there in an hour,” Sadie interjected into the conversation. When Tripp did nothing more than look at her and nod, she pressed on. “There are going to be a limited number of places Tate can take her. Have Gunther Johnson brought up to Interview.”
They ended the call, even as the face of Tripp’s phone continued to light up with messages. Cooper texted again, followed by her brother. She made a quick call to Riley, assuring him they were headed back to the city. When he’d tried to argue with her to stay put, she’d hung up on him.
And in under a half hour they’d packed up and were on their way to Grand Rapids.
The sun was bright in the sky as they drove toward the city. It was mid-December and it dawned on her as Tripp turned onto the interstate that it was coming on Christmas and she hadn’t even thought about it. She’d spent so long locked in the safe house, whisked away from her life and her family, that when it had become too overwhelming to think about the holidays—and missing everyone—she’d shut it all out.
Only now, it all came flooding back.
“You’ve been quiet. How are you doing?” Tripp asked.
“Thinking about Christmas.”
“It’s so soon. Hard to believe it’s here again.”
“I made a deliberate effort to put it out of my mind in the safe house. And with all that’s been going on, I continued to forget. But that doesn’t mean it’s not almost here.” On a hard sigh, she remembered something else. “Oh, Tripp. Your poor house. What are you going to do?”
“Get a new one. It wasn’t like I spent that much time in the old one.”
She heard the flat assessment and recognized that he wasn’t making up the casual response. Losing his house—his home—didn’t seem to have that big an effect on him. “You don’t sound that upset.”
“It’s a house.”
She had no idea why she kept pressing the subject, but suddenly it seemed important. Huge, actually. “But you won’t be in it for the holidays.”
“I usually work through the holidays, so I don’t bother with a tree or decorations.”
Sadie thought about the small tree she put up each year in her apartment. She’d dubbed him Herman because he had a square, boxy shape that reminded her of Herman Munster. It was silly and stupid, but she smiled each year when she pulled Herman out of the storage closet and set him up in her front window. And each January, when she carefully nestled him back in his box, she knew that she’d see him again.
Tripp had none of that. Whether by choice or now by habit, it didn’t make things any less bleak. Or true.
But as she stared down the possibility that her sister would be hurt, or worse, Sadie understood it. She’d been so angry at Tripp’s refusal to see all that could be, between them and, more broadly, in life. And then she’d been sad when he’d simply walked out of the kitchen this morning after sharing the details of Lila’s death.
But now? Now she understood.
If something happened to her twin, Sadie had no idea what she’d do. It had been hard enough to lose her parents, but she and her siblings had found a way forward.
Yet Vikki’s life being in danger was entirely different somehow.
The inability to believe in a world that contained light and love, and only risk if you tried for those things, suddenly made sense.
And with it, Tripp’s determination to avoid it all.
* * *
Tripp stood outside the interview room, Sadie at his side. She’d been quiet since their odd diversion of a conversation in the car about the holidays and he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Sadie was strong enough for this, of that he had no doubt. Steely determination poured from her and he had no qualms about putting her in front of Johnson again.
It was the fact that she had to that still chewed him up.
How had it come to this?
And how had they never even considered the possibility that by leaving town, Tate would turn his sights on a new target.
The ever-petulant Gunther Johnson was brought into Interview and Tripp and Sadie entered shortly after him. One of the guards who’d escorted Johnson to the room fitted the handcuffs to the table locks and, in moments, the young man was seated, his careless sneer firmly in place.
“Look who’s back.”
Since Gunther had showed little but sullen attitude for the past few months, it was something of a surprise to see him initiate the conversation.
“We’ve got more questions for you.”
“Why else would I be here?” Gunther said before turning his attention to Sadie. “That bruise has nearly faded away.”
She touched her jaw. “How sweet of you to show you care.”
Something dark and unexpected flashed across his face. “I don’t go around beating women.”
“Never said you did. But your boss certainly has no problem with it. Which is why we’re here.”
Although Tripp and Sadie hadn’t overly prepped for the meeting, they had talked broad strategy. The idea was to put Johnson on the defensive and then pepper in how Greer and Matthews were going to take the score and run for the hills.
All part of Sadie’s continued push to pit one of them against the other. So it was strange to see her employ such a risky tactic as empathy.
“You still haven’t caught him yet?”
“You know we haven’t, Gunther.” Sadie leaned in. “Because if we had, your life in here would’ve gotten a lot harder. Isn’t that right?”
“Tate and I are square.”
“Until he pegs you for the one who gave him up to the GRPD.” She traced a small pattern on the table. “I can see to it that he finds out that little detail.”
“You don’t know jack, lady.”
“I know plenty. And since I’m about to become the bait to get my sister back from the bastard, I’d say I know a hell of a lot more than you.”
“What about your sister?”
“When he couldn’t get to me, he took my twin sister. For revenge. To draw me out. His set of twisted reasoning really doesn’t matter, does it? Because I’m here. And I need your help.”
“Why should I help you?”
“Because I’m asking. Because an innocent woman’s life is at stake. But if those aren’t reason enough, I’ll give you one more.”
Gunther didn’t respond though his interest was unmistakable.
“Wes and Tate don’t deserve to get off scot-free in this whole thing, while you’re stuck in here. I’m just a worker bee in CSI, but I’ve been around this place for a long time and I know how it works. The lawyers are going to go to town on what you know, who you know, and what you were part of. Especially if Tate and Wes get away and they don’t have them to play with.”
“That’s B.S.”
“No, it’s not. It’s truth. My father was a lawyer and my older sister followed in his footsteps. I know how hard she works to make sure guilty people pay.” Sadie eyed him, never breaking her intensity. “And no one’s going to cut you a break if they know you had an opportunity to help and didn’t take it.”
Just as in her first meeting with Gunther, Tripp was impressed with how smoothly Sadie handled the interview. And in her
approach, he saw something else. For all her efforts to get answers and get through to Gunther, she never dismissed him. He’d observed a lot of interviewers through the years and knew it was unfortunately all too easy to forget the person sitting opposite you actually was a person. Instead, it was easier to create distance with labels like “perp” and “criminal” as a way to deal with sad wastes of life.
Only, Sadie didn’t do that.
And it was fascinating to see how Gunther responded to her willingness to see his humanity.
“You’re not playing me?”
“No, I’m not. I want my sister back and I need your help.”
Tripp chose that moment to step in. He’d observed the young man for nearly three months now, unable to understand how Gunther would trade his life for such a dead-end choice as working for Capital X. What he hadn’t done in all that time was see Gunther as anything other than a criminal.
It was time to change his approach.
“Gunther, this is your chance to step up.”
“What’s in it for me?” Gunther’s ice-blue eyes assessed him, but for the first time they appeared to actually be considering the conversation instead of actively projecting contempt.
Tripp refused to drop into his historic default and assume the guy would make a poor choice. “You’ve got a chance to do the right thing.”
Gunther stared down at the table and gave no indication one way or the other. Tripp shot a side-glance to Sadie and felt his heart stick in his throat at the desperate hope that lined her face.
She was depending on whatever possible shred of decency might still be in Gunther Johnson’s heart. When they’d walked into the room, Tripp would have said that was impossible.
Now, after the guy had been exposed to a few rounds with Sadie Colton… Tripp wasn’t so sure.
He reached out under the table, extending his fingers so they just brushed against hers. It was silent support, but as he touched her skin, Tripp recognized the comfort he was taking in return.
“Guy has a few old warehouses just outside of town.”
“Where?” Tripp prompted before tossing out a few main thoroughfares that ran out of town toward the suburbs.
Gunther nodded on the last one. “You know it then. He’s had ’em for years. Bought them on the cheap when they got all sad and abandoned. He…” Gunther hesitated before huffing out a low sigh. “He uses them when he needs to rough people up.”
Tripp considered Gunther’s description and the truth beneath it all. Greer, and by extension, Capital X, had been close all along.
Tripp glanced at Sadie but she was already rising, gratitude rolling off her in waves. “Thank you, Gunther. I won’t forget this, and I will make sure my family doesn’t forget it, too.”
Tripp stood as the kid nodded, his eyes still that cool, calculating blue. Tripp didn’t miss the way they followed Sadie as she rushed from the interview room. “I know I’m no prize, but women don’t deserve that crap.”
“What you did today, Gunther? It matters.”
Although Tripp knew the young man’s deeds wouldn’t be erased by one act of decency, he also had hope that this could be the beginning of something new. Assuming the kid had played straight with them, Tripp would do what he could to ensure Gunther was treated fairly.
But for now he had to follow Sadie.
And this ridiculous idea she had to set herself up as bait.
* * *
“I’m not arguing with you.” Sadie stared Tripp down before turning to her brother. The high, wide windows of the refurbished warehouse about a mile from Tate’s hideout eclipsed Riley, the purple light of a winter afternoon filling the space behind him. “Either of you.”
“You can’t trade yourself for Vikki.” Tripp had tried the argument several times and now Riley had started in. Despite his concern, Sadie steamrolled the argument.
“I’m the only one who can. Tate wants me. And he’s using Vikki to get to me. His behavior keeps escalating and we know he’s desperate. This will end it.”
“What if we can’t get to you?” Tripp asked.
It broke her heart a little to hear the hitch in his voice. But still, she remained strong.
“What do you think all these people are going to do?” Sadie pointed to the assembled police teams prepping and planning around them. The GRPD had commandeered the refurbished warehouse space, the home of a design firm that would be out all afternoon for its annual holiday party.
It had been sheer, blind luck that one of Tripp’s detectives had known the owner of the warehouse and had asked to use the space, only to find out during the call the extra stroke of good luck that the place would be empty.
Sadie kept telling herself that stroke of good fortune was the proof that it would all work out.
That Vikki was okay.
And that she’d be okay, too.
“You don’t have to do this, squirt.” Riley pulled her close, wrapping her tightly in his arms. “You really don’t.”
“Yeah, I do.”
Riley only hugged her harder before moving off to ask more questions of the two SWAT leads managing the op.
Once he was gone, Sadie was left alone with Tripp. Or mostly alone, if she ignored the fifty or so people milling around them, all preparing for the meet with Tate.
“Your brother’s right.” Tripp stepped closer but didn’t touch her. “SWAT’s here. We can get eyes in there and get Vikki out.”
“This is quicker. And it’s the easiest way to get what we want.”
“And if Greer suspects you’ve got backup?”
“Tate’s known for a while I’ve got backup. Part of me thinks that’s what all this is about. He knows as well as I do that this needs to end, and he wants to show off how strong he is.”
“That is why the professionals need to handle it.”
“The professionals are handling it.” Sadie strode closer and ran the tips of her fingers over his knuckles. The touch was light—as light as his had been in the interview room when they’d spoken with Gunther—and that made it all the more powerful.
“I can do this. And more to the point, I need to do this. I’m a trained cop and I know how to handle myself on an op. And my sister is inside that warehouse.”
Sadie took some comfort from the fact that surveillance had confirmed Vikki was in the building and alive. But Sadie had grown impatient with waiting, ready to move in and get this done.
She’d let Tate into her life. And while she was coming to accept that she didn’t need to emotionally flog herself over that fact for the rest of her life, she did need to act.
To save Vikki.
And, maybe, to save herself.
CHAPTER 17
Tripp ignored the unrelenting fear that gnawed at him with the sharpest of teeth and focused on the team. Everyone had fanned out into their prearranged spots, with SWAT taking point on another warehouse rooftop a building’s width away. A sniper, two GRPD detectives and a K-9 trainer capable of handling Greer’s dog were also positioned behind the warehouse, determined to catch Tate or his henchman should one of them run out the back.
The intel on the building was solid. Heat sensors had mapped out three people inside as well as the dog. What was presumably Tate and Vikki, based on how one body never moved while the other wove in and around it, were in the center of the building, the dog pacing in time. A third heat signature was positioned near the back entrance.
SWAT had tried to get eyes on that last individual to assess what they’d be up against, but the figure remained stubbornly in place, not moving or making rounds.
It was that third figure that scared Tripp. They were ready for Tate and had a properly trained handler focused on the dog. But the third person was a wild card.
“She’s moving in.” The comm device in his ear signaled that Sadie was on the move.
>
Tripp watched from his position, hidden at the edge of the same building SWAT had commandeered.
And prayed this wasn’t the last time he’d see her alive.
* * *
Sadie had considered how she was going to play this meeting with Tate ever since she’d discovered Vikki had been taken. She’d downplayed the risk to Tripp and her brother and the rest of her family, but never once had she downplayed it to herself.
Tate Greer was dangerous. And there was no way he was going down without a fight.
He’d lost all he could lose and that made him even more deadly than he’d been before. As the head of Capital X, the risk in his life was matched only by all the pieces he controlled. His staff. The people he roughed up when they didn’t pay. And all those under the thumb of his criminal enterprise.
But the RevitaYou scam had seen it all vanish, cracking his organization wide-open.
Now he had nothing left to protect. Except his pride.
It was for that reason Sadie had finally settled on her approach. Since she’d spent the past six weeks with her own pride in shambles, it turned out that that was the hill she was willing to die on.
The warehouse had a large, covered entrance and she stood there, laying hard on the doorbell that buzzed for after-hours visitors. The GRPD and the Feds had not been able to contact Tate, every call in to him going to voice mail. But he had allowed Vikki a tearful call out to Flynn. Sadie’s future brother-in-law had nearly chewed through the phone. It was only through sheer dint of will and his extensive military training that he’d finally been talked into waiting in the SWAT van. If given the chance, he’d have fought Sadie to meet Tate himself, but it was SWAT who’d finally helped her win the argument.
The team leader’s report on the interior layout, perimeter access and available sight lines, not to mention the minimal but still existent traffic in the warehouse district, meant they wanted as few extraneous people involved as possible. Anyone other than Sadie risked riling Tate up instead of getting Vikki out.
Sadie lifted her finger then laid it on the buzzer again. The distant sound of a dog barking registered and she nearly stopped the buzzing, having no interest in meeting Snake face-to-face again.
Harlequin Romantic Suspense December 2020 Box Set Page 21