But then she thought better of it.
This was as much a mental game as a physical battle and she needed all the advantage she could get.
The door cracked open, a large gun pointing directly at her face spearing through it. The sound of the dog’s whining filled the air, but at least the barking had stopped.
“About damn time you got here.” Tate’s hand snaked out and covered her wrist, dragging her inside. She’d barely cleared the door when he re-aimed the gun at her. “Take the coat off. Empty your pockets and your purse.”
“I don’t have a gun.” She kept her tone flat and even, unwilling to rise to his bait no matter the subject.
“Yeah, right.”
She held up her hands before moving them slowly to her coat to strip it off, letting it drop to the floor. She did the same with her bag, dumping it over first so the contents fell out—her wallet, a brush and a pack of gum.
The items had been deliberate choices, all designed to keep Tate thinking she’d subserviently come to save her sister. What he had no way of knowing was that the gum was a sweet little listening device Ashanti had cooked up about a year ago, or that a Taser had been neatly embedded in the material of the purse. A small switch in the handle would turn the purse into a lethal game changer the moment Sadie confirmed Vikki was okay and was within proper range of Tate.
She considered how easy it had been to enter as she bent to stuff the items back into the purse. It felt like the tide turning in their favor, but was it too easy?
The last briefing from SWAT ran through her mind. The only real identified unknown was the third person in the warehouse. No one had put eyes on the guy and a quick run of Tate’s known associates hadn’t turned up anyone not already captured. That didn’t necessarily mean anything. Tate had eluded arrest for so long, there was no telling how many tentacles he had stuck in any number of places around Grand Rapids.
So she’d keep watch and stay aware. He didn’t know she knew there was another goon in the place and she needed to keep it that way.
She stood and Tate moved behind her, pushing her forward with the tip of the gun against her back. She stepped forward quickly, arching away from the gun as her gaze discreetly roamed the warehouse.
Where was Tate’s henchman?
And then she saw Vikki and all thoughts of anyone else vanished. Her psycho ex, the gun and the dog were all forgotten as Sadie raced to where Vikki sat, strapped to a wooden chair, her green eyes wide pools of fear in her face.
“Vikki!” Sadie wrapped her arms around her twin, pulling her close and whispering as fast as she could, “It’s going to be okay.”
Vikki’s hands and feet were bound but Tate hadn’t gagged her and Sadie felt the press of lips against her cheek and a hard shudder when Vikki exhaled. “You’re okay.”
“You are, too.” Sadie stepped back, concerned by her sister’s pale face and fear-filled eyes. Vikki was terrified, which only served to give Sadie’s anger a laser-sharp focus.
“He wouldn’t tell me anything and I thought he had you.”
“Shh, now.” Sadie tried to pull Vikki close but Tate had already come between them, pushing Sadie out of the way.
“Aww, isn’t this sweet?”
“I’m here now, so you can let her go.” Sadie clutched the strap of her electrified bag and refused to cower. She wanted Vikki out of there and then she could distract Tate or subdue him until SWAT found an opening.
Tate pointed the gun at Sadie again, waving it in her face before using it as a pointer against her chest. “You aren’t the one giving orders.”
“I’m the one you wanted here. Let Vikki go.”
Tate’s lips curled, an evil mockery of a smile.
God, how had she ever thought herself in love with this man? The very idea of touching him made her skin crawl.
For the past six weeks, thoughts like that had dragged her down, making her feel less than. But in that moment, staring Tate down, Sadie felt the sands shift.
She knew what love was. Real, true love. For Tripp.
Funny how simple it all was now that she had the single-minded clarity to see it.
Tate had betrayed her. If it were simply a case of a romance gone bad, she’d have had to live with that. But it wasn’t. He’d proved beyond any doubt that there was nothing good inside him. She could continue to wallow in that, or she could revel in the fact that she’d found this man’s antithesis.
Thanks to Tripp McKellar, her faith in other people had been restored. He was good and decent and honest. And while she might think his theories on not forming attachments were stupid, in the end, it didn’t matter.
Because she loved him.
And in the loving, she’d found herself again.
* * *
Tripp swore as he stared at the front of the warehouse, the quiet drone of comms humming in his ear. They’d cleared all unnecessary chatter off the line, leaving it mainly to SWAT and the department’s hostage negotiator. And despite the fact Sadie had been in there for over ten minutes, no one could see her or even think about getting a shot off.
But they could hear her.
The GRPD’s tech wizard had connected the interior comm units to the small listening device Ashanti had created and planted in Sadie’s bag, all while keeping the department’s comms open and working so everyone had the same intel.
Right now, it was all they had.
Tate hadn’t given them anything to work with when he’d opened the warehouse door. He’d handled it by the book, minimizing any exposure to himself as he kept Sadie firmly in front of him, effectively blocking himself.
No matter how well trained the sniper, some shots were still impossible.
The deep-seated desire to run in there was maddening and Tripp wondered how he’d let her do this. As lieutenant, he had a fair amount of say in the ops the GRPD ran and how they were executed. Yet he’d let her go barreling into this situation like John Wayne at her own personal High Noon.
Only…
Only it wasn’t about letting her do anything. She was a grown woman with a strong mind and a high degree of capability. They hadn’t sent a civilian in to manage this.
They’d sent a cop.
He’d do well to remember that.
And he’d damn near convinced himself she’d be okay when the voice of one of the SWAT leads came through his earpiece. “Third heat signature is moving. Out of the back of the warehouse and into the main. Moving slow but heading toward the cluster of people in the middle.”
The wild card they didn’t know what to do with.
Tripp’s hands curled into fists and he stared at the warehouse door, willing the events inside to go Sadie’s way.
He knew he should wait.
Knew that Sadie and Vikki’s lives depended on it.
But he was a cop, too. They might have sent a cop, but there was no way he could let her do this alone.
Before anyone could stop him, Tripp raced toward the warehouse.
* * *
Sadie knew she couldn’t use the Taser bag too quickly, but everything inside her screamed to get it done. Get Tate and the dog. Deal with the third man. Get Vikki out. Backup was so close, the moment she gave the shout, her little pack of gum would alert SWAT to move in.
But Tate’s gaze was unrelenting, the gun never moving from where it targeted her chest.
For a split second, all the hope she’d carried inside and on into saving Vikki died. What was she doing there? She had no gun. No body armor. And she was staring down a madman.
Had she really thought she could do this?
Tate had outsmarted her at every step. From their first date on through to the house fire the other day. Did she honestly think she could win now?
“Why’d you do it?” She had no idea where the question came from, but once it was out
, there was no holding it back. “Why me?”
That dark grin never faded, but Tate did cock his head, assessing her. “I thought you’d be an easy mark.”
Thought?
“You thought wrong.”
“Yeah, I did. You never gave me the intel I needed. You protected your family and the damn police department like their secrets were gold. And—” that grin grew darker even as the gun seemed to grow steadier “—I never wanted to be married anyway. I guess I’m really a lifetime bachelor, after all.”
“Let my sister go. This is about you and me.”
“I don’t think I will.”
“Then prepare for the full force of the US military to hunt your ass when you take one of their own. And you can put her sergeant fiancé at the front of that line.”
Despite the truth of Sadie’s words, Tate only laughed. “Keep dreaming, sweetheart.”
“So this is the end?” Sadie’s hand clenched tighter on her purse and she calculated how she could rush Tate with it and still prevent him from taking a shot.
And realized she couldn’t.
Because she hadn’t fully calculated the risk to Vikki. And, for all her planning, a man with a gun still trumped a woman with a Taser.
“It sure is, sweetheart. Good thing I still have the credit from our canceled honeymoon in Aruba. I think I may take that trip once this is all over.”
Tate’s hand never wavered and Sadie eyed her sister, desperate to communicate all her love. She wasn’t going down without a fight, and there was no way she was leaving Vikki to Tate’s sick and twisted goals. Because once she was gone, she had no doubt he’d turn the gun on Vikki before SWAT could get inside.
“You’ll take that honeymoon over my dead body.”
Tate nodded. “That’s the whole idea.”
Sadie moved then, flipping the small switch on the purse just as Ashanti had taught her. The bag hummed in her palm and she swung wide as she moved, determined to hit Tate with the broadside of the fabric.
As she moved, a gunshot rang out and, despite the near deafening sound, her forward momentum never slowed with the bullet’s impact. Instead, she connected with the large figure that raced toward them, even as her body continued onward. Tate seemed to disintegrate in front of her, his large frame crumpling to the floor as her own body tangled with Tripp.
Tripp who took the brunt of Tate’s bullet, his heavy body slamming against hers from the force.
The dog moved, too, but Ashanti’s invention was Sadie’s saving grace. She swung the bag wide, hitting the full left side of the animal. An immediate whine went up as Snake stiffened before falling to the ground in convulsions.
Sadie dropped the bag, twisting to hold on to Tripp’s shoulders, all while trying to assess where the shot that hit Tripp had come from.
And saw Brody twenty feet away, a gun in his outstretched hands.
“Brody!” She shouted to him as the SWAT team rushed the warehouse.
But it was Vikki’s warning that filled the room, intent on stemming the tide of firepower moving in.
“Don’t shoot! That’s our brother!”
* * *
Tripp registered the shouts of the sisters and put every bit of force and command he could into his voice from his position on the floor. His chest streamed with fire from where Greer’s bullet had hit his vest, but he struggled to his feet. “Stand down! Do not shoot!”
He kept repeating himself, his voice echoing through the warehouse and on back into his ear via their comms.
As the adrenaline-fueled shouts of SWAT calmed, Tripp’s gaze swung frantically. And found Sadie huddled over her sister as one of the snipers worked on removing the ties holding Vikki in place.
Brody Higgins stood beside them both, his hands in the air and his eyes wide in his face as they kept shifting to Tate Greer’s lifeless form on the floor.
Flynn flew past Tripp into the warehouse, going straight to Vikki. The hostage negotiator working with SWAT was on his heels, moving to Brody. Tripp could do nothing but stand there, taking it all in even as the edges blurred so there was nothing to see but Sadie.
She’d done it.
She’d brought down Tate Greer and whatever was left of Capital X, and saved her sister. She’d known it was the right move and he’d doubted her.
Just like he’d doubted all along. Himself. His feelings. And all that was between them.
Sadie walked to him, moving in close but not touching. “It’s finally over.”
“All thanks to you.”
“And to you.” She tapped the vest. “I know a bullet to the vest isn’t lethal, but it hurts like hell.”
He laid a hand over hers. “I’m good.”
“Tripp. It’s over.” She dropped her hand and turned to survey the room that, in a matter of minutes, had transformed with several teams from the GRPD as well as the FBI. And, mixed in with them all, was a bunch of Coltons. “Brody killed Tate.”
“He did. And you were amazing.” Tripp could only stare at her, all the things he wanted to say stuck somewhere in the middle of his chest. He loved her.
And he wanted to be with her.
But hadn’t this showdown proved him right?
The world was dark and dangerous, and if he’d lost her, he would have been lost himself.
“I want to thank you, Tripp. For everything. You’re the reason I got out of Tate’s clutches at the lake. And you made sure I was safe after the hospital and the fire. Thank you.” She moved in closer, rising on tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.
It was more chaste than any they’d shared so far, but it packed a far greater punch.
Because in this kiss, he’d felt her goodbye.
* * *
Sadie was breaking apart inside as she stepped back, but she refused to give in. Refused to take it easy on Tripp and accept a relationship that was half measure. She loved him and she wanted a life with him. A whole life, not one loaded with strings or laden with fear.
They were strong and they were capable. And they channeled those qualities into doing a job that mattered. If there was danger tied to it, they’d both long accepted the personal risk. Each was entitled to be a person. To having a personal life.
And to finding and keeping love.
But she couldn’t tell him that. He had to find it all on his own. Had to understand it in his bones.
Riley rushed up to them. Oblivious to the quiet moment, he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug before stepping back and turning to Tripp. “McKellar. Wes Matthews bit.”
“Ashanti said she was close,” Sadie interjected.
“Closer than we realized. Matthews is smitten and decided to surprise her. He’s on a private plane landing in an hour in Florida. Ashanti’s already on a plane with the FBI. Chief Fox has a team already coming together to watch the takedown. He wants you there if you’re up for it.”
Tripp nodded at her brother before turning to Sadie. “I’m sorry.”
“Go. We’re done here.”
His gaze narrowed and she knew he’d heard exactly what she’d meant.
They were done.
Because she wasn’t living half a life any longer. She deserved better.
And so did he.
* * *
Tripp stared at the large screen in the GRPD’s biggest conference room, communications flowing fast and furious from the speakerphone in the center of the oversize table. Matthews’s plane would arrive in Florida in ten minutes. Air traffic control had already granted permission to land and the small aircraft was in final descent now.
He should feel triumphant. Satisfied. The RevitaYou case was nearly closed.
We’re done here.
Who knew Sadie’s comment would be so prophetic? Or as much about them as the case?
“Ashanti’s in position.” The an
nouncement flowed through his comm unit, Cooper’s voice calm as he relayed directives from inside the private terminal.
The takedown was all mapped out. Matthews was on US soil but he had to willingly go with Ashanti. Any appearance of coercion wouldn’t look good when this case finally went to trial.
Tripp had every confidence Ashanti could pull it off. She looked the part of a wealthy investor, her pretty skin set off to perfection against a winter-white suit.
“Plane’s on the ground.” Cooper affirmed through the comms.
And then they let it all roll.
Tripp listened to Ashanti’s smooth purr as she met Matthews for the first time. The lighthearted lines she drawled so effortlessly played to his ego and his intense love of old movies. She had a ready reference from Casablanca as they strolled from the terminal toward the waiting limousine outside.
And she was more than happy to channel Citizen Kane once she got him to the car.
But it was her last and final reference—to The Wizard of Oz—that put the Feds in motion. Just like they’d planned, the moment Ashanti confirmed they weren’t in Kansas anymore, Cooper and his team moved in.
Tripp wanted to enjoy it. Wanted to revel in the reality that this was all finally behind them.
Come Monday, he’d go back to his old life.
One that didn’t include spending his days with Sadie.
He heard the words flow through the speakerphone. Saw the video feed that matched up on the west wall. And cheered with the rest of the team when Cooper’s boss held his badge at eye level in Matthews’s face. “Wes Matthews, you’re under arrest.”
“Wh-what?” the man sputtered, his eyes shooting to Ashanti before swinging back to the large man standing much too close for comfort. “This is ridiculous. I’m here on a personal matter.”
Ashanti smiled then stepped back a few feet. “Actually, you’re here at the government’s request. I’m just doing my patriotic duty.”
Before Matthews could sputter out another word, Ashanti turned on one very fine heel and walked away.
Tripp knew her husband waited in another SUV a few feet beyond. A beloved Grand Rapids teacher, he was equally loved by his wife. And despite the thousand plus miles of distance, Tripp also knew what awaited Ashanti when she reached him.
Harlequin Romantic Suspense December 2020 Box Set Page 22