“You’re right. Randall has more hate in his blood than any person, felon or otherwise, that I’ve ever met.”
Just then, the sound of something breaking rent the air, followed by a groan.
“Got you! Get in there.” That was Marco’s voice.
Nick pulled Talia close and murmured, “Stay very low and quiet. I have to make sure she’s okay. You’ll be all right here for a while.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Talia looked worried at being left alone but nodded bravely. He bent and kissed her forehead, then crept back past the shed and along the side of the house. A portion of the trellis was broken and hung in the tangled wisteria. It seemed as though Emma was caught trying to climb it.
Pushing through the gap, Nick found himself in a swimming pool area. The pool itself had a fence around it, and stairs on the outside of this went to a patio. Pulling himself onto the top of the fence, he leaped on to some railings and swung up onto the tiled courtyard. From here, he could see back down the section to where Talia was still hiding—if she'd listened to him. Several large windows looked out to this area, and he would be immediately spotted if he didn't move. He tried a few doors and found one open.
Hearing footsteps, he barely had time to find a closet to hide in when a connecting door was thrust open. Through the slit in the door, he watched Emma being thrown into the room. She hit the floor, and Nick was relieved when she immediately rolled to her feet, clasping her bloodied left arm. There had been no shot, but judging by the lethal-looking knife that Marco wielded, Emma had been stabbed. Her face was pale, but her eyes glittered. Another man entered, and the two of them positioned themselves on each side of the door.
Randall followed, and circling her, moved to sit behind an imposing desk. "So, my darling, Sarah, you helped them escape. I would like to know why, but first, I'd like to hear why you weren't on the ferry. Would you care to explain that for us, Dave?" There was a quiet menace to his voice, and he swung his chair towards the goon.
Dave looked surprised at the question, and taking a hesitant step towards the desk, stammered his reply. "I don't know, Boss. I got her a ticket and took her to the ferry."
"What I'd like to know is, did you see her get on the boat?"
"I.I.I thought she did, Boss. The ferry docked, and I watched her walk down the ramp. Sorry, Boss. I should have made sure she was still on it when it left." Dave was shaking now and hung his head.
"You're sorry, are you? Well, that's fine then. We now have goodness knows how many cops on the property and a shipment about to arrive. Still, you're sorry, and that makes everything okay. Right?" Randall's face was red, yet his words were icy.
"Yes, Boss. I mean no, Boss."
"I think, Marco, that Dave has helped our situation quite enough, don't you?" Randall raised his eyebrow and made a well-understood gesture.
Without uttering a word, Marco turned and shot Dave in the forehead. Blood splattered across the tiled floor, and as his body fell backward, a large red smear followed him down the wall.
Randall turned back to Emma, who had witnessed the cold-blooded murder and looked a little less sure of herself. "Now, my little Mata Hari, what are you going to tell me?" Although his voice was steady, his eyes held pure evil. He nodded at Marco, who, in a couple of strides, stood over her.
She tried to ignore his presence and looked pleadingly at Randall. "There's nothing to tell. I came back here to get my things. Dave wouldn't get my bag or clothes, and I needed them."
"You, my sweet, are a liar. If that were the case, you wouldn't have been caught climbing the trellis when Marco bumped into you. You've been a good employee up until now, but this is your last chance. Why did you come back here?"
"Marco, I'm telling the truth. I swear..."
She got no further as Marco leaned down and pushed her good arm aside to poke a finger in the knife wound. Emma screamed and looked ready to pass out.
Nick couldn't watch anymore. He dived out of the closet and shot Marco in the kneecap. Swiveling in the same movement, and in a matter of seconds, he fired again, this time at Randall. The crook moved too fast and was now hidden behind the desk. Nick turned back in time to see Marco, who'd fallen onto his good knee, pain evident in his face but also determination, raise his gun towards Emma.
Nick had no choice but to shoot him again. This time, he wasn't as careful. The bullet ripped through the man's chest. Fortunately, he fell onto Emma, protecting her from the bullet Randall fired over the top of the desk. Nick dived and shot at the same time, and the gun fell from Randall's hand. Blood seeped through his shirt, and his arm drooped at a strange angle. He leaned over the desk in an attempt to retrieve the weapon with his good hand.
"You'd better leave it there, Randall or the next gunfire will be the last you hear." Nick got to his feet and moved around the desk. He picked up the gun and tucked it into his pants. "Take off your belt and drop it on the desk."
Randall struggled, using his left hand to undo the buckle but eventually managed it, hatred for Nick in every glance.
"Sit down," Nick ordered.
As soon as he'd unwillingly complied, Nick holstered his weapon and, using the belt, proceeded to tie Randall's hands behind the chair. By the time he'd finished, the criminal was sweating and cursing under his breath. His elbow looked as though it had been shattered, and it must hurt like hell, but Nick couldn't have cared less. Randall was long overdue for a taste of his own medicine.
Through gritted teeth, Randall managed his next words. "You'd better finish this now because you, my friend, are a dead man. When the money doesn't appear, those guys will come looking for you, and you won't have a clue when or where it will happen. Trust me. You don't want to be on their bad side."
"Trust you? That's a laugh. I think I should meet these partners of yours and see how business is going." Nick ripped off a piece of his shirt and jammed it in Randall's mouth, using tape off the desk to bind it.
"Nick! When you've finished chatting with him, could you help me over here?" Emma implored him through gritted teeth.
She was still stuck beneath Marco and was fighting to push him off with her good arm. Nick hauled him to one side. He ripped another piece from the bottom of the goon's shirt, tied it around her wound, and then helped her to her feet. "How's the arm feeling? It looks like you've lost a bit of blood."
"Peachy. Just a scratch, really," Emma joked.
"Can you find the access panel to the front and back gates?"
"No problem. I know where it is, but what are you going to do?"
"I need to reach Talia and make contact with Jack. If you could manage to open the gates and then get back here, will you be okay to watch this guy for me?'
"Oh, please don't get all soppy on me. Just go, would you?"
"All right, but please be careful, Emma. There are still a few of these guys around somewhere, and I'd be surprised if those shots don't bring them."
"Understood. Now go."
Chapter Thirty
As Emma moved to the front of the house, Nick made his way to the back, which was the way he’d been brought in when he’d been captured, so it wasn’t too hard to find the right doors and passages.
The room in which he and Talia had been held was in sight, the door ajar. He needed more ammo but remembered the place had been bare, so he moved on. Another door began to open on his right, and he could hear voices, so he slid into the room opposite and stood behind the open door.
“I don’t understand, Tony. The boss isn’t answering.”
“Don’t panic. I said I’d go and take a look. Make sure you lock this door and keep an eye on that radar. The boat’s not too far away now, and the boss will want to be there to welcome his visitors.”
The man hurried up the passage, and as soon as he rounded the corner, Nick ran to the rapidly closing door.
“That was quick.”
Before the man could turn, Nick gave him a chop to the neck, sending the goon toppling to the floor.
Quickly shutting the door, Nick locked it. When he looked around, he let out a low whistle. Security cameras flicked between half a dozen settings, and below the duplicate screens were a variety of dials and switches. How these idiots were not aware of the situation unfolding, he had no idea but sent a quick prayer of thanks, anyway.
A screen, which was obviously the previously mentioned radar, blipped every few seconds, but apart from that, there was complete silence. The room must be soundproof, which would explain why no one had arrived after the shooting.
He studied some of the dials and decided they must operate the cameras. Moving one tentatively, he was rewarded by one of the screens changing the direction of its outlook. He found the one closest to where Talia should be and zoomed in. She was gone. Not totally surprised, he was still annoyed.
Then the man on the floor began to stir. Nick searched the room and found a length of wire, which he used to tie his hands and feet together. While there was no real need to worry about him yelling and being heard, there happened to be a roll of masking tape on a shelf, so he slapped some on the guy’s mouth with satisfaction.
Getting back to the surveillance system, he panned the camera that covered the back gates. He could see the reflection of water in the distance. The tide was right out, which meant the other henchmen would be down at the water’s edge, waiting for the drugs. They would, of course, be expecting Randall and Marco to be there for the handover, which—he looked at his watch—gave him about twenty minutes to get Talia to safety and then return to the beach. Even if he came across her very soon, there wasn’t enough time.
Searching the other areas with the cameras, he couldn’t find anyone else. In their earlier casing of the place, they’d noted that, at any one time, there were about a dozen people on the premises, including a maid and a cook. He could probably discount those two being armed.
He made a mental tally: potentially ten gunmen plus whomever the drug runner had on the boat minus the three upstairs and this one down here. Looking better, he thought, but the odds were still not favorable. Besides, to finish this business, he had to make sure the boat landed, that they came ashore with the goods and then had no possible chance of escaping. Otherwise, this was all for nothing.
A row of switches indicated the lights around the garden. Flicking several, Nick was relieved to watch them shut down, especially those on the back gate.
But where was Talia? And where the heck was Jack? The Boy Wonder was usually on to it, but he’d been missing for some time now. Nick had a sinking feeling his protégé had met with foul play, which meant he was pretty much on his own. He hoped his backup team had been informed, or at the very least, had taken some action since the last time they’d been in contact. Nick checked his phone – nothing. He quickly texted Jack, Where the hell are you?
He wasn’t going to fix anything wishing or waiting for help – it was time to do something or forget about it. He opened up several containers and found an array of weapons. Shouldering a semi-automatic, he slipped an ugly-looking knife into his waistband and filled his pockets with ammo for the gun in his holster. As an after-thought, he slipped a roll of tape into his pocket. He wanted to take more, but there was no sense in loading himself up so much that he couldn’t move quickly.
Looking once more at the cameras that showed the still-shut gates, he carefully unlocked the door and peered up the hall. Taking the chance that neither Tony nor any of the others were returning, he sprinted to the outside.
~~~
She’d lain there for ten minutes, heard the shooting, and made her decision. Nick and Emma wanted the deal to go down. Talia understood their reasoning and wished them luck, but Chloe was her priority. She had to find her before things got worse. Having no idea if Nick was alive, she needed to harden her heart and force down the fear if she was going to carry out what she came here to do.
Following the direction the other two had taken, she came to the broken trellis. Being lighter than the others, she took a chance and crept up the piece still attached to the fence. Halfway up, she managed to grab a low-hanging tree branch and swung up into the canopy. A large deck was at eye level, but a gap of at least six feet separated her from it.
This was her first chance to use the training Kirk had put her through. She walked backward along a heavy bough until she was hard up against the trunk. Then, running as fast as the gnarled branch would allow, Talialaunched herself at the top railing of the deck. Just as she thought she wouldn’t make it, her fingers grabbed hold, her body slapped against the concrete and knocked the wind out of her. Nearly losing her grip, she hung for a moment to get her breath back, then pulled herself up and over, crouching low to get her bearings.
There was no sound apart from a slight breeze rustling the leaves. She crept towards the ranch slider, and it opened with a sigh. It appeared to be the main bedroom. Yes, there was Randall’s jacket on the back of the chair. If Randall slept here, then wouldn’t Chloe be close?
There was an ensuite but no adjoining bedroom. The few times he’d bothered with Talia since the birth, he’d never liked Chloe to be too near, even as a baby. It looked like she’d have to search the whole place. Poking her head down the hall, she saw several doors, just as the plans had shown. Searching them all was going to take a while.
The first room was a bathroom where a short, skinny man was finishing at the sink. He looked at her with his mouth in a perfect O.
Talia reacted first and punched him on the jaw. He retaliated with one to her stomach. It hurt like hell. Grunting with the pain, she managed to put enough power in a kick to his groin. The man went down like a sack of potatoes, hands clasped to the offending area, and she kneed him in the nose. She felt and heard the break as blood erupted, and he slumped unconscious to the floor.
How long he’d be out for, she had no idea, but she hoped it would be long enough for her to search the other rooms. And fingers crossed that she didn’t come across any more of Randall’s men.
Talia had come to the last door when a hand snaked across her mouth. She struggled at first, but when he turned her to face her assailant, she stopped immediately.
“You frightened me,” she whispered as he took his hand away.
“And you frightened me. I told you to stay in the garden,” Nick hissed at her.
“I couldn’t. I had to know if Chloe was here. Randall said she is, but I can’t find her.” Annoyingly her mouth quivered.
“Randall has been known to lie. Did you find any evidence of her?” Nick’s voice softened.
“No, nothing.”
“He probably sent her away before the deal for her safety, don’t you think?”
“Randall doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”, Talia was upset that Chloe wasn’t here but also relieved. It would have been terrible for her daughter to witness the bloodshed that had begun and would probably continue tonight. “Are you all right? How’s Emma? I heard shots.”
“We’re both fine, but there’s no time to fill you in right now. Randall’s tied up downstairs, and I have to make sure the deal takes place. I want you far away when it all goes down. Will you trust me?”
“Given the situation, I don’t think I have a choice.”
He smiled his relief at her agreement. “Follow me to the gate. Emma should have it opened by now. Stay behind me and keep to the shadows. As soon as we’re through, you need to go back up the beach, but not to the house. I’ll come and find you when I can.”
“You better. It seems I quite like having you around after all,” Talia said softly.
Chapter Thirty-One
When Talia looked up at him with those big eyes, he couldn't help himself. He pulled her to him and kissed her hungrily, even though he feared for her safety. It felt right to steal this moment because who knew how this night would end. If this were a different place and time, he'd struggle to stop with a single amazing kiss that made the world fade for the briefest second. Maybe it was the adrenalin, but he wanted her so bad.
>
Shaking his head at the madness, and not having a clue what to say to her about it, Nick led her the way he'd come until they were once more outside.
They crept along the back fence until the gate loomed before them. As they slithered through the opening, Nick said a silent thanks to Emma. Staying close to the wall, he moved along it with Talia holding tight to his shirt. As soon as he touched grass, he pushed her down onto it, crouching beside her.
"Please wait here. I'll be back as soon as I can," he whispered.
He gave her another lingering kiss and walked back to the beach, where several shapes appeared in the distance.
"Is that you, Dave?" One of them separated from the group and started back towards him.
"Uh-huh," Nick grunted.
"The boat's coming in now. You shouldn't be here. Better get the boss, mate. Just wave at the camera on the fence, and Steve will call through to him. And find out what's happened to the damn lights, will you? Some of the guys are getting a bit jittery."
Nick walked back to the gate slowly and, as if sensing something was not right, the man followed.
"How come the gates are open? I said. . . Hey! You're not Dave."
Nick turned and pushed his gun into the man's chest and spoke softly, but in a voice, he hoped conveyed that he wasn't expecting an argument. "Nope, I'm not Dave, but he'd like you to join him. Just walk through the gates like there's no problem." He pushed harder when the guy hesitated. "Don't even think about it. I know the odds aren't good for me, but this gun says they're quite a bit worse for you." The man walked through, and Nick took him to where they'd hidden earlier. He used the man's belt to tie his hands, then taped his mouth and, just for good measure, taped him to the tree. "Just relax here for a bit." He patted him on the head and returned to the gate, hiding in its shadow.
When We Break Page 13