Erick Read online

  This time he heard a slight squeak as Brandon caught her and removed her.

  Laszlo rejoined Erick. The two exchanged a hard look as they slipped up to another door. Hearing voices behind it, they realized they needed a diversion, something to bring the men out of that room. He looked at the open door across the hall, reached out and quickly slammed it shut. Instantly footsteps could be heard inside the room with voices.

  Men bolted from the room. Laszlo took down the first one; Erick caught the second one. But while they were still knocking out their opponents, somebody in a calm, low voice said, “I wouldn’t do that, boys.”

  Shit. With his man already down and out cold, Erick eased back on his heels and stared up at a man he’d never seen before. He frowned. “What’s your stake in all this?”

  “I just want to talk,” the other man said quietly.

  “So you kidnap an innocent woman just so you can talk? What’s wrong with your phone?”

  The other man shrugged. “It wasn’t quite that way. David wanted something in return. He wants your lady all to himself. Part of the deal is she’s to be delivered to his place when this is all over.”

  Erick already hated David for what he had done. But that extra bit of news almost sent Erick over the edge. And maybe that showed on his face because the man turned the pointed end of his machine gun at him. “I don’t care if you like it or not. We have a few things to settle up. Then, if we come to an agreement, you’ll save your lady.”

  “And just what agreement is that?” Erick straightened ever-so-slowly. He knew Talon, possibly Merk, and definitely Cade were out there somewhere. Hopefully Brandon had managed to move Honey back to safety. Particularly as no one knew where David was at this time. Erick had to trust Brandon and focus on the job at hand. “What questions?”

  “Why are you here?”

  Erick tilted his head and studied him. “Because we think somebody betrayed us, and it got my unit blown to hell.” At the surprised gleam in the man’s eyes, Erick realized this really had nothing to do with why he and his team were here. He shook his head. “You don’t know anything about it, do you?”

  The man’s eyebrows lifted and then drew together. “No, I don’t.”

  The two men stared at each other. “So why are you after us?” Erick asked.

  “I am afraid you might have seen something you shouldn’t have,” the man said smoothly.

  Laszlo spoke up. “We didn’t see any weapons cache, which is what you were afraid of, according to the man you sent after me.”

  The man drew his gaze to Laszlo. “What weapons cache?”

  Erick laughed. “Exactly. We have zero interest in your weapons cache. We didn’t see it. We don’t know anything about it, and, if your man hadn’t popped up with his big mouth, we still wouldn’t know anything about it. We’re trying to find whoever planted that antitank land mine, and on whose orders it was planted.”

  In spite of himself the gunman looked intrigued. “Interesting,” he said. “You really think it was one of the men from your side? US military?”

  Erick nodded slowly. “Yes, we just don’t know who.”

  “How many were in the vehicle at the time?”

  “Eight,” Laszlo said. “One of our unit died.”

  “Only one? With an antitank land mine?”

  Erick nodded. “I know, right? It should have taken us all out.”

  “And maybe you should be questioning that.”

  Erick studied him. “Why?”

  “Because it would appear that whoever was driving deliberately drove off to the side, so that, if there were any injuries, they wouldn’t be too bad.”

  “They were bad. All of us were bad.”

  The man studied them, checked their arms and legs, frowning. “Doesn’t look like it was that bad.”

  “Two years of surgeries, implants, therapy. And some things we’ll never ever get over. Once there’s even a suggestion of betrayal, you know what you would do.”

  The man studied Erick for a long moment, then gave a quick nod. “I’d take out the viper who did this to me.”

  “Exactly, but we’re still in the process of finding out who it was.”

  The gunman nodded. “The thing is, I need to make sure you have nothing to do with me.”

  “Why would you even think we did?”

  “Because you were close to it a few days ago.”

  “When we were driving around, looking for the accident site?”

  Instead of nodding, the gunman shrugged. “You were seen. And you were too close for comfort.”

  The fact he was even telling them wasn’t good. Because how would he believe they would not go back to the accident site just to find his cache?

  “Unless you had anything to do with planting that land mine, then we don’t care about your cache,” Laszlo snapped. “We have one thing on our mind, and that’s vengeance.”

  “Revenge is a dish best served cold,” the gunman said in a very soft tone. “But sometimes revenge is best left alone.”

  Erick kept trying to process what was happening here. “So you don’t know anything about it?” he asked carefully. “Did you buy the land mine?”

  The gunman looked at him, his gaze narrowing.

  Erick wasn’t sure if he was trying to think back or if something else was going on instead.

  But the gunman gave a shake of his head. “I bought several over the last decade, but I can’t say for sure if one I bought was used against your unit. I’d have to check what’s in my cache.”

  In other words, he wasn’t willing to tell.

  “And of course you wouldn’t tell us even if you did,” Laszlo said, his voice sharp, ugly.

  The weapon casually turned in the direction of Laszlo.

  The trouble was, with that weapon, it would be easy to take them both out, and they’d never even know what hit them. If he shot Laszlo first, of course Erick would be on the gunman in a second, but not before he took several bullets himself. And that wasn’t how he wanted this day to end.

  “So what would it cost us for you to source out some information as to who might have planted it? And if they did so on their own or on someone’s orders?” Erick asked in a business tone.

  The gunman looked at him in surprise. “Discretion is everything.”

  “And gets you a bullet in the back someday when you don’t see it coming, I suppose?”

  The gunman nodded. “So the cost would be very high.”

  Erick stepped back. “But then you rule that area, don’t you? So, in theory, nothing happens that you don’t know about?”

  Again the gunman nodded. “That doesn’t mean I know all the details,” he said smoothly. “When I give an order, I do so knowing it will be completed fast and efficiently.”

  It was almost impossible to see the gunman’s face. He had a hat on and a scarf pulled up high. But still the bit Erick could see, he’d never seen before.

  “And yet, in this case, maybe this wasn’t done by your orders. But by someone who used you as a cover?” Laszlo’s voice was low, contemplative.

  The gunman’s face grew taut. Anger glinted in his gaze.

  “Sounds like someone might have plans he didn’t let you in on,” Erick said.

  The smile the gunman gave him wasn’t one he liked the look of.

  Erick shook his head. “We’re not after you. We’re after the asshole who did this to us. Maybe behind your back even. Do you really want him out there potentially pulling another deal like this on you? In your region? This is likely someone you know. Someone who works for you.”

  The gunman’s face froze, and Erick nodded. “Think about that. Our betrayer blew up his friends. The men he trained with, the men who watched and guarded his back all these years. And he was happy to blow us all up—and for what?”

  “That’s a good question. Why did he do this?”

  Erick shook his head. “If we knew that, we’d know who did it. But, because we don’t know the motivation, we�
��re left with very few answers.”

  But he’d gotten the gunman thinking.

  Now to push him a little further. “Just think about that. Do you have any new men on your team in the last couple years? Anybody who’s swiftly moving up the ranks? Somebody who’s gotten close to you in a very short time frame?”

  The gunman frowned at him, his gaze narrowed. “It won’t be one of my men,” the gunman snapped. “They’re all trustworthy.”

  “Like mine were?”

  The gunman’s gaze chilled even more.

  Erick studied him. “You know you can’t trust anybody in your business. And that includes your second-in-command and everybody down the line from there.”

  But the gunman gave his head a shake. “I won’t listen to your lies anymore. You’re trying to turn me against my own men.”

  “I’m not. I’m trying to get you to see you’re in danger yourself. Because whoever did this is trying to hide their tracks. And, if he happens to be a newer part of your operation, that you’ve even taken one of us hostage will make him worry that we’d talk. That we’d say something to you that we shouldn’t. Maybe he won’t consider it a danger right away, but it will fester in his mind. Then he’ll start pondering how to tie off the dangling threads that could catch up to him. His mind will start working on it—the how, when and what he can do to make sure he comes out on top at the end.”

  One of the men on the floor groaned and tried to stand up again. Erick placed a boot on the man’s neck, forcing him flat. “Stay down.”

  The guy on the floor looked up at him, and then he saw the boss standing there with the gun. “Boss?”

  At the front of the building, a door slammed. The gunman raised his weapon toward Laszlo and Erick again. “Yours?”

  Erick looked at Laszlo. Laszlo looked at Erick. They both shrugged. “It’s possible.” And then Erick thought about it, shaking his head. “Hell no, it isn’t. We’d never make that kind of noise.”

  Now they heard the pop of gunfire in the front area.

  The boss man stepped back into the room with its well-oiled hinges on the door. “We might need to talk again.”

  Erick raised an eyebrow. “Anytime. But feel free to text me instead.”

  The man gave him a grim smile. “If only life were that easy. I know how to find you.”

  More gunfire sounded in the outer area.

  Erick could feel his muscles tense, waiting for the right moment, but the gunman surprised him.

  The boss lowered his weapon and fired a bullet into each of his two men on the floor. And then he slammed shut the office door with the silent hinges, leaving them in the hallway.

  “Shit.” Erick bent down, but, of course, it was useless. The man he had knocked out and was even now holding down with his foot had taken a bullet right to the top of his head. Same for the other man on the floor, who was technically dead already. Erick glanced at Laszlo; the two of them looked at the rear exit, looked at the oiled door, and then looked toward the main part of the building where the gunfire came from. They then shared a long look. They had to make a choice, and they had to make it now.

  Chapter 12

  The change of guard happened so fast, but Honey wasn’t exactly sure what had happened when she had been urged to run down to the street corner. They were heading away from the building where both Laszlo and Erick were. She looked over at the stranger. “Why should I trust you?”

  He glanced at her and grinned. “Glad you are questioning. I’m Brandon. I know Badger and Kat. Although I haven’t worked with Erick before, I do know Talon and a few of the other men in the unit. I’m currently employed by Legendary Security. We’re all former SEALs and handle security issues all over the world.”

  She wasn’t sure what to think of that. It sounded impressive, but she’d seen a lot of strangers lately, and very few had her welfare in mind. “Where are you taking me?”

  He pointed to the end of the block. “We’ll get you picked up once we round the corner here.”

  “How do you know more men aren’t coming after us?”

  “Cade and Talon were coming in the front door just as we were about to leave. So chances are good it’s already over with inside.”

  “In which case, who’s driving the vehicle?” she countered.

  They’d been jogging for several hundred yards already. She kept looking behind, wishing Erick was coming out after her. Or even Laszlo. It’s not that she couldn’t trust this man; she just didn’t know him.

  A vehicle drove up in front of her. The driver said, “Get in.”

  She didn’t have much choice. She was bundled up inside; Brandon joined her, and the vehicle took off. But again, it was another stranger driving. She leaned forward and asked, “Who are you?”

  He slanted her a gaze. “I’m Merk. Another friend of the group.”

  She settled back nervously, her gaze going from one to the other. Something was very solid and competent about these men. And they certainly hadn’t tried to hurt her yet. But they weren’t exactly keeping her close to the others. “I don’t want to leave without the other men,” she exclaimed, twisting to look behind her.

  “We aren’t. I’m just getting you to a safe place.”

  Just then Merk’s phone went off. He answered, “What’s up?” He listened for a second. “Yes, we have Honey.” He glanced over at Brandon. “He shot his own men?” Another moment of silence. “Okay, we’re heading back around to the front. Let’s hope it’s all over with by the time we get there,” he said with a joking tone. “You’ve already ruined my night’s sleep.”

  She studied the two men in fascination. “You always come when they call?”

  “When any of our friends are in need of a helping hand, then we come,” Merk said. “The world is completely effed up these days, and sometimes the good guys need a little bit of assistance.”

  She couldn’t argue with that logic.

  At the next corner, Merk took a right and then another right until they were at the front of the building.

  A vehicle was parked in front of them. “Is that ours?” she asked.

  “It is.” Merk shut off the engine, and the two men sat and studied the building across from them.

  Honey asked, “Shouldn’t you guys go in there and help them?”

  Brandon gave her a bark of laughter. “I’ll head over, Merk. You keep her here.” Brandon opened the car door and hopped out.

  Before she realized it, he was gone. She glanced around. “Where the hell did he go?”

  “You told him to go help Erick,” Merk said, his tone bland.

  She glared at him. “You guys all have a really lousy sense of humor.”

  He chuckled. “So, Erick’s a friend, is he?”

  She glared at him, slumping back in the seat and crossing her arms over her chest. “More so of a friend now than when I first met him,” she admitted.

  “How did you meet?”

  She snickered. “I crunched his ’69 Mustang.”

  Shocked silence filled the vehicle. Merk pivoted in the front seat to stare at her in horror. “You did what?”

  She laughed. “It was a year ago, and obviously it wasn’t a great first meeting. He has mostly fixed the Mustang again, and insurance did cover it.”

  But from the look on Merk’s face, that didn’t make him feel any better.

  She leaned forward. “It was an accident.”

  He gave a quick head shake and said, “Wow, I’m surprised he’s even talking to you.”

  “Well, he wasn’t for a long time,” she said, “but something about seeing me at the hotel when he was here on his own private revenge mission seems to have shifted things.”

  He studied her for a long moment. “You know about his mission?”

  Realizing she still didn’t know who Merk was, she glared at him.

  He nodded. “Smart girl.”

  “I’m not a girl.”

  He chuckled. “I’ve got to tell you an awful lot of women in my ci
rcle of friends would agree with you. They would have had me on the floor in a headlock for having called you a girl.”

  “I think I’d like them,” she said. “Men are always assuming women are girls.”

  Just then the sound of gunfire came from across the road.

  She gasped, plastered her face against the window, trying to see clear. “You should go help them,” she announced.

  “I would if they needed it,” he said easily. “But they don’t.”

  “How do you know that?” she wailed. “I don’t want anybody hurt.”

  “If they need help, they’d call me.”

  “They don’t have that spare thirty seconds to call you,” she said. “Maybe I should go.” Instantly the locks on the doors clicked shut. She leaned forward. “That’s just mean.”

  His tone grim, he said, “The minute you start talking about walking into a gunfight when you’re the one without a weapon, then it’s necessary.”

  She glared at him. “Then you go.”

  He shook his head. “My job is to keep you safe. Or have you forgotten that someone expects you to be delivered to his doorway?”

  A gasp escaped, then she got spitting mad. “That asshole needs to pay for that.”

  “He will. But I don’t want Erick getting into trouble, as he’s likely to kill David. He wanted quality time with him and that’s not going to happen. I’ve already got MI6 contacting the Afghanistan government about David. I received word a little bit ago that they were on their way to pick him up for questioning.”

  “Oh my. You guys are fast,” she crowed in delight. “Make sure he can’t kidnap another woman—and worse.”

  “He’s likely to lose his credibility and his career over this. But the courts here are different. I can’t guarantee he’ll get prison time, but he won’t walk away scot-free.”

  She pondered David’s fate. Was it enough? No, not likely, but it was what it was, and she’d make peace with that. She needed to ensure Erick let it be too. Then another thought crossed her mind as she realized how long they’d been sitting in the vehicle. “What if I don’t want to be safe if that means the men are all hurt?”

  His face softened. “You really care, don’t you?”