Chapter Thirty-Four
Reed answered his phone without looking at the number.
“The favors keep adding up, Reed.”
He dropped the fork that was halfway to his mouth. “What the—”
“Warehouse.” Sasha rattled off an address as he scrambled to find a pen. He wrote the information down on his hand.
“Is it Lori?” he asked.
“Her brother. Who all of you overestimated to be able to fend for himself.” Reed’s brief relief was followed by renewed panic.
“Why Danny? He doesn’t know anything.”
“Leverage. Desperate people do desperate things. Might wanna hurry. Petrov’s men are coming for the woman holding him, but will think of him as collateral damage and take the shot without asking. Bring backup. I draw the line at killing anyone for a job.”
“How many men?”
“She has two, I count three of Petrov’s goons. None of these men have tasted a carb in five years.”
“Stay out of the way.”
“Ahh, you care.”
He hung up in reply.
He walked right up to the terribly hidden camera in a vent, stared at it, and read off the address. “I don’t know what you guys are made of, but now is the time to bring it. They have Danny.”
And Reed was out the door.
His phone rang as he peeled out of the parking lot.
“Talk to me.”
“Sasha’s tip. They have Danny.”
“Who?” Neil asked.
“I’m guessing the woman Sam met with and two of her players. Minimum of three coming in to take her out.”
“And Dan?” Neil asked.
“She wants him alive. I doubt the others will care once bullets start flying.”
“We’re en route. You need to hold back.”
“The hell I will.” If something happened to Lori’s brother . . .
“Reed.”
“Bite me.”
“Fine, then at least duck.”
Lori and the girls were a tad cooked after the three-hour flight. The weekend had been exactly what she needed. Good friends, great conversation, and reflection did the job of refocusing her attitude.
They were waist deep in a conversation about the best series on Netflix when Cooper turned off the freeway after a brief conversation on his phone.
She ignored it and listened to Avery sing the praises of some fourth-dimensional world thriller based in the seventies.
“So the kid lives in the walls?” Shannon asked, trying to grasp the concept.
“No, in another dimension that parallels our world. But the thing that rules that world can seep through the walls.”
Lori noticed the freeway they were on and questioned their path. “Are we dropping Shannon off first?” Even if they were, they were going the wrong direction.
“Change of plans.” Cooper looked through the rearview mirror.
Lori followed his gaze, noticed a sedan close behind them.
“Are we being followed?”
“They’re with us.”
Both Shannon and Avery turned to see what they were talking about.
“Why?”
“There’s been an incident.”
Gooseflesh rose on her arms. “What kind of incident?”
“I don’t have the details. I’m taking you to the safe house.”
“What’s going on?” Avery asked.
They pulled directly into the garage of the Tarzana home Lori had frequently visited in the early years of Alliance. More than one employee had lived in the house, and while it wasn’t a traditional safe house, it was equipped with every possible monitoring and detection system available.
Cooper walked in before them, silenced the alarm, and waved them through the door.
Blackout curtains prevented anyone from seeing activity inside. The old windows had been replaced with bulletproof glass. The house was a kind of pet project for Neil and his team. They renovated from the inside out, placing sheets of metal between the walls to help stop bullets. While there had never been an actual shooting incident in the house, it had seen its fair amount of high-action drama over the years. Hence all the protection.
Cooper ran upstairs.
“What’s going on, Lori?” Avery asked.
“I don’t know.” She had a bad feeling.
“What is this place?”
“The original headquarters of Alliance. Sam lived here before she married Blake. Eliza . . . Neil’s wife, Gwen. Most of the employees have lived here at one point or another.”
Cooper double-timed down the stairs, this time holding a very large, very angry looking rifle.
Avery sat down hard on the sofa. Shannon placed a hand on her shoulder.
Somewhere in the back of her head, something rang repeatedly.
“Lori, is that your phone?”
She pulled out of her daze and found her purse.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Cumberland.” She didn’t recognize the voice.
“Who is this?” Her question drew the attention of everyone in the room.
“I have someone here who wants to talk to you.”
Air rushed into her lungs.
“Say hello . . .”
“Screw you.”
“Danny?” The sound of her brother’s muffled voice stopped her cold.
She heard the sound of someone hitting flesh.
“Danny!”
Cooper moved beside her and forced her to tilt the phone so he could hear the conversation.
“Yes, yes . . . I have your little brother. I’m quite sorry about his nose.”
“What do you want?”
“So cooperative, perfect. All I need is a signed copy of the contract Samantha forgot to give me last week.”
“A piece of paper.”
“Well, that and perhaps a copy of Katrina Petrov’s file. That would be gravy. Yes, I think your brother’s face can be spared further damage with the simple click of the mouse.”
“I’m not at my office.”
“Well then, you might want to get there quickly. You have thirty minutes.” The line went dead.
Lori grabbed her purse and started toward the garage.
Cooper cut her off. “Where are you going?”
“My office. I have to go to my office.”
He placed both hands on her shoulders. “No, Lori. You’re not walking into a trap.”
“They have Danny.” Her eyes were wide, autopilot was talking, and logic wasn’t entering her brain.
“And they will have Danny and not you, until we extract Danny.”
“What are you talking about?” She pushed around him.
Avery ran in front of her. “Hey, Mission Impossible woman . . . stop and think like a lawyer.”
Lights from outside lit up the living room as a car pulled into the driveway.
Shannon walked to the window and pulled back the blinds. “It’s Sam.”
Lori ran around the others and met Sam at the door.
“They have Danny.”
She placed both hands on Lori’s face. “It’s being handled.”
The image of Danny laughing as he joked about Thanksgiving and turkey legs brought tears to her eyes. “What do you mean handled?”
She pulled Lori to the couch. “Reed got a call.”
“Reed? What does he have to do with—”
“Neil and Rick are on their way to get him out now.”
“I don’t like this,” she cried.
Sam looked up. “Shannon, how about some coffee. Avery, there’s food in the fridge.”
Both women took the cue and left the room.
Sam ducked her head in. “Neil and Rick are going to get Danny out.”
“You’re sure?”
“They haven’t failed yet.”
“And Reed . . . where is he?”
Sam blinked a few times.
“Sam?”
“He’s there, too, Lori. On our side.”
Lori looked over to where Cooper stood by the window, his AR-15 held loosely in his arms.
Let them live . . . please, God, let them live.