CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Crystal’s heartbeat slowed and her vision blurred in and out as she tried to gain her bearings. That was without a doubt the craziest vision she’d had yet, but since she’d never been wrong before, she knew the impossible was about to happen.
“What do you mean, a setup?” Max asked her.
“This. All of this isn’t what it seems.” She grabbed his hand. “Come on, we need to talk to the sheriff.”
Chase and Doc followed on their heels as she raced across the concrete. Ripley sprinted from behind the house in his canine form and joined them in front of the bright headlights of the SWAT van.
“Sheriff,” she called out as she neared. “Sheriff, wait. This is a diversion, a setup. There’s more going on here than you know.”
His bushy brows lowered. “What do you mean?”
“This is all a ruse. A way to gather as many first responders in one area as possible and away from the real crime taking place.”
He blinked at her as if she were the one who needed to be locked up, but not in a jail cell. “And what crime is that?”
“Bank robbery. Two of them.” She closed her eyes to recall more specifics of the locations. “The Bank of America downtown, and the Madden Bank on West 13th.” At the mention of his father’s bank, Max froze.
Lancaster heaved a long and heavy sigh and cocked his head. “And what makes you think that?”
She didn’t hesitate in her response. “I saw it. I’m psychic.”
“Right,” he drawled out thick as molasses.
Seriously? After all she had done for him. Either he believed her or he didn’t, but they didn’t have time for this shit.
“Don’t you see?” She turned to Max, knowing he’d understand. “Don’t you think it’s odd that a simple drug bust turned into a major standoff that required not only the SWAT team but the bomb squad on the same night as two bank robberies are set to take place? I don’t know the logistics, but I feel they’re connected. Maybe Eggers planted his family here on purpose.”
She snapped her fingers. “Ah wait, I get it now. His brothers. That’s why they’re here, to create more confusion. So while all available units are here, two banks are being cleaned out. And with the way the world is now, the only story that will be in tomorrow’s papers will be this story about the police persecuting a black family and causing a race riot.”
“That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard,” Lancaster exploded.
Max straightened, ready for action. “Are the robberies going on right now?”
“There was a clock on the wall that read twelve-thirty.”
“It’s almost midnight now. Network, what did you find out about Eggers’s phone?”
“Damn, the girl beat me to the good stuff.” Addison laughed with admiration. “Eggers is receiving and sending phone calls to three locations. The first is to a phone number to the satellite phone belonging to the police. The second is to a phone owned by Jeff Eggers. The third is to a prepaid cell, so I can’t determine the owner, but the signal is coming from West 13th.”
“That’s where Madden Bank is,” Doc pointed out.
“Who are you people talking to and what is going on?’ Lancaster bit out. His chest heaved with the struggle to remain in control as his color began to rise again.
Max smiled. “A very good intelligence gatherer. Prism is correct. All of this was staged to bring as much law enforcement together in one location. Eggers is on the phone with someone at the Madden Bank location and to his brother Jeff. I’d bet Mr. Eggers would have some very interesting information if we questioned him.”
“You expect me to just believe you in all of this?”
Max spread out his arms. “Have I ever steered you wrong? What would it hurt to ask him?”
The sheriff’s lip curled in a snarl before his shoulders lowered. “No, you haven’t.” He pointed his long finger at them. “But that is the only reason I’ll go along with this. Plus, it might be the only possibility to end this stalemate,” he muttered, more to himself. “Davis. Bring the brothers over here.”
“Deputy,” Crystal called out. “Be nice. Their job is to cause chaos and get the crowd on their side. Tread lightly.”
He nodded and disappeared around the van. A few minutes later Davis returned with a second deputy and the Eggers brothers, who looked ready to rumble. Both men walked with a strut and a glint in their eyes that warned others to keep their distance. It was very effective, Crystal thought as she shuffled back a step.
The taller of the two raked his gaze over Crystal and the others and sneered. “Yo, man, Halloween was weeks ago.”
“Gentlemen,” Lancaster began.
“Excuse me, Sheriff,” Max interrupted. “Prism has a talent at extracting information. Let her have the first shot at it.” Curiosity narrowed Lancaster’s eyes before he nodded. “Gentlemen, would you mind if this young lady touched your arm? In the most respectful and plutonic way, of course.”
“You want a piece of this, sweet thang?” Jeff Eggers asked and ran his palms over his chest down to his beer belly.
“What part of ‘respectful’ didn’t you understand?” the sheriff growled.
“I’ll be all right, Sheriff,” she said, mindful of Max’s posture. He was a trap ready to spring, with his shoulders down and his arms hanging at his sides. If anyone made a move on her, she was certain they would find themselves flung across the street in less than a heartbeat. “May I?”
“For a pretty girl like you, sure.” Jeff reached for her, but she dodged his hand and placed her fingertips on his forearm.
The outside world shrank away as she sorted through the images and sound bites in his mind. “The brothers were contacted by a man Jeff did time with in Walla Walla state prison. He goes by the name of Big Tim.” She paused to roll her eyes. “He’s short, Asian, about five-five, thin. Scar across his chin.”
“What the fuck?” Jeff tried to pull away, but she tightened her fingers around his arm.
“The offer was to draw the police and SWAT team out with a phony hostage situation. Jeff was supposed to be the decoy but knew that his wife would kill him if he endangered his children. William offered up his family in return for half the money.”
“Bitch, let go,” Jeff demanded in a panicked voice that came from deep in his chest and pulled away. That was fine with her. She had seen enough.
“Big Tim was the one who gave the fake intel to the police to incite the warrant. In return for their efforts, these two received two hundred grand a piece.” She rubbed her palm against her thigh. “Funny. I didn’t see anything in regards to the bank robberies in his memories.”
All the men around her looked at her as if she had flashed a blinding light in their eyes, except Max, who faced her with a smile at the corners of his mouth. “Well done.”
“You’re spewing nonsense, bitch. You can’t prove any of that,” Jeff spat at her in a trembling voice.
Her cat-ate-the-canary grin made him blink twice. “I might not be able to, but the copy you made of the instructions Big Tim mailed you tucked into the chest in the attic of your home can. It’s under your grandfather’s military dress suit and next to the large stash of your personal weed. Is that any way to show respect to a veteran?”
The man turned ashen as his brother whispered, “Holy shit.”
Lancaster blinked long and slow, his stunned gaze focused on Crystal. “What did you just do? Read his mind?”
“No.” She smiled. “Just his memories.”
“Right.” He rocked back on his heels.
“No. Really.”
A shrill ring coming from Jeff Eggers’s pocket made them all jump.
She exchanged a questioning glance with Max. Could this be another call from William?
“Speak of the devil,” Addison announced in their earpieces. “That call is coming from the house.”
Max chuckled. “Sheriff, I have a hunch that’s William right now.”
Lancaster looked to his deputy. “Did you check them for weapons before bringing them over?”
“Yes, sir.”
He gestured to Eggers. “Go on. Answer it. On speakerphone.”
“No.” Jeff shook his head. “It can go to voicemail.”
“Answer it. Or I will get a warrant and check the records in a matter of days.”
“Or I can do this,” Addison said. “Let’s see if I have the coding right.”
“Jeff? Jeff, man, are you there?” They all froze when William Eggers’s voice came from his brother’s pocket.
“I think that worked,” Crystal whispered.
Addison snickered. “Oh, I am good. Let me try to turn up the volume.”
“Brother, it’s about to go down.” Panic laced the brittle tone of William’s voice. “I need you to make some more noise. Do ya hear me? It’s going down.”
“Dude, man,” Kevin Eggers squawked and tackled his brother. “Turn it off. Turn it off!”
“Right.” Max clapped his hands together as the police dealt with the feuding brothers. “I think we’ve heard enough. Wouldn’t you say, Sheriff? How’s this for a plan? Therian—”
“Now just a minute,” Lancaster shouted, his hands raised. “I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but this is still my investigation. I am not going to let a bunch of civilians run around all half-cocked like Dirty Harry.”
Max turned to face Lancaster with his lips in a white line. She felt his impatience to find out what was happening at one of his father’s banks, and it knotted her stomach as if it were her own. He wanted Madden so badly, she was surprised he hadn’t run off at the mere mention of his father. The longer they stayed on the scene, the tighter Max was going to twist in the wind until he snapped like a string on a kite caught in a storm.
“I see your point, Sheriff,” he said tightly. “But I ask that you indulge me. We’re the best chance you have of ending this standoff quickly.”
The exceedingly polite address seemed to have worked on the sheriff, until Lancaster drew his gun, his armed hand hanging loose at his side. “It’s been a long day, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the little missy here can read minds and see the future. I really don’t want to arrest you, but you need to stand down now.”
“No need for threats.” Max waved his finger back and forth, levitating the gun out of the sheriff’s hand and placing it back into the holster. “I’ll make you a deal. If I don’t end this peacefully in under a minute, you can shoot me.”
Max turned to the rest of them, leaving Lancaster to gape at the re-holstered gun. “Therian, I want you to ease your way to the front door. I’ll blow it open, and Intrepid will run inside to grab the kids. Take out Eggers however you need to, but alive would be preferable. Doc, Prism, get the Rovers ready. We’re out of here as soon as the children are safe. Network, on my mark, take out cell service for at least two minutes. I don’t want anyone doing a live feed. Speculation is better than proof where we’re concerned. Ready, everyone?” Ripley barked as they all nodded. “Places.”
He caught Crystal’s arm as she turned. “Prism, the kids will be all right. I promise.” The conviction in his voice matched the intensity in his eyes.
She took a deep breath and let it out, slow and smooth. Protect the innocent. That was the most important thing. Even with the events of the evening speeding by fast enough to make her head spin, the fact that Max was still holding tight to that rule, despite the drive to find out more about Madden, calmed her nerves and snapped her focus into place.
Her lips tingled with the desire to plant a good-luck kiss on him, but she squeezed his hand instead. “I know. I have faith in you.”
His lips twitched as he nodded and squeezed her hand back. “Get the car ready.”
Once in the Rover, she cranked the heat to high even though her chills weren’t caused by the cold. In her heart she knew the men would end this quickly and safely, but it would be a lot easier to watch if she already knew how this particular scenario ended.
Ripley’s German shepherd crawled through the shadows along his belly up the porch stairs and settled to the right of the front door.
Lancaster directed his men to stand down. Uncertainty pinched his face as he watched Max and Chase go over the plan one more time.
The clouds parted to bathe them in pale moonlight. The silvery glow slid along the leather of their black coats, casting them as ethereal warriors before a battle.
As a unit, the masses all fell silent as if sensing that the standoff was about to come to a dramatic end.
The sudden quiet snagged the attention of William Eggers. “Stay back,” he shouted through the cracked open window. “Anyone comes near and I’ll blow us all up.”
“On my count,” Max said, his feet apart, his arms at ease.
Crystal’s throat closed as her muscles tensed in anticipation.
“Three. Two. One.”
Max’s hand shot out at the same time Chase took off. The door blew open, coming completely off its hinges. Before the dust and debris settled, Chase streaked back outside with both children tucked under his arms.
Ferocious barking followed as Ripley lunged into the house for Eggers and sank his sharp fangs into the man’s forearm, dragging him to his knees onto the porch.
Eggers howled and struggled, his gun falling to the wayside as the sickening crack of his arm breaking echoed into the night. Ripley dropped the broken limb and stood on Eggers’s neck with his heavy paw.
Max turned to Lancaster with a bored sigh. “I believe it’s safe to enter the house now.”
The silence that followed stretched like a taut rubber band ready to snap.
Lancaster’s mouth worked up and down before he could finally utter a choked wheeze. “Wha—?”
“Excuse me, Sheriff.” Chase nodded at the children squirming in his hold. “Is there a social services agent around?”
“What?” He blinked rapidly then the man-in-charge hardness returned to his expression. “Oh. Yes. Right. Davis, get your men in there. Where’s that social worker?”
People everywhere flew into action. Police and medics rushed to Eggers while the crowd shouted in awe and disbelief at what they just witnessed. The door blowing open could have been explained with explosives, but Chase had those children in his arms faster than anyone could blink. Through the car window, Crystal heard the questions, puzzling out just who, or what, they were as camera crews and photographers struggled in the throng, equipment held high in an attempt to capture any frame of footage.
A matronly woman and another medic approached Chase and took the boy and girl into their arms. Crystal breathed a sigh of relief when the little boy clung to the woman as if she were a lifeline. They would be all right, physically at least. The mental trauma would take years to come to terms with, if ever, but technically they were safe.
She sent a quick prayer for the children to be placed in a safe environment where they could stay together. If the state couldn’t provide for them, then she would take it upon herself to find a home for them. She still had friends in social services that she had made after her parents had died. With Max’s money, she had the means to cut through some of the red tape.
Max turned away from the house and headed in her direction. “Let’s move out.”
“Just wait a goddamn minute,” Lancaster shouted. “You’re leaving? Just like that? Would you like to explain what just happened?”
Max pointed to his bare wrist. “Sorry, don’t have time. I have two bank robberies to stop. You’re welcome to join us.”
He opened the back door of the SUV for Ripley before taking his own seat up front. “Beta Team, take the Bank of America. We’ve got Madden.”
The sharpness in his tone drew Crystal’s gaze to the tight set of his jaw. They all knew what he was thinking. What were they going to find at his father’s bank?