Chapter 11
Rebel let Saul drive. She trusted his driving. The other guys were in the jeep. She was so damn close to finding Tammy that she was terrified something would go wrong at the last minute. “What if they were lying?”
“Good question.” He glanced at her. “The problem is, they want the key, and we have no idea where it is.”
“I might have one here we can use as a decoy. It’ll give us a little bit of time—maybe about five minutes, if they have a laptop with them.”
She shuffled through the glove box, not finding anything. She looked through her purse, pulled out a small one. “This is one I use daily.”
No doubt what it was. “Is that it? You carry USB keys with you?”
“Often, yes. I do marketing. I often bring work home. Nothing on this is confidential. It’s all work-in-progress.”
“Good thing. We can use that to stall them—at least for a few minutes.”
He pointed to the USB key sitting in one of the cupholders. “Is that another one?”
She reached for it. “Well, it’s a USB key, but it’s not mine.”
He turned to look at her. “Whose is it?”
“It has no identifying marks on it. It’s just a generic purple plastic one.” She sank back. “Purple,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Tammy has all things in purple.”
“You think it could be hers?”
“Maybe. Why would she have left it here? By accident?”
“Or by design.”
She turned to him. “What if she did leave this for me? Or left it here for security?” She looked around the car. “But it’s hardly secure.”
“Then again it’s something people would overlook. Do you normally keep your vehicle clean?”
She nodded. “All the time. Usually weekly. I just cleaned it out a couple weeks ago, before my life got crazy. I didn’t see it then.”
“When was she last in your vehicle?”
“I’m not sure.” She cast her mind back, figuring out an answer to that question, but she wasn’t getting anywhere. She shook her head. “At least a few days before she went missing.”
“Even if you saw the key, you probably never thought anything about.”
She nodded. “I’ve done that before,” she admitted. “I wish I had my laptop with me. If you have one, we should check this out. I don’t want to give them the stuff that they want. I don’t know what this is. Maybe it’s proof somebody at the company is stealing? Or doing something criminal?”
“So maybe we’ll give them yours, and we’ll keep this one hidden somewhere safe.” He pulled out his phone and called Stone.
She looked at him. She was never a fan of phone calls and driving at the same time. Only he seemed to have no problem.
“Stone, we found the key hidden in her car. We don’t have a laptop here to check it out. Do you have one there?”
“Merk has his.”
“We need to meet up somewhere so we can figure out what’s going on here. This USB key happens to be purple, which is Tammy’s favorite color.”
“Yes, quite a few purple knickknacks were at her place. We need a decoy key to give them.”
“We have one.” Saul turned to look at Rebel. “Rebel found one in her purse.”
“Okay, good. We may need to give them the real key, but let’s copy the information off it first.”
“Do we have time?” Rebel asked. “We can’t afford to be late.”
The men quickly organized a meeting place, and Saul pulled into a parking lot—a block away from the warehouse, at the back of the grocery store—and parked off to the side. Within seconds the jeep pulled up beside him and parked. Saul and Rebel got out and walked toward the jeep. Rebel could see the laptop powering up on Stone’s lap.
Saul motioned to Rebel. “Give Stone Tammy’s key.”
“Can’t guarantee it is Tammy’s,” she said. “It just happens to not be mine.”
“Good.” Stone docked the key to the laptop and opened up a couple Excel documents. “Accounts? Beyond that it is just gibberish.”
“Well, it means something to somebody,” Saul said. “Which makes it important.”
“Right.”
Rebel watched Stone copy the contents and send it to somebody. “Who did you send it to? That’s confidential information.”
“I sent it to my boss,” Stone said quietly. “We have several accounting specialists at our place. All trustworthy. All security conscious. Someone will decipher what’s going on here. And we need to know about that so we understand what the hell kind of trouble Tammy has gotten herself into.”
“Well let’s hope by the time they figure it out, we’ve already solved the case.”
Saul checked his watch. “We can use the other key and give them just enough for them to be satisfied. We’ll keep this one so they don’t get their hands on it. We’re almost out of time. Let’s head down and make sure we arrive on the spot in time.”
“I’d rather be early,” Rebel said. “And I wish we had more men, just in case the bad guys come with a lot of extra manpower. We could be outnumbered.”
Saul glanced at her and smiled. “You don’t trust us,” he teased.
She shook her head. “I trust you guys. It’s them I don’t trust.” On that cryptic note, she walked over to the passenger side of her car and got in.
“She’s got a point,” Saul said.
The men nodded.
“Where is their car right now?” Merk asked.
Stone opened a different program, twisted it slightly so the others could see. “They’ve stopped at an address here,” he said. “I just contacted the detective and shared that info. He’ll get backup to us immediately. Told him what we’re doing, where we’re at and where to find the vehicle.”
“They could be making a pit stop,” Dakota said, a knowing smile on his face. “We did do a good job of scaring the crap out of them.”
“Or,” Saul said, on a more serious note, “they could have stopped in the same warehouse district but by that series of abandoned buildings.”
“Maybe a visit with the boss?” Stone asked.
“I suggest we drive by first and see,” Merk said.
“I’ll follow you.” Saul smacked the outside of the jeep. “Everybody get moving. We don’t have time to waste.” He got into the driver’s side of Rebel’s car as the jeep roared to life, reversed and headed out onto the street. He watched his vehicle go and smiled. He loved that thing.
“What’s the smile for?”
“That’s my jeep.” There was a little bit of pride in his voice. “I left it here when I initially moved to Texas.”
“How come they’re driving your jeep and not you?”
“My focus right now is on taking care of you.” In his mind, it was that simple. If he could have gotten her into the jeep with the rest of the guys, that would’ve been easier. He’d still have to take care of her then too. He smiled.
“They will damage it.”
The smile fell off his face. “That’s just a mean and cruel thought.”
She chuckled. “Can you tell me it’s never been in an accident or shot at yet?”
He shrugged. “Okay, it has been. I was hoping to drive it back to Texas this trip, but I need several days off to make the long drive. It’s been parked at my mother’s house, but I might leave it at a friend’s place when I fly out this time.”
“Nice friend.”
Saul nodded. “The father of one of our bosses. We stay with him regularly when we’re out west.”
“Nice.” She wished she had more people to draw on in times like this.
They hit the warehouse district after another five minutes. “Aren’t we going to the same warehouse first?” she asked.
He turned to look at her. “No, the other vehicle with Carney and Pete stopped here and hasn’t moved since.”
She nodded. “As long as they don’t see us,” she warned.
“That’s the plan.”
Saul drove ahead, slowing down as he approached the GPS location. He killed the lights on the car and slowly drove forward. The car sat parked at the front of a warehouse that looked deserted as hell.
“Aww, shit,” he said under his breath.
“What do you see?”
“I don’t see anything or anyone.”
“So why aww, shit?”
“Because I don’t like this.” He pulled in and headed around the back. As they moved forward, she saw no lights anywhere in the building. And she knew the inside of that warehouse would be deserted.
Saul pulled up to Stone who stood beside the jeep, his phone out, talking to someone. Saul rolled down his window and spoke to Merk, standing beside Stone. “And?”
Merk turned a grim face in his direction. “One bullet hole between the eyes for each of them.”
“Goddamnit.”
Rebel reached over and grabbed his hand. “What does that mean about the meeting? Does that mean they won’t be there?”
“It means these two won’t be there,” Merk said. “Now we’re dealing with the unknown. And that’s not a twist I like.”
She closed her eyes and slumped into her seat, her hands fisted.
Saul gently wrapped his much larger hand around one of her fists. “Easy. Somebody will still show up. We have the key.”
“Why don’t we just give them the real key?” Rebel asked. “We already have a copy. It doesn’t make any difference. Let them have the real one, and let’s just get our people back.”
She watched as he got out of the vehicle and walked over to talk to the men. With the windows down, she could almost decipher the conversation. They were so close to finding Tammy that she could hardly breathe. If Rebel lost this lead, chances were good she’d never save her friend. As much as she didn’t want her two stalkers dead, she was glad for the information they’d gotten from them first.
She tried to swallow a sob caught in the back of her throat. The abandoned warehouse might appear to be silent and empty, but that didn’t mean it was. The last thing she wanted was a bullet between her eyes—or Tammy’s. But she also knew their time was running out.
Just then Saul hopped back in the vehicle. “We will give them the key because, like you said, we have a copy. It’s our best chance of convincing them we have what they want. The problem then becomes, since they will have what they want, they don’t need us or Tammy or Daniel anymore.”
“What about Detective Wilson?”
“He’ll meet us there.”
She gave a strangled laugh. “If he makes it on time.”
Saul shook his head. “Take it easy. He’s doing the best he can. They’ll probably be an extra five or ten minutes, but that’s it. They know how important this is to their case too.”
She nodded, but she didn’t feel like agreeing to anything.
When Saul started the vehicle and drove out slowly, she wanted to yell at him to hit the gas and get to the meeting. She wanted to scream with frustration but finally gasped out, “Why are you driving so slowly?”
“Because the guys and I want to see who and what might be wandering around this part of town.”
Logical, reasonable and it didn’t make a bit of difference to her. “I don’t see how you can see anything out there. It’s so damn dark out.”
She barely recognized the area even though she’d been here earlier. When he drove into the warehouse parking lot and parked the car, almost at the exact same spot she’d parked in before, she breathed a sigh of relief. Without giving him a chance to stop her, she hopped out and quietly closed the car door. She listened, her head tilted toward the inside of the building. The area appeared deserted. Saul got out, walked around to her side. Instead of looking at the building he searched high above.
“What you are looking for?”
He turned toward her, then whispered, “Snipers.”
Her heart froze. How the hell would she handle that? She had no idea what all she could be up against right now. And these men were so much better prepared than she was. It was a daunting thought how she’d been coming close to smacking into this very situation anytime in the last week. Plus, if any of these men had caught her, she’d become a hostage, just like the rest. Or worse, she’d be dead just like the two men they’d killed just moments ago.
He reached out and grabbed her hand. “Stay with me. Stay silent. Do not, under any circumstances, separate from me. Do you understand?”
She nodded. “I understand.” She turned to look around for the other men, realizing the jeep hadn’t showed up. She squeezed his hand and walked toward the building. “Where are the others?”
“They’re already here.”
She let out her breath gently. Just because she couldn’t see them, it didn’t mean they hadn’t arrived.
He squeezed her hand in reassurance and slowly walked her toward to the front of the building. “Have you got the key?”
She lifted it in her fingers.
He nodded. “Good.”
They stepped inside the building. This vast monstrosity of glass and tin was deserted, desolate. Shivers ran down her back. How she wanted to run home. But, if Tammy was here, no way would Rebel turn tail and run. She thrust her chin forward and glared at the building that terrified her. Things would likely get so much worse tonight. She had to keep a handle on her emotions before Saul sent her back to the vehicle and insisted she stay locked in there. That was the last thing she wanted to do.
With him leading her, they slowly and silently searched the bottom of the building and then took the stairs. She knew they would end up in the room where the homeless man had been killed. It made sense that, somewhere along the line, Tammy had been here.
Upstairs, still walking quietly, Saul led her in the direction where the homeless man had been found. Just before entering, he stopped and listened, his head leaning to one side. He squeezed her hand, and, in a low voice, almost soundless against her ear, he whispered, “They’re here. Be prepared.”
She stiffened and gripped his fingers like a lifeline.
He stepped around the doorway.
In the shadows of the darkness, a man said, “Step inside.”
Saul took a step forward, dragging her with him.
She tried to see in the darkness, not even the moonlight allowed inside. She could see shapes on the ground, but she didn’t know who or what they were.
“Did you bring it?”
An owl hooted close by, making her shiver at the lonely sound. “Yes,” she said defiantly. “Where’s Tammy?” Remembering the look from Stone, she added, “And Daniel.”
“You’ll get them as soon as I can check the merchandise.” A soft glow came from a laptop as it opened.
Saul took the key from her hand, took four steps forward and held it out.
A man detached from the shadows. She didn’t recognize him. He took the key from Saul’s hand and walked over to man with the laptop.
Saul stood beside her again. Instinctively she reached out for his hand. No way could she stop him from feeling the shivers wracking her body. She was so damned scared.
Silence reigned while the key was inserted, and the documents opened. Then the laptop was closed, and they were ordered, “Turn around, and stand in the doorway.”
She gasped. “Where’s Tammy? You promised us Tammy was here.”
“Turn around, and stand in the doorway,” the man said again. His tone told them that no arguments were allowed.
She heard guns cocking, and she realized she finally may have hit the end of the road with her own reckless actions. At Saul’s urging, she stepped into the doorway with him. And she waited.
For the bullet that would end her life.
*
Saul knew the guys wouldn’t be far away. He could only hope they were in the room already. There had been another hallway, leading to other rooms. He squeezed Rebel’s hand, and, in as low a voice as he could, he whispered, “Get ready.” He felt her stare of surprise and whispered, “Three, two and one.”
She was jerked to the left. He pulled her all the way to him and out the doorway into the hall. He listened for footsteps; none came. She stared at him in surprise. He held a finger to his lips. And then he heard the hoot of an owl again. He relaxed.
He motioned back to the room and said, “Now to call Stone.”
She stared at him with wide eyes. “What?”
He led her back into the dark room, almost having to push her, she was so resistant. And then they heard it again. An owl. Only this time it was superclose. She gasped as a flashlight turned on.
“It’s okay, Rebel. It’s us.”
Saul stared into the faces of Saul’s men, then dropped his gaze to the floor. “Did you get them?”
“We got two of them. One of them has disappeared.”
“What about Tammy?” She raced forward. “Where’s Tammy?”
The flashlight moved through the room, but nobody else was here.
She spun and stared at Saul. “We have to find her.”
Saul shared hard glances with Stone. They both knew the chances of either hostage being handed over was minimal.
“What was that?” Rebel cried out. She turned and raced out.
“Wait,” Saul called out.
But she was gone.
Swearing, he darted from the room behind her. And then he heard what she’d heard.
A woman sobbing.
The others heard it too. With flashlights shining in front of them, they searched the top floor. “Rebel, where are you?”
“I’m downstairs.”
“Damn woman.” Saul raced after her, knowing the men would finish searching upstairs and then make their way downstairs.
Rebel screamed.
“What? Wait for me,” he roared.
“No, its okay,” she cried out, laughing and crying as he got closer. “It’s Tammy. She’s alive. I found her.”