Gauge, page 18
Fuck.
“What does that have to do with us?” Maya asked, glancing around.
But Gauge knew, and by the varying looks of shock and suspicion across his teammates’ faces, he wasn’t the only one who understood the gravity of this situation.
“Once Brody and Xan were eliminated, he was to kidnap Xan’s son and bring him back to Chicago. Since Horace’s son was killed, he needed an heir. In his mind, that was where Scott came in.”
Maya gasped when Luc confirmed what most of the others in the room already understood.
“I would kill him if he wasn’t dead already,” Blade said, digging out his phone, probably to clue Brody in.
“After Horace attacked me, I couldn’t very well let him live. Not that he was going to anyway,” Luc said, sitting back.
“So, you killed him,” Bear said, his voice low.
“Yes. Besides his intent with me, I couldn’t very well have someone linked to me trying to harm any of you.” His gaze slid to Heather before focusing on Bear. “That’s why I’m here to kill Giuseppe now, rather than wait for him to return. Now that I’m taking over the family in Chicago, too, I’d like to get it done quickly. I’ve got a lot of shit to do.”
“Wait. You’re taking over the Collins Family?” Anna asked.
“My grandfather was never going to just work with them. They’re weak. The only strong heir Horace has is his granddaughter, which he was going to use to tie his family to mine anyway.”
“And Scott?” Gauge asked.
“As long as I’m leading the family, no one will ever learn who his father is.”
“Brody is Scott’s father,” Blade said sternly.
“Good. Then I won’t have to worry about killing the boy if he ever tried to take away my kingdom.”
“You will not touch Scott,” Blade said.
Without waiting for Luc to reply, Gauge asked, “How the fuck are you going to get the Chicago family to fall in line when news reports state the Romano family is in turmoil?”
Luc smiled, but it did not look welcoming. “It’s simple, really. The arranged marriage will continue. Unfortunately, Giuseppe won’t be around to pick candidates, and if I want to ensure I have control, I’ll just have to marry her myself.” He shrugged.
“You?” Heather asked.
His gazed turned serious as he looked at her. It was common knowledge that Luc had tried to date Heather as part of his uncle’s scheme but had ended up growing attached to her, which had been seriously fucked considering what he’d done to her before. In the end, it had just pushed Roc to stop denying his feelings for Heather, and now they were together and in love. “Who else would have me?”
“Wouldn’t you rather find someone who made you happy?” Heather asked.
He smiled. “Maybe in another life, Heather.”
“Stop eye-fucking her,” Roc said through his teeth.
Luc leaned his head from side to side as if to loosen tension, and then looked at Bear. “Giuseppe wasn’t the only person Horace sent to do his bidding. He also hired The Shadow.”
“Jesus,” Axle said, rubbing his face. “Are you sure?”
“Dying men have no reason to lie.”
“I know for a fact that’s not true,” Roc said darkly.
“Yes, I suppose you do.”
“I’m sorry, but who’s The Shadow?” Maya asked.
“An assassin who’s contracted with many organized families. I worked a case where he was after Scott’s former nanny,” Axle said.
“Oh shit,” Gauge said, grabbing his phone. “I gotta warn Oz.” The former nanny in question was now Gauge’s sister-in-law. His brother had met his wife on that very assignment. He fired off a text to Oz, warning him about The Shadow. His brother was in the process of relocating here, but with Xan in the crosshairs and a former enemy in town, his brother needed to hold off on making the move with his family.
“What’s so special about him?” Heather asked, sitting up straighter.
“No one really knows who he is,” Axle said. “It’s rumored he’s a former government sniper who went rogue. His contact methods change all the time, and even then, he only shows himself if he wants to. When he takes a job, he rarely fails. It makes him fucking lethal.”
“I promise, I won’t let him get to you,” Luc said, looking at Heather.
In the blink of an eye, Roc drew his gun and leveled it on Luc. Heather stiffened. Everyone in the room froze. Luc’s gaze narrowed, but other than that, he didn’t seem to care he was staring down the barrel of a gun and a pissed-off cartel prince.
“Don’t forget who I really am,” Roc said with deadly calm. “Where I come from, made men don’t fuck with another member’s woman. I’ve uttered more than one warning to you since you walked in here. On the street, you would’ve gotten zero. I don’t care who the fuck you are. Disrespect me and my woman again, I’ll put you in the goddamn ground.”
“Understood.”
But Roc wasn’t done. “You gonna tell us about the men you brought here, or do you think I’m fucking stupid?”
What? Gauge looked through the opening but didn’t see anybody out there. He wasn’t sitting close to the door, though.
Anna frowned as she tried to get a better look, too.
“One outside the third bay,” Hunter said.
“Two near the front,” Bear added nonchalantly.
Luc gritted his teeth. “They’re family. I didn’t want them coming in because I knew you guys would take it as a threat, but they didn’t like me coming alone, either. I ordered them to stay outside.”
Roc nodded, dropped his weapon, and the tension in the room noticeably dropped.
“Before I killed Horace, I got a name for The Shadow. Thad Howes.”
“Could be an alias,” Bear said.
“It’s more than that. It’s an anagram of The Shadow.”
“Damn,” Axle muttered. “Always fucking with people.”
The conference room phone rang. “Who’s calling on this line?” Heather asked, frowning. The only people who had the number were the feds and the members of The Bang Shift. This connection was only used to take calls on speaker while they were working on an assignment. With McMillian busy getting the safe house for Brody and Xan squared away, they weren’t expecting him to call.
Bear hit the button to answer it on the second ring.
“It’s Shelby. We got a problem,” she said, out of breath.
Gauge shut the laptop and leaned closer.
“I just came upon Xan’s wrecked car in the ditch on Crowley Road. Viola isn’t here.”
Gauge was already up and almost out the door before Shelby finished speaking.
“Wait,” Bear ordered him. Gauge turned around, and Bear’s gaze slid to Blade. “Call Brody. See if she’s at Xan’s.”
“Looked like her purse got dumped out when she rolled over. Her cellphone was still in there.”
“Fuck.” Gauge fisted his hair, and a heavy weight settled in the pit of his stomach.
“Drive to Xan’s. Keep a lookout to see if she’s going on foot,” Bear told Shelby. “We’re on our way.”
Gauge didn’t wait another second. He dug his keys out of his pockets and ran for his truck, his heart crashing against his ribcage with every step.
Two people were after members of his team. A man in the mafia with nothing to lose and a highly-skilled assassin, who always got away when he murdered.
Gauge hoped with every fiber of his being that Viola hadn’t been captured, because if she was, it was probably already too late.
Chapter Twenty-Two
There was a high-pitched noise coming from somewhere, but Viola couldn’t focus on that while someone was shoving a blunt object right into her skull. She grabbed her head to ward off the attack only to realize no one was touching her. She winced as she rubbed her temple and opened her eyes. Stars danced in her vision, and her stomach rolled.
Concussion. But why?
The ground below her bumped, and she then realized she was moving. How was that possible when she was lying on her side? She blinked a few times and tried to focus on her surroundings. Slowly, the blurriness subsided. Gray short-pile carpet was beneath and beside her, with glass up ahead showcasing moving clouds. When she glanced to the side, she spotted the backside of a headrest. She was in the back of an SUV.
Immediately, everything that had happened flooded her aching brain. Her training as a field agent was the only thing that kept her from gasping and alerting her attacker of her conscious state.
Barely moving to test her arms and legs, relief slammed into her when she discovered she wasn’t tightly bound. She wiggled her arms and quickly got free. That was where her luck ended, though. She looked at the tailgate and silently cussed. If she was in a trunk or even the bed of a truck, she could attempt an escape without getting caught. There was no way to open the back without the man knowing. Nor was there anything obvious she could use as a weapon. She’d have to wait until they came to a stop and she’d have to attempt a surprise attack. That didn’t give her the best odds since he’d already bested her once in hand-to-hand combat.
Moving slowly, she extended her arms and grazed her hand along the side panel until she felt a seam, she inched closer to it and dug her fingernail into the crease. She hoped it wasn’t just an empty compartment for storage because she risked making a noise opening it. She debated waiting until the truck stopped to try it, but that could waste precious seconds she might not have. Besides, she didn’t know how long she’d been out of it, or how far he planned to drive.
Deciding to go for it, she pulled it open and internally fist-bumped the air when she found a tire-changing kit. There was no way she’d be able to get the crowbar out quietly. It was nestled in the molded plastic and would definitely make a sound. However, knowing that possessing the weapon would be worth the risk, she yanked it out.
“You’re awake—what the…”
The car swerved, and she careened into the side, the metal in her hand clanking against the hatch. She kicked her foot out to keep from rolling toward the seats with the sudden change of inertia.
With the vehicle suddenly slowing, and knowing any element of surprise was now gone, she reached for the emergency release. It was either flee or climb over the seats and attack him inside the vehicle. Just because she had a crowbar didn’t mean she could win. If she could get away from him, she’d be much better off.
When the hatch opened, she jumped out, ignoring the pounding in her head. She wanted to scream when she realized they were at an open field. Jesus, just a few days ago, she’d been enjoying the quiet farmlands, and now she missed the hustle and bustle of the city. If there were people around, she could scream for help or even get lost in a crowd. No such luck.
Without hesitation, she ran. Open fields gave her zero cover, so she ran in a zigzag pattern toward the copse of trees in the distance just in case the man had a gun. If he had been involved in Gauge’s shooting, he no doubt was packing.
“Get back here!”
Footsteps sounded behind her, so she pushed herself to run faster. When no bullets whizzed by, she decided to forego her original plan and forged straight ahead. Running in patterns had not only cost her time, but was making her dizzy.
Nausea bubbled up, and she forced the bile back down. Her vision danced in front of her, and she immediately regretted running at all. She should’ve sneaked around the SUV, came up from behind him when he got out, and hit him with all her might. What little adrenaline she’d mustered trying to escape was quickly waning. She hadn’t properly considered her concussion.
She tripped in a dip of the land. Her hands splayed out, striving for balance as she righted her footing, but her efforts were not enough. Her free palm hit the ground as her right held tightly to her weapon. She pushed herself back up, but then his body slammed into her.
Viola screamed in frustration when he pinned both of her hands to the ground. Her instinct was to panic and buck him off as any woman being attacked by a larger man would do, but she quickly channeled her training. She was going to have to let go of her weapon to let the maneuver work. Holding her like this also put all of his weight against his wrists as well. When she released the crowbar, she hooked a leg around one of his and shoved one arm up at the same time as she tucked in the other, making them as perpendicular as possible. This knocked him off balance just enough to roll him onto his back and change their positions, putting her on top. She punched him in the face twice before he knocked her away. She landed a blow right in his junk as she pushed off to grab the crowbar. She whirled as he got up, but as she charged him, he pulled out a gun.
“I didn’t want to do this here, but I will,” he said, panting.
She squeezed her eyes shut to stave off her dizziness, but it wasn’t working. “Why me?”
“Lady, I don’t even know who the fuck you are.”
They stood several feet from each other. They were too close for him to miss and too far away from each other for her to get a swing at him. If only he’d step closer. She needed to get him to drop his guard.
“You assumed I was someone else because of the car.”
He inched closer. “Yeah. How was I supposed to know another blonde would be driving it?”
Viola had to play this carefully. She didn’t want to let him know she was law enforcement, nor that she was here because of Gauge’s shooting. She shrugged, going for a nonchalance she did not feel. “Mrs. Jackson just got out of the hospital after giving birth. They hired me to help her with the baby and whatever else she needed. I was headed to the store when I realized I forgot my phone.”
She clutched the hem of her shirt and lifted it up to wipe sweat from her cheek. She hoped to distract him with her cleavage. It wasn’t the greatest plan in the world, but she’d do whatever it took to get the upper hand.
The guy laughed, dropping the gun and taking a step forward. “You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, sweetheart.”
Wanting to come across as a timid woman, she stepped back with one foot, not really moving away but making it look like she wanted to retreat. He took another step toward her.
“What do you want with Mrs. Jackson?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about that.”
“Just let me go, please. I promise I won’t tell anyone. Her, um, her husband works at a garage. He can fix her car.”
“I know where he works. I already gunned down someone there.” He smiled menacingly. So, this man is the one who’d shot Gauge. That didn’t explain what he wanted with Xan.
“But let’s say I’m willing to let you go. What will you give me if I do?” he asked, licking his lips. The sleazeball.
She shook, but it wasn’t out of fear. She was quickly losing energy. With the effects of the crash and this guy attacking her, her body had had enough. She could feel it shutting down. If she didn’t strike now, she wasn’t getting away from him at all.
Mustering all the strength she could, she screamed as she swung at him, hitting him across the face. She fell to the ground as she whirled. Looking over her shoulder, she watched him drop and grunt. He shook his head, and all the blood drained from her face. She hadn’t hit him hard enough to knock him out.
She scrambled to crawl away, but only got a few feet before he pushed her to her back. She could barely see him through the stars swirling in her eyes.
“I don’t like it when women fight.” He said something else, but the roaring in her ears drowned him out. She almost welcomed the sound, pretending it was an avenging angel coming to rip her away from consciousness so she wouldn’t feel anything anymore.
He raised his fist to hit her again, but before he made contact, she drifted into a peaceful oblivion.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gauge slammed on the brakes and jumped out of his truck. There wasn’t much on Crowley Road. A barn, some cattle, and Xan’s late model Honda crashed and sitting upside down in a drainage ditch.
He heard some of his teammates pulling up around him, but he didn’t wait for them to catch up. He rushed to the wreckage.
“Viola!” he called out before he reached the crumpled metal. He said her name again, softly this time when he looked in the passenger window now facing the sky. Shelby had said she wasn’t in the car, but he had to see for himself. The small streaks of blood on the driver’s side airbag made him numb. “Where are you baby?” he whispered.
“Don’t touch anything,” Bear said, coming up to him. “Called McMillian from my cell. He’s sending agents from the local field office to investigate the scene.”
“They’re coming in from Little Rock. We can’t wait. There could be a clue in there.” He locked down his feelings of despair. Viola needed him to focus.
Bear clasped his shoulder to keep him from turning back to the car. “Blade and Anna are going to Brody’s as backup. Hunter and Maya are checking the businesses she’d have driven by for camera footage. We’re doing what we can right now.”
Axle walked over. “Just talked to Shelby. She reached Brody’s house. No sign of Viola, yet. I asked her to tell me everything that happened from the time they left the garage until now. She said they made it to your place to get Xan’s car without incident. Viola followed her out. At the stop sign, Shelby went in the opposite direction to get gas. She glanced up to her rearview and saw Viola turn in the direction to head to Xan’s. Got stopped at the light by the station and paid at the pump. By the time she backtracked and came upon the accident, she figured she was about eight minutes behind Viola.”
“Did she see anything suspicious on the road?” Bear asked.
“Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Gauge looked around, not sure what he was hoping to find. He saw Roc and Heather scanning the grass and watched as his teammate knelt down.
