Chapter 19
“ W hat are we going to do with him?” Donovan nodded over to Stein.
They were in a dingy warehouse in the same crappy area of town. They’d arrived about twenty minutes ago and handed Freddy Mars over to the back alley doctor. Zander had arranged everything.
Hayes knew Kent wasn’t happy. This wasn’t the way he liked to operate. Sometimes they might bend the laws slightly, but not like this.
Had they even made the right call? Perhaps they should have let the cops deal with this. But from what he’d seen of the police the other day . . . yeah, he didn’t think they were equipped for this. Plus at least one of them was in Mars’ pocket.
Hayes studied Stein. “As soon as we make sure that Freddy is going to be all right and is . . . secured, Stein will be going in to make a statement about his part to play in Rohan Dawson being sent to jail for murder.”
Stein, who had one of Donovan’s socks stuck in his mouth and another one wrapped around his head, started to frantically shake his head.
Hayes sighed. “I’m too old for this fucking shit.”
Donovan winced. “What are we going to do about Mars, though? If he survives, we can’t just let him go. He could tell people, plus he’s a fucking criminal. We take him to the cops, they’re going to wonder how he got shot.”
Yeah. That was the part that they might need Zander and his team for. Luckily, they were on their way. He was just waiting for a message to say they’d arrived in the city. Hayes guessed they’d be a few hours.
Stein was making frantic noises and Hayes reached over to remove the sock from his mouth. The last thing he needed was for the guy to choke to death before he confessed to what he did.
“I can’t do that! I can’t go to the cops.”
“You’re going to the cops,” Hayes told him. “Or I’m going to make it look like you shot Freddy Mars and then I’ll hand deliver you to the Black Scorpions.”
Donovan shifted around in his seat. The younger guy probably hadn’t experienced anything like this before. Hayes got it. Once upon a time, he’d believed in right and wrong, too.
But he’d seen too much crap to truly believe that anymore.
“Do you really want me to tell the cops that Freddy Mars paid me to make sure that Rohan Dawson went to jail for a murder that Mars committed?” Stein asked.
“It was an elaborate fucking plot just to get rid of someone,” Donovan said. “Why didn’t he just kill Rohan himself?”
Stein let out a dry laugh. “Sometimes life isn’t that easy.
Freddy, Marcus, and Rohan grew up together.
They were like brothers . . . and like brothers they both loved each other and were highly competitive.
But Freddy hated how much his old man loved Rohan and Marcus.
He knew if he killed one, the other wouldn’t rest until they got revenge.
He didn’t have the balls to do it himself and no one wanted to touch Lucan’s favorite enforcers. ”
“So he took Marcus out and used his death to get Rohan removed. And he used you to ensure that Rohan would go away a long time,” Donovan said.
Stein shrugged. “By the time Rohan got out, Freddy would have had control of the Scorpions. He never said anything, but I figured he wanted them gone because he had plans to overthrow his father. And he knew that Rohan and Marcus wouldn’t allow that.”
That made some sense.
“Marcus was onto him and that’s why he killed him,” Stein added.
“God, he’s a messed up asshole,” Donovan said.
Yeah. Hayes was thinking something stronger than that.
“Lucan Mars is something else. He doesn’t suffer idiots or fools and sometimes I think his son is both.
He’s just been riding the coattails of Rohan and Marcus.
Rohan is gonna kill him if he gets out. And me.
So I’m not telling anyone any of this. If I do, I’m a dead man!
My career and reputation will be over!” Stein complained.
“They already are,” Hayes said. “What do you think is going to happen? That we’ll just let you go? You’re going to the cops to tell them everything you did.”
“Unfortunately, that won’t be happening.”
Both Hayes and Donovan stood, drawing their guns. But it was too late, they were surrounded by four guys with guns already drawn.
A tall, well-built, older man stepped forward.
What the hell?
“How the fuck did you sneak up on us?” Hayes asked.
“Lower your guns,” the man ordered. “I’m not here to kill you. I understand that you have something of mine.”
Stein let out a terrified noise. “That’s Lucan Mars.”
Shit.
Hayes put his gun away and nodded to Donovan to do the same. There was no point in keeping them out. They were dead men if they tried to take a shot.
He watched Lucan Mars warily.
“How did you get in here?” Hayes asked. The doctor they’d met at the back door had told them that there were only two entrances, the back and front. They should have heard them come in. “How did we not hear you arrive?”
“Oh, there’s another entrance. Did Scalp not tell you about that one?” Lucan asked. “Well, that’s good to know. My regular payments to him are paying off.”
Shit. The doctor, whose name was Scalp, was in Mars’ pocket?
Zander was going to be pissed.
“The doctor contacted you?” Hayes asked.
“As soon as he realized that he was operating on Freddy.” Mars glanced over at the closed door. Beyond it was a sterile room where Scalp was working on Freddy. Well, he’d said it was sterile and that was why they couldn’t go in.
Hayes shouldn’t have trusted the doctor. He’d been acting shady, unable to meet their eyes.
“Why don’t you both sit, we’re going nowhere until Scalp comes out.
” Mars walked over to stand beside Stein who was sitting on the floor.
“You had some very interesting things to say, Mr. Stein. I admit I should have been more suspicious of the fact that you lost Rohan’s case when you have such a good track record.
But he was found at the murder scene. With the weapon.
To learn he was set up by my own flesh and blood and that you helped him .
. .” Mars leaned over him and Hayes tensed.
What would he do if he attacked Stein?
“Relax,” Lucan told him. “I’m not going to hurt Mr. Stein. I need him. Which means he’s safe. For the time being. But he is going to go to the cops and confess that he took payments to throw Rohan’s case. And that will get a mistrial.”
“But your son will go to jail,” Stein protested. “Surely you want to protect him!”
“Protect someone who was going to overthrow me? Hmm. And I never said you were going to mention Freddy. You’re going to keep everything that happened tonight a secret.
Just tell the cops that the guilt got to you.
That everything was done anonymously. The cops in this town are useless, they’ll never figure it out. ”
Fuck.
Hayes wanted to say something, but he was aware of the guns aimed his way. And for once he actually cared about whether he survived.
Strange. When had he started wanting to live?
“I’m sure one of these men will escort you and ensure that your story stays on script. If it doesn’t, Stein, believe me there are a lot worse things than death. Do what I say, you go to jail, serve your time, get out. Differ in any way and I will make sure that your remaining life is utter hell.”
Stein nodded frantically. “Yep. Yep.”
Lucan stepped back and looked at Hayes, then Donovan. “Who are you two exactly?”
“We were hired to guard Stein and his wife,” Hayes told him.
“Security? Interesting. Why?”
“He was getting death threats,” Hayes said.
“Well, that’s no surprise given that he has the personality of a snake. He’s got a wife, doesn’t he?” Lucan Mars asked.
“She’s innocent in all of this,” Hayes said hastily. No way did he want this coming back on Sondra.
Lucan eyed him for a long moment. “Are you involved with her?”
“No,” Hayes growled. “If Stein can’t mention that Freddy was the one paying him what’s to say the cops won’t dismiss what he says? Rohan doesn’t deserve to be in jail.”
Freddy did.
“You seem to care a lot about whether Rohan will be freed,” Lucan commented. “Why is that?”
Fuck.
Tell him the truth or not?
“I don’t know Rohan, but I do know his sister.”
“A sister. Yes, I believe she lived with him. Freddy was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.”
Really? Then he’d done a shit job of it.
Which wasn’t surprising.
Lucan turned to Stein. “Make it convincing to the cops. You don’t know who killed Marcus, but you do know that whoever it was wanted you to make sure that Rohan was convicted. And that they confessed to setting him up. It’s enough for a mistrial. Provided the police do their job.”
It wasn’t ideal, though. Hayes fucking hated that this guy held the cards. But there must be some way to link Freddy to the murder without Stein. Because he knew the other man wasn’t going to come fully clean.
And Hayes and Donovan couldn’t without confessing that they’d cleaned up a crime scene. And shot Freddy.
Fuck.
Lucan had them over a barrel and he knew it.
“Oh, and it would be a good idea for you all to leave town. Soon. Perhaps take Rohan’s sister with you.
It will be safer for her and when Rohan gets out, he’ll have more .
. . focus. Now, I’ll be taking care of Freddy; you take our friend, Mr. Stein, to the police.
And no one will ever need to know what happened tonight. ”
Donovan made a noise, sounding like he was going to protest but Hayes flicked him a look. There were four armed men in here who wouldn’t hesitate to shoot to kill.
“You’ll make sure that Freddy says nothing about tonight,” Hayes said.
Lucan eyed him for a long moment. Just then the front door of the warehouse opened and a large man stepped inside.
All of Lucan’s men turned, their guns aimed at him.
“Don’t shoot. My team won’t be happy if you shoot me. Mostly because my Little Thief will murder them if I get hurt.”
Fuck. Zander.
“See I’m late to the party,” Zander drawled.
“You know this guy?” Lucan asked.
“Yeah, he’s with us,” Hayes replied.
“With you?” Zander said. “Hmm, I prefer to think of it as coming to your rescue. Honestly, I should get double pay for how many times I have to save you.”
“You’ve never come to my rescue,” Hayes said.
“Then what am I doing here right now?” Zander held out his arms. “If you want me to go . . . I will.”
“You won’t go anywhere,” Lucan said and his men kept their guns aimed on Zander, who just smiled.
“Like I said, my team is here. Ammo?”
A red dot appeared on Lucan’s chest and everyone tensed.
“For fuck’s sake,” Hayes said. “You’re just making the situation worse. Put that away.”
“Ammo, clear,” Zander called out. “Just wanted to make it clear that I’m protected and so are they. Well, maybe not Hayes. He’s not being a very good team player.”
He wasn’t a team player?
Fucking hell.
“Who the fuck are you?” Lucan Mars snarled.
“I thought I already said. I’m Zander and I’m here to help these two. Now, you want to tell your men to lower their weapons? My girl really gets upset when I come home with holes in me.”
“And she won’t be happy with the rest of us,” a feminine voice called out. “Let’s wrap this up, huh?”
“Honey is in a grouchy mood. Don’t mind her. We’ve got time for a chat.”
“There’s no need to chat,” Hayes said. “We had everything sorted.” He explained the plan.
“What happens to Freddy?” Zander asked.
“That is none of your business,” Lucan replied.
“It will be if he decides to come after my guys for shooting him.”
His guys?
Dear God.
“I can promise you that there will be no retaliation. Or is my word not good enough for you?” Mars asked.
Fuck.
Hayes tensed. If Zander said the wrong thing here, they were all toast.
“Of course your word is good enough for me,” Zander replied easily.
Thank fuck.
Hayes heard Donovan sigh in relief. Although he wasn’t sure he should be relaxing just yet. He eyed Zander who looked relaxed but there was something in the way he stood . . .
“But I do have a problem with Scalp,” Zander added. “He went behind my back and called you.”
Lucan waved his hand. “Scalp is one of mine. I’m afraid I can’t let you harm him.”
Zander grunted and the two men stared at each other.
Finally, Zander nodded. “I suppose I understand that. Well, come on, Hayes, Donovan. Don’t dawdle.”
Motherfucker wanted to die.
Donovan grabbed Stein, dragging him up onto his feet. Hayes could feel exhaustion trying to drag him down and he had to stay on alert.
They weren’t out of danger yet and the night wasn’t over.
When they got outside, they walked toward their vehicles.
“Fuck. What about the mess at the parking garage?” Hayes said.
“Don’t worry, I sent a cleaner there. He’ll drop Mars’ car back at his place and clean up the blood. He won’t betray me, unlike Scalp. You’ve got your vehicles here?” Zander asked.
“Yeah, we drove them both here. What about cameras?” Donovan asked.
“My cleaner checked for any. Although I’m sure that Freddy chose that garage to meet with Stein for a reason. Or vice versa. Right, Stein?” Zander asked.
“There’s no cameras,” Stein said reluctantly. “I can’t go to jail. I just can’t.”
“Oh, poor Stein,” Zander said with mock sympathy. “Fucked everyone over and now he’s just . . . fucked. Sucks to be you.”
As they reached the vehicles, several people appeared.
Stein jumped, but Hayes had been expecting Zander’s team to appear at some stage.
“Well, that was disappointing,” Honey said. “I really wanted to hurt someone tonight.”
“Poor Honey.” Zander patted her on the back. “She broke up with her boyfriend.”
“He was a loser,” Webb grumbled, looking uncharacteristically grumpy.
“Yeah, but he was damn sexy. And now I have to start all over again. It’s so hard to date nowadays,” Honey said. “Everyone online is a freak except between the sheets, which is where I like a bit of freak.”
Okay.
Hayes did not understand what she was saying. He was definitely getting too old for all of this.
Hayes pushed Stein into the back of Donovan’s car. “Can you get him to the cops and make sure he does what he’s meant to do? Remember to untie him before you take him inside.”
“Got it,” Donovan said. “You going to follow or are you going back to Devi?”
“Devi? Dawson’s sister?” Zander asked, proving that he knew a lot about what was going on. “Why would you go back to her?”
Fuck. This was all he needed.
“I’m not,” Hayes said. “I’m going back to see Sondra. We still don’t know who sent the threatening notes to Stein and we’re meant to be guarding her.”
“You need some help?” Zander asked. “We could watch Sondra so you could go to Devi.”
He shook his head. “I’m sure Devi is fine. I’ll check in with her tomorrow.”
Except there was a strange feeling in his stomach. As though he was making the wrong decision.
But he shook it off. Devi was fine.
“Well, we’ll stick around a bit longer,” Zander said. “At least until tomorrow afternoon. Make sure everything goes all right.”
Wonderful. Just what he wanted to hear.