Chapter Twenty #23
I desperately wanted to go to Lyn, especially when I discovered that his hands were bound behind his back, but I couldn’t. If Fernandez decided to use his gun, he was going to use it on me. As polite as we had been during our conversation, this man hated me, and we both knew it.
“I merely wished to speak to you privately. Your friend here seemed resistant to leaving us alone to talk.”
Oh, I bet.
“You’ll need to untie him if you want your money. He does the computer stuff.”
“If he does the computer stuff, then why were you working on SeRoy’s computer?”
“I was undercover, of course. I know crap about computers. I can barely turn one on. Luckily for me, SeRoy was an idiot and couldn’t tell that.”
“Yes, lucky.” Fernandez’s lips flatlined for a moment before he said, “I’m afraid I can’t release your friend here. You’ll have to do it.”
“You did hear me say I don’t know anything about computers, right?”
Fernandez pointed the barrel of his gun at Lyn’s head. “I’m afraid I must insist.”
Well, when you put it like that…
I stuck my gun back in the holster and then walked around the desk on the opposite side from Lyn and Fernandez and sat down in front of Lyn’s laptop. I smiled weakly as I glanced up. “I’m going to need him to talk me through this.”
“You were able to do it last time. Why can’t you do it this time?”
I pointed at Lyn, growing frustrated with Fernandez. What part of computer idiot wasn’t this guy getting? “Because he was talking me through it last time!”
Fernandez frowned before pulling the cloth out of Lyn’s mouth.
“Where’s Brant?” I asked when I met Lyn’s very pissed-off eyes.
Lyn nodded his head toward Fernandez. “He used me to get Brant to surrender. He’s tied up in the bathroom.” He swallowed tightly. “I haven’t seen anyone else. I don’t know what—”
“Everyone is safe,” I quickly told him. I knew he was worried about his son. “I checked before coming in here to talk to Fernandez.”
Lyn’s eyes rounded for a moment before he turned to look at the man holding him. “Your name really is Fernandez?”
“It is.”
“Huh.” Lyn shook his head, letting out a small chuckle. “I want your brain, Lany.”
I grinned.
“Hey!” Fernandez snapped. “Do you think you could start getting me my money?”
I rolled my eyes before staring down at the computer screen. Yeah, so, the money…I had no idea where it was without the instructions Lyn had given to me, and those were long gone.
I opened my email instead.
Did a little online shopping.
Checked the weather report.
Looked for an anniversary gift for Sal.
Put in an actual order to the Thai Rose restaurant.
Just about the time I was ready to switch to my book reading app, Fernandez snapped his fingers. “Well? Where’s my money?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
Fernandez’s eyes narrowed, and he released Lyn to quickly walk around the desk so he could see the computer. “What have you been doing?”
“Checking my email.” I smiled at Lyn. “I also put in a delivery order to my favorite Thai restaurant.”
Fernandez’s nostrils flared. “I told you to get my money.”
“And I told you that I don’t know anything about computers.” What part of that wasn’t he getting?
“I thought your friend here could talk you through it.”
“He can,” I replied, “but you kept him over there with a gun to his head. I need him here at the computer. He knows more about this computer stuff than I do. He does work for the FBI’s cyber crime unit after all.”
Fernandez paled as he slowly panned to Lyn. “You work for the FBI?”
Lyn nodded. “I used to be a member of SWAT Team One, but I resigned from that when my son was born and went to work for the FBI. Better hours.”
Fernandez started pulling at the ends of his hair. “Get me my money!”
I huffed and stood up, moving out of the way so that Lyn could sit down. “Lyn, can you come over here and do your thing?”
Lyn rolled his eyes, but trudged over to me, turning around. I quickly untied him and then stepped back. Lyn sat down and started tapping away at the keyboard.
“I just found the cutest princess dresses for the girls,” I told Lyn. “I got three of them all in different colors. Want to see?”
“Really?” Lyn asked. “What colors?”
“Pink, purple, and green. Bella used to like blue, but now she’s all about green.”
Lyn chuckled. “CJ was all about baseball last month, but this month its anything related to that movie Wicked. Next month it will probably be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
“I think it’s pretty normal at this age, although Emily is barely a teenager, and I dread the next few years. First time she tries to date is going to be epic.”
Lyn snorted. “You actually think she can date? Have you met your husband?”
He had me there.
“Enough!” Fernandez shouted as he waved the gun around wildly. “Find my damn money!”
“Could you not yell?” I asked as I stuck my finger in my ear and wiggled it. “You’re very loud.”
Fernandez started sputtering, his rage so great his face was red. “I have a gun!”
“Me, too.” I pulled mine out and slammed it onto the desk.
Lyn pulled one out of his boot and waved it around. “I got mine.”
“I have two.”
I laughed when I turned toward the sound of that voice and found Brant pointing two guns at Fernandez. “Hey, Brant.”
Brant gave a single nod, never taking his eyes off Fernandez. “Mr. Lany.”
I smiled evilly as I turned to look at Fernandez. “So, how do you want to do this? One, you can put down your gun and let me cuff you, or two, you can try to fight your way out of here, but you’ll most likely end up shot.”
Fernandez’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll take option three.”
Option three?
What option three?
Fernandez raised his gun, pointed it at me, and pulled the trigger. I barely had time to grunt before something slammed into me, stealing the air from my lungs. The world wavered around me as I was thrown back, hitting the floor.
I distantly heard several more gunshots, but I was too busy trying to breathe to care. Spots danced in my blurry vision. My chest felt as if there was an elephant sitting on it, and, yes, I knew what that felt like.
“Lany, breathe, Lany.”
I blinked a couple of times before Lyn’s face took shape. I weakly patted my chest.
“I know, Lany,” Lyn said. “Fernandez shot you in the chest, and it probably hurts like hell right now, but luckily you were wearing your vest, so it didn’t go through. It’s still going to leave a hell of a bruise though.”
I’d been shot in the chest before, and it hurt a lot worse than this, so I believed Lyn. Still didn’t mean I wasn’t anxious over what was going to happen when Sal saw the bruise.
I might not live through that.
Chapter Nineteen
Salvador
The moment the wheels on the vehicle screeched to a halt, I jumped out and raced for the house. I had to stop at the door and put in my passcode before I could get it open, but that didn’t stop me from moving as quickly as I could.
After learning Lany had gone missing along with the others, I’d gone into a panic, terrified that whoever had taken Cynthia had taken him as well.
It wasn’t until I received a single text message from Brant of all people telling me that he was at the house that my panic began to lesson, but not by much.
Why had he gone home when he had fought so hard to go with me on this rescue mission? He didn’t even know that we had safely rescued his mother and taken down the guys that had kidnapped her. So, why would he leave?
As soon as the door opened, I stormed inside shouting, “Lany! Lany!”
Where the hell was he?
Brant stepped into the study doorway. “He’s back here, Commander.”
I started running, my heart pounding painfully.
When I reached the doorway, Brant stepped back, and I barreled past him.
It took one quick scan of the room to find Lany sitting on the couch, Lyn sitting next to him.
Marcus stood behind him like a centurion, his muscled arms crossed as he glared at anyone that came too close. He was wearing a new vest.
The rest of the room was a blur, only Lany standing out bright like a beacon.
I ran over and dropped to my knees in front of him. “What happened? Why did you come back to the house?” When Lany winced, I knew I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “Lany, what did you do?”
“Okay, it wasn’t my fault.”
Never a good sign.
“Lany,” I almost growled.
“I was sitting in the car with Vinnie and the others when I received a text message from Lyn letting me know there was trouble back here at the house. The kids are here, Sal. I had to do something.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were busy rescuing my mother, which was a distraction technique by the way. Fernandez purposely had his people kidnap my mother to get you and your team to leave the estate.”
My brow flickered. “Fernandez?”
Lany snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest and jutted out his chin, gesturing behind me. “Hector Fernandez, better known as Anton Gambino, Viggo Marcus, Eben Juarez, and Eduardo Salazar.”
My eyes rounded as I glanced over my shoulder. Dmitri and Brant stood over a man on his knees, his hands cuffed in front of him, and it was a man I recognized very well. He had tried to sell my husband.
“Eben Juarez is really Hector Fernandez?”
That would explain a lot.
“Yeah.” Lany nodded. “I’ve already put in a call to Supervisory Special Agent Crenshaw to come pick him up. I imagine the DEA would like to pick his brain. Hopefully, they’ll be doing it for a very long time.”
“Aren’t you worried he’ll make a deal and get out so he can come after you?”
Lany smirked. “Hey, Fernandez, do you plan to make a deal with the feds so you can come after me?”
The man in question rapidly shook his head. “I swear I will tell them anything they want to know about my drug business, my black-market slave auctions, the Fernandez cartel, everything.” Fernandez raised his head and glared at Lany, equal parts terrified and enraged. “Just keep him away from me.”
I slowly panned back to my love. “What did you do to him, caro?”