Chapter 40
The place was even more pretentious than Colby would have guessed.
It was nestled on a hill above the golf course—at least as much as a house that size could nestle.
Three stories tall, the bottom level of custom-hewn rock, and the upper two of wood pretending to be cabin-like, with views to forever, he was sure.
Ironic, for a family who looked only inward.
They drove around and parked out of sight from the driveway at the back of the house.
It was situated so nothing faced the neighbors or the street.
All the views were out toward the open side, so it probably seemed as if they owned the mountains around them.
Liam had already had an aerial view ready, and from that Colby could see that it wasn’t quite as isolated as it seemed.
Good planning on somebody’s part. He doubted very much it had been a Hollen.
But most importantly, the garage door was open. Colby didn’t know if that meant they were already here, or if the house was just being prepared for their arrival.
“You three stay here,” Quinn said, “until we get this scoped out.”
The three Foxworth operatives—because that’s what they were at the moment, geared up and ready to skulk through the woods—headed out and split up to circle the house.
Liam, because he’d been seen by Liz before, took the most hidden path, through a thick stand of evergreens.
Ali watched them go, looking a little anxious.
“They’re really good at this,” de Marco assured her.
Colby didn’t doubt it. With both Quinn and Teague being ex-military, and Liam having learned from them both, he was sure they’d get this initial recon done without being noticed. And they did it much more quickly than he expected.
“Movement, lights on, but we can’t see who,” Teague reported when they got back to the car.
“I’m going to take Cutter for a little walk,” Quinn said.
Colby blinked, but wasn’t about to question the man. So he just watched as he and the eager dog took off, looking for all the world like just a guy and his dog out for a stroll.
Until they got to the driveway and Cutter alerted.
Quinn edged a bit closer to the house, as if letting the dog pick the path.
Then Colby saw that dark head go down to the concrete, nose twitching.
He couldn’t see from here, but he recognized the motion.
The dog had started toward the front door of the house when Quinn pulled him back and walked quickly back to the road.
Colby frowned, not sure why he hadn’t let the dog continue.
But then he saw someone jogging down the roadway, a woman who paused when Quinn said something to her.
She answered him. He smiled, she laughed, and then continued on her way.
The pair were back to the car in moments.
“They’re here.”
Colby blinked. “How do you know?”
“First, the way Cutter alerted up near the door. He scented Grace, and you said she’d never been here before. And second, that lady saw the limo arrive about twenty minutes ago.”
It still amazed Colby how the dog could apparently focus, ignoring what had to be a lot of other new and interesting scents, to home in on the one he was here to protect.
“Liam, you have the comms set up?”
“Will have in less than a minute.” Colby didn’t doubt it. He’d started messing with the gear the moment Quinn had said Cutter had scented Grace.
“You gonna take the bodyguard, or should I?” Teague asked Quinn, as casually as if he were asking about the weather.
Quinn looked at Colby, as if asking his opinion.
He had no idea why, until it hit him that whoever didn’t take the bodyguard would probably be the one to confront Liz.
And Teague was slightly less intimidating at first sight.
Was that what they wanted? He had to assess, quickly.
But it wasn’t that hard. Dressed in his rugged gear, Quinn looked like what he was, a man able to take on anything.
He had no doubt Teague was also, but he didn’t look the part in the towering, fierce way Quinn did.
“We want her off guard until we move, right? Then it should be Teague.”
Quinn smiled. “Points for figuring out what I was really asking.”
Teague didn’t take offense at all. In fact, he ran to the back of the rented SUV, pulled his duffel open and yanked something out.
Then he shed his tactical jacket and pulled on the item of clothing that, to Colby’s surprise, was nothing less than a well-tailored, expensive-looking suit jacket.
He’d apparently had it rolled rather than folded, so it looked no worse than if he’d worn it on the plane.
And when he put it on over the sweater he was wearing, he looked downright a successful businessman.
“Damn,” Colby muttered. “Perfect. She’ll think you’ve come to connect with the family on business.”
They’d discussed at length on the flight the aspects of the Hollen businesses, including some things Colby hadn’t known about but Liam had discovered in his seemingly endless research.
And then they’d gone over one last time the plan for the encounter.
With more what-ifs than Colby could have ever thought of himself.
But then, Foxworth had quite a history of cases to provide possibilities.
“Liam, you have those business cards?” Teague asked.
“Side pocket,” the young Texan answered without looking up from his laptop.
Teague reached into another duffel bag and pulled out an envelope that held a small stack of business cards.
He marveled even at that, because no one the Hollens would deal with would walk around with just one to jam in someone’s face.
Every meeting was a business meeting, and had to be put to some use.
“These folks are out of Denver, too. But the best part,” Teague said when he saw Colby watching him, “is that the Hollens have reached out to this company and been brushed off. I’ve got the details on that, so I can drop some on her.”
“So she’ll think they’ve caved and now want to deal,” he said, knowing that was exactly how they’d react.
“But what if she calls the company, to verify you’re who you say you are?” It was the first thing Ali had said since they’d arrived.
“They’ll say yes, I’m one of their main front men, the one who makes the deals.”
Colby blinked, but Ali only smiled. “You helped them out before, too.”
Teague grinned briefly. “We did.”
Liam was fussing with what were apparently body cams now, one for each of them, so small he was amazed. He’d have to remember that, that it was all going to be recorded live. He knew what buttons to push that would get to Liz the most, if necessary.
“She’ll be totally distracted while I take the bodyguard out of the equation,” Quinn was saying.
“Then Colby, you and Gavin make your grand entrance and we take advantage of the shock. She won’t know if or how Teague fits in.
But his and Gavin’s presence should make her think twice about doing anything stupid. ”
“She’s many things, but she’s not stupid,” Colby said. “But she’s also never been cornered like this.”
“Point taken,” Quinn said with a nod. He looked at Ali. “And you search the house with Liam, out of the target’s sight, until we have control. And have Grace safe.”
“Unless…” she said quietly, and Colby felt a gut wrench at her willingness to walk into this mess.
“Yes,” Quinn agreed. “Unless.” He turned to the lawyer, who was looking at his phone. “What you said you had…” he began.
“First,” De Marco said, holding up the device, “as of right now I have an agreement to reopen the custody case, which is enough for us to rescue Grace. And we got that because of what I had before, now confirmed. The Hollens’ attorney, Colby, is now under official investigation for accepted bribes, and various other offenses.
And that judge is looking at even worse, as in immediate arrest.” He glanced at his watch.
“In fact, should have happened while we were in the air.”
“I’ll find some news video,” Liam said instantly, and went back to his keyboard. An amazingly short time later he had it, the district attorney, the county sheriff and the mayor of the jurisdiction all there as the DA read the charges to the gathered media.
“They all look like they’re at a funeral,” Ali said.
“In a way, they are,” de Marco said. “That judge has been around a long time. And unless I miss my guess, some of the dirty threads they’ve found will lead right back to the Hollens.”
And Colby thought the odds of Gavin de Marco missing a guess were probably pretty darn slim.
He’d never expected to actually do damage to the Hollens. All he’d ever wanted was Grace, and he would have left them alone completely if they just would have been decent about it. But the name Hollen and the word decent were the biggest oxymorons he’d ever encountered.
And now, finally, they were going to pay the price.