Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
G avin looked around the large conference room. He was seated at the head of the long, rectangular table with Xander and Wilson to his left. On the Smartboard at the opposite end of the room was Carmichael. Looking out the door, Gavin could see all four members of the cyber team scouring through various video feeds. He knew Bean was in her office digging to see if anyone had hacked into the security feed. Everyone was working to find answers.
Glancing at his colleagues, he was thankful for the distraction. Not that he was happy someone had shot up the McClintocks’ house, but happy he had something to focus on aside from his earlier verbal diarrhea with Bean. As a rule, he didn’t talk about his dad. Ever. And yet there he’d been, telling her things he’d never told another soul.
When she’d asked about his family, he’d been fully prepared to give her a generic raised-by-a-single-dad story and leave it at that. Instead, her honesty about her own past and family had unleashed something in him that had him spilling his guts .
A phone ringing pulled his attention back to the Smartboard.
“Sorry about that,” Carmichael said, silencing his phone. “As I was saying, Riviera and Bonson were at the hospital with Anson, and I was on my way back to the house with Rita. We were through their security gate and about to pull up under their front awning when shots were fired into the west side of the house. Polanski’s security team responded, and I got Rita out of there.”
“Is she okay?” Gavin asked, refocusing on the task at hand.
Carmichael nodded. “When it was clear, I brought her into the house, and she and Edward went to their secure room.”
“And Polanski’s team?”
Carmichael’s lips pressed into a thin line. “They weren’t able to locate anyone or find anything.”
Xander scoffed. “You’re telling me that their team of five security personnel couldn’t find shit?”
Carmichael glared into the screen. “Yup.”
Gavin turned to Xander. “I know you’re still in the process of looking for long-term security for Rita and Anson, but where are you at with that?”
“I sent over fifteen recommendations to Edward this morning.” Xander frowned. “Since the guy’s insisting on keeping Polanski’s team of five, I strongly suggested he hire at least three people for each of his family members.”
“Think he will?”
“I don’t know,” Xander said with a frown. “He’s still keeping Polanski as his head of security, so I don’t know how good his judgement is.”
Even though Gavin agreed, he asked, “Meaning?”
Xander shrugged. “Look, I don’t have kids or anything, but if my head of security hired a group to protect my child, and two of the people he hired fucking kidnapped and tortured my kid? Let’s just say my head of security would no longer be walking this fucking earth, let alone still on my fucking payroll.”
Gavin’s gut churned as he nodded. “Agreed.”
Security was about people: reading them, doing the background work, and paying attention. How the fuck had Polanski gotten it so wrong? Something was definitely off.
Glancing back at Carmichael, Gavin asked, “Current status?”
“The cops are still here, and the feds just arrived. They’re taking Edward’s statement and talking with Polanski and his team. What do you want to do?”
“What’s your gut telling you, Carmichael?”
His colleague glanced off-screen to the right and lowered his voice. “Something’s rotten. I think Edward feels it too. When he and Rita came out of their secure room, they stayed huddled together and kept their distance from everyone . Except from me.”
Gavin nodded and then paused as Bean entered the conference room. “Anything?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t see any traces of anyone hacking into the security feed.”
“You’re sure?”
Her right eyebrow arched. Hard. “Is that a real question, boss man?”
“Sorry,” he said, wincing at the glare she threw his way. He cleared his throat and turned back to the Smartboard. “Owen’s prepping the helo now. Let Edward and Rita know that we’ll be there in thirty.”
“We?” Carmichael asked.
“Everyone. Team Three got back this morning, and they’ll be with me, Xander, and Wilson. They’ll take over Rita’s detail. You stay put until we get to you. I also have Tash en route to the hospital as we speak for an extra hand. No one is getting to that kid.”
Carmichael’s gaze hardened. “Damn straight, Frazier.”
“Bean will be in charge of comms. I want everyone connected immediately. Call me paranoid, but I don’t trust any of those fuckers on Polanski’s team.”
“I’ll have comms up and running by the time you get airborne,” Bean said, stepping fully into the room. “Everyone starts on line three. Once I get everything scrambled and secure, we’ll move to another line.”
A chorus of “copy that” sounded throughout the room as everyone stood.
“Bean, can I talk to you for a second?” he asked.
She nodded and then called out to Xander and Wilson, “Abbot’s got the new comms at her desk. Make sure Team Three grabs them and takes extras for Tash and Team Two.” She turned back to Gavin after both men saluted her. “You too, boss. Make sure you get one of the new comms. They’re even clearer than the other ones and have better range.”
“I will.” He walked to his closet and grabbed his tactical gear. “Make sure you finish your lunch, okay?”
She leaned against his doorway and grinned at him. “Pretty sure you have more than my caloric intake to worry about right now.”
Striding up to her, he peeked around her into the main work area. Seeing everyone was busy with various shit, he leaned down and quickly pressed a kiss to her lips. “Humor me. I was going to ask you to join me for dinner tonight, but...” He held up his tactical bag and shrugged.
“Next time.” She smiled, but her gaze quickly sobered. She placed a hand on his abdomen and electricity shot through him. “Be careful, okay?”
Meeting her gaze, he nodded. “Always, B.”
There was no way in hell he’d do anything to put himself in jeopardy. For the first time in forever, he had someone to come back to.
An hour later, after introducing Team Three’s Rizzo, Hanniger, and Schreiber to the McClintocks as Rita’s new personal security detail, Gavin gave Carmichael the okay to return to the hospital.
Gavin was now in the McClintocks’ massive home office, which they’d immediately scanned for bugs upon entering. Thankfully, no listening or recording devices had been found. Across the coffee table from him, Edward and Rita were seated beside each other on the leather couch, their hands linked tightly. Xander stood sentry at the door, while Wilson was positioned to the right of the office’s window, scanning the surrounding woods where Team Three was patrolling.
“How did this happen?” Rita asked. “Polanski said none of the alarms were triggered.”
“They weren’t. Our IT specialist verified that the system’s cameras weren’t hacked.”
“All due respect,” Rita interjected, “but what are your IT specialist’s qualifications? They could have missed something.”
Gavin understood the woman’s apprehension, but her superior tone grated on his nerves. “No.” More like fuck no, but he was a professional, dammit. “Our IT specialist is more than qualified.”
Edward frowned. “Rita does have a point. How do we know that he didn’t miss anything? Hackers are very talented?—”
“I’m going to stop you both right now.” Irritation simmered in his gut, and he took a moment to rein it in. “My staff’s ability isn’t up for discussion. If you’ll recall, our IT specialist was the person who was able to locate your kidnapped child within twenty-four hours and find the proof that members of your security detail were responsible. Our IT specialist—along with the rest of Hudson Security’s cyber division—is more than capable of checking for security breaches on a video feed.”
“Fuck those tech billionaire shitheads,” Bean muttered in his earpiece. “But thanks for having my six, boss.”
A quick glance at Xander and Wilson showed they were both sporting smirks. Looks like Bean had opened everyone’s comms.
“How did these shooters evade detection?” Edward asked.
“From what we learned through our contacts at SPD and the FBI, there was only one caliber of bullet found, so it’s possible it may have been a single shooter. Regardless, my guess is that whoever it was knew where the cameras were. As our team pointed out last week during our initial assessment, there are a few blind spots on your property. Whoever was responsible for the shooting managed to utilize each and every one.”
They both stared at him blankly, then Edward ran a hand over his jaw. “What exactly are you saying?”
Holy shit. For a couple of tech billionaires, common sense didn’t seem to be either of their strong suits. It seemed a little unfair to burst their bubble.
“Either they scoped out your property, which considering how camouflaged the cameras are doesn’t seem plausible, or... someone on your team let them know the location of the cameras.”
Rita shook her head. “But who . . .”
It should have been comical how both Edward’s and Rita’s eyes widened at the same time, but Gavin took no satisfaction in them realizing that it was more than likely that one of their trusted security team had sold them out .
“We don’t know anything for sure at this point. It’s all supposition.” It was, but Gavin would bet his company someone on Polanski’s team had dirty hands.
Standing, Edward began to pace. “I need to keep Rita and Anson safe.”
“I need you safe too, Eddie,” Rita said, wrapping her arms around her waist. Her gaze followed her pacing husband and then swung to Gavin. “What do you suggest?”
“Polanski and his team can stay here at the house.”
“But you just suggested they?—”
He held up a hand, quieting her interruption. “My suggestion is that once Anson’s released from the hospital, the three of you move to a safe house. One of our safe houses.”
Edward made his way to the credenza that had an assortment of liquor bottles atop it. He filled a shot glass with what looked to be whiskey and tossed it back. Shaking his head, he added a large cube of ice to a lowball glass and poured more whiskey nearly to the rim. “Rita?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“No, thanks, Eddie. I’m going to head back to the hospital soon.”
Edward downed half his glass before he looked at Gavin and held up the bottle of Pappy Van Winkle. “Join me?”
“No, thank you.” Gavin stood and made his way toward Edward. He knew the man had been shaken by today’s shooting and the possibility that his long-time security detail was somehow involved, but the last thing he needed was for Edward to tie one on. “I’ll take some water if you have any.”
Holding a bottle of water out to him, Edward sighed. “How did this get so fucked up?”
Gavin cracked the cap and took a drink. “We’ll figure this out. We just need to keep your family safe until?—”
He saw the red dot on Edward’s chest at the exact moment Wilson called out, “Sniper! ”
Without thinking, he tackled Edward to the ground and gritted his teeth as fire tore through his right shoulder. More shots rang out as he scanned the room. Xander, with his weapon at the ready, was crouched over Rita, who was lying face down on the floor in front of the couch with her hands covering her head. Wilson was at the opposite end of the couch, his weapon aimed at the bullet-ridden window.
“Status!” Bean shouted in his earpiece.
“I have a visual on the shooter,” Rizzo replied, the strain in the Team Three leader’s voice indicating he was on the run.
A single shot rang out, and Hanniger muttered, “Motherfucker.”
“Report,” Gavin barked. He needed to know what the fuck was going on.
“Team Three is on scene,” Rizzo said. “Shooter down. Stand by.”
A few tense seconds of silence later, Rizzo was back on comms. “Area secure. Shooter down confirmed. Looks like a self-inflicted GSW to the head.”
Well, fuck.
With the threat contained, the tension in Gavin’s body eased. Standing, he winced at the throbbing ache in his arm. “Hanniger and Schreiber, stay with the shooter. Rizzo, coordinate with Polanski—make sure he’s the one who has to deal with the cops—and don’t let anyone touch shit.” Cognizant of the McClintocks staring at him, Gavin moved to the opposite end of the room and lowered his voice. “B, pull all video and get cyber on it. Hanniger, get a photo of the shooter’s face—all angles—and get it to cyber. Find me a connection, B.”
An array of “copy” sounded in Gavin’s ear. “Team Two, do you copy?”
“Go ahead, Frazier,” Carmichael said .
“Did you hear what just went down?”
“Affirmative. Tash is with us at the hospital, and Anson is secure.”
Gavin let out a breath. At least one thing wasn’t fucked up. “Good. Check in every fifteen minutes.”
“Copy that.”
Gavin turned toward Edward, who was now seated on the ground beside Rita. Both wore dazed looks. “Anson’s team confirmed that he’s secure. We’ve added an additional security officer to his detail as a precaution. Are you two okay?”
They both nodded, and Edward’s pale face turned a slight shade of green. Pointing a trembling finger at Gavin, his mouth gaped. “Y-you’ve been shot!”
Grimacing, Gavin glanced at his right shoulder. His white dress shirt was crimson, and the fire running along his shoulder was irritating as fuck.
“What?” Bean’s screech had him wincing. “Did he just say you got shot ?”
“It’s fine,” Gavin muttered. “Barely a scratch.”
“I need someone other than Gavin to give me an injury status update,” Bean demanded. “Now!”
Xander moved toward him and slapped a folded bar towel against his shoulder.
He hissed. “Fuck you, Xan.”
His friend lifted the towel away and shoved it at him to hold, then he ripped the damaged sleeve wider and frowned. “It’s a bit more than a scratch, B, but it’s still just a graze. He’ll live.”
“EMTs are on their way,” Bean said. “Let me know which hospital they admit you to and?—”
“No hospital,” Gavin said, glancing down at his shoulder and wincing. The bullet had indeed grazed him, but it was deep and burned like a motherfucker, and he was bleeding like a stuck pig. “A few stitches and it’ll be fine. I’ll be back on the island tonight.”
“You’re so freaking stubborn,” Bean muttered before clearing her throat. “Hanniger sent over photos of the shooter, so we’ll get to it on this end. I’ll keep the line open. Let us know if you guys need anything.”