Chapter Twelve
RILEY STARED AT the closed door for a beat, then turned to her team leader. “Andre almost made a mistake.”
“Give him credit for owning up to it and correcting his decision. That’s a sign of a powerful man.”
Hurt wound around her heart. “He doesn’t trust me to do the job.”
“Wrong. His first instinct is to protect you.”
“I can do the job.”
“So can he. Andre knows you’re trained to interrogate our visitor. Your ability to do the job isn’t what that brief exchange was about.”
“Then enlighten me.”
Iona’s lips curved. “You don’t see it, do you?”
“See what?” Yes, she sounded cranky. She also had the right to feel that way, like anyone else.
“Andre loves you.”
Riley froze, and the world stood still. “What did you say?”
Her team leader laughed. “You heard me, Riley. That man loves you. Why else would he try so hard to protect you from a task that he knows bothers you?”
Was Iona correct? Did Andre love her? Butterflies swooped and swirled in her stomach. Oh, man. She couldn’t think of anything better than for the man of her dreams to fall for her.
“The more important question is how you feel about him.” Iona gently shoulder-checked Riley. “So, inquiring minds want to know, Riley Sloan. Tell all to Iona.”
Iona and the rest of Artemis would wear her down. They didn’t keep secrets from each other. Besides, she wouldn’t be able to hide her feelings for Andre much longer. They were too overwhelming to conceal. “I’m crazy in love with him.”
The other woman pumped her fist. “Yes! I knew it, and now the rest of Artemis owes me dinner at my favorite restaurant. Thank you, Riley.”
Realization dawned on her. “You bet on me?”
“We bet on when you would realize you loved Andre.” Iona grinned. “I guessed today’s date.”
“This is embarrassing.”
“Yes, it is. You should have known sooner how he felt about you. Andre doesn’t have a clue how you feel, but the rest of Echo unit knew months ago that you were in love with him.
” She motioned for Riley to follow her. “You and Andre have been a source of entertainment for all of us. Now, Seth and I will have to find something else to occupy the teams.”
“You plan things like this?”
“Oh, you bet, sister. Part of keeping the teams bonded to each other is having a common goal. We all wanted to see you and Andre together because you were perfect for each other. Figuring it out took you long enough. In case you were wondering, we wagered on that too.
“Who won that bet?”
“Teagan. After that, we speculated about when you would know Andre was in love with you. I kind of helped that along, though.” She wrinkled her nose. “I might have to confess all to the rest of the teams. Too bad. I was looking forward to eating Mexican food after this mission is over.”
“Your meal is safe.”
“Explain.”
“Earlier this morning, I suspected Andre had stronger feelings for me than he’s admitted and hoped he’d fallen in love with me. What surprised me is that you knew when I’d only discovered the truth for myself. I’d count that as a win on your part. Nicely done, Iona.”
“Perhaps we’ll all go to dinner at the Mexican restaurant. That way, we can celebrate each person’s success and enjoy being together.”
The women walked to the large garage. Iona stood in the center of the garage with her hands on her hips. “This is perfect. We should hurry, though. Andre and Elias won’t take long to capture our guest.”
They found a blue tarp and spread it over the floor of one bay, then set a chair in the center. That done, they found a bucket and filled it with water.
“You know what we need?” Iona scanned the interior of the garage again. “Jumper cables and a battery.”
“Oh, nice touch. I’ll get a towel and look for something else that might be useful in persuading this guy to talk.” Riley returned to the cabin and rummaged in the kitchen cabinets until she found what she was looking for. In the garage, she laid out her tools.
Iona paused in setting up a car battery with two jumper cables attached and studied the items Riley brought back. She chuckled. “Needle-nose pliers, a corkscrew, a towel, and a roll of plastic wrap. If this would-be kidnapper doesn’t spill his guts after seeing all this, he has a screw loose.”
“Let’s hope he doesn’t guess that I don’t plan to use any of these items on him.” The idea of forcing information from the stranger caused nausea to build in Riley’s stomach. Distaste for the task was why she didn’t use this skill unless absolutely necessary.
Andre and Elias returned minutes later holding a beefy, dark-haired man between them. The stranger glowered at Riley, totally ignoring Iona. Well, guess that told them who he was after.
Andre shoved him into the chair and used zip ties to secure his legs and wrists to the seat.
Elias stood in front of the man with his arms folded while Iona and Riley positioned themselves behind him. Andre moved to Riley’s other side and waited for instructions.
Thankful both men were falling into the same routine they’d used on the other intruder, Riley looked at Elias and nodded. Now they would see how long this one held out.
Elias focused on their prisoner. “Here’s what’s going to happen.
We ask you questions. If you answer them truthfully, you’re out of here in a matter of minutes with a verbal warning about trespassing on private property.
If you lie to us or refuse to answer our questions, things won’t be so pleasant. Ready?”
Beefy man sneered. “Get real. I ain’t talking to you.”
“Yeah? Let’s find out. What’s your name?”
Silence.
Elias waited for two minutes, his gaze locked on the cocky prisoner. He flicked a glance at Riley.
She rested her hand on Beefy’s shoulder. “You really should make this easier for yourself. Why suffer for someone who will throw you under the bus when we find him?”
He snorted. “You won’t find him. Even I don’t know who he is.”
So, the orchestrator was male. Adrenaline surged in Riley’s bloodstream. What else could she learn from this man?
“Tell me your name.”
More silence.
“I warned you.” She glanced at Andre and motioned for him to rest his hand on Beefy’s shoulder. With her free hand, she counted to three. Together, they applied pressure to the nerves between the neck and shoulders.
The prisoner’s reaction was immediate. His back bowed, and he screamed. Although he thrashed around, Beefy couldn’t dislodge their hold. After a minute, Riley motioned for Andre to ease up.
“All you have to do is tell us your name,” Riley said. “Nothing hard or dangerous about that, is there? No one will know you shared your name.”
“I don’t have to say nothing,” Beefy said, his voice just above a growl.
Elias shook his head. “Look, buddy. You aren’t the first man to show up unannounced today. Things didn’t go well for the other one. I’d hate to see the same thing happen to you.”
Uneasiness filled Beefy’s gaze. “What are you talking about? What did you do to him?”
Elias laughed and motioned to the tools Riley and Iona had amassed.
“Look. It’s only fair you should understand that we know how to use every one of these.
” He inclined his head toward Andre, who tightened his hold a fraction.
“My friend here will enjoy using each one to force you to talk. Sorry, man, but he takes this kind of thing personally.”
“What thing?”
“You don’t know? Dude, we know why you’re here, and the woman you targeted belongs to my friend. He can’t wait to get his hands on you. If I were you, I’d talk and run as fast as I could. He’s not in a good mood.”
Blood drained from Beefy’s face as he turned his head from side to side, seeking an avenue of escape. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Elias shook his head, a sympathetic expression on his face. “Wrong answer, my friend.”
Seconds later, tears streamed down the intruder’s face as he screamed curses at them while writhing in pain.
Riley leaned close to his ear. “You’re suffering needlessly. Just tell us your name, and the pain stops. You have my word.”
She glanced at Andre, and he bore down hard on Beefy’s shoulder. When the prisoner was sobbing, Riley signaled Andre to back off. “What’s your name?”
His eyes closed for a beat. “Cliff Carter.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard. Tell me why you came here, Cliff.”
“It’s just business. Nothing personal.”
“Tell me more.”
He shook his head.
Riley increased the pressure on nerves still sparking from the last round.
He hissed, squirming to ease the pain. “Please.”
“Tell us why you came here, and the pain ends. Otherwise, we’ll have to move on to more unpleasant ways of extracting information.”
Cliff shuddered. “I wasn’t supposed to hurt anyone. I swear.”
She looked at Elias, eyebrows raised in silent question.
“You’re lying to us, Cliff.” Elias shook his head again. “You must like pain because you’re making a ton of bad choices this morning.”
Andre leaned down, increasing the pressure of his hold again. “Tell us why you came here.”
Cliff groaned, sweat popping out on his face. “My job was to kidnap a chick named Riley. My boss wants her.”
Elias scowled. “Do you know what she looks like?”
A head shake. “I only know her name. That’s all. Didn’t know there were two women here.”
“How would you have solved that problem?” Elias’ intense gaze locked on Cliff. “Think carefully before you answer that question, Cliff.”
He swallowed hard. “I would have taken them both to the rendezvous point.”
“See, there’s a problem with that solution. One woman you would have taken at gunpoint is mine. I don’t share what’s mine, Cliff. Do you understand me?”
“I hear you, man. Please, I didn’t touch her.”
“Not for lack of trying. That’s not a good way to cement our friendship. I say you owe me something for that.”
“What do you want? Money? I’ll share a cut of my pay for the job. We can negotiate.”
“Your employer paid you for a job you haven’t completed?”
“Half for agreeing to take the job, and half on delivery. I have the money. I can pay you. How much do you want?”
“Sorry, Cliff. Money won’t do it. I want information. You owe me one piece of information for even thinking about touching my woman. If you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’ll start using one of these tools to get what I want. So, what’s it going to be? One piece of information or more pain?”
“He’ll kill me.”
“Your employer has to find you first. I already have you within reach. Who do you think is the more dangerous of the two?”
“You and your friend,” Cliff muttered.
Andre leaned close. “You sound smart. Let’s see how smart you are. Who is your employer?”
Cliff paled. “I don’t know. We didn’t exchange names.”
“How did you connect with him?”
“Email. You can’t contact him,” Cliff added quickly. “He’ll know I talked.”
Excitement washed over Riley. An email address she could trace. It was probably a throwaway address, but it was a connection and brought them one step closer to identifying the man targeting her.
Elias frowned. “You said you received half the payment. How were you paid?”
“He transferred money into my account.”
Triumph filled her. This was what she and Zane needed. Perfect.
They spent another hour questioning Cliff but gained no more information for their efforts. Time to shut this down and leave Rod’s cabin before another shooter arrived looking for her and damaged the property.
Andre created a blindfold from a kitchen towel and tape. A minute later, a Fortress medic and two operatives walked into the kitchen.
Riley smiled at Jake Davenport, Eli Wolfe, and Jon Smith. She loved working with these three men. Of course, spending time with their wives wasn’t a hardship, either. She considered the three women friends.
Andre signaled the medic.
Jake opened his mike bag and brought out an alcohol wipe, a syringe, and a vial of medicine.
As soon as the wipe touched Cliff’s neck, his head whipped around. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
Jon wrapped a muscled arm around Cliff’s head to hold him still. Jake plunged the needle into Cliff’s neck and depressed the plunger. Seconds later, their prisoner lost consciousness.
“Great to see you again, Riley.” Eli gave her a one-armed hug. “Brenna’s been asking about you. She wants to have dinner with you when you have a chance.”
“I’d love to.” She glanced at Andre and corrected herself. “We’d love to have dinner with you and your family.”
Eli’s eyebrows soared. “Like that, is it?”
Andre wrapped his hand around Riley’s in a public claim. “It is.”
Jon motioned to the prisoner. “What do you want us to do with this bruiser?”
“Black site. Two hitmen have come after Riley already today. I don’t want their employer to know for sure the second man failed, too.”
“Do you know who commissioned these men?”
“Riley’s working on it.”
The operative shifted his gaze to her. “Need a hand?”
“Zane is helping us chase down a few leads. If I run short of time, I’ll let you know.”
Jon gave a slight nod. “You know how to reach me.”
Yes, she did. The scary SEAL was one of the kindest men she knew, and Riley genuinely liked him and his wife, Dana. He was also one of the deadliest operatives Fortress Security employed. You didn’t cross Jon Smith without fatal repercussions.
“Let’s load this guy up.” Jake zipped his mike bag. “I need to get home. I have plans with Lacey.”
Eli and Jon used their Ka-Bars to slice through the zip ties holding Cliff to the chair. When the prisoner slumped, they hauled him off the chair, draped his muscular arms over their shoulders, and headed for the back door.
Eli reached for the doorknob. “Let us know if you need help. We don’t like it when someone targets one of our own, especially a woman our wives consider a good friend. We’ll clear it with the boss and be on standby.”
“Appreciate the offer,” Iona said.
Soon, the operatives and Cliff were gone.
Elias unhooked the jumper cables. “Let’s clean up and go before we have another unwanted visitor.”
In minutes, the garage was back to its normal empty state, and the tools they had gathered were in their regular places.
Riley walked into the midmorning sunshine and followed Andre to his SUV. Unbelievable. Two killers for hire in one night.
Who was desperate enough to hire two killers without receiving confirmation that the first one was out of commission? Why would anyone be that desperate to kill her, and what would it take to stop him?