Chapter Twenty-Five
“MOVE IT, COWAN. You take longer tugging on clothes than a teenage girl.” Andre enjoyed taunting the agent. The process would also help during the interrogation. Nothing like needling the man you planned to interrogate.
No point in playing good cop with Cowan. For one thing, Andre didn’t have it in him tonight. Couldn’t prove it yet, but he knew Cowan was the reason Obsidian Storm had a bead on Riley.
And for Andre to fall in love with the former CIA agent? What a coup for Cowan. Because Andre was in Riley’s life, Cowan dug into his background, then gave Obsidian Storm the names and occupations of the Ranger team who took out Rico Mendoza.
He still didn’t understand how Cowan got access to enough information about Riley to know she was with Fortress and so was Echo unit.
Made him want to puke to think someone in their company sold them out.
Zane would catch him or her before long.
The communications guru wouldn’t rest until he’d checked out every possibility. The traitor would pay.
“I need more time.” Cowan glowered at all of them, Andre in particular.
Andre glanced at Seth, who gave a slight nod.
He’d caught the wording as well. Cowan had sent out a distress signal, which meant they needed to leave fast. Most security team’s response times were quick.
The question was whether he had sent the distress signal to Fortress or someone else.
They had to assume he signaled someone other than Fortress, and Maddox wouldn’t be happy if they shot up the neighborhood.
“You don’t have it. Fifteen seconds, and we’re leaving. ”
Cowan growled at the operatives, his gaze lingering on Riley as he jerked on the clothes.
Noticing where his attention lay, Seth signaled Riley to go into the hallway to wait with Violet.
Andre breathed easier. At least he hadn’t been the bad guy in this situation. Riley could take care of herself, but he realized at that moment Cowan was obsessed with her.
He snorted. Probably irked him that Riley refused to be one of his flavors of the night. That just showed she had good taste in choosing Andre.
When Riley was out of the room, Cowan shifted his angry glares to Andre. Yep, those looks sure hurt his feelings. Not.
At the fifteen-second mark, Andre yanked the hem of Cowan’s sweatshirt down and jerked him to his feet. “Let’s go.”
“Wait. I don’t have shoes on.”
To keep him from running. Most people didn’t like running outside barefoot. “Not my problem.”
Cowan appealed to Seth to be reasonable.
Echo’s leader ignored him as he opened the bedroom door. He and Andre stopped halfway down the hall.
Violet moved out of the shadows behind Cowan as Elias blindfolded the agent. The medic swabbed Cowan’s neck with an alcohol wipe, then gave him the shot that knocked him out seconds later.
“How long will this jerk be out?” Seth grimaced as he and Andre held the man up between them. The extra weight didn’t do his injured arm and shoulder any favors.
“About two hours. I can’t be positive since I didn’t know his weight when I calculated the dosage.”
Elias looked at Seth. “Let’s get out of here before we have company.”
“Agreed.” Seth glanced at Iona. “Take point. Riley, Violet, you two and Elias provide protection and a distraction if we need it.”
The operatives carried Cowan through the condo to the back door. “Good thing we brought the mini bolt cutters.” Andre adjusted his hold on Cowan’s arm. “I’d hate to haul Cowan over the top of the fence using a firefighter’s carry.”
Iona opened the door wide enough to scan the area. “We’re clear for now.” With her weapon held against her thigh, she led the way from the condo and through the yard. She and Riley held the two sides of the broken chain-link fence open for Seth and Andre.
They hurried to the SUV and placed the agent on the floor of the vehicle with Elias and Andre watching him.
Seth drove out of the area and headed back to the hotel. “This is going to be close. People will stir soon. We can’t afford to be seen hauling an unconscious man to our suite. Something like that will stick in their minds.”
Over the comm system, Elias said, “I’ve got it. Drive us to the hotel. I’ll get us to the suite.”
“Copy that. Zane?”
“Here.”
“Did you pick up any chatter around the condo?”
“Nothing. I hacked into two neighbors’ security feeds.
Five minutes after you left the condo, a security team of five arrived.
They searched the place, then made several phone calls.
One call must have been to a computer hacker because he or she guided them along the exact path you took to the SUV, but you were already out of the area. ”
“Did you get their images?” Andre asked. Who was this team and what connection did they have to Cowan?
“Yep. I’m running the photos through our database as we speak. I’ll let you know if I identify them.”
“Thanks, Zane.”
“Do you need me to stay with you until you reach the hotel, Seth?”
“I think we’re clear. I haven’t seen a tail, and we’ve been on the road for several minutes.”
“Copy that. Call me if you need a hand. Otherwise, I’ll be working on your other support requests. Murphy out.”
“In case Violet miscalculated, we won’t use names until we hand Cowan off to the black site team.”
“Yes, sir.”
The return drive to the hotel during the early morning hours was the quiet Andre liked. Uneventful.
Minutes later, Seth drove into the underground garage followed by Elias with Iona and Violet. As soon as he turned off the engine, Elias hurried to the stairwell and disappeared inside.
Soon, he returned with a serving cart and a white tablecloth. “Express ride to the fifth floor for our friend.” He tossed a second tablecloth to Iona. “Act like you’re showing Riley and Violet that beautiful tablecloth and the rest of us will get our buddy into his limo.”
The women made a big deal of examining the large cloth while Andre and the others positioned Cowan inside the cart. With his wrists and ankles bound and his mouth covered with tape, Cowan wouldn’t be causing much trouble if he woke up on the ride to the fifth floor.
Once inside the suite, Seth looked at the rest of Echo and Artemis. “If you want to hear the interrogation, either stay in the shadows or wear a mask. I don’t want to make it easy for Cowan to identify his kidnappers.”
Rayne frowned. “He’s already seen Andre and Riley. He knows who you are.”
“But he doesn’t know you.” Grant threaded his fingers through hers. “And I don’t want him to identify you, baby.”
“He and his cronies will know my name soon if they don’t already. We’re married, Grant, and you’re a target for these men. I say we stand together.”
He brushed his lips over hers. “Would you at least stay in the shadows for my peace of mind?”
She nodded.
Seth turned back to the others. “Choose mask or shadows while we’re getting Cowan set up. No matter what you hear, do not engage with him. Leave that to Elias and Andre, and possibly Riley.”
The men set Cowan in the chair in the kitchen and secured his wrists and ankles to it. After removing the duct tape, the operatives spread out around the room, turning off lights and closing curtains, and waited for Cowan to wake.
Thirty minutes later, the agent stirred, groaned, and opened his eyes. He squinted against the light from a standing lamp with the shade removed, looking confused. “Where am I?”
“Wrong question.” Elias stepped into his field of vision. “You should have asked who brought you here.”
“Thugs, that’s who.”
Looked as though his confusion cleared up fast. Andre looked at his friend and gave him a chin lift. Time to get this party started.
“Wrong answer.” Elias shook his head. “Man, you’re not starting out on the right foot.”
“What do you want?”
He pointed at Cowan. “There you go. That’s where we’ll start. So, Sam, let’s talk. We’ll ask questions, you answer them honestly, and we’re out of here before the sun comes up.”
That wasn’t happening, but Cowan didn’t know it. Andre rested his hand on the agent’s shoulder.
“Dream on.”
Elias shook his head. “Now, Sam, that’s not a good way to start this party.”
“Just get on with it. You ask your questions, and I’ll refuse to answer. After that, we’ll both walk away.”
“I don’t know what they taught you in spook school, but that’s not how we do things around here. You see, you made a major mistake. My friend behind you is very protective of those he loves, and you sent goons after his woman. How protective do you think he feels right now?”
Uneasiness filled the agent’s eyes. “Forget it. I won’t talk.”
Elias smiled. “Let’s see.”
An hour later, Cowan sobbed in his chair and begged Elias and Andre to stop, promising to tell them everything if they’d just stop for a minute.
Andre resumed his work for another ten minutes, then leaned close to Cowan’s ear. “Who funded the hit team?” His hold was a painful reminder of what would come if Cowan refused to answer honestly.
“It wasn’t me. I swear.”
Elias folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. “Oh, Sam, you shouldn’t have lied to us.”
“I swear!”
“You don’t know how to tell the truth, Sam, and that’s not good.”
“Are you crazy? I don’t have the money to hire a hit team. I work for the government. While the government is an expert at spending money, the pay is terrible.”
Elias studied him for a moment. “That I might have believed if I didn’t know you have an account in the Caymans with a balance of $4 million and change. So, Sam, where did you get that kind of money on a government salary?”
Cowan remained silent.
Unfortunately, Andre wasn’t surprised at Cowan’s retreat.
If he kept putting pressure on the nerves, he could do permanent damage.
The thought didn’t bother him, and it should have.
Riley’s life was on the line. He’d do anything to protect her, even knock off a dirty federal agent if that’s what it took to keep her safe.
“I’m not hearing anything, buddy. You don’t want to make my friend angry. He’s not nice when he’s angry.”
Cowan scowled. “What do you call his actions so far?”
“A little persuasive meeting of the minds. The longer this persuasion continues, the more you’ll suffer.
We can do this all day, dude. Trust me when I say you don’t want to push my friend much farther.
I can tell he’s at the end of his tether.
You don’t want to see what he does to those who push him too far, Sam. ” Elias shuddered.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Really?” Andre leaned closer to his ear and increased the pressure on the nerves in Cowan’s shoulder.
The agent shuddered. “No, please.”
“Talk to me, Cowan, and the pain stops. Who funded the account to pay for the hit?”
“No one was supposed to die.” Cowan glared. “You’re an idiot if you believe that. The fund was for a kidnapping, not a murder.”
“Why kidnap Riley? What did she do to you?”
“Besides disrespecting me and refusing to give me what I deserve, nothing. I told you the fund wasn’t mine. I had no reason to kidnap and kill Riley.”
“Oh, I think you did. You see, Riley knew too much, and you had to get rid of her before she put together all the puzzle pieces and turned you and Berkley in to your superiors. You couldn’t let that happen because you’d be looking at serious prison time.
Your brilliant solution was to sell Riley out to Obsidian Storm’s leader, scoring a profit and eliminating a problem for yourself. ”
“Do you have a hearing problem? The money isn’t mine.”
“No, it isn’t. That didn’t stop you from skimming a reward for yourself from the pot of money in the account before putting out the word on the reward.
I’m surprised he hasn’t questioned the discrepancy.
” Andre lowered his voice. “I wouldn’t count on that for much longer.
We have friends in low places, Cowan. They owe us favors. ”
Cowan swallowed hard.
“So, we’re back to my question. Who funded the account?”
The agent broke into a sweat. “You don’t understand. He’ll kill me.”
“He has to find you first. I already have you within arm’s reach. Which of us is more of a threat to you, Cowan?”
The other man paled when Andre bore down on the nerves in Cowan’s shoulder. “You are.”
“Very good.” His fingers dug in harder. “Who funded the account?”
He gasped, his body bowing. “Garcia. Javier Garcia.”
Andre backed down the intensity. “What does he want with Riley?”
“She killed his father.”
“You and Berkley sent her to do the dirty work. Does Javier know about your part in his father’s death?”
Cowan shook his head. “You can’t tell him. He’ll kill us.”
“I’ve got news for you, dude. He’ll kill you anyway when he decides you aren’t useful anymore. I’d say you serving prison time will do the trick.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I can and I will if you don’t start talking.”
Cowan’s shoulders slumped. “What do you want to know?”
“How many more kidnappers have you hired?”
“One.”
“Name?”
“Wyatt Sandoval.”
“Does he have a partner?”
A head shake.
“Did you have another job besides arranging for Riley’s kidnapping?”
Cowan hesitated.
“You don’t want to mess with me.” Andre gripped him tighter. “I take it personally when someone threatens the woman I love. Talk.”
“I’m supposed to smuggle ten people across the border.”
“You personally?”
He nodded.
“When?”
“I don’t know.” He flinched when Andre shifted his hold on Cowan’s shoulder. “I swear, I don’t know when. I just know it’s soon.”
“Do you know why Garcia wants those ten people inside the United States?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know and don’t care. Garcia pays me well to look the other way and keep my mouth shut.”
Elias rolled his eyes. “Buddy, ask a few questions the next time you sell out your country and pad your bank account.”
“Why?”
“Those ten people Garcia wants you to smuggle into the country will be carriers of a weaponized flu virus that could kill millions of people around the world.”
Cowan stared. “No, that can’t be true. The members of Obsidian Storm are just punks, not world-class scientists.”
Andre’s lips curled upward. “Not only is it true, but you’ll be one of the first victims.”