Chapter Twenty-One
Zeke Coleman
The options weren’t just limited. They were nonexistent, so as I sat outside of Clide Newton’s home, I knew what had to be done.
We had escaped narrowly this time, but we wouldn’t keep getting lucky, especially not since they had found us at my most secure location.
We were out of options, and I wouldn’t wait around for Clide Newton to set a trap.
I left Evelina with Jaimie as I armed myself to the teeth and made a single pitstop. The company Newton used for pool maintenance had astonishingly low security, so slipping into their warehouse and taking a truck had been as easy as wearing a fake company nametag and hat.
They would realize it was missing sooner rather than later, and I had a job to do first.
Newton was home for a meeting that Jaimie had tried to get information on a few days prior, so it was go-time.
I stepped out of the van, holding a clipboard that had been left on the passenger’s seat. I moved toward the enclosed pool, shoulders back as if I belonged. And it worked as all of the guards glanced at me, looked me up and down, and then allowed me to pass.
I walked right into the pool enclosure connected to the house, and I stretched my back.
“Mr. Newton wasn’t pleased with how quickly the water turned foggy after the last treatment,” the guard on the inside of the enclosure stated.
I made my best unsatisfied expression. “The tech was new, and Mr. Newton is our best client in the area. I’ll make sure he doesn’t come back.”
The guard nodded, pleased with my response.
I allowed my eyes to drift down to his holster belt, then did the same with the second guard before turning back to the pool.
“I see the problem,” I said, nodding and exhaling as if in frustration. “Did the last tech ignore the tear in the lining right here, or do you have another company to fix it?”
“A tear?” the guard asked, stepping forward.
I pointed at it, leaning slightly over the water. The guard moved forward and examined the lining, focusing on it through the rippling water. But there was no tear, and he had no idea that he had fallen right into my trap.
I moved my arm as if to point again, but instead, I grabbed a gun equipped with a silencer and slammed it into the back of his skull. He fell into the water, immediately unconscious, and I turned to the second guard. He seemed entirely ill-prepared as he reached clumsily for his own weapon, but I was faster.
I was five steps away, and I reached him before he had his gun aimed. I disarmed him in one motion, dodged a sloppy punch, and then had my arm around his neck in the next breath. I twisted my arm, and a silent popping sound filled the air.
“I’ll have to call another member of the team to come and see about patching the tear. The rest of the lining seems in good enough shape,” I said loudly enough for the other guards on bordering stations to hear, hoping to deter them from coming to check out the splash.
I didn’t hear any movement as I waited a few seconds.
I eased the second guard into the pool with minimal splashing, and I rushed toward the glass patio door, which opened with the silent ease I had been hoping for.
I had gambled when assuming that Clide Newton had loaded his security on the exterior. Men as powerful as him—even cautious ones—wanted their privacy.
Muted voices came from the upper level of the three-story home, and they sounded exposed as if they were on a mezzanine or something similar. I padded silently through the house, careful to avoid any creaking. I glanced around and saw only the back of the guards’ heads from the windows.
I needed to make this quick and effective, and as long as I made no noise, I could go back through the pool gate and drive away.
It was my only way out without creating a bloodbath that I wouldn’t escape.
I reached the stairwell’s landing and began the ascent slowly, marking the sounds I made on each step. The carpet cushioned the noise of my boots landing, and when I reached the second-story, I glanced upward.
I heard their voices more clearly now. Clide Newton and someone else. They spoke animatedly, but I didn’t focus on their words as I glanced around, hoping to find a way up without using the stairs.
If I could get a visual—take a few shots before anyone fired back—I would likely get out of here alive and unscathed. My silencer would create a dull enough pop to not alert the guards outside.
As the options roared through my mind, I realized for the first time how poorly I had prepared for this mission. I had never gone into something so unaware until now. I had never been willing to risk myself for a mission. I—
A sharp pain shot through my entire body, and blackness overtook my vision.
* * * *
A throbbing headache was the first sensation I noted.
Then, the biting grip of metallic cuffs on my wrists.
And my ankles.
“You’re the one who took my daughter from her rightful home.”
The voice was the same one I had heard speaking to Clide on the upper mezzanine, and I forced my eyes open, squinting as the light only exemplified the throbbing in my head.
“She was going to a good home. A fair one. Mr. Newton here assured me that would be the case. But because of you, she will be living a vastly different life once we get her back.”
I cleared my throat. It felt like sandpaper had been wearing on my vocal cords.
“Alonzo,” I rasped, my lip turning up in disgust.
I could see the slight resemblance. Nothing substantial or outwardly shocking, but there was a clear indication that he was her father. The same face shape. A similar nose.
But he had none of the compassion I saw in her eyes. His were cold. Empty. Dead.
“I spent a lot of money on the girl. She was an investment, and I don’t give up on investments easily, Mr. Coleman.” Clide Newton stepped beside Alonzo Bianchi and crossed his arms. “But now that you have shown such a keenness to keep my investment from me, I may take some notes from your father when I finally get my hands on her.”
I ground my teeth as I realized that he had done his research. He knew the buttons to press and how to make them most effective, but I wouldn’t show him that side of me. I wouldn’t let him know how much I cared for her.
“This is a job like any other,” I lied with a shrug. “My client was very keen on using the girl as leverage. He might take some notes from my father, too.”
Newton tipped his head back and laughed. It sickened me, but I couldn’t let him see the roiling in my stomach. My weakness would become his strength.
“Do whatever you need to.”
“Do you think she feels as nonchalant about you as you do about her?” Alonzo asked. “I’m just curious because I have a feeling we have a bargaining chip on our hands. We could kill you, and nobody would find you again. But… we could use you.”
He held up the phone that had been in my pocket—a locked and decrypted phone.
But I knew all too well how easy it would be for him to open it. It may take time—days or a week, even. But with the proper tech expert, they could unlock it and find my messages to Jaimie about Evelina. They could find her.
“Bastard,” I snarled.
“Ah, there it is. The reaction we were looking for,” Clide said, giving Alonzo a humorous pat on the arm. “We will kill you. Don’t worry about that. But first, we’re going to see if my new toy will come for you.”
No, no. This couldn’t be real. I thrashed and pulled on my bindings, but neither Clide nor Alonzo flinched at my efforts. They were going to use me. I hadn’t considered that outcome. I never would have thought that I would be anything other than dead if I broke in here. I had come so irrationally and quickly. I had not considered the outcome.
I had been too emotional going into this, and it had the potential to destroy both me and Evelina if she fell for the bait.
Knowing her, she would come.
And everything I had done would be for nothing.