Chapter Thirty-seven – Don’t Give Up On Me #2
My chest nearly seized. I’d promised her, just as her dad had, that she wouldn’t face anything horrible by herself again, and yet there she was. All fucking alone.
“Parker.” Sweeney’s voice drew my gaze from the screen to his eyes, full of the same rage and hate I was feeling. “Plan time.”
“Rafe,” I said. “We need to get him on the phone and warn him. Ike will make her call him. That’s his endgame.
Revenge against Rafe. Ace is the one who wanted Fallon.
” Fuck. Was Ace here? On the property too?
I swallowed over the lump that formed in my throat.
“This is all just fun and games to Ike until he gets his hands on the man who put him in prison, the man ultimately responsible for his sister’s death.
He won’t kill Fallon until he’s sure he has Rafe dangling from a hook and on his way.
He’ll need somewhere he can defend, somewhere he can keep her without anyone sneaking in from the rear. ”
“The caves.” Chuck’s shaky voice drew our gaze. He flinched under our scrutiny. He swallowed hard before continuing, “The caves the bandits used are in that direction.”
He lifted his chin toward the cameras and the line of trees Ike and Fallon had disappeared into.
“How well do you know them?” I demanded.
“I know them well enough.” The teen’s voice had evened out, determination underlining it now.
The door of the hut bounced against the wall, and my gun was in my hand, aimed at the opening, before Kurt and Teddy drew to a stop.
Teddy—who had fucking something to do with Lorenzo.
All it took was two long strides for me to have him up against the wall with my forearm to his neck and my gun at his temple. Teddy’s eyes grew wide with fear. Voices shouted at me. Cranky. Sweeney. Kurt.
“How much did you get?” My voice was a low, deadly growl.
“What the hell?” Teddy choked out.
“Puzo. How much did you get for turning on her?”
Kurt stepped up and tried to yank my arm away. “Parker! What the hell? Stop!”
Cranky pulled Kurt back, and my arm pressed harder into Teddy’s throat.
“Puzo threw you under the bus, Teddy,” I snarled. “How much did you get, and what did you give him in return?”
“Fuck you,” Teddy gasped. “You think I’d turn on her? On Fallon or Lauren? Fuck. You.”
“What the hell is going on?” Kurt’s voice was full of confusion and anger.
But it was nothing to the storm brewing in me.
“Parker, we can figure that out later. Right now, we need to make a plan,” Sweeney said. His voice was calm. Serene. The team leader he’d always been in action. I was nowhere near my SEAL self. I was a bundle of emotions that ended up with deadly consequences.
Will had died for these same reasons—emotions clouding his judgment.
I shoved my forearm deeper into the man’s throat before stepping back .
Teddy coughed, and his hands went to his throat as he sagged.
I turned my back on him and looked at Sweeney. “We’ll follow their trail from the fire road just in case they don’t go to the caves.”
“Agreed. While you and I approach from there, Cranky and Lance can head directly to the caves from the river,” Sweeney said, pulling up a map of the ranch on one of the monitors and dragging his finger along the path Fallon and I had gone with the excursion the day of the shooting.
“I’m coming,” Kurt said, heading for the gun cabinet and pulling out the rifle. He was already loading it when Teddy joined him, pulling out a shotgun.
I tore it from his hands. “No. You don’t get a weapon. And you will not be anywhere near her—ever again, if I have my say.”
“Screw you,” Teddy said, eyes full of a rage that matched my own. “She’s like a daughter to me. If you think I’d do anything to hurt her or Lauren, you’re an idiot.”
Sirens filled the air.
I didn’t have time for this. I needed to get out of here before the sheriff arrested me for taking the damn ambulance.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Comms,” Sweeney said, stopping me with a palm to my chest.
Behind us, the doorway filled with a huffing and puffing Wylee.
“What the hell, Steele?” The sheriff’s jovial Santa image dissolved into a furious demeanor that matched the mood in the room.
“Why the hell would you waste my time, take me from a burning airplane and a double-murder scene to chase after you in a stolen ambulance?”
“Ike Puzo has Fallon,” I said. I pointed to the screen Lance had frozen at a still image of the sedan.
Sweeney handed me a set of comms before handing others to Cranky, Kurt, and Lance.
“You can’t head out after him without law enforcement,” Wylee said. “He’s suspected of killing two men in the tower at the airfield.”
I just raised a brow. “You want to do something?” I waved a hand at Teddy. “Keep him the fuck away from me and this rescue mission.”
Wylee glanced from me to Teddy with surprise. “Teddy?”
“It’s not what he fucking thinks,” the man snapped. “I’d never hurt her. Or Lauren. They’re my family.”
“Yeah, and Chuck here thought he was on the right side of the law too,” I growled. I eyed the kid. He said he knew the caves, but how the hell could I trust him? He’d worked with Ike once before. What if he led us into a trap?
Goddamnit.
But he had come to get help after seeing Fallon at gunpoint. It was easy to see the crush he had on her, and he’d been distraught when he’d thought she’d been hurt the day of the shooting.
I looked up at Kurt. “You know the layout of the caves?”
He wiped at his jaw. “It’s been years since I spent any time in them. Mostly as a kid. I could get you around, but Chuck here probably knows them better than any of us.”
The teen’s shoulders straightened, and he raised his chin. “I can help you, Mr. Steele. I swear, I can.”
“Fine.” I looked out the door at the fading sun—another thing in my favor. Nighttime cover was a SEAL’s friend. I turned back to Sweeney. “We got any night vision goggles here?”
He shook his head in the negative.
Damn.
Still. We were used to working at night. We’d make do.
I glanced at the screen one more time, focusing on Fallon’s pale face.
Hold on, Ducky. I’m coming for you.
And if Ike had hurt even one more strand on her head, I’d make him suffer before I killed him.