Seventeen
Her car and Rory’s pickup were the only vehicles parked in the pole barn, so Felicity was surprised to see Lou in the gun shop, wiping down the display cases with vinegar water.
“Hi! I swapped shifts with another barista so I could spend all day here,” Lou announced before Felicity could get a word out. “Callum dropped me off. He’s going to join our back-room party later, if that’s okay with you?”
“The more, the merrier,” Felicity said with a shrug. “I know he knows how to be quiet.”
Lou laughed. “Unlike me?”
Waving off the concern, Felicity said, “I have a feeling you wouldn’t be president of the Simpson Murder Club if you couldn’t zip it when you need to.”
“Simpson Murder Club?” Rory repeated. “I didn’t know it had an official name.”
“It doesn’t, that I know of.” Moving a couple waiting area chairs so that the backs were to a wall and they faced the entry with the back-room door on their left, Felicity sat. With an approving tilt of his head, Bennett took the other chair. “I just made that up.”
“I don’t know how you can sit,” Lou admitted, spraying another glass display case. “I have so much nervous energy, I can’t stay still. I drove Rory batty in about five seconds, so she handed me these and pointed at the nearest shiny surface.”
“Worked out for an hour this morning.” Felicity gave Bennett a pat on his knee as another thank you for thinking of it. “Otherwise, I’d be cleaning right next to you—or maybe doing laps around the store.”
Rory finished filling out whatever form she’d been working on and stood. “I’ll show you around the back,” she offered, heading toward that door, and Felicity followed, Bennett right behind her.
“I’ll hold down the fort out here,” Lou called after them. “I know you’re not officially open yet, and you have a monster of a gate with razor wire and everything that’s still closed, keeping people out, but I’ll still…well, keep cleaning, I sup—”
The door closed, cutting off Lou’s nervous chatter midword.
“Soundproof?” Felicity asked, impressed as she looked around the roomy space. There was a deep sink, lots of counter area, and even a centrifuge, which she figured was used somehow for cleaning guns.
Rory tipped her chin in a nod.
“How will we know if Dino comes in?” Felicity wandered around looking at everything, her hands tucked behind her back like a kid at a museum. There were a couple of dismantled guns, the pieces laid out neatly on towels, waiting to be fixed or cleaned, she assumed.
In answer, Rory lifted a remote and turned on a bank of TVs set in the wall across from the sink. The interior and exterior of the store were revealed in crisp definition from multiple angles, so every corner of the space could be seen. Even the woods and open areas around the shop were covered, all the way to Rory’s very impressive fence bordering her property.
“Sound too—but just in the shop.” Rory pushed a button, and Felicity could hear Lou humming tunelessly to herself.
“Nice,” Felicity said, glancing at Bennett, who looked impressed.
“There’s an exterior exit.” Rory pointed to a door with numerous dead bolts on it.
Felicity wondered if she and her sisters should consult with Rory about treasure-hunter-proofing their home.
“Everyone involved in this will enter and leave through the back. If you hear a knock, check this camera”—Rory pointed to one that looked out on a small porch and lots of trees beyond—“and then you can let them in if you recognize them. If you don’t, text me.”
“Got it.” The gun store was ideal for a sting. Felicity wished they could transport it to Langston. “Thank you, Rory. This is perfect.”
Rory gave a stiff nod. “I’m about to open, so I’ll send Lou back. Sorry.”
Felicity laughed. “No problem. Her chattering doesn’t bother me. She’s fun.”
“A good ally too. Make sure to lock this door behind her.” With another tight dip of her chin, Rory went into the front area of the store. As promised, Lou came through the door a few seconds later, turning the dead bolt before Felicity had to remind her.
“Ready for this?” Lou asked, obviously excited.
Her enthusiasm was catching, and Felicity grinned back. “Let’s do this.”
***
Then they waited.
And waited.
The day was broken up by the arrival and departure of the various murder club ladies, and they all came bearing food. Felicity and Bennett made sure they had everyone’s contacts in their phones as they snacked and watched the camera feeds. Lou stayed for a few hours but then had to help with the lunch rush at the coffee shop. Ellie stopped by just to drop off doughnuts before leaving to pick up Mila from a playdate and promising to return later that afternoon. Daisy arrived around twelve thirty with cookies and—thankfully, since Felicity was starving but already buzzing from all the sugar in the doughnuts—mini quiches.
They all switched off watching the monitors, and Felicity even took a few outside breaks, just to breathe fresh air for a few moments. She stayed close to the door, not wanting any stray customers—especially Dino or any of his buddies—to get a glimpse of her.
Rory’s shop had a steady flow of customers of all types, but there was no sign of Dino’s tall form as the hours slowly rolled past.
By five o’clock, Felicity was starting to resign herself to another failed plan. All the murder ladies were there, along with Callum. Ian and Chris wanted to come, but both had shifts at work, and George had Mila at home. “We thought she was a little young for her first sting operation,” Ellie had said when she’d arrived without her child in tow.
Felicity watched the monitors idly while her brain attempted to work out the next step in capturing Dino. Hopefully, he’d never gotten the email. If he’d seen it and was too suspicious to come, that would make any other attempt to bring him out into the open that much harder.
There was a small rush at the store, the after-work crowd, Felicity guessed. A family with two teenage kids, a pair of women probably in their thirties, and two separate men roamed the store and gradually left, until only one of the men remained. He eventually bought two boxes of ammunition and then exited.
Felicity glanced at her phone—ten minutes until Rory closed the shop at six. “Guess we’re coming up with a new plan,” she said, stretching her arms above her head. Although she’d sat or stood around for most of the day, her body ached like she’d been bouldering the entire time.
“We could burn their compound down?” Ellie suggested, making Felicity choke before she realized Ellie was joking. At least she hoped Ellie was joking.
“If we could get ahold of some building plans, we could break in,” Felicity suggested, ignoring Bennett’s soft groan. “The problem is that the militia don’t usually get building permits when they renovate their compound.”
“What about plans for the original structure?” Callum asked.
“According to the Field County Building Department, they’re ‘lost.’”
“That’s annoyingly coincidental,” Daisy said to murmurs of agreement. “How would—” She broke off as someone entered the store.
Her mind busy coming up with a plan for breaking into the compound, Felicity sent the new customer a distracted glance. Her eyes widened as she leaned closer to screen, completely focused now on the tall man. “That’s him.”
“That’s him?” Lou repeated, shifting to get a better look at the monitors. “ Him him?”
“Dino Fletcher, in the flesh. All six four of him.” Felicity grinned at Bennett with fierce satisfaction. “It actually worked.”
Just then, all their phones dinged from a group text. Felicity glanced at hers to see a text from Rory. He’s here. Come get him before I have to give him a free gun.
Felicity snorted at her text and hurried to the door into the store. Bennett was already out the back door. With her hand on the doorknob, she turned around and fixed the murder club ladies—and man—with a stern look, one she learned from Molly, so she knew it was effective.
“Unless we’re about to die, do not engage,” she said. “Even if we’re about to die, only engage if you can do it safely.”
“We know, we know!” Lou scolded, waving her hands at Felicity like she was shooing away a chicken. “We’ve already discussed this and agreed. Go get him before he leaves! Hurry!”
Taking a steadying breath, Felicity yanked open the door and burst into the store.
Dino’s head whipped around from where he’d been studying the Browning rifle while Rory scowled at him. Felicity sprinted toward him as his eyes darted around like a trapped badger, his fingers tightening on the rifle in his grip. She was suddenly very glad that none of the guns in the store were loaded.
Still clutching the gun, he pivoted to face the exit and darted for the door. Felicity saw a flash of movement from the other side and slowed her run, a smile stretching across her face as she predicted what was about to happen. Sure enough, Dino yanked open the door and ran through the opening—only to bounce off Bennett’s broad chest and stumble right back into the store, tripping and landing on his ass.
With a laugh of delight, Felicity pounced, grabbing the rifle and passing it to Bennett in one move. She caught Dino’s arm, twisting it as she turned him over before he even realized what was happening. Pulling out her handcuffs, she secured them around his wrists and then double-locked them so they wouldn’t tighten any more.
From her position on her knees, straddling her still shocked skip, she grinned up at Bennett.
“You let him run into me,” he rumbled.
“I did, and it was so much fun to watch!”
It was his turn to laugh as he offered her a hand up, which she accepted. The two of them helped a cuffed Dino to his feet, and Felicity kept a secure grip on her skip’s arm. She’d expected more yelling and flailing and definitely more cursing from him, but he was surprisingly subdued. Felicity wondered if he was still stunned from his full-body collision with her mountain of a husband. Bennett walked the rifle back to Rory, who was still by the register, talking on her cell phone. She took the gun with careful hands and tucked it fondly under the counter.
“Clear,” Felicity called out to the group waiting in the back, and they all streamed into the store, chattering with excitement.
“That was beautiful,” Daisy said admiringly. “The way you just let him bounce off your big guy there. Way to incorporate a husband into your bounty-hunting toolbox.”
“Thank you.” Felicity could only laugh again, feeling giddy at accomplishing her mission—at least this one. Her mom had led them on such a frustrating chase that she needed a win to get her confidence and love of the game back. “Speaking of husbands, we should give yours a call, get him to pick this one up.”
“Already done,” Rory called out as she ended her call. “ETA twenty-five minutes.”
“Twenty-five?” Felicity blinked at her.
Rory lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “It’s a big county.”
Still, that seemed…not ideal. In Langston, the average police response time was six minutes. “Don’t a lot of people…you know, die?”
“Yes,” Rory said. “That’s why I have all this.” She gestured toward the back room, indicating the cameras and extensive security system that Felicity was sure she had, but her answering nod was a little uneasy. It was hard to wrap her head around such a do-it-yourself emergency-response system, like the Wild West still existed.
“This feels almost anticlimactic,” Ellie said. “Is it always this easy?”
Easy? Felicity thought back to their eventful chase to Vegas and the consequences of that trip that they hadn’t even started talking about yet, much less dealing with. “This was actually one of the tougher ones. A lot of bail jumpers just aren’t that smart.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Dino, who scowled at the room.
“Don’t be talking about things being too easy, El,” Lou scolded teasingly. “That’s a good way to jinx us.”
Ellie’s hand slapped over her mouth as if to hold back words that’d already escaped, and her eyes rounded with remorse.
Felicity laughed along with everyone else, opening her mouth to comment when she glanced out the still-open door at the gathering dusk. A flicker of orange caught her attention. It looked almost like a tiny flame, like from a match, and her first thought was that someone was lighting a cigarette, but it was too close to the ground for that. Then the flame stretched into a line, and she knew that wasn’t a cigarette.
“Down!” was all she had time to yell before she yanked Dino to the floor and covered his head with one of her arms. A huge, heavy weight landed on her back, and it only took a fraction of a second for her to recognize the comforting bulk of her new husband. This time, the knowledge that he was stretched over her didn’t lead to a safe, content feeling, since he was vulnerable in his current position, and she hated that.
Felicity wrapped her free arm around Bennett’s head, pulling him down until his face pressed into her neck. It wasn’t much protection, but at least she felt like she was doing something .
A terrible, too-bright flash whited out her vision, followed by a boom that shook the floor underneath them. The tremors hadn’t even stopped before Bennett and then Felicity were on their feet. Blinking the residual sparkles from her vision, she hauled Dino up with her, grimly determined he wouldn’t escape in the chaos after the explosion.
“Felicity! You okay?” Bennett shouted, but his words were still muffled.
“I’m good. You?” She ran her eyes over him, overwhelmingly relieved to see him in one piece without any obvious blood.
“Fine. I’m going after them.” Without waiting for a response, he turned toward the door.
“B!” she shouted, her voice echoing strangely in her head and raspy from the layer of smoke spreading through the store. Bennett was almost out the door, but he turned at her call. “Handcuffs?”
He pulled them from one of his many pants pockets and tossed them to her. Her eyes watered from the smoke, blurring her vision, but she managed to catch the cuffs in one hand.
“Thanks!” she called out before coughing. Rubbing her face against her upper arm, she wiped new tears out of her eyes and shoved down on Dino’s shoulder. “Sit!” she ordered, feeling very uncharitable about him at the moment. When she’d nabbed a skip, he should have the courtesy to stay nabbed rather than have his friends try to steal him back, which was what she assumed was happening.
Dino resisted, trying to peer through the smoke, so she twisted his thumb and applied downward pressure.
“I’m sitting! I’m sitting!” he yelped, his knees sagging obediently.
“Hurry up!” she yelled, completely out of patience with him now. “I’ve got things to do, and I can’t be hauling you around with me.” First off, she had to check all of the murder club members, and then she needed to help Bennett chase down whoever thought they could blow up—literally—her successful mission.
Once Dino’s recalcitrant butt was—finally—on the floor, she handcuffed his right wrist to the counter support, which looked to be a steel post set in concrete.
“Stay,” she told him rather redundantly, since he shouldn’t be able to go anywhere locked to the post like that. Still, it’d been a day, and she wasn’t about to take anything for granted from this point on.
She turned to see that everyone in the murder club was on their feet and looked generally intact, and Rory and Lou were already heading for the back room. The room was filled with dust and haze, but except for the two-foot hole in the front wall and a few toppled display cases, the shop didn’t appear too damaged.
“Everyone okay?” Felicity yelled and got verbal confirmation that they’d all escaped any major injuries.
Bennett was outside and already out of sight, but she had a feeling she’d be running into him soon. It was impossible to see anything through the hole in the wall beyond a few feet, since it was almost fully dark outside now. Running for the door, she did a quick scan of her surroundings before darting into the gravel parking lot.
No one was in sight, although the evidence of the militia members’ visit was in plain view. The brick front of the store had taken the worst of the hit, a pile of blackened and smoldering rubble beneath the gaping hole in the wall. She felt a pang of guilt for being the cause of the damage to Rory’s store, but she pushed it aside, figuring she’d make up for it later. She could bake Rory cookies or reload ammo for her or pay her insurance deductible or something.
Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she glanced down automatically at the text from Rory.
Bennett chasing two BGs 100yds due east
Felicity grimaced. In the dark in an unfamiliar place, she wasn’t sure which way was which. Deciding to just guess, she turned to the right. Her phone buzzed again.
Wrong way
Turning around, she picked up a jog, trying to keep her footfalls quiet as she settled into stealth mode. Another buzz of her phone made her jump, and she glanced down to see Rory’s latest message.
Change of plan. BG’s van parked right outside gate. Poke a few tires, then help Bennett.
Even though every part of her was straining with the need to find Bennett and protect his back from the bad guys—who she assumed Rory meant by BGs—the murder club’s advice was good. Mentally grumbling, Felicity ran quickly down the driveway, slowing when she reached the open gate. Slipping from shadow to shadow, she peered through the darkness, looking for the van.
Of course they have a van , she thought, amused by that even after everything. I’ll have to mention that to Bennett.
At the thought of him outnumbered and without backup, her sense of urgency increased. A pale gleam of one of Rory’s security lights was reflected back at Felicity, revealing the bumper of a dark full-size van partially hidden in the trees next to the gate.
Right outside the gate, my ass , she thought, carefully making her way through the dry underbrush. Rory didn’t mention anyone being inside the van, but Felicity knew better than to assume it was empty. The way it was parked in the shadows of the trees, it would’ve been almost impossible for anyone watching the feed to tell if there was an occupant, even with such high-quality cameras.
Making a cautiously wide circle around to the passenger side of the van, Felicity ignored the voice nagging at her to go help Bennett. He can take care of himself , she told the voice firmly and focused on the vehicle in front of her. The interior of the van was as black as night, and she resisted the temptation to press her nose against the glass to peer inside. Instead, she slipped her favorite folding knife out of her pocket and flipped it open as she crouched by the right rear tire.
Felicity knew that once she punctured the first one, she’d need to be quick with the others. If there was someone inside the van, they’d feel it list toward her corner—and they very likely would hear the escaping air. Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, she raised her hand, preparing to plunge the knife into the first tire.
Someone grabbed her wrist.
With a startled inward scream that burned her already smoke-roughened throat, Felicity straightened her legs with an upward thrust that would’ve made an elite gymnast proud. The back of her head smashed into something that felt smooshy and damp that she guessed was a face. The grunt behind her seemed to originate from there too, confirming her assumption.
The grip around her wrist loosened slightly, and she dropped her arm down hard and twisted it, popping it free from its hold. Immediately, she drove her elbow back into another smooshy part, although this one wasn’t quite as damp as the first. Belly , her brain offered, and she nodded in agreement, ignoring in the chaotic moment the fact that she was agreeing with herself.
There was a snap of twigs as the person behind her took a step back, and a grin spread over her face as she whirled around to face her attacker. Who drilled breaking holds over and over, long after my sisters wanted to pack it in and go home? Yeah, that was me, Felicity Florence Pax. It certainly wasn’t you, Stumbly McStumbleson.
In the faint ambient glow of Rory’s security lights, Clint Yarran’s bloody nose looked black, the heavy streaks beneath his nose making it appear as if he had a hole in his face, like a zombie or a skull.
That’s way too many skulls to be encountering over two days , she decided, even as her hands came up automatically, curling lightly into loose fists that hovered in front of her face.
“Look who came exploring,” Clint sneered, pausing to spit a wad of mucus and blood close to their feet. Felicity tried to focus on the upcoming fight that was almost guaranteed to happen, but she couldn’t help giving a grossed-out shudder at that. “The bitch who thinks she’s a bounty hunter.”
“I am a bounty hunter,” she said politely. “Want to see my license?” And my knife?
“Sure you are.” He spat again.
“Please don’t do that.”
He ignored her request and continued talking. “Having a license doesn’t make you less of a stupid bitch.”
Felicity cocked her head, eyeing him. Why wasn’t he coming after her? Although she’d gotten out of his initial hold and managed a few good hits, she knew perfectly well that he wasn’t wary of her. This was the point where the skip always tried to go at her, and then she’d take them down. Clint didn’t seem like a genius, so why wasn’t he following the routine?
A twig cracked behind her just as realization hit her.
Clint was stalling.
Then her head exploded with pain, and the world went hazy gray.
Why didn’t I learn after the last time this happened to me? she thought muzzily as she swayed, trying very hard not to pass out.
“You didn’t hit her hard enough,” Clint—that ass—was telling the person behind her.
“I didn’t want to kill her.” The voice was vaguely familiar, but her brain was incapable at the moment of sorting through her memories. It was all she could do to stand on her feet. “We need her for leverage. They still have Dino.”
“Told him he shouldn’t fall for that ‘free gun’ scam,” Clint growled. “Hit her again.”
Felicity let her knees soften so she fell to the ground. Even though she controlled the drop as much as possible, it still hurt. She was still dazed from the blow, but even the few working brain cells she had at the moment were enough to realize that she wasn’t in any shape to fight off two attackers. If they hit her again, she’d really be unconscious, and she really, really didn’t want to be vulnerable and helpless while being held captive by militia members in their van.
“See,” the other guy said. “I hit hard enough. You need to trust me about things like that, Clint. I’m a professional after all.”
A professional what? Felicity wondered, forcing herself to go limp as rough hands rolled her onto her front and yanked her arms behind her back. Professional kidnapper?
“Professional?” Clint scoffed. “You’re an adrenaline junkie who likes to play with fire.”
Fire. The connection clicked. He was one of the firefighters she’d met that first night at Levi’s. Not the chief or the young, frowny one but the cheerful, middle-aged one—what was his name? Something Irish…Phineas or— Finn . Finn Byrne. She remembered the career-appropriate surname.
“Hurry up,” Clint said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What about Kelsey and Trey?”
“Deadweight.” Clint’s voice had a note of dark amusement. “Why do you think I chose them to set the bomb?”
Finn didn’t respond except for an exhaled huff that could’ve meant anything.
A zip tie tightened around her wrists, digging into her skin and bringing her back to her rather dire current situation. Those same rough hands rolled her onto her back, and she struggled keeping her expression slack and her body limp when her weight painfully pressed her captive hands against the rocky ground. He pulled her phone from her pocket and must’ve tossed it, because she heard a distant thunk she assumed was her cell hitting a tree trunk. There was the familiar rip of duct tape being pulled off a roll before a piece was flattened over her mouth.
It was hard not to panic at that point, wondering if the next piece of tape would cover her closed eyes. Instead, she heard the side van door roll open, and she decided that that was the scariest sound, even worse than the duct tape. Felicity knew all the statistics, knew that once she was in the van, the chances of her surviving dropped off the cliff. As the men each grabbed one of her bound arms and heaved her inside, she fought to stay limp, every instinct in her screaming for her to fight back and run. Maybe there’d be a better opportunity later to take her captors by surprise and escape, but maybe there wouldn’t be.
Maybe she’d die first.