Chapter 25 Brady
brADY
Rhodes kills the headlights two miles out, the SUV rolling the rest of the way on low beams, until he pulls into a narrow cut out surrounded by trees.
The woods are dense, the moon breaking through the canopy enough to send long shadows stretching in front of us.
It’s not ideal for our purposes, but I’m not willing to wait for another overcast night. I want this done tonight.
We cut through the tree line, moving fast and silent, following the markers I left when Vincent and I were here earlier.
Rhodes moves with me, his breathing steady.
Through the dark trunks, we glimpse the white building gleaming in the moonlight.
Two guards patrol outside, exactly where I expect them.
One paces a semicircular route in the front, and the other is leaning on the corner of the house.
Rhodes gestures with two fingers, splitting us.
I circle wide, keeping low, letting my dark clothing disguise me in the shadows.
Timing the pacing guard’s turn, I creep closer, and the second his back is to me, I’m on him.
My arm snakes around his throat, my hand locking behind his head, and I pull back just enough to cut off his air.
He struggles against my hold before he goes limp.
I quickly zip-tie his hands and feet, stuff the gag in his mouth, and lower him behind the shrubs.
Across the yard, Rhodes straightens from where he left his unconscious guard and gestures for us to move.
Less than two minutes and no alarms. Might be a personal best.
I follow Rhodes when he slips into the house through the side service entrance and cover his back as we move from room to room.
Rhodes makes quick, precise work of the three men we come across: one in the back hall, one on the stairs, and one in the kitchen.
All subdued and zip-tied before they can make a sound.
Lucky for them, it’s Rhodes and not Callum tonight, so all will wake soon with their windpipes intact.
That leaves Carrow.
I catch sight of him through the windows of one room. He’s lounging on the back terrace, swirling a tumbler of something amber.
Perfect.
We wait in the deep shadows of the room while Carrow drains the last of his drink and stands, heading inside toward the wet bar.
He’s just setting the empty glass down when I deliver a quick strike to the side of his skull. Not enough to knock him out, but enough to scramble his brain a little. He staggers a step before Rhodes restrains him and shoves him into a heavy chair I’ve dragged into the middle of the room.
The only light is from the moon spilling in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, washing everything in a pale silver hue. Carrow’s head bobbles, and Rhodes cracks a vial of smelling salts under his nose. We don’t have time to let him come around naturally, and I need him in his full senses.
Carrow jerks, exclaiming at the sting in his nostrils.
He yanks his wrists up and struggles for a minute to free himself, before he belatedly appears to notice the two men dressed head to toe in black facing him.
The balaclavas hide everything but our eyes, and I take a sick satisfaction in the way his breathing spikes.
I’m not surprised that he tries bravado first. “You don’t know who you’re messing with.”
I lean in, and catch the scent of Carrow’s cologne. The same cologne Sera and I smelled in Elizabeth’s house, proving he was involved in some capacity. The fact that it is also the same cologne our father wears adds an extra layer of anger to my mood.
Shaking off an unpleasant memory, I keep my voice low and raspy on purpose.
“I know exactly who I’m messing with. You’re the scumbag who practically imprisoned his wife before she escaped from you.
Must have been terrible to discover she’d started dating a member of the Russian mafia.
Poor guy, I hear he’s out for blood over her death even though they’d broken up.
” I haven’t told Elizabeth everything Finn discovered about the reality of Natalya’s life.
If I know one thing about her, it’s that she would blame herself for not knowing.
Carrow goes deathly pale.
“Bloodthirsty folks, those Russians.”
Carrow’s throat bobs, and his gaze flicks to the door behind me, and he screams, “Help! Hey! Intruders!”
Rhodes lets out a dry laugh, arms crossed over his chest. We let him scream for a few more minutes until Rhodes presses an index finger to his ear. “Can we get on with it? He’s giving me a headache.”
Carrow’s mouth snaps shut, fear blanching his face as the enormity of his situation kicks in.
“Yeah,” I say in a conversational tone. “Help’s not coming. They’re a little tied up.”
I can practically hear Rhodes roll his eyes. “You have got to come up with a new line, old man. Every. Single. Fucking. Time.”
“What?” I turn to face him. “It’s a classic.”
Our nonchalant banter is serving its purpose, which is to scare the shit out of Carrow. His breathing is shallow, his chest heaving as his panic grows. “Who the hell are you? His voice wavers. “Do you want money? My safe—”
I turn to him and step closer until my boots scrape the legs of his chair. I bend until we are eye to eye. “If it were money, you wouldn’t still be breathing. I’d just take it.”
Carrow swallows hard, the tendons in his neck standing out in the dim light. “Then what the fuck do you—”
I lean in again. “You know exactly what I want.”
“Is this about Natalya or one of the other women?”
Rhodes stiffens next to me. On the bright side, I don’t think tonight’s work will weigh on Rhodes’s conscience too much. He is a little touchy when it comes to women.
I turn back to Carrow. This piece of shit. How many people has he casually hurt in his life that he doesn’t know who someone would be seeking revenge for?
An image of Elizabeth, bleeding and terrified, flashes in front of me, and my pulse skyrockets. The pressure in my chest spikes, and my hands curl into fists at my sides before I can stop them.
Rhodes steps past me and, without a word, presses the flat point of his knife right against Carrow’s balls. Not enough to cut him—but the promise is there. The man stiffens instantly, eyes bulging.
“You like to hurt women?” Rhodes hisses.
“No! No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Start talking.”
“About what?” Carrow’s gaze darts frantically between us.
“Whatever wrongs you think should be righted,” Rhodes says. His voice is even again, letting me know that, though the knife is still threatening to end Carrow’s sex life, Rhodes has regained control of his temper. “But you can start with Elizabeth Gowan.”
Carrow’s eyes flicker. “I told you.” His mouth curls in an ingratiating expression. “I have it handled."
I grind my teeth and force myself to straighten. I take a half-step back. I’m in serious danger of killing this man before we get the answers we need.
Keep your head. Losing it now doesn’t help her.
“You’re an idiot,” I tell him. “You didn’t even realize the necklace was stolen.”
Carrow barks a short, harsh laugh, clearly feeling like he’s on safer ground.
Like I said, an idiot.
“How could I? The fake was incredible. The work was so good it fooled everyone.”
“Until?” I push.
“Until Keith tried to sell it.” Carrow smirks, but there’s a nervous twitch, a tiny crack in his facade.
“Bad luck on his part. The appraiser he went to remembered seeing a similar piece years ago. Reached out to the owner, thinking Gowan had stolen it. That’s how we knew one was out there.
Then Gowan said to call his ex-wife, so we knew she had it.
” Carrow grimaces. “How was I supposed to know the cunt hired herself a bodyguard? That’s the only reason my men couldn’t grab her, but… ”
I know he’s still talking, and I need to focus, but a red mist is hovering at the corner of my vision. A heavy hand lands on my shoulder, snapping me back.
Get it the fuck together.
“Leaving Keith’s body was a warning to her—That was your idea?” Rhodes’s voice is cold.
Confusion flashes across Carrow’s face. “What? No, that was Anna’s plan. Didn’t she tell you?”
Rhodes tilts his head. “Anna?”
Anna. The name means nothing to me.
Carrow huffs out a breath, like we’re wasting his time, and his body sags like this is all a misunderstanding.
“She said she was handling it. It was her men who got the information out of Natalya. I was just trying to find out where that lawyer bitch hid it. I searched the house, hoping Anna’s minions had missed something, but it wasn’t there, so I thought I could force the woman to tell me. I’m trying to make it right. I swear.”
The words settle like a stone in my gut even as understanding snaps into place. This moron thinks we work for the Lapidarists. That we are here to exact some sort of retribution for losing one of their precious necklaces.
His story also explains the difference in the sophistication levels between the murders and Elizabeth’s attempted kidnapping.
“You thought you could make her talk.” My voice sounds like I’ve swallowed glass. If I’d been thirty seconds slower…
“About the necklace,” Rhodes prompts.
Carrow’s eyes narrow as he looks between us. “Who are you?”
“Well, we’re not one of your fucked-up Lapidarist friends.”
That gets a reaction, but whether it’s because he is rethinking the danger he’s in, or that we know the name of his little secret society, I don’t know. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to answer my questions. How did Keith Gowan get the necklace?”
Carrow’s shoulders lift. “My ex-wife was having an affair with him. She admitted it.” His face twists in a cruel smirk. “He liked to fuck her in it and take pictures. She thought it was because she was beautiful, but the whole time, he was taking photos to have a copy made.”
“What is so important about the necklace?”
That wipes the smirk right off his face. “I can’t.”
“You can, or I’m going to make sure you piss blood for a week.” I say, keeping my voice calm, even though I want to roar at him.
Carrow stares at me for a long beat, then shakes his head. “I’m not telling you anything.”
Rhodes lets the tip of the blade pierce the fabric, and Carrow yelps when it finds flesh. “Wrong answer.”
Every muscle in my body is strung so tight it’s a miracle I haven’t ripped the knife out of Rhodes’s hand and ended this myself. One quick move, and one of the threats to Elizabeth is gone.
The world would be a better place without him.
I keep my eyes locked on him. “Why is the necklace so important?” I ask, overenunciating each word.
Carrow’s gaze flicks toward the moonlit windows. “I can’t tell you. If I do, they’ll kill me.”
I bend into his face. “That’s a theory. Here’s a fact. I’ll kill you right now if you don’t.”
He swallows hard, and for the first time, I think he’s about to crack.
Then I see it.
A perfect red dot twitching dead center on his forehead.
“Sniper!” Rhodes’s shoulder slams into mine, tackling me sideways. The thwip that cuts through the air is instantly recognizable as a suppressed, long-range rifle. Carrow’s head snaps back, the chair tipping with him. The spray is quick, and then he’s a lifeless heap on the polished floor.
The next round punches through the spot where I’d been standing a second ago.
“Move!” Rhodes hauls me up, and we sprint for the door. Another thwip, and splinters burst from the doorframe ahead of us.
“Back exit!” Rhodes barks.
We don’t stop running until we’re past the tree line, moving in a zigzag pattern, the trunks giving us cover from the estate.
By the time we reach the SUV, my pulse is thundering in my ears. Rhodes starts the engine, and before the doors are fully shut, dirt and pine straw are kicking up from the tires. My hands are clenched so hard on my knees, the bones ache.
“Goddammit!” I slam my palm into the dash hard enough to rattle the glove box. “They knew he was the weak fucking link. How the hell did I miss that?”
Rhodes keeps his eyes on the road. “Carrow’s been out of town. This might not have had anything to do with our being there tonight. Could be they were taking their first opportunity, like us.”
I look at him. “That would be a hell of a coincidence.”
“Could be,” he says with a shrug. “If Carrow tried to grab your girl to cover his ass with his secret society friends, for losing the necklace, and then failed… It’s entirely possible we just showed up early for their show.”
I grind my teeth. “And we walked right into it.”
Rhodes makes a face. “Guy folded pretty easily, though. Not that I’m unhappy we didn’t have to get creative, but you’d think he’d at least hold out for a little pain.”
I don’t answer. My mind’s still circling a name.
Anna.
Who the fuck is Anna?