Chapter 18
Eighteen
“Don’t move.” The uniformed SWAT officer dragged the cartel guy’s hands behind his back, and Luca heard the metal snick of the cuffs around Hector’s wrists.
He peered around the corner of the wall, trying to get a look at Kira in the infirmary, but wasn’t able to see her. If he got closer, he might, but that meant potentially letting Stuart know he was out here.
“Let’s go.”
Luca realized the cop was talking to him and shook his head. “I’m staying here.”
“Wasn’t a question.” The cop waited.
Luca didn’t want to, but he followed the guy back to the entrance on the secure side of the security scanners.
Past the office, where the corrections officer had murdered three of his colleagues in cold blood.
Hector might’ve helped, but in the end, it was the dead officer who had betrayed his oath and put this entire facility at risk.
“I’m going back in there.” Luca announced it, unsure who he was talking to. Didn’t matter.
He spotted Mike Martinelli coming over to him, wearing a bulletproof vest with POLICE on it over his dress shirt. The detective passed through the scanner and set off the alarm.
“Someone shut that off.” A man with a white-shirted uniform that had bars on his shoulders turned to Luca. A lieutenant and African American, his name badge said Rutherford. “You’re Saxon?”
Luca nodded.
“Any relative of Amir Saxon, one of the inmates?”
“My brother. I asked the Marshals to transfer him in so he could protect Jenkins.”
Lieutenant Rutherford frowned. “If he’s in the middle of this, I can’t guarantee his safety. Got that?”
Luca nodded, and Detective Martinelli didn’t argue.
“A snitch!” Jenkins had been uncuffed from the table, and one of the SWAT guys walked him into the entrance lobby. The guy looked like he was about to pass out from the pain. “You put a snitch in here!”
Rutherford said, “Makes good company for you.”
Luca pressed his lips together. “I say we send in Jenkins and trade him for Dr. Yassan. Get her out.” He folded his arms, unwilling to debate the issue.
“You think our intention is to leave her in there with those wolves?” Rutherford turned to one of his guys. “Get ready to breach.”
Mike turned to Luca. “The other cellblocks are locked down. Most of the inmates in this one are behind doors. They’re contained, but it’s kicking off back there. We need to get this situation under control now.”
Rutherford picked up where he left off. “Means we need everyone to go in at once. We’ll get the doctor out, but the priority has to be containment. There are corrections officers shut in with the inmates beyond the infirmary, and we need to get them out as well.”
Right. Luca nodded. “Understood.”
Even if that was the last thing he wanted to say. What Luca wanted was to rush into that room and rescue Kira. Which would, of course, get him killed, since Stuart had a gun. But everything in him was pushing him to sweep her up into his arms and get her out of there.
He loved her.
Maybe he’d have felt this way if it was any other innocent in there at the mercy of a dangerous man with a gun. But Kira was under his skin. Without him realizing, he’d fallen for her.
He wanted her in his life. Wanted to take her to dinner, to a movie—all those things he’d said to her. But not just so they could be dating.
He wanted more.
He wanted it all.
Lord, I need her back. You’re the one who needs to rescue her. If not me, then someone else You use. But use me, Lord. Help me bring justice to this situation. Your justice.
His thoughts rambled through some more of the prayer, and he let it keep going. Circling around thoughts and ideas, interceding on her behalf with the One who had the power to resolve this situation without any more bloodshed.
That was the key here, wasn’t it?
No one else had to die.
Luca cleared his throat. “Stuart has information.”
Mike and Rutherford both glanced at him.
He continued, “He was probably paid, or he made a deal, and that’s the reason he tried to kill Jenkins before. He’s doing this now for the same reason. So he can finish the job. We need him alive so he can tell us who it is that hired him or forced him to do this.”
Rutherford frowned. “We have no idea how this is going to go down. You can’t make demands on how it shakes out.”
“But you’re going to do your utmost to keep Kira safe.”
The guy’s eyes flared, reacting to how Luca used her name. “Of course.”
“Then at least try and do the same with Stuart,” he said. “That’s all I’m asking.”
A couple of officers in SWAT gear came through the scanner. It flashed, but the audible alarm didn’t sound. “Ready, Lieutenant.”
Mike said to him, “We’ll do what we can.”
Luca nodded, not wanting to talk about this anymore when they were about to breach. He prayed silently while they made their way down the hall, and tagged on the end of the group. No one needed to worry about him. He still wasn’t armed.
He just wanted to be there when they brought out Kira.
Up at the front of the line, one of the SWAT guys nodded to another. They hammered once over the handle, the blow taking out a chunk of the door that included the lock. The officer tossed a canister into the room.
A deafening bang and the brightest light Luca had seen exploded in the space. The line of cops rushed into the room, yelling over the ringing in Luca’s ears.
He thought he heard a gunshot, but wasn’t sure.
Luca followed them and saw Stuart get thrown to the ground and subdued. His brother had his hands on his head, his fingers laced together.
The officer pushed the back of his knees, and Amir went down to a kneeling position.
Kira stood with her back to the wall, her face far too pale and her eyes dark and wide. She glanced around, her gaze not quite settling on anything. Shock suffused her features.
Luca went to her, gathering her up in his arms.
She didn’t resist. Her arms snaked around his waist. Luca held her close and looked at Amir, watching as his brother was cuffed. Stuart yelled at them, resisting, so that it took multiple officers to hold him down.
Amir nodded. He’d been here, and he knew Kira meant something to Luca. He knew and he’d come into the infirmary to protect her. Luca returned the nod, mouthing Thank you to his brother. The officer saw it, but still Mike took over handling Amir’s arrest.
“Come on.” Luca led Kira to the door and out into the hall. “Let’s get out of here.”
He held on to her, one arm around her waist and the other holding her arm.
She sniffed, and he heard her audibly exhale on a groan.
“Let’s find the EMTs and get you checked out.” There should be some outside. “Do you want me to carry you?”
She shook her head. “I want to walk out of here.”
“All right.” He didn’t let go of her. If she wanted to do this on her own two feet, he wasn’t going to object. She needed those moments to feel capable, even strong. Luca had to ask, “Did he hurt you?”
“Only some bruises.” She reached up and touched the back of her head. “And my hand. But I’m okay.”
“Hey!” They passed Jenkins.
Luca didn’t slow down, and they kept moving, going through the scanner toward the exit doors that would take them outside. He paused a second and gathered their things, figuring they wouldn’t want to come back anytime soon. He didn’t look at his phone, just slid it into his pocket. “Come on.”
“Saxon! I’m talkin’ to you!”
Luca glanced over his shoulder at Jenkins. “You have something to say to me?”
Kira slowed and the cops in the room quieted, everyone wanting to know what the former mayor had to say.
“Maybe the names of who is in the syndicate?” Luca was willing to give the guy a second to talk. But after that, he was getting Kira out of here. “Who are they, Alden?”
“Guess you’ll never know.”
Luca shook his head, walking Kira outside. “That was a waste of time.”
They’d come here trying to find out where Torres might have been taken, if he was even the victim of a kidnapping. This whole situation had been chaotic, not to mention terrifying for Kira, that he’d almost forgotten the reason they’d come.
“That was your brother, wasn’t it?”
He headed toward the ambulance, where two EMTs waited for them. Luca lifted his chin as they approached the uniformed first responders, both women. “This is Kira. She has some bruises, and her hand is hurt.”
Both EMTs grinned. One said, “Hey, Doc.”
“Laura.” Kira sounded like she was smiling. She glanced at the other. “Becky.”
“Barbara’s in the ER today. She’s worried sick about you, girl. Said she hasn’t stopped praying since she heard the news you were in there.” Laura took Kira’s arm, and they walked her the last few steps to the ambulance. “We can radio in so she knows you’re safe now.”
“Sounds good.” Kira settled onto the stretcher. “I don’t need to go to the hospital, though I could use an ice pack for the back of my head and a couple of ibuprofen.”
The EMT said, “Let’s get you checked out.”
Someone yelled, “Luca!”
He turned and spotted Mike jogging toward him. “What’s up?”
Mike glanced in the ambulance, then focused on Luca. “They’re working their way through the prison, getting the guards who are trapped out and securing all the inmates. I just wanted to let you know that your brother is good. He’s back in his cell.”
“Thanks.” Luca shook the other man’s hand, not sure why he was grateful for the fact his brother had been trapped back in that place. Going in there…seeing Amir in there…all of it was a reminder he hadn’t wanted that Amir wasn’t getting out for a couple of years.
His brother needed to make better choices next time. Stick to the rules of his parole and not go back to prison.
Luca didn’t want him to be another sad statistic.
“I appreciate you taking care of him.”