Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Tanner’s heart had stopped.
“What do you mean, Kyle’s got her? That’s not possible.” She was upstairs in her hospital room. Kozinski was standing guard outside.
Jon’s phone made a noise. “Oh, fuck.” He held it up.
Faith’s picture was on the screen, standing against a white wall, her face a mask of both defiance and terror.
The world fell out from under Tanner’s feet. No. No. This can’t be. Hands shaking, pacing the concrete, he got out his phone and called Kozinski’s number.
His voice didn’t sound right when he spoke. “It’s Tanner. Is Faith in her room?”
Please, he thought. Please.
“No,” Kozinski said. “An orderly took her for some kind of test. Should be back soon.”
Tanner couldn’t even speak. He couldn’t even think about how stupid he’d been to trust Kozinski for even a second.
Kyle had her. Where was she? What was Kyle going to do to her?
“Tanner?” Kozinski asked. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes,” Tanner ground out. “Something’s very wrong. Faith is—”
Jon’s eyes widened. “You can’t. I’m not supposed to tell anyone. Or he’ll kill her.”
Kill her. Cold sweat broke out over Tanner’s skin.
Tanner punched End on his screen, debating what to do. He wasn’t about to take orders from Kyle. Or Jon Townsend. But should he call the police? Call Devon and the other bodyguards at Bennett Security?
He needed to think.
Jon bent over at the waist, bracing a hand against the nearest car. “I was afraid of this happening. What are we gonna do? I can’t give him… I can’t.”
Tanner grabbed Jon’s shoulder and slammed him against the car. “Can’t give him what?”
Jon’s head was darting side to side. Looking for some way out.
Tanner brought his nose an inch from Jon’s. “Tell me. What does Kyle want?”
“The drugs. The rest of what I have.” Jon’s voice was high-pitched. Desperate. “But—”
“You’d better not finish that fucking sentence. There is no ‘but.’ So this is how you knew Kyle would come after her.” This bastard knew he had something Kyle wanted, and Faith was the only bargaining chip. “You have more of that shit you brought to Faith’s house?”
“No. Not that. This is…” Jon swallowed. Tanner hadn’t loosened his grip on the man’s shirt. “It’s the rest of the heroin I brought here from Texas. It’s pure, worth a lot.”
Faith had told Tanner the story Jon shared—about how he’d taken on more product, hoping for a big profit, and then gotten robbed. He’d turned to Kyle for help. “What exactly was the plan?”
“Kyle had the idea to bring the last of my stash to L.A. and cut it with fentanyl so we could stretch it out, make back the money I owed. We’d done it before in Texas, but on a much smaller scale. This time, we needed more people, a bigger market where we’d go unnoticed.”
The words kept rushing out of him, as if he could make this better by finally telling the truth.
As if it wasn’t too late. “I found some guys online who worked in a lab and would handle cutting the drugs, and Kyle was supposed to manage the sales side, keeping under the radar of the L.A. cartels. Faith’s house was going to be our transfer site.
A place to store the stuff where nobody would pay attention.
But Faith was a buffer between me and Kyle, too.
Because I didn’t trust him, and I know he’s never trusted me. ”
“You fucking coward. You wanted to use her. Used her to protect yourself.”
Jon squeezed his eyes closed. “I was trying to be careful. I only brought the stuff to the lab guys a little at a time. Then I was supposed to take the final product to Faith’s so Kyle could pick it up.
Right away, I had second thoughts. I told him Faith couldn’t be involved after all, and Kyle was so pissed.
He… He tricked me into meeting with him, and then he beat me up.
Tried to make me give up the rest of the heroin.
But I’d put it in a safe place for that reason.
So Kyle couldn’t backstab me and cut me out of the deal. ”
And Jon had lied to her, claiming she’d never have to deal with Kyle again. “So you thought you’d sacrifice Faith instead?”
“I didn’t want this to happen. I could’ve just left town this afternoon when it all blew up, but I didn’t. I tried to warn her. I tried.”
Tanner was getting the impression Jon wished he’d chosen differently. “Where’s the rest of the heroin?”
Jon’s eyes darted toward his truck.
Dragging the other man along with him, Tanner went back to the Ford pickup. “Where?”
“This is all I have left, man. There must be some other way to get her back.”
“You’ve never been the husband Faith deserved. Have you?”
“I…”
“Have you?”
“No.” Jon was crying. “I haven’t. I’m sorry for it. I am.”
Tanner held Jon by the arms, and he was sure if he let go, Faith’s ex would fall into a heap on the ground. But Tanner couldn’t let him.
The only way this would work was if Tanner took command.
“I know you’re sorry,” he said softly. “But right now, Jon? Tonight? Faith needs you. And you’re going to man up. You’re going to finally be the man she needs you to be.”
Snot ran from Jon’s nose. “How?”
“I’m going to help you. But first, you’re going to show me where you’re keeping the heroin.”
“Okay,” Jon whispered. He went over to the truck. He reached up into the wheel well above the rear tire. There was a snapping sound.
Tanner drew his gun and pointed it. “It would not be wise for you to play games with me right now.”
“I swear. I’m not.” When Jon pulled his hand out—slowly—he held a cellophane-wrapped brick of heroin. “There’s eight more of these, hidden all over the truck.”
Tanner exhaled, putting his gun in his pocket.
“Where did Kyle say to meet for the hand off?”
“Just somewhere around the hospital. He’s supposed to call me in twenty minutes to tell me exactly where. Less than twenty now, I guess.”
“Did he know you were here already?”
“No. But I told him I’m still in West Oaks. He probably thinks I’m driving here now.”
“Show me the picture again.”
Jon nodded, taking out his phone. “Okay.”
Tanner studied the image, ignoring the awful pang in his heart. The wall was white. Stained. He saw the corner of an empty shelf on one edge of the photo. Where had this been taken? Where?
“She hasn’t been gone long from her hospital room,” Tanner said, thinking aloud.
“And we’d have seen the car if he’d driven her out of here.
” Unless he’d gotten her into an ambulance and driven her out that way, but Tanner couldn’t imagine Kyle being that resourceful.
Besides, he needed to keep her close, which meant he wouldn’t have gone far.
There was only one place he’d be able to keep Faith hidden until he was ready for the hand off.
“He’s got her in the abandoned part of the hospital. The construction area.”
“Then what do we do?” Jon asked. “Just wait for Kyle to call?”
“No. That’s not good enough.”
Kyle had her right now. He could be hurting her. And no way was Tanner trusting Kyle to turn her over as promised.
They had only minutes to find Kyle and catch him by surprise.
But to do that, Tanner needed a plan. He needed more people he trusted.
More time—to talk to witnesses inside the hospital, check cameras.
But he had none of that. He couldn’t wait for his fellow bodyguards to get here, and he couldn’t take the risk of getting the police involved.
Tanner could feel the seconds ticking away. He drew the Glock 22 again, checked the magazine. Jon tensed, cringing away, until he returned the weapon to his pocket.
“You’ll need to do exactly as I say,” Tanner said.
“You have a plan?”
“The start of a plan.” It would have to go just right, no room for error. Which, given the pathetic resources at his disposal, was a fucking nightmare.
Tanner pulled out his phone again and went to his recent calls.