Chapter 20
“You okay?” Micah asked from the front.
“Of course he’s not. He misses Daniela, dumbass.” Apollo didn’t turn around from the passenger seat.
“Really? Name-calling already?”
Cormac mustered a small laugh at his brothers, but that was about all he could get out. He mostly tuned them out until he realized Apollo was talking to him. “Wait, what did you say?”
“Did you ever talk to Krystal?”
“Texted her. How much does she know?”
“Enough,” Apollo muttered, his tone off somehow.
“What does that mean?”
Apollo simply ignored him because apparently that was his older-brother right. At least that was what he’d told them more than once.
And this evening, Cormac didn’t have the energy to push him. Instead he said, “Any news on the Temple murder?” He knew Micah was looking into it with his plethora of contacts.
“Maybe.” And now Micah’s tone was off.
What the hell was going on with these two? “Do you know something?”
“I’m not being an asshole…but maybe. Nothing to report yet.”
“So you two are just being vague assholes tonight?”
“Pretty much,” Micah said.
Cormac let out a startled laugh. “You can’t just agree with me.”
“I can if you’re right…which, let’s be fair, isn’t very often.”
Despite everything, the knot in his gut loosened a fraction and he laughed again. Which was probably Micah’s intent. “I think Dani and I had a moment right before I left,” he blurted.
“You want me to take you back? Seriously? We’ve got tonight handled.” Micah glanced at him in the rearview mirror as he pulled up to a stoplight.
“No, but thank you.” He rolled his shoulders once, though it did nothing to ease the weight settled there. “I need to be doing something. I think Logan is more of a problem than Daniela realizes.”
“Doubtful,” Apollo murmured. “She knows how dangerous he is.”
“Fair enough. I just want to put a bullet in his head and be done with it.”
His brothers were silent for a long moment. Then Apollo turned around, his expression hard. “If that’s what you want, we can make it happen.”
He closed his eyes, some part of him worried that just killing the problem seemed like the best solution.
Logan Brown was a piece of shit with a long history of domestic violence.
He was a man who took what he wanted. “We’ll see.
I think prison will be worse for someone like him.
Trapped, with no way to get what he wants. ”
“I’m down with whatever we decide. But if we’re going the prison route, we’re going to make sure he’s locked up forever,” Micah said, pure glee in his voice.
“You sound like a cartoon villain,” Cormac murmured.
“I think you mean hero.”
He just shook his head as he fought a smile.
Half an hour later Micah dropped Cormac and Apollo off near the waterfront warehouse they’d tracked Logan to thanks to the info Dani had given them, then told them he was parking in a dark spot outside a twenty-four-hour diner.
“Everyone test their comms,” Micah said softly. After they did, he continued. “Okay, I’ve got a clear visual from both your feeds. You’re ready to go in three, two…now.”
Cormac nodded at Apollo. They had small cameras attached to their vests that let Micah see what they were seeing. Tonight was mostly about gathering intel, to hopefully dig up something on Logan they could use later.
The warehouse on the water was quiet enough, with an industrial-size chain link fence around it, barbed wire at the top. It wasn’t electrified though so it would be easy enough to slice through a section of it as soon as Micah glitched out the cameras.
Moving quickly, they took the mini bolt cutters they’d brought, started cutting quick and clean. When they’d snipped a big enough space, they squeezed through.
“Can’t see the opening,” he murmured as he eyed the fence from the other side. Not at first glance and not from a distance.
Eventually someone would see the damage. Probably the next time security did a full round, but from the recon they had on this place, security on the ground only walked the perimeter of the actual warehouse with regularity. Because they were depending on the cameras to watch the outer perimeter.
Unlucky for them, Micah had set those cameras on a loop.
“Cameras at the side door are going on a loop now,” Micah said. “You’ve got six minutes to get inside before it goes back to the live view.”
Balaclavas and gloves on, they sprinted across the pavement toward the warehouse.
The main parking lot was to the south. They were approaching from the west where the exterior fence connected with an abandoned tire shop.
They’d looked up the property records and it appeared that Julian had bought up the property years ago and just hadn’t done anything with it.
As they reached the door, Cormac worked fast on the lock. It was electronic, but he had the right tools to override it… The light turned green on the touchpad twenty seconds later.
“Movement in the parking lot. Two cars arriving,” Micah said over their comms.
He and Apollo were quiet as they slipped inside the warehouse, weapons up. Male voices trailed from somewhere, but they didn’t have a visual of anyone because of all the shelving.
This had been the biggest risk because they were going in blind. There were no cameras inside for Micah to link into.
Which made sense. If they were keeping illegal shit here, they weren’t going to have cameras inside.
“Exterior cameras have gone down,” Micah said, his tone concerned. “Not my doing,” he added.
Cormac frowned at Apollo, but there was nothing they could do about that except speculate.
As he and Apollo crouched down behind one of the shelves of what looked like machinery parts intermixed with airtight bins of luxury purses, he heard the door start to roll up.
They didn’t have a good view so they crept along the shelving until there was a slight opening.
Another couple voices added to the mix and he recognized Logan immediately. Still sticking to the shadows, he shifted until he could see Logan talking to one man.
The two other men had their backs to Apollo and him. But he lifted his burner phone, zoomed in and took pictures.
With the echo, it was difficult to hear what they were saying. Either way, Apollo was recording while he continued taking pictures any time one of them moved.
Logan motioned with his hand toward the back of the warehouse and even though he couldn’t make out the words his body language was clear. Come this way.
Without looking at Apollo, Cormac knew his brother would follow as he made his way toward the back of the warehouse.
A creaking, grating sound pierced the air and he realized the back rolling door was opening. He hadn’t been sure if it was even operational. Water lapped against the ramp as it opened fully.
Moments later a small boat slid into the opening and two men with visible pistols on their belt lines jumped out.
Cormac tensed, ready to draw his weapon, but the man still in the boat simply tossed a huge duffel to one of the waiting men, then another duffel to the remaining man.
They had to have some heft, given the responding grunts. Cormac continued taking pictures as the two men took the bags out of sight, heading for the front of the warehouse.
Maybe this was a payoff of some kind?
“I won’t forget this when the time comes,” Logan said to the driver of the boat.
Cormac zoomed in on the guy’s face.
As he did, he heard a flapping sound behind him, froze. He turned to find Apollo looking up, frowning as one of the tarps covering something on a higher shelf flapped noisily.
Had to be because of the incoming breeze from both open doors.
“What the hell is that?” someone demanded.
He and Apollo were already in motion, their boots silent along the concrete floor as they moved deeper into the warehouse, back to the door they’d come through.
“It’s nothing,” a male voice called out. “Just a tarp not secured. It’s catching in the wind.”
“I don’t care,” Logan called out. “Do a perimeter sweep.”
Shit. Adrenaline kicking up, he nodded once at Apollo but there was no need. They were already on the same page. They eased open the side door, held it as it closed shut so it wouldn’t make a sound.
Cormac mouthed go to his brother so he could get a head start.
Nodding, Apollo jogged across the lot, and the second the door clicked shut, Cormac did the same.
“Hey!” A male voice from behind him shouted as he reached the fence line where Apollo was holding the cut fence open to make it easier for him.
He knew better than to pause or look behind him.
His heart rate kicked up as a shot rang out.
He dove through the fence opening and Apollo grabbed his arm as he was already pushing up.
Wordlessly they ran as another shot rang out. Then there were more shouts.
“Pick us up at extraction point D,” Apollo said over the comms.
“Already on it,” Micah said, his voice grim.
Cormac risked a quick glance behind them as they reached the other side of the abandoned tire factory lot.
One man was trying to crawl through the fence opening and he could see movement back toward the warehouse.
“They’re getting in their vehicles,” he muttered.
Which meant they had to get hidden fast. Because a car chase was a good way to attract the wrong attention. Like from the local cops.
As they rounded the next block, Micah’s SUV was already waiting.
They dove into the front and back and their brother was already moving before they’d shut the door.
“It’s a risk but I say we stop at the diner and park. You two hide in the back, I’ll go in and order food. They’re looking for two men and they won’t expect someone to stick around.”
The windows were tinted and it was impossible to see inside. It was a risk, but the back of the SUV had stickers of a stick family of four plus a dog and cat. Micah—who was always annoyingly right—said it made the perfect cover vehicle.
“It’s better than trying to outrun them. Because I think two of those guys were cops,” he added.
“Yeah, I caught that too.” Apollo’s voice was grim as he climbed into the third row with Cormac.
Micah steered into a spot, jumped out without a word.
Apollo pulled a dark blanket over them then… Oh my god.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he whispered. “Did you just fart?”
Apollo snickered. “Keep your voice down.”
“I don’t know when, but I will pay you back,” Cormac growled through gritted teeth. “And it will be painful.”
“Cut it out,” Micah hissed over the comms. Then they heard him order a cup of coffee and pie as he made small talk with a server who introduced herself as Lauren.
As he tried to breathe through his nose, Micah murmured, “Two guys are walking in, sweeping the place.”
Cormac tensed, pulling his weapon out again as Apollo did the same, all while Micah made more small talk with the server. He could hear the woman laughing, then just a murmur of voices in the background.
“They’re gone but sit tight. Gonna give it another ten minutes.”
Almost ten minutes later exactly, Micah slid into the driver’s seat. “Stay where you are,” he said. “I’ll let you know when it’s time to get out.” He drove for about fifteen minutes before he said, “All clear.”
Cormac punched Apollo in the arm once before he crawled all the way to the front seat. “My seat now, asshole.”
Apollo simply laughed maniacally.
“I don’t know how Silvia puts up with you.”
“It’s not like I do that to her.” Apollo sounded offended by the very thought.
“You two done? Because the two guys who swept the diner, including the bathrooms, were definitely cops.”
“The guys we got pictures of had to be cops. The way they had their weapons strapped on their belt lines and the way they moved just screamed law enforcement.” There hadn’t been any visible badges but they might as well have been there.
“Haircuts too,” Apollo added from the back.
“When I’m able, I’ll run their images. We’ll find out who they are soon enough.” Micah glanced in the side mirrors as he pulled up to an intersection.
“It’s not exactly a surprise that the Hill family has dirty cops in their pocket,” Apollo murmured.
“No, but Julian wasn’t there,” Cormac said. “I know Logan is his second, but that whole scene felt off, especially with him shutting the cameras off.”
“Could’ve been the cops requested that, but yeah,” Apollo said with Micah nodding in agreement.
“If he’s going behind Julian’s back, we could use that against him.” He said what they were all already thinking.
They both nodded.
Sending Logan to prison forever or letting someone else take care of him forever were both good options to Cormac. And he didn’t care which one happened, as long as Dani was safe.