Playing For Keeps (The Lucky Rivals #6)

Chapter 1

HUNTER

My stomach drops. Dorothy isn’t at Jamison’s apartment waiting for me to take her to the airport like she’s supposed to be.

She screams through the line, and my heart stops. Not only is she in the wrong place, but it’s clear by the grunts, groans, and hollering in the background that somebody other than her bodyguard is with her.

“Dorothy, what’s happening?” I yell with panic zapping every cell. “Dorothy! Answer me!”

She doesn’t answer, and another woman growls for her to hang up the phone.

My vision distorts as I run out of my penthouse.

“Do not hang up! Stay on the line.” I smack the elevator button.

When the doors don’t instantly open, I twist to the emergency exit and rush to the stairwell.

Something crashes through the line and rings in my ear.

“Who’s with you? What happened?”

The call fails as I barrel down three stairs at a time. I continue to descend until I’m on the main level with my blood coursing hot in my veins. I heave my shoulder against the door, but it jams. Something on the other side is blocking it from opening.

“Goddammit!” I glance down the hall.

There’s an exit sign at the other end. I sprint the length of the building.

With every second keeping me apart from Dorothy, my heart jackhammers in my chest. There’s no doubt in my mind she’s in terrible danger. It’s agonizing torture.

I’m halfway down the hall when someone swings a door open from the kitchen of the complex restaurant. The guy has his hands full of trash bags.

I try to spin away to miss him, but we clip shoulders and collide, throwing us both into the garbage. We get tangled up in the bags.

“Fuck.” I tear the plastic away from me.

The dirty contents spill out onto the floor. I jump over it as the guy says something to me. I don’t have time to stop, so I barrel down the hall.

It’s like the universe is conspiring against me. Once I get to the exit, I push against the door, and it opens. I rush to the back parking lot with my mind racing.

Fuck!

This ambush has to be by my mother’s hand. I hurry to the spot where my driver is waiting by my car with the trunk and back door open.

“Get in and drive to Dorothy Fisher’s loft, now!” I slam the trunk down and jump into the backseat.

My driver detects the urgency and does what I ask. We speed out of the parking lot.

“Take the alleys and the fastest routes you can find.”

“Yes, sir.” He spins the steering wheel and takes us through the first open route available.

The tires screech with each turn he takes.

I’m out of my league and want to hit myself for thinking I could take on my mom and everything would go as planned. I do the only thing I can in this situation and hit Aiden’s number.

He answers on the first ring. “Hunt?—”

“Dorothy’s at her place. I think my mom is there. Send your guys there now!”

“What? How did?—”

“Someone came into Dorothy’s apartment while I was on the phone with her, demanding things from her.”

“What were they demanding? Who was?—”

“It gets worse. I heard a woman tell her to hang up the phone. I told Dorothy not to do it, but there was a huge scuffle. The call dropped right after that. Get your team to her now! I’m on my way. I’ll meet you there.”

My driver skids out of an alley and onto the street, almost getting hit by a red minivan. The horn blares as it swerves to miss us.

My heart’s thumping. I’m about ready to jump out of the car, but we’re only a street away.

“Go to the front of her building. I’ll get out there.”

“Yes, sir.”

He speeds down the road, maneuvering in and out of traffic until we drive up to Dorothy’s loft. The car slams to a stop right as I fly out of the backseat and sprint up her stairwell and down the hall.

Her door is open, hanging by one hinge. Dread pulsates through my stomach, and a heavy weight squeezes around my chest. I try to breathe, but my lungs won't expand. A wave of dizziness rolls through me.

Limbs shaking, I dash inside Dorothy's loft, hoping with everything in me that I’ll find her inside, alive and well. Hoping that her bodyguard was with her and that he did his job like he was supposed to.

A woman I don't recognize is kneeling over a bloody, hogtied man who has been beaten to a pulp. She's pale, stricken, wide-eyed, and shaking like maybe she's in shock .

“Where’s Dorothy?” I scan the area.

My worst fears are confirmed. She’s not here.

The woman turns to me, visibly trembling. “I don’t know. We were supposed to meet, but when I got here, I found this man lying here like this. Can you help me? I don’t know what to do.”

I spin toward the door and rake my hands through my hair. “Fuck!”

“Please help him while I call for an ambulance.” The woman tugs on my arm.

I nod while forcing out an exhale and dart over to the man, who I assume is Dorothy’s bodyguard. He’s bound with rope, and I can’t get him untied.

I push him to his side and rip the tape off his mouth. “I need a knife or something to cut the ropes with.”

“There’s a switchblade in my pocket. Use that.” He coughs and releases a moan.

“Did you see who did this?” I pat the outside of his pockets to determine which one his knife is in, then reach in and tug it out.

His voice shakes as he speaks. “I was jumped by two guys, but I was coldcocked within seconds. Everything after that is a blur.”

I climb behind him and cut the ropes with his blade.

The woman with us cries into her cell phone. “I need an ambulance. There’s a man who’s been beaten and tied up in one of my units.”

I glance her way. She’s a terrorized mess. She’s going to be less helpful to me than this guy.

There’s nothing I can do until Aiden and his team get here. Pins and needles ravage my nerves, slowly tipping me over the edge.

I cut the last of the ties and stand beside him. “You’re Tom, correct? ”

“Yes, I’m Dori’s security.” His legs and arms unfold, and he sits up, rubbing his wrists and ankles.

“I figured that much.” Some fucking security. “Stay where you are, Tom. We’ve got help on the way.”

“I’m sorry this happened. Jamison’s going to have my head for this.” Tom runs his hand down his face and groans. “They took my gun.”

Shit.

How am I going to tell Jamison I used Dorothy as bait and screwed it up? White heat not only courses through my veins but also hails down on my shoulders.

I’ve never fucked up something so bad in my life. The fact I did it and Dorothy has become collateral damage is enough to kill me.

Aiden and I were stupid to not cover every scenario. What did my mother do with her? Where the fuck did she take her?

Those thoughts take me straight to my surveillance team. I yank my phone out and dial their number.

Sirens shriek in the distance, coming our way.

My surveillance team doesn’t answer. I hang up and try again. Nothing.

I get a sinking feeling my mother’s been miles ahead of me this entire time. Something tells me she has her hand in my team’s disappearing act. Every second, this situation gets worse.

I march to the window and peer out, searching for any clues for Dorothy.

Police cars speed up to the front of the building with an ambulance following. An unmarked car comes to a stop, and Aiden jumps out.

My heart thunders in my chest. My stomach takes turns tightening and bottoming out. I’m so out of control right now, and I have no idea how to fix this situation.

I turn toward the door as heavy footsteps race down the hall, coming closer to Dorothy’s loft. Aiden’s the first one to round the doorway.

His eyes wildly scan the place. “What the fuck happened?”

“Dorothy left Jamison’s apartment without telling me. My mother must have seen her and figured it was an easy time to grab her.” I point to Tom as emptiness undulates under my skin. “They beat the shit out of Dorothy’s bodyguard. That’s all I know.”

Aiden stomps farther into the loft as police barrel in. “You said you had this under control.”

“I thought I did.”

Aiden stomps to me and grabs my shirt in his fist. His green eyes spit fire. “Not good enough. You were supposed to keep her safe until she got to the airport and onto your jet.”

“I couldn’t foresee her leaving my complex. She told me she would be waiting for me at Jamison’s place.”

Commotion ensues behind Aiden as the medical responders race to take care of Tom. A half-dozen police officers sweep the loft.

Aiden pushes me as he releases my clothes. “Fuck! This couldn’t be any more fucked up.”

He curses under his breath and paces in front of me. The police gather around and look to Aiden for some kind of order.

I lower my head. “My mother must have gotten to my surveillance team because I tried to call them to see if they would be able to track Dorothy, and they aren’t answering their phone.”

Aiden spins back to me. “You can’t be serious. How the fuck did your mother know about them?”

I raise my gaze to his glare and admit the embarrassing truth. “She’s better at this than I am.”

“Obviously.” Aiden turns and flashes his FBI badge at the cops. “Knock on every door and get out to the street and start asking people if they saw something! Anything you find out, report directly to me.”

They scurry away and break off in all directions. Dorothy’s landlord stays in the kitchen tucked into the corner. She shakes and cries as a police officer approaches her.

The emergency responders continue to work on Tom. He’s in terrible shape. I’m surprised he can talk.

“Aiden, we’ve got to find her.” Hot spears electrocute me with every word.

He glowers at me, his face red. “No shit. You need to think long and hard. Where would your mother take Dori?”

“The only place I know of is a farmhouse out of the city. It’s about an hour away. I met with my mother there not too long ago.”

“It’s a long shot, but maybe they took Dori there. Take me to it.”

“It was the first time I had seen my mother in twenty-five years. I was overwhelmed and anxious, so I wasn’t paying attention when I was being taken there. I’m not sure where it is.”

He growls from low in his chest. “Think hard because if we don’t find her, this lands on you.”

“I’m fully aware.” My lungs struggle to bring in air. “Can you get the FBI to search the housing records to see if we can narrow down the area?”

Medical responders carry Tom away on a board. One of the police officers takes Dorothy’s landlord out of the loft to interview her in the hallway.

Aiden’s gaze fills with trepidation. “I can try, but I’m not on an official FBI assignment.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t think I could put a team on it as fast as we needed.”

“Then how were you planning on taking my mother down?” My face heats. “You told me you had the backing to take her down.”

“I did. I had the local authorities help.”

“Why not the FBI? And don’t feed me another line of bullshit. The FBI can put a team together in a matter of minutes.”

“Because I…” He marches toward the window and whirls to face me. “I didn’t want to pull in the FBI until we had your mom.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s ridiculous.” I rake my hands through my hair. “What exactly does the FBI think you’re doing here?”

“They think I’m here helping my sister move.”

“Then who did you think was going to help us deal with a mobster’s wife?”

“I called in the local authorities, telling them I’m an FBI agent and my sister was being stalked. I told them I needed their help, as her life was in danger.”

This information doesn’t sit well with me. Here I thought the FBI was involved because we were dealing with the mob.

We are so out of our league with this operation, and we put Dorothy’s life on the line. A heavy weight tears me apart, limb by limb.

I step to him, standing straighter. “But why not include the FBI? Your logic isn’t making sense.”

Aiden squeezes his eyes shut. “I just didn’t include them.”

“There’s more to this than you’re letting on.” My jaw twitches as I clench down on my molars.

His eyes pop open. “I get it, Hunter. We fucked up. And because of that, my sister is in serious danger.”

“Even more now that this fiasco doesn’t have the appropriate resources backing us.” I stop a foot before him and stare him down.

“We can get more help. I just was hoping to have solid evidence before I got the FBI involved. ”

“You have all the proof you want, and we need all the help we can get now. Whatever your reason for not having the FBI involved needs to get put aside. Call in a favor and get them here to help us because the local police are going to need all the assistance they can get.”

“I see that, Hunter.” He stalks to the kitchen island, pulls out his phone, and dials a number with his back to me. His shoulders broaden as he begins to speak. “Hey, Hardman. It’s Fisher. I need your help.”

My heart rate races as I shudder. Nothing went as planned today.

Dorothy’s with my evil, mobster mother, and there’s no telling what she’ll do with her.

With my mother in control, I’m not sure there’s a happy ending to this situation. I can only pray she doesn’t kill Dorothy.