Toni was about to ask what the plan was when Tate set off. “Let’s go. Jeff takes the west. Toni, the east end. I’ll go in the front.”
She looked at Jeff.
It was a risky move, but neither of them was going to fault him for wanting to be first to kick the door in at the place where he thought his wife was being held.
She followed, her mind swimming with times she’d done things like this before. The training. The missions. Normally she was solo, or with a small team as they were. Still, she wasn’t a fan of splitting up when she and Jeff only had one functioning arm each.
She couldn’t even reload her pistol, if it came to that, which was why she had a second one tucked in the back waistband of her jeans.
Jeff strode to her. He touched his lips to hers. “Please be careful.”
“I’m always careful.” For the first time since Tate had shown up, she spoke with her British accent.
His mouth curled into a smile, and he walked off.
“Whatever that was,” Tate said. “You can tell me later. Let’s go.”
She turned from Tate and headed for the east side. The main building was huge, probably offices. Maybe a showroom or museum. She had no idea what the condition would be once they got inside. All she could do was pray for protection for each of them, and that Savannah hadn’t been killed or even hurt too badly.
The fact she was consistently reckless in her life and actions didn’t exactly sit well with her. She also tended to work and live alone, with few friends. Most people didn’t understand her drive. Until Jeff. Not only was he unsurprised by her tendency to throw caution to the wind, he also seemed to appreciate her intentions. Or at least he respected her “why.”
“Door on the west side.” Jeff’s voice filtered through the radio earpieces they’d dug out of Zander’s supplies.
Seriously, the man had nearly unlimited resources. What she knew of the private security operative could fill a napkin, and her brother worked for him—under a false identity.
Longing rolled through her, and she had to stop. Judah.
She needed to talk to her brother. He was one of Zander’s teammates, and she missed him more than she would ever be able to say.
“Toni, come back.”
She keyed her radio. “Jeff?”
“Check in. Anything on your side?”
“Nothing yet.” She picked up her pace, pushing out the errant thoughts in her head. Having all her memories back was distracting. When she’d had none, there were no resentments or other unhelpful emotions. Living without that baggage might’ve been confusing, but it was also a whole lot simpler.
She spotted an entrance. “I see a door.” Toni tried the handle. “It’s open. I’m going in.”
“Me too, on my side,” Jeff replied. “Tate?”
“Entering the front door now. Conroy is half an hour out.”
They’d specifically asked the police chief not to send a couple of squad cars. Tate wanted to do this himself, which she took as him intending to kill Lenny Marks. He probably didn’t want anyone to witness whatever it took to get his wife back.
Toni didn’t blame him, but that also didn’t mean she or Jeff were about to leave him to do this alone.
He needed backup.
And yet, she completely understood his need to go it alone.
As Toni crept inside and found a long hallway, she had to admit to herself it was who she was as well. She would do the same thing if it was Jeff in there, trapped with a killer.
Same way she knew he’d be on it if she was the captive.
Toni checked every room along the hall as she made her way to the door at the end. How tapped in was Lenny to the security system? He could be watching them all enter and have countermeasures of some form set up. This could all end with their deaths. How skilled was this local guy? And how much time had he devoted to planning this exact scenario while he was obsessing over Kristine? If he had other victims, were they here somewhere, too? Was the whole place rigged in case someone ever found it?
Lenny had stalked Kristine’s every move for weeks and tormented her with the knowledge he was doing it. Kristine had finally confided in Toni the day before she’d been killed in the shower room.
She’d fallen against the wall, slumped, and caught herself briefly before her legs gave out for good, and she collapsed on the floor.
She knew now that he’d intended to injure Kristine and take her with him. Bring her here.
But Toni had barged in, and he’d panicked and just finished her off instead. Stabbed her in the heart—still wanting her body for whatever sick devices he had planned. Why else, since he’d been obsessed, ever since, with finding out where Toni had hidden her body.
She shuddered. But despite Lenny’s intentions, Toni couldn’t let go of the fact that she was the reason Kristine was dead. Kristine might have been destined to die anyway, but Toni’s presence had sped up the timeline after Lenny saw her there and realized she was a witness. He’d disposed of his obsession too quickly and was now tortured from the loss. Acting out from his psychosis.
“My fault.”
Like so many other things.
It was a wonder Jeff even wanted to be around her. She had blown into his life like a hurricane and tossed everything upside down. His ordered life had been severely disrupted and he didn’t seem to mind. Yet. Until he got sick of the chaos, which was bound to happen sooner or later.
She should just leave before that happened, while it was still good. They could remember each other fondly and not for their mess of a relationship.
The next office she checked was clear. She turned back to the hall, then realized the fan on the computer was running. The monitor was black.
She checked the door at the end of the hall, still closed. Nothing on the radio from the guys, so they hadn’t found Savannah or the killer yet.
Toni used her bandaged hand to shake the mouse. No way was she about to let go of the gun, even if it was in her off hand. She could shoot fine with either.
The screen came to life, and she jumped back at the image.
One of her uncle’s men, in full army uniform, representing her birth country. Green coat, a lapel covered with medals. Gold fringe on his shoulders.
She had to fight the shudder just at the sight of it.
The image was a still from a video. Given the fact Lenny’s face filled a box in the bottom corner, it was a screen recording of a video call between the two men.
Toni pressed play and watched.
“The price is nonnegotiable. You will do this or we will bury you in our desert where the fire ants will devour you before you die.” Her uncle’s man…Anto was his name…spoke with authority. Lenny was a gnat he would stomp on to get what he wanted.
“Just bring the money with you, or you don’t get her.”
Toni fought the shudder. Her body’s response to fear. Were they after Amala…or her? Since they thought Amala was dead, they couldn’t get her location from Toni. She figured Lenny was going to sell her to her uncle and his men so they could find out what’d happened firsthand.
She bit down on her lip hard enough she tasted blood.
Toni didn’t know where Amala was any more than they did. But Lenny knew where Toni was, and he’d figured out somehow that she was worth money to them.
She hissed out a breath.
They must have tracked Lenny down after his internet search and contacted him in an attempt to force him to hand her over. But Lenny had never captured her. He’d been too interested in Kristine.
Would he try to capture her now?
Toni turned to look at the doorway, still listening to them talk about particulars. Lenny had a runway he’d cleared off. They could land, and no one would see it. No one would know.
It made sense to her now that he’d been killing people—after Kristine, he’d then killed his father, Andrew and then his father’s nurse. Wrapping up loose ends so he could take the money he earned from handing over Toni, and then leave. Retire somewhere with enough cash so no one would ever find him.
It was most people’s dream. Stuck in a dead-end job, or a life they didn’t want. Take the cash and disappear.
Toni had done that very thing. So had Jeff, though he’d chosen to stay close by his family.
Turned out retirement wasn’t all that satisfying.
She keyed her radio. “Jeff, come back.”
“What is it?”
Tate spoke over him. “Did you find her?”
“Not yet.” She explained about the video call on the computer. “Lenny wants to sell me to my uncle’s men.” She listened to the screen recording of their conversation some more while the two men exclaimed over the radio. “Lenny said he’ll have me here when they arrive.”
“No chance.” Jeff sounded so certain about that. “How long do we have?”
“I have no idea.” She would try to find out, though.
Was Lenny here now, waiting for her to walk into his trap? Maybe he was out in town trying to round her up. Lord, where is Savannah? Toni wanted to pray the detective was all right, but was that a pipe dream at this point? Maybe they were past hoping.
“I’m coming to you.”
She said, “No. Find Savannah. That’s what I’ll be doing.” Toni headed for the doorway. “She’s our priority—” The rest of what she’d been about to say died on her lips as she realized Lenny stood there.
Gun pointed at her.
She lifted her own weapon.
“Good. This simplifies things.”
“You know what would be even simpler?” She let go of everything swirling in her and felt the calm descend. That cold she needed on every operation if she was to get a result without emotions clouding her judgment. “We just kill each other right now.”
No family problems.
No baggage.
Sure, she would have plenty of regrets. She would wonder, “what if,” and worry how Jeff would react to her being gone. Hopefully he would grieve, but it was a selfish hope.
He moved then, faster than she’d have thought.
Toni got off a shot. It went wide and hit the doorframe.
He rushed at her. She brought her hand up, which she realized was a mistake when he slammed her bandage with his gun hand.
She cried out.
Lenny grabbed her gun and hit her head with his own. Pain blasted through her skull and her knees hit the ground. She slammed her hands on the floor to catch herself, pure reflex. All her training went out the window as she screamed. Headbutted? Seriously? Why did that always hurt so much?
He kicked her in the stomach, and she rolled across the floor. When she came to a stop, he said, “Now I have both guns, and you have neither.”
Not only that, but her radio had come out of her ear and was now tangled around her. She thought she could hear yelling through the earpiece. Jeff. Did they know she’d been subdued?
“Get up. There’s more than just you to take care of.”
Toni rushed at him before she could think twice about what she was doing. Her fate didn’t matter. This was about saving more than just her own skin.
He lifted one of the guns, and she came to a skidding halt with it pointed directly at her forehead. “Don’t think I won’t hand you over to your uncle maimed. He didn’t say what condition he wants you in.” He motioned to the door. “Now go. There are things to do and not much time.”