Cade
“I would say it’s good to see you, but I’d be lying.” It was two days after we’d arrived home with Varga. When we returned from our long flight back home, we chained him up in the garage so we’d have time to sleep before questioning him. Our middle-of-the-night raid and flight home with a murderer hadn’t done much for our rest.
Varga’s head jerked up from his chest as he sat tied to the chair in one of our empty offices we used on the occasion we needed to interrogate someone. It wasn’t much, just a chair and hook in the floor for chains in the empty room, but we didn’t need more than that since usually the bad guys we were after were either killed or turned over immediately to another agency.
“Montgomery. I should have known you’d never stop searching.”
“What? You think you can stab me in the back, have my guys killed, and I wouldn’t come looking for you?”
Varga shrugged. “Soldiers are expendable.”
Anger pulsed in my blood, and I crossed the room in two steps, leaning close to Varga’s smug face.
“They weren’t soldiers. And no one is expendable.” I paused for effect, leaning back and appearing to look thoughtful. “Except maybe you.” I allowed a predatory grin to slowly inch across my face. “You’ll be an excellent gift to Chavez.”
The color drained from Varga’s face as realization dawned. “How do you know Chavez?”
“Let’s just say that after your stunt, and Levi and I were disgraced and let go from the DEA, we decided to stay in the business, so to speak.”
“The drug business?”
“It’s pretty lucrative. We also own an MMA fighting gym. Between the two, we do quite nicely.”
Varga laughed without humor, reality dawning on him. He was just a pawn—a means to an end. “Unfortunately, a recent deal went bad, and Chavez is looking for a deposit of sorts to get us back into his good graces.”
“So, you’ll turn me over to him to be tortured and killed. That doesn’t bother your good-guy conscience?”
“You think I’m a good guy?” I got in Varga’s face. “You killed that good guy. He died the same day my team did in that warehouse.”
“I didn’t have a choice, man. He raped and killed my sister in front of me. You were supposed to get her out. I either set those explosives, or he was going to kill me. Slowly.”
“There’s a mole at the DEA. That’s how your sister died. When you killed my team, you rewarded him. We could have gotten you out of there—created a whole new life for you.”
Varga shook his head violently from side to side. “No! No! You found me. It was just a matter of time before he did. Had I betrayed him, he would have spared no expense to find me.”
“Now, we’ll never know.” I turned to walk away, giving Varga the impression that I was done with him.
“Wait! Please, Montgomery. I know there’s a good guy in there somewhere. Please, man. Surely there’s something I can do.”
I covered the smile that had started, schooling my features into a look of nonchalance. I looked him over from his feet to his head, then sneered. “I don’t think so.”
“What do you want? We can make a deal.”
I pretended to consider his offer, and almost felt a niggling of guilt at the hope on the man’s face. Almost. “There is one other person I want to pay worse than I want you to pay for what you did.”
“Who?”
“The insider at the DEA.”
Varga’s face turned guarded.
“I don’t know him.”
“Sure you do. You would have had to communicate with him in order to set those explosives and sabotage our team. Who was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who was it, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep you from Chavez.”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Then may God have mercy on your soul.”
I strode towards the door, hoping I hadn’t overplayed my hand. Varga had to know who the insider was at the DEA. Levi and I were fairly certain we knew, but we needed proof so we could take him down. Turning the door handle, I opened it and stepped outside.
“Fine!” Varga’s voice called out across the office. “I’ll tell you what I know. But you have to promise me that you won’t let Chavez torture and kill me. I don’t want to die like that.”
I acted as if I was considering his offer, trying to disguise how badly I wanted the information.
“Who is it?”
Varga laughed, shaking his head. “I’m not telling you now. There’s nothing to keep you from turning me over afterwards. No—I need some insurance, man. You get me a one-way ticket to somewhere and set me up off the grid someplace, and when I’m standing in the airport about to board your private plane, I’ll give you the name.”
There would be no such deal for Varga. Once we had what we needed from him, he’d go to jail for a very long time. Normally the death penalty would be considered, but if he cooperated and helped us bring down Chavez and others, they’d cut a deal and take it off the table.
“I’ll think about it.”
I shut the door on Varga’s pleas, feeling worn down from reliving the nightmare. I needed to get this out of my system. I needed to fight.
“Ryder!” I shouted his name before entering the computer room.
“Yeah?”
“Want to spar?” Ryder eyed me carefully, probably seeing that I was on the edge. “Damn, Montgomery, I’m not sure. You gonna tear my face off in there?”
I laughed, but even I could hear the psycho edge in it. “Nah. I’m good.”
Ryder shook his head. “Try Cruz. I think he’s got the crazy to match yours today.”
As I left the office suite, I almost plowed over Piper. Immediately, some of the tension I’d been holding in released at the sight of her smile.
“Where’re you going?”
“Levi said that I could talk to Varga.”
“You shouldn’t be in there alone with him. I’ll go with you.”
Piper shook her head. “No. I won’t be able to focus with you in there.” She laid her hands on my forearms. “I need closure, Cade. If I’m ever going to move on—if we’re ever going to have a chance—”
I stopped her, stepping closer and placing a soft kiss on her sweet lips. “I get it. Have Ryder stand outside the door in case you need him, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.” She pushed up on her toes and kissed me again. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” I squeezed her hand as I made my way to the gym to find Cruz.
Ortiz was working out with weights when I passed by, and by the looks of his heavy lifting, the man was fighting off some demons of his own.
“Wanna fight?” I called out to him, already picking up the pace as I neared the cage.
“Hell, yeah!” He rested the barbell on the rack above him, loaded with what looked like two hundred and fifty pounds attached to it. Was he trying to injure himself? Oh, well. Better for me. He was no doubt going to be tired, and I was happy to take advantage of that.
Neither of us wasted time with the locker rooms. We pulled our shirts over our heads and pulled on the fighting gloves. They were different from boxing gloves, only covering the knuckles but leaving the fingers free.
When we were strapped in, we entered the ring and faced off. Bumping knuckles, we circled, feigning a strike here or there. I let the memories of that day two years ago settle over me, fueling my rage at Varga, and Chavez, and all the other lowlifes who thought they could rule the world with murder and addiction.
I struck, landing a right hook to Cruz’s jaw. He looked momentarily stunned but it quickly changed to a grin, a little unhinged. Yeah, we were going to be hurting when this was over. He countered with an uppercut that had my teeth clicking together. I kicked out, feeling the slap of my foot against his back, a kidney shot that I knew from experience hurt like hell.
Cruz laughed, enjoying the pain as much as I was. If you were in pain, you were alive. And I was damn lucky to be alive.
I thought about Piper and that night we’d caught Varga, how beautiful she’d looked, and yet there was a piece of her that she kept from me. I hoped Varga had the answers to give her closure and peace, but I doubted it. Sometimes life sucked, and there was no greater meaning or nobleness in the circumstances. Sometimes all you could do was pull yourself up by your bootstraps and keep marching.
We circled each other, both warring with the voices in our heads, when Cruz swept his leg out, taking me down to the mat. I bucked to keep him from topping me, but it was no use. Cruz wasn’t present. He was in his mind somewhere. His fists rained down on me, pummeling my face. I put my hands up to protect myself, realizing that we were in dangerous territory. There was no referee here to call it. I knew Cruz would never hurt me on purpose, but it was clear that he was not in his right mind.
I bucked my hips, feeling him give just a little. He had to be tired from lifting, and now the force of his blows gliding off my head and cheeks were tiring him out.
Yet the blows were taking their toll on me, and my head was fuzzy from the beating. I had to get out of there. With what energy I had left in me, I bucked harder, following it up with a twist that toppled Cruz off me. Climbing on top, I pinned his arms down above his head, blood dripping onto his face.
Cruz fought, struggling to get the upper hand.
“Ortiz! Man, stop!”
He kept fighting, trying to pull his gloves free. I swung, landing a blow to his cheekbone, and he stopped—blank eyes staring into mine. His whole body shook with fury as he tried to clear his head.
“What—what did I do?”
Finally I relaxed, letting him free so he could sit up.
“Bashed my face in, is what you did. You okay, man?”
Cruz pulled his knees up, resting his hands on them and lowering his head.
“I’m fine. Just fighting my demons, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Sorry, man.”
I waved him off. “I’ve had worse.”
“Did I break anything?”
“Nah.” I wiggled my nose with my hand. “It’s still intact, but I’m sure my face will be a rainbow for a few days.”
“Geez. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I got to thinking and forgot who I was… who you were.”
I clapped him on the shoulder, and we joined hands to pull each other up. “No apology necessary. It’s all good.”
The doors to the arena slammed open, and Piper flew in, racing towards the back door that opened to the parking lot.
“What’s wrong?” I raced from the cage to her side, trying to get her to stop and talk to me.
She wouldn’t make eye contact, just kept jogging.
“I need space, Cade. I’m fine.”
“You’re sure as hell not fine. What’s wrong?”
Piper stopped, hands on her hips, her keys dangling from her fingers. “I need to think. Please, just let me go.”
I saw the desperation in her eyes, her need to flee, to work things out and be alone. I took a step back, my hands up to show her I wouldn’t stop her. She pushed onto her toes and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Thank you.”
Piper hit the back door with enough force to take it off its hinges and disappeared into the evening. She needed time. And perspective. And I needed to find out what the hell had happened in that meeting with Varga.
I glanced over my shoulder, and Cruz nodded. “Go.”
Sprinting through the gym, I entered the office suite and found Ryder behind the computer desk.
“What the hell happened?”
Ryder turned around and caught my bloody face. “Geez, Cade. You’re dripping all over the carpet. I see Cruz was just as pissed off as you were.”
I ignored his ribbing and stepped closer. “What happened with Piper and Varga?”
Ryder’s face turned serious. “I don’t know. She was only in there a few minutes, and she came flying out like a bat out of hell. She wouldn’t talk to me. Just said she needed some air.”
“You have a tracker on her?”
Ryder grinned. “Of course I do. Phone, car, and keys.”
“I’m going to talk to Varga.”
“Shouldn’t you wipe your face and put a shirt on first?”
The smile I shot Ryder must have been a little nuts because he reared back and put his hands up. “Man, don’t do that again ever.”
I jogged back to the room where Varga was sitting, his hands and ankles still chained to the floor. We released him from that position to use the bathroom, eat, and sleep. “What did you say to her?” I asked as the door crashed open against the wall.
“Who?”
“Don’t BS me. You know who. What did you say to Piper?”
“Oh, I see how it is. You care about her.” Then he shrugged as if he held the upper hand. I lunged at him, my knuckles connecting with his face. His head snapped back at the force of the blow, and strong arms dragged me back away from him.
I pulled, trying to get back to Varga. I’d make him pay for hurting Piper, for killing my friends and teammates. I’d make him pay.
“Cade, stop!” Levi’s voice cut through the red haze that covered my vision.
“Stop, man. Can’t trade him to Chavez if he’s dead.”
Inhaling, I tried to calm my racing heart and push the anger down enough to get some answers from Varga. I jerked my arm free of Levi’s hold. “I’m fine.” Levi looked at me dubiously, and I put my hand up to keep him from restraining me again. “I’m fine. I promise.”
Levi took a step back, allowing me space to pace the room. I stopped and turned to Varga. “What happened?”
Blood was oozing from a cut above his cheekbone, and his left eye was already swelling. “Nothing, man. She wanted to know about her fiancé. Some FBI agent I shot and killed in D.C. It was just one of those things. He was in my way, and I needed to escape. It was nothing personal.”
Nothing personal. Ah, dammit. That’s what set her off.
Turning to go, I stopped at the door. Then, before Levi could stop me, I rammed my fist into the other side of Varga’s face. “There. Now you have a matching set.”
Without another word, I fled from the room and back to the dorms. I went straight to the sink, and was startled at my reflection. My eyes were puffy, shades of blue and purple were dotting my cheeks, and my nose and lip were still streaming blood. Geez, Cruz had made a mess of my face.
I ran the warm water in the sink and grabbed a washcloth, dabbing at the cuts on my lip and wiping the blood from my nose. Before long the water was pink, but I was starting to look human again.
The phone rang from where I’d left it on my dresser when I came in, and I picked it up.
Blocked Number.
Unease crept along my spine, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. I answered the phone.
“Montgomery.”
“I have something of yours, and you have something of mine. Trade?”