“No one who’s alive,” Cooper said. “We’re hoping Becker gets lucky.”
Gage frowned. “Where is Becker?”
“Trying to get in to talk to Zak,” Brooks answered. “According to the nurse at the hospital, a couple of tourists brought Zak in. We assume those tourists were actually some of Hardy’s men, and that Zak might have overheard something—either while they were beating the hell out of him, or while they were taking him to the hospital to be bait.”
Gage wasn’t sure what they could expect out of Zak. The guy didn’t exactly seem like the kind of man who could pay attention to details while in the middle of an ass whooping. “And Xander?”
“He’s there to make sure the doctors don’t try to drag Becker in for surgery,” Cooper supplied. “He got hit a few times, too. Not as many times as I was, but I think that’s because he was using me as a shield.”
There wasn’t much they could do until Xander and Becker got some information, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t search the car and the men who had been in it. Maybe they’d get lucky.
Gage was digging through some suitcases in the trunk of the sedan when three police cruisers and an unmarked car pulled up beside them.
He spotted Deputy Chief Mason’s salt-and-pepper hair in the front seat. Mike came over to stand next to Gage as Mason got out of the car. Shit, this was all he needed.
Mason’s jaw was tight as he took in the bodies on the ground, the automatic weapons, and the bullet holes in the car. His eyes narrowed when he saw Cooper sitting on the hood of the SUV with blood covering half his chest and a SWAT medic leaning over him with a pair of forceps.
“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded, his gaze snapping to Gage and Mike. “First, I find out there was a shootout in front of Mercy General involving three of my SWAT officers. Then I learn you’ve ordered your entire team here. Have you lost your mind, Sergeant?”
Mason walked over and looked down at the first body he came to—a body that didn’t have any obvious bullet wounds but had clearly been killed in an extremely brutal fashion. He made a face, then turned to Gage again.
“As if that isn’t enough, I got a call on the way here that one of Hardy’s enforcers is dead in a ditch about a mile up the road. The patrolman said it looked like someone threw the man out of a moving vehicle. What’s left of him, anyway. They still haven’t found his arm.” The deputy chief strode over to Gage. “Maybe you can explain it to me.”
Gage wasn’t going to pull any punches with his superior. He didn’t have the time, and neither did Mackenzie.
“Hardy’s men abducted Mackenzie Stone about forty minutes ago and have taken her who the hell knows where. My guess is that they’re delivering her to Hardy as we sit here on our thumbs.”
Mason looked at him sharply. “The reporter? What would Hardy want with her?”
“Payback,” Gage said simply. “I took away someone who was important to him, so he wants to take away someone who’s important to me.”
Mason’s brows rose. “You and Stone?” He swore under his breath. “Fuck, you should have told me. You don’t have a clue where she was taken?”
Gage shook his head. “Not yet, but I hope to soon.”
Mason regarded him thoughtfully. “What do you plan to do once you figure out where Hardy took her?”
Gage didn’t hesitate. “I’m going to get her back.”
“By yourself?” his boss asked drily. “Without telling anyone else in the department?”
Gage didn’t answer. He didn’t give a shit about proper police procedure in a case like this. There was nothing that’d keep him from going after Mackenzie.
Mason sighed. “I’ll get a BOLO out on Ms. Stone. Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone saw where they took her. Then I’ll get a team out here to take care of this mess.”
The deputy chief walked away, leaving Gage to wonder if the man was really going to look the other way on something like this. Then his boss stopped and turned back to glare at him. “And get Cooper to the hospital before he bleeds to death.”
Gage nodded as the deputy chief reached in the car for the radio. A few minutes later, Xander called.
“Tell me you talked to Zak,” Gage said as he put the phone on speaker.
“We did,” Xander replied. “Hardy’s men really beat the shit out of him. Probably figured he’d die from it, but he’s tougher than he looks. The doctors didn’t think he’d even come to for a couple of days, but he was already awake and shouting to talk to someone from the SWAT team when we walked in.”
“Does he know where Hardy’s men took Mackenzie?”
“Maybe. After kicking in his door and doing a number on him, they tossed him in the trunk of their car for the drive to the hospital. Through the backseat, he heard them talking about a private hangar where Hardy keeps a jet. Zak thinks that’s where they’d take Mac—so Hardy can kill her before he leaves the country.”
That last part made Gage flinch, but he forced the image aside. He had to stay focused on the fact that he was going to get Mackenzie back safely. Zak’s information wasn’t as concrete and definitive as he would have preferred, but it was the best intel he was going to get at this point.
