She stared at Dunlop. “This is Rodriguez’s cousin. Dunlop. He jumped bail, and I found him.” Her voice petered out.
Dunlop grinned. “I did a masterful job, even if I do say so myself.”
Miguel interrupted, “We don’t have time for this.”
Another volley of shots erupted from outside.
Dunlop sighed. “I think we have a few minutes before our guys wrap it all up.”
Cross narrowed his eyes. “Drew, what’s going on?”
“Let me answer that,” Dunlop said as he raised the gun and pointed it at Cross. “After my idiot cousin lost the shipment to the slut over there,” he gestured to Tessa, “I did my research. Where would little Tessa run if not to her cop friends? Why, to her dead brother’s special ops friends. Only, you all had dropped off the map.” He flicked the hair that had fallen over his forehead.
Drew couldn’t believe it. She was in total shock. She’d felt sorry for Dunlop. Everyone had. He had her convinced he was a total disaster. He’d convinced Billy and Wallace, too. “You put on an Academy award-winning performance.”
He nodded and gave a small bow. “I studied at the school of hard knocks and I aced it.” He turned back to Cross. “I found out that your ex here, little miss hard ass, was a bounty hunter. It didn’t take long to make up a wild tale that would get me arrested and then released, and of course, I jumped bail. Not hard at all if you have patience and a brain.
“Your little girlfriend did not disappoint. She helped poor little me out so I didn’t have to go on the run and then led me to you. I got my cousin to do the heavy lifting there. He still managed to screw it up and only come back with you.” He glared at Drew. “I had to play the dope for a while longer while we got everything set up, but Miguel has been a trooper about it.” He patted Miguel’s upper arm. “Now it’s time to go.”
He gestured to Miguel. “Get in the truck and start it. I’ll get one of these losers to open the door, and then we can go.”
“Aren’t you going to kill them?” Miguel asked.
“Let the cleanup team do that. They sound like they’re finished by now.”
He touched an earpiece that Drew just noticed and spoke in rapid Spanish. Something about being finished with Rodriguez’s men and it being time to go. The cops would be here soon. His guys could only keep them busy for so long. Drew wasn’t sure what it all meant, but it didn’t matter. She understood enough to know that the danger wasn’t over.
Miguel held out his hand for the keys. Cross pulled them out of his pocket and threw them on the floor. Miguel swore but bent and picked them up. He climbed into the rig and turned over the engine, the sound deafening in the warehouse.
Dunlop, who had his gun on Drew this whole time, yelled to Stone, “Go open the door.”
Stone glanced at Cross, then at Tessa, who nodded. Stone walked over and hit the button for the large door. It started up slowly. Dunlop was still facing Drew with his back to the door. The passenger door to the truck was now open, and he reached up as if to climb in.
“You really were so helpful,” Dunlop said, and then raised the gun so it was pointed between Drew’s eyes. Her heart stuttered as fear roared through her veins. This was it. She wanted to tell Cross that she loved him. She wanted a chance to talk to her sister, too, and tell her that she understood why she’d done what she’d done and that she forgave her. She wanted the chance to grow old with Cross and her siblings. Why was it that she always realized things too late?
The door continued its upward slide, and lights from vehicles now lit the interior of the warehouse. A line of men with guns slowly appeared. “Jasper, put down your weapon. You, turn off the vehicle,” the cop with the bullhorn said.
Dunlop whirled around and was immediately blinded by the light. He raised a hand to block out the glare, but he was immediately surrounded. In seconds, they had him on the floor and in cuffs with Miguel beside him.
Drew turned and locked gazes with Cross. He came over and wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him. Her pulse was still racing, fear still clawing at her edges, but with Cross’s arms locked around her, all she could feel was the wild, aching relief of being alive—and being his.
CHAPTER 28
Cross stood behind Drew,his arms folded across his chest. “Are we done?” he snarled at Tessa. “The rest of this shit is yours to deal with. I want to get Drew out of here.”
Tessa met his gaze and hesitated, but then nodded. “Go ahead, but Drew, you’re gonna have to come in to make a formal statement in the morning.”
Drew nodded. “How’s Billy?” she asked. She needed to know her best friend was going to be okay.
“He’s fine. It was a through and through. He’ll spend the night in the hospital and then he’ll be released. I’ve got a guard on him overnight just in case. We need all of you to keep a low profile for a couple of days just to be on the safe side.”
Drew was so tired that she hadn’t heard anything after the fact that Billy was going to be fine. She was beyond exhausted, and she was swaying on her feet. She’d been running on adrenaline so long that she thought she might collapse if she didn’t get to sit down soon. Plus, she needed food and water.
Cross took her by the arm, and they walked towards the curb. A black Jeep sat at the curb amongst the emergency vehicles. Savvy was leaning against the jeep, talking to McGuire. Drewrushed to McGuire to give him a big hug. “Thanks, brother, for coming to save my ass.”
“Anytime, pipsqueak.” He gave her an extra squeeze and then let her go.
Savvy had opened the Jeep’s passenger door and was waiting next to it. Drew walked over to her sister.
