“You’re sorry?”Sam yelledincredulously down the phone.“All you had to do was keep an eye onthat prick.He’s a recently released murderer with a high potentialfor recommitting, and you useless bastards let that fucker slipthrough your inept fingers.”
“Wait, wait, wait!Nowjust hold on a minute,” the man on the other end of the phone saidin a voice that made it clear he was getting a little worked uphimself.“I am not sure what kind of situation you have there atthe moment, gentlemen, but it has nothing to do with Miles Duncanand it sure as shit has nothing to do with me.Yes, I am a federalagent, and yes, I am part of the team tasked with ensuringhigh-risk releases are monitored for the safety of the Americanpeople.Miles Duncan suffered a massive inferior myocardialinfarction in the early hours of this morning.The man died lessthan two hours ago.I checked his file for the next of kin, andthere were only two numbers in the file to call if anythinghappened.This one, and one belonging to Aiden George.I calledthis one first.”
Nick’s fear rose, and his gaze lockedwith Sam’s.He saw the same fear emotion mirrored in hisexpression.“Shit, okay, thank you for letting us know.I—um, willhave to call you back.”Nick disconnected the call.“That truck wasmost definitely hit with an explosive of some kind.Either Aidendrove over something, or it was in the motor, to begin with.Do youthink—”
Nick’s phone rang again, and he almostdropped the phone in his haste to connect the call and activate thespeaker phone function once more when he saw it was Aiden callinghim.“Aiden!Baby, where are you?Are you hurt?”
“Well, now this isunexpected.”A voice Nick didn’t recognize spoke, and a quick lookat Sam told him that he was none the wiser either.“When I dialedthe emergency contact number in Aiden’s cell, I figured it would bethe medic who would be reaching into his pocket for his phone.Iknew that he was fucking him, but I had no idea it was some kind offreaky threesome with the sheriff as well.”
“Who the fuck is this?”Nick demanded.
“Just someone who waslooking to prove that perhaps Aiden here isn’t as smart as hethinks he is, and now, I reckon the fun I was planning on havinghas just grown exponentially.It was going to be fun pitting myskills against the sniper and the EOD tech, but now there’s alawman involved, too!This is just too good to be true.”
“You’re going to have totell us how to play this damn game of yours, asshole,” Sam snapped.“It won’t be much fun if two of your players aren’t able toengage.”
“You are absolutelyright.”There was amusement in the man’s tone, and Nick wanted tothrow the damn phone against the wall.“But I don’t want too manypeople playing, it will ruin my fun.So, here is the deal.Youdon’t get to call in any of your friends, the house you arestanding in is under surveillance and rigged to blow, and if youdecide to leave or anyone comes near the house I will blow you bothoff the face of the earth.If a car or truck, or hell, your latestfucking delivery of dildos from Amazon turns up in your driveway,it will all be over.This is a game of wits, the three of youagainst me.Not a fair fight really, but hey, I’ve given you asmuch advantage as I am prepared to.Now, I reckon this game is bestplayed at night, so keep your phone handy and charged, lawman.I’llbe in touch.”
The click of the call disconnectingsparked a string of curses from Nick.Sam reached out to place ahand on Nick’s shoulder, and he vaguely heard him call hisname.
“Nick!Goddamn it, we needto focus.Get your shit together and help me work out what the fuckwe are going to do.”
Nick took a couple of deep breaths,concentrating on Sam, and allowing his calm to settle within him.“Okay, what’s first?”
Sam blinked in surprise.“You want meto take charge here?You’re the commanding officer, and you alwaystake charge.”
“Sam, I am on the fuckingedge right now.If it were another man being held by this crazyasshole, someone I’m not deeply in love with then perhaps I mightbe able to remain calm enough to think clearly.But it’s not.It’sAiden, and with whatever game this prick is going to have us play,it is going to put you in danger at the same damn time, and thatscares the fuck out of me.So yes, I want you to take the lead.What’s first?”
Sam held his gaze for a moment beforehe nodded.“We’re going to need help.”
“But the guy said we’reunder surveillance, Bravo team can’t come riding in here to savethe day.It’ll put us all at risk.”
Sam pulled out his phone.“Firstly,Bravo doesn’t need to be anywhere near this place to be of anyhelp.Hell, Glenn doesn’t even need to be in the same damn zip codeto take this prick out.But we need their thinking and their calmto help us work our way through this.”
“Then call your team,babe, and let’s go get our man.”
ChapterTwelve
“He has to be close by.Ifhe is operating surveillance then he has to have eyes on either thehouse or the drive.”Despite it coming from the speaker of thephone in front of him, Sam recognized that tone in Dev’s voice.HisLT was in problem-solving mode, and that helped to keep Sam sane.Dev was one of the smartest strategic thinkers Sam had ever had thepleasure of meeting.As soon as Sam had reached out, Bravo teamanswered the call.They had come as fast and as close as theycould, and Dev, Riley, and Finn were in Dev’s Hummer, trying tofigure everything out.
“Agreed.The issue is thisplace is surrounded by forest so a lot of places to hide, and thenearest neighbors are just over two miles away,” Sam replied.Heand Nick were sitting in the living room of the house, every weaponthey had on the table in front of them, and both were dressed infatigues.“And we have no idea where he’s taken Aiden.”
“That’s the part we needto work out.I’ve got Glenn and Marcel making their way toward yourlocation in a flanking formation.”
“What!”Nick moved closerto the phone, panic in his tone.“We told you what that fuckersaid.If he sees either of them, then Aiden’s dead.”
“First, you need to calmthe fuck down.”Dev’s tone had dropped to that low timbre thatbrooked no argument.“We don’t know who this guy is, we don’t knowwhere he is, and he is currently holding a loaded gun on all threeof you.We figure out where he is then he loses some of thatadvantage.And, don’t be fucking ridiculous, no one will see my mencoming unless they want to be seen.Now, tell me again what he saidon the phone, word for word.”
Sam closed his eyes and thought backto the conversation, trying desperately to repeat it verbatim.“When Nick answered the phone, the caller was surprised.His exactwords were, ‘well, now this is unexpected.When I dialed theemergency contact number in Aiden’s cell, I figured it would be themedic who would be reaching for his phone.I knew that he wasfucking him, but I had no idea it was some kind of freaky threesomewith the Sheriff as well.’Then Nick said—”
“Wait,” Dev interrupted,his voice urgent.“He said he thought the medic would be reachingfor his phone?Those were his exact words?”
Sam replayed the conversation in hismind and a quick glance at Nick and he knew he concurred.“Yep, hisexact words.”
“That seems a littlestrange, don’t you think?”Riley’s voice came over the line.“Mostpeople would have said they expected someone else to answer thecall, or pick up the phone.Reach implies that he maybe he wasactually watching.”
Sam and Nick shared a surprised look.“What, you think he’s got eyes on us inside?”Nick asked, and Samcast a look around the entire room, searching for anything thatlooked out of place or a hidden camera.
“Possibly, but I don’tthink Deefer would have let anyone into the house he didn’t know inorder to put up any cameras,” Finn added.“He’s crazyprotective.”
