Russ moved his aim toward Liz.
“You’re going to kill her anyway,” Mitch said. “Whether it’s one bullet or a lifetime of fear. So I might as well crush you into the ground like the bug you are right now.”
“I would never harm Elizabeth. She’s a valuable asset to Coercion Ten. And who knows, one day you might even rescue her.” Russ moved the gun back toward Mitch. “But if you’re dead, there’s no chance of that, now is there?”
Mitch couldn’t dispute that rationale. He held out his hands in front of him.
A trickle of blood from the hit to his forehead trailed down Slugger’s cheek as he pushed a set of disposable handcuffs into Liz’s hands and pushed her toward Mitch.
Russ laughed, sinisterly. “Look at her. She’s already a fighter.”
She laced the handcuffs over Mitch’s wrists, all the time never taking her focus from his face. “I want you to know I didn’t open the door for these guys.” She slipped the locking straps tighter. “They just came in. I got the gun you hid under the bed but couldn’t escape.”
“You did good. We’ll be fine.” Mitch doubted his own words as to the outcome of the situation, but she wasn’t to blame for any of it. “I never thought for a second that you let them in.”
“Ain’t that sweet.” Slugger yanked the straps even tighter.
“That’s right. We just walked right in. After we shot the hell out of your secondary security system, I found Elizabeth hiding in the closet. Old habits are hard to break.” Russ snarled, then looked at Drake. “That’s what I counted on with you, too. Habits. You train your agents and they follow your lead. Always the same system. One step in front of the other, just like clockwork.”
“Screw you.” Drake jerked at his bindings.
“Now, now. Don’t get yourself all worked up. You’re not going to be in charge much longer.” Russ laughed. “Because when I’m done, there won’t be enough of OPAQUE left to even drink a six-pack of beer.”
Shaking his head, Drake glanced at Mitch and Liz before turning his attention back to Russ. “I can’t believe you’d put your own daughter in danger.”
“My daughter? DNA says different. Maybe she’s your daughter. Her mother was such an easy skirt, maybe Elizabeth doesn’t belong to either one of us.”
“Fuck you, Russ.” Drake clenched his fist.
Russ laughed again, a sound that wavered between the echo of an empty room and a screeching lunatic. “Doesn’t matter who her father is; I raised her. Raised her to fall in line with what I want or face the consequences. I doubt she wants to spend time in a small dark room ever again. Hell, this whole charade of my capture was just to scare her enough that she’d join Coercion Ten willingly.”
“So, why send her to me to protect?” Drake struggled to his feet, his hands still bound.
“Counterbalance.” Russ swooped his gun back and forth like a pendulum. “The moment you became OPAQUE’s director three years ago, I started to lay out my plan. Before that, you’d been of little use to me while you were chief of police back in Illinois. But suddenly you took on new importance. All I had to do was take my time…draw you”—Russ pointed at Drake—“in, slow and friendly, and lay on the guilt. Now everything’s in place, I’m able to take you and your whole damn OPAQUE organization down in one operation.”
He swaggered over to Drake and punched him in the gut. Drake went down on one knee, but struggled back up.
Russ yanked the telescope on its stand closer to the doorway to the deck then motioned to the long-necked thug to check the beach, the Gulf. “Make sure we aren’t surprised by any interlopers.”
The thug nodded then positioned himself so he could keep an eye on the outside and also on Drake and the wounded perimeter man.
“You ruined my whole life when you talked me into turning evidence against the mob company I worked for.” Russ turned pale with rage. “But once Coercion Ten showed up on my doorstep, I saw the path to money and revenge. You were an even easier target once I mentioned vacations for Elizabeth and me.”
“All these years. You’ve hated my guts?”
Russ leaned forward, closer and closer to Drake. “You want to know how I pulled all this off with newspapers, dates, and sonar locations? I just tapped into anything you left lying around for even a second during our vacations. Took a few years, but gradually, I had a base of information, and CT did the rest.”
Drake lifted his chin. “Looks like I’ll need to change all the systems and passwords when I get back to the office.”
Russ laughed. Loud. “Still the same cocky bastard you always were. You really think you’re gonna make it out of this alive, don’t you?”
“I’ve got no doubt of it.” Drake’s sneer was a challenge. “In fact, I’ve got a million dollars says you take a bullet before me.”
“I’ll take that bet. You against me, Drake. OPAQUE against Coercion Ten. Your trained agents against my wordy daughter.” He lifted his gun.
“Stop! Stop this now, and I’ll come with you.” Liz shoved free of Slugger then reached toward her father. “Wherever you want to go, I’ll go. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do. Just let them go. That’s all.”
Mitch noticed a brief change in the man’s expression. Maybe she did have some influence with him. If CT took her and left, she’d leave a trail. Leave clues. Wouldn’t take him and the others long to find her…if there were any others left on the Shades of Leverage team.
