Live By The Team (Team Fear Book 1) (27 page)

The kid toddled out of the banker’s cubicle and went straight for the table where she started pounding her toy again. The sound ratcheted Lauren’s tension. She swallowed and faced Earl with more courage than she felt. “Walk away while you can still walk.” As threats went, this was truth. Ryder had threatened to kill the man if he ever saw him again.

“
Too late for that. Where is Mr. Ryder?”

Lauren bit her lip. What was the best answer to that question?
Do not engage
. Lauren twisted away from the teller stand and made it a few steps before the banker grabbed the kid and moved between Lauren and the door. He kept his voice low and calm as he used the kid as a shield. “I’ll shoot you before you make it to the door. Then this kid and Miranda’s kid. I got nothing to lose.”

Miranda came around and grabbed Lauren by the arm, her fake nails digging into bare flesh. Lauren glanced at the door just a few feet away. She might make it out, but Miranda wouldn’t. Neither would the kid.

The mom came rushing around the corner with a look of panic on her face. When she saw Earl, she put a hand to her chest. “God, she scared me. I’m so sorry. I was on the phone.”

Earl’s smile exceeded customer service fake. He could sell a boat to a man in the desert. “She’s fine.” The kid drooled over Earl’s suit. “You can finish up your call.”

“
Are you sure?” The mom looked between the tense grouping in the middle of the bank, looking like she was poised to spring into action. She brought her phone up to her ear. “Mom, I’ll call you back.”

While the woman was saying her goodbyes, Earl turned to Lauren. He ran a hand over the kid’s fuzzy hair. “What’s it gonna be, Lauren?”

Dread anchored her to the spot. She should have listened to a Ryder. Apparently making a deposit was beyond her. She gave him a tight nod. “It’s your way.”

The mom came over and held her hands out for the kid. “Sorry about that. Come here, Emma.”

With a black, warning look to Lauren, Earl turned to present a different face to the mom. “It’s no trouble. I love kids. Why don’t you go have a seat and we’ll finish up in a minute.”

“
Sure.” The mom’s eyes flicked between Lauren and Miranda who probably looked to be locked in hostility. They were, but not the kind they could warn the mother about. “I’ll get Emma a snack and she’ll leave us in peace this time.”

The mom turned to the banker’s cubicle. While Earl’s back was turned, Lauren inched towards the door. If she could get Ryder inside, he’d stop Earl from using his gun. Earl closed the distance between them and lowered his face into hers. “You’re a selfish bitch willing to sacrifice all these people.”

“
So anything that happens to them is my fault?” That’s the kind of logic that kept women with abusive men. Lauren didn’t buy into it. “Why not take responsibility for your own actions? You’re threatening them, not me, and if you shoot, it’s because you’re the psychotic asshole. Not me.”

He twisted her arm and pushed her deeper into the bank. “I’m a businessman. This deal was working for years before you stuck your smug nose into it.”

“
You’re the one who pulled me into it when you stole from me.”

“
Wasn’t stealing from you.”

The man was delusional. Miranda’s nails were digging a river on the underside of Lauren’s forearm.

Earl focused on Miranda. “Tell Shelby I had an emergency and had to take an early lunch. Something about the accident. Once we’re gone, you can let the mom and her brat know I had to step out. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you to keep your mouth shut.”

What might have been an apology lit Miranda’s teary eyes. “I won’t call the cops.”

Earl grabbed Lauren’s arm. “Where’s your husband?”

Out front. Please let them leave out the front. Earl yanked Lauren deeper into the bank. If she could have let Miranda know Ryder was out front, maybe the woman could get word to him, but Earl kept them separated. Maybe if Earl left her alone, she could text Ryder. Maybe he’d put her in the trunk again. Or surely Ryder would come into the bank soon. He had told her five minutes, and it felt like hours had passed in the dim light of the bank.

Following like a sheep to slaughter rubbed her wrong, but Lauren refused to let the women in the bank get hurt, so she didn’t resist. Once they were out of the bank, all bets were off. They breezed through a break room with no sign of the perky Shelby before leaving out the staff entrance. The sports car from the first night was parked straight back in the staff lot. The shiny black paint glistened in the sun, the kind of car that made young men dream. “You weren’t here earlier.” They’d checked the staff lot before going inside the first time.

“
Doctor’s appointment.” Earl led her outside, but Lauren dug her heels in, not willing to climb inside the car that had stolen her from Ryder less than seventy-two hours ago. “I’m not getting in that car.”

“
Your chance to bargain is over. You left the bank. I might not have a gun on the brat, but Miranda’s boy is another story. She told you about her son, right?”

They stood on the back patio where workers could take breaks or smoke, but it was empty. Lauren withheld an answer.

“
He’s autistic. And he’s been without his meds for—” Earl twisted his wrist to look at his watch. “At least twenty-four hours.”

“
You took him after Ryder blew up the meth house.” Maybe after the failed lunch between Smythe and Miranda, which Ryder had also interrupted.

Earl hit the fob on his keychain and the car unlocked with a
chirp
. He dug hands into Lauren’s bicep, bruising the tender flesh as he hauled her across the small lot. “It would have happened anyway. Miranda caught one of the checks I deposited to the wrong account, but she thought it was an accident so she came to me instead of going to the manager.”

Deadly mistake. Miranda had caught onto the scam, but didn’t realize how deep it went. That’s why she was at lunch with Smythe. Lauren hoped she could reason with Earl before he took her to the realtor. “You know Smythe’s going down.”

Earl opened the passenger and shoved her into the seat. “Smythe’s no longer calling the shots.”

The hair stood on the back of her neck. “He wasn’t smart enough to call the shots to begin with.”

“
You’re right about that, but we needed a realtor. He worked for a while and now he doesn’t. Scoot over.” Earl shoved her over the stick shift as he slid into the seat. Once in the car he removed the gun from his holster.

Her day was definitely getting worse. The hangover still pounded in her temples, aggravated by the fresh flow of fear.

“
You’re driving.”

On any other day, she’d love a chance to drive the sports car, but doing it at gunpoint made her hands sweaty. “I don’t know how to drive a stick.”

He cuffed her on the back of the head where the still raw cut pounded. “Don’t lie. Your pickup was a stick.”

It was worth a shot. Lauren swallowed her fear as she twisted the key. The engine roared to life like a powerful animal stretching awake. The power revved up the stick and into her hand as she put the car into reverse. “Where to?”

“
Where I tell you to go. Go to the street and turn left.”

Away from Ryder. If she disappeared with this guy, she was dead. “Who is calling the shots?”

“
Not your problem.”

Actually, it was her problem. She’d like to know who planned to kill her. Lauren drove to the street and looked both ways. Lunch traffic was increasing and the little sports car was lower to the ground than her pickup. She struggled to get a better view of the scene. Finally, she adjusted the seat forward, but she still felt like she was riding on the ground. Her heart pounded, but she knew she couldn’t turn left from here. Traffic was one thing, but leaving without Ryder seeing her was a death sentence. When traffic opened up, she turned to the right.

“
I told you left.”

“
I couldn’t see the traffic and it’s too busy to turn left. I’ll make a U-turn up ahead.” The tremble in her voice didn’t need to be faked. Her heart pounded, the pulse like a smack in every bruise and scrape on her body. She passed the parking lot and saw Ryder leaning against the truck; turned away to speak to Rose. Her heart dropped. No way had he seen her leave.

Hell and damnation. She was on her own.

Ryder tapped the phone to wake it up. “It’s been longer than five minutes. I’m going inside.”

“
You’ll blow it.”

“
When your wife goes into an unknown environment in the middle of an op, then you can judge.”

“
I don’t have a wife.”

“
My point exactly. Keep your eyes open, numbnuts.”

Ryder followed a heavyset man into the bank where a toddler was throwing a fit. The mother held the kid who arched her back away. “What do you mean, he left?”

“
Emergency.” The redhead looked past the unhappy woman. Her eyes widened when she saw Ryder.

“
He had me waiting.” The kid shoved a fistful of Cheerios into her mouth.

“
I’m sorry, ma’am.” The redhead was trying to soothe the lady and failing miserably. “This wasn’t planned. He was in a car accident yesterday and there were complications.”

A petite blonde called the heavyset man forward. Lauren was nowhere in sight. There wasn’t a public restroom. Everything in Ryder went on alert. Obviously Rose had missed something, because there had been a male in the bank if the harried mother was any indication. A man who left rather unexpectedly.

Ryder pulled out his phone and opened an app. In a few short moments, it showed a blip not at the bank where it belonged. Damnit, Lauren had gotten out of the bank and onto the street. He walked up to the redhead, interrupting the customer’s loud rant. “Where did he go?”

She looked up at him and stepped back two paces. “I don’t know.”

The mouthy customer flapped her mouth, but no words came out. Ryder mentally dismissed her as he stepped into the redhead’s space. “I saved you from Smythe yesterday and this is how you repay me?”

“
I, uh.” Tears welled in her eyes, but Ryder wasn’t moved by tears. “He has my son.”

“
Who does? Smythe?” Was there no end to the prick’s evil?

“
No. Earl.”

“
Who is Earl?”

The mother stepped forward, adding to the chaos. “My banker.” She flipped the child to her other hip. “Actually, you know what? Tell him I’m taking my business to another bank. And I’m contacting the branch manager.”

“
Yes, ma’am.” The redhead’s shoulders drooped. “That’s probably for the best.”

The woman followed the heavyset man out the door.

“
Is Earl the man who left with my wife?” Ryder moved forward, crowding the redhead and forcing her to look up at him.

“
Yes, and, uh…”

Ryder wanted to shake the woman, but held back. Now he understood why Lauren got pissed whenever he cut off mid-sentence. “And?”

She took a deep breath, her shoulder shaking when she released it. “And he’s the one who misdirected your deposits. I saw his mistake and went to him to correct it.”

“
I’m glad it wasn’t you.” He didn’t want to have to ruin the woman’s life, but he would. “You need to inform the bank manager about what you discovered.”

Full-on tears dripped down her face, dropping down her chin unchecked. “They’ll hurt my son.”

“
Not if I get to them first. Where were they headed?”

“
I honestly don’t know.”

Ryder looked down at the app, showing Lauren still moving across town. “I’ll find them. In the meantime, call the bank manager.”

“
But—”

“
I’ll find your son.” What the hell was he doing, promising this woman anything? “As long as you keep my name out of it. Lauren’s too. Out of the bank reports, the investigation, and the police. Everything. You don’t know me, never saw me, and don’t know anything about my accounts. Got it?”