Reed (Allen Securities) (19 page)

“What?” Reed smiled at him. “You mean your associates weren’t too happy about being fucked over by you?”

The two Russian thugs shifted uncomfortably.

“What is he talking about?” the larger man asked.

“He’s full of shit.” Neil turned to glare at Reed.

“Oh?” Reed addressed the two thugs. “Guess, he didn’t tell you that the last people to work with him ended up doing twenty in prison.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Neil screamed at him.

“I don’t think Viktor sign up for this.” The larger Russian continued to stare daggers at Neil.

The shrill sound of the phone cut through the warehouse.

Neil smiled at Reed. “I knew she would call.”

He flipped open the phone.

“Do you have it?”

The room fell silent as Reed strained to hear her voice on the other end.

“One hour. You bring them both to the dock in one hour, or Reed takes a swim.”

Neil turned back and smiled at the room.

“One hour and this will all be over.”

***

“You sure you want to do this?” Ryder looked apprehensively at Olivia.

She nodded, her eyes never leaving the pawnshop.

This was really the last place that she wanted to be, but then she really didn’t want to have to operate a rescue mission to save both her brother and boyfriend. She sighed and opened the door. There really was no time to think about this.

The bell chimed over the door as she made her way inside. The musty smell of cigarettes and grime hit her.

“Can I help?” The woman behind the counter stood stock still. “Well I’ll be damned.”

“Hello, Mother,” Olivia bit out.

“What’s your fancy ass doing in here?” Tina looked Olivia up and down, clearly not happy.

“Ben’s in trouble,” Olivia said evenly.

“That boy’s always in trouble,” Tina cackled. “He’s just not very good at this. What’s it now?”

A man came out from the back to stand beside her mother. She assumed this must be Charlie, and, for what it was worth, he seemed better than some of her mother’s other men.

She locked eyes with Charlie.

“Russians.”

The menace of the word hung in the air. It didn’t matter what kind of life you’d led. No one fucked with the Russians and got away with it.

To her surprise, Tina paled at the mention of the Russians and had to lean on the counter for support.

“Is he all right?” she whispered.

“He’s fine for now. That’s why I’m here.” She turned to Ryder. He handed her the money bag. She turned back to Charlie and handed it to him. “I hear you’re a man who can get things done.”

“Maybe,” he said slowly, glancing over at Ryder. “Who’s he?”

“The one making sure Ben gets out of this alive,” she answered simply. “That’s two thousand. I need papers for Ben, and I need them fast. Can you do it?”

Charlie scratched his face and flipped through the money. “That’s going to cover my guy, but what about my cut?”

“You get the papers to me in an hour, and I’ve got a boat for you. It’s not registered, but I figure that won’t be much an issue for you.” Olivia prayed in her head that this would work. She needed this to work.

Charlie nodded after some time. “I can do that.”

“Good, a man will be by in an hour to pick it up and to tell you where to pick up the boat.” She glanced back to Ryder to indicate he could make the calls.

He nodded and stepped out the door.

Charlie handed her mother the money. She paused just before she went in the back.

“I might not have been the best mama.” Something that sounded like true emotion caught in her throat. “Just don’t either of you die.”

Olivia stood in shock as she watched her mother disappear into the back.

When she turned back to Charlie, he had a small gun on the counter. A chill swept through her. She knew this had gone to easy.

“You got a gun?” he asked.

Olivia shook her head.

“You can’t go to war without a weapon.” He slid the gun toward her. “Ever shot a gun?”

She nodded, checked the safety and tucked the gun into the back of her pants.

When she looked back up, Charlie was watching her. “Ben’s a good boy. You tell him I said he should use this chance to be a different sort of man.”

A lump caught in her throat and she swallowed hard. “I will. Thank you.”

Olivia fled the shop to the car and stared into the distance. Things just had to work out right.

Chapter Nineteen

Reed stood off to the side as Neil paced the dock. The Russians searched through the fog for any signs they were walking into an ambush. He tried not to stare at the boat in front of him, but the sinking feeling in his stomach wouldn’t clear out.

“Where they fuck are they?” Neil whirled on Reed.

“Maybe they decided I wasn’t worth it,” he said, shrugging.

Neil advanced on him but stopped just inches away at the sound of approaching cars. Neil smiled smugly at him.

The outline of two cars closed in the distance. They parked just far enough away to not be made out. Several people filtered out of the two cars. As the forms came into view, his stomach completely dropped out.

In the middle was Olivia.

He nearly choked when he saw Finn and a few of his men. Ryder stood next to her on the other side.

Neil yanked him up and pulled him along.

“Check them,” he said to the Russians. They patted down the men and came back to the other side.

“Clean,” he said.

“Where is he?” Neil said when they were close enough.

They stopped and stared at one another. Reed was amazed with how calm she seemed to be.

“It’s too late,” Finn said. “The file has been handed over to the police, and as we speak, they are closing down all operations.”

“What the fuck do you mean it’s too late?” Neil pulled out a gun and pointed it at her and then put it on Neil. “Hand over your brother and the file, or he’s going to get it.”

“How about this?” Olivia said, pulling out her own gun. “You get your fucking gun off my man, and I don’t shoot you.”

Reed felt him shaking before the shrill laugh came to his ears. Neil was losing his grip on things. He stared wide eyed at Olivia as she flicked the safety off the gun. She arched an eye at him, nodded her head to the right.

“Listen here, you bitch—” Neil started. Reed yanked his body to the right. He slipped away. His head slammed on the ground just as she fired.

“You cunt,” he screamed. Olivia watched as Neil fell, the gun clattering to the ground. Reed lay unconscious, and her breath caught in her throat. She watched as Ryder made his way to him, Neil’s gun in hand.

“Get him out of here,” Finn said to Ryder and his men. They worked quickly to move him out of way. She glanced back and caught Ryder looking at her, uncertainty etched on his brow. She nodded her head to the car and turned back around.

“What the fuck are you waiting for?” he screamed to the Russians. “Take out that cunt!”

The large Russian stepped forward and drew out his gun. She swallowed, knowing there was no way she’d be able to make it out of a gun battle. Standing stock still, she watched as he stood over Neil. Blood oozed out of his arm where she had shot him.

“We not go to prison for you.” He spit on Neil and fired several rounds into his chest.

Bile rose in her throat.

The large Russian looked at Finn.

“Viktor not like this,” he said, the threat clear in his voice.

“You tell Viktor I don’t like people playing on my turf,” Finn leveled at him.

“No, Viktor not like this,” he said again.

Finn yanked the gun out of her hand.

She gasped as he shot the man several times in the chest and then leveled it on his smaller partner.

“Now you listen, you tell Viktor I don’t like people playing on my turf.”

The man held up his hands and nodded.

“Good,” he said, he pointed with the gun. “Now get the fuck out of here.”

In the distance, they could hear the sirens. She breathed out a sigh of relief.

She took the gun from Finn’s hand. “I think that’s your cue to get out of here.”

She gave him a shaky smile as she used her shirt to wipe the prints off. “No one is going to believe that a mob boss killed in self-defense.”

Finn smiled. “You know, if you weren’t his…”

He turned and whistled to his men. As they filtered onto the boat, he tossed her his keys.

“I’ll pick it up later, when I make the delivery,” he said and smirked. “Tell sleeping beauty when he wakes up how lucky he is.”

She smiled and watched as the pulled away.

She hurried way to Reed. Her heart beat in her throat the closer she got. He was leaning against the car and looked mad as hell.

“What the hell do you think you were doing? I—” The rest of his words were cut off as she launched herself at him.

She sighed as he squeezed her to him.

“Never again,” he said, pulling her away from him.

“What was I supposed to do?” she asked. Angry tears streamed down her face.

“Save yourself,” he said hoarsely.

She placed her hands on either side of his face. “I can’t just let you go,” she whispered.

She gently kissed him and then rested her forehead on his.

“I love you,” she said quietly.

Strong arms came up around her. “I don’t deserve you,” he choked out in her ear.

“Get used to it.” She pulled back and smiled at him. “You’re not getting rid of me.”

Reed pulled her in for a crushing kiss, not pulling back until they were both panting.

“I love you too,” he said, looking into her eyes.

Olivia snuggled into his warm embrace, and let the day’s horrors wash away as the sirens drew closer.

None of it mattered as long as they were together.

***

Reed sat on the back of the ambulance as Kace and a few other officers talked to Olivia. He had never wanted to beat the shit out of his brother as much as he did at that moment. Not that she seemed to be phased by his suspicious stares and the occasional shouting.

“She’s tough,” Ryder said from beside him. “She organized the whole damn thing.” Ryder shook his head and laughed. “Seems she got all the brains when it comes to under the table shit. Your woman could be a criminal mastermind if she put her mind to it.”

Reed narrowed his eyes. “She shouldn’t have been making the calls to begin with. It was too dangerous.”

Ryder put a hand on his shoulder. “You think I didn’t try?” He stared him in the eyes. “You ever try to stop her from doing something? Like talking to a damn brick wall. Said she was going to do it with or without my help.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Figured she was better with us than without.”

Reed looked to her again and saw she and Kace were making their way over. His brother’s face was contorted with rage.

“Well, we’re not charging her with anything,” Kace said as she sat beside Reed in the ambulance. “We should be charging her with carrying an unregistered weapon.” He glared at her. “But my boss said that would be a dick move.”

Reed flexed his fingers and ground his teeth. “I’d say.”

Kace leaned forward. “I just want you to know, I don’t believe a damn word she says.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “However,” he leaned back, “we were able to make a number of arrests tonight and freed hundreds of innocent people from a human trafficking ring thanks to some anonymous information. Seems Senator Carson was taking money on the side and helping with granting clearance of certain cargo in and out of the bay. They are arresting him as we speak.”

Olivia’s hand snaked into Reed’s, and he squeezed.

“Can we go home now?” Reed asked.

“We’ll get your statements here in a day or two.”

Kace stepped back as they stood to leave. He nodded to Reed as he passed but stopped Olivia once more.

Reed felt his patience wearing thin.

“I might not believe you,” Kace said quietly glancing away. “But thanks for saving him.”

Olivia placed a hand on his chest and Kace looked up. “You might not like my ways, but I will always do what I have to, to protect the people I love.”

She stared into his eyes for a moment before Kace nodded.

Smiling, she pulled her hand away and walked to a Mercedes.

Reed climbed into the passenger side and laughed.

“He let you take his car?”

Olivia grinned at him. “He really didn’t have much a choice. Now buckle up.”

Chapter Twenty

She smiled over at Reed as she eased in front of his parents’ house. He had been out the moment she hit the road. It had been an exhausting few days. She felt the fatigue wearing on her, but her job wasn’t over yet.

Olivia reached over and shook him gently.

He opened his eyes and frowned. “What are we doing at my parents?”

She knew this was going to be tough to explain.

“I had to improvise,” she said and got out of the car.

Reed followed as she made her way around the side of the house in the cloak of darkness. Quietly, he followed her to edge of the yard and down to the dock. A small light was on in the boathouse.

They stepped lightly on the creaky planks. When she reached the door, Olivia eased the door open as quietly as she could. Her brother and Cage sat in the room. She rushed in and hugged him.

“Thank God,” she said.

Cage stood and clapped Reed on the shoulder. “Doesn’t look like they got the better of you.”

“Not this time,” he said with a grin.

The splash of water against the dock caused Olivia to look out the window.

“Okay,” she said. “He’s here.”

“Who’s here?” Reed said, irritation lacing his words.

They walked out the door and watched the boat make its way to the dock in the dark.

“Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Reed crossed his arms

Olivia tapped her mouth to keep him quiet.

“I’ll explain it all to you later, for now we need to say good-bye to Ben.” She couldn’t really see his face but leaned against him and sighed when Reed wrapped an arm around her.