Page 29

Chapter 28

Fuck you, Murphy

Maddie

T urns out, I’ve been spoiled by how seldom Alan goes out into the field. I’m used to worrying about my boys at work but far less about the man I love. The worst he could get is a paper cut or perhaps an ulcer.

All good things eventually come to an end.

Including the illusion of his safety.

So here I am in his office, doing the cliché damsel thing. You know the one? Where your romantic partner is going out for a seemingly mundane task and downplaying the risk to ease your fears. But you’re certain he’s full of bull. Part of you wants to beg him to stay, but the other half is all for insisting he bring you along so you can protect him. As if that’s a possibility.

Madness.

Grabbing him by the belt, I tug him close to me. “And you’re sure it isn’t dangerous?”

Alan shrugs. “No more so than the dozens of other times I’ve met with him.”

I cock my head to the side and arch a brow. “Except he doesn’t know you’re coming this time. And he’s been acting sketchy.”

“A mere formality, my love. Besides, Lionheart will have my back.”

I nibble my lip to stop myself from overtly pouting. “Which means I get to worry about you both.”

After the CPD police chief gave a series of iffy excuses to dodge Alan’s repeated meeting requests this week, the Redleg team decided to take matters into their own hands. Thus, Alan will conveniently show up in the chief’s path this evening, somewhere between the police station and his home. Or wherever else the man happens to stop along the way. Leo will be lingering in the distance, staying out of view unless needed.

And that part is exactly why I’m struggling to release Alan’s belt from my shaky grasp.

He cups my cheeks and lowers his face to mine. “Relax, Maddie. This is a minuscule risk. I’ll be back in two hours. Maybe less.”

My shoulders fall with my protracted exhale. “You better be or else. Now, kiss me and go before I change my mind about letting you leave.”

With an indulgent shake of his head, he claims my mouth, and I kiss the dang smirk right off his lips. He gently angles my head to the side, then drags his palms along my body.

When he wraps me in his arms this way, it’s easy to believe there’s nothing to fear.

After a few precious seconds of peace, he swoops his thumb over my cheek, lingering briefly on my scar before releasing me. “See you soon.”

A sexy wink, and he’s gone.

About an hour later, footsteps pad down the hallway outside Alan’s office. I glance toward the door and catch Kri breezing by.

When she sees me, she drops back and sticks her head in the room. “Hey, Madeline. I thought you’d be in the lair.”

I snap my vampire book closed and rise on shaky legs. Not sure why I bothered trying to read. Aside from how Alan’s teasing ruined the magic of the story, my focus is gone, and it likely won’t return until he does.

Plus, the damn book is making me miss him more. Especially when I see the words throbbing manhood .

“Are you heading down there?”

“Yeah. Tomer said something’s happening, so I’m gonna watch.”

Feigning confidence, I stride to the hallway. “I suppose I should head down too. No doubt Alan’s found the chief by now.”

Kri falls in step with me as we mosey toward the lair.

Grateful for the distraction she provides, I ask, “How have you been feeling?”

She tilts her chin up an inch, and her shoulders roll back. “Stronger every day.”

Playfully, I squeeze her rather impressive arm muscles. “I can tell. Get a load of these biceps.”

“Well, it takes a lot of work to keep up with the meatheads around here.”

I lean close like I’m letting her in on a secret. “You know... Alan is very proud of you. He’s always telling me how inspiring it is to witness you fighting for your comeback. You’ve worked so hard and defied all odds. It’s impressive as hell.”

Her cheeks flame red, making her look like she’s unaccustomed to this type of compliment, which makes me want to praise her even more.

So I do. “And if you don’t mind me saying so, it’s not only your physical recovery that’s awe-inspiring. You and Shepherd are doing such a wonderful job with Val. It isn’t easy to foster a child, especially a teen who’s experienced so much tragedy. Plus, all the danger surrounding her makes the job all the more daunting. And you two just stepped up like she was always meant to be yours. It’s beautiful to see how you’ve become a family.”

Kri’s eyes fall to the carpet, and she starts to brush off my glowing assessment. “Well, it’s not?—”

“Ah-ah-ah. I’m gonna stop you right there. You should be proud of what you’re doing. And the future you’re building for the three of you. Don’t discount the strength of character required to accomplish all that, Kri.”

Despite being visibly unsettled by the praise, she pushes through it to offer an honest response. “Well, thank you for saying that. We stepped up for Val because nothing that happened to her was her fault. She’s such a little firecracker, and I damn sure wasn’t about to let her spark flicker out, which is what could have happened if she ended up in the system.”

The more she speaks about Val, the more I grin. It’s just beautiful to see her shine this way.

After a contented sigh, she adds, “At some point when we were guarding Val, Shep and I realized she simply fit with us. No other way to phrase it. Together, the three of us work.”

“You sure do.”

We pause at the entrance to the lair.

Wistfulness crisscrosses her face, and she peeks at me from the corner of her eye. “As much as she needed us, I think we needed her more.”

The Kristen Dayton I met a few years ago would never engage in such a heartfelt and vulnerable conversation. Like the rest of his kids , she didn’t have a warm and loving childhood. Yet here she is—forming an unconventional family armed with determination and love. So much love . Exactly like Alan taught her when he brought her here, along with the rest of the Redleg family.

Proud doesn’t begin to describe how I feel about what he’s accomplished here.

Alan’s voice crackles through the speaker in the lair, making my head whip toward the sound. “Tell them to proceed with caution. No fingerprints, and they better be fucking careful. I want you to pull them at the first sign of trouble.”

My feet propel me into the room before my brain registers the movement.

“Copy, Boss,” Tomer responds and disconnects the call.

I scan the wall of monitors, not seeing Alan or any others who are out doing surveillance this evening. Looks like they don’t have the body cam footage I’ve seen on the few other times I’ve watched them work. Maybe they do, but there’s not enough room on the bank of monitors. There’s a flurry of activity lighting up the screens.

Two monitors display sprawling maps with blinking dots, likely location trackers. A few other screens have four-way split views of security camera footage from various locations. Looks like an entrance to a bar, a gas station, a guard shack manning a gate somewhere, and another overlooking the interior of a small store. More of the same on the next monitor over.

My attention shifts back to Tomer as he hits the button on his microphone. “Shep, you read me?”

“Roger, T.”

“Be advised you’re clear to proceed. Body cams on. No fingerprints. You know the drill. Extreme caution. And don’t fuck this up, or Boss is gonna have all our asses.”

Instead of Shep answering, Sawyer replies in a mobster impression. “Piece a friggin’ cake, baby boy. You worry too much. We got this. In and out. It ain’t nothin’, yeah?”

Silly ass.

If he can joke, it must not be too serious. Then again...

Mia leans against her chair back, stretching her arms over her head. “ Mmm cake. Great. Now I miss Cal.”

I’m torn between asking where Klein is and what the heck my third son is about to do with Shep that requires extreme caution and leaving no fingerprints .

Kri clearly has no such dilemma and easily focuses on the mission. “What are they doing?”

Tomer notices our presence for the first time. “Oh, hey. You’re here. Good.” He gestures to the table. “Have a seat if you want to watch. Boss is trailing the chief with Lionheart following a few blocks behind. Meanwhile, Shep and Sawyer are about to break into Yuri’s house.”

My eyebrows and jaw launch in opposite directions. “Whaaat ?”

Kri echoes my shock. “Yeah, seriously. What?”

Tomer glances at Mia, tipping his head toward Kri and me. “Catch them up while I get everything online.”

Mia spins her chair to face us, clasping her hands in her lap. “Right, so here’s the deal. As you know, Shep and Sawyer have been staking out Yuri with the goal of planting bugs on him or in his house.” She scrunches up her nose and wags her index finger. “But he’s a rascally one, that Russian. Tonight, our guys have a chance to get inside, and Boss just gave them the green light.”

My fingertips twist around my necklace. “What’s different about tonight?”

“Yuri’s upped his personal security recently. Whether at his strip club or home, he’s surrounded by goons. Some of whom must be using blocking tech to keep us from getting into their devices. Making things more complicated for us, he never leaves his home unguarded anymore. He has a minimum of three guys there at all times.” She cricks her head to the side, brows inching toward her hairline. “Until tonight.”

Kri finally lowers to the seat beside me. “What happened to his home security team?”

“Yuri called them away about five minutes ago. We don’t know why or how long they’ll be gone, so it’s now or never.”

Tomer addresses the guys through the comms. “Deploy Jack.”

Kri gives a little fist pump. “Let’s fucking go.”

Mia returns to her desk, leaving me without specifics on Alan and Leo’s situation. However, it sounds like Sawyer and Shep are in more danger, so I’ll save my worries for them.

“Who’s Jack?” I ask Kri in a near-whisper, taking care not to disturb the others.

“Tomer and Klein’s latest toy. It’s a portable device that jacks up specific types of signals in its radius. I’m assuming they’re gonna use it to disarm his security system.”

“Or attempt to,” Tomer interjects.

Nervously, I wrap my necklace tighter around my index finger. “What do you mean by that?”

“It means I’m unsure if it’s gonna work. We haven’t had much time to test Jack’s capabilities. And Yuri’s got nice tech on that place since he’s almost as paranoid as Kim Jong Un.”

Mia switches the view on the monitors, bringing up body cam footage for Sawyer and Shep. After jumping a fence, they stealthily dash toward the rear of a two-story home. When they reach the back corner, one of them slaps a small black contraption onto the outside of a gray power junction box.

In a steady tone, Shep announces, “Jack’s in place.”

“Stand by, team.” On Tomer’s computer, he types on a solid black screen, entering what appears to be programming code. Then he toggles to another window and clicks a big red button labeled execute .

“Counting it down,” he states flatly.

Mia faces Tomer briefly. “Boss is asking to get plugged in so he can hear what’s going on.” After a rapid series of screen clicks, she speaks into her microphone. “Boss, you there?”

“Affirmative,” Alan replies without a hint of unease.

Instantly, my pulse slows at the comforting sound of his voice. If he’s relaxed, I can be too.

Tomer rubs his palms together briskly. “Team, Jack is doing his thing. Infil now.”

“Copy,” one of them calls back.

Everyone holds their breath as Sawyer and Shep break in through the back door using tiny metal tools that I don’t recognize. To be honest, I’m more than a little lost. This is far beyond the scope of an insurance underwriter. And I wasn’t even a good one of those.

“No alarm signals detected,” Tomer informs everyone.

“Same here,” Shep announces.

My shoulders sag, and oxygen rushes from my lungs. Yet after Sawyer takes his first step inside, I end up holding my breath again.

Shep enters next, silently closing the door behind them. They exchange hand signals and split up.

Tomer updates Alan. “Boss, twing and twang are inside. No issues.”

“Perimeter still secure,” Mia adds.

I tap Kri on the top of her knee and whisper, “What about cameras inside the house? Surely, he has those.”

Alan filled my house with cameras, so I’d assume someone like Yuri has them as well. Possibly more.

“That’s one of the things Jack is handling. It should be scrambling the feed and preventing anything from being recorded.”

“If it’s working,” Tomer quips, ever the optimist this evening.

Eye roll.

“Mia, anything on the traffic cams?” Alan asks.

“No sign of Yuri’s car or the SUV his guards were driving.”

“It’s unacceptable that we don’t have tags on those vehicles.” Alan murmurs something unintelligible under his breath. More than likely, it’s more colorful profanity. “We need to fix that. I want a plan in place for it by tomorrow.”

Listening to the dialog while poking around inside Yuri’s house, Sawyer offers his two cents. “We’ll do it tonight when they come back. Shep and I have a plan, Boss. We’ll get into their garage after they return. Ease up on that blood pressure, old man.”

Instead of easing up, Alan seems to do the opposite. “Fuck, fuck, shit. Dammit . Fucking shit fuck.”

I bat my lashes at Kri in jest, faking a grin. “Alan’s a modern renaissance man with an elegantly poetic vernacular.”

“That much is clear,” she jokes.

“What’s the problem, Boss?” Mia asks while clicking through street camera footage.

“Chief spotted me, parked on the side of the road, and is strolling over to my car. Looks like we’re gonna have our chat on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.”

My heart vaults squarely into my throat.

Tomer spares a quick glance at his partner. “Mia, turn on Big Al’s dashboard and rearview cam. Bring it up on screen four and hit record.”

“Copy.”

Tomer and Mia seem to be splitting forces, with him monitoring Sawyer and Shep’s little home invasion while she watches over my Alan.

I’m torn on where to focus. Sawyer’s like one of my babies. But Alan holds my heart.

Kri must sense my mounting panic. She scoots her chair closer and slings her arm over my shoulders.

“Evening, Lancaster,” a throaty voice wheezes out.

Oof . This man sounds like a lifelong smoker who’s one pack away from using a voice box.

“Chief Bigsby,” Alan replies curtly.

Mia taps her microphone. “Lionheart, stall your approach. Hang back for now so you aren’t spotted, but be ready to advance on my signal. So far, this looks friendly.”

“Wilco.”

Hearing my loving son’s steady voice does wonders for my anxiety. Kri’s comfort doesn’t hurt either.

From the cameras and audio on Tomer’s side of the lair, I catch Sawyer and Shep talking. Unhurried, they move quietly from room to room, opening drawers and cabinets.

“You’ve never been in here, Shep?” Sawyer asks.

“Negative, Perry.”

“Shut your cock holster,” Sawyer snaps back at him.

He hates his given name. Poor child. At this point, he should legally change it.

I tune out their banter to focus on the large man with the gravelly voice who seems amused at Alan’s friendly stalking. “Lovely night for a drive, isn’t it?”

“I needed to see you, and you weren’t cooperating. What’s wrong? You pissed at me?”

My entire body leans toward the speaker as I hang on his every word.

“You want to talk, huh?” The challenge is evident in his tone. “Call off your guard dog.”

“My dog?” Alan asks in mock offense. “I don’t have a dog.”

“What do you call him, then? Your lion, right? Call him off and then power down your comms.”

All traces of friendliness have disappeared from his voice, leaving behind only irritation and that off-putting rasp.

Kri whispers, “Don’t worry. Boss won’t do that.”

“He better not.”

I shouldn’t have thought those three words, let alone spoken them into existence. It was as if Alan felt the implied challenge from across town through some mystical force. Or Fate’s come back to deal another blow.

“Fine. Lionheart, stand down,” Alan orders in a deep grumble.

Chief Bigsby utters a disapproving sound, then breaks into a coughing fit. Definitely a smoker.

Once he’s able to speak, he decrees, “No, Lancaster. Standing down isn’t good enough. I want him to turn his vehicle around and leave the area.”

“No, no, no,” I chatter, my fingertips nearly losing sensation from the intensity of my fidgety necklace twirling.

Alan sounds perturbed when he grits out, “You copy, Lionheart?”

“Roger, Boss. I don’t fucking like it, though.”

“You don’t have to like it to do it. Bug out,” Alan orders.

Two seconds later, Mia groans. “Boss just disabled his comms.”

Tomer shakes his head despondently. “Fuck Murphy and his shitty law. Of course , Boss and Leo go out to confront the chief about Patterson at the same time as Yuri’s house finally clears out. Why wouldn’t these tasks happen separately?”

“We got this, buddy,” Mia reassures him. “Boss has met with the chief dozens of times without us watching. It’s all good. You’ll see.”

I wish I shared her optimism.

“Shep, come take a look at this,” Sawyer says, only briefly diverting my focus away from Mia’s side of the console.

“Does Alan have a body cam?” I ask, clinging to the last rung on my hope ladder.

“Nope.” Mia points at the monitor displaying the feed from the cameras attached to his vehicle. “This is all we have on him right now. Plus, the GPS tracker on his watch, the car, and his phone. But remember, Chief Bigsby is not a hostile. He’s on our side.”

“Probably,” Tomer adds.

Normally, I adore that boy. But I’m one more negative comment away from taking off my shoe and flinging it at him.

The camera footage on the front of Alan’s vehicle shows the two men walking toward the chief’s SUV. With each step he takes, my body gradually ices over. The blood in my veins congeals into a frosty gel, just shy of being frozen solid. One by one, I lose sensation in my fingertips, and I’m unsure whether it’s from the temperature in the lair or because I’m falling into an abyss of worry.

Unlike Alan, I don’t have a trustworthy gut. Only paranoia and plenty of past experiences where I put my faith in the wrong person.

However, Alan does have his intuition. And he wouldn’t intentionally put himself in harm’s way without proper backup and a plan.

I force that sentiment to replay in my mind, hoping it calms me. Along with a series of deep breaths, it seems to help. Warmth steadily returns to my fingertips, and my pulse slows.

Sawyer’s unusually tense voice breaks through my carefully crafted Zen garden. “ Uh , HQ. Are you seeing this?”

In a low rumble, Tomer utters, “What the actual fuck? Get it closer to your cam for me. I need a better visual.”

Once more, I whip my neck to face Tomer’s console. Sawyer and Shep are in Yuri’s home office. Sawyer’s body camera is zooming in on a framed picture—a family portrait, perhaps.

As it comes into better focus, I detect two men, two women, and two very small children in the photo. They’re standing outdoors, huddled together to smile for the camera under a large oak tree. If they aren’t family, they certainly appear to be quite close with each other, judging by the friendly body language.

I don’t recognize any of them, but based on the women’s hairstyles and clothing, it’s an older photo. Twenty to thirty years ago. Maybe more.

Mia sighs aggressively, barely concealing a groan. “Lionheart, you’re far enough away. Hold, but turn around in case I need to send you back in.”

My son calls back, his tone reserved. “Wilco. Update on Big Al’s status?”

After peeking over her shoulder at me, Mia returns her focus to her computer. “The chief divested him of his sidearm before they got into his SUV.”

What? Oh no, no, no. I must have missed that when I was staring at the framed photo on the other monitor.

“If anyone’s curious, we’re doing sensationally at Yuri’s place too,” Tomer mumbles sarcastically while flying through various screens full of photos.

“ Annnd they’re driving away now,” Mia tacks on.

Wordlessly, we watch the shrinking taillights on the SUV as it carries Alan and the chief away.

The hits just keep on coming. No weapons. No cameras. No audio. And they’re out in the middle of nowhere.

Mia lets her hands go limp, flopping them onto the armrests. “I’ve officially lost visual on Big Al.”

Oxygen gets trapped in my lungs.

Kri reaches across my lap, removing my balled-up fist and comfortingly entwining our hands. “He doesn’t need a weapon to defend himself. Remember that.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” I tell her, genuinely meaning it.

The crackle of my son’s voice coming from the speaker pulls my focus back. “Did Boss go willingly?”

Although Leo can’t see her, Mia waves her hands wildly at the monitors. “From what I could tell, yeah. He was calm as a cuke. No sign of distress.”

“Then trust his gut,” my son urges, and I let his reminder soothe me too. “Besides, the chief’s been a strong ally for Redleg. We have no reason to distrust him.”

Like he’s been doing this entire time, Tomer erodes all traces of optimism with a single statement. “Correction, Lionheart. We had no reason. Until now.”

“Explain,” Mia and Leo demand simultaneously.

Tomer levels his gaze on Mia then points his chin toward the screen displaying the photo Sawyer found. “Our intrepid duo found a framed picture in Yuri’s desk drawer, hidden under a stack of papers. It’s none other than our dear friend and Lenkov Bratva alum Yuri Zaytsev. Arm and arm with Chief Motherfucking Bigsby and their wives and kids. It’s an older photo, which I estimate dates back to the time when Yuri was in the bratva. So clearly, the chief has personal history with Lenkov, which is just peachy.”

I pulse my grip around Kri’s hand. “I take it nobody knew this?”

She shakes her head ardently.

Terrific .

Sawyer piles on, crystallizing some of my fears. “And given that it was buried at the bottom of his desk, I’m guessing Yuri doesn’t exactly have favorable memories of his old friend, which doesn’t paint the chief in a great light.”

And he’s got Alan now.

Weaponless.

No tracking.

In the dark. In the middle of nowhere.

Mia snaps her fingers at Tomer. “We need to pull them.”

Tomer nods. “Team, plant the rest of the bugs and exfil immediately. We’re redirecting you to back up Lionheart and Boss.”

Gulp.

“Copy,” Shep answers.

Shaking Kri’s hand loose, I rise to my feet, too frightened to sit on my tush when goodness knows what is happening. My vision bounces from monitor to monitor, but I’m unable to decipher much of what I see.

A half hour ago, I was reading vampire smut, and now I’m facing the very real possibility that Alan’s in grave danger.

“Tomer, refresh the tracking app,” Mia barks at him, her tone fraught with tension. “Big Al’s tags aren’t moving.”

The screen with the map flashes, and Tomer nods. “Done.”

Mia prattles under her breath. “We saw him drive away with the chief. So why aren’t any of his trackers registering the movement?”

Standing beside me now, Kri flings her pointer finger toward one of the maps. “It’s not the app. Look . Leo’s tracker is moving.”

Tomer directs his mouse furiously through a series of app pages. “I’m accessing the camera on Big Al’s phone.”

While he does that, Sawyer and Shep leave Yuri’s house and jump the fence in the backyard. The echo of their panting breaths as they sprint to safety is oddly comforting.

Mia inches closer to Tomer’s workstation right as he connects to Alan’s phone.

A heartbeat later, Tomer’s upper body sags. “Son of a bitch. Boss left his phone in the car.”

Although it’s hard to see in such poor lighting, it’s a view of the headliner inside the SUV. Alan’s cell must be sitting face up on the console.

I grab the back of Tomer’s chair to keep myself upright despite the trembles rocking through me. “What about his watch?”

“That tracker isn’t moving either,” Mia answers, an air of defeat darkening her normally melodic tone.

Tomer’s voice modulates into a steely calm, almost as if he’s removed all hints of emotion. Neat trick. Wish he’d teach me how to do that. “Mia, rewind the dash cam footage to when he walked in front of the car with the chief. See if he was wearing it. I want to rule out an equipment malfunction. If he’s truly off the grid, I’m gonna tap into live satellite imagery to try to find him.”

Mia springs into action, returning to her keyboard. “On it.”

Shep’s steady voice sails through the speaker. “We’re mobile, T. Where are we going?”

“Just track my location, Shep,” Leo interjects. “I’m already en route, attempting to catch up.”

“Copy.”

“Nice when the kids can look after themselves,” Tomer quips without humor, his voice still as flat as a board.

I keep my gaze locked on the footage Mia’s rewinding, anxiously waiting for the moment Alan and the chief will appear in the grainy footage. A streak of light crosses beside the vehicle.

“What was that?” I ask.

Tapping the space bar, Mia cricks her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at the video. “Looked like a car driving by a little after they drove off. Let me run it back.”

She adjusts the playback speed and captures a silver sedan passing by Alan’s abandoned car on the side of the road. “Marking the time and grabbing a screenshot for you, T.”

Mia doesn’t wait for a response. She just starts advancing through the footage again. Once she gets back to the point where Alan crosses in front of the car, my heart sinks.

No watch on either wrist.

“He left his watch in the car intentionally,” Mia surmises. “After Boss turned off his comms, the chief must have told him to leave all his trackers behind if he wanted to talk.”

I trade worried looks with Kri, and she returns to my side to wrap her arm around my lower back.

Tomer’s fingers tap-dance over the keyboard, and then he pauses to arch a brow at Mia. “How long after the chief drove off until that car passed by?”

She wobbles her head from side to side. “About forty-five seconds, give or take.”

Tomer leans closer to his microphone. “Lionheart, did you notice anyone trailing Boss and the chief?”

“Negative.”

Beside me, Kri quietly puts my thoughts into words. “It’s almost as if the mystery driver knew the chief was gonna be there and was waiting for him to leave with Big Al.”

Tomer’s eyes widen suddenly. “Oh. Got a plate number on this view. Checking it now.”

Grasping at straws, I meekly offer a feasible explanation. “Couldn’t it just be a coincidence? It’s a public road, after all.”

Before anyone can respond to my theory, Tomer busts my bubble yet again. “What are the odds that this fucking guy just happened to be forty-five seconds behind the chief right when he gets Big Al into his vehicle without weapons, comms, or a tracker?”

“Who is it, T?” Leo asks, his voice deadly serious.

“Detective Patterson.”

I’ve heard enough shop talk lately to know he’s on their list of people they don’t trust.

And now he’s going after the man I love.

Oh, Alan. What have you done?