Page 34 of Ice Cold Liar (Ice Breaker Cold Case #14)

Chapter Eighteen

“Let me get this straight.” Madeline pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut as she stood on the front porch of the safe house. “You and your new friend—ah, Hunter McQueen, I believe his name is?—”

“That’s me,” Hunter drawled as he sat on the top porch step. His legs spread out in front of him.

Madeline cleared her throat. “You and your friend Hunter took out twelve gang members.”

Eb surveyed the wreckage in front of the house. Plenty of the motorcycles had been smashed to hell and back. “Probably gonna need some tow trucks out here.”

“Oh, you think?” she snapped back.

Yeah, he did think that.

“Already called them,” she muttered. “Rest easy on that score.”

Her agents—along with local cops—had also taken the bikers into custody. A lot of those SOBs had been whining and moaning about their injuries. Like Eb cared about blood and bruises. “They came out here to kill Naomi.”

Naomi stepped forward from her position near the front door. “I’m pretty sure they came here to kill us both, Eb.” She motioned toward Hunter. “And I don’t think they would have cared if you went down in the flames, too.” She wrapped her arms around her body.

As always, Henry was a shadow close to her. Quiet, watchful.

“You said Brock Arison is the one who confessed?” A long sigh broke from Madeline. “And in case anyone is confused…Brock was the big bastard, the one missing a nose ring and sporting a bullet hole in his hand,” Madeline elaborated. “Does that help?”

“Yep, he confessed to us.” A flat reply from Eb.

Tension still poured through his body. Adrenaline pulsed.

Hunter had needed to pull him away from the creep named Brock because Eb had wanted to rip the man apart.

Actually, he still wanted to rip him to shreds.

The prick thought he’d hurt Naomi? Oh, hell, no.

“I’m going to interrogate him, thoroughly,” Madeline promised with a nod, “once his injuries have been patched up. Would have been easier if you hadn’t shot him.”

What? Was he supposed to be sorry for that? Not happening. “I let him keep living. You’re welcome for that.”

Naomi sucked in a sharp breath.

I’m scaring her. Yeah, well, learning that he was an assassin, a cold-blooded killer, probably hadn’t been the highlight of her night. Then again, having a gang of criminals come to burn her alive couldn’t have been a thrill, either.

Madeline slumped her shoulders. “This is a clusterfuck.”

“Brock admitted to setting the fire at my place.” Naomi’s voice shook a bit at the edges.

Understandable, wasn’t it? “He was at my house, so he had access to the bat that was used to kill Ivan. The guy was clearly relishing being the leader tonight. Maybe he saw an opportunity. He took the bat, he eliminated Ivan, and then he came to kill me so he could tell the gang that I was the one who’d taken out Ivan—and that they’d all just gotten vengeance.

I was his scapegoat and victim all at the same time. ”

It was a story that Eb had already been considering, too.

Madeline nodded once more. “I’ll be sure and find out if that’s the way things played out.

He’ll tell me everything. One way or another.

” She strode off the porch. Made a quick gesture toward her team with one hand.

They scrambled faster at the motioned order.

“We’ll get the bikes cleared away,” she tossed over her shoulder.

“There’ll be more questions, of course. So expect another visit from me tomorrow.

” Her hands were on her hips as she surveyed the wreckage.

“Twelve gang members.” Her head angled back toward them. “Against you two men?”

“No.” Eb moved to the side of the porch. I should have ended Brock when I had the chance. He didn’t like loose ends. “It was twelve against three. Naomi came hurtling in with my Impala. She sent her share of men running.” It had been a full-on team effort.

Hunter cleared his throat. “Pretty sure she sent one flying into a tree.”

Yeah, she had.

Madeline turned fully toward Naomi. “Eb let you drive the Impala?”

“He gave me the keys,” Naomi replied.

Eb snorted. “I told her to get the hell away. Hunter and I were supposed to be the distraction. The pricks arrived with containers of gasoline. I couldn’t risk her staying here and getting burned.”

“Yet here she is.” Madeline’s head tilted to the right. “And the bad guys are all in custody. Funny how that worked out.”

Eb didn’t find a damn thing about the situation to be funny. Fury-inducing, sure. Funny? No.

“I wasn’t going to leave Eb.”

Those quiet words from Naomi pierced right through him.

“And it wasn’t three against twelve,” Naomi corrected. “It was four against twelve.” Her fingers stroked over Henry’s head. “He was supposed to stay put, but Henry was ready for action, too.”

“That dog…” Madeline shook her head in bemusement. “He’s quite something.”

Naomi gave the Golden Retriever another loving pat.

Yep, okay, I am jealous of her dog once again.

One of the agents shouted for Madeline.

“Duty calls.” She began to hurry away, but paused. Looked back again. “You don’t have to stay here tonight. It’s going to take a long time for cleanup. You can head back to your guesthouse. Or go get a hotel room.”

Naomi shook her head.

So Eb said, “Nah, we’ll wait.” He wanted to watch and see everything that the agents and cops did on the scene.

Madeline gave him a brittle smile. “Of course, but, Eb, let’s have a word, shall we? A private word.”

Hell. “Absolutely.” He ambled off the porch.

The agent called out for her again.

Madeline waved the man away. She strode to the side with Eb, maneuvering until they were close to his precious Impala. He spared the car a brief glance and realized he’d never forget seeing his ride hurtle toward him.

Naomi and that car had saved his ass.

“This could have been a bloodbath,” Madeline groused to him. “Do you know what a pain in my ass that would have been?”

“I am aware.” Lights illuminated the perimeter.

Bright lights from the cars that the local cops had driven.

Extra lights that had been brought in and positioned for cleanup and evidence collection.

“That’s why they’re all still breathing.

” Though he had been so very tempted to end that whole breathing routine with Brock. Some people are better off dead.

“You shot a man in the hand!” Her words were still hushed but definitely tense.

The gunshot wound was hardly a big deal.

“He was reaching for a knife. Told you that already.” Eb had told her that at least twice.

Maybe three times. “These assholes rolled out here, they brought gasoline canisters, and they threatened to burn us alive. What else was I supposed to do? I had to fight back.”

“You mean you had to protect her.” A wave toward the porch. Toward Naomi.

Damn straight, I did.

“Because she was the target.”

“She was the target,” he agreed, voice rough and low.

“Either because Brock believed she’d killed Ivan and he wanted his justice for his dead leader or because…

maybe because Naomi was right back there—maybe Brock saw an opportunity for upward mobility.

He took out his own boss and wanted to blame Ivan’s death on Naomi.

To shut her up—permanently—he came here.

He thought with all the numbers on his side, we’d be easy prey.

” A roll of Eb’s shoulders. “He was wrong.”

“Of course, he was. You’re never easy prey. You’re probably the most dangerous bastard I’ve ever met. You fight dirty as hell, and you don’t stop until your goal is achieved. Or at least, you don’t usually stop.”

Tow trucks had arrived. Three of them. A giant flatbed. Oh, those beat-up bikes really weren’t going to be good for more than scrap.

“You still think Naomi killed Hudson?” Madeline’s voice had dropped even lower. “Is your goal still to prove her guilt? Or, for the first time in your life, are you giving up on your agenda?”

“Naomi says that she didn’t do it.” He watched the tow trucks get into position. “I believe her.”

“Seriously?”

“I believe her,” he said again.

“Well…damn. Okay.” She moved to stand directly in front of him. “If she’s not our killer, then who is?”

“Maybe Brock can shed light on that for us.”

Silence. Then… “While you had the bastard bleeding on the ground, did he say something that you want to share with me?”

He put a hand to his heart. “Madeline, are you suggesting I was torturing the man in order to get intel? I’m shocked. That’s hardly the CIA way.” His voice was deliberately bland.

The agent who’d been trying to get her attention for the last few moments shouted again. Madeline ignored him.

“He really wants to discuss something with you,” Eb pointed out.

“Morris is a green recruit who wants me holding his hand every moment. Forget him. Did you learn something you want to share with me? ”

He hadn’t been able to interrogate Brock because after that creep’s crack about ending Naomi, Eb’s temper had gotten the better of him.

“I knocked him out. Naomi and Hunter insisted we call the authorities—that’d be you —so, no, he didn’t share more with me.

But if you’ll give me a few moments alone with Brock in a room, I can get him to tell me every secret he’s ever had in his life. ”

Soft laughter poured from her. “I don’t think so. In case it somehow slipped your mind, you’re not CIA any longer, remember? I’ll be handling the interrogation from here on, but thanks.” She patted his shoulder. “And I’ll assume you’ll keep staying close to the grieving widow?”

“She saved my ass. She could have walked away. Uh, driven away and never looked back.”

Her inscrutable gaze studied him. “One good deed doesn’t redeem a person. That’s not how it works.”

“Naomi said she didn’t kill him. I believe her.”

The nearest tow truck hoist groaned and shrieked as it began to lift one of the wrecked motorcycles.