Page 16 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Nine

R yan arrived at the address less than fifteen minutes after heading out.

Something about the place left his blood cold.

As he slipped out of his truck, he noticed that both Nikki’s and Seth’s cars were at the location.

Cops were everywhere, walking the neighborhood to try to find any witnesses or evidence.

Again, something told him this street was empty for a reason.

There was a massive driveway with two vehicles sitting in it.

The SUV matched the description they had of a car fleeing the Kellys’ home on Saturday night and the TFH Forensics van.

He went to the passenger side of his pickup and let Maya out of the truck. He turned to walk up to the front door when he heard the roar of a motorcycle. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Rami slide into the space behind Ryan’s truck. He waited for him to join them.

“What’s up?” Rami asked.

“Alpha got a call about a triple homicide. When they showed up, they realized it had to do with our case.”

“I know that. I meant, has anything else happened?”

He shook his head. “We just got here.”

He was still dealing with the need to rush to Keely. If these guys are really the men who carried out the killings, then maybe someone was cleaning house.

“Someone wasn’t happy with their handiwork from the other night,” Rami said as they walked up to the front door.

“Just what I was thinking.”

He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension between his shoulder blades.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. This case is getting on my nerves. And my back is stiff.”

“Well, you did have a handful of a woman fall on top of you the other night.”

He said nothing to that as they started walking up the sidewalk that led to the front door.

“And she can cook. I bet since she spent time in Texas, she knows how to make spicy food.”

“Why is that important?” He didn’t need Rami’s answer because he had an idea of why he was fixated on their victim. She was gorgeous and sweet, with that cute smile and those eyes…not to mention her thick, wavy hair and her curvy body.

“No reason. Just…I find her intriguing.”

Ryan stopped in his tracks. Rami walked a few more feet before he realized Ryan had stopped.

He turned to look at him, his eyes full of questions.

Rami was the kind of guy who was running from his demons and using sex as part of that escape plan.

Ryan knew he had no room to talk. Not that he had been jumping from bed to bed like Rami had been doing, but he did understand what was going on.

He would be damned if Rami would use Keely that way.

“Don’t.” He practically growled the word.

Rami’s head cocked to the side as he studied Ryan, then he nodded. “I wasn’t saying I was going to try to talk her into a date or anything. I just find her interesting.”

Ryan rolled his shoulders again. Maya, sick of waiting for him, plopped down on the ground.

“Besides, I don’t poach. I have plenty of other women to keep me busy.”

Still raw from Rami’s interest in Keely, Ryan spoke without thinking. “Yeah, I thought you had an interest in Nikki.”

Rami’s eyebrows lowered as he narrowed his eyes. “What. The. Fuck.”

He shrugged. “You seemed really upset when she was dating that pilot.”

A few weeks ago, she had gone out on a few dates with an Air Force pilot. It wasn’t dating or serious. Nikki never got serious. Much like the man glaring at Ryan at that moment.

“They weren’t dating. A few dates. That’s all. We’re just friends.”

He nodded. “Cool. So you’re okay if McGuire asks her out? He’s interested.”

“McGuire? From Team Charlie?”

The newly formed Charlie Team was headed up by former Alpha Team member Marcus Floyd. As with the rest of TFH, there were a lot of retired military personnel in the ranks. McGuire was former member of the Delta Force.

“Yeah. He was asking about her the other day.”

Not a lie. Truth was, Elliot, otherwise known as ‘E’, had been asking, not specifically because he wanted to ask her out.

He saw her training and was worried she would kick his ass.

Since E was about six foot six, and Nikki topped out at about five-four, it was kind of funny.

But, since Rami was being an ass, Ryan wanted to rattle his cage.

“The hell? He’s like over a foot taller than her.”

Ryan shrugged as some guilt crept in. Yep, it had been ten seconds, and he already felt bad about what he had said to his teammate.

He opened his mouth to correct his comment when the door opened.

“Are you two done having your little chat?” Nikki asked.

“Yeah,” he said. At the same time, Rami said, “No.”

He ignored his irritated teammate and headed into the house.

They stopped just inside the doorway to put on the same booties Nikki was wearing.

As he walked behind Nikki, he was surprised by the opulence.

From the outside, it looked like a typical upper-middle-class house.

It was one of the newer homes built into the mountainside.

Still, when you thought of gaudy and over-the-top mansions, they were usually in other areas like Kailua and on the other side of Diamond Head.

Marble flooring gleamed beneath their feet as they followed Nikki down a long hallway. The walls were bare, and there were no other discernible objects in the house so far.

Definitely a rental of some sort.

As they stepped out of the hallway, he paused.

The living area was massive. Steps lead down into an area that was definitely made for entertaining.

The ceiling was high, with a chandelier that was probably as big as his whole living room.

Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out on the valley below.

The entire thing was done in white. White tile, white rugs, and a white sectional.

“Looks like a serial killer would live here, am I right?” Nikki asked. “And not because of the dead body.”

This room screamed control, but he had a feeling that the person who owned it didn’t have anything to do with the murder.

That’s when he saw Seth and Adam talking.

“Guys, step easy,” Seth ordered. “They’ve done this room mostly, but don’t go outside of this room.”

The three of them headed over to the couch. The couch was leather and looked like it cost a lot of money. It was worth so little, now stained with the splash of blood and brain.

“So, what do we have?” Ryan asked.

Adam motioned toward the man on the couch. “All of them have been shot execution style.”

A rather slim Asian man lay on one section of the sofa. He could be asleep if it hadn’t been for the bullet hole in his head.

“His name is Henry Pang. Gun for hire. The other two are upstairs. Killed the same way,” Adam said.

“And we’re here because?” Nikki asked.

“This one had directions to the Kellys’ house on his phone. Oh, and he also had directions to the house we found Ray in.”

Ryan blinked. “That’s stupid.”

Which didn’t track. The plan had to have been formulated long before that night. They knew how many people would be at the dinner.

“Do they have any connections to the other people in the house?”

Seth shook his head. “We haven’t found anything yet, but we just got their names.”

“Well, it could be a case of arrogance,” Adam said. “This one has been under investigation in about six countries, including the US. China really wanted to get hold of him. No one could seem to catch him.”

“Is he a Chinese national?”

He nodded. “He was busy in China killing people up until a couple of years ago. He’s actually a Chinese American who immigrated to China when he was eighteen.”

“The fuck?” Nikki said. “Who in their right mind would go back to China?”

“Not sure, but he disappeared from China a couple of years ago. They started looking for him, but apparently, they couldn’t find him. At that time, he started popping up all over Europe as a gun for hire. Well, at least that’s what the rumors said.”

“Aw, damn, I hate international bullshit. That means we’ll end up dealing with the consulate. They’re gonna be assholes,” Rami said.

“Have you dealt with them before?” Ryan asked.

“Not this particular one, but all embassies and consulates are jerks.”

Kap came striding into the house. “Sorry, boss. Traffic was a bitch.”

Seth nodded. Most of them lived closer to the crime scene, while Kap lived over on the Windward side in Waimanalo. It was on the opposite side of the island.

“We’re gonna have to deal with the Chinese Consulate,” Rami said to Kap, who groaned. “See, he knows.”

“Are all three bodies Chinese?” Ryan asked.

“Nope,” Adam said. “The other two have ties to two different criminal organizations.”

“Please tell me they are US citizens, because that would mean dealing with three countries, and that sounds like a pain in the ass.”

“Tell us how you really feel, Rami,” Elle McGregor said as she walked down the stairs. Their medical examiner was in her regular white jumpsuit. Drew followed, dressed the same way.

“They are both US citizens. They have ties to criminal organizations. All three men have open Interpol cases,” Adam said. “Tony Donatello has worked for both the Italian and Irish Mafias. Seems that he has family ties to both organizations. Freddy Sabato has ties to several cartels.”

Another couple of groans from Kap and Rami.

“This is going to be a mess,” Adam said with a smile.

“Thanks, bra,” Seth said, sarcastically. Adam was probably thrilled that it was being handed off to their team.

“I already sent Charity all the information about the men,” Elle said. “She’s going to work up a dossier on each one of them. I’ll make sure she gets the bullets, so she can see if all three of them were killed by one gun.”

“And they slept through the shots?” Kap said.

She shook her head. “Silencers were used.”

“How can you tell?” Nikki asked.

“They all have a flower pattern around their gunshot wound. Definitely used a silencer.”

“So, whoever killed these guys came here with a definite plan,” Nikki said with a nod.