Page 25 of Liam (R.I.S.C. Delta Team #5)

“He’s coming to.”

Liam woke to the sound of Jagger’s excited voice. Blinking his lids open, he squinted against the pounding in his head and tried like hell to remember what had happened.

“Thank God,” another relieved voice reached his ears.

“Yeah, look. He’s opening his eyes.”

His teammates’ faces came into view as Liam continued blinking to clear his vision. Jagger, Christian, and Brody hovered nearby as someone pulled at something on his arm. He looked that way and realized only then that he was being treated by a pair of paramedics.

What the hell?

Like a slingshot forcing the recent memories to the forefront of his mind. In rapid succession, Liam began to recall the events that had led up to this moment.

He’d been in the bedroom, double-checking the contents of his go bag when he’d heard the loud noise from the front of the house. A beat later, he’d heard Allison’s scream.

Liam had grabbed his pistol and raced her way just as that fucker punched her in the side of the head. He’d wanted to kill the man right then and there. He’d even started to lift his gun.

His mistake came in his rush to get to Allison while also trying to keep Maddie safe. Liam had spotted the gun pointed back at him half-a-second too late. He’d turned his head at the very last second, causing the bullet to graze him, rather than piercing his brain.

“You’re damn lucky to be alive.”

Yeah, he sure as hell was. But what about?—

“Allison and Maddie?” He shot his teammates a panicked stare as his thoughts finally began to clear. His eyes felt like they were about to pop out of his head as he scanned his living room to see if they were there.

“Maddie’s at my place with Megan and Ro,” Christian informed him. “Cade and Rocky are there, too, just in case.”

“And Allison?” Hope raced through his veins. “Is she there, too?”

The other three men shared a look that said it all. Allison wasn’t at Christians. She also wasn’t here. Which meant either Tommy took or, or she was already?—

“She’s gone, man.” Brody’s dark stare was almost as black as the beard covering the man’s hardened jaw. “He took her.”

It wasn’t close to being good news, but it was far better than the alternative.

“But she’s alive?” he asked, praying they had some sort of confirmation.

“She was when they left here.” Jagger shoved his hands into his front pockets. “And you know as well as I do, if he wanted her dead…”

She’d still be here.

“We have to find her.” Liam pushed himself up to his feet. His legs felt weak a shit, and the room was spinning.

“Easy, brother.” Jagger put a supportive hand to his shoulder. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

“I don’t need a fucking hospital, I need to get my gun.”

Christian shot back with a stern, “You’ve got a concussion and need to sit your ass down.”

Liam glared back at his teammate and friend. “Like you stood down when Megan was in trouble?”

It was a cheap shot, and one he knew he’d later regret. But right now, all he could think of was getting to Allison before it was too late.

Liam’s phone began to ring, and he reached to his back pocket in hope that Allison had somehow managed to get her hands on a phone. Disappointment was crushing when he saw Knox’s name instead.

“He took her,” was the only greeting he gave the other man. “Gallo busted into my house, shot me, and then the son of a bitch took Allison with him when he left.”

“The kid?” Knox’s first thought was of Maddie.

“She’s safe.”

“Thank God. But listen, Gallo’s the reason I’m calling. I think I might know where he’s taking Allison. But you need to hurry, because I also know why.”

“Hang on.”

Liam put the call on hold long enough to hurriedly sign a refusal to treat. As the medics begrudgingly left the scene, Christian smoothed things over with the detective on scene. Working for Delta Team came with a lot of perks.

One was the relationship the team had with the local PD.

Looking down, he realized the front of his shirt was soaked with his blood. With a curse, he shifted gears and rushing back to his room. He talked to the Seattle detective during the lightning-fast change.

“Okay, I’m back,” he told Knox. “You said you know where Gallo’s taking her?”

“I just texted you the address.”

Within seconds, his phone notified him of the incoming text.

“Got it.” Liam returned to the other comment Knox had made. “You also said you know his motive. Does that mean there’s more to all this than his need to control?”

“A lot more,” Knox drawled. “As in two million dollars more.”

“He kidnapped his wife for money?” Liam frowned. “That doesn’t make any damn sense.”

“It does when the guy took out a life insurance policy on her six months ago,” the man on the phone shared. “She dies, he gets it all.”

Liam dropped the phone onto the mattress, careful not to tear off the bandage the medics had taped to his forehead as he stretched a clean T-shirt over his aching head. Pulling the hem down over his abs, he grabbed his cell and made his way back to his team.

“That doesn’t make sense,” he pointed out. “Gallo’s a wealthy guy. Why would he need?—”

“Same reason as the security guard. Debt.”

Gallo was in debt?

“I didn’t notice anything unusual when I ran his finacials.”

“Because the people the man owes don’t exactly take checks,” Knox quipped. “After we got off the phone earlier, Borelli continued to talk. From what he says, Gallo owes a shit ton of money to the very mob he works for. And if he doesn’t repay them soon?—”

“They’re going to kill him,” Liam finished for the other man.

“And you and I both know, it won’t be an easy death. Guy that selfish wouldn’t think twice about murdering his wife to keep his own ass alive.”

I sure as hell won’t make his death easy.

The pieces were finally starting to fit, but there was one other thing he couldn’t seem to get past. “Why take her with him if he wants her dead?”

“Because along with being a self-centered prick, Gallo has a reputation to uphold. He may not want Allison back as his wife, but his pride took a major hit when she took his daughter and left.”

“He’s going to make her pay before he kills her.” Liam swallowed down the rush of bile racing toward the base of his throat.

“That would be my guess,” Knox agreed.

The urge to find Gallo and make him pay damn near overshadowed everything else.

“Thanks, Travis,” Liam told the other man. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“I hope you do. You need anything, don’t hesitate, you got it?”

“Copy that.” He brought the call to an end. To his team, he announced, “Knox has an address, but we have to go now.” To the detective on the scene, he added, “We need to go in first. This guy will kill her the second he sees lights or hears sirens.”

“I can give you a ten-minute head start,” the shielded man told him. “That’s the best I can do.”

Liam dipped his chin in confirmation, telling him, “Ten minutes is all we need.”

He and his team raced to the SUV. Jagger slid behind the wheel and Liam sat up front with him while Brody and Christian took the middle.

“I hope to hell the intel on this address is correct.”

“Where is it?” Jagger asked as they raced away from his house.

Reaching for the vehicle’s GPS system, Liam entered the address so their driver could see.

“That’s north of the city,” Jagger commented needlessly.

Liam could tell the man’s wheels were spinning as he studied the system’s suggested route for possible flaws. With the other man focused on driving like a bat out of hell without crashing, Liam pulled the address up on the GPS on his phone.

“It looks like an old grain elevator set-up,” he mused. Typing away with this thumbs, he quickly scanned what information he could find. “According to this, it’s been closed for the past three and a half years.”

Scooting up between the two front seats, Brody looked over Liam’s shoulder at the phone’s small screen.

“Looks pretty secluded,” the former SEAL commented. “Perfect place to commit a murder.”

And no one would hear Allison’s screams.

“Drive faster,” Liam ordered Jagger, his tone calculated and cold.

For the remainder of the drive, his thoughts bounced back and forth between torturing Gallo and saving Allison. She was the priority, of course.

Always.

Once they got there…once he’d personally made sure the woman he loved was safe…the gloves were coming the fuck off.

And Tommy Gallo was going to pay.

Allison’s heartbeat filled her ears as Tommy drove them down a barron, two-lane highway. They’d left the city a few minutes before, and now?—

He’s driving me to my death.

“Why are you doing this?” she demanded to know. “Why won’t you just leave me alone?”

“Trust me, honey, I wish I could. Unfortunately, you’re worth more to me dead than alive.”

Worth more?

“What are you talking about?”

“Life insurance, baby.”

Allison laughed at that…and the utter insanity of it all. “I had your name removed from that policy before I ever left Seattle.”

“Not the one we got together when we were first married.” Tommy shook his head. “The one I got for you a few months ago.” His dark brown eyes found hers. “The policy that’s worth two million dollars.”

“Two million?” Her voice rose an octave. “Why on earth do you need that kind of money, Tommy? You’re rich, remember?”

“Correction.” He put a finger in the air. “I was rich. But I got into a bind a while back and had to borrow some money. Now it’s time to pay it back.”

Allison couldn’t believe what she was hearing, or that she’d married such a cruel man. But then she fully processed all he’d said, and when she did, she found herself turning to him with a frown.

“You shot Liam in cold blood.” Tears she didn’t realize she still had fell from the corners of her eyes.

“You forced me at gunpoint to leave my daughter behind and come with you against my will. And it’s not like you were careful about any of it.

I mean, serioulsy,” she laughed humorlessly.

“It’s the middle of the freaking morning.

Liam’s neighbors were awake, Tommy. And he has one of those doorbells with a camera.

How can you possibly think the insurance company will still pay you a single penny after all of that? ”

How could he possibly think this would end up any other way than him spending the rest of his life in prison?

As usual, Tommy had an answer ready to roll. “Did I forget to mention I’m very good friends with the insurance company’s CEO? Who, by the way, I have more dirt on than you could ever imagine.”

The man was even more delusional than Allison ever realized. To listen to him, Tommy truly believed he was going to get away with all he’d done.

Her thoughts turned to Liam, and the copious amount of blood beneath his head. Her heart ached beyond repair from knowing he’d been shot and killed because of her.

As the self-damning thoughts entered her mind, Liam’s imagined voice filled her ears.

No, darlin’. This is all on Tommy. He’s the only one to blame. But he’s not in control like he thinks. You are. So take control, Al. Maddie needs you.

The words were as clear in her head as if the protective man was sitting right beside her.

Imagined or not, the voice in her head was right.

Once she was dead, there was no guarantee Tommy would make good on his promise to leave Maddie alone.

The only true way to protect her daughter was to make sure Tommy couldn’t hurt her or anyone else, ever freaking again.

Allison drew in a deep, calming breath. She glanced around at the rural-like area surrounding them. There was what looked like a cluster of old grain bins up ahead, but other than that, it was nothing but highway and field.

Dying in a car accident isn’t the way she’d hoped to go. But it had to be better than whatever sick plans Tommy had in mind.

His pistol was resting on the console, and for a brief moment, Allison considered grabbing it and taking a shot. But as she played the scenario over in her mind, she soon realized that wasn’t the best option.

She couldn’t shoot him, and she wasn’t brave enough to jump from a speeding car. But she could use the car as its own sort of weapon. It would probably hurt like hell, but at this point, what did she have to lose?

You got this, Al. I believe in you.

Liam’s voice filled her head once more. With tears burning her eyes, and her chin trembling with fear, Allison came up with a plan.

She filled her lungs and let it out slowly. Then she did it three more times. Up ahead, she spotted an area of the road where the shoulder dipped low, into a deep-ish ditch. The incline wasn’t great, but surely it would be enough.

Please, God. I know you’re the one in charge, here, but I’d really love it if me surviving and getting back to my daughter was part of your plan.

But even knowing there was a possibility that it wasn’t, Allison was at peace with the decision she’d made.

She looked over at Tommy, who thankfully seemed lost in his own thoughts. Allison checked the road again. They were almost to the spot with the ditch she’d scouted a moment before. And when they were almost…there?—

Allison threw her upper body in front of Tommy’s and put both hands on the wheel. An animalistic growl filled the car’s interior, and it took her a second to realize it was coming from her.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Tommy struggled to maintain control. “You stupid bitch, you’re going to make us wreck!”

Kind of the idea, dumbass.

Allison continued with her efforts. The car weaved back and forth wildy all over the highway, jerking hard to the right and then back to the left.

This was it. Her final chance. If she didn’t get control, there’d be no chance for escape.

Mustering up every last ounce of courage she possessed, Allison gave the wheel one last pull.

Tires squealed as the car Tommy drove left the pavement. The wheels hit the shoulder’s loose gravel. They slid, drifting across the surface at a high rate of speed.

A heartbeat later, the car was airborne.

Over and over, the vehicle rolled like a barrel across the grassy plain. Allison and Tommy’s bodies were tossed around like a couple of rag dolls in a clothes dryer drum.

There was a flash of pain as she struck her head, and then…

Nothing.