Page 32 of Tango (Hunt Brothers Search & Rescue #4)

Alice

R amiro is alive.

And not just alive—but working for Darren.

It was all a setup.

He would have known about the dumpsters. Was he waiting for me? Is he the one who told them to hurt my parents because he knew it was the only thing that would bring me out of hiding?

I continue pacing the supply room they’ve placed us in while Tucker scours the shelves. For what, I have no idea. He’s barely said five words to me since we got locked in here, shielded behind this door with an armed guard just outside.

We were both stripped of our weapons and any gear we brought in. We’re sitting ducks. Waiting for whatever they have planned for us.

“Yes. Thank you, God.”

I turn as Tucker kneels to the ground, an old laptop in his hand. “Everything in this room is useless; that’s why it’s here. Dead batteries, fried hard drives—they’re all broken.”

He beams at me. “Nothing is useless.” Lifting the leg of his black cargo pants, he reveals a hidden pocket just inside the bottom of the pant leg. He removes a small black tube then unscrews the bottom and pulls out two wires.

“What is that?”

“Something of my own invention,” he replies. “I call it tech life support.”

“What does it do?”

He flips the laptop over and removes the battery cover, then takes both wires and connects them inside the computer. After turning the laptop over, he presses a button on the bottom of the tube. “Moment of truth.” He presses the power button, and the laptop comes to life.

“How did you do that?”

He looks over at me. “Finding me more and more attractive by the minute, aren’t you?”

It’s ridiculous that, even given what we’re facing and the fact that my dead best friend is actually an enemy who is very much alive, Tucker still makes my heart race. “Maybe.”

He chuckles. “It won’t last long, but it should be enough to send an SOS.”

“You need network access, though.”

“Don’t worry so much,” he says. “I’ve got us covered.” A blue screen overtakes the monitor. Tucker types in an IP address then follows it with a few rows of code and a message.

Caine alive. A+T being held at Web Safe. BC.

He taps a few more keystrokes; then the screen fizzles and dies. Tucker lets out a breath. “Now we pray it went through before the laptop fried the life support.”

Lord, please let it have gone through.

“You signed it BC.”

“Bring cavalry,” he replies then shoves the device back into his pocket and shelves the laptop again.

“What now?”

“Now we look for something that can be a weapon.”

“We can’t fight our way out of here.”

“Sure we can.”

“No! We can’t!” I yell, panic strangling me. I got him into this mess. I walked him right into the hornet’s nest so they could tear him apart.

Me.

I got Logan killed.

And now I’m going to get Tucker killed.

If his brothers come—I can’t even think about that.

“How can you think that’s possible?” I open my eyes, barely able to see, thanks to the tears.

“Because just like you, I refuse to bow to the darkness when there’s so much light. We’re alive, Alice. Which means there’s still a chance we can get out of this.”

“We’re outnumbered, outgunned, and have no backup.”

“Which makes things a bit more problematic, but not impossible.” His hands go to my shoulders then slide up my neck and cup the sides of my face. “You need to think through how you can make it look like you’re doing what they’re asking without actually releasing any information.”

“I can’t do that. Ramiro is a hacker too, Tucker. He’ll know.”

“Remember what we did with Find Me?” he asks. “We hid it behind a wall. Do the same thing. Hide the important stuff behind a wall. They’re not going to risk spending the time it would take to sort through what they find. They’re going to grab and go.”

“And then what? They’ll discover what I did.”

“We only need to buy time for the cavalry to come,” he says.

“Why? So they can die too?”

Tucker grins. “You clearly underestimate my brothers.”

“There are only four of them. Five if they bring Nova?—”

“Exactly. Five of them.”

“Against dozens of armed security guards.”

“Alice, if Dylan came in here alone, his only weapon a rusted knife, I’d still bet every dollar I have on him.

And if I have that much confidence in one brother, think about what the entire team can do together.

Right now, I need you to have faith and decide how you’re going to hide important information behind a wall that will be invisible to even the best hackers.

Because they were right about one thing—only you can do it. ”

I’m not even sure how long we’re trapped in this supply closet, but it feels like forever before the door opens and Ramiro steps inside, gun in hand. He points it at us. “Let’s go.”

I don’t move. “You’re making a mistake.”

He shifts his aim to Tucker, who growls in response. “I’m allowed to shoot him if you don’t comply.”

Hurt and angry, I take one step. Then another. Tucker moves in behind me, and we leave the closet. When time continued passing and no one showed up to rescue us, I lost hope that Tucker’s message had gone through. It was a long shot, anyway, but now the horrible truth settles in: We’re on our own.

Tucker stumbles forward, shoving me to the side. He spins and kicks, his foot hitting the firearm in Ramiro’s hand and knocking it free.

“Hey!” Ramiro yells.

Tucker doesn’t hesitate. He barrels forward, slamming his body into Ramiro and taking him to the ground. He rears back and slams his fist into Ramiro’s face then grabs the gun and grips my arm. “Come on.”

He moves so fast I barely even have time to breathe from the time we’re walking out at gunpoint to running down the hall, gun in hand.

We duck into the stairwell, just out of sight of the cameras. Tucker checks the weapon, counting the rounds in the magazine. “I don’t have my camera jammer, so they’re going to be able to track every move we make. Think you can guide us out of here?”

“Yes. This way. We’ll go out the same way we came in.” I move down the stairwell, going as fast as I can to ensure no one catches up with us. As soon as we reach the bottom of the stairwell, Tucker moves in front and checks the hall.

He takes my hand and tugs me out. We race toward the doors where the janitors unknowingly rolled us in.

Hope surges.

It’s right there.

Mere feet away.

And then?—

Darren steps into view just ahead. Tucker rips me out of the way. A single gunshot echoes, and Tucker stills. He’s frozen in place for a moment, then looks down and gently touches his stomach. Blood stains his fingertips.

A low growl cuts through the silence as Tucker raises his gun.

Darren fires again.

Tucker’s body jolts.

The weapon in his hand falls.

“No!” I scream. “Tucker!” I rush forward and catch him as he sinks to his knees. The weapon falls beside him, so I lift it, letting him lean against me as I hold the weapon up.

“Pull that trigger, and we’ll fill him with lead,” Darren warns. “Drop it, Alice.”

“Shoot him,” Tucker growls against my shoulder.

“I can’t. Not when there’s still a chance to save you.” I drop the gun, and the guards lower theirs.

“Grab him, and take him to the server room.”

“No. No! Don’t touch him!” I cling to Tucker, but they rip him from me then drag him down the hall toward the elevator. I lunge to my feet and sprint forward. Darren slams his fist into my gut before I can make it past him.

“Put your hands on her again, and I’ll tear you apart!” Tucker bellows. He tries to fight against their hold, but with the blood pouring from his wounds, his strength is waning.

Air is ripped from my lungs, and breathing becomes an impossibility when Darren wraps his hand around my throat. “You underestimate me, Alice. A mistake you’re going to keep paying for until you realize just who you’re dealing with.”

“If he dies, I won’t help you,” I choke out.

“If you don’t help me, I’ll ensure he dies.” Darren throws me to the ground. “Now, I suggest you move quickly. Lover boy is losing a lot of blood.”