Cut and Run 09 Crash & Burn (20 page)

Kelly huffed, but he didn’t argue.

“Movement on the elevator,” Owen whispered, and he knelt below the level of the window in the door.

Ty and Zane shared a look as Ty reached for his gun, but Zane stopped him with a hand on his wrist, and stood. “I’ll see if I can head them off. Y’all stay here. Keep quiet.”

Ty nodded and slid his gun back into place.

Zane took his jacket off and draped it over the chair, then pushed the sleeves of his Henley to his elbows. He searched around the desk area, then grabbed a pen and slid it behind his ear. He held his hands out to Ty. “Do I look sleep-deprived and grumpy?”

Ty mussed his hair for him. “You always look sleep-deprived and grumpy.”

Zane smacked him on the back of the head as he moved by him and slipped past Owen into the hall.

He closed the door tight behind him, but after a second Owen turned the handle and popped the door back open so they could hear. They crowded around, straining their ears to listen.

“Michelle?” Zane called.

“Garrett!” Michelle Clancy replied. “What the hell are you doing here? You scared the shit out of me.”

Zane chuckled. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“I was downstairs getting some work in, saw the elevator move. Came up to check it out.”

Ty scowled and met Owen’s eyes. Was it possible someone had taken this elevator up even as they’d been climbing the stairs on the other end of the building? Or was Clancy lying?

“The elevator?” Zane repeated, his tone more guarded.

“Get out there, Six,” Kelly whispered. He patted Ty’s leg as he listened from a spot on the ground. “Go go, give him backup.”

Ty was already trying to get out of his coat and scarf and boots. He tossed his shirt aside as well, leaving himself in nothing but his jeans, socks, and a T-shirt with a picture of a piñata that said, “I’d hit that.” He took off his holster and dropped it, sliding his gun into the back of his jeans and making sure his shirt covered it.

“Keep at that computer,” Ty whispered. “If shit gets bad, you make sure you’re gone before it ends, got it?”

They all nodded and moved aside so he could slip out of the room.

Clancy was standing by the elevators, and Zane was facing her with his back to Ty. They were eyeing each other with growing suspicion, neither of them speaking.

“Hey, Red,” Ty said. Zane jumped when he spoke but he didn’t turn around.

Clancy seemed to relax a little when Ty appeared, and then a slow smile spread across her face as she saw the condition of Ty’s clothing. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt . . . whatever you were doing.” She turned half away and shielded her view with her hand.

Zane almost looked over his shoulder, his body twitching.

“Michelle, we came up the stairs,” Ty said quietly. “You sure that elevator moved?”

Clancy’s entire demeanor changed almost instantly. Her shoulders tensed and her hand hovered near the gun at her hip. Ty was stunned for the briefest of moments by the thought that Clancy might be about to draw on them.

Then she took a step to the side and put her back to the wall beside the elevator. “It was about ten minutes ago,” she said, voice pitched lower. “Started at the ground floor and stopped here. Didn’t move again.”

Zane turned to meet Ty’s eyes then, nodding. “Someone tailed us,” he said, drawing his weapon.

Ty knocked on the door behind him, and the other three men poured out of the room. Owen and Digger fanned out onto the floor, sliding through cubicles and disappearing into the darkness. Kelly stayed behind, guarding the door to the computers.

Clancy watched slack-jawed. “Oh Christ. I’m going to get shot in the ass, aren’t I?”

“Probably,” Ty whispered. He moved to Zane’s left, gun in hand.

“You two aren’t here getting your rocks off on the equipment, huh?”

Ty shook his head.

“Thank God.”

“You haven’t seen anyone else here tonight?”

“No, just you assholes,” Clancy grunted.

Zane scurried to the bank of windows at the front of the building and looked out. “Whoever they are, they parked out front.”

“Means they’re not worried about us knowing they’re here,” Ty said, brows drawn. “Why would they go years in the dark and then show themselves now?”

“What are you talking about?” Clancy asked. “Who’s in the dark?”

Ty placed his back against the wall beside Clancy. “We’ve been tracking a cartel mole in the department for over a year and a half.”

“And you thought it was me? You are so off the Christmas card list!”

“You don’t send Christmas cards!”

“Guys,” Zane snapped.

“Floor’s clear,” Digger called from the break room at one end of the floor.

“Clear!” Owen echoed from the other end.

Ty and Zane shared a confused frown across the room.

“What case are you doing overtime on?” Ty asked Clancy.

“Cut-and-dry gambling ring, nothing exciting. Alston’s been kind of MIA on me; I’ve been covering for him, working late.”

Ty turned his attention back to Zane, who was still hovering near the windows and watching the parking lot. “You told Garrett he’s been gone?”

“No,” Clancy admitted. When Ty frowned at her, she shrugged. “He’s the boss now, man. You know how it goes. We all have stretches where we need time to get it together without a psych eval.”

Ty nodded dazedly. He’d known Scott Alston for years. They’d gone to football games together, gotten drunk together, and been shot together. He’d helped Alston pick up girls and helped him dump them. Hell, he’d even met the man’s mother once. The suspicion that he might be their mole damn near broke Ty’s heart. “What’s going on with Alston?”

There was a clang near the stairwell before Clancy could answer. The door creaked open, and by the time Alston stepped out of the stairwell, they had all positioned themselves around the entry, guns ready.

He held his hands high, eyes darting around at each of them. “I saw the accounts Freddy was looking up for you. I’m here to help.”

“You got five seconds to convince me,” Zane said.

Alston took a deep breath. “Richard Burns had me reporting on you. I thought it was a legit op at first, and by the time I realized it wasn’t . . . there was nothing I could do.”

Digger pulled the hammer back on his revolver, and the sound was like thunder in the quiet building.

“You could have told us,” Zane growled.

“Easy,” Ty ordered, holding his hand out to Digger. “Details, Scott. Now.”

Alston hurried to answer. “Taps on your phones, and one in McCoy’s office. That was all I did, I swear to you.”

Zane holstered his gun and pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

“Garrett, I’m on your side!” Alston insisted. “When I put it all together, I . . .”

“You what?” Ty urged, even as Zane took a step toward him with the handcuffs.

“After what happened in New Orleans, I . . . I think Burns was trying kill you two. He was the only one who had access to those taps, not even I did. He was the only one who could have known you were heading to Louisiana. He had to have been the one to tell all those people who were after you down there.”

Ty and Zane shared a glance. It was the same accusation Liam had made. Was it possible Richard Burns had been the one bugging them? It had been a risky play to alert them to the taps, in that case, but it had worked. They hadn’t once suspected him.

“When I found out he was dead, I thought you two had done it,” Alston admitted. “I kept quiet to protect you.”

Ty cursed under his breath. Fucking Alston and his loyalty. If what he was saying was true, then they’d been way off base on their mole issue. And Ty believed him.

Clancy stepped closer, gesturing to Zane to hold off on the handcuffs. She didn’t get close enough for Alston to touch her, but she was blocking their line of fire. “Why didn’t you come to me?” she asked him. “I could have helped you out with this.”

“I was trying to protect my team. My friends.”

Ty put his gun away, and the others reluctantly followed his lead.

“All you did for Burns was wiretaps?” Zane asked, taking no pity. “What about our house?”

Alston looked from Zane to Ty and then to Clancy, fear in his blue eyes that Ty had never seen in the man. “I haven’t touched your house,” he insisted, shaking his head violently. “Even when I was feeding those fucking evil cats, I went in, I fed them, and I left. I swear.”

“Explains why no one ever replaced the bug in your office,” Ty said to Zane.

“Yeah, but then who was listening at the house?” Zane countered.

“Why are you here now?” Owen demanded of Alston.

“I got a buddy in the Baltimore PD gang unit. Last night I met him for a drink, he was talking about a new crew in town. I put it together with those accounts Freddy was running, those cartel accounts. You guys are after the cartel, and you’re doing it off the books. Thing is . . . the cartel’s after you too. And Baltimore PD thinks they’re here.”

“This is why I never deal in places I haven’t scouted first, mate,” Liam was saying as Nick tried to pop the lock on a car nearby. It was an older model Dodge Charger, one he’d be able to hot-wire. They’d been forced to ditch their first car and run for it, barely making it to this long-term rideshare parking lot, where they’d finally shaken their pursuers.

“Be sure to file your complaint with the home office,” Nick grumbled. He finally found the lock and popped it. He tensed, waiting for the inevitable alarm when he opened the door. It didn’t come, though.

Liam chuckled. “No one installs alarms on restored cars anymore. People pay them no mind when they go off; they’re a waste of resources when you could be putting seat warmers in there instead.”

“Right,” Nick huffed, and then ducked to take the plate off the dash to reach the wires beneath the steering wheel. He was shocked to find keys in the floorboard of the car, tucked under the seat. He plucked them up, staring at them in consternation before he showed them to Liam.

“Now I remember why they call you Lucky.”

“Just get in.” Nick eased into the seat and started up the car. “It’s an hour drive to Baltimore if we’re good on traffic.”

“It’s the middle of the night. There won’t be any traffic at this hour.”

The traffic in DC turned out to be a nightmare, which pretty much summed up their entire day of running and hiding and nearly getting caught. It took them more than an hour just to get out of the city proper, but as soon as they were on the interstate, Nick kicked it into higher gear. They’d both tossed their phones when they were being chased, more out of paranoia than anything, and Nick wasn’t willing to stop long enough to put a call in when they were making good time. He also didn’t know if Kelly or Ty were being monitored, and he and Liam had no idea if they’d been identified by any organizations yet. It was safer to stay dark.

Baltimore was calm and quiet when they reached the outer limits. Snow had begun to threaten once more, and the light of dawn was peaking over the water. Nick was exhausted by the time they reached the row house on North Ann Street. Zane’s truck wasn’t parked out front in its usual spot, and something about it being gone put Nick on high alert. He eased the stolen Charger into a spot a block away and turned off the headlights.

They sat in silence, both watching the front of Ty and Zane’s house.

“Fuck I wish I’d taken a piss back there,” Liam grumbled.

Nick glared at him, trying to figure out if he was starting to enjoy working with the man again or if he still kind of wanted to dismember him. He decided he would definitely enjoy dismembering him.

“Look there,” Liam hissed a few minutes later. A vehicle was cruising up the street, going slow like the driver was scouting. “There, the car at the end of the row. Late-model white Honda Accord, guarantee you it’s stolen.”

The Accord stopped opposite the row house, turning the headlights off and waiting, just like they were doing.

“A lookout,” Liam said. “That’s the cartel. They’ll sit here to see if the boys come home, and when they do they’ll call in a strike team. The cartel is making their move; they’re going to take them out tonight.”

Nick didn’t question it. Liam had spent enough time with the cartel to know the way they operated. “That means they’ll have lookouts posted in other places.”

Liam was nodding. “The division office for sure, the hotel if they know Garrett’s been staying there. Anywhere they’d be likely to go. Even that old building Tyler bought last year.”

“They’ll only know about that if they’ve been following them for a while. It’s not in Ty’s name.”

“If you say so.”

“We have to warn them somehow, help them.”

“It’s too late, mate. There’s no saving someone once the cartel has them in the crosshairs. You just fucking pray.”

Nick popped the handle on his door and drew his gun. “I’m Catholic. I don’t pray, I just ask for forgiveness after.”