Indulgence (347 page)

Sam screamed but she refused to let go. Her chin was covered
in blood as the collar dug into her neck. She held on like a pit bull despite
his jerking. Finally, he yanked himself free. She was sure she’d bitten all the
way through and taken part of his ear. Her stomach heaved, and she had just
enough room to turn her face to the side to avoid swallowing her own vomit. She
spit the disgusting stuff out onto the pillow still hearing the string of
curses coming from the bathroom.

Good. I hope it hurts like a sonofabitch, you asshole.
Not a damn thing about this is consensual. The Team will know that
.

She passed out.

Armando was impatient after getting the call from Riverton
telling him to stand down until released by the task force. The morning light
had come while they were waiting. Fredo was attending to Mia. The paramedics
asked him several times to step aside, but he ignored them. When he started
also ordering them around, Armando had to go over and hook him by the elbow and
drag him away.

“She’s not hurt, and I’m sure they can tend to a couple of
bruised knees, Fredo. She fell onto carpet. ”

“Carpet burns. You don’t want any scarring. They have to
clean it properly if it broke the skin, and—”

“Fredo, you’re acting like an old woman. Drop it.” He leaned
into his short buddy, “You’re beginning to embarrass us all.”

That made Fredo stand up straight.

One thing that warmed Armando’s heart was the fact that Mia
was giving Fredo a very grateful look. A
very
grateful look. He hadn’t
seen her look that way for literally years. Fredo hadn’t noticed, since he was
checking his gear and talking with some of the force who had arrived, no doubt
trying to make himself look useful and important.

It was always like this for Fredo. Heart of a warrior. The
guy just wouldn’t quit. Like all of them, he guessed.

And then he thought of Gina. Cold fear began to seep into
his bones. Riverton had said the operation was nearly over and her boss would
be calling her in. He expressly told him not to interfere, but Armando could
feel precious time running out.

“You’ve done enough, Armani. Stay the hell out and let them
clean it up,” he’d said. “You’ve done them a favor, now continue to behave and
let them finish it. You’ve got to have faith in what they do. Don’t want to
make it worse on your sister. She’s gonna need you soon.”

It was true. He was supposed to let them do their job. But
he couldn’t shake the feeling that something still wasn’t right. He’d asked
Riverton if anyone had heard from Sam. Until Armando knew that guy was visible
somewhere, he was going to worry about Gina.

The SEALs were allowed to go after being interviewed. Mia
had to go downtown with them, which didn’t go over very well with Fredo either,
but Armando had expected it. After all, she had been involved with Carlos, and
that branded her. Hopefully, she could cut a break. Armando thought perhaps
Riverton could help in that department. But from now on, it was going to have
to be up to her to walk the straight and narrow. Armando figured he’d done
enough. He loved her, but he couldn’t continue to try to clean up her life.
Hell, he needed to clean up his own.

The boys were hungry, so they ate a late breakfast at the
Scupper. Kyle and Malcolm Jones joined them. Rory was relating the details,
describing the way Fredo had nearly exploded in the Hummer when he heard the
“Huckleberry” signal.

“Where the fuck did you come up with that Huckleberry thing,
anyhow, Armani?” Fredo wanted to know. “I think it was such a dumb-ass name you
stunned Carlos for a second.”

Armando shrugged it off and matched Kyle’s warm smile. His
LPO gave him a high five as they sat across from each other over the table.

“You did good, Armani. But it was a close one.”

Rory went off onto a further description of the operation.
Kyle took the opportunity to whisper to Armando.

“Where’s the girl?”

Armando knew who he was talking about.

“Haven’t a clue. She’s probably crowing with her buddies
right now.” Armando hoped this was the case. And hoped she wasn’t with Sam.

“Little surprised she didn’t call you. I gathered you two
were close. Didn’t this just help her case?”

“We have issues.” That was putting it mildly.

“What, that she didn’t let you in on the bust?”

“Hell, no. I don’t care about that. She lied to me, Lannie.
She never told me who she really was. Plus she used my sister, was planning all
along to arrest her along with those scumbags. I just don’t see how I could
trust her again. I even knew something was off, and I still went in wheels up
and hot. I screwed up.”

“What did you lose, your pride?”

“I thought I had a read on her. Thought I really knew her,
and I didn’t. When has that happened, Kyle?”

“You want me to be honest?”

“Shut the fuck up.” He smiled but it did needle him in the
gut.

Kyle thought before he spoke again. “Who said you did the
wrong thing? Anything about this arrest and the roundup of all these bad guys
wrong? You
helped
them do it.”

“I don’t know. I just expected that she would have trusted
me with the truth. I don’t understand why she didn’t.”

“Maybe she was protecting you.”

Maybe she was.
He hadn’t thought about that. She did
try her best to keep him separated from Sam. He’d never had a woman try to
protect
him
. That was always his job.

Holy shit. Kyle’s right.

He jumped to his feet and dialed Riverton.

The first ring went to voicemail right away. He left a short
message, but while doing so, Riverton dialed him back.

“Sorry Armani. I was in the middle of something,” Riverton
said. Armando could hear sheets rustling in the background.

“Tell Daisy I’m sorry for that.”

“Gotta come up for air some time. What’s up?”

“Anybody heard from Gina?”

“Kozinski was going to call her when I spoke to him last
night. But, no, like I said, he wondered if she was there with you and Mia.”

Armando began to worry again.

“What about the big cop, her ex, Sam? Anyone seen him
either?”

“You’re asking the wrong person, Armani. You need to talk to
Kozinski. Here, I’ll text you his number.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, son. Look, if you need me, let me know. I’ll be
there with or without my clothes on.”

“Thanks, detective.”

Armando waited for the text to come through. He hit send and
waited.

“Kozinski.”

“Sir, I’m Armando Guzman.”

“Yes, and I want to thank you for what you’ve done, although
I need to caution you never to do it again.”

“I understand, sir. There wasn’t time.”

“Bullshit. Next time you call the proper authorities, hear
me?”

“Yes. Well, that’s why I’m calling you now.”

“Okay? Now what?”

“Where is Gina? And where is her ‘friend’ Sam?”

Armando was uncomfortable with the silence on the other end
of the line.

“Son, you’re to stay out of this.”

“So where is she?”

“This isn’t your concern.”

“Then tell me she’s okay.”

“I can’t do that.”

“And why?”

“Because we can’t find her.”

Armando rousted Cooper from bed and asked him to get the
location of Gina’s cell phone from his friend at the DOJ. He knew he was
violating both Riverton and Kozinski’s orders, but he couldn’t wait. And if it
meant his career, so be it.

An hour later Armando, Cooper, Fredo and Rory sat in his
Hummer, armed enough for a small invasion. They surveyed the building and
Armando saw Gina’s rental car around the side, to the rear. Down the street he
saw the tail and bumper of an older black pickup he knew to be Sam’s.

Gotcha, you son of a bitch.

Fredo agreed to stay in the Hummer while he monitored
everyone else. Armando slung his duty bag over his right shoulder, got out, and
did a loop around the building using an infrared scope to determine which part
was occupied.

The exterior plaster and double sheet-rocked interior made
the heat signatures blurry, but there was no question in Armando’s mind there
was something large present, like a human. But he couldn’t be sure if it was
one person or two. He also knew that a heat signature would continue to emanate
from someone recently killed, but he banished those thoughts as unhelpful right
now.

While he was gone, everyone else tested their earpieces.
Rory gave a smacking kiss to thin air making Fredo jump with his hands on his
ears just as Armando came back to the vehicle.

“Not funny. I’ll need a new set of eardrums and that’ll cost
you,” Fredo growled.

Armando interrupted. “Okay, ladies, let’s cut the crap. We
don’t know what’s going on inside, but I’m guessing it’s personal, just Sam and
Gina. And it could turn out to be very personal and very compromising. But we
gotta be careful.” He realized he was probably saying this mainly for his own
benefit.

The team nodded.

Armando would take the front door; Cooper and Rory would
take the two at the rear, each entering a different unit. They wore thermal
night-vision goggles they could switch on in case of darkness, but the infrared
scopes on their H&Ks would give them a body count as soon as they were on
the other side of the stucco exterior walls. Cooper had brought along a couple
of small IEDs for distraction, and they all carried masks and smoke.

Armando tried the door handle on the front and found it
unlocked. “It’s open.”

“Back door secure,” Cooper whispered. “I’m readying it now.”

“Copy that next door,” whispered Rory.

On Armando’s mark, the explosive device blew off the handle
on the rear doors while Armando entered the front. All three pulled down their
masks and flipped down their goggles as Cooper laid down some smoke, which
immediately began to fill the space. Armando switched on his scope and found
two green shadows in the rear of the building.

“You see them?” He whispered.

“Roger that,” Cooper answered.

“Negative. All clear here.” Rory was ordered to stay back
and guard both rear doors. Fredo stood guard over the front door, monitoring
the listening devices with the computer on his lap.

As soon as the explosive went off, Armando saw the two
blurred images merge, and he knew Sam was using Gina as his shield. “I think
he’s got her by the midsection.”

“Agreed. Don’t see visitors,” added Cooper.

It also appeared that another one of the images was being
dragged across the floor.

God, no. Gina, you stay alive.
Armando gritted his
teeth, hard, and focused his laser on what he hoped was Sam’s head.

Armando nearly stumbled on something left in a sticky or
oily puddle on the floor. He looked down to see the remains of a body, which
he’d missed because the boy had been dead long enough to cool considerably.

“One unknown casualty.”

“Understood,” answered Cooper. “All clear here, but I hear
movement. Going for cover. See you.”

Armando quickly scanned for more heat signals and found
none. As they’d been trained, Armando was going to deal with Sam head-on and
Cooper would try to find a good angle for a kill shot if needed. Armando would
have liked to be the sniper, but it was down to Cooper, who was still qualified
Expert. He hoped the big SEAL could get his huge 6’4” frame silently into cover
as his backup, since Sam was undoubtedly heavily armed.

All of a sudden bright lights came on and the entire room
lit up like the 4
^th
of July, blinding Armando temporarily. He dove
to the side instinctively, making his footprint small, and almost immediately
heard automatic fire sweep the area where he’d been standing. Flipping his
goggles up, he breathed through the mask and saw with his own eyes that indeed
Sam had Gina, and she was limp and non-responsive.

“Tick tock,” he said and Rory lobbed another smoke grenade
scuttling through the rear door. Armando knew he had to get to Gina within
thirty seconds.

Sam had turned to face the direction of the bomb, spraying
the back door with rounds. Armando listened and got the reassuring “ribbit” on
the Invisio. Rory wasn’t hit.

“I got a shot,” came from Cooper.

“Aim for the weapon.”

The big cop was having trouble wielding his gun with one arm
and carrying Gina in the other, since she was out cold and a dead weight.

Armando’s heart was racing, and then he saw the green laser
light aimed at Sam’s shoulder and heard the loud crack of Cooper’s H&K. The
man went down like a ton of garbage.

Armando ran to Gina and found her completely naked. He swore
as tears streamed down his face inside the mask. He placed his palm over her
mouth and nose and picked her up, hustling her outside to the front of the
building.

Sam was screaming from inside until the smoke overtook him
and it was thankfully quiet.

Armando laid Gina gently on the ground, removing his mask
and goggles so he could see her with his own eyes.

She was black and blue in patches all over her arms and
legs, and had sustained some scrapes on her ankles and knees from being dragged
along the concrete floor, but her color was good, and she was alive.

He heard Cooper’s squawk, “He’s hit, not dead, but won’t be
getting up anytime soon.” Cooper was dragging the big cop outside with Rory’s
help.

“Let him bleed out,” Fredo suggested.

“No. We call it in. Fredo, bring me a jacket or T-shirt from
the Hummer. My gal’s alive, but she’s gonna be pissed if she finds out that
four SEALs saw her lying here naked.”

Armando held Gina protectively, shielding her private parts
while Cooper checked her vitals. Her eyes were dilated and glassy, but she
started to moan. Armando was pretty sure she was going to be sick.