Iron Cross: The Dartmouth Cobras #6 (50 page)

T
he airport was utter chaos, and it hadn’t taken Tyler long to get separated from the rest of the team. He wasn’t sure where Raif had gone, but when he spotted Pearce, his curiosity got the better of him. He hadn’t abandoned his plan to figure out what was going on with the man—kinda put it on hold for wild sex—and there was no better time than the present to see what he could learn. He could tell Pearce was agitated as he dialed a number again and again before slipping through a service exit. Staying close without drawing attention, he managed to hear bits of the conversation when the person Pearce was calling finally answered.

“What the fuck is your problem, Jimmy? You knew I would be gone—don’t you dare go to my fucking house! I ever hear you say her name again and I’ll fucking kill you!” Pearce slammed his fist into the cement wall as he strode up to his bike. “I’m on my way. Horizon? Yes, I know where that is.”

Whoa, that don’t sound good.
Tyler wasn’t sure where Horizon was, but he’d figure it out. First, he was going to make sure someone knew where he was because he wasn’t a complete idiot. Pearce wouldn’t threaten to kill good people from the Baptist church. And he wouldn’t be sneaking off to meet them.

He texted Laura:
Hey, do you know where Horizon is?

Laura:
Horizon Street? There’s nothing but warehouses out there.

Weird. He frowned as he went out to the street to hail a cab. Texted her after climbing in and giving the cabbie directions.

Me:
Pearce was talking to someone. He’s meeting them there. Going to see why.

Laura:
WTF! What are you talking about?

Me:
Must be bad people. He threatened to kill them. Might need an alibi. I’m with you.

Laura:
You are not. Stay out of it, Tyler.

Me:
Too late. Can I get some backup at least?

Laura:
I’m serious.

Well, he hadn’t thought she was joking, but he rolled his eyes and turned his phone off. Told the cabbie to stop when he spotted Pearce’s bike parked on the side of the road. He shoved a few bills at the driver, then hurried out, sprinting across the empty lot when he saw Pearce
rounding the corner of an old, brick warehouse.

He reached the corner of the building, almost slamming into Pearce as the other man spun around. Latching
on to the front of Tyler’s shirt, Pearce brought him down in a swift motion. Tyler’s heart lodged in his throat as he stared up into the eyes of a man who looked perfectly capable of murder. This had been such a very, very bad idea. If Pearce was going to kill someone, what was one more body?

“What the fuck are you doing here, Vanek?” Pearce lost the crazy look and helped Tyler to his feet. “Sorry about that.”

Tyler loosened his tie and rubbed his throat. “So I don’t need to die? Fuck, starting to wonder about you, man. Never listened when they said the quiet ones are dangerous.”

“Being here is dangerous. I thought you were…fuck, it doesn’t matter.” Pearce ran his fingers through his hair as a car pulled up. “If you take off, he’ll panic. Just keep your mouth shut.”

“Is this Jimmy?” Tyler watched the man get out of the rusty old car, pretty sure he and Pearce could take him. The man seemed to think so too because he eyed them and pulled out a tire iron.

Pearce nodded, speaking low. “He’s Scott’s brother.”

Tyler went still. Scott didn’t speak about his brother, but any mention of him had Scott going real quiet. Tyler had seen Scott pale once when a reporter asked if his brother had played hockey with him as a kid. Pearce had come over and changed the subject. Tim had still been alive then—he’d pulled Scott into his office until the press cleared out.

Luke had been there
too and he’d told Tyler no one discussed Scott’s brother.
Ever
. But maybe they should have. Pearce meeting with Scott’s brother in an abandoned warehouse parking lot didn’t seem like a good thing.

Jimmy gestured at Tyler with the tire iron. “Who is this?”

“A friend.” Pearce moved so he was standing between Tyler and Jimmy. “Actually, I was running low on cash, so he’s fronting me some. He won’t say anything.”

“Fine. Just give me the money. You know what happens if you don’t.” Jimmy kept his snakelike eyes on Tyler, tapping the tire iron against his thigh as though he was still considering using it. “I saw Casey this week. Cute kid. Smart of you to have that big guy follow her mom to the school, but you know that won’t keep her safe if I let my people know what she’s worth.”

This man was creepy as fuck, and what he’d just said made things real clear. Pearce hadn’t been sneaking around with Raif, he’d been trying to keep his family safe. Tyler ground his teeth as Pearce approached Jimmy with a white envelope clearly stuffed with cash. Counting the money had Jimmy distracted for long enough for Tyler to pull out his phone. He glanced down to find his voice record app. He used it during team meetings so he didn’t have to pay attention because they got long. If he could record Jimmy blackmailing Pearce, maybe they could get the man in jail where he clearly belonged.

“Hey, what is he doing?” Jimmy lunged at Tyler. Pearce tried to block him, but the tire iron came down. Pain exploded in Tyler’s head, and he felt hot liquid pouring down his face as he fell. He saw Pearce leaning over him. Felt pressure on the side of his face.

Then the world went away, folded into darkness.

* * * *

Laura couldn’t take the time to explain anything to Chicklet before running out to her car. They’d just gotten home when Tyler texted, and she’d been putting their clothes away, but all her instincts were screaming at her to hurry. She ran stoplights all the way and prayed she wouldn’t be stopped. On the drive, she called her brother.

“I need you to listen. I’m on my way to Horizon Street and I’m not sure what’s going on, but I need you there ASAP. Tyler’s in trouble.”

“Doesn’t sound like the usual kind. I’m clear across the city, Laura, but I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Ryan said. She could hear the sirens on his car sound off as he continued. “Please tell me you’re not going to shoot anyone.”

“They took my gun.” Laura sped down a side street, her whole body shaking as she realized she might need her weapon now more than ever before. “I wish I could say I didn’t wish I had it.”

“He’s young. You sure he’s not being dramatic?”

“I’m sure. And I’m scared.” Laura slammed on her brakes as she saw two men in a parking lot, one on his knees. No, wait. There were three. One lay on the pavement. Not moving. She knew it was Tyler. “We need EMT. I can see a man down…” Her throat locked. She wanted to be wrong. She recognized one of the men. Zach Pearce. The sun glared down on him, and she could tell there was blood on his hands. “Please let him be okay.”

“Stay in your car, Laura! I’ll be there—”

“Too late.” Laura stepped out of her car, leaving her phone on the seat. She knew the rules. She could lose her badge for good if she didn’t handle this properly, but she couldn’t care less.
Ryan would have backup here in less than ten minutes. If she could buy them some time, no one had to die. But she wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever it took to get Tyler out of here alive.

She approached the men slowly, swallowing as she spotted a knife in the hand of the one man there she didn’t recognize. As West had pointed out, she’d been trained to disarm perps wielding knives, but the option to take them down from a distance when they posed a threat was much easier than facing off with them unarmed.

The stranger noticed her and fisted his hand in Zach’s hair, holding the knife across the other man’s throat. “Stop right there, bitch.”

Zach had been
compressing a torn piece of his shirt against Tyler’s temple, but he released it and brought his blood slicked hands to Jimmy’s wrist. Without pressure, the blood flowed freely. She wanted to go to Tyler, to stop the blood and make sure he was still breathing. But she could tell the stranger was out of control. Panicking. He would kill Zach if she wasn’t careful.

“My name is Laura. Tyler is my boyfriend, and I need to make sure he’s okay.”

“You come any closer and I’ll cut this son of a bitch. Let me get to my car, and you can take care of your boyfriend.”

A thin line of blood spilled from beneath the knife as the man struggled to hold on to Zach. Like hers, Zach’s focus was on Tyler. He wasn’t thinking about the risk to his own life, but she couldn’t help but be torn between protecting him and Tyler.

“Let Zach go and get out of here.” Laura held her hands up and took a few steps toward them. “This will not go well for you if Tyler bleeds to death.”

“Jimmy, let her check on Tyler at least.” Zach winced as the knife was pressed harder against his throat. Blood soaked his collar. “You have the money. I can get you more.”

The man, Jimmy, jerked his chin at Tyler. “Fine. But you stay with him. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Laura nodded and knelt by Tyler’s side. She heard a car pull up and stop. Then nothing. She prayed it was her brother, but didn’t dare look.
The other units would come in quietly—secure the perimeter. Assess the situation and avoid letting Jimmy know he was surrounded unless they saw she was no longer in control.

I’ve got this.
She pressed the torn piece of shirt to Tyler’s temple, breathing out a sigh of relief when she felt a pulse and saw Tyler’s chest slowly rising and falling. She was closer to Jimmy and Zach now, but the knife was a problem. If Jimmy had it to her own neck, she could easily take him down, but Zach was a hockey player. He didn’t have the skills she did.

But he might have others that could come in handy. She lifted her head and caught a sniper rifle aimed at Jimmy’s head from the roof of a warehouse. Behind the gate in the distance there were several cops with their guns trained on Jimmy. Her brother was there. If she fucked up, he’d take Jimmy down.

But she wouldn’t fuck up. Because if she did, Jimmy might take Zach down with him. Which wasn’t an option.

“I watched the game the other night, Zach. Epic fucking dive. You do realize that’s ice under your feet, right? I’m starting to think the Cobras don’t get that the water is frozen.”

Zach cleared his throat. “I’m careful about pulling that though. Refs are less likely to catch an elbow.”

“Both at the same time gives you an advantage.”

Jimmy tugged Zach’s hair and snarled as he glared at Laura. “Enough about fucking hockey. Is he still alive?”

“Yes.” Laura caught Zach’s eye. And nodded.

He jerked Jimmy’s wrist forward, dropping his weight and twisting away from the threat of the knife. His elbow drove back into Jimmy’s head. She lunged forward, slamming into Jimmy as Zach broke free. Jimmy fell, swinging the knife at her, but she caught his wrist and pinned him, her knee driving up hard into his balls. Jimmy yelped and dropped the knife.

Boots pounded on the pavement as cops came from every direction. Laura held Jimmy facedown even as her brother came to her side, pressing the barrel of his gun to the back of Jimmy’s head.

“Put your fucking hands behind your back.” Ryan shuffled to the side as another officer took Laura’s place and snapped the handcuffs on Jimmy’s wrists. He holstered his weapon and knelt with Laura as she watched Zach cover the wound on Tyler’s head with a clean piece of material from his ripped shirt. EMTs arrived within minutes and took over, several tending to Tyler while two others forced Zach to the back of the ambulance where they put a pressure bandage on his throat.

Seeing Jimmy brought to the back of a unit, completely subdued, made the number of cops standing around the scene seem excessive. Everything had happened so fast Laura was still pumped on adrenaline, expecting another threat, more blood and pain or gunshots ripping through the quiet warehouse district. She folded her arms over her chest as she watched Tyler carefully lifted on a stretcher into the back of the first ambulance. He was in good hands, but she still wished she could be with him. She needed to see him open his eyes, hear him say something stupid, kiss him, and make sure he was really going to be okay.

“Come on, sis.” Ryan put his arm around her and led her to his unit. “I’ll pick up your car later. For now, I’m bringing you to the hospital.”

“I’m not hurt.”

“Still like you to get looked at, but I’m bringing you there for him.” Ryan gave her a one-armed hug before opening the passenger side door for her. “You finally come to terms that you love the idiot? Not sure why, I know he drives you nuts, but he’s important to you. Which means me and him will be having a chat about how he better make you happy if he wants to live. But only after we make sure he’s not going to die.”

Laura cracked the back of her hand into her brother’s chest as he pulled out behind the ambulance. “You asshole! He’s not going to die!”

“Agreed. He’s a tough kid. I kinda like him, but I have to do the big brother thing and have that chat—you understand, right?”

“Yes, Ryan. But if you go too far, you’ll have to deal with Chicklet.” Laura fisted her hands on her lap, grateful that her brother was keeping the mood light, but still shaking because she couldn’t help but see Tyler lying on the pavement, so still, every time she closed her eyes. Ryan acting like everything would be all right almost made her believe it. But just
almost
.