Leverage (The Brannock Siblings) (18 page)

His mind flashed back to the night of the captain's murder
and the shadow he
thought
he saw when he was gathering up the
possessions that had been so important to her. Rains had been watching him, he
had no doubt about that now.

Lucas whipped around in search of any other clues that would
tell him something… anything important. One of her shoes was lying by the open
door, one of the shoes he knew she had worn while she was at his house these
last several days. The bastard must have dragged her out of there.

Had she fought back? Had he done more than take her away
from him?

He felt his face flame red with anger and his fists
clenched, ready to punch them through whatever he could find. He had worked
with Justin for a long time and never suspected he would be capable of
something like this. The man was so genuine and incredibly introverted most of
the time. Lucas had been ready to just dismiss him as the leak completely
tonight. He had practically already dismissed the idea, not pushing for any of
them to keep an eye on him when he knew better. He should have known not to
trust the man at all when every time he started to tell him about Ash, he
stopped himself, getting that sick feeling in his stomach.

He wanted to rip the man apart. For Ash, for himself, but
also for his role in Liam Brannock's death. Taking him from his family, the
family he himself had spent his whole life a part of. He wasn't sure yet if
Justin had been the one to pull the trigger, but it wouldn't have made a
difference.

Montgomery strode into the room then and cleared his throat
after seeing the mess that was left behind. "Umm, you need to come
downstairs, there's something you gotta see."

He hurried out of the room, not sure if he would be able to
control his anger if he saw any other signs that Ash had been hurt somehow. She
had trusted him to protect her and he had failed her miserably.

They followed the voices that were coming from the kitchen
and he trailed after Montgomery with his eyes on the ground, scolding himself
for leaving the woman he loved more than anything alone at all, even if he
thought
it had been safe to do so. He would never make that mistake again.

Everything went silent when he stepped over the threshold of
the kitchen doorway and he lifted his head to see what was going on and his
heart stopped altogether.

"What the hell?"

Ash

The first thing I noticed when I started to wake up, was the
smell of dust and ocean, a musty briny smell, and it did nothing for the
stabbing pain in my head. I cringed as I tried to turn my neck and felt a
sudden rush of nausea.

Deep breaths. In. Out.

I tried again. "Oh God."

My mouth was dry as a desert and my chest hurt, making the
breaths I was taking feel like knives cutting through my lungs. I attempted to
open my eyes, but something was tied around my head, blindfolding me. I tried
to raise my hands to remove it and realized that they were bound, the cold
metal of handcuffs cutting into my skin. I was leaning against a hard beam with
my arms stretched back and connected on the other side. My shoulders ached from
the strain and I wanted to cry.

Just this once.

Cry my eyes out until I passed out again.

I took inventory on the rest of my body. Everything ached,
but nothing was too awful to consider damaged. My ankles were bound tight with
what I assumed were zip ties and I was missing a shoe.

I remembered how I had lost that shoe.

Justin had dragged me out of my hiding spot and I had kicked
and screamed as much as I could in the few seconds before his hand clamped over
my mouth. He pulled me to a stand by my hair and my eyes had watered from the
pain. When he moved to cuff me, I swung my leg back and kicked his knee, making
him howl in pain. He didn't release me like I thought he would though, and he
gripped my leg and yanked it between his, holding it there so I couldn't
balance on my own until the handcuffs were locked in place. I had been trying
to pull my leg out from the iron hold he had on it and my shoe had slipped off
just as I yanked it free, but it had been too late.

I was shoved to my stomach, face planting into my carpet
before my head exploded in pain and I blacked out.

I had been surprised no neighbors had come to my aid, but
then, after my father had been killed, a lot of people took off, worried that
being close by would put them in danger. I hadn't known that until the day
before when Lucas had pointed it out.

Lucas.

I should have trusted him more and not made such a rash
decision and called the station. If something
had
gone wrong with his
little mission, he would have found a way to reach me. I knew that now. Not
hearing from him should have made me feel better, but it had made me so nervous
that I lost my head.

I wouldn't doubt him or my brothers ever again.

I knew it was irrational to think that way. Technically, I
hadn't done anything wrong, but I needed someone to put the blame on.

A rustling sound behind me halted my thoughts and made my
body stiffen. My ears strained to hear anything that might indicate whether I
was alone or not. I doubted I would be, but a girl can hope, right? I didn't
hear anything else and I wondered if there was any way out of this. If I could
find a way to get free… but I couldn't.

Justin Rains had made it clear that I wasn't going to get
away until his boss gets his way. That was just before he had hit me with the
butt of his gun. I wasn't sure how long I had been unconscious, but it must
have been a while. We were definitely at a port of some kind, inside of a
warehouse. I could smell enough of the ocean and hear enough from outside to
know that. The sound of boats, gulls, and waves almost drowned out everything
else.

Another rustling behind me, closer this time, told me what I
had already known. Justin hadn't left me to myself. Not that it mattered. I was
completely screwed. I just hoped that he killed me before he got any leverage
on Lucas or my brothers. It would be better that way.

I moaned in pain as my shoulder pulled against my
restraints. I tried to relax my muscles, but the adrenaline running through me
wouldn't allow it. Footsteps came closer and my heart raced in fear.

What was he going to do to me first?

"She's awake. It's about time. Thought I hit you a
little too hard, wouldn't have been good for me at all."

Justin.

He shuffled out from behind me and came to a stop at my
outstretched legs and when I didn't respond, he kicked my legs, hard.

"I know you're awake, Aislinn. It's time to get down to
business."

"You might as well just kill me, fucknut. I'm not going
to be very cooperative."

There was a moment of silence, then a grunt, and all of a sudden,
light. He ripped the blindfold off of me, taking some of my hair with it and I
cringed at the bright white light that was directly above me, buzzing with
energy.

The tall shadow in front of me started to form into a man
and I blinked a few times before his image was clear.

"
You
aren't the one that has to cooperate,"
he sneered and his straight white teeth were exposed as his lips turned up into
an even bigger smile. "And I think we will finally have the right kind of
cooperation this time."

I didn't respond to him and he started laughing. "Oh I
wish I could see the look on his face when he realizes you aren't at home.
Priceless."

"What the hell do you want?"

He took a few steps toward me and crouched down until his
eyes were level with mine. "I want lots of things, Aislinn, but only after
the boss is done with you." He winked as he stood back up and my stomach
roiled, the nausea from before rising up my throat but not pressing forward. I
held it back, not wanting to seem any more vulnerable than I already was.

"How long have you been working for Banetti?" I
asked, feeling my face heat with anger. Lucas had been working closely with the
man for a long time. That kind of betrayal would make it hard for him to trust
anyone
in the future and that pissed me off. Just goes to show that people are capable
of
anything
, even the ones who seem the most genuine.

"Oh, let me think. Wow, for years. Since well before
Shade and I partnered up. I've been feeding information for over five years
now. Pays well. Better than being a cop does. I needed the money."

I looked down at my lap and tried to steady my breathing,
"You killed my dad?"

"No. I didn't. Never wanted to either, but the dumbass
Banetti sent to grab him screwed that up. He had been getting too close and we
just wanted to scare him off a bit, not kill him. Banetti didn't want him dead
either, he has too much fun trying to evade him. The guy is a fucking lunatic
if you ask me, but he's a smart one, and a rich one. Your dad probably would
have never dropped the case at all, but we had to try. Can't say I'm sorry
about his death, though. Just mad that we didn't get the information we needed
out of him."

"Doesn't make a difference. You were a piece of the
trigger and I swear to God you will pay for it," I spit out.

He laughed again, this time like a maniacal demon, sending
chills down my spine, "Oh you
are
funny. Lucas always said you were
a catch." He leaned forward, threateningly. "Who is going to make me
pay, Aislinn? You? You'll be dead, or worse, before you ever get a chance to
see him again and he's locked up for your father's murder. No one is going to
make me pay a goddamn thing."

My heart dropped to the floor.

Lucas was really in jail, but I had thought it was all a lie
to get to me.

"Yes, Aislinn. He is in jail. I wasn't lying when I
said he had been arrested. Everything had worked out perfectly, better than I
had planned, but I hadn't thought they would get to him so quickly. I was sure
I had another week, but Gibbs wanted your boyfriend out of the department for
more reasons than one. Guess he jumped the gun a bit. Made it easier for me to
act so shocked."

"How? I don't understand why they even think it
was
him."

He stepped into the shadows in front of me and dragged a
metal folding chair back towards me, facing me, and sat down with a grin.
"Oh, it wasn't too difficult. Screw up a few raids here and there while he
was head of the case, convince him to sign in down in evidence more times than
what was considered normal, altered a few reports. Plus, his proximity to your
father's house was just right. Guess you kind of helped me out, too. I assume
you were hiding in the house that night then went running to him right after we
left. The fact that he was first on the scene when no call had been made caused
everyone to be a little suspicious."

"But still…" I whispered.

"Doesn't matter when someone wants your head on a
platter badly enough. Gibbs wanted
his
. Everything else was just a
convenient find."

"But why not wait until he was arrested and then
continue as always? Why take me? He isn't going to negotiate a damn thing with
you. He's better than that!" I shouted, hoping I wasn't lying out of my
ass. Lucas wouldn't jeopardize his career like that or the lives of so many
innocent people. He wouldn't allow the lives that had already been lost to be
in vain.

"Oh, that's just part of the reason. It doesn't matter
if he's out of the picture, no one is going to just drop the case, especially
since it's not just a simple drug deal here and there. I'll still have to deal
with Gibbs, but he'll be easier to manipulate. A lot easier than Brannock was
and you're wrong. Lover boy
will
negotiate with us. He will do whatever
we tell him to do that will keep our heads clear a little longer." He
sounded like he was so completely sure of himself and that confidence made me
nervous. "That or he'll get little pieces of you in the mail every day
until we run out of them," he added, making my stomach churn. "You
are his weakness, Ms. Brannock. Always have been. I could see it from day one."
He pulled out his gun and checked the chamber, turning it in his hand a few
times before setting it on his lap.

"W-what's the other part then?" I cursed myself
for stuttering, but I was terrified that I was going to die in the worst way,
if not by Justin's hand, then by Frank Banetti's. I had read up on some of the
files Lucas had in his home. The man didn't just move and sell drugs and
weapons, he moved and sold women and God only knows what he did to them before
they were sold off. I couldn't force myself to continue reading once I saw the
details of his operation.

"Like I said before, your father was a little too close
for comfort. He was figuring things out quickly and took some action that
really made my life a little harder than it should be."

I snorted without realizing what I had done, but didn't stop
myself when I did. "You're an idiot."

He scowled at me, but didn't react to my insult. "There
was quite a bit of money down in evidence that has been moved, one of the loads
that had been raided that we weren't able to move in time. I had planned on
picking it up after speaking to your father. See, the plan was to leave behind
a few crumbs that would lead to your precious Lucas. The log already showed
that he had visited the area way more than what was necessary and a little push
would seal Gibbs' suspicions. Only problem was that it had already been
moved."

I blinked in confusion.

"I see that you are still completely clueless so let me
dumb this down for you. Your father moved the drugs, Aislinn, and I need to
know where he moved them to."

I narrowed my eyes at him, my anger flaring at his slight,
but I didn't interrupt him. I needed to know as many details as I could for
when I got out of here.

If
I got out.

"Knowing that you have been here this whole time, I
assume your father may have left a clue or told you where he had put them in
some way. I need you to tell me everything you know."

"I don't know anything," I muttered.

He folded his arms over his chest and scowled, waiting.

"I swear. He never talked to me about the case. I was
just supposed to stay home and stay out of sight."

Justin chuckled humorlessly, "You really expect me to
believe that?"

I shoved my chin in the air and kept my voice firm,
"It's the truth."

He flew out of his chair, sending it flying behind him and
falling to the ground with a loud bang. He crouched down right in front of me
and his face was so close, I could smell the faint scent of mint on his breath.

It was too bad really. The man was not bad looking and from
what I had heard before - ignoring everything that had happened in the last few
hours - he had seemed like a sweet guy. A girl would have been lucky to reel
him in. That is until I found out he had escaped from the loony bin and was
just as big of a fraud as my ex-boyfriend.

"The truth," he spit out, "is that I will
have no mercy on you until you tell me what I want to know. Then Banetti will
go to work on you. He is on his way right now and believe me, he's not the
sweet one here. Now, you want to start talking?"

I took a deep breath, knowing what was coming, but seeing no
way out of it. He would know if I lied and gave him a bullshit answer. I had
seen this in the movies before and never thought it was possible, but
unfortunately, I would find out that it actually happened in reality. By the
look on his face, it was going to be painful, too. Only this time, I wouldn't
get to see the hero rescue
anyone
.

I had no doubt that Conall had checked his voicemail
already. He wouldn't have let it sit there for long knowing it had been me
calling. My oldest brother was a nurturer and he had always been the one to
take care of me when I needed him most, despite his attempts to control me.

Lucas was probably going insane. No one knew where I was and
I didn't think they would get an idea anytime soon. At least, not before Justin
was through with me.

So I steeled myself, readying my body for the blows that I
knew would come. I had nothing for him and even if I did, I wouldn't give it to
him.