All or Nothing: A Trust No One Novel (37 page)

“Garrett! You lowlife bastard. Where’s Cara?” Joe stopped walking and waved Ty and Walker to his side, putting the call on speaker.

“I’m trying to tell you. Dennelli has her on his yacht about two miles off the Port of Astoria.”

“You better hope she’s not hurt, Garrett.” Joe started walking quickly back toward the choppers, followed by Walker, Ty, and Steve.

“She’s okay for now, but I heard him in there with her. I created a little problem in the engine room that got Dennelli out of his statement before he hurt her too bad, but I can’t keep him away forever. You need to get here—and fast.” Sam drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Joe didn’t trust him for a minute. “How do I know you’re not sending me into a trap?”

“You don’t. You don’t have any more reason to trust me than I do you, so I’m going to level with you. I’m on Dennelli’s payroll, until today anyway. It was my job to make sure Brian Sinclair killed his sister, and when he failed, Dennelli wanted her brought to the yacht.”

Joe caught Walker’s eye and saw the skepticism reflected there. “So, what went wrong, Garrett? Why double-cross Dennelli?”

“God knows I tried not to care about that woman.” Garrett sighed. “She can make a person feel better with a smile and a ten-minute conversation. Do you know how rare that is?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I knew Dennelli was crazy and ruthless, but I didn’t sign on for this, and I’m getting her out of there. She may have to swim for it, so get your ass in gear.”

Joe stared at the phone as the call disconnected.

“Do you think you can trust him?” Walker asked.

“Hell if I know. It could be an ambush, but I’m going. I have to. You and Ty and Steve don’t. Stay here and help with the search.”

“Can’t do that, boss,” Walker drawled.

“We’ll be going along with you,” Ty said, and Steve grinned.

It would be futile to argue. “Then let’s go.” Joe picked up the pace. They ran the final four blocks to the vacant parking lot where one of the choppers had set down. The pilot was nowhere in sight. Walker climbed behind the controls, started it up, and lifted off as soon as the rest of the team was on board.

Friday, 12:27 pm

“T
RY AGAIN!
Y
OU’VE
got to get me closer to that ship,” Joe yelled to be heard over the beating of the rotors.

“They’ll knock us out of the sky if we get any closer,” Walker said.

Joe’s team had already made two attempts to get him on the deck of that yacht. Their chopper had been turned back by gunfire both times. He couldn’t ask any more of them.

“Give me the controls. You three take the inflatable raft and bail out. I’m getting on that ship even if I have to crash-land.” Joe stood poised to slip behind the controls as soon as Walker gave them up. His men exchanged glances. Joe saw the argument coming, but they weren’t going to change his mind. Cara was on that ship.

“We’re not bailing.” Ty shook his head.

“What kind of friends would we be if we left you in your hour of need?” Walker spoke jokingly, but Joe heard the sincerity behind his words.

Steve picked up two fully loaded automatic weapons and handed one to Ty as he nodded at Joe. “We’ll keep their heads down long enough for you to drop in.”

“Let’s do this.” Walker grinned from ear to ear.

The chopper swung around and headed toward the yacht. Ty and Steve took up positions by the open doors on either side of the cargo bay. Joe checked his harness and ropes one more time.

They came in from the south, fast and low. Four hundred yards out, Dennelli’s men opened fire. Once in range, Ty, Steve, and Joe returned fire, sending men scrambling for cover.

“Get going, Joe,” Walker yelled over the noise.

Joe dropped his weapon, grabbed the rope, and jumped out the door, quickly rappelling the fifty feet to the deck. The chopper lifted straight up, gaining altitude and speed. He dove for cover.

He took out two of Dennelli’s men before he reached mid-ship. His luck ran out there, as gunfire from two directions pinned him down. Damn it! He could see the steps to the deck below. No way to get there but straight ahead. The gunman on his left was closer, so Joe concentrated on him as he jumped and ran, pivoting to the left as the shooter showed himself. Joe took the shot, and the man dropped.

He dove and rolled, coming back to his feet as he searched for the gunman on his right. From the corner of his eye he saw him. The shooter had moved and was now behind him a few steps. The man stood and raised his weapon. Joe swiveled his upper body to get a shot. He was microseconds too late. Gunfire from his left again. The shooter on his right jerked backward and fell. Joe swung around and came face to face with Sam Garrett.

Friday, 12:34 pm

W
HATEVER
D
AVID HAD
thought up for her practically had him salivating. As his hand moved the key closer to the lock, Cara again pulled his lips toward hers, a last-ditch effort to distract him. Simultaneously, gunfire broke out above deck and now she heard a chopper distinctly.

He paused, listening, a scowl darkening his features. His hand hovered next to hers.

No! Not now, damn it! Whoever was in that chopper was going to ruin everything. She hadn’t come this far to let him get away now. Jerking her hand from the cuff, she twisted to grab it and slapped it around his wrist. Before he could recover from his surprise, she shoved the flat of her hand into his nose, ripped the key from his fingers, and rolled off the bed. She landed on her feet and reached for the Glock.

He tried to staunch the flow of blood from his nose as he jerked on the handcuffs furiously. “You bitch!” he yelled. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll put that gun down and give me the key. My men are all over this ship. You won’t get far… and when I get my hands on you again, I won’t be so nice.”

“I do know what’s good for me… and it’s not you. If your men come in here and find you dead, do you think they’ll still be so eager to keep me from leaving?”

“Damn it. Unlock these cuffs. I won’t hurt you.”

“Am I actually supposed to believe you?” She laid the gun down and dressed hurriedly, closing her torn shirt as best she could.

She retrieved the detonator from the closet and held it up for him to see. “Do you recognize this?”

He sneered. “What do you think you’re going to do with that?”

“The C-4 is under the bed, set and ready to go. Now… you’re going to make sure your men let me walk out of here.”

“Or what? I don’t think you’ve got the guts to kill me.”

“Unfortunately, the only way to convince you won’t leave enough for a positive ID.” There was a commotion in the corridor and more gunfire from above.

“If you turn me loose before my men walk in here, I can keep them from hurting you.” He held up his hand when she laughed derisively. “Believe me, Cara, I need you alive. Didn’t you ever wonder why Brian was trying to kill you? You don’t think he came up with that on his own, do you?”

“Don’t lie to me about my brother.”

“I let Brian think he could buy your freedom after you and I had that little knife incident. He borrowed money from your father’s company to pay me. He must have really loved his little sister.”

The words hit Cara like a blow from a fist. She remembered Brian’s last day—his words,
it’s all your fault.
What had her brother done?

“Then I tipped off the company auditors and it was only a matter of time before they would have discovered the theft. Sam and I convinced Brian his only way out was to pin it on you, but you had to be dead so you couldn’t protest your innocence.”

Cara couldn’t breathe, and she didn’t want to hear any more of his vile words. She leveled the Glock on the center of his chest. “Shut up, David. This is between you and me. Leave my brother out of it.”

David laughed scornfully. “Of course, your brother still wanted to protect you, until Sam found his weakness—that wife of his. All Sam had to do was describe what he was going to do to her and how long it would take, and Brian was crying like a baby. He would have done anything to save that bitch. Even supply me with weapons to sell for a tidy profit overseas.”

“It was you? You were his contact?” Of course. All the boxes downstairs with
SINCLAIR ARMS DISTRIBUTING
on them. She should have figured it out.

“The plan was perfect, until Reynolds killed Brian. Now I need you alive to keep the distributing plant in the family, so to speak. The point is, we can work something out if you unlock these now.” He jerked on the handcuffs, causing the wrought-iron headboard to slam against the wall.

Someone knocked on the door. Cara held the detonator up in her other hand. “Play nice, or we all die.”

“Yeah.” David called loudly and the door opened to three of his men. Each reached for a weapon as soon as they saw her.

“I wouldn’t do that if you want to survive the night.” She stared the men down until they looked to David for guidance.

“Drop your guns. There’s C-4 under the bed. She’s got the detonator. Let her walk out of here or she’ll set it off.” David’s voice rang with barely concealed fury.

“Get over by your boss.” She motioned them in with her gun.

“Cara, don’t do anything stupid,” David said.

“That almost sounded like a threat. You’re not in any position to make threats.”

The sporadic gunfire had ceased. The chopper was gone. Whatever had happened, it was over now. For a moment, she entertained the idea it might have been Joe, but he didn’t know where she was. He couldn’t help her.

“You’ll never make it out of here, Cara.” David’s warning brought her back from her daydream.

“Then this will be the last day for both of us.” She backed toward the door.

Suddenly, her world stopped as hands grabbed her from behind and stripped the gun from her fingers. She whirled around. Sam blocked the doorway.

“Sam! It’s about damn time! Get me out of here,” David roared.

Sam’s gaze slid from her eyes to the bed. “Not this time, Dennelli. You’re one sick bastard.” He looked back at her. “Looks like you’ve got everything under control here. An apology probably isn’t going to take care of this, so I won’t bother. I guess I didn’t think there were any worse monsters in the world than me. Should have known better.”

Gunfire in the room stunned her. Sam jerked back against the door frame and blood instantly soaked through the front of his shirt. As he slid to the floor, she swung around to face the man who now pointed a gun at her. The other two men retrieved their weapons. David laughed gloatingly.

“Sorry, Cara. Looks like you lose again.” He jerked on the handcuffs, rage contorting his face. “Give me the goddamn key!”

She flinched at each word but didn’t move. If he was going to kill her, let him do it now, before she had to endure his touch again. She raised her chin and glared back at him.

“Get the key,” David said to the hired man who shot Sam. “Then kill her. She’s shark bait.”

The man, a smirk on his face, stepped toward her. Cara dove for Sam’s body, wrested the abandoned Glock from his still fingers, and rolled away as gunfire rang in the cabin. Bullets whizzed around her, splintering the wall behind her. In front of the door, she jumped to her feet and aimed at the closest man. She held her breath and squeezed the trigger. A neat, round hole appeared from nowhere on his forehead as surprise imprinted on his face for a fraction of a second before he dropped.

The other two men hesitated as she backed toward the door. Too soon, however, they recovered and brought their weapons to bear. She fired again, hitting one of them in the leg, and turned to run.

Someone slammed into her from behind, taking her to the floor. She tried to struggle and regain her feet, only to be pushed down roughly. Another of David’s men must have sneaked up behind her. Her face pressed against the floor, the feet of the two men came toward her. The next instant, the weight that pinned her was gone. Two gunshots rang in her ears. The two men dropped to the floor, and blood pooled around them. Silence. She pushed herself up on one arm and peered into the relief-filled eyes of the man who knocked her down.

Joe.

Surely she was dreaming. Then her dream grinned at her and she clambered to her feet and rushed into his arms.

“How did you know where to find me?” His face blurred with the tears that filled her eyes.

“Sam called.” Joe kissed her on the forehead then let her go. Sam leaned against the wall a few feet to the right of the door. Joe knelt down and checked for a pulse, shaking his head at her silent question.

He checked for signs of life on the two men he shot. They were both dead. There was no doubt about the third man. Her bullet left its mark right between his eyes.

“You’re making a big mistake, Reynolds. Do you know who my father is?” David asked.

A grin creased Joe’s face as his gaze took in David’s situation and swept back to her. “Something Walker taught you?”

She still couldn’t believe it was really over—that she wasn’t going to die, at least not today. Not until David’s father caught up to her. The parade of emotions left her weak and trembling. She couldn’t find her voice to reply.

“Are you all right, Cara? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine. Thanks to you and Walker, I had a little surprise for him.” She held up the detonator.

“You’ve been a busy girl.” Joe took the transmitter from her hand. The grim set of his mouth told her he had no qualms about finishing what she started. “Dennelli, we hate to leave so soon, but our ride will be back any minute.”

“Reynolds, we can work something out. I can make you a rich man.”

“I’ve got everything I need.” Joe’s gaze rested on Cara for a moment. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

“You won’t be safe anywhere, Cara. My father won’t rest until you’re dead.” David must have finally gotten it. Fear flashed in his eyes.

Cara trembled, and Joe pulled her against him before fixing David with a hard stare. “The only thing your old man will do is mourn his son who died in a tragic accident at sea. There won’t be anyone left to tell him any different.” Joe looked into her eyes as he said the last words, and she gave him a tremulous smile, finally able to trust him completely. Then he tugged her through the door, and they ran, leaving David ranting and issuing threats even now.