Being Chased (31 page)

****

"Gotcha, fucker."
Oz had his gun pressed against Josh's head. "Say one word or move and you'll be minus one cranium."

Josh
held his hands up to his sides letting the guy with the gun know he wasn't armed and he was cooperating.

"Got one,"
Oz spoke into his mic. "North side."

"Okay, hold him until I can get over there,"
Hank said back. "Gun, stay where you are until my ‘go.’" He silently took off heading to the other side of the house.

Right as
Hank got to Oz, Quaid saw a car pull in at the end of the driveway about sixty yards away, headlights off, parking. What the hell? Three men got out holding guns. "Fuck me," Quaid hissed. He spoke into his mic, "We've got company. Three men due south approaching the house, fifty plus yards away. All armed."

"If-if I can talk, I can tell you what's going on,"
Josh stuttered.

Hank
pushed his gun under Josh's chin. "Speak."

****

The girls wended their way through the junk back to the door. Julia picked up the crowbar and pushed it between the door and the jamb. "Push!" she said. She and Sherry pushed on the thing with as much strength as they had. Again, the door splintered. "Fuck! We've got to get it deeper or it's just going to dig into the door." She repositioned the crowbar and they pushed again getting better results.

"Wait! I hear something!"
Sherry said, looking quizzically at Julia.

Both girls stood still.
Julia looked at Sherry expectantly wanting to know what it was she'd heard.

"Did you hear it?"
Sherry said excitedly, putting her ear to the door.

Julia
guessed her hearing in her left ear must've been knocked for a loop when the big guy had hit her, so she turned and pressed her right ear to the door.

And then
she heard the most beautiful sound ever and immediately burst into tears. Chase was on the other side of the door calling her name.

***

"Those men down there that just drove up? Th-that's my uncle and his guys. I called him earlier and told him what was going on, and he said he'd send his men here so that they could get rid of the bad guys and then I could get him the money because I know how to use computers and I could reroute the money to an account that he set up." Josh took a deep breath after spitting out everything he knew.

Oz
raised an eyebrow and looked at Hank like, "Can you believe this asshole?" The guy whose temple he was smashing his gun into could definitely talk.

"So, those men know we're here?"
Hank asked Josh.

"No. But I can call my uncle and let him know so you don't get hurt."
Josh swallowed roughly, wishing these guys would get their guns away from his face.

Hank
laughed. "Yeah. You do that. Call them so 
they
 don't hurt 
us
." He knew his men had the leg up here since they were aware of Josh's uncle and buddies who'd come onto the property. Well, that and the fact that his team was all badasses, himself included.

"O-okay. I'm just going to call him now, if that's alright with you,"
Josh stammered. He looked at Hank for permission and when he nodded, Josh called. "Uncle Felix? There are some other guys here, but I think they're good guys." Josh was amazed at himself for keeping his cool like he was. He'd always been a suck-up, but he couldn't believe himself capable of kissing ass in the situation in which he now found himself. Bravo, Josh! Bravo!

Hank
and Oz watched Josh's face fall and they heard screaming coming from the phone.

"Let me have it,"
Hank said, taking the phone from Josh. "This is Hank Murphy. Who am I speaking to?" He listened for a bit. Ah, Felix Martin. He knew the man was affiliated with several questionable organizations in the City and he had no desire to tango with him at the moment. "We're here for a rescue, nothing more." He listened again. "One woman. We believe there's also another victim, but we don't know whether it's a male or female." He looked at Josh asking him, "How many are inside?"

"Two men and three women,"
Josh replied, more than happy to be of help. "The men and the red-haired woman are running it. Julia and the blond woman are being held."

"Did you hear that?"
Hank said into the phone. "Yeah. Let us go in first. No! We don't give a fuck about the money. After we've gotten what we came here for, it's all yours. Give us ten minutes." He hung up, giving the phone back to Josh. "You'd better make yourself scarce. I'm sure the people inside would love to get their hands on you right about now."

He didn't have to tell
Josh twice. He took off like a flash down the road toward his uncle.

"
Quaid, keep your position and let us know if those fuckers try anything stupid. Chase, what's your position?" Hank asked.

"I'm at the door.
Julia's on the other side. She knows I'm here."

"Wait for my signal then bust the fucker down."

"Got it."

****

"What do you mean you still can't get him?" the Boss screamed at Liam.

"I mean, he won't answer his goddamned phone!" Liam answered back, irritated.

"Well, you'd better find him fast!"

Liam dialed
Josh's phone again and left a rather nasty message. When the idiot showed up, he was going to get an earful… and then a mouthful of Liam's fist, for sure.

"
Brady, go check on the girls. Liam, check outside to see if Josh is around anywhere. This is ridiculous!"

Liam went out the kitchen door mumbling about how he was going to teach the dumbass kid a lesson when he found him.

Brady headed toward the basement door.

"Wait! Have you heard from Ephraim?" the Boss asked.

"No, not lately."

"Call him to make sure the money's all set. If it is, we can dispose of the girls."

Brady pulled his phone out, stepping back into the office to make his call while the Boss clacked a pen against her teeth. She was pissed at Josh and his tomfoolery. When she got her hands on him…

Holding the phone away from his mouth,
Brady told her, "Ephraim says the Larson girl's all set and he's working on the Cooke girl. Says he's got the ten mill being rerouted from the other Cooke dude and the Moore guy. Still waiting on the rest from the girl's dad."

"When will it go through? The
twenty million?"

Brady
talked to Ephraim for a couple seconds. "He says to give him another thirty minutes and it should be there."

"Good. Now go take out the
Larson girl and when you hear back from Ephraim, do the Cooke girl."

"Got it."
Brady walked out of the office to the basement door as he pulled his gun out of his waistband in the back, checking the magazine.

****

Liam walked outside around the house looking for Josh, cursing quietly to himself, making a list of all Josh's limbs that he was going to break once he found him. He'd already checked out the kid's car, but it was locked and the hood was cool, so he hadn't used it. He was about to head back inside when he felt something hard stick against his back.

"Hold it right there, asshole,"
Gunner warned. He'd moved out of the barn to get in position around the house.

Liam turned quickly, moving his arm up under
Gunner's, effectively knocking the gun out of his hand and landing the base of the palm of his other hand to the side of his head, which pissed Gunner off but good. Dude was going to get his now. Gunner slammed his fist into Liam's left jaw, hearing it crack, and saw the guy drop to a knee, then jerked his own knee up under Liam's chin, knocking him onto his back as Liam uttered a loud "Oomph!" Though both men were about the same size, Liam's fighting skills were no match for Gunner's. Liam tried getting up, but Gunner had already retrieved his gun, pointing it at him ready to blow the guy's head off at the least little movement.

Hank
and Oz had made their way to the back of the house and watched as Gunner laid the guy out. Oz moved in, telling Liam to put his arms out and turn over slowly. He pulled the gun from Liam's back waistband as the man lay on the ground, then told him to lock his fingers behind his head.

"What's going on inside the house?"
Hank asked him.

"Fuck you," Liam spat.

Gunner and Oz both raised an eyebrow at Hank, knowing this guy on the ground must have had a friggin' death wish.

"I'm only going to ask one more time,"
Hank said in a cool and calculating voice that made Oz shudder.

"I'd talk to him, dude, unless you want your organs to be permanently displayed on the outside of your body,"
Oz said.

Liam huffed from where he lay but started talking fast when
Hank knelt beside him, flashing in Liam's face the huge hunting knife he'd drawn from its sheath on his belt.

"There are two girls downstairs. W
hen I came out here to look for the little prick, Brady was going down, probably to take care of them," Liam said through clenched teeth, spitting out a glob blood.

"Fuck!" Talking into his
mic, Hank said, "Chase? Get in there now!"

****

There was a crash as the front door was kicked in by one of Felix's stooges. The Boss was known for her cool, but that had actually rattled her some.

"What the fuck do you
want, Felix?" she asked as he walked inside. She was acquainted with him having dealt with an associate of his. Two of his men flanked him and Josh brought up the rear. When she saw Josh, the glare she shot him could've obliterated a small country with its intensity.

"We want a cut, Maggie."

She laughed. Like that was going to happen. "Oh, Felix. You’re such a dreamer."

"Look, bitch. You either let me in on it, or you're dead and I get it all." His face didn't belie his words. He was dead serious.

"We've done all the legwork here and you think you're just going to waltz in here and take it away from us? I don't think so." She smirked. She'd slowly opened a drawer in her desk, intending on pulling out her gun.

Felix nodded almost imperceptibly, and before Maggie, aka the
Boss, knew what had happened, one of Felix's men had her flat against the desk lying face down, one arm cranked behind her back.

"Sure. Strong
arm the woman, you pricks." She rolled her eyes, but the panic was starting to set in especially when she felt the excitement of the man who was holding her down, his hard cock prodding against her ass. She definitely did not want to be raped.

"And now?" Felix asked.

"Alright, alright. God, let me up, you Neanderthal."

The gu
y let her up but not before thrusting himself against her to let her know his offer still stood, stood rather long and thick, at that. She pursed her lips, wishing either Liam or Brady were there to beat the shit out of this stupid Guido.

"So, what are your terms?" Felix asked.

"What do you want, Felix?"

"Fifty percent."

"
What
? Are you crazy?"

"Anything but, my dear."

"That's just not possible, Felix. Ephraim gets a cut, too. If we give you fifty percent, our cut goes way down. Not happening."

"Tell you what. You call Ephraim right now and have ten million wired to my account, and we'll walk out of here like nothing ever happened. If not, well, I think you'll find my powers of persuasion can be quite… entertaining."

Maggie had heard about Felix's "entertaining" ways before and she wanted no part of them. One of Felix's former "clients" who'd made the stupid decision to cross him had been found dead, choked to death on his own testicles.

"Let me get
Brady and Liam in here and we'll all talk, okay?" She tried walking out of the office, but Boner Guy stepped in her path, a sneer on his face that made her shudder.

"Call them," Felix advised, wanting everyone where he could see them. He was already on edge because of the other group that h
ad shown up. He’d heard of this Murphy guy and he’d said they weren't interested in the money. Good thing because Felix wasn't about to share any of it. Too bad he'd already decided no one was walking out of there alive except for him and his crew.

Maggie picked up her cell and dialed, praying that her men would answer.

****

"
Chase! Oh, God, I can't believe you're here!" Tears ran down Julia's swollen face as she leaned against the door.

"I
told you I'd come for you, baby," he said from the tunnel.

"How'd you know where to find me?"

"The bracelet I gave you. It has a tracking device in it."

Julia
glanced down at her wrist in disbelief. Man, he was so smart. He’d saved her life. "I can't get the door open! It's stuck!"