Built for Power (18 page)

Dumbasses, they should have tied her hands behind her back. Bree grinned in victory as the sound of them coming out of the stairwell grew louder. Bending quickly, she started to untie her legs. She got one undone and was about to get the other when the elevator door opened into the room and two voices became clear.

“I’m telling you, I’ll have no part of this.”

Bree froze. She knew that voice.

“And I’m telling you, you owe me too much to back out now.” She knew that voice, too. No! It couldn’t be. The betrayal cut so hard she fought for breath.

“I fulfilled my obligation. Call your men and tell them to leave my mother alone.”

“You fulfill your obligation when I say you do and not a moment before.”

Bree heard the men coming closer. Should she run? Could she leave him, even after betraying her? It was clear he was being extorted.

“Stop. You’ve hurt her enough. You asked me to spy on her. You asked me to delay the plans. I did that. Now live up to your end of the bargain and let my mother go.”

Bree sat still and waited for them to come. She placed her leg back in place and hoped if she sat still long enough, they wouldn’t notice she’d gotten most of the way free. As much as the treachery hurt, she understood it.

“You almost killed us! I lost my leg. Isn’t that enough?”

“Not until she’s dead. And you’re going to do it, Marcus.”

“Jeff,” Bree said with her most authoritative voice. “I believe Marcus can go. This is between you and me.”

The men behind her froze. “Bree, I’m so sorry!” Marcus yelled before she heard Jeff punch him.

“Stop!” Bree shouted as Jeff dragged a limping Marcus in front of her. He had to be in pain. His face was deadly white and his whole shirt was covered in sweat. Even if they used the service elevator, he wouldn’t be used to so much activity. She didn’t know how he’d managed. That’s when she saw the blood seeping through the knee of his tan pants.

“Do you know the rule for never getting caught? Never do your own dirty work,” Jeff pulled a gun out and placed it to the back of Marcus’s head.

Bree felt anger building inside her. Marcus was trembling, and his leg was going to give out on him. Jeff was exploiting them both. Playing on their emotions for his own gain.

“Why, Jeff? Why go through all this trouble?” Bree asked.

“Simple. Money. This job should have been mine anyway. But you with your little skirts and big tits had all the owners panting. It was lucky a friend of my uncle’s is part owner. He tried to get me the job, but everyone wanted the
next big thing
—you.” Jeff laughed. “At least I got him to add the language that if you didn’t meet your milestone you were out, and I would be a shoo-in.”

“You don’t want to kill me, Jeff. You could have done that numerous times already.” Bree tried to keep him talking as she noticed Marcus grow weaker and weaker.

“Deep down, I respect you. You’re a tough broad. I never wanted to kill you. I just wanted to disgrace you. But it’s come to this. You’re too close to meeting your goal after you poached all my workers. Now Trevor’s former workers are flooding to you begging for jobs.”

“And Marcus?”

“I had to, Bree. Jeff found out I went to summer camp with Mr. Clarke’s son and he has my mother,” Marcus’s voice was uneven and his breathing was ragged.

Jeff just laughed. “I don’t really have her. She’s just being watched. If she were to have an accident down in Tampa, then that would be most unfortunate. There would be no way to connect it to me, just like your unfortunate murder won’t have anything to do with me. Marcus, go pick up that piece of rebar.”

“No. I won’t do it,” Marcus said as forcefully as he could.

“Then not only will you die, but your mother will, too . . . right after she learns of your death. It will break her heart to hear her little boy killed his boss in a jealous rage and then killed himself. No one will question a man spending so much time with a woman and not falling for her. That’s why there aren’t many women on construction sites. Then it won’t be very hard for me to just toss you off the side of this building.”

“It’s okay, Marcus. Do it. Get the rebar.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Mallory floored her black Porsche 911 Carrera and Logan held on. They hadn’t said a word. As she shot down the interstate at over 120 miles per hour, he figured talking wasn’t really the best idea. He didn’t know why, but he felt Bree had to be at her construction site. It was where that man had lured her before. It had to mean something, but what?

Mallory entered the exit ramp, barely slowing down. She weaved her way around traffic as the buildings of downtown grew closer. Logan could feel the tension coming off of Mallory as she ran a red light. She was a contradiction if he’d ever seen one. Normally the epitome of a Southern belle, tonight she looked flat-out deadly. There was a lot going on under those long lashes and red lipstick.

“Do you know how to use a gun?” she asked as they neared the construction site.

“I was state champ for skeet shooting,” Logan told her as he stared up at the dark building.

“Good. There’s a shotgun in the trunk. You take that one. I’ll take the others.” She turned off the lights and stopped at the coffee shop next door. Without saying a word, she got out of the car and opened the trunk. Inside the tiny trunk were a shotgun and a metal case.

Mallory handed him the shotgun and popped the barrel open to load it. She pulled out the case and opened it. She selected a handgun and tucked it into her back. Then she pulled out two knives and slid them into her stiletto boots.

“You’re a very interesting person,” Logan said as they moved into the shadows of the building.

“You have no idea.”

* * *

Bree begged Marcus to move. She gave him an encouraging nod, but he shook his head. “No. I can’t kill you.”

“I rather have it be at your hand than Jeff’s. Please, Marcus.”

“Listen to the lady, Marcus.”

“Marcus,” Bree said when it was clear he wasn’t going to move. “Someone has to look out for your mother. She’s old, alone, and you’re all she has left. Please, at least you can be with her and live. There’s no reason for three of us to die tonight. And you know he’ll kill us all if you don’t do it.”

Bree stared at Marcus and silently begged him to move. With a defeated exhale, Marcus took an agonizing step toward the rebar. His knee buckled and he fell hard to the floor.

As soon as Marcus hit the ground, Bree made her move. She leapt forward and swung her leg in a high sweeping kick as hard as she could. The tie held and the force of her kick sent the chair arching through the air behind her leg. Her foot hit the gun in Jeff’s hand, and the chair knocked him to the floor before crashing back into her.

“Bree, run!” Marcus panted from the floor.

Bree ignored him as she bent to untie her foot. Jeff scrambled up and started for her.

“I hate for it to be this way, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

The hit came hard and fast. Bree screamed and the punch connected with her stomach just as it had the other night. She stumbled back and the chair clattered along the floor as she struggled to stay upright.

Logan followed behind Mallory as they darted into the first floor of the corporate center. As soon as they saw the two cars, they knew they had the right spot. Logan and Mallory stopped in the lobby and looked around. There were two staircases.

“We can’t risk the elevator. You take that one,” Mallory whispered. The scream that reverberated around them stopped Logan’s heart.

“Bree,” they whispered. Logan didn’t pay attention to Mallory’s last command as he took off at a dead run. He hit the stairs and didn’t slow down. Stair after stair, floor after floor . . . he couldn’t be too late. He couldn’t lose her after just finding her.

Bree dragged in a deep breath. Her scream had emptied her lungs and she’d been able to absorb the punch this time. But Jeff was already moving on toward Marcus.

“It’ll take more than that, Jeff!”

Jeff turned and looked at her. Then he looked to where Marcus was close to passing out from pain. She saw the moment he decided she was more of a threat. Bree had gotten into scraps before and she was tough. She wouldn’t give up now. She had three lives depending on it. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Bree yanked the binding from her leg and jumped to her feet.

Bree tested her bound hands again, but she didn’t have time to get them out. Jeff was stalking toward her too quickly.

“Run, Bree. Save yourself,” Marcus called out. She saw him struggle to get up, but when he put weight on the prosthetic, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed in a heap.

Bree ran all right—right at Jeff. She lowered her shoulders at the last minute and dove for his knees. They both tumbled to the floor with Bree on top of his lower body. Jeff rolled out from under her and let loose with a kick that landed on her shoulder.

They both scrambled back and leapt to their feet. “I guess I’m going to have to get my hands dirty this time. All this could have been avoided if you just backed down when I gave you a chance.” Jeff held a small piece of rebar in his hands and shrugged.

“I never back down.”

Bree felt her breathing slow. Her focus was solely on Jeff. The rest of the world faded away until it was just the two of them. She heard her heart beating, strong and steady, and she knew without a doubt she was going to fight until her last breath.

She saw the moment he pulled back the rebar and swung. Bree waited, watching the rebar arch toward her in slow motion. She ducked at the last second, felt the breeze of the rebar passing over her head, and then leapt up. With her fingers pointing in front of her, she jabbed them into Jeff’s eye. He howled in pain and dropped the rebar to clutch his eye.

Bree was relentless. She moved forward and smashed the top of her forehead into the bridge of Jeff’s nose. A satisfying
crunch
was followed by a gush of blood. Jeff fell to his knees, screaming as he clutched his face in his hands.

Anger filled her as she laced her fingers together and stood over Jeff. He took advantage of people. He hurt them for his own gain. He was going to kill her, Marcus, and Marcus’s mother all for money. She laced her fingers tightly together, forming a tight fist, and raised it above her head.

She wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

She arched her back and used momentum and all the power she had to slam her elbow into the base of Jeff’s skull. Instantly, he crumbled to the floor, unconscious at her feet.

“Bree!”

The shouting broke through her fog and she saw both Logan and Mallory running toward her from opposite stairwells with guns in hand.

“Oh God, Bree! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Logan slid to a stop and started running his hands over her body as he took in her blood-covered clothes.

“Who is it?” Mallory asked as she hurried over to the body lying at Bree’s feet.

“It’s Jeff.”

“Is he alive?” Mallory pressed her fingers to his neck. “Yep. You did a hell of a job on him,” Mallory said proudly as she made her way to check on Marcus. “What’s Marcus doing here?”

“Call an ambulance. Oh, Marcus!” Bree pulled herself from Logan’s embrace and rushed to Mallory’s side.

Logan pulled out his phone and made the call while she and Mallory turned Marcus over and tried to get him to wake up.

“Jeff extorted Marcus to spy on me and delay the build. He’s the one who kept sending the demands to your boss, Logan. He knew Mr. Clarke’s son, so when he called Mr. Clarke, it didn’t raise any suspicions. Then Jeff wanted Marcus to kill me to guarantee Marcus wouldn’t talk. But Marcus wouldn’t do it. I had to finally convince him. But I saw how much pain he was in. I knew his leg was going to give out. He took a step and down he went. That’s when I jumped Jeff.”

“I did a full background on him. There’s nothing to extort him with. Trust me, I looked,” Mallory said as she pulled a knife from her boot and cut the cloth at Bree’s wrist. “Uh-oh. That fabric looks familiar.”

“I know. I’m a dead woman. Since Jeff didn’t kill me, Allegra surely will.” Bree sighed as the soft yellow fabric stained with blood fell to the ground. “Jeff threatened to have Marcus’s mother killed if he didn’t cooperate. Marcus thought he was just going to get me fired from the job. He didn’t know about all the violence that would follow.”

Mallory bent down and used the knife to cut away Marcus’s pant leg. They all gasped at the site of the amputation. Blood had soaked through the sleeve and the whole part of his leg was swollen to twice its normal size.

“I don’t know how he even stood for a minute. Are you going to press charges?” Mallory asked.

“For what?” Bree asked innocently. “This man tried to save my life.”

Logan slipped his arm around her and kissed her forehead as he tucked her into his shoulder. “That’s my girl. I knew you’d choose the right path.”

* * *

Logan kept Bree wrapped in his arms the whole time the police questioned them. Mallory had conveniently returned their weapons to the trunk of her car as she notified the authorities before calling Allegra and Finn.

Bree answered all of Officer Macey’s questions and made sure Marcus left in the ambulance right away. Agent Delmont had quickly made a call to the Tampa office and heard back within thirty minutes that two men had been arrested outside Mrs. Phillips’s house. They were currently being held on gun charges, but he was sure they’d flip as soon as they found out Jeff was in custody.

“Let me through! Oh, Bree!” Allegra cried as she pushed through a line of officers collecting evidence.

“Officer Macey,” Bree whispered harshly. “If you appreciate anything I’ve done to help solve this case, then you have to do one thing for me.”

“Of course,” the young officer said gravely.

“Hide the evidence bags with the yellow cloth or my sister is going to lose it right here and there may be no survivors.”

“Her? She looks so sweet.”

“Oh, she is . . . most of the time. But like all quiet, meek, sweet people, when she loses it, she goes off the deep end. If she sees the dress she stayed up for twenty-four hours
remaking
is now torn to shreds . . . it would be bad, very bad.”

The officer’s face blanched as he hurriedly grabbed the evidence bags and shoved them in his jacket pockets just as Allegra reached them.

“Oh thank goodness! Are you all right? Are you injured?” Allegra pulled Bree from Logan’s arms and enveloped her in a tight hug.

“I’m okay. Thank you so much. I’m so sorry this happened tonight.” Bree gave a shaky smile.

“As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters. We’ll load up on caffeine and get pampered in a couple hours. Elle and Mom don't have to know that you almost died right before the wedding.”

Bree laughed. “So are you glad I’m alive or glad the wedding won’t be disrupted?”

“Both!” Allegra laughed in return. She wobbled slightly and Finn shot out a hand to steady her. “Sorry. I’ve been awake for . . . I don’t know, what time is it?”

“It’s two in the morning.” Finn smiled down at her and pulled her closer to him for support.

“Forty-four hours then,” Allegra said with a shaky smile. “I don’t think I could take any more. I would lose it, just lose it.”

Officer Macey’s eyes grew large, and Bree tried not to have her own nervous breakdown. She was so screwed.

“Finn, do you mind taking Allegra home?” Bree asked. “We’re going to be here a while longer answering questions.”

“Really, I’m so glad you’re safe. You’re my hero and I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” Allegra sniffled and everyone sucked in a worried breath.

Allegra tossed her arms around Bree again and a large sob erupted. All the men froze in place with the deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces. All except Finn, who gently pried her from Bree and held her in his arms, his dark, chiseled face showing a concerned softness.

“It’s okay, Allegra. Let me take you home.” Finn tucked her under his broad shoulder. Her sister looked so tiny as he tried to get her to leave.

“Thanks. I’ll see you at breakfast at eight.” Allegra turned to leave and then froze. “What’s that yellow thing in the evidence bag?”

Oh shit. Bree was busted and Allegra was set to go ballistic. Officer Macey leapt from where he was standing and stood in front of the evidence bag near where Bree had been tied up. It was the strip she’d untied from her one leg. “Oh, this? Just some duck tape used to tie Miss Simpson up.”

“Yellow duck tape?” Allegra asked suspiciously.

Officer Macey nodded his head. “Sure. Comes in all colors now and is perfect for tying people to chairs. After all, if you can’t duck it, then fu—”

“Thank you for that,” Bree jumped in. “It hurt like the dickens when I pulled it off. Good night, dear. I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

Finn got the hint and pulled Allegra away and toward the elevator. Everyone heaved a collective sigh of relief as Allegra and Finn disappeared behind the doors.

“Officer Macey, you’re my hero tonight,” Bree joked. “But what am I supposed to do about a dress?”

“Seriously?” Logan asked. “You were almost killed and you’re worried about a dress?”