Daddy Devastating (16 page)

His heart went to his knees.

The man had the gun pointed straight up toward the sky. And it wasn’t Silas. There was a resemblance, and Russ didn’t believe that had been by accident. That’s because the shots were a diversion.

Cursing, Russ turned and raced back inside. The shooter would likely get away, but Russ didn’t care. Right now, he had to make sure the diversion hadn’t been created so that someone could get to Julia.

He jabbed the elevator button, but when it didn’t come immediately, he headed for the stairs. He took them two and three at a time. With his heart pounding and a death grip on his gun, he went as fast as he could, because he knew that Julia’s life might depend on it.

When he reached the stairwell door of the third floor, he eased it open and looked around to make sure he wasn’t about to be ambushed. There was no one lurking around—and that included Toby.

The last time Russ had seen him, the agent had been standing in the doorway of Julia’s suite. Russ prayed he’d gone inside.

Russ made his way up the hall toward the suite, and he silently cursed again when he saw the door slightly ajar. Still no sign of Toby, but that all changed when Russ elbowed open the door and saw the agent lying on the floor. Judging from the marks on his neck, someone had used a stun gun on him.

He heard the sounds of the struggle then.

Julia!

He didn’t yell out her name, though he had to fight his instincts to do just that. Instead, Russ hurried to the bedroom and took aim.

She wasn’t there.

His gaze slashed to the adjoining bathroom, and he heard a loud thump. Maybe a punch. Maybe something much worse.

Russ knew he should try to sneak up on whoever was attacking Julia, but he raced toward the bathroom instead. What he saw confirmed his worst fears.

Julia was on the floor, kicking and struggling. She was trying to break free of the goon looming over her who had a hand locked on her arm. The man reached for something in his back pocket.

A stun gun.

Russ lurched forward and used the butt of his gun to bash the man in the back of his head.

It stopped the guy from getting that stun gun, but he whirled around, and he reached for the handgun that Russ had seen tucked in the back waistband of his pants.

“Please go for it,” Russ insisted, though he wasn’t sure how he managed to speak. He wanted to kill this guy. Something slow and painful. But he’d settle for a quick kill if he drew that gun. “Give me a reason to put some bullets in you.”

The man froze, and Russ’s expression must have conveyed that he would have no hesitation pulling the trigger. A moment later, the guy lifted his hands in the air, surrendering.

Russ couldn’t see Julia. The room was small, and the big goon was blocking his view, but he did know she was on the floor. And she wasn’t moving.

“Julia, are you hurt?” Russ called out to her, without taking his attention off her attacker. Part of him was still hoping her attacker would make one wrong move so this would end right here.

“I’m okay,” she said.

But she wasn’t. Russ could hear the fear in her voice. “Stay put for just a second,” he instructed, and he motioned for the guy to follow him, as he backed out and into the bedroom.

“Facedown on the floor,” Russ ordered. “Put your hands on the back of your head.” The moment the goon complied, Russ took the guy’s weapon and did a quick pat down to make sure there wasn’t a backup gun.

Then Russ glanced over his shoulder at Julia. He was scared of what he might see.

She was ghostly pale, as he’d expected, and her chest was pumping as if starved for air. Thankfully, he didn’t see any injuries. But mentally, the injuries were there. She had no doubt just relived the attack that had nearly killed her all those years ago.

Julia caught onto the bathtub to steady herself. She got up from the floor, but not easily. Her legs were obviously wobbly, but she finally managed to stand. Russ motioned for her to wait in the bathroom doorway while he called for backup.

Because the guy on the bedroom floor might be wired so that someone, like Milo, could be listening in, Russ didn’t identify himself as an agent. He made the call to headquarters and asked for help. Russ had no idea how long it would take someone to respond, especially since the local police were likely tied up with the bogus shooter. He didn’t want the locals anyway. This was almost certainly connected to the Richardson baby, and Russ wanted to keep it in-house, if possible.

He thought of Toby and considered having Julia check on the agent, but it was too big a risk. Having the door unlocked was a risk, too. The shooter who had created the diversion could double back to help his comrade.

“Follow me, Julia,” Russ told her.

He kept her at his side, with his gun aimed at the attacker on the floor. Once he was in the doorway of the bedroom, he could see Toby. Thankfully, the man was starting to move.

“Lock the door,” he told Julia. And Russ kept an eye on her until that was done. She went to Toby to help him. That freed up Russ to get started with the goon he still wanted to kill.

“Who are you?” Russ asked.

When he didn’t answer, Russ gave the guy another whack on the head with his gun. “Who are you?” Russ repeated.

“I’ll answer questions when the cops get here,” he snarled.

“There won’t be any cops,” Russ informed him.

“Feds, then. Like you.”

Russ almost cursed, but he hadn’t missed the tinge of doubt in the man’s tone.

“What makes you think I’m a fed?”

He made a sound to indicate the answer was obvious. “You were at the police station. I know all the local cops, including the guys they have undercover, and you’re not one of them. That means you’re probably a fed.”

“I’m not a fed. And there won’t be anybody coming to arrest you.” He jammed his gun against the man’s head. “This is between you and me.”

Because he was watching him so closely, he saw the sweat pop out on the man’s forehead. “You’re lying,” the guy said.

Since that seemed an open invitation to prove him wrong, Russ whacked the guy upside the head again, and he made sure it was harder than the others. “I’m not lying. And I’m not lying either when I say I’ll kill you. After all, you just tried to hurt my woman. I’m not very happy about that, and if you’re not willing to give me answers, then I might was well finish you off right now and get to work disposing of your body.”

The man angled his eyes at Russ. “You wouldn’t.”

Russ focused in on the image of Julia fighting for her life against this moron. “Oh yeah, I would.”

More sweat popped out on the guy’s face, and the seconds crawled by. “All right,” he finally mumbled. “I work for Milo.”

Of course he did. That also meant Milo must have someone watching the police station after all. That’s what had likely prompted this attack. “Tell me something I don’t know. Why did Milo send you?”

When the man started to shake his head, Russ rammed the gun even harder against his temple. He winced in pain.

“Milo wanted your woman,” the man said, still grimacing.

Russ didn’t ease up on the pressure he was delivering to the guy’s head. “Why?”

“I don’t know. That’s the truth,” he quickly added, when Russ dug the gun in even deeper. “If you want to know why, then you need to ask Milo.” Good advice.

Russ grabbed the guy’s cell phone that was partially sticking out of his pocket. “Call Milo for me,” Russ ordered.
“Now.”

Chapter Thirteen

Julia caught onto Toby’s arm and helped him to his feet. He was shaky, just as she still was, but he didn’t seem injured. He took out his gun and made his way to the bedroom. Julia followed him and spotted Russ crouched down next to the man who’d attacked her. Russ had his gun jammed against the man’s head, and Toby took aim at the man as well.

She had an instant of panic when she saw her attacker’s face. Hardly more than a flash, before she felt the rage. How dare this monster try to hurt them.

Russ looked back at her, and a dozen unspoken things passed between them. He was worried about her. She was worried about him, too. But he was staying in character, being Jimmy Marquez, the black-market baby broker.

“I’m sorry,” Toby told her. And then Russ. “He came at me with a stun gun, and I didn’t have time to stop him before he popped me with it.”

“Don’t worry,” Julia assured him. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Russ nodded, as if to say ditto, but he kept his attention on her attacker. “Bozo here says that Milo sent him,” Russ explained to Toby and Julia.

That didn’t surprise her, but it did surprise her that the man was frantically pressing in numbers on his cell phone. He then handed the cell to Russ.

“Milo,” Russ greeted. “I’d like to know why you sent one of your dogs after Julia.”

She wanted to know the same thing, and inched closer. However, Toby nudged her back, probably because he didn’t want her too close to the man on the floor.

“Really?” Russ said, with thick sarcasm dripping from his voice. “And you thought the best way to make sure I cooperated with you was to piss me off?” The intense anger merged with his sarcasm.

As upset as Julia was about the attack, she prayed it wouldn’t affect the Richardson baby’s rescue. In fact, she was even more convinced that Russ and she had to do whatever was necessary to save the child, because Milo was a dangerous man.

“You thought the reason Julia and I were at the police station was because I’m a fed?” Russ questioned.

Julia hoped Russ could convince Milo that it wasn’t true.

“Well, you were wrong again. I’m not a fed, and we weren’t talking to the police,” Russ continued. “We were there because that’s where Sylvia asked us to meet her.” He paused, obviously listening to what Milo had to say. “Why don’t you ask
her
why she wanted to meet us? Are you losing control of your people, Milo? You might want to keep your assistant on a shorter leash.”

It was risky, telling Milo about Sylvia, and could ultimately put the woman in danger. On the other hand, this might rid Milo of some suspicions about Russ and Julia; and after all, Sylvia worked for Milo, so she obviously knew what kind of man he was.

“Julia won’t be at the meeting,” Russ insisted. “No. That’s not negotiable.” Another pause. “Fine, then go ahead and get another buyer who’ll cough up two million dollars.”

Her heart nearly stopped. But Russ just stayed silently on the line.

“I thought you’d see the light,” Russ said, a faint smile of celebration shaping his mouth. “Having Julia there would only complicate things.”

So she wouldn’t be at the meeting. That was good. Well, it was, as long as the deal closed as planned and the Richardson baby was returned.

“No. You’re not getting your gunman back,” Russ added, a moment later.

The guy on the floor cursed and probably thought he was about to die.

“I’ll release him when and if this deal is closed,” Russ said. “The meeting happens tomorrow morning, at nine o’clock. Without Julia. Just me, you and the baby. I’ll call you with a location. In the meantime, make sure all your hired guns stay far away from me and what’s mine.”

Russ slapped the phone shut and put it in his pocket— perhaps so he could send it to the FBI for analysis; or maybe he just didn’t want her attacker to be able to use it.

Toby went to the man and used the guy’s own leather belt to create a hand restraint. He caught onto the back of his shirt and hauled him to his feet. “I’ll take care of him. You’ll be okay?”

It took Julia a moment to realize Toby was talking to her. She settled for a nod. No, she wouldn’t be okay anytime soon, but she wasn’t about to fall apart, either.

Toby led the man out of the suite, and Russ caught onto her arm to lead her out as well. When he pulled the keycard from his pocket, that’s when she knew they were going back to the suite where they’d met with the Richardsons.

“We’ll be safe there?” she asked.

“As safe as I can make it. Once Toby’s taken care of that piece of slime, I’ll have him set up a decoy. I want Milo or anyone else watching to think we’ve left.”

“And what about the thermal equipment?”

“The police confiscated it when they picked up Milo’s man. They haven’t released the equipment, and they won’t—not until the FBI clears them to do that.”

That didn’t mean Milo couldn’t use new equipment, but no need to borrow trouble. “Did Silas really fire those shots?”

Russ shook his head. “I don’t think so. I believe Milo hired a gunman who looks like Silas to set up a diversion.”

She heard the doubt in his explanation. She saw it, too, in his eyes. So Silas might still turn out to be a problem for them.

Russ got her into the suite, shut the door and double-locked it. He spun around and faced her. “If you want to hit me, go ahead.”

Surprised, Julia just stared at him. “Hit you for what?”

“For nearly getting you killed.”

Okay. So, that’s where this conversation was going. Russ was about to take a guilt trip, and this particular journey wouldn’t help either of them.

“Milo did this. Not you,” she reminded him. “I’m not hurt, and you got to me in time, before that man could kidnap me.”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t enough. I’ve added another nightmare to your dreams.”

Hardly. If anything, he’d taken some of those nightmares away. And that’s when she realized what she had to do. It wasn’t even a tough decision. In fact, it would be a relief on many levels.

Julia went to Russ, pulled him into her arms and kissed him.

R
USS WASN’T EXACTLY SURPRISED
by the kiss. If Julia hadn’t come to him at that exact moment, he would have been heading in her direction. She just saved them a few steps and moments.

And suddenly every moment seemed to count.

The kiss started hot and hard, and it only got more intense. Russ knew it would, but first he had to give Julia an out. He had to be sure this was what she really wanted, even if it was going to hurt if she put an end to this with just some kisses.

He tore his mouth from hers and looked her straight in the eyes. “This could be about panic. You could be—”