FEARLESS (18 page)

He took his hat off and twisted it in his hands, hoping for the concerned look. It was foreign to him but he’d seen it in others often enough. “Normally I would not ask you something like this, but is there any chance you have a number or address?”

The last of her friendliness came down with a crash. “We’re not close.”

He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. He glanced at the cell again and decided that was the answer. If she didn’t play along with the plan in his head and invite Davis here, Clive would kill her and come up with another way to make the meeting happen.

He took another shot at the role of worried friend. “I understand. Really, he’s not the one I need. I have to get in touch with Lara.”

“You know Lara?” The older woman’s frown disappeared. “She’s lovely.”

Now Clive had his way in. He would have bet Davis was the woman’s weakness. Turned out Lara was the answer. Again.

“A very interesting woman.” Clive had to force his mind to even come up with that. He had a lot of words to describe Lara, and none of them worked in this scenario. “But I don’t want to bother you.”

Clive played the last card. He turned as if he was ready to move on.

Mrs. Winston bought it. “Why do you need her?”

Clive turned around with that same friendly expression plastered on his face. He was going to need a shower after this.

“I can’t really say.” He leaned in as if sharing a big secret. “See, it’s a family matter. The kind you can’t talk about over the phone.”

The woman’s hand went to her chest. “An illness?”

Worked for Clive. “I’m afraid so.”

“Oh, no. The poor thing.” Mrs. Winston lifted the phone, even gave it a look then let her hand drop again.

“I thought if she was with Davis, he could help her through it. He’s very protective of her.” Which was why Clive planned to kill him last. Imagining the guilt and shame on that moron’s face while the knife sliced into his woman’s perfect skin had kept Clive going all day. It would play like dinner theater. “Maybe I can check back. I just worry it could be too late.”

He dropped the comment but didn’t leave. The woman was near tears with worry over Lara. After a few seconds of hesitation, she said the words he’d been waiting for.

“You know, I could call him and see if he’s nearby.”

Clive tried to look confused, although he wasn’t exactly sure what that one would look like. “I thought you didn’t have a number.”

“I can’t guarantee it will work.” She gestured toward her house. “Have a seat on my porch while you wait. I can see if he’s close enough to stop by and bring Lara with him. There’s no need to upset Lara in the car.”

Yes, Clive certainly wouldn’t want to upset Lara. He smiled at the older woman as he debated the pros and cons of letting her live. “You’ve been very helpful. Thank you.”

Chapter Nineteen

They didn’t have time for a side trip but Lara insisted. When the call had come from Mrs. Winston fifteen minutes ago, Davis had picked up. She talked about making him a pie and leaving it on his table. It all sounded innocent, but the comment sent a fissure of panic through Lara. The last time anyone was in that house someone had died. She had no idea what state the place was in, but she knew Mrs. Winston was too old and too fragile healthwise to take that sort of shock.

Figuring out what had Pax and Davis sniping at each other before they’d left Corcoran was the bigger mystery. The argument had ended when Davis told Pax to wait at the house for Connor then ordered Joel to keep digging into the financial aspects of the killings. That left her and Ben riding along while Davis drove in silence.

The pulse of discomfort had her tugging on her seat belt. Because she didn’t know what had happened or what had Davis staring at the road with a practiced blank expression, she tried for neutral conversation. “Do you usually see Mrs. Winston every day?”

“When I’m home.”

So much for conversation. Clearly something had happened. As usual, she was the last to know. “Okay, then.”

“This is an in and out, right?” Ben scanned the area as they pulled onto the far end of Davis’s street. “I’m not comfortable with any of us hanging around town until we finish driving this thing to ground.”

Lara had to chuckle at that one. “Not to scare you, but you already sound like one of them.”

“Who?” Ben asked.

“The Corcoran Team.”

“She’s a nice old lady who is probably lonely.” Davis’s flat voice cut through the amusement and weighed the air back down again. “Really, I think she took a liking to Lara and wants to see her again. She was clear about bringing you along.”

“That’s sweet.” Would have been sweeter if Davis bothered to look at her when he’d said it.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “She told me to pull up in the back...”

Ben leaned forward between the seats. “What is it?”

Davis slowed the car and pulled it to a stop on the side of the street. Gone was the blank demeanor. Now he shifted around and looked over the area with the watchful eye she’d come to know. “How could I miss this?” he asked.

Lara knew the tone, too. Dreaded it, recoiled from it and hoped she’d never hear it again. It signaled something scary and dangerous, and just hearing it made the bile rush up the back of her throat.

She didn’t want to know but she asked the question anyway. “What are we talking about?”

Davis thumped the heel of his hand against the steering wheel. “The back. Mrs. Winston is telling me someone is at the back of her house.”

“Maybe it’s just—”

He finally looked at her with dead eyes and a face drawn tight with worry. “She thinks I’m a spy and that this is some sort of helpful game.”

Ben watched the street, his gaze hesitating on two men standing near the stop sign up ahead. “You think our killer is there?”

“It was someone who didn’t feel right to her.” Davis was talking out loud but the words sounded as though the conversation was playing in his head. “Someone who made her want to warn us.”

Ben gave a humph. “Way to go, Mrs. Winston.”

Davis glanced into his rearview window and put the car back in gear. “I’m taking you back.”

Lara slapped her hand over his and held the car in Park. He’d break the hold soon, so she rushed to get her point out. “No. She could be hurt...or worse. You’re good at plans, so come up with one.”

“You’ve been through enough.” His voice wavered on a thin line between concern and frustration.

She’d heard it before but this time it wasn’t going to work. They could call in reinforcements and shoot the place down so long as Mrs. Winston got out of there alive.

Lara could not live with one more death on her hands and certainly not that of an old woman with a cute crush on Davis. “We’re going in.”

They all sat there. Davis didn’t drive away but he didn’t turn the car off either.

“Wasting time.” Ben’s head popped up between them. When Davis let out a noise that sounded oddly like a growl, Ben shot back. “You know I’m right.”

Davis swore. “We do what I say and how I say. Got it?”

Before they agreed he’d started the car moving again.

* * *

T
HIS
WAS
A
death wish. Davis couldn’t help but think that as he and Lara walked up to Mrs. Winston’s front door. Lara wore the one protective vest he had in the trunk with his long-sleeve shirt over it. It was large enough to hide the bulk but it dwarfed her. In this heat, it would likely have her sweating any second.

She’d put up a token protest about being the only one with the added protection, but he wasn’t in the mood for an argument. Ben ended any discussion when he told her to hurry up. Davis liked that guy’s style.

In the tense second before he knocked on the door, he thought about asking her the question kicking around in his mind and messing him up. Hell, he’d been so messed up over Lara that he almost missed the clue from Mrs. Winston, the clue he gave to her never thinking this situation could happen.

He’d found Lara’s hospital record and it had him reeling. Well, the bill and admittance information. He was still waiting for a copy of the medical records to show up on his cell. With all the privacy restrictions, that information was buried and hard to access. Being able to tell Joel and put him on the task would have cut through the trouble. But because Davis was going it alone, everything took longer.

“Are you okay?” she whispered without moving her head.

He decided to answer the one he expected her to ask. “We’re going to be fine.”

He reached out and rang the doorbell. He had a key but he didn’t know where anyone stood inside and didn’t want to put Mrs. Winston in additional danger.

The door opened and her worried face peeked out. “Davis?”

Clearly she thought he’d messed up the signal. She couldn’t know Ben had circled around the house and would come through the back as their element of surprise. “You said you had cake for me. Coconut, I believe.”

Some of the tension left her face when he mentioned the one thing in this world she was allergic to. A wobbly smile came next.

To make sure she understood he got it, he nodded to her and motioned with his head for her to step to the side. “May we come in?”

“Both of you?”

Davis had asked the same question a dozen times while walking up the porch steps. “Lara would like to say hello.”

The smell of mothballs hit him like a pan to the face the second they stepped inside. He knew from experience Mrs. Winston was a fan. The harsh scent mixed with a hint of Earl Grey tea as she walked them through the family room.

Collections of glass figurines and other knickknacks filled cabinet after cabinet lining the dining room. The only thing Mrs. Winston had more of was detective novels. They were stacked around every room, making the place more of a maze than a livable space.

With each step Davis scanned the area, his gaze moving over every corner as he waited for their unwanted and very violent guest to appear. Clearly the guy had something special planned and was drawing out the moment.

The emergency call had gone out to the rest of the team right before they stepped inside, but Davis hoped they wouldn’t be needed...and wouldn’t find dead bodies when they got there.

Davis kept his hand on Lara’s back and more than once had to propel her forward when her steps faltered. He didn’t blame her. Walking into a guaranteed shoot-out was dumb. If the attacker was smart he’d lie in wait and hit them with a sniper shot.

But this didn’t feel professional to Davis. This had turned personal and that might be their only chance. If the guy wanted a final moment, he’d have to show himself.

No sooner had Davis thought it than he heard the soft press of a shoe behind him. He would have missed the sound if he hadn’t been waiting for it. He shifted just as the guy leaped forward. Instead of landing on Davis’s back, his momentum carried him forward and into Mrs. Winston.

The small woman went flying. Lara reached out to keep the older woman from crashing into a cabinet in the corner between the dining room and kitchen. The catch gave the attacker the extra second he needed to smash into Lara’s path.

Before Davis could get a clean shot off, the attacker had his hand wrapped around Lara’s upper arm and Mrs. Winston at the other end of his gun. He stood behind their bodies like the weasel he was. “It looks like I have your women.”

Davis kept his gun aimed while his second weapon burned through his shirt and into the skin at the small of his back. “Let them go.”

“I don’t think so.” The attacker tugged Lara closer until her back pressed against his front. “It’s not as if this was an easy plan to set up.”

“You want me, then take me.”

“If only it were that simple.” He treated them all to a tsk-tsk sound. “No, see, your girlfriend here caused the problem.”

“How?” she asked as she tried to shift and put a bit more space between her body and that of her attacker.

“You showed up at Wasserman’s place early. The entire scene had been planned for you to arrive and find a break-in and dead body, but someone switched the meeting and I had to improvise.”

Lara swallowed as her pleading gaze fell on Davis. “Steve.”

“Ah, yes. He was very excited about turning in his friends.”

Davis tried not to look at Lara. He needed to stay focused, and seeing her crumble or her eyes fill with fear could snap his control. With Ben nearby as backup, the goal was to collect as much information as possible.

This guy in front of him was a hired gun, which meant someone paid his bill. Davis wanted to know who.

“The people you work for wanted to remove Steve from the scene.”

“I work for one person. One powerful person.” The attacker shot Davis a smile so full of evil venom it was good the women couldn’t see it. “But he is not your problem. I am.”

This guy had gone full tilt. Davis would bet he was working on his own now. No way would his boss have wanted this kind of bloodbath, not on top of the dead bodies piling up all over town.

Even knowing it wouldn’t work, Davis tried. From the way the women were listing and shifting around he knew he was running out of time. “Tell me the name and walk away. I’ll go after your boss and you can leave with whatever he paid you.”

“I’m still waiting for part of that, and Ms. Bart needs to die in order for me to collect.”

That was a very bad piece of news. The attacker still had a reason other than revenge or anger to come after Lara.

Davis rushed to take away the incentive. “If she dies, you can’t frame her for murder.”

“You are a smart one.”

Smart enough to have a contingency plan. Even now Ben slipped in the back door with his gun ready and slid into a small alcove, out of sight from this guy.

Davis switched the grip on his gun, holding his fingers up in a form of mock surrender. “We can think this through and come up with a solution.”

“I’ve got it covered.” The attacker began backing the women up, right into the kitchen doorway where Davis wanted him. “As I told you, I’m not working alone.”

A bolt of panic shot through Davis. That suggested another player. Someone else on the property. With the gun odds evened, Davis no longer had the same confidence in his plan. He could throw his body over one woman and shield her, but not both. Not realistically.

“You first.” The attacker motioned with the gun to Davis.

No way was he putting his back to this guy. Instead, Davis shuffled, keeping his gun steady and one slip from shooting. As he stepped into the kitchen, Ben came fully into view. He stood with narrowed eyes and a serious expression. As long as he could rapid fire, Davis didn’t care what the other man looked like.

Just as the attacker turned into the kitchen, Ben stepped out with his gun raised.

The attacker just smiled. “It’s about time you got here. I thought I would have to fight Mr. Weeks on my own.”

“Ben?”

Davis felt as confused as Lara sounded. His head spun as he conducted a fast rewind on every conversation and action from the past day. The guy showed up and things fell together. He was too good to be true.

“Interesting.” Davis shifted from confused to ticked off in a second. Whipping out his second gun, he aimed one at each of the other men in the room.

He thought he heard Mrs. Winston whimper, and the stunned looked on Lara’s face, all wide-eyed and pale, made Davis hate Ben even more.

Ben didn’t even flinch. He kept his gun on the attacker. “You’re lying.”

“You said you’d get him here, convince him his neighbor’s call was legitimate then do the ‘I’ll be your backup’ thing. It worked.”

The attacker’s words were convincing, delivered in a sure tone and without hesitation. Either he was a perfect liar or Ben was a plant. Davis went back and forth between the two possibilities. Until he decided, he planned on keeping a gun trained on each of them.

Ben shook his head. “He’s playing you, Davis. Don’t buy it.”

“He sounds pretty clear to me.” Davis waited for some sign. Any sign.

“What’s his name?” Lara asked.

The attacker tightened his hold on her arm until she hissed out a breath and her knees gave way. He ended with a little shake. “I didn’t tell you that you could talk.”

Davis jumped in before the guy could really hurt her. Yelling, he brought the attention back to him. “If he’s who you say he is—”

“I don’t have to prove myself to you.” The attacker glanced at Ben. “You want the young one or the old woman?”

“I’ll take the loser between them.”

Something about the way Ben had said it sounded genuine. If he was in on this, he should be moving. He had the element of surprise and could have ended this.

Davis wasn’t good at trust, but he was desperate enough to believe in Ben.

“Fine. I’ll decide.” The attacker pulled both women in closer and let them go. He stepped back as a second gun appeared out of nowhere.

The room moved in slow motion as he raised both weapons, aiming for the dead center on the backs of each woman.