Crazy Nights (The Barrington Billionaires Book 3) (14 page)

“
F
BI
,” Evie said loudly as she propped her hands up on her hips and glared at the men. Holding her hands there hid the tremble rolling though her body.

“What the fuck?” Marc said, looking her over like she’d just stumbled in there wearing a giant panda suit or something.

“You heard me,” she asserted as she stomped toward the men in the standoff. “I’m fucking FBI, and this shit is done now.” She’d had her ears pressed to the door trying to hear what had been going on inside and, though she missed much of it, she could tell it wasn’t going Emmitt’s way. If she was going to do something, she had to get her shit together and do it now.

“You brought in the Feds?” Marc asked, a cloud of anger overtaking his previously cocky face.

“No, they did.” Evie laughed as she pointed to the two men next to him. “It might be time to tighten up your hiring process. These two idiots waited outside my hotel, looking like a couple goons. I spotted them before I was even out of my car. If you’re going to send idiots to kidnap someone, make sure it isn’t a federal agent, and maybe tell them to shut up and not ramble on about the plan for ten minutes.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Marc asked, slapping the back of the closest man’s head violently. “The fucking girlfriend is a Fed? You couldn’t find that out before we went to pick her up?”

“No way she’s a Fed,” the man argued as he rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head. “Look at her.”

“I tailed them back here like I was following a half-blind grandmother coming home from the grocery store. I parked across the street for God’s sake.” She shook her head as though the incompetence was ridiculous.

“And how much backup do you have?” Marc asked, shoving one of his men forward to go look. “You sure you want to start this war?”

“No backup,” she shrugged. “Not yet. You have exactly eleven minutes to make this deal before I have a trigger word sent via email to the troops. But you’re right, I don’t want that to happen. I’m guessing you have plenty of contacts and inside men. How else could you stay off the radar this long? They’ll get you off on whatever we throw at you.”

“Right,” Marc said, his devilish smile returning.

“Although we’re not talking extortion or anything here. This is kidnapping. We’re talking actual kids, with cute little freckles and loose teeth. They might be a little less willing to stick their neck out for you on this one, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’d be fine,” Marc replied confidently.

“Nine minutes,” Evie said, looking at her watch. “So what’s easiest for both of us right now is you take your money. And we all walk away. I don’t have to do a mountain of paperwork, and you don’t have to find out whether or not your inside guys can help you out of a jam like this.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Marc asked, skeptically.

“You can find out in seven minutes if you want,” she said checking her watch again. “Or we can just get this over with. You end up with your money and everyone walks away.”

“Not everyone,” Marc said, gesturing with his chin over at Charles. “He stays. I can’t go around letting a guy like him walk away. I have a reputation to protect and he’s crossed me.”

“He comes,” Evie said, stepping forward. “I’m not having that on my conscience. I know what you’ll do to him. He comes or the deal’s off. Take your chances.”

“This piece of shit has fucked over dozens of people who want him dead. I’ve got him right here. He’s not walking away.”

Emmitt looked dumbstruck by Evie’s acting and presence and finally spoke up. “He’ll disappear. You can tell whatever story you want. He’ll be gone. He won’t pop up again.”

“Bullshit. He can’t help himself. He’ll be at a table in Vegas in less than a month. No deal.”

“He’ll disappear,” Emmitt said, shaking his father until he agreed. “You and any of your contacts will never see him again. “It’ll be over.”

Marc bit punishingly at his own lip as he thought it over. “I know where to find your family if he does show up again. You sure you want to take that kind of risk on a guy who can’t keep his word?”

“I don’t give a shit about his word,” Emmitt said. “It’s my word. He won’t be back. He won’t be anywhere that matters to you or anyone else.”

“Three minutes,” Evie said, trying to look frustrated by the time they were all taking.

Emmitt pressed on. “You’re not going to get a better way out of this. You know it. There’s a bag of money at your feet and a Fed willing to look the other way and save you at least a couple nights in jail while this gets swept under the rug. Take it.”

“Fuck,” Marc said angrily, shoving one of the men at his side toward the door behind them. “You get the money and make sure it’s all there. You get the girls and be careful of the mom. She’ll cut you if you give her the chance. Just tell them their ride’s here.”

Marc closed in on Evie, continuing to nibble his lip angrily. “I’m still not convinced you’re FBI. You look way too pretty to be a Fed. He reached up a hand and swept her blond hair back off her shoulder.

“I forgot to tell you the other part of the deal,” she said, stepping back. “Put a hand on me, and I’ll kick your nuts into your throat.” Emmitt was already charging forward but stopped suddenly at the sound of his niece calling his name.

“Hey girls,” Marc said cheerfully. “I told you someone you knew would be coming to get you. Did you like the movie?”

They nodded their heads, as Harlan held them close to her body, inching by her captors and shooting invisible daggers from her eyes. “Let’s go with Uncle Emmitt,” she croaked out as her eyes settled on her brother’s face. Evie nearly lost her breath at the moment that passed between them. She was bowled over by the depth to their exchange even though words didn’t pass between Emmitt and Harlan.

“Come on girls,” he said, opening his arms to them. “I’m going to take you home. Evie, will you take him?” Emmitt asked, practically tossing his father at her.

“Yes,” she said and watched as Charles tried to hide his cuffed hands from the girls.

“It all seems to be here,” one of the men called over as he riffled through the duffle bag of money.

“Fine,” Marc said with a deep intake of breath. “Don’t forget what I said about him.” He shot an accusing finger at Charles. “We could be right back here in a week.”

Harlan spun on her heel and charged at him. “Right back here?” she asked in a frantic demanding way. “You’d better hope I don’t figure out who the hell you are or what this was because I will spend every minute of my life trying to—”

Her words were cut short by Emmitt, hooking one arm around hers and yanking her backward. “It’s done,” he said flatly as he pulled her away. “We’re going.”

They all funneled out the small metal door, and Evie felt Emmitt move her in front of him, lingering for a moment in the building. “If it were you and me in an alley,” he said low but fiercely to Marc. “I’d spill your brain on the concrete before you could beg me to stop. You want to be the kind of guy who steals women and kids to get what you want? That’ll catch up with you. Don’t threaten me or my family again or I’ll make sure I find you in that alley.”

The door slammed behind them and Emmitt went into full ordering mode. “I don’t have car seats, but it doesn’t matter. Get them in my car now. Evie take him back to the hotel. Put him in my room, and don’t let him out of your sight.” He pulled the knife from his pocket and flipped the blade open. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, but do whatever you have to.”

“I’m not going to stab your father,” she said, pushing the knife away.

“Fine,” he said, looking like he already expected that to be her answer. He rounded the car, dragging his father with him and flung him down into the passenger seat. With a quick cock of his fist he knocked him in the back of the head sending his body slumping over. “You shouldn’t have a problem with him now.”

“Emmitt,” Harlan protested, but he shuttled her quickly into the car and sped off.

Evie fumbled her way into the driver’s seat and looked over at the slumped pile of a man whose hands were cuffed together. In this state, after hearing what she just did from Marc Azeela, she couldn’t help but wonder if her ideals about redemption were misplaced on a man like this. Everything had seemed so clear and so right just a few hours ago. Now all she wanted to do was crawl back into Emmitt’s arms and let him tell her everything was going to be all right. But as she drove off in the opposite direction from Emmitt, she felt far away from him in every way.

“
I
don’t understand
,” Harlan said for what felt like the hundredth time. When she wasn’t uttering the phrase his mother seemed to be.

“There isn’t much to understand,” Emmitt explained as he paced around the sitting room. “Dad burned a lot of people. They decided to outsource collecting the money to a guy with more persuasive tactics. They knew Mom’s family was wealthy and decided to use you and the girls to get Mom to pay.”

“Where did the money come from?” Harlan asked, a shiver running up her spine. “How did you get that much cash so fast?”

“Mathew,” he explained as he checked his watch. “Listen, the girls are in bed. I have security on every corner of the house. Mathew’s FBI contact will be here soon. I need to go deal with Dad.”

“Dad,” Harlan said solemnly. “Did he plan this?”

“He didn’t know,” Emmitt said, and he watched his mother swell with relief. “But this is still his doing. If he hadn’t gotten himself in this position, none of it would have happened. And if he can’t stay off the grid, they’ll come after you again.”

“How are you going to arrange that?” his mother asked, wringing her hands nervously. “He’ll gamble again. We know he can’t stop.”

“I’ll handle that. All I need from the two of you is to stay inside, listen to the security team, and call me if you have any problem.”

“I’m going to check on the girls,” his mother announced as she stepped over the threshold of the room, then back in and out again, whispering something.

“She’s rattled,” Harlan observed aloud.

“Aren’t you?” Emmitt asked, realizing this was the first minute he had alone with his sister since she’d been taken.

“I was pissed,” she admitted, “but I knew you would come. I never doubted for a second that the girls and I would walk out of there and find you waiting for us. That’s how you’re different from Dad. I didn’t have to doubt you.” She crossed the room and hugged him, squeezing him tightly. “You and Mom and Mathew are enough family. Even when you’re gone or being stupid, you’re enough family for the girls and me.”

“I’m sorry he wasn’t better,” Emmitt apologized. “I know you were hoping he was.”

“Hope’s great,” she sighed, “but too much of it can get you kidnapped.”

He pulled her away and looked at her as they both started to laugh. “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked. The jokes died down as his skepticism rose.

“I’m not,” she groaned as she flopped back on the couch. “My marriage wasn’t perfect, but at least I had a teammate. My one job is to protect my girls from harm, and today I failed them. Those men pulled up and I froze. Maybe I’m not enough on my own.”

“Bullshit,” Emmitt countered. “These weren’t normal circumstances today. They had guns and two hundred thousand reasons to be pissed. You did the right thing, and you kept them safe and calm. I know things suck right now, but you’re a good mother.”

Her face crumpled in tears as she tried to wave off his compliments.

“I’m serious. They are better off with you, just you, and that’s not going to change. This will all pass—the divorce, the shit with Dad—and you’ll be back on your feet.”

“Where will Dad go? Will I see him again?”

“After this, do you want to?” Emmitt asked, stunned by the idea.

“You’re going to have kids one day. With any luck it will be with Evie, as long as you don’t screw that up. When you do, you’ll understand why I still want to have the possibility of maybe seeing Dad again. I’ll never rely on him again, and I’ll never really trust him, but he’s a part of me. He always will be. Just like no matter how much I screw up, my daughters hopefully will always believe I’m worth knowing.”

“I can’t make any promises right now,” Emmitt apologized. “One thing at a time. You’re safe. The girls are safe. Let me take it from here.”

“You were right about one thing.” Harlan sighed.

“Just one?” he asked with a goading rise of his brow.

“Don’t get cocky,” she scolded. “You were right that it must not be easy to see all the flaws in people so clearly. It must be a burden to know people are so broken.”

“It gets the job done.” Emmitt shrugged as he slipped his keys from his pocket and headed for the door.

“You could come around more,” Harlan said as passively as she could. It wasn’t easy for her to keep her temper or not dig deeper into this argument with Emmitt. “We love having you. And Evie seems like a great girl. I was a bitch to her that first night, and she didn’t hold it against me. Those types of people are basically the only kind I can be friends with.”

“Evie is a great person. She was the one who heard the men talk and followed them. Without her, we would have never known where you were. She took a huge risk tonight and luckily it turned out all right. But I don’t know that she and I will ever find enough solid common ground to build something on.”

“Don’t get so deep about it,” Harlan scoffed. “People can tell you anything. They will. They’ll go along with your opinions, and they’ll pretend for as long as it takes to get you caught up in them. Smoke and mirrors. If she’s willing, right out of the gate, to argue with a man like you, then she’s worth holding on to.”

He nodded his head as his eyes darted away. There was a chance Harlan was completely right in her assessment, but Emmitt knew it didn’t change much. He was still the guy who tore things down, and Evie would always be the kind of woman using her last bit of strength to hold things together. In the end one of them would always end up disappointed or hurt.

“Drive safely,” Harlan said as she waved him off. “Dinner here tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” he said, avoiding the commitment. He already knew this time tomorrow he’d be gone.