Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) (29 page)

The telephone ringing in one of the bank manager’s offices made for a blissful distraction. Devyn drew oxygen into her lungs and suppressed the flashing lights that had started to form the moment she’d had to avoid getting hit by the broken plastic pieces currently on the floor behind her.

“Answer it,” Brian ordered, motioning her to the right of the building where Jack Dixon’s office was located. It also happened to be by the man himself and Devyn started to think of a way to get the knife from him as she took a hesitant step in his direction. She still held the manila folder in her hand as she cautiously continued to close the distance. Brian was close behind her, the barrel of his shotgun too close for comfort. “You tell them that I won’t speak to anyone until they are willing to give me confirmation of Kilgore and Linney’s death. Do you hear me?”

“Yes. I’ve got it, Brian,” Devyn managed to get out, wincing in frustration when she had to walk past Mr. Dixon without the chance to grab the weapon. She finally made it to the desk and shifted slightly so that she could see Brian while answering the phone. “Hello?”

“Devyn? Are you all right?”

“Yes, sir.” Devyn exhaled her response to Gunny, wanting to close her eyes at the relief washing over her knowing Trigger and his men were outside and doing everything they could to find a way to end this. “Everyone is fine so far.”

“No more talking,” Brian ordered, pointing the barrel of his twelve-gauge directly at her face. She tensed when his finger touched the trigger ever so lightly, almost a caress as he drew his finger across it. “Tell them what I said for you to tell them and then hang the fuck up.”

“Um, Brian would like confirmation of Micah and Dalton’s…death,” Devyn managed to say over Gunny. He was making sure she had knowledge of what was transpiring outside. “Did they die in the explosions he set for them or did they…”

“Keep talking,” Gunny advised in a calming manner, achieving his goal. “Trigger is making his way inside through the ventilation shaft. Keep Gathright facing the front of the building and do your best to distract him to give Trigger the best chance at the element of surprise. You’re Gathright’s ace, sweetheart. He let it slip earlier that he thought you figured it out, which is why he changed his plan. He knows if he hurts you or the other hostages in any way we’ll storm this place immediately, so he plans to keep you alive until he has confirmation that Kilgore and Linney are dead. We won’t give him that satisfaction or provocation just so he can hurt the rest of you. You tell him nothing about Linney or Kilgore. As far as we all know, they’re still safe at their residences. You make him believe that you have no idea because we don’t know yet. Give Trigger the time he needs to get inside.”

“I’ll let him know, sir.” Devyn gently set the receiver back into its cradle, knowing exactly what she had to do now. She was literally nauseous, but it was better than being dead. She sent a silent prayer up to Joey, asking for his guidance. “They don’t know whether or not Micah or Dalton have been hurt or killed. They’re sending people over to their places as we speak, but regular officers won’t walk into a bomb situation without specialized technicians.”

“That can’t be right,” Brian argued, shaking his head vigorously while his brow deepened in displeasure. “I rigged it so that there wouldn’t be any survivors. Dalton Linney and Micah Kilgore should be dead. They’re lying. I was successful. I scored another three pointer. Me. I was dead on.”

Devyn recalled when Brian had indicated while talking to Gunny that he’d thought she might have discovered who was responsible for her brother’s death. She must have said something to make him believe that when he’d been installing the air conditioning unit, but she had no idea what she’d stumbled across or done to indicate she’d suspected him.

Trigger coming to town definitely had not helped the situation, but no one would ever have known who was responsible had John not shown up. No wonder Brian had tried to kill Trigger. Brian had effectively set up the crime scenes to point in other directions and he’d been quite successful…until now.

“I know those men out there, Brian,” Devyn assured him, taking tentative steps toward the office door. She glanced down once she was close enough to see Mr. Dixon’s lower body and noticed his right hand was still underneath his leg…with the very thing she needed. “They wouldn’t lie. If Micah and Dalton were dead, they would tell you flat out. After all, that’s all you want…confirmation. Right? And then you’ll let everyone here go and this whole thing can be resolved.”

Devyn understood there wasn’t a chance in hell Brian was going to let them live. He didn’t answer her as he scrutinized her from head to toe, assessing her for any lies she might be spilling, reading her body language the best he could. Devyn held her breath and maintained eye contact until he finally took a step back, allowing her to exit the office. She took another two steps before allowing her right ankle to give way, doing her best to make her fall appear natural.

“Oh!” Devyn cried out as she landed hard on her hands and knees, the thin carpet not giving in any way.

Her palms immediately began to burn when the scrapes reopened. She ignored the sharp pain as she scrambled to reach for the pocketknife. She’d purposefully dropped her manila folder on the floor next to Mr. Dixon’s leg and he didn’t hesitate to relinquish the small weapon. She frantically scrambled to get it between her fingers before she stood up, realizing she wasn’t sure when she should create a diversion to distract Brian from hearing anything that might be going on somewhere else in the building. Where the hell was the ventilation shaft Gunny had mentioned?

“Get back over here,” Brian directed in a tone that indicated he didn’t have time for her theatrics. At least he was facing the front. That was one thing she didn’t have to worry about. “We wait. It’s only a matter of time before they call back to say that Micah and Dalton are both dead and gone.”

*

Trigger maintained even
breathing as he worked his way down the ventilation shaft suspended from the nylon climbing rope, doing his best not to make any sounds that would most certainly carry into the bank. It was a tight fit and his shoulders literally slid against the dusty square steel shaft inch by inch, but eventually he made it to the cross ventilation shaft just above the bank’s false ceiling. A large rectangular vent provided access below to one of the offices. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Devyn’s voice, but he still had a few choices to make on how to proceed from here.

“…a bomb situation without specialized technicians.”

Devyn was to the right of him, but it sounded as if she were walking away from his position. He remained motionless as he tried to gauge everyone’s location. He’d memorized the blueprint of this building. There were three offices along this shaft, along with the vault on this side of the two-prong layout. The other side of the building contained restrooms and two more management offices. The drive-thru was located in the back of the building.

“…should be dead. They’re lying. I was successful. I scored another three pointer. Me. I was dead on.”

Gunny must have spoken to Devyn somehow, garnering Trigger more time to figure out how to end this hostage situation. From what he’d seen inside, the bank employees—along with his father—were lined up against the wall in a sitting position. Each of the offices on this side of the building had glass windows overlooking the main area where he would be seen should he try to climb down through one of the ceiling vents.

“…would tell you flat out. After all, that’s all you want…confirmation. Right? And then you’ll let everyone here go and this whole thing can be resolved.”

Devyn was keeping Brian distracted, which could only mean Gunny had also told her to keep the man facing the front of the building. This was Trigger’s chance to make his way past the false ceiling to the ground below. He didn’t waste time, although he very methodically pushed down the corner of the cool air distribution vent. It had a spring return that allowed access to the cover for cleaning. He was careful not to make any hasty movements that would result in giving away his presence.

Trigger had just pushed the vent insert completely open when he heard what sounded like a cry from Devyn. His heart accelerated and he strained to hear for anything that would indicate Gathright had done something to hurt her.

“Get back over here.”

Trigger silently eased his body down and quietly placed the soles of his boots on the top of a desk below him. He didn’t stop moving until he was kneeling behind the desk to give him some cover. He wished like hell he had the two-way earpiece he’d come to rely on in these types of situations. Going in blind wasn’t what he preferred.

“Have you thought about what would happen if Micah or Dalton actually escape your plan?” Devyn asked, causing Trigger to shake his head at the antagonizing question. Distracting didn’t mean she had to provoke. It was damned hard to treat this as any other hostage situation when the woman he loved was on the receiving end. “They’re good guys, Brian. You know that. What happened was in the past and—”

“They ruined my whole fucking life!” Brian yelled back, clearly agitated with Devyn’s attempt to end this.

Trigger took the opportunity to peer around the desk and locate his target as Devyn kept up the conversation. This wasn’t how he would have wanted her to keep Gathright occupied, but it was what he had to deal with. He drew his weapon out of his holster and planned to wait until…

Fuck! Trigger had no choice but to give himself away when Gathright advanced rapidly on Devyn, pushed to his limit by the anger coursing through him. She’d riled him to the point that he might not wait for his plan to conclude the way he wanted. It was now or never.

“Drop it, Brian,” Trigger yelled out and managing to take Gathright by surprise enough to stop his advance or intent to shoot Devyn. Unfortunately, it wasn’t sufficient to prevent him from grabbing her and using her as a shield. “You don’t want to do this. Think of your family. Your father. Your mother. This can end peacefully. All you have to do is let Devyn go and lower your weapon.”

Devyn was standing on her tiptoes as she used her right hand to steady herself by wrapping her fingers around Brian’s beefy forearm. He wasn’t small, by any means, and his height put her at a disadvantage. The papers she’d held dropped to the floor.

“You son of a bitch,” Brian spit out, jerking Devyn closer to him if that were even possible. Trigger focused solely on his target, waiting for the perfect moment to squeeze the trigger on his Kimber. He was in his element…the best of the best in close combat. He pushed aside the fact that it was Devyn in front of the tango he was trying to eliminate. He couldn’t make eye contact with her and then do what he had to do. He had to hope she had enough trust in him to get them out of this alive. “You’re just as bad as the rest of them. You knew what Micah and Dalton did and yet you said nothing…to save what?”

Trigger wasn’t going to get into a debate about what was right and wrong. They had been teenagers. They’d all done bad things and Brian was no exception. He didn’t own up to his own mistakes at the time, such as spreading rumors about Sara James giving it up in the back seat of his Chevy or when he’d pranked some of the football players. That alone had resulted in two boys being suspended from school for a week. No one was innocent, but no one deserved to be killed in cold blood over mistakes made back in high school.

“Brian, I’m going to tell you one more time to release Devyn and lower your weapon.” Something caught Trigger’s eye, but he refused to look away from his target. What the hell did Devyn have in her hand? Was that a pocketknife? Shit. Trigger carefully took a step forward and hoped like hell she didn’t do something he couldn’t control. “There is still time to—”

Shit. Devyn pulled back and slammed the small blade into Gathright’s thigh. The blast of his shotgun rang out at the same time Trigger squeezed his namesake. The recoil of his weapon was nothing compared to the blow he took to the chest. All oxygen left his body as the force took his strength. His legs gave out as he heard Devyn calling his name. He then descended into darkness.

‡