Positively Criminal (17 page)

After she danced, she’d returned to the dressing room as planned, nodding to her bodyguard on the way inside. He’d returned the gesture, skillfully attempting to hide his interest in her costume. So, she’d thrown in an extra toss of one hip and a wink over one shoulder as she left him.

The moment the door closed behind her, things took a turn.

Bri ran both hands across her brow and willed herself to think hard. She remembered hearing a
thump
against the front entrance door that captured her attention and before she could analyze the situation, the back door opened. Stephan Lombardy and a giant of a man she assumed to be his bodyguard entered.

She hadn’t been alarmed, really, just surprised. In her tenure at the
Velvet Glove
, the owner rarely made an appearance. In fact, she’d only seen him a total of two or three times. He’d given her a very charming smile and a kiss to the back of her knuckles and then asked if she’d be interested in performing a second time. She’d politely declined. Mr. Lombardy had laughed, the bodyguard stepped in front of her.

From that moment, her mind became completely blank.

She swallowed hard, partly to gather courage but mostly to digest the fact she owed Jake a big apology – a whopping one. First things first, though – he wouldn’t get his apology until she was good and ready. She rolled her eyes at her own stubbornness; when she was good and ready and free from the ropes.

Her bracelet tickled the surface of her skin as she wiggled her wrists from side to side and then in small circles in an attempt to loosen the knots. When that technique didn’t work, she tugged and pulled with her teeth. Her progress was slow but finally they loosened enough to free her hands. She eased herself to stand, hesitating a few seconds to dispel a sudden wave of dizziness, then she moved her hands along the cold metal wall as she walked until she finally reached door. She reached out at waist-level and turned a knob, fully expecting to find it locked. Instead the orb squeaked and a sliver of light blinded her when it sneaked through.

She waited for her vision to clear and then peered further out the door. Several other rooms lined a hallway that connected the makeshift prison cells to a large, empty room. The male voices gathered strength down the hallway.

Bri inched her way out of the door and closed it softly. She tiptoed to the neighboring door and placed an ear against it. When she didn’t hear anything, she moved to the next door. Her heart pounded when very faint female voices seeped through the silence. She turned the knob, again unlocked. Now extremely confused, she slipped inside and the voices stopped.

“Hello?” She spoke softly, hoping her voice wouldn’t carry through the steel. “I’m here to help you.”

“Bri?”

Bri locked her knees to keep them from buckling when she recognized the voice immediately. “Sunny? Is that you?”

“Yes. How’d you find us?”

“Us? Who else is here?”

“Just me and Melissa.”

“Are either of you hurt?”

“No, we’re okay, just scared.”

Despite her fear, incredible relief wrapped her body. At least Sunny and Melissa were here. Unharmed and alive. “I managed to find the way out of my
suite
.”

“How?”

“Actually, I simply turned the knob and left the room.”

Melissa’s voice wavered. “No need for locks, there’s nowhere else to go. The whole place is crawling with guards.”

“What now?”

Bri caught a hopeful note in Sunny’s question and paused while her conscious taunted her.
Yeah, what now
? She spun her bracelet, amazed that it still decorated her wrist. No sense panicking everyone. “The police are on the way.” She hoped. “Are there others?”

“Not anymore,” Sunny answered. “The rest of them were loaded onto a truck yesterday.”

***

Standing with his arms folded over his chest, Jake glanced at the agent next to him and seriously considered snapping his neck. Ten minutes ago, he’d been briefed on operation rescue and still, they waited inside the perimeter established around a huge, abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. He hoped like hell Bri still wore her bracelet – that would be the only way out of this mess. Desperate, he slid his cell phone from his pocket and breathed a long sigh when the red light blinked in one solitary area. At least she wasn’t on the move.

“Damn it, Majors! We need to go in now!”

“Cool your jets, Rawlings. We’ve saturated the area.”

Normally the other man’s calm demeanor would impress him but at this moment Jake really, really wanted to pull his gun. “This from the jackass who swore she was safe under the watchful eye of the FBI. Look where she is now. If I hadn’t planted that tracker—”

“The point is,” Majors interrupted, “she’s safe right now and we want to keep her that way. You know damn well we can’t just rush in there with guns blazing.”

“We don’t know she’s safe! In fact, we don’t know for a fact the chip is still on her body!” Now pissed off and totally out of control for being forced to voice the one fear he avoided at all costs, Jake yanked his gun from his body holster and released the safety. “I’m going in.”

“Hang on, Jake.” Mace cocked his own weapon.

“You gonna try and stop me?”

“Hell no, partner. I’m going with you.”

Jake nodded, confident that Mace had his back.

“Hold up.” Majors reached into his pocket and then handed both him and Mace an earpiece. “At least follow protocol.”

Jake crammed the device in his left ear. “Protocol, my ass.”

Without another word to the Agent in Charge, he and Mace crept to the back door of the warehouse, the chatter coming through the wires in his earpiece letting him know the others were also on the move. Jake refused to let down his guard – trapped criminals had nothing to lose and were highly unpredictable. No way would he risk innocent lives.

Adrenaline pushed him closer to the entry as gunshots sounded through the quiet night and several bullets ripped through the space. “Get down, Turner!” He shoved Mace down next to him. “The welcoming committee’s in full force.”

“We’ll waddle over there.” He pointed to a row of empty barrels stacked in their path then led the way.

““Can you get a fix on her location?” Mace asked once they were protected.

Jake yanked out his cell phone again and glared at the scene, both relieved and majorly annoyed. “She’s here.”

“Where?”

“Just here!” Jake crammed the phone back inside his pocket. “The layout of the warehouse isn’t mapped.”

“Well then,” Mace said as he reached into his pocket, pulled out several bullets and loaded his weapon, “looks like we’re gonna have to clear a path.”

Jake cocked his own weapon. “See you inside.”

Mace nodded, aimed his gun at the doorway and squeezed the trigger – the goon stationed there doubled over and fell to the ground.

“Move, Rawlings!” Majors’ order rattled his earpiece and for once he took the agent’s order to heart. He sprinted for the entrance at full speed.

Once inside, he braced himself against a wall and took several deep breaths to attempt to slow his racing heart. Seconds later, Mace appeared beside him.

“What took you so long?”

“Screw you.” Mace wheezed as he bent at the waist. “I think I left a lung out there.”

“I’ve got agents on your back, Rawlings. Proceed.” Jake snickered at Majors’ directive and resisted the urge to rip the microphone from his ear as he looked at Mace. “Does he really believe I’m going to listen to him?”

“Probably.” Mace straightened. “Seen anyone else?”

“No, the place is quiet as a tomb.”

“Go.” Mace nodded toward a long hallway. “You said she’s here somewhere, so find her.”

With practiced ease, Jake pushed off the wall and made his way down the corridor, checking doors on his way.

***

Bri’s forehead ached with wrinkles of concentration. “How did you get here, Sunny?”

“When I finished one of my shifts last week, Mr. Lombardy offered to buy me dinner. I only remember being escorted to the limousine. I woke up here.”

“Melissa, what about you?”

“Same thing. You too?”

“Almost. He waited on me in the dressing room with the excuse that he wanted to discuss a repeat performance.” The pieces finally began assembling to resemble some sort of sick puzzle. “Who hired you, Sunny?”

“Mr. Lombardy.”

“You too, Melissa?”

“Yes.”

Bri’s nerves shook at the following silence, fear thick in the small space.

Melissa finally spoke. “You realize what’s happening, right Bri?”

Although she really wanted to deny her conclusion, she couldn’t. Not when they all knew the truth. “I do and I promise Jake will get us out of this.”

“Jake?” Sunny asked.

“Detective Rawlings.”

“A friend of yours?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“A close friend?”

Bri bit her lip to prepare an answer when heavy footsteps penetrated the silence. Angry male voices and the sound of firecrackers filled the silence.

“Get down!” Bri shoved both women to the floor. Since she couldn’t use anything for a weapon, she plastered herself to one wall, ready to kick and claw at whoever entered. More heavy footsteps and loud popping noises filled the air. Her stomach sank. Gunshots.

The door creaked open, urging her to action. With adrenaline behind her, she kicked out a foot – just to have it grabbed in mid-air.

“Don’t move!”

Bri balanced on one leg, relieved by the sound of a certain bossy, overbearing voice. “Jake?”

He released her foot only to yank her into his arms. “Holy hell, Bri.”

She could barely breathe through the rump roasts he called biceps. “I’m fine.”

He growled and squeezed harder while she heard voices she assumed to belong to federal agents who entered and directed Sunny and Melissa out of the room.

“I’m thinking he’s a
really
close friend,” Sunny drawled on her way out.

“Jake, you’re suffocating me.” Bri managed to free herself from his hold by sliding her head down and out of his arms.

“You need a leash.”

“Funny.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

She shuddered when a cocky grin split his lips and she knew immediately what would happen next. A normal cop would remove the hostages to a safe room for briefing by professional agents, but she knew good and well he would brief her personally.

He pushed the door closed. “You have something to say to me?”

“Like what?” She crossed both arms over her chest.

“You know what.”

“No, I don’t think I do.”

“Sure about that?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

He stepped closer and cupped her chin in his hand. “I think you have something else to say, Bri.”

She spun her bracelet and wet her lips, puzzled when she heard a faint beeping sound. “Do you hear that noise?”

He reached into his pocket, palmed his phone, and punched a button. The room fell silent. “What noise?”

She narrowed her eyes. “You bugged me.”

“You always bug me.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She moved her hands over her bra then down the seams of her shorts. “Where, Jake?”

“You keep that up and I’m liable to forget anything about this conversation.”

“Where, Jake?!”

His low chuckle did little to relieve her panic. God, for all she knew he shot it beneath her skin in the heat of passion. Not that she would’ve noticed – the man had very talented fingers – but it still would’ve severely pissed her off.

“Relax.” He reached for her wrist and released the catch on her bracelet until it fell into his palm. “It’s in the back of the watch.”

She paused for several seconds, waiting for anger to push her to feed him her fist. Yet, anger wasn’t exactly the emotion in charge.

“Thank you,” she said finally.

“You’re welcome.” He shoved the bracelet into his pocket with his phone. “What else?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“Shaking my ass to bait a kidnapper.”

“And?”

She stepped closer, wrapped both hands around his neck, bent one leg at the knee and rested it on his left lip. “And I promise to only shake it for law-abiding men.”

“Bri,” he growled.

“Okay, okay, Detective, only for you.”

“Glad you see my point.” He lowered his head and placed his lips against hers in a slow, easy massage. A small whimper escaped her as she molded her body to his, desperate to feel the love between them.

“However,” he said as he lifted his head, “I have some things to discuss with Majors.”