Ultimate Prey (Book 3 Ultimate CORE) (CORE Series) (50 page)

“Women dig scars.” John gave him an assuring smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He pulled his cell phone from his belt, then swore. “Where’s the sat phone?”

Ryan passed the towel and ice to Dante and held the satellite phone away from his ear. “I already have Barney on the line, he’s heading over and—”

“Ian needs a doctor.”

“Would you rather Ryan call 911?” Lola asked with heavy sarcasm as she walked past them and toward the laundry room.

“You need a doctor, too.” Ian grunted, and pressed harder on the wound. He looked to Hudson, who had just entered through the back door. “Get my cell phone, it’s in my room on the nightstand. I have someone who could help us.” As Hudson left the room, Ian nodded to Ryan. “Have Barney come in case the doctor I know can’t make it. Tell him to leave Cami at your place. I don’t want her to see this,” he said, shifting his gaze to Steven’s dead body. “Have him bring Vlad with him.”

Once Hudson brought him his cell phone, he looked up Dr. David Adams’s phone number and used the sat phone to contact him. David had been on his way home from a meeting and assured Ian he’d be there in an hour.

“Who’s coming?” John asked, taking a seat at the table. He used one of the clean towels on his own gunshot wound.

“David Adams, he’s a Collier County medical examiner and also teaches forensic pathology at South University.”

“Can we trust him?” Dante asked, holding the ice pack to the back of his head.

“Yes. I know the family well. My father has been donating to David’s family’s organization, DON, for decades, as have I.”

“DON?”

“Doctors, Osteopaths and Nursing is a nonprofit company that provides medicine and surgery to people in third world countries. I’ll make sure they receive an additional donation this year and compensate David for his time and silence.”

“But can you trust him to keep quiet about the dead bodies?” Hudson asked.

“Bodies?”

“Yeah, we’ve got a dead guy in the foyer. I’m guessing he’s the missing drug dealer.”

“He’s not going to see any bodies,” Lola said, dropping a pail, mop and rags onto the kitchen floor. She turned to Ryan. “Can we use your truck and boat to get rid of them?”

“Not a problem. Do you want me to start moving them now?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Wait for Vlad. He can help you and Hudson haul them into the truck,” she said, placing the pail into the sink and turning on the water. “Since the first spotlight went on in the back, Steven and his partner must have come through the mangroves at the edge of the yard. For now, I need you and Hudson to find whatever gear Steven brought with him.”

“Will do,” Hudson said, reaching for a couple of flashlights off the kitchen counter, then handing one to Ryan.

After they left, Ian stared at Lola’s back, stunned and impressed with the way she had taken over. And with the way the men had answered to her. He’d underestimated her leadership skills and hadn’t realized she would be so calm under pressure.

“I’m wondering how Steven talked the drug dealer into helping him,” Dante said.

“His arm.” Lola turned off the sink faucet, then approached the dead man. Avoiding the blood on the floor, she crouched and began uncoiling the bandage on Steven’s left arm as if it were an everyday occurrence to handle a dead body.

“Jesus, Lola.” John shook his head. “Don’t do— Holy shit,” he gasped when Lola pulled off the gauze. “What the hell did that to him? An alligator?”

She dropped his arm, then walked to the kitchen sink. “Ryan or Barney would know, but I wouldn’t be surprised,” she said, and washed her hands. “Based on what you guys found at the trailer this morning, I also wouldn’t be surprised if Steven got to the trailer after he heard the gunshots, killed the one dealer, then used the other to row the canoe back to Everglade City. Look at his arm. There’s no way he could’ve done the rowing alone.”

Ian glanced at Steven’s arm. Two long crudely-stitched lines ran along the forearm, from the elbow to the wrist. Blood and puss coated the puckered flesh, which had swelled around the stitches. It looked damned painful and he hoped the bastard had suffered greatly.

“If I look at his arm again, I might vomit,” Dante said, and set the ice pack on the table. “And, Lola’s theory makes sense. Only why keep the other guy around after Steven reached town?” He shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t care. He’s not worth thinking about. What we need to discuss is what we’re going to do about the house.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ian said. “I know the homeowner. I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Then he’d have the place razed and rebuilt to the standards he would need to fulfill his future plans.

“Holy hell,” Barney called from the foyer. Seconds later, he entered the kitchen, his gaze falling onto Steven. “You boys don’t mess around. Which one of the bodies belongs to Jackass?”

Lola cocked her head toward Steven. “That one.”

Barney let out a low whistle and shook his head. “Looks like he tangled with a gator. And, damn, sutured his own arm.” He chuckled. “He would’ve died anyway, even if you didn’t put a bullet in his head. Gators teeth are almost as bad as the Komodo dragon’s. Infection would have eventually killed him.”

Hudson stepped into the kitchen, holding a hunting pack. “Got the pack,” he said, as Ryan followed him through the door. “He has a laptop and cell phone inside.”

“We’ll have Harrison look at them. I want his files checked.” They knew for a fact he’d killed his ex and her fiancé, along with Jordan. But he needed Harrison to run a check and make sure Steven hadn’t targeted anyone else. While he planned to have the computer and phone destroyed, paranoia also urged him to have all of the files wiped clean.

“I’m right here,” Harrison said, stepping into the kitchen.

“Why the hell are you here?” Ian slammed his left hand on the table, which jarred his body and made the burning in his side worse. “Barney, only you and Vlad were to—”

“Vlad’s with us. Cami insisted we all go and—”

“Put me down,” Cami demanded. “Vlad, I can walk.”

The Russian entered the room carrying Cami in his arms. He assessed the situation, then shook his head. “Look like all hell break free,” he said, as Cami squirmed.

The moment Vlad set her down, she rushed to Ian’s side. “Oh, no. No. No,” she sobbed, and met his eyes. “How bad is it? Please tell me you’re not dying.” She twined her arms around his neck. “I love you so much. I—”

“Cami,” he said, taking deep gulping breaths. “Honey, you’re hurting me.”

“I’m so sorry.” She let go of him, then, with a shaky hand, lay her palm over where he held the towel against his wound. “You have to get to a hospital.”

“No,” he said, and explained who was coming to help him and John.

She looked over her shoulder, gaped at John’s arm, then looked back at him. “Lola?”

“Right behind you, Mom.” Lola held up both hands. “I’m fine. Not even a scratch.”

Cami swiveled and stared at her daughter. “Thank God,” she said, then turned her attention back on him.

Harrison took the computer and phone from Hudson, then left the room without a word. Meanwhile, Barney set the first aid kit on the kitchen counter. “If you got a doc coming, I guess we won’t be needing this.”

“The hell we won’t,” Cami snapped. “Ian and John need attention until the man arrives.”

“We’re fine,” he assured her, then he narrowed his eyes at Vlad, who shrugged.

“Cami turn Vlad to pudding. Cami ask, Vlad do.”

He let out a weary sigh. There were too many people in the room. He loved Cami, and appreciated her concern, but damn it, they had bodies to move. He didn’t want her to be part of this. He didn’t want her witnessing something that he couldn’t believe he’d not only put into motion, but condoned. He’d spent twenty years with the FBI following just about every rule before starting CORE. He had then spent the past eight years running his agency by the book and with the utmost respect for the law. He’d gone beyond that, and had not only placed his agents, but Ryan, Barney, Vlad and even Cami, in a precarious position. They could all either go to prison or have charges brought against them, if what he’d encouraged was discovered by the police. Which was all the more reason to expand his scope of business.

Determined to make sure Cami’s involvement was at the minimum, he turned to Vlad. “Your loyalty to Cami doesn’t go unnoticed, but I need you to be loyal to me, as well. Take Cami into the living room, away from the dead.”

The Russian nodded, understanding in his eyes. He lifted Cami, who insisted she could walk, then started for the living room.

“Vlad,” Lola said, stopping him. “Once you get my mom settled, I need you to help Ryan and Hudson move the bodies to Ryan’s truck.”

Cami gasped. “Lola Elizabeth Tam. What in the hell has—”

“Mom. Don’t start.” She looked to Vlad. “She’ll be fine sitting with Harrison.”

“Ain’t no need to mess up Ryan’s truck,” Barney said. “I took the liberty of calling in my guy to get rid of ’em.”

Ryan shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “Damn it, Barney.” He stared at the man. “I told you not to.”

“Too bad. I don’t want you doing it.” Barney nodded to Ian. “My guy should be here any sec—”

“Hey, y’all. Anyone home?” a woman, whose voice oozed sex and dripped warm maple syrup, called from the foyer.

“Speak of the devil,” Barney said. “In here, Mel.”

Mel?
Ian quickly glanced over his shoulder as a young woman—who could have doubled as Farrah Fawcett in her famous 1970s swimsuit pinup—strolled into the room carrying a large leopard print tote bag, accented with hot-pink trim.

She tossed her thick dark blond hair over her shoulder and looked from Steven’s body then to Barney. “The car and boat…I made money off them. But if you want me to take care of all this, it’ll cost you.”

Ian cleared his throat. “
You
took care of the car and boat?” Christ. This was too much. How could this beautiful, young woman have the type of resources that she could not only make a car and boat disappear, but dead bodies, too?

“I did,” she said, then offered her hand. “Melanie Scarlet.” She glanced to his wound and bloody towel, then shoved her hand into the back pocket of her tight jeans. “No need for formalities, I suppose. My price is ten thousand a piece.”

“Mel,” Ryan said, his tone censuring.

She tossed her hair and glanced to Ryan, then shrugged. “You pay me minimum wage to scoop ice cream. A girl’s gotta live.”

“I pay you more than minimum wage. And since when did you go from chopping cars and boats to moving dead bodies?” He hardened his eyes and glared at Barney. “I don’t like it. I could throw the bodies onto my boat and dump them in a marsh.”

Mel looked at her manicured nails, which had been painted bright pink. “But my daddy’s swamp is better.”

“She’s right.” Barney shifted his one eye to Ian. “Her old man’s a recluse. He owns a few acres of mostly swampland. Park rangers don’t go out there, it’s far from kayaking and hiking trails and the crazy son of a bitch has his mobile home and swamp rigged for Armageddon. Ain’t nobody who knows him fool enough to go out there. Well, except Mel.”

“Daddy might be crazy, but he loves his little girl,” Mel said with a grin. “Besides, it’s nothing for me to pay him a visit during the night. Everybody knows he’s like a vampire and sleeps all day.” She pulled a large roll of thick black garbage bags from her tote. “So, are we doing this or not?”

“No,” Ryan said. “We’ll handle it.”

“Ryan, let her.” Lola set the pail on the floor. “It sounds like she knows what she’s doing. Plus the doctor is going to be here soon. We need the bodies gone and the blood cleaned up before then.”

Ian looked from Ryan to Mel. “Ten a piece is fine,” he said, not caring about the money. “What do you plan to do with them once you reach this swamp?”

She flashed him a smile, and took out two shower caps and a pair of latex gloves. “Gator bait,” she said, then slipped the caps over her boots. She sauntered across the room carrying the bags, then pointed to Hudson. “A little help, honey?”

While Hudson, Vlad, Barney and Ryan helped Mel bag both bodies and remove them from the house, Lola mopped the kitchen and hall floor. Harrison came into the room, stepped over the pail Lola had been using, and carried the laptop and phone to the table.

“Find anything?” John asked.

“The phone’s an older model and it’s not hooked to a cloud, meaning any pictures Steven had taken aren’t hanging around in cyberspace. I think the cell belonged to Steven’s dad. The last six calls were made to Stateville, all of them about a month ago.”

John removed the towel from his arm. “Doesn’t fit. Steven was released
two
months ago.”

No. The timing didn’t fit at all. “What about the computer?” Ian asked.

“Again, it’s an older model and there’s hardly anything on it. I did find a CORE file. In it were the names and addresses for you, Dante, John, Hudson and Owen. No mention of Rachel or anyone else. The only other file that stood out was labeled,
Moody
. In that file were eight addresses, but I don’t know who they belong to and he didn’t indicate what they were for.
But
, I was able to check his browsing history. Moody is currently doing time at Stateville. I can find out why, but I’d rather hack into the prison’s system files from my computer. This one is too slow.”