Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

It didn’t take long to search for property belonging to David Turkow. Not only did Gabe discover the guy’s father owned the Homerun Restaurant and Bar that was currently listed for sale, but Scott Turkow also owned a warehouse that wasn’t far from the location where he’d been dumped the night he’d sustained his head injury.

Using the map application, Gabe zoomed in on the building. Seeing the warehouse up close brought a cascade of memories.

He remembered being there that fateful night. Earlier that week, he and Travis had been in contact about the Sorcerer’s Sword game. His brother had identified the anomaly, and they’d worked together to uncover and identify the malware. Gabe’s plan was to take the information to the feds the following morning, but later that night, Travis had called in a panic claiming he was in danger and asked Gabe to meet him with the information regarding the game’s operating system. Suspicious, Gabe had instead hidden the USB drive in his freezer, then called for a rideshare to head out to meet his brother.

Then Travis had called again, saying not to come because it was a trap. Gabe had ignored the warning since he was already near their designated meeting spot. He’d been glad to see Travis’s blue Corvette parked in front of the warehouse. He’d intended to sneak up to see what was going on when he’d been ambushed. A group of men had rushed out of the building. One, no, two including Miles had held Travis back while the other two hit him with a brick. The last thing he remembered was Travis’s panicked expression.

A chill snaked down Gabe’s spine as he remembered how scared Travis had been. Like fearing his life was over for good scared. The past twenty-four hours proved these guys were ruthless. He understood now that they knew he’d retained a copy of the malware. They’d searched him, taken his phone, wallet, and everything he had on him. But he hadn’t brought the USB drive, and his foresight in hiding it had put a crimp in their plan. He suspected they hadn’t killed him that first night because they figured they’d find the USB drive in his house and would grab it and be done.

Except they hadn’t found it in the freezer.

With an abrupt movement, he pushed away from the computer, snagged the USB drive along with his coat, and left the precinct through the side door.

Rhy, Cassidy, and the others would be angry with him, but he needed to do this. His mother was right in that the situation was his fault. He needed to find Travis. The bad guys were armed and dangerous, and he feared a full-on gunfight would ensue if he couldn’t figure out a way to smooth things over. Besides, he had the malware as a bargaining chip.

Gabe still had the key fob to the rental. He slid in behind the wheel, started the engine, and shot out of the parking lot. In the rearview mirror, he caught a hint of movement and realized Cassidy and Rhy had come out of the building to stare after him in shock.

It was tempting to turn around, as he hated disappointing the two people who meant the most to him. Especially Cassidy.

But he didn’t. Instead, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel and pushed his foot down hard on the accelerator. They would likely follow him, he’d left the map up on his computer screen, so he didn’t have time to waste. He needed to get Travis out of the warehouse.

If that was where he was being held.

He felt certain that was where they were. The morning rush-hour traffic had thinned. He made good time heading out of the city.

As he drove, he tried to come up with a viable plan. This part of the job wasn’t his area of expertise. He didn’t think like a cop, but he was still wearing the tactical gear Cassidy had given him. He decided he could offer himself up in exchange for Travis.

He wondered how much it would hurt to be hit in the chest with a bullet at close range, then pushed the concern out of his mind.

It didn’t matter. Anything to get Travis out of there.

He took the exit that would lead to the warehouse. Instead of driving there, though, he pulled the rental off the road in the area where he’d woken up, dazed and concussed. No doubt Cassidy and the rest of the team would be able to track the car to this location.

Bailing out of the vehicle, he zipped his coat over the vest and made sure the USB drive was tucked deep into his pocket. He drew in a deep breath, glanced up at the overcast sky, then approached the warehouse from the back.

The way he should have that fateful night.

When the warehouse came into view, his gut clenched with dread. Logically, he knew he could be walking to his death.

He wished he’d told Cassidy how much he loved her. Then he reminded himself that God was watching over them.

Please, Lord, guide me to Travis! Grant me the strength to rescue him!

Again, the prayers brought a sense of calm washing over him. There was nothing to fear. Regret? Yes, especially concerning Cassidy. But he would not be afraid.

There was only a small rear door along the back of the warehouse. He glanced around, wondering if there were cameras hidden in the eaves. He didn’t see any, so he lightly ran to the door and tried the knob.

It wasn’t locked.

A trap? He felt certain the door must have been left open on purpose, but what choice did he have? Stand around out there or go inside.

He stood to the side, pressing his back against the wall of the building, and opened the door awkwardly with one hand. He made sure to only open it an inch, yet he fully expected the three men to rush him.

Nothing happened.

He moved closer, peering through the narrow opening. It wasn’t easy to see; there were no lights inside. His heart sank as he opened the door a little farther to see better. Was the warehouse empty? Had he picked the wrong location?

The back of the warehouse was full of boxes. He caught a glimpse of a wall stretching across the space and realized there was a front part to the warehouse as well.

The thud of footsteps made him freeze for a moment. Then without giving himself a chance to think it through, he slipped through the opening and quickly closed the door behind him, plunging the back portion of the warehouse into darkness.

“I heard something,” a voice said.

“You’re delirious,” another person responded. “No one knows we’re here.”

Two men for sure, but there was likely a third. What had Miles said? Turk, Lonny, and King.

Wishing he’d thought to snag a weapon, he moved as silently as possible through the boxes toward the opening that led to the front area of the warehouse. He desperately needed to see Travis was still alive and relatively unharmed before he made his next move.

“How long are you going to keep me here?” Gabe’s heart swelled with relief when he heard Travis’s voice. “I told you I don’t have the malware. Killing me will only set you up for being charged with murder.”

Gabe silently urged Travis to keep talking as he edged closer to the opening.

“We need to do something,” a third whiny voice said. “We can’t trust Millions to keep his trap shut.”

“We need that USB drive,” the first voice snapped. “Train here is going to get that for us, understand?”

Gabe knew Train was Travis’s screen name. How exactly did these guys expect Travis to get the USB drive? They probably had a plan, one he hoped to derail in a big way.

He tried to gauge how long it had been since he’d left the precinct. Twenty minutes? Thirty?

If he were honest, he’d secretly hoped Cassidy and Rhy would come to the rescue. He shouldn’t have come on his own, but it was too late for regrets.

It was up to him to get Travis out of there. By any means possible.

Peeking around the corner, he caught a glimpse of Travis sitting in a hard-backed metal chair with his hands tied behind his back. Three young men, all about the same age as Miles Wayland, were standing off to the side.

“I will,” Travis said. “I promise I’ll call Gabe and have him come out here with the USB drive.”

“You shouldn’t have stolen his phone, Lonny,” the guy who appeared to be in charge said. “What’s going to happen when Train here calls the police department where his brother works?”

Fighting between the men was a good sign. Gabe could see that they were tired and nervous. They hadn’t been prepared for this, and it showed.

Unfortunately, two of the men had guns tucked into their waistbands.

“Shut up!” Lonny said angrily. “I’m the brains behind this scheme, you’re the idiot who messed everything up.”

“Hey, calm down, both of you.” The guy who did not have a weapon seemed to inch closer to Travis. Maybe his job was to guard his brother. If the guy in charge was Turk, then it was King who had taken up a position closer to Travis. “We’ve already raked in several hundred thousand dollars. We can walk away, Turk. We can walk away and use the technology again at some other time.”

“Are you crazy?” Lonny demanded. “They’ll find and arrest us.”

“Not if we escape to Mexico or the Caribbean,” King said. “We can work from anywhere, remember?”

For a moment, it seemed as if Turk was seriously considering the possibility. Then the guy glanced at Travis, and in that moment, Gabe feared they’d shoot his brother and head out of there.

“Don’t move! I have a gun trained on the three of you,” he said loudly. “I also have the USB drive, so I’m here to offer an exchange. The drive for Travis.”

As a unit, the three men whirled to face the opening. Their facial expressions would have been comical if not for Turk and Lonny drawing their guns.

“Throw down your weapons,” Gabe said in a sharp tone. “Don’t make me shoot. All I want is Travis. You can have the USB drive.”

“If he had a gun, he’d have shot us by now,” Lonny said with a sneer.

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Gabe said, knowing he was losing the upper hand. “The place is surrounded. Are you willing to die here today?”

When the two armed lifted their weapons, he knew the gig was up. He hadn’t expected them to fall for it; he wasn’t any good at this sort of thing. He was the team tech expert, not a cop!

Yet he had little choice but to see this through. Pulling the USB drive from his pocket, he stepped into the opening and held it up in the air where they could easily see it.

“I have the drive!” He did his best to look intimidating. “Release Travis and no one will get hurt!”

He heard a loud thump from somewhere outside. The panicked expression on Travis’s face made him feel guilty. His brother had clearly expected more. The guy closest to him leveled his gun at his chest and fired just as the front door to the warehouse burst open.

The force of the bullet was shockingly painful, knocking him backward off his feet and stealing his breath. He hit the floor hard, his head bouncing off the concrete floor.

For the second time in his adult life, he sank into dark oblivion.

Cassidy had been so angry with the way Gabe had taken off to find Travis on his own that she could barely speak. What was wrong with him? Did he have a death wish? Gabe didn’t even have a weapon!

Thankfully, Rhy took charge and pulled the team together.

“Okay, we know his location,” Rhy had said as they’d set out for the warehouse. He’d insisted they all headed out in full tactical gear. “We’ll surround the warehouse and use Brock to negotiate Travis’s release.”

“Gabe is likely inside too,” she said, trying not to sound hurt by the way Gabe had taken off without telling her. “We need to take every precaution to make sure Gabe and Travis are not caught in the crossfire.”

“Of course,” Rhy had agreed.

She’d nodded, remaining silent as they’d jumped into the three SUVs and quickly covered the distance to the warehouse location Gabe had left on his computer screen. Just seeing how he’d identified the possible hideout had been like a kick to the chest.

So much for his having faith in her and the rest of the team, she thought with a grimace. Yeah, he was suffering from amnesia, but she and the others had proved their willingness to help and support him over the past thirty-six hours.

Yet he’d still gone off on his own.

Rhy wasn’t happy about the situation either, but their boss had maintained his cool, calm demeanor. When they’d reached the deserted stretch of highway where Gabe had left their rental, she’d caught a flash of concern in Rhy’s gaze.

“We’ll go the rest of the way on foot,” Rhy said. “Jina, you cover the front door with your long gun, and, Steele, you’ll do the same at the back. Brock, you’re our negotiator if needed. Flynn, you and Cassidy will breach from the front. Grayson, you cover the south, Roscoe the north, Raelyn and Joe will take the back.” He raked his gaze over the group. The only missing teammate was Zeke who was still recovering from his shoulder injury. “I’ll coordinate. Any questions?”

No one opened their mouth to speak. Cassidy knew that the members of the team were anxious to get to work.

Especially her. She was glad Rhy had allowed her to be a part of the breach team. She’d feared he’d ask her to sit this one out.

It had taken several tense minutes for them to get into their respective places. They had their earpieces in place, their radio on a private channel to minimize outside noise. Joe was the first one to break radio silence.

“Rear door is unlocked,” he said in a low voice. “Assume Gabe accessed the building from this entry point.”

Cassidy’s stomach twisted so tightly she had to swallow against the urge to throw up. Of course, Gabe had gone inside with nothing in hand for a weapon.

Although she had noticed the USB drive was missing from his desk. She could just imagine his harebrained plan of using it to free Travis.

“Roger that,” Rhy said in an equally soft voice. “We know they are likely armed and dangerous.”

She glanced at Flynn. Brock opened his mouth to speak but hesitated when she lifted her hand to stop him. “Wait! I hear voices,” she whispered.

No one moved. Cassidy crept closer to the door, straining to listen. When she heard Gabe’s raised shout, demanding they throw down their weapons, she wanted to yank her hair out of her head with her bare hands. What was he doing? This wasn’t a video game!

Then he went on to say the place was surrounded.

That gave her pause. Did he know they were outside? She hadn’t seen any cameras, but it was possible. Knowing Gabe, though, this was probably another bluff. Either way, their time was running out.

She tapped her earpiece. “Things are escalating. No time. We’ll need to breach the front and rear entrances before they realize Gabe is not armed,” she whispered.

“Your call, Cass,” Rhy said.

The responsibility was heavy, but she didn’t hesitate. “On my count. Three, two, one.” Flynn and Brock used the ram to break through the front door at the exact same time she heard Joe and Raelyn doing the same from the rear. Conscious of the fact that Jina and Steele were both using sniper rifles, she kept her head down as she ran through the front door.

The sound of gunfire kicked her pulse into high gear. “Police! Drop your weapons!”

In a flash, she saw the three men, two with guns. Travis was lying on the ground, cuffed to a chair that lay sideways beside him.

She grabbed the closest armed man, twisted the gun from his hand, then pushed him toward the wall. Flynn was doing the same with the other.

The third man stood with his hands held high over his head. “I’m not armed! I’m with the FBI, and I’m not armed!”

The FBI? That was news to her, but she didn’t take the time to consider the implications of an undercover cop. She quickly cuffed the man she had pressed against the wall, then turned to scan the room for Gabe.

“Man down,” Joe said through the radio.

Gabe! She ran toward the sound of Joe’s voice, nearly tripping over Gabe’s prone figure sprawled on the ground in the opening between the front and back portions of the warehouse. He didn’t move, his eyes closed, and for a moment, she feared he wasn’t breathing.

“Gabe! Can you hear me?” She dropped to her knees beside him, running her fingers over his torso. It took her a second to realize he was still wearing the vest. Yanking the zipper of his coat down, she felt for the slug.

It was embedded in the Kevlar directly over his sternum. “Gabe, please open your eyes,” she begged, as she moved her fingers over the vest. She didn’t feel any blood, but she knew he was likely bleeding internally. “Call the Lifeline helicopter! Hurry!”

“On it,” Rhy replied.

“He has a pulse,” Joe said, his fingers palpating Gabe’s carotid artery.

Tears blurred her vision, but she ruthlessly blinked them back. “Open your eyes, Gabe. It’s over. Travis is safe.”

Hearing his name, the seventeen-year-old came over to crouch beside them. Flynn or one of the others must have freed him from the chair. Travis looked gaunt and concerned. “Will he be okay? Turk shot him!”

Gabe let out a groan and lifted a hand to his chest. He cracked open an eyelid and peered at her. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Angel,” he whispered. “My angel.”

Was he delirious? She tried not to show her alarm when his hand dropped limply back to the ground as he closed his eyes. “Come on, Gabe. Stay with me. The Lifeline chopper will be here soon. You’ll be taken to Trinity Medical Center where you’ll get the best trauma care available. The danger is over. You’re safe and so is Travis.”

Gabe opened one eye, then the other. After focusing on her face for a moment, he said, “Wow. That hurt.”

“Yeah, it hurts to get shot.” She wanted to roll her eyes as much as she wanted to kiss him. Somehow, she refrained.

“I can’t believe you came to find me,” Travis said, addressing his brother. “And that you were going to trade the malware for my life!”

“Always,” Gabe said. He grimaced, and then added weakly, “Least I could do since it was my fault you were involved.”

She frowned. “You remember how this started? You remember getting the malware from Travis?”

Gaze shifted his gaze from Travis to her. Joe kept a hand on Gabe’s wrist monitoring his pulse. “Yes. I remembered everything when I saw the warehouse. Listening in on the interview with Wayland helped, but for some reason seeing the warehouse on the map triggered my memory.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask why he’d left without saying anything, but Rhy came over and squatted beside them. “Lifeline is on the way. They’re going to land in the open field where we left our rides along with the rental. I sent Jina, Brock, and Steele to move the vehicles to give them room to land.”

“Key to rental is in my pocket,” Gabe said.

She dug it out, then tossed it to Rhy. Grabbing it midair, Rhy rose and headed out to join the others.

“Hey, take these cuffs off me!” one of the three men protested. “I told you I’m undercover with the FBI!”

“Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t,” Roscoe drawled in his Texas accent. “Won’t believe it until I see some proof and know for sure you’all are one of the good guys. Until then, consider yourself under arrest. And if you are a fed, then I’m sure you understand you have the right to remain silent. That anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Roscoe didn’t stop until he’d recited the entire Miranda warning.

The guy sputtered, then gave up as he seemed to realize there was no point in fighting. Roscoe gave him a gentle shove, forcing him outside to wait for backup, sitting on the ground alongside the other two perps.

Everyone on the team knew Roscoe had trust issues when it came to those working for the federal government. She had no problem with his request to have proof before releasing the cuffs. She’d do the same thing, and she hadn’t been betrayed by someone who was supposed to uphold the law.

Glancing at Travis, she asked, “What do you think? Did he give you any indication that he was with the FBI?”

Travis shrugged. “No, he didn’t say anything like that. But King was the most decent guy in the group, more so even than Millions who took off the night we were at the Homerun restaurant.”

“So you were there,” she said.

“Yep. I called Gabe. You must be the one who answered.” Travis sighed. “That was when things really took a turn for the worse. Turk caught me with the phone and threw a fit. King tried to keep Turk and Lonny calm, which didn’t really work. They were both wound pretty tight at the way things were spiraling out of control. Especially after they realized Millions wasn’t sticking with us.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” she said, meaning it. Travis was much nicer than the mother he shared with Gabe. Must be the influence of their respective fathers.

Travis surprised her by giving her a hug. “Thanks for rescuing us.”

“Ah, sure, anytime.” She patted his back as Gabe beamed up at her with a goofy expression on his face. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he’d been slipped some sort of pain medication or maybe laughing gas.

No way did a normal person grin like a loon after being shot, even while wearing a vest. She’d heard from those who were injured in the line of duty that it still hurt like the devil.

“I hear the chopper,” Raelyn called.

Relief hit hard. Gabe was awake and talking. Hopefully, any internal bleeding he was experiencing wasn’t too bad and could be easily fixed.

“I love you,” Gabe said as the paramedics ran into the building, wheeling a gurney between them.

She was sure he didn’t mean it, especially since he still wore that goofy grin. The one that made her wonder if he’d popped some pain pills while they weren’t looking. Stepping back, she gave the paramedics room to work.

But Gabe’s words echoed in her mind long after they were wheeling him back out to the waiting chopper.

“I love you too,” she whispered, wishing she could fly back to Milwaukee with him in the chopper. Not possible since the Lifeline helicopter had a weight limit. And she and the rest of the team had a crime scene to process.

Soon , she silently promised. She’d be there soon. And if she had her way, she wouldn’t leave until he was able to walk out of there on his own two feet.