Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Gabe

The cool metal of the gun warmed slowly as it pressed against the back of my head. Raising my hands, I cautiously turned around.

Tansie Bell stood behind me, gun held in one hand, which she had to angle upward in order to reach my head. She wasn't alone either. Several other heavily armed men stood around her. Their weapons weren't drawn, yet, but it was obvious that one wrong move from me would have me riddled with bullets in less than a second.

"Miss Bell?" I said, trying to pour as much meaning and question into those two words as I could.

The gun in her hand shook. "I'm sorry, but I have no choice. They have my son. And now they've got your people as well. Those two young men. What are their names? Newt and Frankie? Here."

With the hand not holding a gun, she showed me her phone. On the screen, there was a picture of Frankie and Newt lying unconscious in the back of some sort of vehicle. I only saw the picture for a few seconds, just long enough to identify Newt and Frankie, but not enough to pick out any other details from the photo.

She stored the phone back in her pocket one-handed, while the armed men around her never even twitched.

"They've got your guys just like they've got my son. So, just do what they say. Okay? Please don't make me shoot you."

"All right." I relented, raising my hands back into the air where everyone could see them. "What do you want me to do?"

Tansie hesitated, like she was reading through a list in her mind.

"First, you have to take us to Sebastian Roth. We know he's around here somewhere."

The demand was expected and didn't take me by surprise. It wasn't the first time I'd been held at gunpoint, though I could admit it was the first time I'd felt afraid.

Not for myself. My high probability of getting killed one day was something I'd accepted a long time ago. However, this time there was more to lose.

If I died now, what would happen to the others?

What would happen to Frankie?

Determined to stay alive, I played along for the moment.

"Sebastian is this way," I said and led them out through the building's cargo bay.

When we stepped out onto the street, Tansie put her gun away. We all knew she didn't actually need it. If anyone was going to shoot me, it would be one of the other armed men silently following us. I counted at least three different concealed weapons on each of them.

Plus, even without any weapons, the threat to Frankie and Newt would be enough to keep me obedient.

To reach the RV where I'd left Sebastian, I would need to turn right and head several blocks down the street.

As a test, I turned left instead.

They didn't correct me, meaning they probably didn't know where Sebastian actually was. That gave me a little room to maneuver and hopefully, regain the upper hand.

"So, what's the end goal here?" I asked as Tansie walked beside me on the street. The armed men watched us both. "Once I give you Sebastian, then what?"

Tansie looked over her shoulder at the men following us. "They're going to kill Sebastian Roth. He's been too much of a thorn in their side to let him live, but you're an agent with the FBI. That could be useful to them."

"Ah. I see." In my head, I reviewed a map of the area. There was a parking deck up ahead that would be perfect for my needs. "They'll keep Frankie and Newt alive so long as I act as their mole."

Silence was more natural to me than conversation, but silence wouldn't do me any good at that moment. Trying to channel as much of Frankie's attitude as I could, I gave my best conceited laugh.

"It seems I was giving your masters too much credit. They aren't as smart as I thought they were."

Beside me I saw Tansie flinch and several of the men following us reached for their guns.

Tansie tugged nervously at one of her pigtail braids.

"Don't… don't say things like that. You'll get us both in trouble. Don't you care if your boyfriend dies?"

Boyfriend?

Is that what Frankie was to me?

The term sounded so juvenile and shallow.

"I'm just surprised," I said as I led our little group into the parking deck and up the long staircase to the top floor. "They've got such a big operation. I assumed they were smarter. Any idiot could tell you that trying to make me their mole in the FBI isn't going to work after you tried to frame me for the Director's death. Even if I'm cleared of the charge, I'll probably be fired anyway."

We'd reached the top floor of the parking deck, which was open to the dreary spring sky.

As soon as my feet touched the asphalt, I turned around to face the armed men following us.

"What happened? Did killing the FBI Director not work out like you thought it would? I heard there's been some difficulty choosing a new Director. Was the person you had set up to take the Director's spot not the shoo-in replacement you thought they'd be?"

None of the other men said anything, but I didn't expect them to. These were just goons. They may not even know what I was talking about. However, their master, Senator McLeod, might be listening to the conversation. If I pissed the man off enough, he might order the goons to do something reckless.

Tansie tugged on my arm. "Don't. Please. Just, take us to Sebastian Roth so we can get this over with."

I sighed, but I couldn't blame the woman for wanting to just go along with her orders. Her son's life was on the line, after all.

As I'd hoped, the top floor of the parking deck was mostly empty. No one wanted to leave their car exposed to the elements if they didn't have to.

I led our group to the far corner of the deck and looked around at the empty spots in confusion.

"I left him in the RV right here. He must have moved."

Several of the armed goons seemed to have enough of my acting and drew their weapons. "Enough," one of the goons said as he pulled out a revolver and pointed it at me. "Take us to Sebastian Roth now."

I held out my hands even as I eyed the gun. A revolver was an interesting choice. It was light weight, easily concealed, and didn't leave shell casings behind, but it also had a limited capacity and was harder to aim accurately due to the short distance between the front and rear sights. To choose such a weapon meant the goon had confidence in their ability to shoot accurately and not require many bullets to get a job done.

Not someone I wanted to get into a shootout with. I would have to wait until I was certain I could take this man out quickly.

"I can't take you to someone if I don't know where they are."

Tansie reached out like she wanted to tug on my arm again, but didn't want to get close enough to put herself in front of the gun.

"Can you call him?"

I did, and wasn't surprised when the phone continued to ring without being picked up. Frankie and Newt weren't the only ones wearing a GPS camera pin. I was as well, which means Sebastian would know I'd been taken hostage.

"No luck," I said when the call went to voicemail.

The nearest goon cocked back the hammer on his revolver.

"You'd better figure something out."

We were at an impasse. I couldn't give them what they wanted, supposedly, and they hadn't been given the order to kill me yet.

The nearest goon suddenly doubled over, clutching a gaping wound in the center of his chest. He'd been shot, and based on the angle the bullet must have come from, I knew who'd pulled the trigger.

Unfortunately, the goon wasn't dead. It would likely be a fatal wound, but he still had enough strength to raise his gun.

I removed the weapon from his hand before he had a chance to shoot. Revolvers weren't my favorite weapon, but I knew how to use them just fine, and didn't hesitate to immediately put another bullet between the goon's eyes. The first man hadn't even hit the ground yet when I turned to the second goon.

The fight was quick. I had the advantage of surprise on my side, plus another ally covering me from a distance. It wasn't long before all of the goons lay either dead or unconscious on the floor.

"What did you do?" Tansie shrieked, panicking as she stared wide-eyed at the bodies bleeding at her feet.

"I'm not sure yet." I turned to face the direction the first bullet came from. "I'm assuming you have a plan, correct?"

Sebastian appeared from behind one of the few cars parked on the upper level of the deck. "Of course. I'm not an idiot." He hobbled toward us with a single crutch tucked under his arm. His right leg barely moved, and couldn't even hold his weight for long. Ideally, he needed a pair of crutches, but that would make wielding a gun nearly impossible. So, he'd found a way to make do with only one.

It took away any hope Sebastian had of looking like an actual threat, but I was just happy to see him up on his feet. These were the first steps he'd taken without clinging to the support bar during Frankie's therapy. Sure, he was now clinging to a crutch, but it was a definite improvement.

I didn't get much time to appreciate the sight of Sebastian walking before Tansie ran up to him. It was that moment when I remembered the gun still clutched in her hand. The armed goons were dead, but technically Tansie was still a threat.

For a moment, the way she held the gun in front of her, it looked like she was going to shoot Sebastian. I couldn't even blame her if she believed killing Sebastian was the only way to save her child.

I was quick on my feet, but I wasn't faster than a bullet, and Sebastian had no hope of running away.

But then, however, instead of pulling the trigger, she broke down crying and fell to her knees.

"Why did you kill them? My son… They have my son. Oh, god. He's probably dead, now."

In his current physical state, Sebastian couldn't kneel down to be on the same level with the woman, so he awkwardly bent at the waist as best he could while still holding onto his crutch in order to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe not. It's likely that Newt and Frankie were taken to the same place that your son was. If we find them, then we may find your son as well."

I grabbed Sebastian's arm before he could fall over.

"Does that mean you know where they are?"

With a smile that was too sharp around the edges to be called a happy expression, Sebastian held up his phone to display a map. "One of their GPS pins came back on line. We can track where they're being taken."

On the screen, a small red dot was moving along the map, following the line of a road. As I'd noticed earlier, Frankie and Newt were in a vehicle. There was no telling where their kidnappers were taking them, but so long as the GPS pin remained active, we could follow them.

The sight of that little red dot filled me with a small sense of relief.

"Let's get going. The RV isn't the fastest vehicle, and I don't want them getting any farther ahead of us than they already are. We can track them so long as they are driving, but if they are put on a plane or something, then we'll have a much harder time."

I knelt beside Tansie and slipped the gun from her hand before she accidentally shot someone or herself. "Miss Bell. We're going now. Just wait for us and we'll get your son back."

As I stood to leave, a pair of delicate hands grabbed my pant leg and held tight to the fabric. "Please," Tansie begged as she looked up at me from the ground. "Take me with you."

I tried to remove her hands as gently as possible, but she had an iron grip on my clothes. "We can't do that. It'll be dangerous."

She pointed an angry finger at Sebastian. "You'll take a cripple, but not me. What? Just because I'm a woman?"

Breathing deep through my nose to calm my irritation, I shot Sebastian a look and tried to silently plead with him to be patient. I could tell the "cripple" comment hurt him, but I also understood Tansie's anger.

I would also hate being told I couldn't help look for the person I cared about while others were allowed to come.

"It's got nothing to do with your gender. You're not trained for this kind of situation."

"Well, too bad. I'm coming." She climbed to her feet and looked around for her gun, only to scowl when she realized I'd already taken in. Instead, she crossed her arms and tried to look as defiant as possible. "You can't stop me from coming. If you try to leave without me, I'll just follow you. Unless you plan to tie me up."

She was obviously talking out of anger, but I could tell the moment she realized that her hypothetical suggestion might actually happen. We could easily restrain her and leave her somewhere if we were determined not to be followed.

As much as I hated bringing another civilian into this mess, I also hated the idea of becoming a kidnapper when I was trying to stop a bunch of kidnappers.

"Fine." I relented. "You can come, but you are staying out of any combat that might happen. And if I tell you to hide, then you hide. Got it?"

"Yes." Her voice sounded confident, but she nervously twisted her hands around her braid.

I already hated this plan, but we forged ahead anyway.

As we made our way back to the RV as quickly as Sebastian's crutch would allow him to move, I copied the GPS tracker onto my own phone so I could keep track of Frankie and Newt.

The red dot kept moving, and the feeling of hope in my chest burned a little brighter.