All I Need is You
Page 69
“Just let me go in and distract the shooter. You guys can come in after me.”
Tank clapped a hand on his shoulder. “If you go in there with no plan, you might as well just shoot yourself right here and now. Just wait.”
Matt’s phone beeped and he snatched it off his belt. “It’s Mara. The girls are safe in the panic room.”
“Tell them to stay there,” Eli ordered.
Matt typed out the message, his thumbs flying over the screen. Then he handed Eli an earpiece. “Put this on. We need to be able to communicate.”
Tank took the other one and slipped it over his ear. “I’ll go around back. All you have to do is get him near the back door. Since he already broke that glass, I should have a clear shot.”
“And I’ll take the front,” Matt added. “We’ve got this covered. Let’s nail this bastard.”
Tank loaded his rifle ammunition into a bag and hopped out of the van. He looked both ways and disappeared around the side of the house into the trees. There were plenty of places he could take cover back there.
He pulled out his phone and sent Agent Harris’s number to Matt. “Call this number and tell them what’s going on. I don’t have time for questions right now, but we’ll need them as backup.”
Matt looked at the information that had just popped up on his phone’s screen. “The FBI?”
“Yeah. I’ve been consulting with them on a case. If this guy has been looking for me, then they’ll want to know about it.” He glanced at Sasha. “And what about her?”
“I’ll take care of her, don’t worry about it.”
Sasha shivered and pressed back against the wall. Eli nodded at her and then walked to the front of the house. The wind lashed his face, but he couldn’t feel the cold, just the tears it brought to his eyes. His focus was on one thing—getting inside the house. He couldn’t think about what he might find when he opened that door or whether Kay might be injured.
The front door was slightly open. He pushed it open the rest of the way and it gave a long, extended whine. He pulled his Glock as he stepped over the threshold. The front hallway was empty. He crossed to the entry of the kitchen and entered low. The floor was covered in glass, the shards glittering on the wood like diamonds. A brick lay in the middle of the destruction. He took a hesitant step forward, and glass crunched beneath his shoe.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
He turned at the sound of the voice, his gun at the ready. The man standing in the doorway to the room wore black from head to toe. The hood of his jacket obscured his face.
“You were watching me the day I talked to Jeremy King.”
The hood nodded. “I’ve been watching you for a long time. You’re a hard man to catch up with.” He raised a hand and pushed the hood back. It fell away and his face came into view.
And Eli felt the years fall away.
MARA HAD NEVER considered herself to be that calm under pressure, but when Kaylee started praying, she found an inner well of strength she didn’t know she had. Her brother was out there, possibly in danger, and if there was anything she could do to help, she’d never forgive herself later if she didn’t do it.
“We are not just going to sit here and wait. There has to be something we can do.” Her eyes landed on the computer in the corner of the room. It looked like a general workstation but this wasn’t an office—it was a panic room. If it was there, there had to be a good reason.
“The computer. Eli wouldn’t have put that in here for no reason, right?” Mara didn’t know Elliott that well, but from her brother’s descriptions of him as a boss, he was exacting and thorough. Everyone respected him because he took his job seriously. So she had to assume that would carry through into every aspect of his life.
Kay’s head snapped up and her eyes followed Mara’s. “Eli doesn’t do anything for no reason. Maybe there’s some kind of program on there that will tell us what to do.” She smiled tremulously and, for the first time, looked hopeful.
Mara could only hope the computer would help them because otherwise she had no idea what to do.
She sat down in front of the desk. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” As soon as she shook the mouse, the monitor on the left flickered to life and she was presented with a screen filled with icons.
“Oh crap. Where do I start?” She decided to just click on the first thing that caught her eye. The program loaded and she was faced with something that looked like a legal contract.
“Okay, that’s not any good.”
“This is going to take forever,” Kay said. She was walking around the room, bouncing the baby in her arms. Her eyes reflected her worry.
Mara quickly clicked on another icon and then another. She figured process of elimination should eventually bring her to something useful.
“Wait! What’s that?” Kay moved closer to peer over Mara’s shoulder.
The second monitor displayed an image of a house. The color wasn’t very good, so Mara wasn’t sure if she was looking at an older home or just a faded picture.
“I’m not sure, but it looks familiar.” Mara hit another key and the image changed to a street with several cars parked alongside the road. There was a white van on one side of the street. She hit another key and got an image of an SUV.
Kay gasped. “That’s our car!”
Mara wasn’t sure how she could tell because the image was so dark and grainy. “Are you sure?”
Tank clapped a hand on his shoulder. “If you go in there with no plan, you might as well just shoot yourself right here and now. Just wait.”
Matt’s phone beeped and he snatched it off his belt. “It’s Mara. The girls are safe in the panic room.”
“Tell them to stay there,” Eli ordered.
Matt typed out the message, his thumbs flying over the screen. Then he handed Eli an earpiece. “Put this on. We need to be able to communicate.”
Tank took the other one and slipped it over his ear. “I’ll go around back. All you have to do is get him near the back door. Since he already broke that glass, I should have a clear shot.”
“And I’ll take the front,” Matt added. “We’ve got this covered. Let’s nail this bastard.”
Tank loaded his rifle ammunition into a bag and hopped out of the van. He looked both ways and disappeared around the side of the house into the trees. There were plenty of places he could take cover back there.
He pulled out his phone and sent Agent Harris’s number to Matt. “Call this number and tell them what’s going on. I don’t have time for questions right now, but we’ll need them as backup.”
Matt looked at the information that had just popped up on his phone’s screen. “The FBI?”
“Yeah. I’ve been consulting with them on a case. If this guy has been looking for me, then they’ll want to know about it.” He glanced at Sasha. “And what about her?”
“I’ll take care of her, don’t worry about it.”
Sasha shivered and pressed back against the wall. Eli nodded at her and then walked to the front of the house. The wind lashed his face, but he couldn’t feel the cold, just the tears it brought to his eyes. His focus was on one thing—getting inside the house. He couldn’t think about what he might find when he opened that door or whether Kay might be injured.
The front door was slightly open. He pushed it open the rest of the way and it gave a long, extended whine. He pulled his Glock as he stepped over the threshold. The front hallway was empty. He crossed to the entry of the kitchen and entered low. The floor was covered in glass, the shards glittering on the wood like diamonds. A brick lay in the middle of the destruction. He took a hesitant step forward, and glass crunched beneath his shoe.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
He turned at the sound of the voice, his gun at the ready. The man standing in the doorway to the room wore black from head to toe. The hood of his jacket obscured his face.
“You were watching me the day I talked to Jeremy King.”
The hood nodded. “I’ve been watching you for a long time. You’re a hard man to catch up with.” He raised a hand and pushed the hood back. It fell away and his face came into view.
And Eli felt the years fall away.
MARA HAD NEVER considered herself to be that calm under pressure, but when Kaylee started praying, she found an inner well of strength she didn’t know she had. Her brother was out there, possibly in danger, and if there was anything she could do to help, she’d never forgive herself later if she didn’t do it.
“We are not just going to sit here and wait. There has to be something we can do.” Her eyes landed on the computer in the corner of the room. It looked like a general workstation but this wasn’t an office—it was a panic room. If it was there, there had to be a good reason.
“The computer. Eli wouldn’t have put that in here for no reason, right?” Mara didn’t know Elliott that well, but from her brother’s descriptions of him as a boss, he was exacting and thorough. Everyone respected him because he took his job seriously. So she had to assume that would carry through into every aspect of his life.
Kay’s head snapped up and her eyes followed Mara’s. “Eli doesn’t do anything for no reason. Maybe there’s some kind of program on there that will tell us what to do.” She smiled tremulously and, for the first time, looked hopeful.
Mara could only hope the computer would help them because otherwise she had no idea what to do.
She sat down in front of the desk. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” As soon as she shook the mouse, the monitor on the left flickered to life and she was presented with a screen filled with icons.
“Oh crap. Where do I start?” She decided to just click on the first thing that caught her eye. The program loaded and she was faced with something that looked like a legal contract.
“Okay, that’s not any good.”
“This is going to take forever,” Kay said. She was walking around the room, bouncing the baby in her arms. Her eyes reflected her worry.
Mara quickly clicked on another icon and then another. She figured process of elimination should eventually bring her to something useful.
“Wait! What’s that?” Kay moved closer to peer over Mara’s shoulder.
The second monitor displayed an image of a house. The color wasn’t very good, so Mara wasn’t sure if she was looking at an older home or just a faded picture.
“I’m not sure, but it looks familiar.” Mara hit another key and the image changed to a street with several cars parked alongside the road. There was a white van on one side of the street. She hit another key and got an image of an SUV.
Kay gasped. “That’s our car!”
Mara wasn’t sure how she could tell because the image was so dark and grainy. “Are you sure?”
