Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(86)

His father threw Bobby into the closet. He locked the door.

Bobby hated the dark. He threw himself against the old oak. “Mommy! Mommy!”

“You won’t be talking to the cops again, will you?” A loud smack. A thud. Again and again.

Then silence.

Bobby curled into a ball. Alone.

“Mommy. I’m sorry I told him,” he whispered.

Brad’s horror still filled his head, screams banging through his skull. His father. Farzam. Brad shook his head to force away the past—a past he’d worked so long to bury. A past that had roared back. A past that he’d repeated with his son.

“Silence!” Farzam dug into Sam’s arm, then slapped him across the face. “Be silent and look at the camera, boy. Or I kill your mother.”

Sam went completely still.

Brad’s nails bit into his palm. His heart racing, his own bloody, tearstained features superimposed on his son’s ravaged face.

Nausea rose in Brad’s throat.

“Tell Zach Montgomery,” Farzam spat, twisting Sam’s arm. “Tell him you want his help.”

“P…please, D…D…Dark Avenger. Save us.”

The camera went dark.

Brad grunted and glared at his captors. He rocked the chair back and forth.

Zach whirled on him, then his eyes widened. He stalked over to Brad and ripped off the duct tape. “You better be making noise over something important.”

“I know where that bastard is,” Brad spat, “and I want him dead.”





* * *





Chapter Seventeen




* * *





GABE’S KITCHEN WENT silent.

“Dear God,” Jazz whispered though a strangled voice, speaking the words with the choked sob Zach couldn’t afford. She reached out for Luke’s hand.

Seth and Gabe erupted with a string of curses through gritted teeth.

Zach didn’t know about his brothers, but he couldn’t wipe the image of Jenna’s bruised face or Sam’s stark terror out of his mind. Yet he couldn’t let his heart linger on anything but resolve to have them both in his arms again. They didn’t need the man who loved them, they needed a warrior.

He grabbed Brad and squeezed the bastard’s windpipe. Fury like Zach had never known exploded. “Tell me where they are, you son of a bitch, or die now. We’re done with games.” He squeezed tighter.

Brad gasped, blinking, sucking in puffs of air. “Safe house. I know the location. I was ordered to kill Farzam.”

He released the assassin and shoved him hard against the chair. “So help me, Walters, if this is a trick to save your sorry hide, I’ll kill you now and won’t ever regret it.”

“Sam is my son,” Brad choked. “I have to save him.”

“And I’m supposed to trust you?” Zach leaned over Brad, placing his hand strategically across his throat. The Chameleon’s eyes widened. He had to know one flick of Zach’s wrist would end his life. “You helped your son a lot when you beat his mother.”

Brad paled, then cursed. “We don’t have time for bullshit. They gave me the coordinates for Farzam so I could kill him. It’s in that ten square miles you pointed out on the map. Do you want to save my son or not?”

Zach didn’t move. Brad didn’t shrink away. The idiot. Zach’s hand twitched. Brad had no idea how close Zach was to—

But the bastard was right. There was no time. “Give me the address.”

“I’m not a fool.” Brad shook his head. “My contract’s been broken. I’m dead anyway. I know too much. Take me with you. I’ll help you save Sam and Jenna, then let me disappear. I won’t contact you again.”

“Dream on. If you help us find Jenna and Sam, and if they’re…” He couldn’t say alive. If they were alive. No. He refused to consider the possibility aloud. “I might put in a good word with the federal prosecutors. That’s as far as I’ll go. But…I will save your son.”

Brad stared at Zach for several seconds.

“Take your time, *,” Zach bit out. “You say you care about your son. Then why are you even hesitating?”

“Agreed. Once Sam is safe, I plan to stay alive…and free.”

Zach’s gaze burned into his brother Seth. “He so much as twitches in the wrong direction, end it. Get him in the car.”

Seth gave a quick nod.

“If anyone wants out—?” Zach began.

“Shut up,” Gabe muttered. “Just shut the hell up, Zach. We’re all in.”

At that moment, Jazz’s beeper went off. She cursed and stared at the message. “There’s a hostage situation at a day care center.” She bit her lip, clearly torn.

“Go,” Zach said. As much as he admired Jazz’s skills, he didn’t want the love of Luke’s life anywhere near Brad or Farzam. This fight would be up close and personal. “Those kids need you.”

Luke looked at Zach, and he knew he’d done right. Relief flared in Luke’s eyes. He gave Zach a slight nod then cupped his wife’s cheek. He twisted the strand of long blonde hair that had pulled away from her French braid. “Just be careful. We can handle this. Four against two.”