Breaking Her Rules(25)

He looked at his watch again. Five minutes to go. Decision made, Zac sprinted back the way he’d come, sticking to the shadows. Once he reached the building he’d kept Christiansen’s wife captive in, he slipped inside through an open window space. Then he texted Christiansen the correct address for the meeting place using a throw-away phone he’d purchased an hour ago. He’d originally given Christiansen the wrong address, but had made sure it was in the same vicinity. Zac hadn’t wanted him trying to assemble a team of his security to infiltrate where he was keeping Iris. Now all he had to do was wait for Christiansen to show up.

Once Zac got the money he deserved, he was the only one leaving the meeting alive.



* * * * *



Wyatt read off the text with the changed address for Vincent and Harrison Caldwell, who were hiding in the back of his SUV. They’d all known the original address he’d been given wasn’t the meeting place. Iris’s kidnapper wouldn’t have given them two hours to get there. Still, Harrison had sent someone to scout it out and sure enough, the abandoned building had been empty of all life.

At first Wyatt had been surprised that Caldwell had decided to come on this job personally, but he’d have done the same thing in Harrison’s position. Iris was one of his people.

Right now she was the only thing that mattered to Wyatt.

“I’m letting the other team know to stay back and move in when we give the go-ahead.” Vincent’s voice was muffled from where he and Harrison lay covered two seats behind him.

Wyatt knew this was a trap. It had to be. That was why he wasn’t going in alone and why Harrison had insisted on another security team to back them up. Four other men were in an SUV a few blocks behind them. They would remain at a static location until Harrison gave them the signal to move in.

Since they hadn’t been able to get any good video feed with Iris’s kidnapper’s face at the hospital, they still weren’t sure who they were after. And her captor hadn’t been lying. He’d disposed of her phone immediately, making it impossible to trace him without knowing who he was first. Zac Thorton was their biggest suspect so one of Red Stone’s analysts had tracked his phone, but it had been traced to his penthouse suite in downtown Miami. That didn’t mean he wasn’t behind this, but at this point, it could be anyone. Wyatt didn’t give a shit who it was, he just wanted Iris safe and in his arms.

As he steered down the street with no street lights and abandoned apartment buildings, it was like pulling onto the set of a horror movie. Everything was spray painted and windows were either missing or boarded up. This wasn’t like the Miami he’d seen so far. Even in the daylight he imagined this place was a desolate hole. “I’m pulling down the street. If the GPS is right, we’ve got exactly half a mile to go.”

“Slow down,” Harrison ordered.

He was only going ten miles an hour, but he slowed to just under five. There was a soft clicking sound as the back hatch opened, but it closed so quickly he couldn’t believe they’d both managed to exit. “Guys?”

No answer.

Okay, then, it was just him now. Depending on others for backup was hard to do when Iris’s life was on the line. But he had no choice. Now…f*ck, he just had to pray Harrison and Vincent managed to infiltrate the building and take out Iris’s captor before the guy killed him or Iris.

As Wyatt pulled up to the address he’d been given, his phone buzzed again. Another text. Get out, open all the doors to your SUV then walk through the front door. Bring the money. Leave phone behind, no electronics on you or the bitch is dead.

Then Wyatt received another text with a picture of Iris laying on a mattress, clothed and sleeping. The picture didn’t mean anything though, it could have been taken earlier. He wanted to demand proof of life and if he didn’t have Red Stone backing him, he would have. As it was, he just wanted to get this guy into the open so someone could take him out and he could save his wife.

Grabbing his briefcase, he dropped the phone into the center console, then did as the text ordered. He opened all the doors—to show he was alone—then headed up the cracked stone steps leading to the derelict structure.

The man holding Iris could decide to just put a bullet through his head, but Wyatt doubted he’d do that outright. It was a calculated risk, but one he was willing to take for his wife. The man had asked for a ransom for a reason. He wanted this money and he wouldn’t take the chance that Wyatt showed up empty-handed.

“I’m going in,” he murmured, barely moving his lips. The guy might have told him to leave his cell phone behind, but he wore an earpiece provided to him by Red Stone.

As he reached what had once been a glass door, but was now just an open space with jagged glass edges around the frame, Vincent’s words stopped him cold. “Get out, Iris isn’t in there.”

Relief slammed into him, but he couldn’t believe it. “Repeat,” he murmured.

“The team just picked her up a couple blocks over. She escaped and a f*cking drug dealer actually let her use his phone to call for help. She’s unharmed and says Zac Thorton took her. Harrison and I are moving in from the back. Get out of here now, we’ll take this guy down.”

Iris was safe. That was all he needed to know. Now he could face off with that coward Thorton with nothing hanging over his head. The man had come after his wife, his only family, and made this very personal. With his Force Recon and weapons training, he knew he could take Thorton on. The guy was clearly smart, but he was just a f*cking suit and he’d messed with the wrong guy. There was no way Wyatt was willing to risk this vendetta or whatever it was dragging on longer than tonight. He had to protect Iris. It was his right and he wouldn’t let anything stand in his way. “Negative. I’m going in.” But he wasn’t going in the front door.

Vincent and Harrison both cursed, but Wyatt ignored them and dodged to the side of the doorway. It was too damn dark to see if anyone was waiting directly inside, but he wasn’t walking in now and making himself a target. Inching along the exterior wall, he crouched down as he half-crawled half-walked. Three windows over, he pulled out his pocket-sized flashlight and peered inside. Graffiti covered every wall and there were brownish stains on crumbling ceiling tiles, but it was otherwise empty.

After dropping the briefcase inside, he hoisted himself over then pulled out his Colt .45. Unlike Iris’s favorite gun, his weapon wasn’t custom-made, but he went to the shooting range monthly and the Marines had taught him how to do many things well—including hit any target.

His shoes were silent against the industrial carpet as he moved. Setting the case against a wall, Wyatt called on his former military training and swept out into the hall, weapon raised.

Empty.

It was as if he’d never left the Marines as he cleared the next three rooms down the long hallway.

“Back four rooms, west side are clear,” Vincent said, his voice barely a whisper.

“Back four, east side also clear.” This time it was Harrison.

Wyatt quietly gave his status update but paused when he heard a slight shuffling sound somewhere in front of him. It came from one of the last three rooms he had to clear along this hallway.

Ducking back into one of the rooms he’d just cleared, he grabbed a flat soccer ball with peeling green paint he’d seen, then cautiously stepped back into the hall. As he neared the next door he paused then hauled back and tossed the ball into the first room like a grenade.

Shots went off, exploding into the quiet with brutal intensity as his decoy worked. Harrison was asking for a status update in his earpiece, but Wyatt ignored him. “The place is surrounded and I know you don’t have Iris anymore! Give yourself up, Thorton.”

“Fuck you!” Another three rounds slammed through the plaster of the wall. As far as Wyatt knew, Thorton didn’t have any training, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get off a lucky shot.

Wyatt rolled to the ground and shot back through the wall in the direction the bullets had come from. Thorton cried out and Wyatt heard a thump, but he couldn’t be sure if he’d hit him. “Thorton? You have no leverage anymore and I don’t think you want to die. Come out and we’ll work this out.” Wyatt didn’t give a shit about working things out, but he wanted Thorton brought to justice. More importantly, he wanted to know if he had any partners, if Wyatt needed to be worried about anyone else coming after him or Iris.

“Fuck you.” This time he sounded slurred, unsteady.

“Why are you doing all this, Thorton? I knew your father and he was a good man.” Definitely not true, but Wyatt wanted to get his guard down. “Did Keibler drag you into this mess because of our history? Is that what’s going on?”

Harrison informed Wyatt that he and Vincent were on their way, but Wyatt remained in position outside the door.

At first he thought Thorton wouldn’t respond then he started laughing, the maniacal sound sending a shiver down Wyatt’s spine. “You’re so…f*cking arrogant.” He coughed, the sound wet and gurgled, as if he was choking on his own blood. “Keibler knew…nothing. This was all me, you f*cking thief. Think you can steal deals that belong…to me…” He trailed off into a hacking cough.