Deadly Game (Fortress Security #5)(36)

“Which one?”

“Volunteer.”

His grip tightened around the phone. Volunteer militia. Not a coincidence that this group’s name popped up in connection to Rowan twice. Why did the militia want Rowan and was this a dead-or-alive scenario, like the message Salazar claimed to receive?

“Jon Smith and Eli Wolfe are en route,” Zane continued. “Thirty minutes and Silverman will be off your hands. What do you want done with him? Call the cops or stash him in one of the black holes?”

If he allowed the cops to take Silverman, he’d be out of jail in a matter of hours. No doubt in Brent’s mind, Silverman would disappear once he made bail. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t care about a bottom-rung thug. But this guy had seen Brent’s face. Not sure what they might be facing, he couldn’t afford to take the chance Brent would be identified. Rowan and Alexa’s lives might depend on his anonymity.

Gaze locked on Silverman, he murmured, “Black hole.”

“Copy that.” Satisfaction rang in Zane’s voice. “Does Silverman need medical attention?”

He scanned the thug, noting the black eye forming and his busted lip. Brent had likely knocked a tooth or two loose, but those should stabilize in a few days. The ribs, though, might need some attention. Even tied to Brent’s chair, Silverman was favoring one side and breathing shallow. “Yes.”

“We’ll be ready. How long do we hold him?”

“Undetermined at this point.”

“Orders for Jon?”

Jon Smith was one of the best trained interrogators in the business. If Tom Silverman knew anything worth knowing, Jon would find out without much difficulty. “Information, as much as possible.”

“I’ll pass on the message.” Zane ended the call.

When Rowan tiptoed into the hallway, Brent held up his hand to stop her from stepping into Silverman’s line of sight. The thug might already know what she looked like, but if not, there was no point in letting him see her face.

“Hey,” Silverman snapped. “When are the cops getting here?”

“Told you. No cops.”

A frown. “You can’t keep me here.”

“I have two friends coming for you.”

“What will they do with me?”

He smiled. “Make you disappear.”

Silverman’s swarthy complexion slowly lost all its color. “Hey, I didn’t do nothing to you or your girlfriend. You can’t just kill me.”

Rowan gasped softly.

“Want to bet?” Brent asked. “No one knows you’re here except Invisible Man. You’re one of many people at Keith Phillips’ disposal. He won’t think anything of your disappearance.”

Sweat beaded on the thug’s forehead. “What do you want?”

“Information. Start talking.”

“I don’t know nothing, man. I just followed orders.”

“Whose orders?”

“I don’t know.”

Brent’s eyebrows rose. He waited in silence.

Silverman perspired more, his gaze darting around the room, hunting for an escape. He wouldn’t find one. “I’m telling the truth,” he said. “I don’t know where the orders came from. They just appeared on my phone. I didn’t recognize the number.”

Not buying the explanation. “What were your instructions?”

“Grab the woman.”

“And do what with her?”

“I don’t know. I was to text that number when I had her and would be told where to take her.”

“You weren’t told to kill her?”

“No way!” Silverman’s voice rose. “I wouldn’t kill her or anybody else.”

“Why do they want her?”

“They didn’t tell me, man. You got to believe me.”

Rowan inched closer. “Ask about Alexa,” she whispered.

“Come on, man,” Silverman whined. “You don’t want to do this.”

“On the contrary, Tom,” Brent said conversationally. “I want to do more than this. You and your friends terrorized my girlfriend. I don’t take that lightly.”

“It was a job. I don’t think anyone planned to hurt her. They want to ask her some questions.”

“One of your buddies killed her sister and brother-in-law, and took her niece. You know anything about that?”

“I’m done talking.”

“The little girl is only six, Silverman. She was drugged and taken from her home.”

The man swallowed hard.

“If you tell me where the girl is, I might call off my friends.” Brent caught the growing fear in the thug’s face. He knew something about Alexa, but he was more afraid of the man who sent him than he was of Brent. Guess he’d let Jon talk to him. If Silverman was protecting the identity of the people who were after Rowan, Jon would find out who they were. If this guy knew. Silverman was a throwaway. Chances were good that he wouldn’t be trusted with information of importance.

If Jon could confirm what Brent suspected, Brent would take that compound apart and return Alexa to Rowan. No child deserved to live in fear. Alexa had been traumatized enough.

Minutes later, Brent’s phone vibrated with another incoming message, this one from Eli Wolfe announcing their arrival at the back door. Brent crossed the room and let them inside.