Better When He's Brave (Welcome to the Point #3)(83)
“The gun was downstairs. Zero could’ve stabbed her the second she got out of the shower. He surprised her and she had to fight. She fought hard to stay alive. There are too many what-ifs in that scenario.”
“It’s win-win for Roark. She kills his guy and he feels like he has proven to himself that she is exactly what he wants her to be, or she ends up dead and she’s out of the way while he continues to torture the rest of us. Like I said, he’s better at this than we are, so the only way to stop him is from the inside. I told him that I could get to you, that I would arrange to have you meet me, and that you would show just to take a chunk out of my hide for betraying the family by letting Zero in. I told him you would do your job and the opportunity to take me in for violating my bond and disappearing couldn’t be passed up. I told him I would take you down and bring you to him. He believed me . . . only after I let Zero in the building.” ”
“How did he contact you in the first place?”
Booker wiped a hand across his face, smearing more blood and glowering at me as he poked his swollen and quickly bruising nose. “Zero was waiting for me when I got out of jail. Literally right outside of the police station. He asked if I needed a ride back to the condo and made it clear the only answer I had better have was yes. He asked me about Karsen. He knew I went into the school after her. She’s just a kid, dammit. She should have no part in anything that goes down in this place. She has a shot at having a normal life. I told him to leave her alone and he mentioned that Roark was always looking for good help. It was very ‘come to the dark side.’ He made it sound like they would leave the kid alone if I did what they wanted, so I told him there was always a right price for things, and that’s when he told me about getting into the building to go after your girl.”
I growled because I couldn’t help in, and my fist flew out of its own accord and smacked into his cheek. His entire head cranked to the side and he took a step toward me vibrating with rage as I shook out my now throbbing knuckles. “What’s the rest?”
He worked his jaw back and forth and lifted his fingers to poke at his now red and swollen cheek.
“As soon as Zero was in the building, I got a call from a blocked number. I knew by the accent it was Roark. He told me he always rewarded a job well done. He offered me three hundred thousand for letting Zero in and another ten thousand if I agreed to lure you to him. I told him it was a deal.”
“Were you supposed to bring me here?” My mind was already spinning. I needed backup. I needed more firepower. I needed to calm down because I had to do my job when all I wanted to do was shoot first. I couldn’t believe Roark was finally close enough to touch, and I really wanted to knock Booker around some more.
“He didn’t say. He gave me a number to call once I had the package secured.” He lifted an eyebrow at me. “You’re the package, cop.”
I snorted. “I figured that. So what? We pound the hell out of one another and then you throw me in the back of the truck and take me to some secret location? What’s to prevent Roark from putting a bullet in both of us the second we arrive? That’s what I would do in his shoes.”
Booker shook his head again. “I’m telling you he has a majorly sick and twisted thing for your girl. He wants you to suffer and he wants her to know you are suffering because of her. As for me . . . that’s just a risk I’m gonna have to take.”
I snorted again. “It’s a stupid one. If he kills you, then you aren’t a threat and he doesn’t have to pay you. You’re a dead man.”
“So be it. It’s the only way to end this.”
“I need to call for backup. We can’t try for a takedown alone.” I was regretting not calling the station the second I left the house. Part of me had to make sure I finally finished the puzzle. Finally had all the pieces in place before I called. I was tired of being a pawn. It was time to be the king.
“No more cops. If he knows it’s more than us, he’ll just sink back underground and we’ll never get a shot at him. Remember, he was a cop. He doesn’t play by the rules, so he’ll know what to expect. He has the entire police station wired. He’s been watching you guys scramble around to find him and he’s laughing at all of you. Video, sound . . . he knows every move you make. He’s f*cking everywhere. We’re all fortunate Novak didn’t hand him the reins . . . I think he knew the guy would’ve killed him off just to be number one. He’s insane.”
“So we just roll in like Butch and Sundance? You know they died at the end of that movie, right? This is a terrible plan, Booker. You think you’re gonna get a shot off before he does?”
“Well, it’s the only plan I got and I only need one shot to make it count. You need to let me kick your ass some more, cuff you up and toss you in the truck. Your phone has to go since it can be used to track where you are. I’m supposed to toss mine too after he gives me the location. I’m telling you the guy thinks of all the angles. He even told me to disable the LoJack in your GTO so that it couldn’t be tracked.”
I swore, dropping every dirty, ugly word I could think of while trying to come up with some kind of a plan. Nothing was clicking. Booker was right, Roark was too good at this game. I shoved my hand through my hair. I had asked Reeve to offer herself as bait since the very beginning of this game. It was now my turn to hang myself out there like a worm on a hook. If she was strong enough to do it, brave enough to risk her neck time and time again, then I could be too. I could do it for her, to prove I was worthy of her strength and her bravery. “Fine. Let’s go get shot. But I need to call Reeve and tell her what’s going on. If we don’t make it back from this . . .” I trailed off. If I didn’t make it back she was going to wrap herself in vengeance and the need for blood. She was going to go back to where she had been before she came to me, and feel like it was her sworn duty to take Roark down to avenge me. I couldn’t let that happen. She’d just gotten her soul back where it belonged. I couldn’t be the reason she lost it again.