Changing the Rules (Richter Book 1)(91)

“Take it out and put it in my hand.”

Too scared to move.

Russell looked at them, briefly, then back to his uncle.

Claire spoke slowly. “You can do it. Trust me.”

Elsie’s hand moved up Claire’s back, stopping every time the voices grew louder.

Finally, Claire felt the pin leave her hair.

“You’re the one who skipped the line and gave her friend a green light,” Tony screamed, pointing the gun their way for a second before tapping his own chest with the thing. “I have a system that keeps all of us safe . . .”

Relief flooded Claire’s body when she felt the pin in her fingers. She worked as fast as she could and still stay in control. She bent the end and found the keyhole to the cuffs.

“. . . you and every damn family sidekick you bring in. How do we know he didn’t narc us out?”

Milo turned to his supposed nephew. “Any of that true?” he asked in Russian.

“I don’t know these people.”

Milo looked at Claire right as she felt the lock go.

She made a noise to disguise the click.

“Good. Then you won’t mind removing one.” Milo removed a gun from the inside of his coat, cocked it, and handed it to Russell.

At first the kid didn’t take it.

“Do it.”

As Russell reached for the gun, Claire started talking. Her Russian was so rapid it took them both by surprise. “You don’t have to do this, Russell. We don’t have anything on you.”

His eyes opened wide.

“What the hell . . .” Tony took a step forward.

Claire inched up the wall, hands still behind her back. “It was Tony we were following. He led us to your house and the storefront,” she lied. All in Russian, which was pissing Tony off.

“What the fuck is she saying?”

“Don’t do this, Russell. You don’t want to go to jail. You have the rest of your—”

“Enough!” Milo yelled.



Cooper knew the team was three minutes behind him.

They heard voices in the warehouse. Men, arguing.

Where are they? He mouthed the question to Eastman, who was on the other side of the entrance.

The man pointed one finger, signaled left. Two fingers, signaled right.

The voices rose and finally, Cooper heard Claire’s.

It took everything not to storm in.

“Taking position,” Neil’s voice informed him.

Eastman pointed to his watch, lifted five fingers twice. Ten minutes? Was he kidding?

Cooper shook his head. Pointed to the ground. Then held out a hand holding him off.

Voices in the warehouse grew louder.

“Russell, in my sights,” Jax reported.

Cooper hoped she didn’t have to squeeze that trigger.

“Tony’s moving in and out,” Sasha reported.

“I have Milo.” Neil’s voice was last in Cooper’s ear.

“Tony’s moving.”

“Go!”

Cooper gave the signal and Eastman yelled the loudest. “Federal agent, put—”



Claire caught a glimpse of a shadow in the upper reaches of the warehouse.

The second she heard a voice, she moved, reached for Elsie to drag her away.

But Tony was too close and he was swift.

Claire was in a headlock with Tony’s gun pushed into her temple.

She grasped at his arm and tried to lodge her chin into the space between his arm and her windpipe. Her sparring partners at Richter had always held on hard, but this was a different level.

Around her, everyone had shifted.

Russell had fallen to his knees, the gun he’d been holding on the ground in front of him.

Milo, the cocky son of a bitch, stood there without a care.

“Everyone, calm down.” Cooper looked Claire in the eye, raw nerves close to the surface.

“Drop your guns!” The barrel of Tony’s gun ground into her skull.

“Calm down.” Eastman, who had burst into the warehouse with Cooper, stood with a gun pointed at Tony.

“Drop your guns now, fucking drop ’em. I’ll fucking kill her.” The more Tony yelled, the closer he sunk into the shadows.

Cooper lifted his hands, slowly placed his gun on the ground. “Okay. It’s cool. We’re good.”

Eastman carefully made the same movements.

Claire knew he wouldn’t have done that if there weren’t other guns pointed at Tony.

“Kick them over here.”

They both did. But Tony didn’t reach for them.

“Come on, Tony. Let’s talk about this,” Cooper coaxed.

“What are you waiting for?” Tony yelled at Milo. “Pick up the gun.”

Claire felt the tension surging through Tony’s body by the way she was being held. He probably didn’t realize that she was gasping for air.

“Pick it up.”

She needed the barrel to leave her temple to escape with her head. Or she needed to know the team was watching her every signal.

Milo turned to Cooper and Eastman. “I want to see my lawyer.”

Tony’s body shifted, dragging her with him. “Fuck you!” He took a step closer to Milo. The gun was no longer pressed right up against her head, but it was still pointed directly at her.