Roped In (Armed & Dangerous, #2)(50)

“What? What do you see?” Nick demanded, hissing low.

I turned the laptop toward him. “Connor’s part of the Irish mafia. Everything just got fifty thousand times more difficult.”

“I don’t understand. Why would George hire one of them to be Hadley’s bodyguard?”

“I don’t know, but if George pissed them off in any way, they’ll use her to get back at him. I know what those guys are capable of.” I’d seen some of the people they’d killed over the years. Their tactics were brutal. If they so much as hurt Hadley, I’d spend the rest of my days hunting them all down.

Nick peeked out the window. “And they’re coming to kill us? How did they know we were here?”

“They’re good at what they do, that’s why.”

“What are we going to do? Do you have a plan?”

I glanced at the bed and smiled. “I do, but we have to hurry.”





“Why did the light go out?” Nick whispered from his location in the closet.

“They’re here.” After we’d made the bed look like a body was in it, we took up our posts and waited for over two hours.

Now the time had come. I peeked through the curtains, and luckily, there was only one guy cloaked in darkness. He had his gun out and was attaching a silencer to it.

“How many are there?” Nick whispered through the closet door.

“Just one. He’s coming now.” I flattened myself up against the wall. Gun in hand, I took a deep breath. As soon as I heard the little click inside the door, it was time.

The door steadily moved open and there was no sound at all. The guy was good. He pointed the gun toward the bed and before he could shoot, I kicked his knees in and heard them crack as he fell to the floor with a grunt.

When he dropped the gun, Nick bolted out of the closet and lunged for it. “Got it,” he said, pointing it at the intruder.

I’d half expected him to cower in the closet, but he proved me wrong. “Keep it pointed at him. If he moves, shoot him.” The guy’s legs were splayed at an odd angle. He wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

I grabbed his feet and he hissed as I tied him up. When I turned him over, I recognized him immediately from the video. He was the one who helped Connor stage the accident. He was a big guy with long brown hair and a scar under his right eye. There was nothing but death in those eyes.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m not telling you a f*cking thing,” he snarled. I could barely tell what he said because of his thick, Irish accent.

“Didn’t think so.” I reared back and punched him hard across the cheek. Blood spurt out of his mouth, along with a tooth. I knew he wouldn’t speak and I was banking on that. He was going to suffer.

“Damn,” Nick exclaimed. “That shit was hard core.”

“I’m just getting started.” Resting my boot on one of Scar’s broken legs, he winced when I pressed down. “Still no answer?” I goaded.

He didn’t give me as much as a groan. The f*cker wasn’t going to ever walk again, once I got done with him.

As hard as I could, I jumped on his legs with all my weight. He screamed in pain, but I didn’t stop. My knuckles hurt from punching him. I could barely recognize him once I was done. There was blood everywhere, but I wasn’t ready to quit. If they were going to f*ck with me, I wanted them to see I could fight back. Grabbing him by the neck, I squeezed and listened to him choke.

“Blake, stop! You don’t want to kill him,” Nick shouted.

“Why not? He was going to kill us. I think it’s only fair.”

“Uh, I think you’ve done worse than kill him. The f*cker’s not going to be able to walk probably ever. His bones are shattered.”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and let him go. His head fell to the floor with a loud thump. His body had to be in shock from all the pain. “I need to call in backup. We have to get out of here.” I washed up quickly and then dialed Mason’s number. He had contacts everywhere.

“Evans, what’s up?” he answered.

“If I had the time to tell you, you’d probably shit a brick.”

“That bad, huh? I heard about Hadley. I’m sorry, brother.”

Rushing over to the computer, I pulled Connor’s file back up. “That’s just it. She’s alive, Mason. And I need your help.”

“Alive? Her funeral is tomorrow. It’s all the media can talk about.”

“I know you think I’m crazy, but I’ve been working with Logan on getting some footage, and I saw the accident. It was staged. Hadley’s out there somewhere and I’m going to find her. She’s being held by the Irish mafia.”

He choked and barked out a cough. “Are you f*cking kidding me? How did she get involved with them?”

“I think her father has something to do with it. But right now, I’m in Burnsville with a half-dead body in my motel room. They sent one of their goons to kill me. I need you to contact some of your people and get them here as soon as you can.”

“All right, I’m on it. I know some guys who can probably be out there within the hour.”

“Good. And do me a favor, don’t tell anyone Hadley’s still alive. Someone wants us to think she’s dead and we need to keep it that way. I’m trying to find out where she is and I think I might be close. Her bodyguard is with her. His name is Connor MacCabe.”